A Single Line From The Lord of the Rings Secretly Inspired This Bizarre Rings of Power Scene

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The second season of Prime Video’s series began with a look back at how the Dark Lord Sauron became Halbrand. After Morgoth was defeated, Sauron was supposed to become the new Dark Lord, but during his crowning, Adar unexpectedly stabbed him with Morgoth’s crown. This act triggered an attack by the Orcs, who overwhelmed and viciously attacked Sauron with their weapons. They shattered his physical form, but because he was an immortal spirit – a Maia – he couldn’t be completely destroyed. His dark blood seeped into the ground, collecting in a cave as a swirling, sludge-like mass. Many watching compared this to the Symbiote from the Marvel universe.

For centuries, Sauron fed on any living creature he encountered, growing stronger as he absorbed their essence. He eventually broke free from his cave and clung to a moving wagon. After killing the driver, he was able to rebuild himself into a humanoid shape. This didn’t happen in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. While Sauron could slowly regain his form after being destroyed, he never turned into black goo. Both he and other Maiar spirits were known to appear as mist or smoke after being defeated. However, this slimy transformation wasn’t completely new to Tolkien’s world. A passage in the chapter “The White Rider” from The Two Towers hinted at Sauron’s ability to regenerate, and it probably inspired the writers of The Rings of Power.

The Balrog’s True Form Left Was Vague in The Lord of the Rings

While with Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in Fangorn Forest, Gandalf recounted the events following his fall from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm with the Balrog. They plunged into a pool of icy, black water, hidden so deep beneath Middle-earth that even the Dwarves of Moria were unaware of its existence. Gandalf and the Balrog continued to fight for ten full days, climbing the Endless Stair as they battled. Finally, they reached the summit of Celebdil, one of the peaks, where Gandalf ultimately defeated the terrifying creature. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers presented this scene with considerable accuracy, though it omitted one key detail: the Balrog’s appearance transformed when it fell into the water. As Gandalf explained to his companions, “His fire was quenched, but now he was a thing of slime, stronger than a strangling snake.”

Jackson had planned to feature this detail in the movie. In the director’s commentary for The Two Towers, he shared, “This scene was significantly cut down, even before filming began, due to budget constraints. The idea was that when Gandalf fell into the water, the Balrog would transform into a slimy creature and continue the fight underwater.” While this might sound unusual to viewers unfamiliar with the book, it actually aligns with Tolkien’s early descriptions. The films portray the Balrog as a fearsome demon with rocky skin, but the novel presents it as something less defined. In the chapter “The Bridge of Khazad-dûm” from The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien wrote, “What [the Balrog] was could not be seen: it was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater.” When it plunged into the water, it lost the cover of fire and smoke, but remained difficult to clearly make out.

Sauron and the Balrog Were Similar Beings

The way the Balrog changed form in the book was quite different from how Sauron did in The Rings of Power. Sauron became a sludge-like substance because his physical body was broken, whereas the Balrog transformed simply from being exposed to water. Despite these differences, the core ideas behind both transformations were comparable.

It’s logical to think the description of the Balrog influenced how Sauron was shown, because both creatures were among Morgoth’s earliest and most terrifying servants, frequently acting as leaders in his forces. While The Rings of Power has significantly changed many aspects of Tolkien’s original stories, it has also included small details that only dedicated fans would probably recognize, so Sauron’s appearance as a slimy being could easily be a reference to the Balrog.

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2025-09-30 01:06