The Fifth Elephant: Difference between revisions

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The 24th [[Discworld]] novel and the fifth in the Watch theme. The Scone of Stone, an ancient dwarven artifact, has been stolen, and without it, the new Low King of the Dwarfs cannot be crowned. It's up to Sam Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch to travel to Uberwald and unravel the dark conspiracy surrounding the theft. Also, Vimes fights werewolves.

Very significant in that it introduced the Clacks, breaking the Disc's former tradition of [[Medieval Stasis]] maintained by the [[Reset Button]] (as [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] [[Genre Savvy|by]] [[Genre Shift|Lord]] [[Wrong Genre Savvy|Vetinari]]), and (along with the previous book ''[[~~Discworld/Carpe Jugulum|~~Carpe Jugulum]]'') began a theme of Uberwald being an important story setting that would continue for several books.

Very significant in that it introduced the Clacks, breaking the Disc's former tradition of [[Medieval Stasis]] maintained by the [[Reset Button]] (as [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] [[Genre Savvy|by]] [[Genre Shift|Lord]] [[Wrong Genre Savvy|Vetinari]]), and (along with the previous book ''[[Carpe Jugulum]]'') began a theme of Uberwald being an important story setting that would continue for several books.

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* [[Arc Words]]: "It is the thing, and the whole of the thing."

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Vimes sarcastically finishes his list of titles with the fact that he was a blackboard monitor at school. His assistant mentions that he should hold it in reserve in the event of a tie. But subverted in that the dwarfs, with their belief in the importance of the written word, assume that a responsibility for ''erasing'' words must surely only be given to a very trustworthy person indeed.

** It also pops up again as a [[Call Back]] in ''[[~~Discworld/Thud|~~Thud]]!''

** It also pops up again as a [[Call Back]] in ''[[Thud!]]''

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Wolfgang, acknowledged in-story.

* [[Badass Boast]]: "Down there it's the Lore, but up here it's ''me'' "

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* [[Bond One-Liner]]: Deliberately averted; Vimes thinks of some in his head after {{spoiler|killing Wolfgang}} and realises that saying any of them would make him nothing more than a cold-hearted murderer.

* [[Boomerang Bigot]]: {{spoiler|Dee}}.

* [[Cerebus Retcon]]: The Scone of Stone and B'hrian Bloodaxe are mentioned as throwaway gags in ''[[~~Discworld/~~Feet of Clay|Feet of Clay]]'' but become a serious and dramatic part of this story.

* [[Cerebus Retcon]]: The Scone of Stone and B'hrian Bloodaxe are mentioned as throwaway gags in ''[[Feet of Clay (novel)|Feet of Clay]]'' but become a serious and dramatic part of this story.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]:

** In the empty clacks tower, Vimes finds a mortar flare and reads the instructions, "Light fuse. Do not place in mouth." He also explains why it is a stupid weapon since it can't be aimed. Both of these come into play at the end of the book.

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* [[Shapeshifter Swan Song]]: Downplayed—when {{spoiler|Wolfgang comes back the last time, he seems to be having trouble controlling his transformations, and is wobbling around the halfway point between man and wolf.}}

* [[Shout-Out]]:

** A wad of thick ones to [[Anton Chekhov]], of all people. The three sisters that equip Vimes against the werewolves are a mash-up of references to Chekhov's works: they are The [[Three Sisters]], who are stuck in an old house with a [[The Cherry Orchard|Cherry Orchard]] and used to have an old ~~Uncle named~~ [[Uncle Vanya|Vanya]]. Their specific characterisations are also a mash-up of Chekhov's female characters from those books.

** A wad of thick ones to [[Anton Chekhov]], of all people. The three sisters that equip Vimes against the werewolves are a mash-up of references to Chekhov's works: they are The [[Three Sisters]], who are stuck in an old house with a [[The Cherry Orchard|Cherry Orchard]] and used to have an old [[Uncle Vanya|Uncle named Vanya]]. Their specific characterisations are also a mash-up of Chekhov's female characters from those books.

** Colon's frantic obsession with "missing" sugar is a shout out to the captain's obsession with strawberries in "The Caine Mutiny".

** Lady Sybil realizes her husband is alive because the werewolf villains are so '''intensely''' upset: "...when the shouting started she knew Sam was alive and well, because only Sam made people that angry." This references [[Die Hard|John McClane's wife]] realizing '''he's''' not dead when she sees a "terrorist's" insane degree of rage: "Only John can drive someone that crazy."