Durin's Bane

[Coffeehouse]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

the creature would have thrown a monkey wrench into the whole storyline because theres a good chance he would have followed them out of Moria and suddenly you have this significantly powerful evil free radical in the equation.

My question has always been did Tolkien bring the Balrog into the story line simply to provide a being capable of killing Gandalf and in this way give him the opportunity to transform to his stronger White form?

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

Perhaps the Balrog was the way he finally got things moving again?

Yes it seems reasonably that the Balrog represented the sort of ancient, 'deep-evil' being befitting as a foe to the stature of Gandalf the Grey, and qualifying as the 'level-up boss' (pardon the gameing language) for a Gandalf the White.

The idea of a powerful evil free radical() roaming the areas around Lothlorien is slightly unsettling. The threat of a Balrog exiting the Mines of Moria to wreak havoc does serve to underline how delicate the balance of power is in ME (at least prior to the War). To be honest I don't think Sauron would be particularly fond of the Balrog going cross-country.

So the Balrog clearly is an X-factor, and had to be done away with for the good of the plot.

I always imagined though that there was more than one Balrog swimming so to speak the deeps of the Misty Mountains. Did JRRT ever comment on that?