Battle of the Black Gate

|prev=*Siege of Erebor
*Battle of Minas Tirith
|conc=*Battle of Moria
*Battle of the Hornburg
*Battle of Garqi
*Battle of Murkhana
*Battle of ToolaStar Wars: Republic: Into the Unknown
*Battle of Minas Morgul
*Battle of New Plympto
*Battle of Lothlórien
*Conquest of Kaller
*Duel in Palpatine's office
*Operation: Knightfall
*Skirmish aboard the Tribunal
*Skirmish aboard the Albedo BraveStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
*Order 66
|next=Proclamation of the New Order
|image=
|name=Battle of the Black Gate
|conflict=War of the Ring (Middle-Earth theater of the Middle-Earth Sieges)The Essential Guide to WarfareThe Essential Atlas
|date=March 21-23, 1984 (16:5:22GrS)
|place=Black Gate, Mordor
|result=*Galactic Empire victory
**Death of The Mouth of Sauron
|side1=*Galactic Republic 
*Jedi Order
*Gondor
|side2=Confederacy of Independent Systems
*Mordor
|commanders1=*High General Samwise Gamgee
*Marshal Commander CC-2224
*Commander Eomer
*Clone Commander Davijaan "Odd Ball"
|commanders2=The Mouth of Sauron†
|forces1=
|forces2=
|casual1=Many clone troopers
*Many Gondor soldiers and guards
|casual2=*General The Mouth of Sauron
*4 IG-100 MagnaGuards
*Many battle droids
*Many Orcs
**2638
*The Tsmeu-6 personal wheel bike
}}
The Battle of the Black Gate was one of the final battles of the War of the Ring between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, and was one of the last battles of the Middle-Earth Sieges. It would prove pivotal due to the death of The Mouth of Sauron at the hands of Samwise Gamgee.
Following the rise of the Galactic Empire, fighting on Black Gate would continue until the deactivation of the Separatist Droid Army.
==Prelude==
After three years of fighting, the Galactic Republic began to gain an advantage over the Confederacy of Independent Systems, many of whose leaders were dead, with the most recent being founding Head of State Saruman the White. Republic Clone Intelligence soon managed to discover the location of General The Mouth of Sauron, who succeeded Saruman as Head of State.
Jedi General Samwise Gamgee organized a fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers carrying an army of clones large enough to capture three star systems, led by clone Commander Cody. Some members of the famed 501st Legion were among the clones in Gamgee's force, tasked to set up perimeter defenses around the Black Gate.
En route to the Black Gate, Gamgee spoke via hologram to Frodo's former Padawan Eowyn, who was leading forces in the Siege of Erebor to capture the renegade Sith Lord Gollum. Eowyn asked for information about Sauron, who Gollum had mentioned, and Gamgee told her that Sauron was the Sith the Jedi believed to be behind everything. However, as Saruman was now dead, they could not gain any more information out of him. Eowyn asked Gamgee if he and Frodo could help her or send more men, but he told her that was not possible due to his mission to the Black Gate, and Frodo having been appointed to spy on the Supreme Chancellor. Gamgee asked Eowyn to speak with Frodo regarding his concerns about the assignment, but the conversation ended when Clone Commander Rex reported an attack on Erebor. Eowyn asked Gamgee to tell Frodo something before they signed off.
===Making contact===
Gamgee arrived on Cirith Gorgor in his Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor under pretense of refueling his ship. He was greeted by Tion Medon, the Port Administrator of the Black Gate, observed from a distance by one of Mouth of Sauron' Nazguls. Medon revealed that the gate was being used as a hiding place by Mouth of Sauron and his army of Orcs. Not only that, but the droid army was aware of his presence and had ordered Medon to tell Gamgee of their position here. Samwise sent the droid R4-G9 fly back to the forces and inform the clones of the situation, but he stayed in the Black Gate to engage Mouth of Sauron. Gamgee mounted a varactyl beast named Boga as a mount, and rode to the Towers of the Teeth of the Black Gate, where Medon had told him the Separatists were hiding. Entering the gate that served as the Separatists de-facto command center, he stood there overlooking the hangar where he witnessed a meeting of the Separatist Council.
===Engaging The Mouth of Sauron===
During the meeting with the Separatist leaders, The Mouth of Sauron informed them that he expected an attack by the Republic and was therefore moving them to the planet Naboo.
