Book 6, Chapter 1 Summary

The story returns to the end of Book Four. Sam walks goes through the pass to the Tower of Cirith Ungol and hears a battle in the tower, making his hopes rise. However, as he tries to enter the castle, he is stopped by the Silent Watchers. However, Sam manages to pass them by holding up Galadriel's phial of light.

Sam enters the Tower and finds that it is filled with dead orcs. However, one living orc comes down the stairs and, seeing the cloaked and armed Sam coming at him, he quickly turns tail and runs away from Sam. Heartened by this, Sam continues up the stairs and hears two orcs arguing. One orc, Shagrat, tries to kill the orc who ran away from Sam. However, as Shagrat chases the other orc, he is distracted by an attack from Gorbag...