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Uruks being harmed by sunlight, as I recall it, is thematic throughout season 1 of "The Rings of Power". Namely:

  • Adar mentions himself being the only uruk who can withstand sunlight;
  • The whole business of tunneling down the Southlands;
  • Their plot to trigger volcanic activity so that the sky above Mordor may be darkened perpetually.

However, in season 2 episodes 7 and 8, when they're cleaning up the stragglers the morning after the siege of Eregion, uruks seem to operate quite well in the sunlight.

Am I missing something? Has a reason been given in the series? Could there be an in-universe reason outside of the series?

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    'Tis a bit cloudy
    – Valorum
    Commented Oct 4 at 18:06
  • In a story idea of mine a child vampire has been put in a position of authority by his father. He finds sunlight mildly annoying but other vampires find it painful so he has his throne flooded with sunlight to impress them. He also sees other vampires hate the sight of crucifixes & are burned by their touch, and eventually realizes that the crucifix on the chain around his neck he was buried with doesn't burn him at all, and so decorates the throne room with crucifixes and makes sure the crucifix around his neck is visible to other vampires.
    – M. A. Golding
    Commented Oct 5 at 18:10
  • Orcs find daylight painful and bright daylight more so. They can operate in daylight but prefer night so usually go out in the day only on urgent business or under orders from their harsh bosses. And similarly folklore vampires are usually active at night. In many cases they find sunlight annoying or painful, but can go out in the noonday sun if they decide to. The idea that sunlight kills and even disintegrates vampires is believed to be mostly based on the movie Nosferatu (1922).
    – M. A. Golding
    Commented Oct 5 at 18:21

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Orcs being able to "stand sunlight" is a relative term, they won't die from it but they don't function very well in sunlight and need the threat of death or a lot of literal whipping to do most anything while Uruk-hai by the end of the Third Age could handle sunlight with ease thanks to careful breeding as can be seen with the journey of Merry & Pippin's captors across Rohan.

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    Do you have a source for this information?
    – Organic Marble
    Commented Oct 4 at 18:37
  • Since me having used "standing sunlight" instead of "withstanding sunlight" seems to be a source of confusion, I've changed it accordingly.
    – Gae. S.
    Commented Oct 4 at 19:20
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    scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/187775/… This covers it pretty well. They don't like sunlight, but can function if forced.
    – Nolimon
    Commented Oct 4 at 20:08

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