History Fridge / Redwall

** There is a reference to plant-based milk at least once. I think it's called greensap milk or something such. Not very well versed on the art of cheesemaking but there are several kinds of plant-based milk you can buy and it may be possible to use it to make cheese, even if it is not like most cheeses we'd know. There's also no such plant as hotroot in real life; the best guess is it's a bookverse nickname for horseradish.

** What exactly was the creepy coincidence? I've looked up several articles about Cluny Castle and Cluny Abbey and can't see what the coincidence is. I can't find the Brian Jacques interview that mentions it, either.
*** It's creepy because he didn't know Cluny Abbey existed, but wrote a book featuring a character named Cluny who wanted to take over an abbey and name it after himself. It's less "spooky" creepy and more "creepily specific coincidence".

** Maybe it's fish leather. We know that, for special occasions, the Mossflower creatures ''will'' harvest fish for food.

* In ''Mariel of Redwall'', Saltar and Ledder do ''something'' to Mariel that's so traumatizing that she can't even say what it is without freaking out. [[RapeAsDrama Just what the hell was the author trying to imply?]] [[NoYay Also, her exact age isn't given but most of the heroes of these books are about twelve or thirteen, and this part takes place a season or two before she shows up at the abbey.]] The sentence before her freakout suggests the terrifying thing was actually the searats throwing her friends overboard, but...
** I highly doubt Brian Jacques was implying they raped her. (He was stated as being very much against explicit sexualization of Redwall and almost demanded the Redwall MUCK be taken offline at one point due to rumours of explicit fan works) I believe they simply beat her (not that beating her is much better, but still). Remember, Mariel had suffered through a lot of trauma after they attacked her father's ship. That, combined with the night spent adrift in a stormy ocean and her loss of memory, are probably what contributed to her reluctance to recall anything she had just been through.
*** I know it's unlikely it was meant to be read that way, especially because as pointed out above Saltar's line about "feeding the fishes" implies that what they were actually doing is throwing her friends overboard, and [[CargoShip Gabool seems more creepily interested in the bell than in her]]. But for pubescent female readers of a slightly paranoid disposition it's very easy to read it that way, due to the limited information given thanks to Mariel's distressed recounting of events. It comes very close to accidental DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything territory, especially combined with Gabool's specific interest in Mariel as mentioned below. Clogg and his crew leering at Celandine was mildly unnerving as well, even though we do know nothing at all actually happened that time.
*** Want some more fuel for paranoia? Think about why Mariel was the only slave of Gabool who earned a personal moniker from him, and why she was the only slave noted to have none of her original clothing left - even as rags - having to make do with a burlap sack instead.
*** To soothe it a little, reflect that she probably would have gone into Gullwhacker mode and fought back much sooner if that happened. Plus considering the size difference [[NightmareFuel she probably would have died if they'd succeeded]]. The final reason it's highly unlikely that was what was intended is that Mariel was a WriteWhoYouKnow case, and was based on Mr Jacques' granddaughter, which would make it incredibly disturbing on several levels.

* Martin's prophecy to Martha in ''Loamhedge'' is, as noted elsewhere, effectively him sending Bragoon and Saro on a suicide mission as the "cure" they find for Martha is simply them jury-rigging up a parchment telling her to believe in herself and walk through force of will after finding nothing. The two are introduced antagonizing a band of vermin creatures unprovoked and getting one of them killed, something that Martin himself would no doubt not approve of as he was against unnecessary bloodshed even of vermin creatures in life, as seen in ''Mossflower'' where Martin would always at least give enemies an ultimatum before resorting to violence. It's also stated they've been doing this for a while, enough to attain legendary status at Redwall. Martin may be the paragon of goodness, but clearly [[GoodIsNotSoft you don't want to push your luck too much in Mossflower Woods with him around]].

** Maybe it's stingray leather, like Japanese katanas sometimes feature as their grips.

* One really hopes poor Felch's name means something different in the Juska language.

*** I know it's unlikely it was meant to be read that way, especially because as pointed out above Saltar's line about "feeding the fishes" implies that what they were actually doing is throwing her friends overboard, and [[CargoShip Gabool seems more creepily interested in the bell than in her]]. But for pubescent female readers of a slightly paranoid disposition it's very easy to read it that way, due to the limited information given thanks to Mariel's distressed recounting of events. It comes very close to accidental DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything territory, especially combined with Clogg's specific interest in Mariel as mentioned below. Clogg and his crew leering at Celandine was mildly unnerving as well, even though we do know nothing at all actually happened that time.

