Adapting Tolkien's sprawling canon of Middle-Earth lore, The Rings of Power explores ideas and locations that we don't get to see in the main Lord of the Rings trilogy. We visit Númenor and the Southlands, and witness a new side to characters like Galadriel and Gandalf. But as the show began to spend more time on the rise of Sauron, one perspective seemed a little underdeveloped: that of the Orcs, the much-maligned race who make up most of Sauron's army.

In The Rings of Power season 3, we finally experience more of that Orcish perspective, represented by a new character named Marnûkh (Adam Young), "an Orc with an arc." Arriving in episode 2, his storyline echoes the period in The Lord of the Rings when Gollum guides Frodo and Sam through Mordor.

Marnûkh's role revolves around leading Galadriel and Arondir to the Orcish prison of Gundabad, so they can rescue an elven smith who has been imprisoned there for years. If they can save her, then they can undermine Sauron's plan to make the One Ring – but it takes a while for the elves to accept Marnûkh's motivations.

In Tolkien's world, we're not encouraged to see Orcs as individual people with relatable feelings. They tend to be depicted as intrinsically malevolent and repulsive, functioning as anonymous cannon fodder in Sauron's wars. In turn, Tolkien's influence over other fantasy properties like Dungeons and Dragons has led to a lot of debate around the concept of fantasy racism, and whether it's offensive to depict an entire race of people as evil, ugly, and subservient to their villainous master.

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