The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power had its fair share of problems. While most of its visuals and vistas were pretty good, some of the dialogue was next-level cringy, and some of the plot points were baffling. That's not even addressing how the series ignored The Lord of the Rings' canon on a number of different occasions. For instance, it changed Sauron's undercover character from Annatar to Halbrand, and came up with a whole backstory for mithril.
Initially, there were some pretty good viewership numbers, and some viewers still really enjoyed the series. Regardless, it's clear that it was a disappointment for a lot of Tolkien diehards. Hopefully, Season 2 will rectify some lore mistakes and feature some more iconic moments. However, one thing that Season 2 won't have to improve on is the series' Orcs. They were one of the best parts about The Rings of Power, and there was a secret weapon that Season 1 used to make them even more terrifying.
The Rings Of Power's Orcs Were Terrifying
As soon as Amazon released first looks at The Rings of Power's Orcs, everyone loved them. They looked great, and they offered hope for a series that already had fans skeptical. When episodes started premiering, it became clear that the Orcs were going to be the best version of the creatures in the franchise. They were cunning, resourceful and blatantly cruel. Unlike LOTR, they weren't just mindless beasts who were serving an overload.
As the series continued, The Rings of Power addressed the Orcs ancient origins. Adar was introduced as their leader, and eventually, he was confirmed to be one of the Elves that Morgoth captured and tortured before the First Age. Calling Adar a Moriondor, the series said that Morgoth created Elves out of those original, corrupted Elves. Tolkien changed the story behind the Orcs' origins more than once, but the story that they came from Elves was still a possibility.
How Rings Of Power Made Orcs Sound Terrifying
While all the Orc visuals and Adar's story gave the Orcs some needed depth, The Rings of Power did something else that most fans don't know about. In Deadline’s Inside The Ring Episode 6, composer Bear McCreary talked about the music that announced the presence of the Orcs. He wanted them to sound primal and scary. So, he found something that was literally primal and scary. He found a group of players that used woodwind instruments made out of bones.
One of the instruments in particular was called an Aztec Death Whistle, and McCreary said that it actually sounded like someone screaming. He said that the score was littered with the primal, eerie sounds that the bones made, and that helped announce an atmosphere of dread every time that an Orc was about to appear on-screen. While The Rings of Power has some work to after Season 1, nothing needs to change for the Orcs. They intentionally upped the fear factor for them, and it worked, even scaring some of the actors on set.