Mark Reads ‘Making Money’: Chapter 6, Part II

In the second part of the sixth chapter of Making Money, Moist has a confrontation with Vetinari. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld. 

Trigger Warning: For talk of consent/nonconsensual medical procedures.

I really should not be surprised that Vetinari knew what Moist had done so soon after it had been done. I’m really enjoying the fact that Vetinari is in this book more than I’m used to in the series. He often makes little appearances every so often, but he’s had large scenes in every chapter so far. I’m getting a sense of why that is, particularly with this subplot involving Cosmo’s attempt to both become and replace Vetinari. But even if that wasn’t the case, Vetinari serves another role: he is the friction for Moist’s journey of morality. While Going Postal was Moist’s first chance to try to be a “good” person, I can tell that it is almost harder for him to be good this second time around. We’ve already been shown that Moist’s boredom with being on the straight and narrow is growing, and now? Well, he’s been forced into a situation where he must interact with a number of people who have no desire to be good in any way at all. Does that make Moist a better person? Or is he tempted to be worse than them? 

That temptation is still on the page, and as this gets more complicated for Moist, it’s fascinating to see him struggle with this. Thus, he needs more scenes with Vetinari. They remind Moist of who he once was and of the possible ramifications if he chooses not to do as Vetinari wants him to do. Plus, it’s also getting me to think about what the city would be like if Vetinari was replaced. Would there still be an Undertaking to update the city and bring it into a new age, or would someone like Cosmo just turn everything into a system that only serves himself? 

From a craft perspective, though, it’s just fun reading these scenes because Vetinari speaks his mind without ever saying directly what he means. The confrontation in this section is dripping with subtext. There are threats left unspoken; there are claims left unsaid. Yet Moist knows exactly what’s happening here. He knows that the stygium ring sequence was meant to scare him or intimidate him. Did Vetinari actually need help to figure out what was happening in regards to Cosmo? Maybe not. But I like to think that Vetinari knew he could get Moist to think on his toes if he held that ring on a hazy morning. Even more important, of course, is that Vetinari is well aware that Moist broke Owlswick out of prison for his own needs. I also love the interpretation that Moist eventually figures out that Vetinari probably would have given Owlswick the angel offer if Moist had no intervened. WHOOPS. 

So, let’s talk about Owlswick. I totally missed the detail about the colander and the hammer at the end of the last split. I’m operating under the assumption that Igor knows what he is doing, which means he did take the bad memories out of Owlswick—er, Clamp’s brain and store them… in a turnip? He took the initiative to do this to help Owlswick, I’m guessing. It’s still pretty disturbing, isn’t it? I can’t imagine that Owlswick asked for Igor to do this or that Igor even asked him. Without his bad memories, he works better, but what happens when they’re done using him to design all the bank notes? Will Igor put those memories back? I want to know! Because this feels super uncomfortable, but I’m not sure if the text itself is intending that?

Anyway: MAKING MONEY. Oh gods, it’s gonna start happening soon! The Teemer and Spools team is moving into the Mint, despite Mr. Bent’s protestations. Moist brilliantly finds a way to use Mr. Shady’s team and the outworks as inspectors, so that they all get to oversee the work that the printers do. But I also don’t want to ignore that while Moist gets a victory in bringing over Mr. Shady to his side, there’s another complication in the mix. We finally find out who that mysterious conman is who sent Moist that creepy note a few chapters ago. Cribbins arrives in the bank, and HOLY GODS, that scene is SO UNNERVING. While Cribbins’s motivation is spelled out in the end, I do like that this all felt so chaotic. And it fits in so well with Moist’s journey in this book! Even if Moist has the best intentions, and even if he deliberately does good, can he actually escape his past? Or is it always going to haunt him? Will he always live in the shadow of what he did to so many people? That’s fascinating to me! And while Cribbins is a conman, Pratchett gives us enough information to understand that he’s also cruel. There’s no sense of honor, no code, no loyalty within this person. He does whatever he wants, as long as it benefits himself. 

And now, he’s located someone who has found success but has hid their past. It is the perfect situation in which to exploit someone, and I’m guessing Cribbins is going to consistently escalate his confrontations with Moist in order to get the most out of him. This truly feels like the messiest Discworld book, and I AM HERE FOR IT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5phemzXu1FI

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