History Headscratchers / Blackadder

** See Baldrick's original suggestion regarding how Edmund could have posed as the prince to trick the Duke; add on the fact that Prince George was an idiotic layabout who only is only recorded as going out to a few key gentlemens' clubs, and it wouldn't be impossible to assume that Blackadder got away with it by attending different clubs from his deceased master and aoiding spending too much time with anyone who knew the Prince that well.

** I think it's ''Blackadder: Back & Forth'' instead, which has a lot of plotholes anyway. It's an unplanned plothole, plain and simple. Perhaps they retconned it. If we want to do WildMassGuessing, perhaps the the original Baldrick knew of his master's Blackadder roots and leaped to the chance when the latter christened himself a Black Vegetable.

*** Nieces and nephews? He could easily have brothers in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th series.

** To some degree it's a matter of personal opinion which you happen to be on the unfortunate side of (which is not to say that yours is wrong by any means, but it's pretty clearly in the minority). But there's a remark by Ben Elton which might offer an answer, in addition to the above; at one point, he was talking about this very thing and said something along the lines that "Rowan Atkinson falling off a horse in the distance is about as funny as anyone else falling off a horse, but Rowan Atkinson up close is comedy gold." There's a reason that Rowan Atkinson tends to be described as "rubber-faced" in terms of comedy. He tends to be very expressive, and a lot of the humor comes from how his character responds and reacts to the situations he finds himself in. Notice how, in the second to fourth seasons -- the ones everyone pretty widely agrees are the best -- the sets are fairly small, and a lot of the shots are close-ups of the characters, thus enabling the audience to see not just the action but how the characters -- and Blackadder especially -- are reacting to what's happening. Notice also how whenever one of the other characters is saying or doing something stupid, there's usually plenty of cuts to Blackadder staring at them and/or reacting in exasperation. In the first season, however, there's a lot of wide shots and scenery, and less of these kind of close-ups -- not none entirely, but less. Elton is suggesting -- and I'd say it's reasonable -- that the first season is less well-regarded simply because it doesn't play to Atkinson's strengths as a comedian as much or as well as the others do. It clearly does some things well, otherwise why bother renewing it, but it could do other things better.

** Regency Blackadder is a potent mixture of ruthless, bitter, cunning, competent and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]]. Prince Edmund is ambitious, granted, but he's also incompetent; we take him less seriously and he's less of a threat to anyone, so conversely is less of a villain. He's also less evil than he maybe wants to be; notice how taken aback he is when his compatriots suggest murdering his family instead of exiling them in his final episode. Lord Edmund is ruthless and cunning, but while he kind of vaguely wants to marry Queenie and wouldn't mind being king, he's not that ambitious when you get down to it. As said above, he mainly just wants to live an easy life and, crucially, more or less can; when he's not dealing with the scrapes he gets into, he more or less seems to have things pretty good, so there's no real need for him to plot against other people. And while Captain Blackadder has goals, they're a lot more sympathetic; he's not really scheming for power or wealth or to hurt someone else, he mainly just wants to not die in a pointless bloodbath in a war that pretty much everyone agrees wasn't really worth the misery it caused, which is something almost everyone can pretty much get behind. Furthermore, aside from the whole "First World War" issue Captain Blackadder otherwise seems fairly okay with his lot in life; he doesn't want to be king or anything. Regency Blackadder, however, is in reduced circumstances, is bitter about it, wants to get back on the top in some way, and certainly doesn't mind stepping over others for his own benefit. It's a more villainous combination.

** Regency Blackadder is a potent mixture of ruthless, bitter, cunning, competent and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]]. Prince Edmund is ambitious, granted, but he's also incompetent; we take him less seriously and he's less of a threat to anyone, so conversely is less of a villain. He's also less evil than he maybe wants to be; notice how taken aback he is when his compatriots suggest murdering his family instead of exiling them in his final episode. Lord Edmund is ruthless and cunning, but while he kind of vaguely wants to marry Queenie and wouldn't mind being king, he's not that ambitious when you get down to it. As said above, he mainly just wants to live an easy life and, crucially, more or less can; when he's not dealing with the scrapes he gets into, he more or less seems to have things pretty good, so there's no real need for him to plot against other people. And while Captain Blackadder has goals, they're a lot more sympathetic; he's not really scheming for power or wealth or to hurt someone else, he mainly just wants to not die in a pointless bloodbath in a war that pretty much everyone agrees wasn't really worth the misery it caused, which is something almost everyone can pretty much get behind. Regency Blackadder, however, is in reduced circumstances, is bitter about it, wants to get back on the top in some way, and certainly doesn't mind stepping over others for his own benefit. It's a more villainous combination.

