WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE RINGS OF POWER EPISODE 6

If you haven’t seen the latest episode of The Rings of Power, you are missing out. It has been established by now that the show takes place during the Second Age. That places this story thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Even still, the title alone ties the two time periods together, and the events of the latest episode further bind the two eras together. And it involves the word Udûn.

After the Númenóreans help the Southlanders repel the Orc incursion, the Orcs’ leader, Adar, flees with a bundled item. The others think that it is the hilt of Sauron’s sword, but that is not the case as we can come to find out. While Adar was detained, he had Waldreg, the backstabbing barkeep, take the hilt back to the watchtower and stuck the blade in the slot in the ground in front of what appeared to be a statue of Sauron. This action unlocked some sort of hidden dam, diverting water behind the tower into the tunnels the Orcs had dug. The water mixed with the magma under the mountain that overlooked the village, and the resulting reaction caused the mountain to erupt. All the while, the Orcs chained by the Númenoreaons started to chant “Udûn.”

Thus, Mount Doom was born and the beginning of the realm of Mordor. To be more specific, however, it was the creation of the valley of Udûn.

Map showing Udun — Image Source: Tolkien Fandom

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Udûn is a valley or depression that runs up to the slopes of Mount Doom. It was speculated in The Atlas of Middle-earth that Udûn was created with the emergence of Mount Doom. After this episode, that seems to be the route the showrunners are going with the story.

Udûn is a strategic staging ground for Sauron and his army of Orcs. At the entrance of the valley, in a break between the mountains, Sauron eventually constructs the Black Gate that allows his troops to enter and leave the valley. This gate and the valley are seen many times in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The gates are massive and manned by a legion of Orcs, and required a team of trolls to open. The land beyond is poisoned by the volcanic nature of Mount Doom.

Black Gate — Image Source: Tolkien Fandom

The word Udûn doesn’t just refer to the valley, however. It is clear that the episode’s title is referencing the creation of Mount Doom. However, the name also refers to the last fortress of the Northern stronghold of Morgoth before his defeat, Utumno.

The Rings of Power is not the only time the name has been used on-screen either. Gandalf invokes the name when he confronts the Balrog in Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring. The Balrog in question is none other than Durin’s Bane, the same Balrog that wipes out the Dwarves of Moria, or what was once known as Khazad-dûm.

Khazad-dûm should be familiar to people watching the show, as it is the seat of Dwarven power, and where Elrond’s friend, Durin IV, resides. According to Tolkien, the Balrog has slept beneath Khazad-dûm since the end of the First Age, and the Dwarves disrupt that sleep…when they dig too deep mining mithril, the same super ore that has been revealed to be the ambition of Durin’s hopes for his people.

Balrog vs. Gandalf — Image Source: GameRant

If you remember, the first full trailer for the series featured a Balrog at the end. Could this all tie together? The chance is high after the developments of this last episode. Sauron’s machinations are accelerating, and they seem to all center around Udûn.

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