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** Notice that the Elizabethan Edmund is a lord, who doesn't carry his great-grandfather's name (Plantagenet), but rather, a name based on his pseudonym (Blackadder). It's possible that Lord Blackadder's grandfather (Prince Edmund's son) was a bastard, discovered by Henry Tudor after the deaths of the Plantagenets. Henry Tudor would have seen this child as a possible rival to the throne and wisely bribed him with a lordship and land. Lord Blackadder himself might have fathered more bastards, who would go on to sire the rest of the Blackadder clan.
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* In the very first episode, Edmund proclaims himself "the Black Adder", implying that he's first in the dynasty. If that's the case, why is Robin Hood (who was around long before the Wars of the Roses) familiar with a Lord Blackadder in ''Blackadder Goes Forth''?
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* In the very first episode, Edmund proclaims himself "the Black Adder", implying that he's first in the dynasty. If that's the case, why is Robin Hood (who was around long before the Wars of the Roses) familiar with a Lord Blackadder in ''Blackadder Goes Back and Forth''?
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** Melchett is a senile idiot. He probably named a carrier pigeon "Speckled Jim" after his childhood pet, and then managed to confuse them so that he ended up thinking they were the same pigeon.
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** If one really wishes to give a Watsonian explanation we could argue that messing with time-travelling resulted in alternate histories where the Blackadder family appeared before the main series continuity.
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* Jons of ''TheSeventhSeal'' looks an awful lot like the original Baldrick. Makes me giggle in the film in parts where I probably shouldn't.
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* Jons of ''TheSeventhSeal'' ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'' looks an awful lot like the original Baldrick. Makes me giggle in the film in parts where I probably shouldn't.
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** A few lines suggest that Baldrick might not be strictly human, and his family tree in "The Whole Damn Dynasty" has several generations that look like they reproduced asexually.
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** Edmund doesn't initially proclaim himself The Black Adder: his first attempt is The Black Vegetable. It is Baldrick who then makes the alternative suggestion. Perhaps he was aware of Edmund's ancestry even if Edmund himself wasn't.
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** He was much more coldly calculating than the others, like when in his first episode he carried out a string of assassinations to fix an election for a minor objective. The second is crueler but still so self-absorbed and petty it comes off as being lighter; the third is a straight-up calculating VillainProtagonist. He's also the only one who got away with everything.
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** He was much more coldly calculating than the others, like when in his first episode he carried out a string of assassinations to fix an election for a minor objective. The second is crueler but still so self-absorbed and petty it comes off as being lighter; the third is a straight-up calculating VillainProtagonist. He's also the only one who got away with everything.everything.
** Leaving aside the first Blackadder, and the ones from the one off specials, the Third is the most proactive of the main Blackadders. The second is an oaf, but he was perfectly happy to idle his way through life making fun of Percy and hanging around court and if you left him alone he left you alone. The Fourth joined the army, as many young men of his era did, because it was the sort of thing that young men of a certain class did in order to see the world he was just going along with things too. The Third actively seeks to change his station and is cold and calculating in the way he goes about it, seeing others as obstacles to kill if needed.
** Leaving aside the first Blackadder, and the ones from the one off specials, the Third is the most proactive of the main Blackadders. The second is an oaf, but he was perfectly happy to idle his way through life making fun of Percy and hanging around court and if you left him alone he left you alone. The Fourth joined the army, as many young men of his era did, because it was the sort of thing that young men of a certain class did in order to see the world he was just going along with things too. The Third actively seeks to change his station and is cold and calculating in the way he goes about it, seeing others as obstacles to kill if needed.
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*** Not to mention that Dr Johnson would have had something crucial that Blackadder didn't: a secretary.
