In The Rings of Power episode 6, we finally learned the true identity of the leader of the Orc Army, Arda – and before you ask, no, he is not Sauron. In fact, he is something that we haven’t seen in the cinematic landscape of Middle-earth yet. Adar reveals himself to be one of the first Orcs created by the big bad of Tolkien’s franchise Morgoth.
But, despite being an Orc, let’s be honest, Adar doesn’t exactly look like the typical creatures we are used to. No matter how you look at him, he is still vastly different from the light-fearing monsters that make up Sauron’s army, and you could be asking yourself, what is the deal?
Basically, Adar may be an Orc, but he also identifies himself as one of the Sons of Dark, which, as you will see below, is very different from the Orcs that we see in the Third Age during Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings movies.
Who are the Sons of Dark?
If you aren’t up to date on Tolkien lore, Orcs were originally created by Morgoth. They weren’t always the monsters hungry for man flesh, but were originally Elves who were captured, tortured, and then twisted into dark creatures. The Sons of Dark, also known as the Moriondor, were the first set of these unfortunate Elves.
Tolkien’s story of the creation of Orcs varies. In The Silmarillion, they were corrupted Elves. In other writings, they were made of stone in the Elves’ likeness by Morgoth. However, whichever tale you buy into, it is clear that Adar is definitely a twisted form of an Elf of some kind, judging from his pointy ears, and that he was one of the first created by Morgoth, period.
What is Adar?
So we know that Adar is one of the Moriondor. However, the Rings of Power, does hint that he may have been a special and powerful member of the Sons of Dark too.
The way he treats his fellow ‘Uruk’ (black speech for Orc) is almost sweet, as he cries for them and sees them as family…I mean, he is still evil, and a murderer, but hey, at least it is some form of compassion.
He also told Galadriel that he had met and defeated Sauron. Obviously, this can’t be true, but it does suggest that he was powerful enough to face off against the big baddie of the fantasy series, and believed he bested him in a fight at some point.
At the end of episode 6, we saw Mount Doom being birthed. So hopefully, we learn more about Adar’s backstory, motives, and past with Sauron before he is fried to a crisp by the volcano.
You can now watch The Rings of Power on Amazon. For more magic, here is our guide to the best fantasy series of all time.