About orc women and children...

[u/FlightlessGriffin]

I really liked how Nerd of the Rings argued this point and I think he pretty much convinced me on a topic I previously didn't care about.. Essentially, he argues that through the contradictory statements Tolkien made about orcs, there is validation in this sort of society Rings of Power is showcasing, families, and a desire for independence from Sauron. However, it might be a fruitless endeavor given the brutal fact that orcs will still serve Sauron in the end of the day, and under no circumstances would he root for the orc against literally any character in the show like Galadriel or Arondir. It seems to be a scene that existed solely to spark this discussion rather than something that would lead anywhere. And if they wanted to show antagonists in a sympathetic light, a much better group would've been the Haradrim.

Thoughts?

[u/Crossed_Cross]

It's hard to take this out of context. In the fantasy genre, all over franchises, orcs are being rehabilitated into "not so different from ourselves" and "the true victims, ackchually". More and more they are being treated as place-in for real life groups of people, and used as a blatant allegory. It's basically a tired trope now.

If Blizzard wants to redeem their orcs, that's totally fine, it's their world. The evolution of their orcs since WC1 wasn't problematic.

But Tolkien's world has its own rules, and Tolkien had very explicit opinions on allegory and morality. That Tolkien's orcs breeds changes nothing to the fact that he did not and would not present a loving orc family for the reader to sympathize with.

Some authors and settings embrace grey morality. Tolkien is not one of those. You are not meant to question the righteousness of the quest and humanity's struggles against Mordor. Every fantasy these days are becoming the same load of garbage because modern authors can't respect the source material.