The Rings of Power: Is Season 2’s Balrog the Same as Fellowship of the Ring’s?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, Episode 6, “Where Is He?”.

The Rings of Power Season 2’s latest episode, “Where Is He?” just delivered another big Balrog tease. So, what’s the deal with The Rings of Power‘s Balrog—is it the same fire demon that shows up in The Fellowship of the Ring?

The Rings of Power’s Balrog, Explained

The Rings of Power‘s Balrog first appears in Season 1’s penultimate installment, “The Eye.” Here, the flaming beastie lies dormant at the bottom of a Khazad-dûm mine… until Durin III wakes it up. The Dwarven King drops a leaf into the gaping chasm the Balrog calls home, and it roars in response. It’s not enough to alert Durin and his subjects to the danger beneath their feet, however, and the Balrog remains undetected in Season 2. That said, some people—including Durin IV and Disa—now suspect that something not-so-nice lurks within their realm’s foundations. Oh, Sauron also seemingly knows about the Balrog; in Season 2, Episode 6, the dark lord experiences a brief vision of the monster while visiting Durin III’s throne room in his “Annatar” disguise.

So, a Balrog is clearly on its way in The Rings of Power. But which Balrog, exactly? Is this the same diabolical opponent Gandalf the Grey confronts in The Fellowship of the Ring (which takes place after Rings of Power)? Yep—unless showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay are tweaking J.R.R. Tolkien’s original Lord of the Rings canon to cram a second Balrog underneath Khazad-dûm. Given how unlikely that is, we’re confident identifying Rings of Power‘s Balrog as Durin’s Bane, the fire demon Tolkien describes as hibernating below the Dwarven kingdom before later going head-to-head with Gandalf. Is this Balrog also meant to be the same creature partly responsible for the creation of Mithril in The Rings of Power‘s continuity? We can’t say for certain, although both Balrogs certainly spend time in the Misty Mountains!

Related: Is Tom Bombadil’s Wife Goldberry in The Rings of Power Season 2?

Should The Rings of Power’s Balrog Be Awake Yet?

Nope, not according to Tolkien’s established Middle-earth timeline. This chronology has the Balrog burrowing its way into the roots of the Misty Mountains late in the First Age (or early in the Second Age) and staying put until the Third Age. That’s thousands of years after the events depicted in The Rings of Power, so Durin’s Bane should still be fast asleep in the show!

Oh, and that’s another thing: the “Durin” the Balrog’s nickname refers to isn’t Durin III or Durin IV. They’re both dead by the time the Balrog awakens in Tolkien’s version of the timeline. Instead, it’s their ancestor Durin VI who runs afoul of the flaming beastie after he and his subjects go a bit too ham with their Mithril mining operations.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is currently streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes dropping Thursdays.