The Lord of the Rings: Episode 106
In this series of blogs, I explore the musical details of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. For a comprehensive introduction to my approach and my creative experience, start with my introductory four-part “Appendices:” Part 1 “Journey to Middle-earth,” Part 2 “Themes of Middle-earth,” Part 3 “Forming a Fellowship,” and Part 4 “There and Back Again.” I also blogged about scoring episodes 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105.

SCORING EPISODE 106
“UDÛN”

SPOILERS AHEAD: “Udûn” is unlike any episode of television I have ever scored before. It was substantially more difficult and demanding even than scoring a feature film. Scoring a big film is a sprint (as I learned on Godzilla: King of the Monsters). The composer blasts down the racetrack, gets to the end in one piece, and can collapse when done. Television is a marathon. I could not even start “Udûn” until I had already scored five hours of narrative for nearly half a year. Even before I laid down the episode’s first notes, I was already nearing exhaustion. And when I was done with its fiery climax, I would still need to have in reserve enough strength to keep going for another two months.
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