** Also Blackadder, unlike George, is not a boorish sex-crazed oaf with the intelligence of a broken pencil point. I dare say a substantial amount of people probably were not fooled by the switch but since, on the whole, Blackadder was a trade-up in every possible way they just decided SureLetsGoWithThat.

[[folder: ''The Black Addder'']]

* How come Ebenezer Blackadder be such an arsehole to Baldrick? I can understand him doing that to other people, since they always took advantages of his kindness. But Baldrick is the only one who truly cares about him, his only fault is being stupid.
** Because he's decided to embrace his Blackadder-ness to the fullest. That mean he'll be an asshole to anybody, even for something small like being an idiot. Plus, after seeing that dismal vision of the future, he may have been also felt like putting Baldrick in his place.
** As a rule, the Blackadders are not the types to suffer fools gladly. Baldrick is the fool to end all fools and the Blackadders throughout history cannot help pointing it out at every opportunity.
** Also, let's remember that Ebenezer is getting back at everyone who ever got on his nerves. Baldrick gets on his nerves regularly, even though he's not doing it out of malice.

* 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''?
** There's also the Roman Blackaddicus. Let's say Edmund was naming himself, most likely unawares, after his slimy predecessors.
** I think it's ''Blackadder: Back & Forth'' instead, which has a lot of plotholes anyway. It's an unplanned plothole, plain and simple. Perhaps they retconned it. If we want to do WildMassGuessing, perhaps the the original Baldrick knew of his master's Blackadder roots and leaped to the chance when the latter christened himself a Black Vegetable.
** Prince Edmund could've just been really bad at history.
** Don't know whether it's canon, but the script book ''Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty'' traces the family from the prehistoric era to World War I, which would imply that Prince Edmund is far from the first.
** There is a fan theory suggesting that Dougal MacAngus' father is descended from the MacAdder clan, linking Prince Edmund to the Blackadder line via his illegitimate parentage. Maybe Edmund's true parentage was more widely known than he thought, leading to Baldrick's suggestion?
** 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.
** 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.

* Why does nobody but me seem to actually think the first season was better, or even as good as the others?
** Because it was a flop in the eyes of the BBC: It was rather expensive. The latter ones were done in a studio, whereas the others were shot in castles, featured horseriding, large amounts of extras with plentiful design...
** And the first series Edmund and Baldrick were almost completely swapped around if you view the first series after the others. Edmund's a cowardly, slimy schmuck whilst Baldrick, whilst still filthy, is a damn sight smarter.
** Conventional wisdom has it that the addition of Creator/BenElton to the scriptwriting team improved the series immensely. I'd disagree with it, after all some of the lines in the first series are as good as anything as anything in the later series. ('So what you're telling me is that something you have never seen is slightly less blue than something else you have never seen', 'Curses are pretty much the same really. I brought this one for half an egg 'Dear Enemy, I curse you and hope that something quite unpleasant happens to you, like an onion falling on your head'"). But the big change is that Rowan Atkinson horribly overreacts and gurns in the first series...and turning him into a DeadPanSnarker improves him immensely.
** It's quite different in feel, approach and tone in many ways than the three seasons that followed it, when a successful formula was hit on and worked with; it's probably just an example of the age-old phenomenon of something not really finding it's feet for most people until it's worked out the initial errors.
** The first series is basically Mr. Bean without the things that make people like Mr. Bean. Basically, it does a bunch of things decently, but it doesn't do anything well. The physical comedy is good, but not as good as almost anything else contemporary to it. The writing is good, but not as good as almost anything else contemporary to it (the few good lines are direct references to other works), and the biggest failing is that it has no idea what it wants to be. Some of the actors clearly think this is a physical comedy, some think it satirical, some think it is a genuine drama, and some think it will get canceled so they might as well not bother trying.

* Why did the Infanta ask the Queen on "how is Edmund in bed?" What was she expecting? [[ParentalIncest That she knew]]?
** She possibly meant if he had a reputation for it.
** I thought the Infanta was just so sex obsessed that she didn't care who she asked about it.

* What the hell happens in the first series with the Witchsmeller Pursuivant? For a start, there's that black, hooded, cloaked thing which no one seems to see. Secondly, as I recall, Blackadder, Percy, and Baldrick all crouch down, leap up, and then are on another floor of the castle. That's how they escape. WTF??
** [[AWizardDidIt Magic]]. Literally.
*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7e0777z7AY&feature=related
** In order: The black hooded thing is the Witchsmeller's disguise. [[RuleOfFunny The fact that no one notices how creepy he is is the joke.]] When Edmund, Percy, and Baldrick jump up and appear in another room Edmund says something to the effect of "In all my years I'll never know how you managed that, Baldrick!" [[RuleOfFunny The fact that you can't figure out how they did it is the joke.]]

