Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 363327" data-attributes="member: 177">Having re-read the Moria-crossing, There are a few things we might speculate...Why doesn't teh balrog block Balin's entry, or act to expel the dwarves retaking Moria?  Pretty simple, really - it doesn't care.  The dwarves are no threat to the Balrog, and have nothing it wants.  When the dwarves first built Moria, the balrog didn't act until the dwarves delved down to bother it.  There's little reason to think it'd act differently with a smaller group of less skilled dwarves.The Balrog is not mentioned explicity in the records Gandalf reads while the fellowship is in Moria.  It is then possible that the Balrog had no part in defeating Balin's attempt to recolonize.  It only comes up when it senses the Ring and/or Gandalf's presence.As for the rest, much can be explained by the fact that dwarves are a bit boastful.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Note the records Gandalf reads - first the crown Balin lord of Moria, and only then do they send Oin out to find the upper armories and the Hollin Gate.  They crowned Balin before they had actually fully secured Moria!  There's no reason to think they ever really fully secured it, especially the deeper areas.  More likely, the dwarves found key points they could hold strongly, securing part of Moria near the Mirrormere.Then, when the end comes for the dwarves, the first thrust of it comes from the Dimrill Dale.  That doesn't mean the entire attack comes from there, or even that the orcs are actually from outside Moira.  Imagine instead that the orcs have a little bit of cunning.  They know they cannot take the defensive positions Balin's set up within the upper regions of Moria, so they try something else....They find olut that Balin's got a habit of gazing into the Mirrormere, so they ambush him there alone (stuipd dwarf, going out alone in those mountains).  The Dimrill Gate is not fully secured closed, because they know they'll be letting Balin back inside in a few minutes.  This gives the orcs a foothold.  Now the dwarves have a problem - they need to hold off these orcs coming in, but to do so they have to weaken other defensive positions within Moria, allowing an assault from the deeps to succeed.  The dwarves are then trapped.  They cannot go down or out the Dimrill gate, because those places are held by orcs.  They cannot go out the Hollin gate, because of the thing in the water there that ate Oin...</blockquote>

Verification