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Changed line(s) 58 (click to see context) from:
** Putting aside the fact that he, like most of the baddies, aren't exactly the sharpest crayons in the box, it's possible he felt that the CIA would be in enough of a tatters thanks to his ColonyDrop that by the time they got their act back together, he could have already gone underground and come up with a different alias.
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** Putting aside the fact that he, like most of the baddies, aren't exactly the sharpest crayons in the box, it's possible he felt that the CIA would be in enough of a tatters thanks to his ColonyDrop that by the time they got their act back together, he could have already gone underground and come up with a different alias.alias.
** Also the Alex Rider series actually follows ComicBookTime, so the books are set when they come out even if the gap between them is shorter in-universe.
* Why does Alexei Sarov want to rebuild the Berlin Wall? If his eventual goal is to TakeOverTheWorld and make Communism the ideology of every country, he'd eventually control both halves of Berlin and the wall would have no reason to exist.
** Also the Alex Rider series actually follows ComicBookTime, so the books are set when they come out even if the gap between them is shorter in-universe.
* Why does Alexei Sarov want to rebuild the Berlin Wall? If his eventual goal is to TakeOverTheWorld and make Communism the ideology of every country, he'd eventually control both halves of Berlin and the wall would have no reason to exist.
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Changed line(s) 57 (click to see context) from:
* In ''Ark Angel'', the entire EvilPlan hinges on the BigBad using his space hotel which has gone over the budget and would have gone down in history as a financial failure as an improvised meteor on the Pentagon, destroying all evidence on him along with the everyone involved in getting it. The series was supposed to take place around year 2000 while taking place over the next two years due to the first book being published on 2000. ''Why would the CIA have no other backups or extra copies of their evidence stored in other places like their HQ in Langley despite its importance?'' Even if it is 2000/2001 and they couldn't exactly use modern backup techniques like saving to external disk drives, you would think they have copies made whenever new evidence arrives and have them be kept in secret in other places. Imagine if his plan actually succeeded. The USA is in chaos with the destruction of Washington and he is celebrating getting scot-free...only for the Barbados CIA branch to clamp down on his ass. On that topic, why isn't the BigBad worried about any possible backups kept in other places as well?
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* In ''Ark Angel'', the entire EvilPlan hinges on the BigBad using his space hotel which has gone over the budget and would have gone down in history as a financial failure as an improvised meteor on the Pentagon, destroying all evidence on him along with the everyone involved in getting it. The series was supposed to take place around year 2000 while taking place over the next two years due to the first book being published on 2000. ''Why would the CIA have no other backups or extra copies of their evidence stored in other places like their HQ in Langley despite its importance?'' Even if it is 2000/2001 and they couldn't exactly use modern backup techniques like saving to external disk drives, you would think they have copies made whenever new evidence arrives and have them be kept in secret in other places. Imagine if his plan actually succeeded. The USA is in chaos with the destruction of Washington and he is celebrating getting scot-free...only for the Barbados CIA branch to clamp down on his ass. On that topic, why isn't the BigBad worried about any possible backups kept in other places as well?well?
** Putting aside the fact that he, like most of the baddies, aren't exactly the sharpest crayons in the box, it's possible he felt that the CIA would be in enough of a tatters thanks to his ColonyDrop that by the time they got their act back together, he could have already gone underground and come up with a different alias.
** Putting aside the fact that he, like most of the baddies, aren't exactly the sharpest crayons in the box, it's possible he felt that the CIA would be in enough of a tatters thanks to his ColonyDrop that by the time they got their act back together, he could have already gone underground and come up with a different alias.
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Changed line(s) 2 (click to see context) from:
** Because... that makes sense. We can't have a [[TheDragon Dragon]] making sense when they are supposed to be [[RuleOfCool cool]] and support the BigBad in obscene ways, can we?
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** Because... that makes sense. We can't have a [[TheDragon Dragon]] TheDragon making sense when they are supposed to be [[RuleOfCool cool]] and support the BigBad in obscene ways, can we?
