The following contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1, Episode 4 "The Great Wave," now streaming on Prime Video.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is spending a lot of time with the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, with good reason. The realm of Khazad-dûm is expansive and powerful in the time depicted on the Prime Video series. The dwarves are rapidly growing their mines and discovering new and dangerous minerals. Mithril is the most coveted material in Middle-earth and the dwarves see it as a sign of power and great things to come. However, it will lead to the doom of the dwarves and bring Durin's Bane to all of Khazad-dûm.
Mithril is a rare and powerful metal known as the pride of Moria. In Lord of the Rings lore, the dwarves became desperate for the mineral, delving deeper and deeper into their mines. This avarice brought doom and death to their doorstep because the Balrog was awakened and destroyed the dwarves of Khazad-dûm. Mithril wasn't a blessing -- it was a curse, and while Durin IV couldn't see the danger, his father could. The doom of Moria could have been prevented but the greed of the Dwarves ended the powerful realm.
Durin was immediately suspicious of Elrond when he came to Khazad-dûm. He was certain that his friend was sent by Celebrimbor to find out the secret of Mithril. The Dwarves were fiercely protective of the new mineral because they knew the power it possessed. They could make impenetrable armor, devastating weapons and great tools. Its worth was immeasurable and that fueled the dwarves' greed for the precious metal. Going against the King's orders, Durin continued to mine Mithril and almost killed multiple workers -- yet still didn't stop.
The true doom of Khazad-dûm occurred when the dwarves uncovered the Balrog. After the Balrog's defeat in the First Age, the creature hid deep in Moria until it was awoken by the mining. The Balrog was named Durin's Bane because of the destruction it caused in Khazad-dûm. The realm ended directly because of the discovery of Mithril. The desire for riches beyond belief woke the Balrog and killed many dwarves until Gandalf stopped it, similar to how the dwarves of Erebor greed brought Smaug to the Lonely Mountain.
During The Rings of Power, Khazad-dûm is beautiful, growing and prosperous. It's impossible to imagine that all the great accomplishments of the dwarves could come tumbling down around them. But Durin allows the glow of the Mithril to blind him to any dangers. He knows the worth of the metal and how it could benefit his people. J.R.R. Tolkien readers know that Mithril stoked the metaphorical fire of industry in the Dwarves, which through greed alllowed the deadly fires of the Balrog to consume the fabled kingdom.
The doom of Moria is solely the fault of the dwarves. The power and wealth of Mithril tapped into a primal part of them, causing them to want more and more of the precious metal. This made them dive deeper and deeper into their mines while casting aside any thought of consequence. The Balrog was woken up and the doom and destruction of Khazad-dûm was written in stone. The Rings of Power will be the first TV series to play that tragedy out on the small screen.
Lord of the Rings:The Rings of Power streams Fridays on Prime Video.