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* This page (and I assume a portion of the fandom in general) seem to think the third Black Adder is the most villainous which I find surprising since I found him to be the least villainous (barring the first who's just an idiot). Sure he's willing to kill political rivals and steal but that's a trait common to all the Black Adders. The second Black Adder regularly talked about beating people, executed people early to get half a week of work off and left the sea captain to be consumed by cannibals (he also gave out his piss as a present, not exactly evil but still a rotten thing to do). As for Captain Black Adder it's revealed he joined the army for the express purpose of killing people who can't fight back and happily did it for fifteen years. I can't think of anything noteworthy that the butler version of Black Adder did that would give him a reputation worse than the others.
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* In General Hospital Black Adder believes the Nurse is the spy and gets her sent to the Firing Squad. Not really an issue in universe given how generally inept and trigger happy the army is (towards their own people) but would that happen in real life? Would a spy with a non military job receive a court martial or execution on the spot? My instincts tell me it would fall under some form of treason based civilian law.
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*** Given the executioner was Baldrick, the gaoler was Ploppy, and overseen by Percy, it could have been anyone. I doubt they've got the identity of anyone they've executed even approximately right. It probably wasn't Ponsonby at all.
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*** Given the executioner was Baldrick, the gaoler was Ploppy, and the whole thing was overseen by Percy, it could have been anyone. I doubt they've got the identity of anyone they've executed even approximately right. It probably wasn't Ponsonby at all.
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** There were a lot of border skirmishes and minor wars between England and Scotland in the Middle Ages, and a lot of territory around the border changed hands quite frequently. Given how violent and warlike Richard was, it's possible that during his kingdom he led an attack which was successful enough to capture Edinburgh, but when he died the Scottish took the opportunity to take it back. Then, because Henry Tudor was busy rewriting history, everyone decided it would be prudent to pretend that that had never happened.
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** There were a lot of border skirmishes and minor wars between England and Scotland in the Middle Ages, and a lot of territory around the border changed hands quite frequently. Given how violent and warlike Richard was, it's possible that during his kingdom he either led an attack which was successful enough to capture Edinburgh, but Edinburgh or, given how friendly he was with [=MacAngus=], that he was successful enough to be declared King of Scotland as well. Then, when he died the Scottish took the opportunity to take it back. Then, And because Henry Tudor was busy rewriting history, everyone decided it would be prudent to pretend that that had never happened.
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** There were a lot of border skirmishes and minor wars between England and Scotland in the Middle Ages, and a lot of territory around the border changed hands quite frequently. Given how violent and warlike Richard was, it's possible that during his kingdom he led an attack which was successful enough to capture Edinburgh, but when he died the Scottish took the opportunity to take it back. Then, because Henry Tudor was busy rewriting history, everyone decided it would be prudent to pretend that that had never happened.
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* How old was the Flanders Pigeon? General Melchett supposedly reared it from a chick and it was "his only childhood friend", implying it to be about 40 years old.
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** Given that no-one but Edmund himself ever used the Black Adder nickname, it's entirely possible Henry VII wouldn't have made the connection at all. Alternatively, Edmund ''had'' saved his life in the first episode so an illegitimate child might have been spared in recognition, and given the name (which Baldric knows) to cover up the real ancestry.
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*** "The Queen of Spain's Beard" is set in 1492. The final episode ends in 1499. That's plenty of time for Edmund to have sex with a woman at some point.
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** That's what Henry VII ''wants'' you to think.
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** Perhaps [[{{Squick}} he slept with Leia]] prior to being stripped of his titles and was unaware that he'd impregnated her. Given that he was trapped for a year in the dungeon with only Mad Gerald for company, the child could have been sent away during that time with him unaware.
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*In The Black Adder, Prince Edmund is the Duke of Edinburgh, implying that King Richard IV is the King of Scotland. Wasn't Scotland an entirely separate Kingdom from England at that time?
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*** Given the executioner was Baldrick, the gaoler was Ploppy, and overseen by Percy, it could have been anyone. I doubt they've got the identity of anyone they've executed even approximately right. It probably wasn't Ponsonby at all.
