Night Watch (Discworld): Difference between revisions

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''[[What You Are in the Dark|You didn't have to do what it wanted]]. If you did, [[Complete Monster|Carcer]] won.''|'''Sam Vimes''', ''Night Watch''}}

 

''How do they rise up, rise up high?'' }}

 

* [[A Storm Is Coming]]: And with it, Sam Vimes' finest moment.

* [[A Wizard Did It]]: Lu-Tze uses this after attempting to explain the function of the Procrastinator.

'''Lu-Tze''': All right, it's a magical box. Happier? }}

* [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]: The book contains a sequence describing the ornamental armour Sam Vimes has to wear, and how it makes him feel like a class traitor. The pune-chline: {{spoiler|"It was gilt by association."}}

** And when the newold Patrician is appointed, a bilingual pun.

* [[All the Myriad Ways]]: Lu-Tze and Vimes discuss the concept of many universes (which Vimes already knows about from ''[[Discworld/Jingo|Jingo]]''), but Lu-Tze comforts him by telling them that, in all the great bounds of possibility, ''there is no universe'' in which Sam Vimes ''as he is now'' killed his wife, meaning that people's choices really do matter.

** This is a reference to a reality in which young Sam Vimes is given guidance by Carcer, if old Sam fails. Hence the ''as he is now'' instead of just there is no universe. That Sam recognizes this on some level is alluded to in other parts of the novel.

** However, [[Fridge Brilliance|if you think about it]], they did take Reg's life, but they never took his freedom.

* [[Dramatic Irony]]: In spades.

'''Vimes''': (thinking) If only you knew. }}

* [[Dual-Wielding]]: Vimes in an [[Unstoppable Rage]]? Scary. Vimes in an [[Unstoppable Rage]] with ''two swords?'' Run. Run and never look back.

** Which takes on a whole new (hilarious) meaning if you remember Brick Top's speech from ''[[Snatch]]'': "Do you know what 'nemesis' means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible cunt..." In this universe, Vimes.

* [[Due to the Dead]]: Present day Morporkians remembering the Glorious 25th of May by wearing lilacs and taking care of the graves of the fallen.

* [[Gory Discretion Shot]]: The description of the [[Torture Cellar]], a rare literary variant.

* [[Handy Cuffs]]: Happens with Vimes in Night Watch as part of the "Were we ever really that bad?" sequence. Vimes' internal monologue points out how stupid this is.

* [[Having a Heart]]: Sergeant Keel has the eye of a mass-murderer. They're in his other coat.

* [[Headscratchers]]: Why do Colon, Nobby, and Dibbler remember the altered timeline at the start of the book, before the storm? Alright, so it's perfectly possible that {{spoiler|the original Keel promoted Colon and bought a pie from Dibbler}}, but the spoon ''has'' to have been Vimes. Keel wouldn't have recognised Nobby, and given that he {{spoiler|apparently didn't attract Madam's attention and wouldn't have made instant enemies of Coates and Quirke the way Vimes did, Nobby probably wouldn't have been following him in the first place.}}

** It's possible that Vimes heard about the spoon thing from Nobby, and that's why he did it?

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: A brief one, but when Vimes realizes that doing everything he can for the people behind the barricades might mean that all his friends, and his wife and unborn son, might never exist, it's not a good day to be him.

** Reg Shoe also has one when he realizes that the revolution he wanted so badly has only served to put an equally corrupt ruler in power. He sits dejectedly on a cart for a few minutes, then snaps into a [[Unstoppable Rage|rage so powerful not even getting killed can stop him]].

** The bit when Vimes is sitting helpless, staring blankly at a mirror as his son is born; this even shuts down {{spoiler|his internal watchman, revealed in [[Discworld/Thud|later books]] to be more powerful than a thousand year old pan-dimensional being of pure rage}}.

* [[Icon of Rebellion]]: The lilac flowers.

* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: Vetinari suggests "They Did The Job They Had To Do" as a slogan when he talks about putting up a monument for the fallen watchmen. Vimes' deconstruction of it as he shuts Vetinari up is both epic and heartbreaking.

* [[I Hate Past Me]]: Sort of. While Vimes doesn't hate young Sam, he's certainly put off and ashamed of how incredibly naive and idealistic he is.

