'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power': Is the Balrog in the prequel Durin's Bane?
A sneak peek of the Balrog in the 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' trailer sent fans at the San Diego Comic-Con 2022 in a tizzy. Even host Stephen Colbert who helmed the panel during the convention was stunned at the cameo of the ancient demonic creature.
Per Fandom, the origin of the Balrogs reads, "Originally, in unrecorded ancient times, the Balrogs were fiery Maiar that were persuaded by Melkor's might and splendor to join his cause. Their first dwelling was in Utumno, but after their master's defeat during the War for Sake of the Elves, the Balrogs and other creatures in Melkor's service escaped to Angband and hibernated there."
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'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power': Will the series show Durin's Bane?
Much of the speculation is if 'The Rings of Power' will show the birth of the Balrogs. Per JRR Tolkien, these creatures were seven in number and served Morgoth. Two of them were killed by Ecthelion and Glorfindel. The fate of the other five Balrogs was not necessarily determined, but one of them was later known as Durin's Bane. For starters, it is possible that the Balrog featured in the series might have been Durin's bane. If not. there might be one storyline where it serves as one of the villains in the ten-episode series.
Showrunner Patrick McKay left the discussion open-ended during the panel saying: "The Second Age is so enormously vast that anything could happen. Balrogs are sneaky." This sort of takes the focus away from the fact that Sauron gathered all the evil beings of the days of Morgoth that remained on earth and underground. And that stage, Balrogs weren't mentioned. It does appear that the creators have tweaked a wee bit by introducing a vital cog from the 'LOTR' lore.
'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' premieres with two episodes on September 1 on Amazon Prime Video.