Rings of Power’s Balrog was brought to life with one amazing practical effect

The Balrog awoke in Rings of Power Season 2’s finale, and it looked even more epic and terrifying than in the Lord of the Rings movies.

Rings of Power teased the Balrog at the end of Season 1, awoken from the Dwarves’ mining in Khazad-dûm. With King Durin going deeper than ever before, discovering unimaginable wealth beneath their feet, it came at a big price.

In the opening minutes of Season 2 Episode 8, the Balrog emerges, armed with its scorching whip. The king sacrifices himself to collapse the mine and bury the monster, leaping at it with his axe and clashing with its sword.

It’s an extraordinary set piece, brought to life with the most immersive and well-visualized effects in the show so far. However, it went one step further than Lord of the Rings: its whip was practical!

Obviously, the team was influenced by Fellowship of the Ring. According to director Charlotte Brändström, there was “a lot of storyboarding, talking, and collaboration between [cinematographer Alex Disenhof], me, and our VFX supervisor Jason Smith, who had to create entire shots in there, obviously that didn’t exist.”

“So then there was a lot about directing the actors and imagining what they were reacting to.”

Disenhof said it was a “bit of a dance with the actors and where the Balrog would be in frame. So we built this 40ft tall tower of lights that were controllable. It was kind of a fire effect… so the actors could see where the Balrog was based on how high the light was or down.”

Prime Video

When Durin’s ankle is grabbed by the Balrog’s whip, not unlike Gandalf as he stands on the edge in Khazad-dûm, you probably presumed it was CGI – but it wasn’t.

“There was the whip, and we built an LED light whip that wrapped around the ankle of our hero. It was a difficult set because it was a cliff drop-off. So we had to shoot almost everything off a crane, and it was a small set… but it came together.”

Brändström explained how interactive lighting is always required when you’re shooting VFX sequences, “otherwise the shots won’t look good.”

“That’s what Alex is so good at: imagining what it’s going to be like, so he knows there’s going to be fire here.”

Find if Rings of Power Season 3 has a release date, read our interview with Gandalf, and learn how Sauron’s actor improvised the most emotional scene in the Season 2 finale. We’ve also got guides on Tom Bombadil, the Dark Wizard, and Undying Lands.