*** I know it's unlikely it was meant to be read that way, especially because as pointed out above Saltar's line about "feeding the fishes" implies that what they were actually doing is throwing her friends overboard, and [[CargoShip Gabool seems more creepily interested in the bell than in her]]. But for pubescent female readers of a slightly paranoid disposition it's very easy to read it that way, due to the limited information given thanks to Mariel's distressed recounting of events. It comes very close to accidental [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything]] territory, especially combined with Clogg's specific interest in Mariel as mentioned below. Clogg and his crew leering at Celandine was mildly unnerving as well, even though we do know nothing at all actually happened that time.

** I highly doubt Brian Jacques was implying they raped her. I believe they simply beat her (not that beating her is much better, but still). Remember, Mariel had suffered through a lot of trauma after they attacked her father's ship. That, combined with the night spent adrift in a stormy ocean and her loss of memory, are probably what contributed to her reluctance to recall anything she had just been through.
*** I know it's unlikely it was meant to be read that way, especially because as pointed out above Saltar's line about "feeding the fishes" implies that what they were actually doing is throwing her friends overboard, and [[CargoShip Gabool seems more creepily interested in the bell than in her]]. But for pubescent female readers of a slightly paranoid disposition it's very easy to read it that way. Clogg and his crew leering at Celandine was mildly unnerving as well, even though we do know nothing at all actually happened that time.
*** Want some more fuel for paranoia? Think about why Mariel was the only slave of Gabool who earned a personal moniker from him.

* Read [[https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-sociopathic-assholes-disguised-as-adorable-animals/ this]] and then notice that Skipper's sentence was cut off when he was saying what he found Folgrim doing to that dead rat. [[ILoveTheDead It could have been so very much worse than eating him.]] Granted, that was almost certainly ''not'' what Mr. Jacques was insinuating, and from what we see, Redwall otters hopefully do not operate like that. ''[[BrainBleach Hopefully.]]''

* The only witnesses to Brother Hal's death were Dingeye and Thura, who fled and died soon after, missing their chance to tell the truth to the Abbeydwellers. Samkim and Arula likely went their whole lives thinking the {{Adorkable}} stoats they'd been befriending had intentionally murdered an Abbey mouse.

* The Wearet from ''Mattimeo'' was described as a mustelid-like "primitive throwback", with no visible external ears and hardly any neck. To those familiar with extinct animals, this greatly brings up the image of a [[ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Do_kJ6hX4AAuI9d?format=jpg&name=small cynodont]]: a prehistoric proto-mammal resembling a small-to-medium-sized carnivoran, but distinctively lacked external ears as the ear bones were still a part of the jawbone.

* The Wearet from ''Mattimeo'' was described as a mustelid-like "primitive throwback", with no visible external ears and hardly any neck. To those familiar with extinct animals, this greatly brings up the image of a cynodont: a prehistoric proto-mammal resembling a small-to-medium-sized carnivoran, but distinctively lacked external ears as the ear bones were still a part of the jawbone.

** Also note the Pure Ferrets call themselves that because they're all white and they run work camps of enslaved "lesser" creatures; there's a reason for the [[ThoseWackyNazis German accents]].

** As in [[ToiletHumor small enough to]]... well, yeah.

* Mokug's backstory is rather disturbing when translated into human terms, as it involves an evil rich man picking a small boy as his slave because said boy is cute and blonde. {{Squick}}. Highly doubtful Sarengo actually wanted him as anything worse than decoration, but...
* Read [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-sociopathic-assholes-disguised-as-adorable-animals_p2/ this]] and then notice that Skipper's sentence was cut off when he was saying what he found Folgrim doing to that dead rat. [[ILoveTheDead It could have been so very much worse than eating him.]] Granted, that was almost certainly ''not'' what Mr. Jacques was insinuating, and from what we see, Redwall otters hopefully do not operate like that. ''[[BrainBleach Hopefully.]]''

* You know that sword that Martin spent pretty much ''all'' of ''Martin the Warrior'' trying to get back from Badrang? Read the series in chronological order and you'll realize that [[spoiler: this was the same sword that was broken in the beginning of ''Mossflower'']], [[ShaggyDogStory which makes the ending even worse]].