After the Separatist Council departed, Gamgee revealed himself. There, The Mouth of Sauron rides to him and says that his master bids them welcome. Gamgee tells him that the time of CIS has come. It angers him but he smiles again and throws Frodo's mithril vest at Gamgee and says how Frodo lost it during his duel with Saruman. It lets a tear out of Gamgee's eye and the Dark Numenorean smiles but Samwise rides towards him.
Mouth of Sauron' troops prepared to open fire on Gamgee, but the Mouth of Sauron called them off. Wanting to challenge Gamgee himself, despite the fact that he was still recuperating from the injury recently dealt by Aragorn, the Mordor general split his back along their lengths into two mechanical claws, while also reminding Gamgee that he had been personally trained in the Jedi arts by the then-recently deceased former Separatist leader, Saruman the White, with Gamgee likewise retorting that he himself trained the one who killed Saruman. Drawing four lightsabers, he then spun them rapidly in a buzzsaw motion and advanced on Gamgee. However, Gamgee slowly retreating before the General before thrusting his lightsaber into the swirling energy blades, engaging Mouth of Sauron in a spectacular, though brief, display of swordsmanship.
Mouth of Sauron unleashed a flurry of unpredictable attacks and blows, ramping up the attack until he was demonstrating over twenty blows per second. However, he remained unable to penetrate Gamgee's defense, so he ramped up his attacks even further. Gamgee, his defense finally beginning to get overloaded, altered the angle of one of his parries. Instead of intercepting Mouth of Sauron' blade, Gamgee's blade sliced the general's left mechanical claws.
Staring in surprise at his smoking stump, Mouth of Sauron lunged in another attack. After another brief bout of fencing, Gamgee struck again: another of Mouth of Sauron' lightsabers, still clutched in his lower right metal claw, fell to the ground.
At that moment, Cody, Eomer and the clone and Gondor army arrived. While Gamgee and Grievous battled, several dozen clones managed to infiltrate the Towers of the Teeth and they quickly attacked the droid and orc soldiers.
==The battle==
===Clone cavalry===
Commanders Cody and Eomer led the 212th Attack Battalion in the assault on the Separatist forces in the Black Gate, aided by the Eagles who also wished to drive the Separatists away. Two battalions attacked full force, with the third in reserve to provide reinforcements and cover escape routes. Hailfire droids attempted to repel the clones quickly, but they were destroyed by the clone flagship, Vigilance.
Troopers of the 501st captured several security posts in the Utapaun cities themselves, linking up with Gamgee in Cirith Gorgor. Once they took down two AA turrets, heavy LAAT/i firepower support wiped out droids in the hangar. They dealt a final blow by taking out a large CIS power complex, leaving the troops in the Black Gate in disarray.
===Mouth of Sauron in retreat===
When the Republic forces arrived, Mouth of Sauron prepared to resume the duel, advancing on his opponent, as well as inferring that Gamgee was doomed whether he had an army or not. However, Gamgee Force Pushed the general, sending him flying up and crashing against the ceiling. Dropping his two remaining lightsabers as he plummeted to the ground floor, an unarmed Mouth of Sauron was forced to flee. He mounted on his wheel bike and mounted it, speeding out of the hangar and dropping to the lower levels of the city, crushing everything in his path as he raced towards the docking platform where his private ship waited. Gamgee pursued on his varactyl, Boga, but lost his lightsaber after the jarring impact on the way down, the lightsaber eventually landing at the feet of Commander Cody.
Cody later informed the Jedi Council members about Gamgee's current pursuit and battle with the Mouth of Sauron. Aragorn then had Frodo Baggins deliver the news to Chancellor Palpatine to gauge a reaction regarding the latter party, although he and the other Council members secretly voiced their suspicions regarding Palpatine's intentions. Gandalf mentioned the possibility that Palpatine would have to forcibly removed from office should he refuse to give up his emergency powers. Aragorn, however, acknowledged that it may be tricky especially when in order to pull that off, the Jedi Council would need to take control of the Senate to ensure a peaceful transition for the resulting new government and leadership for the Republic. Bilbo Baggins acknowledged they must take grave care since their current plan's taking them to a dark place.