Changed line(s) 42 (click to see context) from:
* ''Ark Angel'': So you're TheDragon, and your BigBad boss wants you to pose as an eco terrorist so crazy he's tattooed his face to look like the Earth. You'll also have a [[LatexPerfection Mission Impossible-type mask]] so you won't have to look like that all the time. Do you a) leave your real face normal and put the tattoos on the mask, or b) tattoo your own goddamn face to look like the planet Earth and use the mask to look vaguely normal? Clearly, b) is the way to go!
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* ''Ark Angel'': So you're TheDragon, and your BigBad boss wants you to pose as an eco terrorist eco-terrorist so crazy he's tattooed his face to look like the Earth. You'll also have a [[LatexPerfection Mission Impossible-type mask]] so you won't have to look like that all the time. Do you a) leave your real face normal and put the tattoos on the mask, or b) tattoo your own goddamn face to look like the planet Earth and use the mask to look vaguely normal? Clearly, b) is the way to go!go!
** There is a post earlier with the same question. It is a combination of RuleOfCool and a running theme of how over-the-top the villains are.
* In ''Scorpia Rising'', Mrs Jones says at the end that [[spoiler:two of the things that alerted her to the fact that it was Blunt, not Scorpia, who arranged for the sniper at Brookland were that the sniper didn't hit Alex, but said "mission accomplished", and secondly that the sniper seemed to deliberately miss. Given that Scorpia's plan was ''not'' to kill Alex, and indeed their plan hinged on getting Alex to Cairo, which the sniper attempt proved the catalyst for, why should this indicate that it was not Scorpia who was responsible?]]
** None of the interrogated Scorpia members knew about the sniper. Which would be kind of strange if it were an integral part of their plan.
** True, but the way Mrs Jones phrases it makes it sound like the assassination attempt should have been successful, which is confusing as nobody wanted Alex dead at that point.
** Scorpia's latest scheme hinged on Blunt coercing Alex to work for [=MI6=] again, one way or another.
* In ''Stormbreaker'', Sayle holds a contest for a kid to try out the new computer. What was the point of this is [[spoiler: the whole point of the Stormbreaker was to kill people?]]
** It's a PublicityStunt.
** [[spoiler: The Stormbreaker at Sayle's base didn't unleash the deadly smallpox gas anyway.]]
** It was a show of good faith, like everything else Sayle did. He took in a random kid who won a contest, he played pool with him and, after losing, agreed to pay up however much he owed (although reluctantly), he served him fine food... it was all to create the image of Herod Sayle was a kind, generous, friendly and beneficial man. The only time the facade slipped was when he got angry, which happened easily
* In-Universe with Alex rightfully pointing out that while MI-6 doesn't want to give a kid a gun they're completely fine with sending him to his death.
** Alex himself exercises this on occasion, seeming to think that unless he does it with a gun or some other obvious implement of murder, none of the people killed as a result of his actions, occasionally deliberately (see Dr. Grief) and often directly, seem to count as far as he is concerned. This has the rather dubious result of Alex racking up an impressive body count over the course of the series and yet still seeming to think that he's not a killer.
** This ''is'' in all probability the only thing keeping the kid sane by this point, so you can't really blame the poor sod.
** Mrs. Rothman points this out in ''Scorpia'', while trying to convince Alex to work for her organisation.
** Actually, most of the deaths are of the types where Alex can't see them. Not mentally but physically so he can delude himself into thinking they survived or it was not his fault.
* In ''Ark Angel'', the entire EvilPlan hinges on the BigBad using his space hotel which has gone over the budget and would have gone down in history as a financial failure as an improvised meteor on the Pentagon, destroying all evidence on him along with the everyone involved in getting it. The series was supposed to take place around year 2000 while taking place over the next two years due to the first book being published on 2000. ''Why would the CIA have no other backups or extra copies of their evidence stored in other places like their HQ in Langley despite its importance?'' Even if it is 2000/2001 and they couldn't exactly use modern backup techniques like saving to external disk drives, you would think they have copies made whenever new evidence arrives and have them be kept in secret in other places. Imagine if his plan actually succeeded. The USA is in chaos with the destruction of Washington and he is celebrating getting scot-free...only for the Barbados CIA branch to clamp down on his ass. On that topic, why isn't the BigBad worried about any possible backups kept in other places as well?