* At the end of ''Loamhedge'', [[spoiler: Bragoon and Saro]] commit a HeroicSacrifice. However, if you look back on it, you'll notice it's also a SenselessSacrifice. If Horty, Springald and Fenna hadn't left the Abbey in the first place, [[spoiler: Bragoon and Saro]] probably wouldn't have had to sacrifice themselves. And to make it worse, the only reason why either of them went to Loamhedge was to find something to make Martha walk again, but [[spoiler: Martha ends up walking ''on her own'' when Raga Bol's forces invade Redwall, meaning that Bragoon and Saro could've lived ''if they just stayed at the Abbey'']].
** Not really. It was explained in series that, had [[spoiler: Bragoon and Sarobando]] been at the Abbey for the coming of Raga Bol (or indeed for Baddred's crew before that), then the entire situation would not have been nearly as bad as it was, never leading to [[spoiler: that critical moment where Martha either needed to walk or the Abbot would die.]] It's still a rather twisted system (Given her characterization, Martha would have gladly chosen to remain chair-bound the rest of her life if she knew they were going to die to fix her), but it at least makes sense.
*** [[BrokenAesop No, it doesn't]]. If all this is true, then that means that [[spoiler:Martin the Warrior's spirit knew that Raga Bol and Badredd would attack Redwall. Which means he intentionally had Bragoon and Saro sent away ''just so they could invade Redwall''. Which means Martin knew that Bragoon and Saro were probably going on a SuicideMission (which turned out to be true). Which means that if they had just stayed at Redwall, Junty the Cellarhog and several other Redwallers might have lived and Raga Bol and Badredd would not have invaded Redwall, or at the very least, got so far inside Redwall.]] Overall, the lives of dozens of Redwallers apparently isn't as important as [[spoiler:making a single wheelchair-bound hare magically walk again due to an intense amount of stress and adrenaline]]. [[FridgeHorror Do you see how fucked up that is?]]
*** You're trying to say that you know possible outcomes better that a character who explicitly sees the future. [[spoiler: Saro and Bragoon are not invincible.]] Without the prophecy, they could have been just killed by Raga Bol's gang, and reliance on them could have caused Redwallers to botch the defense. That's assuming that Martin can actually ''change'' and ''choose'' the future. The more specific and precise prophecies in a particular world are, [[FridgeHorror the more frightening implications regarding the existence of free will they carry]]. And Redwall has rather precise prophecies. Martin might act in a certain way because he already knows he'll act in a certain way, and some instances when he undertakes clearly fruitless actions (like trying to scare off Cluny or Razzid) might be seen as confirming that.
* Building on the above comments, Martha suddenly being able to walk again makes more sense when you remember that, earlier on in the book, it was implied that the reason she was paralyzed was because of trauma, making her paralysis a psychosomatic condition. Nothing's wrong with her body, it's all due to mental factors. This becomes FridgeHorror when you realize that, by removing two competent fighters, Martha's only surviving family and two of her close friends from the Abbey premises, Martin created a high-stress situation so bad that Martha's brain had to throw away her previous trauma at an attempt at self-preservation. Also becomes FridgeLogic when you realize that Martha hadn't used her legs since she was a child, so her leg muscles should have atrophied to the point it would be physically impossible for her to stand, let alone walk.

** Though this very likely fell under "I didn't consider that" on the author's part. But the books clearly state regardless that Badgers under the bloodwrath will kill anything in it's path, even allies.
* ''The Sable Quean'', sees the reappearance of the Flitcheye. Rather than killing them, the protagonists decide to take all the Flitcheye, tie them up in a grove, and burn piles of their own sedative herbs all around said grove. Then, they cheerfully continue on with their adventure. The idea is supposed to be "teehee, now you'll all wake up with killer headaches, that'll show you"...the characters don't seem to realize that administering massive doses of a sedative and then walking away is a surefire way to kill someone.

* Mokug's backstory is rather disturbing when translated into human terms, as it involves an evil rich man picking a small boy as his slave because said boy is cute and blond. {{Squick}}. Highly doubtful Sarengo actually wanted him as anything worse than decoration, but...

* Redwall seems to have no religion, despite being called an Abbey. But look closer at their attitude towards Martin. Martin is idolized in-story (do we EVER see a tapestry of Abbess Germaine being stolen?), and it sounds like he ''single-handedly'' liberated ''everyone'' from a professional, well-armed ''army'' of vermin. His tapestry is immensely important to them, and his sword(which they treat like medieval monasteries treated saint's relics) is [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane ambiguously magic]]. His spirit actively warns the inhabitants when danger is near, he had an epiphany after a near-death experience, his gives out TheQuest routinely, is said to "aid the Abbey when danger is near", and is posthumosly addressed by characters for help. Saint Martin the Warrior, anybody?