“Fly, you fools!” Gandalf the Grey urges Frodo Baggins, just before he slips from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm into the deepest depths of the Misty Mountains. Trailing behind him is a gigantic, flaming monster. It’s been nearly 20 years since we saw that legendary Tolkien antagonist in The Lord of the Rings movies, but Episode 7 of The Rings of Power may have marked the Balrog’s comeback by showing us its origins.
