The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022) has been having a lot of fun with the established lore of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world. While The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson (and the subsequent Hobbit films) were largely faithful, they still made changes. By contrast, Rings of Power has felt more liberated to play with character history and setting, especially when it comes to villains like Sauron.
The dark lord of Middle-earth is set to have a very big year on the show, with the trailer and Comic-Con panel for the Prime Video show’s third season teasing his mission to create the One Ring. Part of that journey will seemingly include the Balrog, the devilish creature that famously faced off with Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). The arc will even take a curve that most Tolkien fans likely weren’t expecting, given the way it contradicts one of Tolkien’s rules of the world.
The Balrog Will Actually Speak in ‘Rings Of Power’ Season 3
One of the biggest surprises from The Rings of Power panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 was the reveal that the Balrog will factor into the events of the third season and will even have dialogue. The panel teased that the Balrog is one of the figures that Sauron must find if he wants to unlock the mysteries of how to forge the One Ring and make it as powerful as he wants it to be. Given the infamy of the entity in the source material, the popularity of it in the fan community, and the role it has already played in the show, the Balrog taking on a more important appearance is an especially interesting turn.
A brief teaser shown at Comic-Con showed Sauron confronting the Balrog and the pair even coming to blows. The teaser also revealed that Simon Pegg, star of Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Star Trek (2009), will play the creature and provide the voice-over for his scene with Sauron. It’s a wild direction to hear about and one that doesn’t necessarily line up exactly with the original canon of Tolkien’s timeline, but it would be far from the first time that the show has gone its own route with the story.
Does the Balrog Speak in Tolkien’s Original LOTR Stories?
In Middle-earth, the Balrog are among the world’s most dangerous entities. During the First Age—which is depicted in The Silmarillion long before the events of Rings of Power—the monstrous Morgoth corrupted lesser Maiar (the angelic-esque species that Gandalf is one of) and transformed them into the Balrogs. The Balrog evolved over the course of Tolkien’s writings, growing from a thousand soldiers of Morgoth into one of his most devious creations.
Although some of Tolkien’s original writings suggested that the Balrog could at least make vocal sounds like gasps and screams, it never actually spoke in the original story. However, as explained in The Gray Havens, Tolkien eventually noted in his letters that the Balrog should never speak or make any vocal sound. As a result, the announcement that it will get formal dialogue alongside Sauron can come as a bit of a surprise to a fanbase that’s already got mixed feelings about the series as a whole.
Why I’m Really Excited to See the Balrog and Sauron Together
While some purists are mad that the Balrog is breaking from the canon in Rings of Power and getting some dialogue, I’m excited to see how the show handles the concept. The brief snippet shown at the convention indicates a pretty massive battle between the two villainous forces—as well as teasing their eventual partnership, given that both characters have roles to play in the future. The Balrog’s knowledge and experience will finally give fans a better idea of what the creature’s actual personality or mentality could be, something that the previously silent entity could never fully offer.
Rings of Power has already experimented with the lore and history of Middle-earth, tweaking certain aspects of the timeline and character interactions to craft a unique take on the lore of the franchise. The Balrog change is one of their biggest swings yet, but enough of their changes have at least been interesting enough to be engaging. This could also be a crucial chance to see Sauron faced with a threat he can’t just overcome, setting up the kind of confrontation that the show simply hasn’t been able to fully indulge without sacrificing the menace baked into the character. The Balrog speaking is a big turn for Rings of Power and could be one of the defining moments of the third season of the show.
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Beginning in a time of relative peace, we follow an ensemble cast of characters as they confront the re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
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