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What Happened to Shagrat after Escaping Cirith Ungol? (LOTR)

This article dives into one of my many favorite minor/background villains in LOTR: Captain Shagrat of Cirith Ungol. A no-nonsense, by-the-book, intelligent, and authoritarian taskmaster -- everything a good villain minion should be. lol XD

Where's Shagrat? | The Possible Fate of Shagrat:

Both in the book and movie Return of the King, there is no explanation as to what happened to Shagrat, Uruk Captain of Cirith Ungol. We know that he fled Cirith Ungol, with the possessions of Frodo, to Barad-dûr. The question is what happened to him afterwards? 

Well, in Book 6, Chapter 2, Page 904b in Return of the King, Shagrat gets mentioned by an Uruk that had served Shagrat (probably one of the ones that still lived, or he had been part of another Cirith Ungol patrol) and a Snaga tracker as they were quarreling. 

"'You come back," shouted the soldier (Uruk), "or I'll report you!"
"'Who to? Not to your precious Shagrat. He won't be captain anymore.'"

This seems to confirm the statement that another Snaga told Shagrat in Cirith Ungol in Return of the King, Book 6, Chapter 1 "The Tower of Cirith Ungol", Page 885:

Shagrat: "You must go ... news must get through to Lugbûrz, or we'll both be for the Black Pits. . ."
Snaga: "You won't be captain long when they hear about all these goings-on. I've fought for the Tower (either Barad-dûr or Cirith Ungol; probably the latter) against those stinking Morgul-rats ..."

So Shagrat might possibly lose his captaincy for his failure, and be sent to the Black Pits (whatever that is), despite having brought all of the prisoner's possessions to the Tower.

Earlier in the page, the Snaga tracker makes a comment that implies that his punishment will be more sinister than a demotion:

Uruk Soldier: "'Whose blame's that? Not mine. That comes from Higher Up. First they say it's a great Elf in bright armor, then it's a sort of small dwarf-man, then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk-hai (Black Mordor Uruks; all Uruks, whether from Mordor or Isengard, are called Uruk-hai in the books); or maybe it's all the lot together.'"
Snaga Tracker: "'Ar! They've lost their heads, that's what it is. And some of the bosses are going to lose their skins too, I guess, if what I hear is true: Tower raided and all, and hundreds of your lads done in, and prisoner got away. If that's the way you fighters go on, small wonder there's bad news from the battles?'"

And In Book 4, Chapter 10, Page 395 in The Two Towers, Shagrat seems to reinforce the Snaga's statement when he warns Gorbag to not lay a claw on the prisoner (Frodo), for: "I have my orders. And it's more than my belly's worth, or yours, to break 'em. Any trespasser found by the guard is to be held at the tower. Prisoner is to be stripped. Full description of every article, garment, weapon, letter, ring, or trinket is to be sent to Lugbûrz (Barad-dûr) at once, and to Lugbûrz only. And the prisoner is to be kept safe and intact, under pain of death for every member of the guard, until He sends or comes Himself." 

(It can be assumed that "He" whom is being spoken of could be the Mouth of Sauron, since he's the Lieutenant of Barad-dûr AND the Mouth of Sauron (hence the name), and since Sauron can't morph into physical form yet, hence the need for a human mouthpiece.) 

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Conclusion:

Whelp! You heard it from the very source himself!

So, it's likely that, due to his failure in letting his prisoner escape, and in failing to capture the other intruder, as well as the slaughter within the Tower itself, and failing to keep a vigilant lookout for said intruders . . . it is possible that Shagrat, after giving his superiors the prisoner's possessions, as well as given them his report on what had happened (probably promoting himself in it more than he really did, using Gorbag as the scape-orc), was executed, along with any other Orcs that survived the fatal feud in Cirith Ungol for their failure. 

So that is my opinion: That after giving Frodo's possessions and his report to the Mouth of Sauron, Shagrat either got executed or sent to the "Black Pits" -- whatever that is -- for failing to bring the intruders to them.

What do you guys think? Do you think that the hierarchy of Mordor is so gullible that Shagrat got promoted and returned as a Chief Captain of Cirith Ungol (that is, if Mordor didn't get destroyed when the Ring did)? Or did he escape and is happily raiding and pillaging human villages in gay (which means brightly colored; showy; vibrant; brilliant; or lighthearted and carefree) green fields?

On a serious note, do you guys think that he got executed, sent to the Black Pits, or did he maybe instead perish when Mordor fell?

Let me know in the comments below!

I hope that you guys enjoyed this article. Until next time!

Long Live the Night!

- Noctus Fury

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Word Count: 860 words

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Date Published: 11/01/18