** There is a post earlier with the same question. It is a combination of RuleOfCool and a running theme of how over-the-top the villains are.
* In ''Scorpia Rising'', Mrs Jones says at the end that [[spoiler:two of the things that alerted her to the fact that it was Blunt, not Scorpia, who arranged for the sniper at Brookland were that the sniper didn't hit Alex, but said "mission accomplished", and secondly that the sniper seemed to deliberately miss. Given that Scorpia's plan was ''not'' to kill Alex, and indeed their plan hinged on getting Alex to Cairo, which the sniper attempt proved the catalyst for, why should this indicate that it was not Scorpia who was responsible?]]
** None of the interrogated Scorpia members knew about the sniper. Which would be kind of strange if it were an integral part of their plan.
** True, but the way Mrs Jones phrases it makes it sound like the assassination attempt should have been successful, which is confusing as nobody wanted Alex dead at that point.
** Scorpia's latest scheme hinged on Blunt coercing Alex to work for [=MI6=] again, one way or another.
* In ''Stormbreaker'', Sayle holds a contest for a kid to try out the new computer. What was the point of this is [[spoiler: the whole point of the Stormbreaker was to kill people?]]
** It's a PublicityStunt.
** [[spoiler: The Stormbreaker at Sayle's base didn't unleash the deadly smallpox gas anyway.]]
** It was a show of good faith, like everything else Sayle did. He took in a random kid who won a contest, he played pool with him and, after losing, agreed to pay up however much he owed (although reluctantly), he served him fine food... it was all to create the image of Herod Sayle was a kind, generous, friendly and beneficial man. The only time the facade slipped was when he got angry, which happened easily
* In-Universe with Alex rightfully pointing out that while MI-6 doesn't want to give a kid a gun they're completely fine with sending him to his death.
** Alex himself exercises this on occasion, seeming to think that unless he does it with a gun or some other obvious implement of murder, none of the people killed as a result of his actions, occasionally deliberately (see Dr. Grief) and often directly, seem to count as far as he is concerned. This has the rather dubious result of Alex racking up an impressive body count over the course of the series and yet still seeming to think that he's not a killer.
** This ''is'' in all probability the only thing keeping the kid sane by this point, so you can't really blame the poor sod.
** Mrs. Rothman points this out in ''Scorpia'', while trying to convince Alex to work for her organisation.
** Actually, most of the deaths are of the types where Alex can't see them. Not mentally but physically so he can delude himself into thinking they survived or it was not his fault.
* In ''Ark Angel'', the entire EvilPlan hinges on the BigBad using his space hotel which has gone over the budget and would have gone down in history as a financial failure as an improvised meteor on the Pentagon, destroying all evidence on him along with the everyone involved in getting it. The series was supposed to take place around year 2000 while taking place over the next two years due to the first book being published on 2000. ''Why would the CIA have no other backups or extra copies of their evidence stored in other places like their HQ in Langley despite its importance?'' Even if it is 2000/2001 and they couldn't exactly use modern backup techniques like saving to external disk drives, you would think they have copies made whenever new evidence arrives and have them be kept in secret in other places. Imagine if his plan actually succeeded. The USA is in chaos with the destruction of Washington and he is celebrating getting scot-free...only for the Barbados CIA branch to clamp down on his ass. On that topic, why isn't the BigBad worried about any possible backups kept in other places as well?
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Changed line(s) 4 (click to see context) from:
* All of the book titles have had some reference to the contents, and out of the blue we get Crocodile Tears. Why?
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* All of the book titles have had some reference to the contents, and out of the blue we get Crocodile Tears.''Crocodile Tears''. Why?
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Changed line(s) 6 (click to see context) from:
** Also because [[spoiler:crocodile tears are a term for tears that are shed by someone who is only pretending to be sad, fitting considering that the tragedy that the bad guy is manufacturing a tragedy to raise charity that he's going to steal for himself.]]
