In the seventeenth and penultimate part of\u00c2\u00a0Feet of Clay<\/i>, Vimes confronts the perpetrator of chaos. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n
GOD, WHAT A SPECTACLE. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now clear to me how Pratchett probably wanted both of these conversations to mirror one another. Dragon and Vetinari speak to Vimes through subtext; they rarely, if ever, come outright with what they mean. Instead, Vimes is meant to infer what is stated, though he himself is far more blunt. The results of both conversations are fascinating to me, so LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S DISCUSS THIS.<\/p>\n
Dragon King of Arms<\/b><\/p>\n
Much like Vimes, the reader has, at this point in the book, practically everything to piece this mystery together. Yet this was a great way to communicate why we still needed just a bit more:<\/p>\n
He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any evidence. No real evidence at all. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d had an interview with an almost incoherent Corporal Nobbs, who hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really seen anything. He had nothing that wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t burn away like the fog in the morning. All he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d got were a few suspicions and a lot of coincidences, leaning against one another like a house of cards with no card on the bottom.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And the Dragon\u00c2\u00a0was<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that final piece. How did he glue this story together into a coherent whole? So, with the newly reformed Dorfl (YES YES YES YES, I LOVE THAT PRATCHETT DID NOT ACTUALLY KILL HIM OFF), Vimes goes off to make his last arrest in this case. Initially, Dragon is utterly nonplussed by Vimes and his theory. (I do mean the North American usage of the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nonplussed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for the record. It means literally the opposite pretty much every where else. THANKS, ENGLISH.) That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unsurprising; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no reason\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Dragon needs to admit to anything, and with a lack of any real evidence implicating him, Dragon isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to admit the truth.<\/p>\n
Yet prior to the arrest, I could still see what Vimes was doing: tying up the loose ends for himself and, in that act, doing the same thing for the reader. I needed Vimes to confront Dragon about the Easy murders, and lord, that exchange was horrifying:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153To start with, complicity in the murders of Mrs. Flora Easy and the child William Easy.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am afraid those names mean nothing to me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Vimes finger twitched on the bow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trigger. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, breathing deeply. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They probably don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Which is the whole reason this is so upsetting for Vimes. These deaths don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean\u00c2\u00a0anything<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to Dragon. They were senseless murders committed for a senseless reason. What reason is that? Well, not\u00c2\u00a0just<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to poison Vetenari in order to test run Nobby as a possible king; I figured that out not too long before this. Here, Pratchett introduces a completely\u00c2\u00a0new\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>motivation for Dragon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions: breeding. Yeah, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a reason Dragon has been so involved with heraldry; he wants the purest bloodlines to drink from. Yes, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important that he and many others wanted a king that they could control, which they thought they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d found in Nobby. Nobby was in the Watch, he fit the legends, and Dragon was able to fake his heraldry to convince others. (Though I find it hilarious that Vimes never truly believed that Nobby was a nob.)<\/p>\n
Dragon was\u00c2\u00a0the<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0person to go to about royal marriage or perfect family bloodlines, and he has been quietly manipulating people to view him as the authority on the subject. (I still think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drinking their blood somehow, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left unsaid.) Thus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enraging to him that everything is so much\u00c2\u00a0less<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0neat these days. How could Sybil Ramkin marry Samuel Vimes? How could Carrot be with a\u00c2\u00a0werewolf<\/i>??? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scandalous to him, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? HOW DARE THE BLOODLINES BE MIXED.<\/p>\n
Thus, I found it immensely satisfying that Vimes used Dragon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own idea against him. Look, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know if Vimes\u00c2\u00a0actually<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0had Cheri dip the wicks of the candles in holy water. (I suspect that the line about Dragon looking at the candles is confirmation that Vimes just wanted to trick Dragon, rather than actually do what he threatened.) All that matters is that Dorfl \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Who Now Speaks With Lots of Authority \u00e2\u20ac\u201c heard it all, and is the perfect person to arrest Dragon.<\/p>\n
Yet the whole thing makes Vimes more introspective than I anticipated. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very satisfying thing to read, though, because Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 prejudice against vampires is put front-and-center in the text. He hates them, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no secret. Yet he consciously chooses to\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0act out the dark things he things. He recognizes that as a Watchman, he plays a special role in society. He has responsibilities others don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, and that matters:<\/p>\n
Only crimes could take place in darkness. Punishment had to be done in the light. That was the job of a good Watchman, Carrot always said. To light a candle in the dark.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And what a fitting metaphor for a story where even candles were suspect.<\/p>\n
Lord Vetinari<\/b><\/p>\n
I believe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve commented on this before, but the Patrician is largely an unchanging character within this world. I say largely because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make tiny changes. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just a lot more subtle than the development we get for pretty much everyone else. His decision to let Vimes figure out how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been poisoned, despite figuring it out himself, shows a sympathy that was honestly surprising to me. He kinda\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0like Vimes in a unique way, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he? I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 friends or anything. But Vimes suits him and his purposes, and he\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0offer something to Vimes in return.<\/p>\n
I just love whenever these two talk because their conversations are so layered. And I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve said that before, and that technically makes this repetitious, but GUESS WHO CARES\u00c2\u00a0not me<\/i>. Vimes is aware he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mostly being used to serve the Patrician\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ends, but he also has the satisfaction of his conscience\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the ability to say no to Vetinari without immediately being executed. Vimes gets a small pleasure from that. I mean, I would, too!<\/p>\n
ALSO: VIMES BURNT DOWN THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ARMS. BY \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ACCIDENT.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d AND SAVED ALL THE HERALDRY ANIMALS AND TOOK THEM TO HIS HOUSE. AND PISSED OFF THE DRAGON KING OF ARMS. AND PRACTICALLY EVERY GUILD HOUSE. AND HE DOESN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T CARE BECAUSE HE FOUND JUSTICE FOR THE EASY FAMILY AND STOPPED DRAGON FROM INSTALLING A KING IN ANKH-MORPORK. Commander Vimes: overachiever, smug bastard, and overall champion of people. Bless his heart.<\/p>\n
Diane Duane is still offering a massive discount on the first 9 books in the\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0series just to this community, so please take advantage of this deal while you still can:<\/b><\/p>\n
http:\/\/bit.ly\/markreadsYW<\/a><\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=q4T3ua4vF8s<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b>
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the seventeenth and penultimate part of\u00c2\u00a0Feet of Clay, Vimes confronts the perpetrator of chaos. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[517,463,248],"class_list":["post-3904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-feet-of-clay","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}