I wouldn't say that. Sauron's personal power was diminished, but the power of his will, and of his armies, was not. Those against him, however, were not united and in relative dissaray when it came to alliances etc.
Quote:
|
Although there is no basis for this, I always imagined that Melkor probably had as many Maiar as all of the other Valar put together. If each had 50-100 serving them, then Melkor could indeed have had about a thousand. Too bad the books are so vague.
|
What's there to say that all of these Maiar under Morgoth were Balrogs? Sauron was one. The giant hound that Huan fought was another. Maiar could have been used to possess various pieces of machinery in his fortress, to captain his forces, and to guard.
It is only Maiar that naturally had fiery, powerful spirits that could become Balrogs. I also seem to remember seven original Balrogs somewhere -- I think it was in Unfinished Tales -- but also that three escaped from the war of wrath. One was slain by Gandalf. Perhaps Sauron had the other two under his service? Probably not, seeing as how they never emerged. The story about the other one slaying the Blue Wizards certainly fits, although if so, why didn't Saruman report it?