Gamgee pursued Mouth of Sauron in a furious chase through the gates of the Black Gate as the battle raged around them. As Gamgee caught up to the General, Mouth of Sauron thrust at Boga with an electrostaff he stashed in the wheelbike. Gamgee managed to grab hold of the shaft of the weapon and wrench it from the general's hands. Gamgee then attempted to destroy the wheels on Mouth of Sauron' vehicle with it before attacking the General himself with it. Mouth of Sauron managed to regain hold of it, and pulled it back, and Gamgee along with it. As the two grappled for control of the wheel bike, Mouth of Sauron pulled out a blaster and attempted to shoot Gamgee, though the Jedi evaded the shots. Unfortunately, Gamgee's movements off-balanced the wheelbike, causing it to flip as they arrived at Mouth of Sauron' landing platform. While they were thrown off, the bike skidded off the platform and fell into the sink hole below.
====The death of the Mouth of Sauron====
The two opponents recovered quickly, Gamgee brandishing the electrostaff against the blaster-wielding Mouth of Sauron. Disarming the General, Gamgee began unleashing a series of jabs against the general's torso, knocking Mouth of Sauron over. Mouth of Sauron retaliated with a kick that threw Gamgee across the platform. As Gamgee regained his feet, Mouth of Sauron closed the distance, engaging Gamgee in a melee. While Mouth of Sauron' mechanical exoskeleton provided him with a clear advantage, Gamgee managed to pry apart the armor plates protecting Mouth of Sauron' internal organs before being thrown to the ground. Gamgee counter-attacked by kicking Mouth of Sauron's leg, but only injured himself against the hard durasteel.
Mouth of Sauron grabbed Gamgee by the collar and threw him across the platform, with Gamgee barely managing to grab onto the edge. Mouth of Sauron retrieved the electrostaff and advanced on Gamgee to deliver the killing blow. Desperately hanging from the edge, Gamgee used the Force to summon Mouth of Sauron' blaster to his hand. Blasting through the gaps in the general's armor chest plates at the exposed organs, he ignited the tissue. Mouth of Sauron' internal organs combusted violently, painfully killing the Separatist general, although Gamgee personally felt disgusted that he was forced to use a blaster to do so, citing it as "so uncivilized."
Mouth of Sauron's death was later reported to the Jedi Council, with Aragorn preparing to go to Palpatine's citadel of Gondor to inform him of this development in the hopes that he lay down his emergency powers, until Frodo revealed Palpatine's stance as not just a Sith Lord, but also the one they had been looking for since the Invasion of Gondor: Darth Sauron.
===Forward push===
Despite the destruction of the Droid Control antennae aboard the Unlimited Projection, the droid and Mordor army continued fighting. However, they were hammered into submission by the persistent fire of the LAAT gunships. Cirith Gorgor was secured by the 501st. Anti-aircraft turrets stationed in the hangar opened fire on the incoming LAAT reinforcements dropping off tanks in the hangar, but the 501st disabled the threat. From the hangar, they launched an attack on another Confederate outpost with TX-130S fighter tanks.
The outpost was pelted by LAATs and hover tanks and was destroyed. The destruction of the CIS main ATX energy pillar assisted a rousing Republic victory. Gamgee, astride Boga, rejoined the clones, having his lightsaber returned to him by Cody before charging up a cliff ledge towards the Separatist headquarters.
===Order 66===
It was then that Cody received a message from Darth Sauron, instructing him to execute Order 66. Cody ordered an AT-TE walker to fire its main cannon at Samwise, who was ascending the cliff heading up to the Separatist headquarters. Boga somehow sensed the danger and jumped in front of the shot, saving Gamgee, who fell into the sinkhole below along with her.
After a long period of fighting, Republic forces triumphed in Black Gate of Mordor, removing the CIS from it and beginning a brief occupation of the gate as the clones began to depart, during which the Republic forces rounded up and arrested locals.
Probe droids were deployed to the sinkhole floor to find Gamgee's body and ascertain whether he was dead or alive. However, Cody's probes were devoured by the local cave-monsters, which Gamgee had influenced into believing were actually delicacies. Gamgee then used stealth to make his way up to Cirith Gorgor and back to the platform where Mouth of Sauron' starfighter still remained. He then fled Middle-Earth.
==Aftermath==
Darth Sauron broadcasted Order 66 to many other clone troopers across the galaxy. Due to the biochips controlling the clones' behaviors and actions upon being activated, the overwhelming majority of the clones were brainwashed into viewing the Jedi as traitors to the Republic that needed to be eliminated. The clones and Vader proceeded to to defeat and nearly wipe out the Jedi, with only a handful of Jedi's surviving the onslaught. The Jedi was caught off guard by the sudden betrayal of their clone troopers, but many of them could not avoid death at the hands of the clones and Vader. However, there were a few clones that resisted the order by removing their biochips, while a handful of Jedi's survived.