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** Also because [[spoiler:crocodile tears [[spoiler:CrocodileTears are a term for tears that are shed by someone who is only pretending to be sad, fitting considering that the tragedy that the bad guy is manufacturing a tragedy to raise charity that he's going to steal for himself.]]
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Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
** Shakespeare has actually used dollars to refer to money; plus, there were points in UK history where it was slang for some kind of money.
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** Shakespeare has actually used dollars to refer to money; plus, there were points in UK history where it was slang for some kind of money.money.
* ''Ark Angel'': So you're TheDragon, and your BigBad boss wants you to pose as an eco terrorist so crazy he's tattooed his face to look like the Earth. You'll also have a [[LatexPerfection Mission Impossible-type mask]] so you won't have to look like that all the time. Do you a) leave your real face normal and put the tattoos on the mask, or b) tattoo your own goddamn face to look like the planet Earth and use the mask to look vaguely normal? Clearly, b) is the way to go!
* ''Ark Angel'': So you're TheDragon, and your BigBad boss wants you to pose as an eco terrorist so crazy he's tattooed his face to look like the Earth. You'll also have a [[LatexPerfection Mission Impossible-type mask]] so you won't have to look like that all the time. Do you a) leave your real face normal and put the tattoos on the mask, or b) tattoo your own goddamn face to look like the planet Earth and use the mask to look vaguely normal? Clearly, b) is the way to go!
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Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
*** I think it's also the whole "killing someone who looks just like you" bit. That would mess up a normal person, let alone someone who'd been through a TraumaCongaLine like Alex.
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*** I think it's also the whole "killing someone who looks just like you" bit. That would mess up a normal person, let alone someone who'd been through a TraumaCongaLine like Alex. Plus most of the deaths were from a distance/he didn't watch the other person die-this is up close and personal.
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*** I think it's also the whole "killing someone who looks just like you" bit. That would mess up a normal person, let alone someone who'd been through a TraumaCongaLine like Alex.
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*** This question might very well be the reason why [[spoiler: Sabina and her family are completely absent from ''Never Say Die'', assuming that book is canon - for all we know, ''Secret Weapon'' could address this issue (assuming that the Pleasure family appear]].
*** There's also the fact that [[spoiler: if Scorpia used a high-powered rifle, assuming that Alex ''did'' die, it would be kind of a dead giveaway that they were involved, since in the U.K., they are a lot stricter about gun regulations than in the U.S. If Alex was shot using a high-powered round, an autopsy would kind of make it a dead giveaway; using a .22 round might make it plausible that it was just someone who was crazy and just so happened to choose Alex as his target]].
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
** Could be that you're reading the US edition, which Americafied a lot of things. I know the figure of Michael Owens in Eagle Strike was changed to Tiger Woods, and in one book(could have been the first?) miles was used instead of kilometres. Even in areas where they were in America, or the CIA was involved, things got awkward.
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** Could be that you're reading the US edition, which Americafied a lot of things. I know the figure of Michael Owens in Eagle Strike was changed to Tiger Woods, and in one book(could have been the first?) miles was used instead of kilometres. Even in areas where they were in America, or the CIA was involved, things got awkward.awkward.
** Shakespeare has actually used dollars to refer to money; plus, there were points in UK history where it was slang for some kind of money.
** Shakespeare has actually used dollars to refer to money; plus, there were points in UK history where it was slang for some kind of money.
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Deleted line(s) 34 (click to see context) :
<<|ItJustBugsMe|>>
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** There's also how he deals with Dr. Grief in ''Point Blanc''. Ramping a snowmobile off a ski-jump to take down a helicopter takes some serious forethought. That sounds pretty cold-blooded to me.
