Thread:Jester of chaos/@comment-1762629-20150217014234/@comment-1762629-20150217015843

Sauron's seen ordering Azog around only once, but aside from that, Azog drives much of the plot of at least the third movie on his own, especially given how Sauron's repelled far off early on in the third movie. Azog also pursues his own agenda in his attempt to kill Thorin, hence that entire sub-arc. Even with all that aside, he's still responsible for perpetrating a large amount of the conflict through all three films, on Sauron's orders or not.