The Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power Season 3's Balrog Voice Actor Will Shock You

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" shared a lot of things about Season 3 during their Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con (which we covered here on Looper). Among a flurry of actor names, new characters, and even an exciting new trailer, was the splashy announcement that newcomer Simon Pegg will be voicing a character in the show. Who, you ask? The Balrog itself.

The crowd got a special sneak peek at the coming demonic horror via a featurette about how the show's creators brought the creatures to life in Season 3. Standing out amid a parade of Mûmakil and Fell-beasts was the fiery Balrog, a character that will, for the first time, speak with a voice of its own.

Durin's Bane first captured the public eye in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" film, where it brought the whips and the fire in battle with Ian McKellen's Gandalf on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. The Balrog showed up again briefly in the opening moments of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," but it hasn't gotten much more screen time in the quarter of a century since — that is, with the exception of "The Rings of Power." The show brought in the Balrog for a brief moment in Season 1 when the beast woke up from slumber. In Season 2, it emerged from hiding, killing King Durin III (Peter Mullan) in battle before the season ended. In all that time, the fiery demon never spoke a word. That's going to change when Season 3 arrives in November.

The obvious follow-up question for a Balrog casting announcement is, well, does the Balrog talk in the source material? We can definitely say this Balrog doesn't. In fact, according to our own research, there isn't a documented moment when a Balrog gets its own dialogue across the main sections of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. But that isn't a flat-out "no." It just means Tolkien never gave them lines that we can read. You know who else doesn't have written lines in the source material? Elendil. That doesn't mean Lloyd Owen's character shouldn't talk (although it does raise challenges for adapting him to a visual medium). There are also examples like Smaug and Glaurung, dragons with demonic spirits who can and do talk regularly.

One thing is certain from reading Tolkien's writings. Balrogs aren't stupid. They aren't animals. In "The Silmarillion," it points out that there are many spirits like Morgoth and Sauron who "break bad." Of these, the book says, "Dreadful among these spirits were the Valaraukar, the scourges of fire that in Middle-earth were called the Balrogs, demons of terror."

In other words, we're talking about hyper-intelligent demonic beings who are basically Sauron's peers. They've just taken a different path by using a physical form that is, well, freaking terrifying. They're big, brute-force, muscle for the original Dark Lord Morgoth, but they're also smart. In "The Silmarillion," they serve as captains and generals, guiding armies and making strategic decisions. So, yeah, while it isn't stated outright, it's a very reasonable assumption that Balrogs are able to talk as they serve their master Morgoth and, in turn, control their own followers.

While it's reasonable to have a Balrog speak, it is technically adding to the source material. That isn't a problem for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," though. The show takes place in an era that J. R. R. Tolkien only briefly sketched out in most areas. Filling in the gaps has been part of the process of building the show's story — plus showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have shown they aren't afraid to change the Tolkien timeline if it suits their version of the story.

Still, when it comes to the Balrog, the show has wandered particularly far from the books. It isn't that there isn't a Balrog in the Misty Mountains at this time in Middle-earth history. But it is supposed to be in hiding throughout the entire Second Age in which the show is set. It isn't until well into the Third Age that Tolkien has the Dwarves do their whole "delve too greedily and too deep" stuff and wake it up. So, if you're wondering why there's a Balrog in "The Rings of Power," we get it. This isn't how Tolkien wrote it.

But if you're going to compress time and pull the Balrog into the Second Age, at least this seems like the right way to do it. The showrunners have had the brooding threat on the sidelines, slowly moving closer, threatening the Dwarven home, for two seasons. And now? It's going to pipe up and say a few things. And who is it going to talk to? McKay shared at SDCC that "[The Balrog] should have a scene with Sauron this season. Balrogs know how to live in fire. Sauron goes to the Balrog to learn this power." Yeah. That's going to be freaking awesome.