The Rings of Power Season 2 Features a Major Lord of the Rings First

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, Episode 3, “The Eagle and the Sceptre.”

No, your eyes didn’t deceive you: that really was a baby Orc in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2’s third episode. Read on for the full lowdown on this Middle-earth first!

Related: How Does The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Set Up Season 2?

The Rings of Power Season 2’s Baby Orc, Explained

In case you missed it, The Rings of Power‘s Orc baby appears early on in Season 2, Episode 3. After one of Adar’s Orc captains unsuccessfully lobbies his boss to avoid stirring up trouble with Sauron, he regroups with his partner and child. But wait: aren’t all the Orcs corrupted Elves, like Adar? Not necessarily. Adar is a Moriondor – essentially, an experimental proto-Orc. A lot more work clearly went into “perfecting” the fully-fledged Orcs under his command. It’s unclear what this refinement process involved, however, it’s not a stretch to assume that the Orc population in the Second Age is the result of centuries or more (the Rings of Power timeline is a little vague) of breeding. If so, this broadly tracks with Lord of the Rings scribe J.R.R. Tolkien’s original canon.

Related: How Does The Rings of Power’s Celebrimbor Die in The Lord of the Rings Canon?

Well, bits of it. Tolkien never really settled on a definitive origin for the Orcs. Sure, he toyed with the “mutilated Elves” concept that’s popular with filmmakers (it’s not just in The Rings of Power, but Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well). However, Tolkien also threw out the idea that Orcs were simply wild Elves, or humanoid beasts, or creatures fashioned from slime, and on and on it goes. No matter the specifics, Tolkien referred to Orcs as “multiplying” post-creation, which is code for “male and female Orcs bumping spiky boots to make l’il Orcs.” This makes sense, too. After all, the Orcs would’ve needed a way to expand their ranks beyond the initial batch Morgoth created!

Do Baby Orcs Appear in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Canon?

No – not explicitly, at least. All the Orcs we encounter in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels and associated works are fully grown. The logic for this is fairly straightforward: they’re typically in combat situations requiring adult warriors. True, The Return of the King includes some Orc downtime at Cirith Ungol, yet even this quickly devolves into a bloody feud.

Related: Is Sauron an Elf in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2?

Bottom line? Tolkien doesn’t really describe many scenarios where a baby – even an Orc baby – belongs! We don’t know for certain why this is, but it’s possible Tolkien didn’t want readers sympathizing with the Orcs too much. Whatever the reason, the Orcs’ underage offspring remain on the sidelines. As such, The Rings of Power‘s Orc baby marks a first for the wider franchise!

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is currently streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes dropping Thursdays.