Audience members watching the last week’s episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power saw Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark) and her companion Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) reaching Númenor after a perilous journey on the open seas. The elven warrior was cast adrift after forsaking the Grey Havens. She also made a disturbing discovery about Sauron’s plans and his return to power. The episode also introduced viewers to the mysterious figure of Adar (Joseph Mawle), who seemed to be in league with the orcs and was a high-ranking leader among them.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from The Rings of Power episode 3

Why can’t orcs go in the sunlight?

In the episode, Arondir (played by Ismael Cruz Cordova) and his fellow Elves were captured by the orcs, who had been digging a secret tunnel which had allowed them to hide.

Arondir and his friends were taken prisoner and put to work to help dig the tunnel with the orcs turning violent when they tried to escape.

In a deadly skirmish between the elves and the orcs, Arondir was heard telling his friends to force the evil creatures out into the light.

He managed to drag one orc out of the darkness and into direct sunlight, with the creature screaming in pain and its skin apparently burning against the heat of the sun.

The orcs were subterranean creatures (Image: AMAZON)

Orcs were said to be corrupted men and elves (Image: AMAZON)

Many viewers might be curious to know why orcs don’t like sunlight but from J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore there doesn’t seem to be a simple answer.

Tolkien is said to have changed the origin story of the orcs several times with one suggesting orcs were corrupted men and even corrupted elves, with another one saying they were made from rock and slime.

A passage from The Silmarillion suggests unhappy elves held captive by Morgoth were “by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves”.

However, Tolkien did say clearly they were created by Morgoth in the darkness during the Years of the Lamps and so they knew nothing but of light.

Orcs shunned the light and lived in caves (Image: AMAZON)

Orcs came in many different breeds across Middle Earth (Image: AMAZON)

Like any sort of subterranean creature, they were less accustomed to light and weren’t built for it.

Therefore, any contact with light would prove harmful to orcs as they thrived underground in caves and pits and the like.

In Rings of Power, the orcs were thriving in an underground tunnel which they had been using to hide away.

In the film trilogy, some orcs could move about in sunlight during the day but their powers were diminished.

Additionally, according to the Tolkien Gateway, the breed of orc known as the Uruk-hai who appeared in the Third Age (in The Lord of the Rings) were faster than normal orcs and could move during the day.

The Uruk-hai were smaller, stronger and faster than their predecessors and could withstand the sun better compared to other orcs.

However, the Uruk-hai didn’t like being in sunlight but it appears they were less affected by it.

Given The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age, these orcs come before the Uruk-hai and so they would struggle with the sunlight and grow weak if directly exposed.

Given the orcs are under the thrall of evil and dark lords such as Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman (Christopher Lee), they would also draw strength from literal darkness and thrive on it.

Orcs were said to be ‘bred’ and there are different types across the Tolkien universe, which include the Orcs of Mordor, the orcs of the Misty Mountains, the Uruk-hai, and the Eastern Orcs, among others.

The next episode of The Rings of Power will reveal more about the orcs of the Second Age of Middle Earth with fans learning more of their evil plans and their schemes with Sauron.