Why Amazon's 'The Rings Of Power' Adding Female Orcs Doesn't Break Canon
There is no doubt about the influence and power Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy has on pop culture. From Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry taking the One Ring to Mordor to the trail of power and destruction the One Ring caused for anyone in its vicinity, The Lord of the Rings has become a timeless tale. With such an epic story covering a long period of time, one must wonder how it can be expanded upon without it contradicting what has already been written or explained as fact.
According to CBR, Amazon’s The Rings of Power recently revealed the first look at its depiction of orcs, revealing several images of the notorious fantasy villains. Some of these images included female orcs. The move to include female orcs might be seen as a stretch at best. However, the inclusion of female orcs adds a new dimension to the story while expanding events taking place thousands of years before the events of the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
RELATED:
While The Lord of the Rings does not explicitly state the existence of female orcs, their existence is implied. Michael Martinez’s Middle Earth Blog verifies the existence of female Orcs by mentioning passages from The Silmarillion where Tolkien states “for the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Iluvatar.” In addition, Aragorn speculates that Saruman has cross-bred the races of Men and Orcs. Whether or not this will be touched upon in The Rings of Power series, it is a fact that Orcs are more or less created to cause violence and destruction.
The Lord of the Rings films state that the orcs were once elves that were "taken by the dark powers," as well as "tortured and mutilated." Being seduced by dark magic and subjected to torture and violence is not exclusive to one race or gender in Middle Earth. With no immunity to the lore of dark magic, the inclusion of female Orcs promises to bring a new look to the characters without them being too gendered. According to Jamie Wilson, who previously worked on the original The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and now serves as the head of The Rings of Powers' prosthetic department, the orcs seen in the Prime Video series are “rather fresh-faced” compared to their predecessors:
"It's a bit like these are the baby versions….not actually babies, but it's them coming out from the darkness."
Darkness gives rise to new possibilities and new stories. While there is no “true Middle Earth canon,” the inclusion of female Orcs does not appear to be a point of contention among fans of the series. It might be possible The Rings of Power will dive into the darker, more violent aspects of the creation and birth of Orcs. While it is unclear if female Orcs will be prominent in the show, the expansion into The Lord of the Rings lore will be something fans, and casual viewers can enjoy.
New characters and new stories bring new possibilities and perspectives and add layers to an already known story to create a new and better-understood foundation. Just because a story has been told and time has passed since its end, it does not spell the end of the story nor for the characters and worlds said story created. The Rings of Power have the potential to bring more than female Orcs to the mix.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): CBR, Middle-Earth Blog