Night Watch (Discworld)/Heartwarming

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Vimes's speech to Vetinari at the end ("How dare you? How dare you! At this time! In this place! They did the job they didn't have to do, and they died doing it, and you can't give them anything. Do you understand?"), after he captures Carcer, who had been taunting him the entire book.
  • Vimes in the graveyard reflecting on the revolution and coming to the conclusion that "he was honored to have been there twice."
  • The engraved cigar case arriving.
  • The birth of Sam Vimes Jr.

"I'll teach him to walk! I'm good at teaching people to walk!"

  • Reg Shoe's annual gesture of solidarity.
  • Just before the big fight. Every single watchman stayed with him, despite knowing that the odds were heavily against them.
  • The ending, just after the graveyard scene and Vimes's rant to Vetinari.

"And then he went home. And the world turned toward morning."

  • Some of Vimes' interactions with his young self indicate just how much he's grown. Particularly when Vimes forgets the torturer he's tied up in the basement until they light the building on fire; younger Vimes thinks he's done it on purpose and relishes the notion of such an evil man burning to death. Vimes runs into the building to rescue the man, or at least give him a chance to escape. It fits in perfectly with Vimes' struggles to control "The Beast" and to keep to the law, at least as far as is pragmatically possible.
  • Moments of camaraderie between Vimes, Colon, and Nobby in previous books become Heartwarming in Hindsight after seeing just how long they've known each other and how much they've been through together.
  • The Book and the Watch Series as a whole closing a circle:

Vetinari: I can give you back Treacle Mine Road.