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Explained US vs UK editions. Also spelling corrections bc i have a mighty need
Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
** The title makes sense. If anything it's the title that works ''best'' because it ties into the theme of the book, rather than simply reffering to an object, location or organization Compare to, say, ''Snakehead'', where the titular human traffickers play a minor to medium role in the plot, basically serving as the {{Mooks}} who are barely if at all aware, or even involved, in the EvilPlan of the BigBad, and vanish for much of the story, including the finale`
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** The title makes sense. If anything it's the title that works ''best'' because it ties into the theme of the book, rather than simply reffering referring to an object, location or organization Compare to, say, ''Snakehead'', where the titular human traffickers play a minor to medium role in the plot, basically serving as the {{Mooks}} who are barely if at all aware, or even involved, in the EvilPlan of the BigBad, and vanish for much of the story, including the finale`
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**** Perhaps subconciously he ''did'' want to get caught.
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**** Perhaps subconciously subconsciously he ''did'' want to get caught.
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** Razim from Scorpia Rising has studied and tries to correct for the mistakes of the previous villians. Of course, this just means that the BondVillainStupidity shifts over to Erik Gunter instead.
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** Razim from Scorpia Rising has studied and tries to correct for the mistakes of the previous villians.villains. Of course, this just means that the BondVillainStupidity shifts over to Erik Gunter instead.
Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
* At the end of "Scorpia", Alex is shot with a .22 round, fired from a sniper rifle. That's all fine, but why .22? I accept that Anthony Horowitz may not know a great deal about firearms, but this really bugs me. A .22 is a tiny target rifle round. The only way to kill someone with it would be a point-blank shot to the heart or temple. And it's not like the Scorpia agent used a legal round to avoid detection, as Scorpia is stated to have serious firepower at their disposal, as well as the fact the weapon was concealed, which wouldn't look very good if he was caught. Why doesn't Scorpia use a high-powered rifle with a larger round, fitted with suppressors and sub-sonic ammuntion?
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* At the end of "Scorpia", Alex is shot with a .22 round, fired from a sniper rifle. That's all fine, but why .22? I accept that Anthony Horowitz may not know a great deal about firearms, but this really bugs me. A .22 is a tiny target rifle round. The only way to kill someone with it would be a point-blank shot to the heart or temple. And it's not like the Scorpia agent used a legal round to avoid detection, as Scorpia is stated to have serious firepower at their disposal, as well as the fact the weapon was concealed, which wouldn't look very good if he was caught. Why doesn't Scorpia use a high-powered rifle with a larger round, fitted with suppressors and sub-sonic ammuntion?ammunition?
Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* Why do the books make reference to dollars as currency in situations where references to pounds would be more appropriate?
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* Why do the books make reference to dollars as currency in situations where references to pounds would be more appropriate?appropriate?
**Could be that you're reading the US edition, which Americafied a lot of things. I know the figure of Michael Owens in Eagle Strike was changed to Tiger Woods, and in one book(could have been the first?) miles was used instead of kilometres. Even in areas where they were in America, or the CIA was involved, things got awkward.
**Could be that you're reading the US edition, which Americafied a lot of things. I know the figure of Michael Owens in Eagle Strike was changed to Tiger Woods, and in one book(could have been the first?) miles was used instead of kilometres. Even in areas where they were in America, or the CIA was involved, things got awkward.
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Changed line(s) 35 (click to see context) from:
** According to WordOfGod, the reasoning for this was that Horowitz wanted to leave a clue that [[spoiler: Alex wouldn't be killed as a result of being shot.]]
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** According to WordOfGod, the reasoning for this was that Horowitz wanted to leave a clue that [[spoiler: Alex wouldn't be killed as a result of being shot.]]]]
* Why do the books make reference to dollars as currency in situations where references to pounds would be more appropriate?
* Why do the books make reference to dollars as currency in situations where references to pounds would be more appropriate?
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Deleted line(s) 13,16 (click to see context) :
* The NintendoDS tie-in for the movie. Just...that.
** As someone who's never played it, is it possible to elaborate?
** It apparently wasn't very good, NintendoPower gave it a 4.5 out of 10, thanks to repetitive combat, and noted ironically that one of the bonus minigames could have actually received a higher score and sold better if it had been released as a standalone. Amusingly, Alex in the game can use his DS gadget, meaning you can play a DS on your DS!
