Sauron's Transformation : Why Didn't He Become a Balrog Under Melkor's Corruption?

Sauron's Transformation : Why Didn't He Become a Balrog Under Melkor's Corruption?
#lotr #lordoftherings #middleearth #history

[@TarMody]

Balrogs are Maiar who are drawn to Melkor by tuning their tunes to his tune during the performance of the Music of the Ainur. Sauron (Mairon) is a Maia who descended to Arda as a result of Eru realizing the vision of Arda and therefore joined Melkor's side after the Balrogs. While the Balrogs were deeply attached to Melkor to serve him unconditionally due to their status in music, they were on his side from the beginning, and Sauron later joined him because he realized that he had the potential to realize his own ideal more effectively under Melkor's service. Essentially, Melkor is a tool for Sauron to realize his ideal. This is the most fundamental factor that distinguishes Sauron from the Balrogs. While Sauron acts with the ideal of maintaining order, which is the motivation that comes from the nature of his creation, the Balrogs aim to serve Melkor unconditionally and, like Sauron, they do not have any other ideals. Melkor wants to rule over Arda with terror to become its king and he wants to destroy what he cannot rule. In this respect, his ideal is focused on pure destruction and chaos. Sauron's ideal of domination is to manipulate the target being he wants to rule and to ensure that it comes under his control with its consent. Although Melkor and Sauron both have a common ideal in terms of domination, they differ in their methods. For this reason, since the Balrogs were on Melkor's side in the beginning (during the performance of the music), they were corrupted according to his oppressive method. Sauron, on the other hand, has a different nuance around his ideal in terms of domination since he later joined Melkor's side.

[@Staeger2000]

I really like the presentation and appreciate your perspective, well done!

[@genXdoom72]

Sauron was of a higher order of Maia than the balrogs. He was one of those Maiar who Tolkien described as “well nigh as mighty as the Valar themselves”. Balrogs were drawn to Melkor from the very beginning of the song of creation, it took ages for Melkor to corrupt Sauron

[@jakeg3733]

This is something I never understood about the deeper lore. So there are by design different levels of Maiar? Or is it that Melkor/Morgoth and Sauron were able to accrue more power over time, far beyond what was intended for them, because they were rebels? A third option I see is that all is going according to plan by Eru; they were to play the role of bad guys in a moral dichotomy that Eru wished to create, and so had to be significantly more powerful than the average Maia or Valar

[@Dante-vf4sd]

Melkor and Sauron where the most powerful of their kind in the beginning when they were created​@@jakeg3733

[@iraelliott8936]

This would actually be the best argument I've heard as to why the Balrogs didn't just create new forms for themselves after being slain. In the same breath it also makes it even more curious as to why Sauron didn't make more use of the Balrog as Sauron would only need to say he was looking for ways to bring back Melkor to earn his allegiance

[@ericwaxman6437]

While interesting, I do not think this analysis is grounded in cannon for at least two reasons. First, Gothmog was a commander of armies, which requires tactics and strategy not just brute force. Second, several of the Ainur were spirits of fire by nature (all were created by the imperishable flame) and thus their fiery spirt or nature at nothing to do with Melcor’s corruption. In fact, Arien (who ended up guiding the sun) was just such a spirit who was not corrupted by Melcor. It seems the case that many of these fire spirts did end up siding with Melcor (and perhaps that explains the physical form they chose to manifest along with the whips etc) but not the fiery nature of their essence.

[@fred20097]

Tysm for this video! Absolutely loved it. I could be wrong, but I've always thought of balrogs as being less powerful than sauron. In spite of the leader of the balrogs, Gothmog, commanding armies and being relied upon by Melkor as one of his most important generals, wasn't it Sauron and not Gothmog who commanded Angbad during Melkor's absence? The balrogs were under his control, even Gothmog, not the other way round. And is it true that balrogs couldn't even talk? Secondly, although it's not stated anywhere in the lotrs, surely when Durin's Bane was awoken in khazad dum, it would've heard about the rise of Sauron? I assume as soon as it did, it offered its services to him and he told it to guard moria to prevent the dwarves from retaking it? A balrog would be a far more effective deterrent than just goblins. Also, other youtube channels have asked the question - who would win in a battle between the witch king and gothmog? The witch king is basically sauron, so I'm guessing it would be in reality Gothmog vs Sauron? One last theory - some Tolkien fans argue that balrogs don't have wings. Personally, I prefer them with wings, even though Tolkien has them falling to their deaths - wings can get crumpled up. Plus, winged balrogs are simply more fun. But if indeed balrogs aren't meant to have wings, what if Durin's Bane stayed in Moria because it couldn't get out? Maybe it was trapped there and kept making wrong turns? Just an idea.

[@fred20097]

What if, even worse, Durin's Bane didn't actually mean any harm? It was approaching them simply to ask for directions, and (understandably) Gandalf misunderstood its intentions? You never know...

[@DraconimLt]

Take a drink every time he says 'Melkor's fury' or 'Melkor's wrath'...

[@nicholassima.7465]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@simonkoster]

I like this analysis! The Balrogs and Sauron may differ in the extent in which they submitted themselves to Morgoth, Sauron's submission not being quite 100%.

[@christopherchuauhang4829]

I sometimes forget Balrogs are former Maiar like Sauron and Gandalf

[@timothybeaulieu5103]

I get the feeling that Sauron and Durin's Bane would've eventually fought each other if Sauron had been successful in his campaign. In his quest to control EVERYTHING, Sauron likely would've reached down into Moria and tried to take command of the Balrog. Balrogs were Morgoth's minions, not Sauron's and there would be resistance. But Sauron's ultimate focus was on the Free Peoples and he might try to use them to draw the Balrog out if he'd succeeded in dominating them. One step at a time...

[@maegliinvalantor6441]

Baltogs were fire spirits who mainly drifted to Melkor , but that didn’t make them fire spirits. E.g. also a fire spirit who wanted nothing to do with Melkor was Arien. Sauron being of of aule’s folk, not sure of his nature off the top of my head.

[@CptnPunchy]

All Maiar Chose their form.