Where did all the goblins go?

[Kuruharan]

Kuru, I never wanted to start any speculations on Orcs, the Downs have had their share of it. I was only presenting the fact that Orcs, unlike Trolls or spell-enslaved beasts, were not dependant on Sauron.
-Legate

Alas, I’m afraid that this discussion virtually requires said speculation.

I think "Like old times" is the key element of this quote. There was once a time when orcs acted as free agents without any "big bosses", and so - unless their nature has been changed dramatically in the interim - they would subsequently be able to do so again.
- mhagain

Just because an orc is not being directly commanded by Sauron (in a formal sense) at a given period, does not mean that the orc was not ultimately dependant on Sauron.

Going back to Legate’s statement for a moment…

unlike Trolls
-Legate

Here we have a bit of an inconsistency, at least on Legate’s part. Tom, Bert and William were obviously trolls. When we met them, they were evidently operating on their own. Why are trolls different?

Think of Aule and the Dwarves - when he first created them, they were only able to move and act at his command. Now, this was a small number of Dwarves and one of the mighty of the Valar.

Now contrast. Sauron is a Maia, still powerful, but Aule would be off the scale by comparison (in fact, Aule was Sauron's original "master"). And it's not a small number of orcs, it's tens of thousands.
-mhagain

Indeed, the comparison here is very interesting. Let us consider it in greater detail.

We don’t know (because we are not told) how much of a strain it would be for a Vala to control the will of another being. However, I think about how Melkor “spent his spirit” on the domination of his minions to the point that after the Battle of the Powers Manwë almost didn’t recognize him. After his return to Middle-earth he continued this process until he was a shadow of his former self. This sounds similar to what Eru was warning Aule would happen in his creation of the dwarves (although I think what Melkor was more extreme in that he, in a manner of speaking, broke off bits of himself and made his minions little Melkor’s). What if Sauron was able to tap this Melkor element present in the orcs. That would make it easier for him (a lesser being) to provide direction and control. Once the last being capable of providing this direction disappears, the orcs would wander “mindless” and quickly die out.

Pish. That was too easy.
-lmp

Never complain about “things” being too easy. “Things” have a way of getting revenge.