[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

Hmm, that's an excellent point. So I guess we have to assume that the 'elf warrior' story was disregarded completely by the Powers That Be - first in favour of 'Frodo escaped by himself' ('there was no elf warrior... just the short one...'), and then 'an orcish rebellion helped him get away'.

Because you're right - I don't think the Mouth can have known there were two Hobbits, otherwise specifically saying one would have been as good as saying 'your plan has not yet failed'.

There is a flaw with this, however, in that Shagrat actually fought Sam (however briefly) so he knew and could have potentially reported that there was more than one enemy in Cirith Ungol. He might have had the same problem as Snaga in understanding that Sam was a hobbit but he could have been in no doubt that Sam was an enemy. Of course, it is likely that the orcs were not familiar with hobbits and wouldn't be able to classify them as such and Sauron figured it out from the descriptions.

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

I don't think 'honest and thorough' is entirely accurate

I think the point is more that Shagrat would not have the strength of will or greatness of soul required to defy Sauron in any way in Sauron's direct presence. I believe abject submissiveness and groveling is what we need to picture, a pathetic and desperate need to try and please.

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

And since Shagrat is now useless - he lost his command, he's been in contact with rebel troops, and he's only got a few fingers left besides - Sauron might as well kill him off.

I don't think Sauron killed Shagrat out of callous disregard for Shagrat's life. He executed Shagrat for his catastrophic failures of command in allowing a strategic border garrison to be destroyed due to a internecine squabble.

For that kind of fault Shagrat would have been executed by practically every military in history.

Originally Posted by Zigûr

This suggests to me that a Wraith was sent to Cirith Ungol deliberately in response to something prior to Shagrat's arrival at Barad-dûr, which happened on the 16th according to the unpublished time scheme. In fact, the time scheme points out (as far as I can interpret Professor Tolkien's handwriting) that on the 15th "News of escape of prisoners of Tower reaches Baraddûr (sic) almost as soon as news of their capture."
I can't explain the use of plural, but this suggests the following to me:
1. Frodo was captured.
2. News of this was sent to Barad-dûr
3. The Orcs quarrel; Shagrat leaves for Barad-dûr
4. I'm unsure of this part, but then possibly news of the capture reaches Barad-dûr. A Nazgûl flies to Cirith Ungol but arrives to find the guards dead and the prisoner gone.
5. Shagrat arrives at Barad-dûr, is interrogated and executed.

Perhaps I've gotten the wrong end of the stick somewhere, but it seems to me that information came to the Dark Tower before Shagrat's own arrival.

In any event, this is all very interesting, isn't it? I always find piecing the timeline together satisfying.

EDIT: It also occurs to me that even if Shagrat did not send an initial report, word may have come to the Dark Tower anyway; Shagrat didn't trust either Gorbag's company or his own. The Nazgûl at Cirith Ungol may have been watching in response to the Silent Watchers at Minas Morgul, I suppose. There's a lot to consider.

What sort of means might Shagrat have had to send such a message so quickly?

In fact, this opens up a potentially wider topic on communication, but focusing on the topic at hand; Minas Morgul clearly had some kind of hotline straight to Barad-dur. It is possible that some kind of Ósanwe continually connected Sauron to the Ringwraiths, although they are spoken of as communicating through mundane means as well. Another likely possibility is Sauron made use of a kind of fell-beast express for transmitting messages.

However, we hear nothing about any kind of facilities for such existing at Cirith Ungol and clearly Sauron was not in direct telepathic communication with his orcish minions.

Were the Watchers, perhaps, in some way hooked into a wider "security net" for Mordor where Sauron would be aware if one of the Watchers in the realm was uneasy?