In the ninth part of Thud!<\/i>, Carrot, Angua, and Sally investigate the death of Hamcrusher. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Ah, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much information here, and I STILL DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW WHAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GOING ON. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discuss.<\/p>\n
Angua<\/b><\/p>\n
While I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to mostly go chronologically through the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153clues\u00e2\u20ac\u009d left behind, I did want to open this by talking about the fascinating characterization for Angua in this scene. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only so far the metaphorical element can go in this story, I should note. When you start to equate fictional species for race, you can get into a thorny place where biology is falsely equated with socialization or prejudice. Case in point: Angua\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction to Sally doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always come off as prejudice but a biological reaction to vampires, one that she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really control. Humans have made<\/i> racism seem biological or they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve used (often faulty) biology to justify racism. So, where exactly is that line between these two species? Is it entirely their non-human side that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s responsible for this, and was this passed down as a sort of genetic defense mechanism? Or is it entirely due to socialization? Did Angua learn<\/i> this from her family?<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just something interesting to think about. Regardless, there is<\/i> a part of her behavior that felt deeply understandable to me: the jealousy and resentment she experienced towards Sally. She perceives Carrot as being more sympathetic and accommodating to Sally than herself, and y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this all felt so REAL. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be interested to see how much of this is just Angua\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perception, the PLT syndrome affecting her perception, or actual reality. Are vampires more socially accepted than werewolves? I feel like we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen more vampires in Ankh-Morpork society in positions of influence, power, and success than werewolves. Besides Angua, what other major werewolves do we know? And there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also the fact that Sally doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to hide being a vampire, whereas the Watch hides the existence of a werewolf in their fold.<\/p>\n
Well… that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a practical decision. They have the advantage when they keep Angua a secret, since it allows them to bring a werewolf to crime scenes or interrogations without detection. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also the curse of hypervisibility. Just because Sally is getting the opportunity to be in the Watch, and just because she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being accommodated, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean there are no ill effects. Just look at the reaction to Sally\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a walk in the part, either, and there are elements to being visible that are extremely painful.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n UGH, I love that this text is making me think about this stuff.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Clues<\/b><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where does this go, sir?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He said, tapping it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153To the outer chambers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Was it open at the time the troll attacked the grag?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n You really think a troll did? <\/i>Angua wondered.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe so,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Ardent.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Then I would like it open now, please.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I cannot agree to that request, Captain.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going into this with a lot of suspicion, and this immediately seemed like a red flag. There are multiple entrances to the specific room in which Hamcrusher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153found,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the dwarfs don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to show Carrot where one of them leads to. THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING. Right?<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Captain Carrot, this wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t where\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 Sally began.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Also unsurprising, and I believe the opening scene does confirm\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmore or less\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat the murder wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> in the mines? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m tempted to go back and re-read that part, but this means definitively that Hamcrusher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death was staged in some part. From that, it follows that most, if not all, of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153clues\u00e2\u20ac\u009d surrounding his death were planted, too.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Old blood will not be a problem sir,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Sally. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some in here. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p><\/blockquote>\n AH, I GET WHY CARROT DOES NOT LET HER FINISH, BUT I NEED TO KNOW. Was she going to say there was some new<\/i> blood? Or blood that did not belong to a dwarf? Something else???<\/p>\n But this patch of mud here, this was different. It had been trodden into the floor, but it smelled just like the heavy clay from up around Quarry Lane. Who lived up in Quarry Lane? Most of the trolls in Ankh-Morpork.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I put \u00e2\u20ac\u0153clue\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in quotes because, as Angua figures as well, these clues feel too convenient and too perfect. If this mud is from that part of the city, was hd it been \u00e2\u20ac\u0153trodden into the floor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? And by whom?<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lucky for the troll, wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it, sir?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Angua sharply. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He just happened<\/i> to wander in and stumble across Hamcrusher?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I know she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being sarcastic, but she makes a great comment on the convenience of the narrative being fed to them and<\/i> the lack of a motivation. How did a troll get into a mine that virtually no one who isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a dwarf knows exists? Why Hamcrusher specifically<\/i>?<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sheep skull,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153About three months dead.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Oh, another<\/i> clue, she added to herself. Nice and convenient for us to find, too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Again: it fits too well! Though now I understand why Pratchett included that specific detail in that scene with Chrysophrase. We know exactly what sort of troll would have a sheep skull.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (Oh god, let these be planted clues or I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna be so wrong.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the reaction Angua had expected. Ardent had been nervous already, but now, under all those wrappings, he was on the verge of panic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been trying to figure out what this means, but y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m lost. So, Ardent wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anticipating the skull, and he is terrified<\/i> of a troll being in the mines. The only possible explanation for this is that the skull isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> a planted detail, right? Or, at least, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t planted by Ardent. Did Brick<\/i> drop it? Because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly the troll that Angua smells, right? And if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case, then Ardent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fear is… oh. Wait. Maybe I am not so lost as I thought I was. What if Ardent knows<\/i> a troll didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t kill Hamcrusher, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now panicking because he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t prepared for there to be an actual troll in the mine?<\/p>\n MAYBE???? IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S A THEORY??? Oh god, I need MORE.<\/p>\n https:\/\/youtu.be\/T9m5eM-bKIo<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the ninth part of Thud!, Carrot, Angua, and Sally investigate the death of Hamcrusher. Intrigued? 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