What happens to the Balrog under Hazad-Doom in The Rings of Power

Warning! This article contains spoilers for the finale of The Rings of Power season 2.

The inclusion of the Balrog in The rings of power Season 2 will lead many to wonder what becomes of the dark creature. The Balrog was first teased to be a part of the Prime Video adaptation in The rings of power Season 1’s ending. The Balrog was shown to have been awakened by the dwarves of Khazad Doom, who lay deep beneath the mountains. This foreshadowed the Balrog’s destruction of Moria teased in the timeline of the Lord of the Rings movies, begging the question of how integral to the show the creature would be.

The end of The rings of power Season 2 seems to have answered that question, with the Balrog making its biggest appearance yet. When Durin III was subjected to the greed of the dwarven ring of power, the Balrog made itself known. Durin IV could only watch as his father leaped at the Balrog, sealing the Dwarf King and the creature of shadow and flame deep within Hazad-Doom’s chasms. with The rings of power Season 3’s story on the horizon, the question of the Balrog’s worth is more prevalent than ever.

The Balrog is unlikely to return in Rings of Power Season 3, according to canon

Tolkien’s books indicate that the Balrog remains hidden for much longer

Although it is not clear which direction The rings of power Will take the Balrog, it is something of a roadmap based on JRR Tolkien’s original novels. The Balrog was first mentioned as the creature responsible for destroying Khazad-dûm and rendering it the ruined mine of Moria. interesting, The awakening of the Balrog is said to occur well into Middle-earth’s third age, thousands of years after The rings of power, which is set in the second era.

After the Balrag destroyed Khazad-Doom and summoned the dwarves from the Misty Mountains, the creature was said to have slept alone for about 500 years. Only then did the Ring of the Ring enter Mario on their journey to Mardor, leading to the Balrog’s fateful confrontation with Gandalf, which saw it finally destroyed. The rings of power took place millennia earlier, meaning that – should the show follow Tolkien’s writings – the Balrog likely won’t return in season 3.

How the rings of power can break canon to bring back the Balrog

The Rings of Power has a condensed timeline

Despite Tolkien’s timeline, The rings of power Could go against this and see the Balrog return. Many would see this as a slight against Tolkien, a criticism that is often aimed at the show, however The rings of power It has already been established that it sports a condensed timeline compared to the source material. The events of the Second Age are happening much faster than they do in Tolkien’s work, meaning a change could also be made to bring back the Balrog.

The timeline of the dwarves in Middle-earth may have been altered so that Khazad-Dam was destroyed at the end of the Second Age. After all, Tolkien’s books do not exclude events of any significance between the war of the elves and Sauron, depicted in The rings of power Season 2, and the destruction of Khazad-dûm. As such, it may be the case that The rings of power Simply moving forward the Balrog’s destruction of the dwarf kingdom because it wouldn’t make much of a difference to Tolkien’s writings apart from when exactly the event happened.