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* In the second series' episode "Head", they believe that they executed a man named Farrow, but accidentally executed another man named Ponsonby. Once they recover the head, Percy recognizes him and notices the error. But...wasn't Percy at the execution and so should have noticed ''then''? Blackadder is excused since we wasn't there and apparently doesn't know what either looks like. Also, Percy also says that "Farrow's" last words were "my wife might have bloody well turned up!" in his deep booming voice, but Ponsonby is stated to have a horrible speech impediment. So, who said that quote?
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* In the second series' episode "Head", they believe that they executed a man named Farrow, but accidentally executed another man named Ponsonby. Once they recover the head, Percy recognizes him and notices the error. But...wasn't Percy at the execution and so should have noticed ''then''? Blackadder is excused since we he wasn't there and apparently doesn't know what either man looks like. Also, Percy also says that "Farrow's" last words were "my wife might have bloody well turned up!" in his deep booming voice, but Ponsonby is stated to have a horrible speech impediment. So, who said that quote?
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** The answer to the first three is probably illegitimate children who became aware of their father's name and adopted it. And with the first Blackadder, Leia ''was'' - according to Wikipedia - fourteen when he died, which would technically be old enough to have a child, so there's another possibility for that one. And Captain Blackadder either got someone pregnant before going to war, or survived the end of the series (since they were never actually ''shown'' dying) and had children after.
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** The only likely answer to the first three is probably illegitimate children who became aware of their father's name and adopted it. And with the first Blackadder, Leia This is far from made clear, however and a big problem is that Prince Edmund is described in "The Queen of Spain's Beard" as being a virgin, which Edmund doesn't quibble with. You'd think if he wasn't a virgin, he would have objected. Leia, his child bride, ''was'' - according to Wikipedia - fourteen when he died, which would technically be old enough to have a child, so there's another but this is certainly unclear at best, and unlikely considering that even the final episode of ''The Black Adder'' he had no acknowledged heirs, even in utero, and the show ends with his entire dynasty supposedly dying. Lord Blackadder almost certainly fathered some illegitimate children, and there is every possibility for that one. And Mr. Blackadder (of the Third) already had at least one before switching identities with the prince. Captain Blackadder could have either got someone pregnant before going to war, or survived the end of the series (since they were never actually ''shown'' dying) and had children after.after. However, in none of these cases is it even hinted that he had any heirs at all.
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**** Nieces would not have explained the descendants looking just like Edmund instead of, say, Harry.
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** Despite Edmund's general ineptitude with women, it's quite possible he fathered at least one illegitimate child, and that child (or their descendants) later rediscovered their heritage and retook the Blackadder name.
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* So how did the Blackadder line survive Henry VII's purges? Given that he went to the extremes of writing out an entire monarch, he seems a bit shoddy to allow his descendants to openly announce themeslves.
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** Percy's an idiot.
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** Percy's an idiot.idiot
* So how did the Blackadder line survive Henry VII's purges? Given that he went to the extremes of writing out an entire monarch, he seems a bit shoddy to allow his descendants to openly announce themeslves.
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* So how did the Blackadder line survive Henry VII's purges? Given that he went to the extremes of writing out an entire monarch, he seems a bit shoddy to allow his descendants to openly announce themeslves.
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** The above point hits the nail on the head, Baldrick is pretty pathetic and repulsive but only because he's seen against the background of high status characters. The servant to either a prince or a close confidant of princes and Queens would be enough to make him the most desirable dungball in the village.
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* So how did the Blackadder line survive Henry VII's purges? Given that he went to the extremes of writing out an entire monarch, he seems a bit shoddy to allow his descendants to openly announce themeslves.
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** Molly in the second series seemed to think he was alright. And let's be honest, there's no shortage of disgusting and stupid people in the Blackadder 'verse.
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*** Ponsonby's wife may not have shown up and he might have had a soar throat.
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*** Ponsonby's wife may not have shown up and he might have had a soar throat.throat.
** Percy's an idiot.
** Percy's an idiot.