* 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 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?
** Yeah...they didn't really think that joke through.
*** Ponsonby's wife may not have shown up and he might have had a sore throat.
** Percy's an idiot.
*** 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.
* 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.
** 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.
** 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.
* 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?
** That's what Henry VII ''wants'' you to think.
*** Brilliant!
** 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 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. And because Henry Tudor was busy rewriting history, everyone decided it would be prudent to pretend that that had never happened.
** It could simply be a title in pretence: he's not recognised as Duke of Edinburgh in Scotland, but the King of Scots can't stop him using the title in the English court. (Doubtless, Richard IV would similarly have styled himself as King of France, as all Kings of England did until 1808. No truth in the claim, but the real King of France wouldn't have been able to do anything about it).
* 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.
** 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.
** Alternatively, somebody was pulling the old goldfish trick and replacing them when they died.
*** That somebody probably being Darling.
* In "General Hospital" Blackadder 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.
** Being a nurse in a military hospital operated near a battleground, she probably fell under military jurisdiction.

* How does Blackadder keep up the ruse of impersonating Prince George? King George III may be too crazy to notice, but does nobody in Britain know what Prince George looks like?
** See Baldrick's original suggestion regarding how Edmund could have posed as the prince to trick the Duke; add on the fact that Prince George was an idiotic layabout who only is only recorded as going out to a few key gentlemens' clubs, and it wouldn't be impossible to assume that Blackadder got away with it by attending different clubs from his deceased master and aoiding spending too much time with anyone who knew the Prince that well.
** Also Blackadder, unlike George, is not a boorish sex-crazed oaf with the intelligence of a broken pencil point. I dare say a substantial amount of people probably were not fooled by the switch but since, on the whole, Blackadder was a trade-up in every possible way they just decided SureLetsGoWithThat.
* What happened to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_V_of_England Edward]], Richard IV's elder brother?
** Probably died of some horrible illness. It ''was'' still the Middle Ages.

** Also Blackadder, unlike George, is not a boorish sex-crazed oaf with the intelligence of a broken pencil point. I dare say a substantial amount of people probably were not fooled by the switch but decided that, on the whole, since Blackadder was a trade-up in every possible way they just decided SureLetsGoWithThat.

* What happened to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_V_of_England Edward]], Richard IV's elder brother?

** Also Blackadder, unlike George, is not a boorish sex-crazed oaf with the intelligence of a broken pencil point. I dare say a substantial amount of people probably were not fooled by the switch but decided that, on the whole, since Blackadder was a trade-up in every possible way they just decided SureLetsGoWithThat.

* Jons of ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'' looks an awful lot like the original Baldrick. Makes me giggle in the film in parts where I probably shouldn't.

** See Baldrick's original suggestion regarding how Edmund could have posed as the prince to trick the Duke; add on the fact that Prince George was an idiotic layabout who only is only recorded as going out to a few key gentlemens' clubs, and it wouldn't be impossible to assume that Blackadder got away with it by attending different clubs from his deceased master and aoiding spending too much time with anyone who knew the Prince that well.

* How does Blackadder keep up the ruse of impersonating Prince George? King George III may be too crazy to notice, but does nobody in Britain know what Prince George looks like?

** 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.

* How come Ebeneezer Blackadder be such an arsehole to Baldrick? I can understand him doing that to other people, since they always took advantages of his kindness. But Baldrick is the only one who truly cares about him, his only fault is being stupid.

** The only likely answer to the first three is probably illegitimate children who became aware of their father's name and adopted it. 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, 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 that 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. However, in none of these cases is it even hinted that he had any heirs at all.

*** Ponsonby's wife may not have shown up and he might have had a soar throat.
** Percy's an idiot

* 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?

* 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.
* 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.

** Also, lets remember that Ebenezer is getting back at everyone who ever got on his nerves. Baldrick gets on his nerves regularly, even though he's not doing it out of malice.

** Conventional wisdom has it that the addition of Creator/BenElton to the scriptwriting team improved the series immensely. I'd disagree with it, after all some of the lines in the first series are as good as anything as anything in the later series. ('So what you're telling me is that something you have never seen is slightly less blue than something else you have never seen', 'Curses are pretty much the same really. I brought this one for half an egg 'Dear Enemy, I cures you and hope that something quite unpleasant happens to you, like an onion falling on your head'"). But the big change is that Rowan Atkinson horribly overracts and gurns in the first series...and turning him into a DeadPanSnarker improves him immensely.