Frodo in the Tower of Cirith Ungol

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I'm leaning towards Shagrat keeping mum about the whole thing about the Elf warrior in a "not my fault, I don't know anything, it was all Gorbag" kind of way.

I'm getting confused now. When did we start assuming the "Great Elf Warrior" story never got out of Cirith Ungol? I don't think that can be right, because later, in "The Land of Shadow", Frodo and Sam hide from a couple of Orcs who are unsure who or what they're supposed to be hunting:

"That comes from Higher Up. First they say it's a great Elf in bright armour, then it's a sort of small dwarf-man, then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk-hai; or maybe it's all the lot together."

And I believe Shagrat is the only possible source for that information (such as it was). Sounds like he might have changed his story several times, actually.

Anyway, I don't think the Mouth's failure to mention the presence of a second "spy" is, by itself, what tipped Gandalf off- he doesn't openly show scepticism until somewhat later, and then it pertains to the Mouth's "haggling". I'd say it's more that there's an accumulation of "tells" that make it clear that the Ring hasn't been recovered and that, in fact, he has no idea what the "spy's" real mission was (cf. my points and Huinesoron's).