Monstrous Regiment: Difference between revisions

 

'''Spoiler Alert:''' There is one slowly-building twist that it is all but impossible not to reveal in a discussion about this book, so read on at your peril: {{spoiler|Polly comes to learn that she's not the only fighting "man" in her squad with something to hide...}}

* [[Addiction Displacement]]: Maladict replaces blood with coffee.

** Otto remarks that maybe this may have not been the best thing to replace an addiction with - "dying for a cup of coffee" is far too easy to say.

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: {{spoiler|Most of the Regiment, especially Tonker and Lofty}}, Blouse, {{spoiler|and Maladicta seems to have a thing for Polly}}.

* [[Auto Cannibalism]]: Discussed.

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Tonker will slice you open if you touch Lofty, Lofty {{spoiler|will torch the world if it does something she doesn't like}}, and Wazzer will try to take on someone 3 times her size if they bad-mouth the Duchess. The results are not pretty.

** It's ''not'' tearing their heads off that doesn't come easily to [[Our Vampires Are Different|Mal]].

** Polly herself calls it out, saying that the only people who think that don't know many women, particularly the nosy old women who seemingly live to rat out people (especially younger women) for breaking Nugganic law and who are ''always'' in the front row for public executions.

* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: Wazzer channeling the Duchess's ghost, who then entreats the Borogravian military to make peace. Unfortunately for the Borogravians, Discworld isn't idealistic enough for even ''this'' to be a permanent solution. Though considering that a [[Deus Ex Machina]] is defined by lack of setup, this may be more like [[Doing in The Scientist]].

** The treatment of women in Nugganic Borogravia could be referring to the treatment of women under a lot of religions, in a lot of counties, at a lot of points in history. Saying that it is obviously based on a specific instance is reaching a bit. Polly's problem (needing Paul to be the nominal owner of the inn which she actually runs), could be set in any number of 18th or 19th century European countries. Polly's widowed father is believed to be having an affair with a widow, which no-one seems to disapprove of. Polly works in an inn, and no-one seems to think it wrong in any way.

** Ankh-Morpork involved itself in the war when Borogravia, without warning or provocation, attacked and destroyed the (clacks) towers of A-M.

** Those mentions were from ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Last Hero|The Last Hero]]'', which pre-dates ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]''. It's implied that Nuggan died at some point between the two books, and ''Hero'' even foreshadows this event when Offler ponders how Nuggan's strategy for attracting followers doesn't seem very good for the long term.

** And the reverse happens to the Duchess: an ordinary woman, after death, was elevated to something like godhood because ''so many people'' prayed to her.

* [[Groin Attack]]: Parodied, [[Lampshaded]] and [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]]. "Sock Drawer" indeed...

** In another scene, Blouse's horse tries to bite Polly there, only to get the socks. When Polly notices, she quotes a few things she's heard in "rule-free bar fights" and punches it. Blouse faints, and when he comes to Polly explains that the trousers are a bit big for her, which he hastily accepts.

{{quote| '''Blouse:''' The great General Tacticus says that in dangerous times the commander must be like the eagle and see the whole, and yet still be like the hawk and see every detail.<br />

'''Jackrum:''' Yessir, and if he acts like a common tit, sir, he can hang upside-down all day and eat fat bacon. }}

* [[Mood Swinger]]: Tonker, in her own words, doesn't have "middle gears". The quickest way to find this out is to [[Berserk Button|threaten Lofty]]. (Could also be [[No Periods Period]] rather painfully invoked.)

* [[Moody Mount]]: Blouse's horse.

** 's not cannibalism, not unless you eat a whole person. Milit'ry rule.

* [[Not So Harmless]]: Blouse seems to be the model [[Ensign Newbie]], albeit one who really does care about his troops - right up until he displays an almost frightening degree of competence as a signals-intelligence officer. Manipulating the Ankh-Morpork Times, sending misinformation via a captured blinker, deciphering the use of said blinker in a heartbeat - it's no wonder that, at the epilogue, Polly goes to find him, noting that "there are other ways of winning a war - with intelligence".

* [[Orphanage of Fear]]: The Working House for Young Women, which did a number on Tonker, Lofty, and Wazzer.

* [[Painting the Fourth Wall]]: Blouse can drop inverted commas around any term he considers "racy" while Wazzer can put capitals in a spoken sentence.

* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: References to one's "socks," which is what Polly uses to substitute for certain... missing parts.

* [[Waif Prophet]]: Wazzer is rather delicate and nervous, mentally unbalanced in a way that makes her seem a bit eerie, and eventually serves as the conduit for the Duchess's ghost.

* [[You Should Know This Already]]: The majority of the cast are female.