“There was a guard of Orcs crouching in shadows behind the great door-posts
towering on either side, but the doors were shattered and cast down.
Aragorn smote to the ground the captain that stood in his path, and the rest
fled in terror of his wrath. The company swept past them and took no heed
of them.”
1. Why was there not a serious force waiting for the Company on the west
side of the bridge?
2. How could this guard force not be fully alerted and ready for
anything?
3. Why in the WORLD didn’t the forces of evil concentrate on holding the
exit, instead of wandering around in a maze and getting cut off by their own
fire?
4. In fact, since the orcs in the chamber of Mazarbul already knew about
the fire, how is it that they were cut off at all? There were all kinds
of connecting passages.
5. Is it possible that there aren’t really very many orcs in Moria, and
that they just don’t know the place well? And/or that the orc in black
armor that speared Frodo was the only high-initiative individual in the place?
CHALLENGE
What do you suppose Sauron heard about this entire encounter (Balrog and all),
and what did he think about
it?
