What would the Balrog have done if the ring had fallen into his hands

[Blackheart]

Hrmmm... Orc discussions aside, I don't think anyone would have gotten the one ring away from the balrog, once he had possesion of it.

The One not only contained some of Sauron's power, it was forged by Sauron as a way to tap into the power/will that Morgoth had invested into Arda.

In fact, a Balrog might have been Morgoth's first choice if he'd had a say in it. Easier for his influence to direct. Morgoth's will remained in Arda and was present in the the Third age (and probably is to this very day).

The thing about the ring was that it allowed one to, for all practical purposes, become an avatar of Morgoth... (assuming you had the power to weild it) The vala of lust,fear, pride, envy, fire and darkness. (No wonder the ring had such a pull).

A Balrog, backed by such power would have suddenly aquirred all the ambition, drive, lust for conquest, and even evil intelligence (assuming he were a rather dull balrog) that he needed to become a world ruling Tyrant...

I've always thought that the ultimate aim of Sauron, or any other replacement, would be to open the doors of night, and re-admit Morgoth to middle earth... Certainly an arduous undertaking, and one would need the entire resources of arda perhaps to do so... Not to mention finding a way to breach the barriers to Aman...

But there are hints that eventually it gets done...