This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
- This is the same Flashman who threw a naked woman (his latest 'conquest' and until that moment an ally of his) overboard from a speeding sled, into the snow, during a Russian winter, to be set upon by his pursuers, in order to lighten the weight of a sled so as to increase his own chances of escape? Who tricked a fellow British POW to his death in order to preserve his reputation? Who, as an example of his moral character, raped someone in the very first book? Really? Perhaps you are confusing him with some of his less bastardly Expys.
- These are all acts of bastardry, not cowardice. Remember, his reputation is that of a brave rogue — on at least two occasions the government sends him in when they want someone murdered.
- His reputation is of a brave, honourable and forthright soldier. Throwing an ally to her death in order to better escape yourself qualifies as bastardry and cowardice. His constant dereliction of duty and turning traitor on his supposed friends to save his own skin don't square with your interpretation, either. On an out-of-universe note, Flashman was the trope setter for his particular brand of subversion of the romantic hero. A double subversion at that point would make no sense, as there was no subversion to subvert.
- These are all acts of bastardry, not cowardice. Remember, his reputation is that of a brave rogue — on at least two occasions the government sends him in when they want someone murdered.
