The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is expanding on the mythos of Mordor and Mount Doom, which are already a subject of much of the lore surrounding J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world. What is currently unfolding in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings show serves as a key chapter in their Middle-earth history. So far, the series is painting an interesting picture of the origins of Sauron’s territory. As The Rings of Power continues, more is sure to be learned about what happened to Mordor.

The events that take place in the series are set exclusively in the Second Age of Middle-earth, whereas the central conflicts in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit happened in the Third Age. Since plenty of Mordor developments occurred over the course of The Lord of the Rings, quite a lot is known about what came next for Mordor in Tolkien’s books. The Rings of Power takes Tolkien’s lore and builds around it, inventing backstories for some of the details Tolkien laid out.

How Mount Doom Was Created

Orodruin Was Sauron’s Base

Long before Mordor developed its long-held reputation as the main base of operation for The Lord of the Rings’ villains, their headquarters was a kingdom called Angband. There, Morgoth – Sauron’s predecessor – reigned over the region. Morgoth erected volcanoes and treacherous mountain ranges to keep himself protected from potential invaders. When Angband was lost in the War of Wrath during the First Age, Morgoth decided to build a new empire. That’s when the Dark Lord used his powers to will Mount Doom into existence. But, it wasn’t initially an active volcano and remained dormant for years.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2’s air date is August 29, 2024.

Mount Doom Erupted In The Rings of Power

Orodruin Blew Up In Season 1

One of the most pivotal events in The Lord of the Rings timeline was depicted in The Rings of Power season 1, episode 6. While the fight with the Orcs was still playing out in the Southlands, one of the villagers activated The Rings of Power’s mystery sword, which triggered a volcanic eruption from Mount Doom. Not only did the eruption wreck the homes of the people living nearby, but it blocked out the sun. The impact on the Southlands was acknowledged by Adar in season 1, episode 7, when he claimed that the Southlands no longer existed. As the ending confirmed, Mordor replaced the Southlands on the Middle-earth map.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

The Rings Of Power Turns The Southlands Into Mordor

Orodruin Erupted In The Rings Of Power

 

The story of The Rings of Power fits into the framework created by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings story, without contradicting it. This is, after all, a part of the show’s deal with the Tolkien Estate. What the show adds to the story is that Adar triggered an eruption from Mount Doom so powerful it ruined the show’s original locale of the Southlands and blocked out the sun. The show asserts that this eruption marked the change of its Southlands location to the Mordor known from canon. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 is leaning into its newly formed Mordor, sure to explore this dark setting further.

Sauron Made Mordor His Headquarters

Sauron Lived In Mordor For Centuries

The Rings of Power season 1 finale revealed that Rings of Power original character Halbrand was actually Sauron all along. In the source material, it was established that Sauron relocated to Mordor during the Second Age. There, he constructed Barad-dûr, which acted as his stronghold from that point all the way up until his downfall at the end of the Third Age. After setting up a base in Mordor, Sauron shifted his attention to building his army. For the next several centuries, Orcs from all across Middle-earth set their sights on Mordor and began their journeys to the home of the new Dark Lord.

Sauron Made The One Ring

Sauron Needed Orodruin For The Ring

Sauron getting the Orcs on his side was only a small part of his master plan. He also had an interest in securing alliances with the respective leaders of the human and Elven civilizations. To this end, Sauron endeavored to create the Rings of Power, which were a group of 20 rings imbued with mystical powers. With the Elves aiding him in his efforts, Sauron oversaw the forging of the Rings of Power which were to be distributed between the Elves, the Dwarves, and the humans.

Anime movie The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim’s air date is December 13, 2024.

Unbeknownst to his alleged allies, Sauron created a ring that was superior to all the rest. The One Ring – the same magical weapon that would one day be worn by Gollum, Bilbo, and Frodo – was personally created by Sauron, who used the fires of Mount Doom to forge it. Of course, the point of all this was to use the One Ring to make minions of the wearers of the 20 Rings of Power.

Sauron Failed To Conquer Middle-earth

Sauron Rose And Fell Repeatedly

Despite the careful planning that went into Sauron’s full scheme, it failed. The Elves figuring out what he was up to, the interference of Númenor, and other factors hindered Sauron’s efforts to conquer Middle-earth. While he made several gains in his crusade, Sauron faced significant pushback from his enemies and was thwarted. His failures resulted in him giving up the lands he had taken and falling back to Mordor. Defeated but still alive, Sauron waited for another chance to strike and laid low for a few centuries, but later built another army and made additional attempts at taking over Middle-earth that didn’t pan out.

Mordor Was Invaded And The One Ring Was Lost

Sauron Lost The One Ring

 

Eventually, the centuries of off-and-on fighting between Sauron and his enemies culminated in the people of Númenor beating back Sauron’s forces and breaching Mordor’s borders in the Second Age. This entailed Sauron’s loss of the One Ring to Isildur, who chopped it off his defeated finger. Isildur had a chance to destroy the One Ring by dropping it into the flames of Mount Doom but the Ring had already developed a hold on him, so he changed his mind about dropping it into the fires at the last minute. The One Ring survived the battle, but Sauron was still defeated, losing the war, his tower, and his most prized possession.

The One Ring Was Destroyed

Frodo Destroyed The Ring

 

Sauron’s most well-known story is the one that took center stage in The Lord of the Rings. Many centuries after The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and well into the Third Age, Sauron had rebuilt Barad-dûr. Once again, he had assembled a massive army of Orcs to help him with enslaving and conquering Middle-earth in his name. In the bloody conflict now referred to as the War of the Ring, Sauron used his legions of Orcs to wreak havoc on the opposing forces, as seen in The Lord of the Rings movies.

(Sauron’s) defeat paved the way for Aragorn’s armies to eliminate the Orcs that still lingered in the area, thus finally bringing the threat posed by Mordor to an end at last.

Sauron also spent some time trying to recover the One Ring, but to no avail. As the fighting continued, Aragorn orchestrated a plan to get Frodo and Sam to Mount Doom. Though there were complications, the strategy worked and the One Ring was dissolved in the fires of the very volcano that birthed it. With the One Ring gone for good, Barad-dûr was destroyed and Sauron lost his power. His defeat paved the way for Aragorn’s armies to eliminate the Orcs that still lingered in the area, thus finally bringing the threat posed by Mordor to an end at last.

This adventure is undoubtedly the best-known story in the whole of The Lord of the Rings franchise. However, with The Rings of Power season 2, the story of Mordor is bound to be supplemented, with new information about the Black Land being revealed. As season 1’s revelations prove, the show has the potential to include some surprising details as it develops.