The Separatist Droid Army were routed and Middle-Earth was occupied under Republic control, which began to round up and arrest the Utapaun resistance, including Port Administrator Tion Medon, all before readying to leave the ancient world. With the death of Mouth of Sauron, the Separatist leadership fell, and the outcome of the battle spread throughout the galaxy. Even on the planet where the Clone Army was created, Kamino, the news about the end of the war had arrived.Star Wars: The Bad Batch - "Aftermath"
As the Grand Army proceeded to depart, however, Cody, all too aware of Jedi prowess, was not convinced of Gamgee's death. Probe droids were deployed to the sinkhole floor to find the Jedi Master's body and ascertain whether he was dead or alive. Gamgee then used stealth to make his way back up to Cirith Gorgor, get to Mouth of Sauron' starfighter and escape Middle-Earth, becoming one of the few Jedi to escape the destruction of the Jedi Order. As he fled the Naboo system, Gamgee established contact with Senator of Alderaan Bail Organa, who had already rescued Grand Master Bilbo Baggins, Eowyn and Gandalf from Helm's Deep, Naboo and Moria by reaching the Alderaanian diplomatic cruiser Tantive III.
Meanwhile the Separatist Council, who were stationed on the planet before they were moved to the royal palace on Naboo just prior to the battle on the orders of Darth Sauron, were demoralized by their recent defeats and only wished for peace. With Mouth of Sauron' death, Gunray became the Head of State for the remaining Separatist forces and command of the droid army transferred to the council on Naboo. However, they would be captured by the Jedi survivors in the Battle of Naboo, thus ending the War of the Ring.
==Behind the scenes==
According to stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, six IG-100 MagnaGuards were originally intended to join Samwise Gamgee and The Mouth of Sauron during their duel to defend the latter. While Sean Astin trained for a week to get right the choreography, George Lucas rewrote the scene by having Gamgee crushing the bodyguards with a piece of the ceiling as Lucas realized that the fight wasn't essential to the story aside that production was running short of time.
In the PS2 and Xbox video game adaptations of Revenge of the Sith, the Black Gate levels of the game totally disregard Boga. Also, Mouth of Sauron is killed after being stabbed in the gut by Gamgee and roasted as his armor malfunctioned. During the Order 66 level, the clones fire at Gamgee from a LAAT rather then firing an AT-TE cannon at him, which would result in Gamgee retreating through the battlefield, killing many clones and walkers and disabling a Juggernaut.
In LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, the battle is almost completely omitted. The only scene depicted in the game from the battle was Sam Gamgee's duel with the Mouth of Sauron. Samwise lands on the Black Gate and meets up with Cody; after a long duel, Cody runs up to Mouth of Sauron in an attempt to shoot him. However, Mouth of Sauron disarms and subsequently kills Cody. Gamgee is also disarmed. He lunges for Cody's blaster and narrowly dodges Mouth of Sauron' blow. Gamgee shoots Mouth of Sauron in the chest, killing him.
==Appearances==
*LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game 
*LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga 
*Star Wars Battlefront II 
*Star Wars: Battlefront II
*Reversal of Fortune
*
*The Lord of the Rings: Episode III Revenge of the Sith novelization 
*The Lord of the Rings Episode III: Revenge of the Sith video game
* 
* 
* 
*Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel 
* 
*Eowyn 
==Sources==
*Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections
*Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary
* 
*Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide
*Star Wars: Complete Locations
*Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels
*
*Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary
*
*Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections
*Starships of the Galaxy, Saga Edition
*
*
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
*The Clone Wars Campaign Guide
*The Essential Atlas
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars – The Official Episode Guide: Season 1
*Galaxy of Intrigue 
*Star Wars: Mysteries of the Jedi
*Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
*
*
*Star Wars: Beware the Sith
*The Essential Guide to Warfare 
*Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
*Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight
*
*Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook 
*Star Wars: Force Collection 
*Star Wars: Force Collection 
*Star Wars: Force Collection 
*Star Wars: Force Collection 
*Star Wars: Sith Wars
*
==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles
Category:Duels