* [[I Just Shot Marvin in the Face]]: Detritus and the Piecemaker. Although in this case, it's more like I Just Almost Blew Up My Boss' House and Its Gardens.

Detritus: When Mister Safety Catch Is Not On, Mister Crossbow Is Not Your Friend. }}

* [[I Never Said It Was Poison]]: Epically subverted.

"Well, no, you didn't. That was me jumping to what we call a ''conclusion''. Did they steal anything, then, or did they break in to deliver a box of chocolates and a small complimentary basket of fruit?" }}

** That said, Discworld ''does'' have an established practice called 'breaking and redecorating'...

* [[I Found You Like This]]: When Sam Vimes is unexpectedly thrown backwards in time, Rosie Palm finds him unconscious in the street and rescues him.

* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: History always finds a way in the end.

* [[Jerk Jock]]: The young Lord Downey.

** Which he must have really, ''really'' regretted when Vetinari became Patrician.

* [[Meet the New Boss]]: Said by Mr Slant and Dr Follett after {{spoiler|Winder dies and Snapcase becomes the new Patrician}}. In Latin, no less.

* [[Mercy Kill]]: Perhaps the most controversial line in any Discworld novel if fan reaction was anything to go by:

** Terry Pratchett supports assisted death and stated that he wishes to commit 'assisted suicide' (although he dislikes that term) before his Alzheimer's disease progresses to a critical point. Unfortunately, it might be any day now, as his health is very poor. He might have to travel to Switzerland though, as it is currently illegal in the UK.

* [[Misfit Mobilization Moment]]: In a city where the citizens are attacking Watch houses for being tools of the oppressive state, Vimes wins over his neighborhood and oversees their barricades.

* [[Noodle Incident]]/[[The Fun in Funeral]]: If Colon had one dollar for every officer funeral he went to he'd have nineteen and a half dollars. A half because in one of them, the officer woke up just in time and banged on the lid.

* [[No Sympathy]]: ...Sort of. While Lu-Tse sympathizes with Vimes and tries to help him, we also have...this:

'''Qu:''' Er, yes? ... Everyone I talk to is going to die. Everyone you talk it going to die. Everybody dies. }}

* [[Not in This For Your Revolution]]: Keel may have been a revolutionary, but Vimes only raised the barricades to keep a handful of people safe.

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Vimes, of course, but also the Abbot of the History Monks. He absolutely forbids Lu Tze to do what he's going to do, but follows it up by acknowledging that when he does, it will probably be for the best.

* [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilised]]: Mentioned by Vimes numerous times.

* [[Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory]]: Intentionally invoked and discussed.

* [[Rubber Band History]]: Vimes and Carcer change many of the major events of the revolution and absolutely reverse the Glorious 25th of May, but the outcome of the revolution is the same: those seven graves are still filled, {{spoiler|Snapcase replaces Winder}}, etc.

* [[Secret Police]]: The Unmentionables. A rather unfortunate nickname (probably a play on [[The Untouchables]]) [[Parody Names|since it's British slang for underwear]], but it does manage to evoke "[[He Who Must Not Be Named|They Who Must Not Be Named]]" at the same time.

* [[Sesquipedalian Smith]]: Somewhat-comic gravedigger Legitimate First ("Leggy" to his friends).

"Can't blame a mother for being proud, Nobby." }}

* [[Shadow Archetype]]: Carcer to Vimes. The book goes a long way to set them up as equal adversaries, and mentions that Carcer has many of the same qualities as Vimes, only they're inverted.

* [[Sword Cane]]: Swing has one, and surprises Vimes by being dangerously good with it.

* [[Take That]]: A gentle one on the subject of the kind of ostentatious patriotism that perplexes non-Americans:

"''We'' don't need to show ''we're'' patriotic, sir ... We don't have to make a fuss about being the best. We just ''know''." }}

** Another at Braveheart: At one point, Reg Shoe turns to the enemy and shouts out, "You can take our lives, but you can never take our freedom!" There's a long pause and some mumbling while everyone runs that sentence through their heads again and decides that, yes, it's the stupidest battle cry they've ever heard. Finally, {{spoiler|Carcer just shouts, "Wrong!" and shoots him.}}