The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 6 ended with an almighty eruption and the inevitable destruction of much of the Southlands, and now viewers are wondering if this is the moment of Mordor’s creation in the fantasy series. Were the efforts to protect the Southlands from Sauron by those who lived there, along with Númenor and Galadriel, all in vain? Here’s what we know.
Rings of Power episode 6: Did the destruction of the Southlands lead to the creation of Mordor?
Those who have brushed up on their J. R. R. Tolkien knowledge will know that the Southlands are doomed to end up as Mordor, infamous to The Lord of the Rings fans as the breeding grounds for Sauron’s dark forces. With the eruption of a dormant volcano at the conclusion of Rings of Power episode 6, audiences were at once confronted with the knowledge that Mount Doom had become active, and all of those celebrating after thinking they had won the battle against Adar and his band of orcs and turncoats, had actually failed.
Protected from three sides by large mountain ranges, Sauron chose the Southlands as part of the newly-created Mordor so that his slow rise back to power was defended against those who sought to stop him. Though the area may not form the entirety of Mordor as we know it when the events of The Lord of the Rings take place, it does make up a huge chunk of the location geographically.
Exactly who will make it out of the spewing of ash and lava from Mount Doom across the Southlands remains to be seen, but we know based on Lord of the Rings lore that Galadriel and Isildur are amongst the survivors. It’s also likely that some of the show’s other leading characters, such as Bronwyn, Theo, and Arondir, will also be able to flee with their lives. With just two episodes to go before the debut season wraps up, we can expect a lot more action in the two weeks to come.