* The principal of Scorpia's training school is supposed to be French, as evidenced by his accent and last name (D'Arc), but his first namer is Oliver. Olivier is the French version of that name, not Oliver. Small thing, but it bugs me nonetheless.
** As someone who's never played it, is it possible to elaborate?
** It apparently wasn't very good, NintendoPower gave it a 4.5 out of 10, thanks to repetitive combat, and noted ironically that one of the bonus minigames could have actually received a higher score and sold better if it had been released as a standalone. Amusingly, Alex in the game can use his DS gadget, meaning you can play a DS on your DS!
* The principal of Scorpia's training school is supposed to be French, as evidenced by his accent and last name (D'Arc), but his first namer is Oliver. Olivier is the French version of that name, not Oliver. Small thing, but it bugs me nonetheless.
Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
** IN. COLD. BLOOD. That's the key phrase there. There's a hug difference between killing people in a desperate chase or heat of the moment and killing someone in cold blood.
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** IN. COLD. BLOOD. That's the key phrase there. There's a hug huge difference between killing people in a desperate chase or heat of the moment and killing someone in cold blood.
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Changed line(s) 19 (click to see context) from:
** Rahim from Scorpia Rising has studied and tries to correct for the mistakes of the previous villians. Of course, this just means that the BondVillainStupidity shifts over to Erik Gunter instead.
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** Rahim Razim from Scorpia Rising has studied and tries to correct for the mistakes of the previous villians. Of course, this just means that the BondVillainStupidity shifts over to Erik Gunter instead.
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Changed line(s) 39 (click to see context) from:
** According to Word Of God, the reasoning for this was that Horowitz wanted to leave a clue that [[Spoiler: Alex wouldn't be killed as a result of being shot.]]
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** According to Word Of God, WordOfGod, the reasoning for this was that Horowitz wanted to leave a clue that [[Spoiler: [[spoiler: Alex wouldn't be killed as a result of being shot.]]
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**According to Word Of God, the reasoning for this was that Horowitz wanted to leave a clue that [[Spoiler: Alex wouldn't be killed as a result of being shot.]]
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Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
* At the end of Scorpia, Alex is shot with a .22 round, fired from a sniper rifle. That's all fine, but why .22? I accept that Anthony Horowitz may not know a great deal about firearms, but this really bugs me. A .22 is a tiny target rifle round. The only way to kill someone with it would be a point-blank shot to the heart or temple. And it's not like the Scorpia agent used a legal round to avoid detection, as Scorpia is stated to have serious firepower at their disposal, as well as the fact the weapon was concealed, which doesn't look very good.
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* At the end of Scorpia, "Scorpia", Alex is shot with a .22 round, fired from a sniper rifle. That's all fine, but why .22? I accept that Anthony Horowitz may not know a great deal about firearms, but this really bugs me. A .22 is a tiny target rifle round. The only way to kill someone with it would be a point-blank shot to the heart or temple. And it's not like the Scorpia agent used a legal round to avoid detection, as Scorpia is stated to have serious firepower at their disposal, as well as the fact the weapon was concealed, which wouldn't look very good if he was caught. Why doesn't look very good.Scorpia use a high-powered rifle with a larger round, fitted with suppressors and sub-sonic ammuntion?
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*At the end of Scorpia, Alex is shot with a .22 round, fired from a sniper rifle. That's all fine, but why .22? I accept that Anthony Horowitz may not know a great deal about firearms, but this really bugs me. A .22 is a tiny target rifle round. The only way to kill someone with it would be a point-blank shot to the heart or temple. And it's not like the Scorpia agent used a legal round to avoid detection, as Scorpia is stated to have serious firepower at their disposal, as well as the fact the weapon was concealed, which doesn't look very good.
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***I think it is. Granted, I know very little about the weapons involved, but it is definitely true that bones are really dense and if you get shot directly in a rib it can stop a bullet.
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Answering question
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** Yes. This is a great way to [[spoiler:cook fish. And apparently terrorists.]]
