The official Rings of Power X account recently defended what some fans call a controversial change to the Orcs in the Prime series. The Rings of Power, based on Lord of the Rings the works by J.R.R. Tolkien, is currently in the midst of its second season on the streaming platform.

The Lord of the Rings on Prime X account posted: “For the Orcs had life and multiplied,” along with a photo of an Orc family. The post received over 600 replies and 6,000 likes in less than 24 hours. The X account also posted two official replies, including, “As Tolkien wrote,” and “That’s right.”

“The Orcs reproduced and had babies just like any other creature. The people that are complaining have never read a single book by Tolkien,” the official account continued in another reply.

The Orcs Appear to Want a Safe Place to Raise their Families

In Season 2, Episode 3, the Orcs appeared in one scene, during which a high-ranking Orc spoke with Adar. The Orc stated he did not want to go to war with Sauron, instead he wanted to stay in Mordor where he thought he and the other Orcs were safer. Adar then stated the Orcs wouldn’t be safe as long as Sauron was alive. Then, Adar is seen approaching another Orc cradling a bundle, which appears to be a baby Orc. The Orc couple then rubbed their faces together, in a moment that contained no dialogue, seemingly showing affection towards each other.

With the scene between the Orc couple, Rings of Power became the first major adaptation of The Lord of the Rings to show affection between Orcs. Likewise, there haven’t been any adaptations that have shown young Orcs, except for the Uruk-hai in the Peter Jackson movie trilogy. The difference was that the Uruk-hai were completely grown and fully ready to fight from the time they were born.

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien did not mention Orcs having families. However, in The Hobbit, the Orc Bolg was mentioned as being the son of Azog during the Battle of the Five Armies. In the Jackson films, Azog was seen as treating Bolg as a military subordinate, and nothing more. It is not known, though, if Azog and Bolg were truly related by blood, as they may have used the term “father” and “son” metaphorically as Adar does in The Rings of Power by calling the Orcs his “children.” The name “Adar” translates to “Father” in Sindarin, the Elvish language.

The Rings of Power also explored what an Orc would look like by introducing some female Orcs. In Jackson’s films, and in most other adaptations, male Orcs were the only ones to exist. The series continues Season 2 on Prime with new episodes released weekly.