History WMG / MenAtArms

It would explain the unnatural influence over its wielders' minds and the inordinate number of pop-culture gunfight references that crept into the story. It would account for the object seemingly having a life of its own, at the time it killed Mr. Hammerhock. Most importantly, Leonard of Quirm's strange feeling that he was just putting together something that already existed (versus something he personally invented) might explain why it has such a concise straightforward name (versus a Hurls-Lead-Projectiles-At-Speed-Due-To-Concentrated-Incendiary-Reactions-Of-No.-1-Powder Device or something.)

It would explain Leonard of Quirm's strange feeling that he was just putting together something that already existed, as well as its unnatural influence over its wielders' minds and the inordinate number of pop-culture gunfight references that crept into the story. It would account for the object seemingly having a life of its own, at the time it killed Mr. Hammerhock. Most importantly, it's the best plausible explanation for why Leonard '''didn't''' name it the Hurls-Lead-Projectiles-At-Speed-Due-To-Concentrated-Incendiary-Reactions-Of-No.-1-Powder Device.

[[AC: {{WMG}}s for Literature/{{Discworld}} / Discworld/MenAtArms. Warning: Potential unmarked spoilers.]]

* By extension, if this is the book where he had a HeelFaceTurn, then ''Discworld/NightWatch'' is the book that'd convinced him to become so cynical in the first place. He'd seen his own aunt's meticulous efforts to replace a corrupt and paranoid Patrician end up merely putting another ruthless backstabber into power. He'd applied all of his hard-won, elegant expertise from the Assassins' school to eliminating Winder, only to see Snapcase turn around and sic an uncultivated psychopath on the only sincerely well-meaning unit in the Watch. Vetinari's belief that the good people are only of use to replace one bunch of bad people with another, we can now see, stems from direct personal experience from that period, and he only shakes off that disillusioned cynicism when Carrot's proposal for a new Watch -- and the could-have-been-king's complete disinterest in personal power -- shoved his face in the fact that not ''everyone'' he might trust to share the civic authority is a Snapcase-in-waiting.

* Or, the solution was given a [[Discworld/{{Hogfather}} another book]]: "Things just happen, what the hell."

* Jossed as of ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'', unless something ''very'' complicated happened to the succession, because the Lord Rust in that book is notably older than Vimes.
** In addition, Lord Rust makes an appearance in the past during ''Night Watch'', and Vimes' reaction to him confirms that it is the same Rust as in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}''. Once again, unless the family succession got very messy, it's more likely a case of CharacterizationMarchesOn, as with the Patrician in ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'', according to WordOfGod.

When he gets locked in the pork futures warehouse, he creates a huge, elaborate "theory of everything" equation all over the walls, in an attempt to pass the time until he is rescued. He gets everything down to one last "=" before being rescued. I suspect that the answer on the other side of that equals is '''[[Literature/HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy 42]]'''.

When he gets locked in the pork futures warehouse, he creates a huge, elaborate "theory of everything" equation all over the walls, in an attempt to pass the time until he is rescued. He gets everything down to one last "=" before being rescued. I suspect that the answer on the other side of that equals is '''42'''.

Vimes sent Nobby to collect the body with a warning not to nick any jewelry, but he admits later that he had no doubt that Nobby would "forget" that part of his instructions. Edward d'Eath's obsession with Carrot's ancestry was such that he probably wouldn't have left the ring behind in his room, but would carry that most tangible piece of evidence on his person. As Guild Assassins make it a point of honor not to rob their targets' bodies, Cruces wouldn't have searched Edward's pockets (a risky thing to do with any Assassin, in any case) after shooting him. Nobby pinched the ring when he collected the corpse, then later asked some pawnbroker to appraise it. Nobby wasn't satisfied with the offer, so kept the thing as a trinket; meanwhile, the pawnbroker asked the Heralds about the coat-of-arms it bore for the sake of his own curiosity, which brought Nobby to Dragon-King-Of-Arms's attention. The chief Herald's story about Nobby's relationship to the Earl of Ankh was as fabricated as Nobby's own self-exonerating claim that he'd gotten the ring from Sconner.

[[WMG: Nobby acquired the ring from ''Feet of Clay'' from Edward d'Eath's corpse.]]

It would explain Leonard of Quirm's strange feeling that he was just putting together something that already existed, as well as its unnatural influence over its wielders' minds and the inordinate number of pop-culture gunfight references that crept into the story. It would account for the object seemingly having a life of its own, at the time it killed Mr. Hammerhock. Most importantly, it's the best plausible explanation for why Leonard '''didn't''' name it the Hurls-Lead-Projectiles-At-Speed-Due-To-Concentrated-Incendiary-Reactions-Of-No.-1-Powder Device.

[[WMG: The Gonne wasn't just an invention, but another Wild Idea that leaked in from another world, like the one from ''Moving Pictures''.]]

It would explain Leonard of Quirm's strange feeling that he was just putting together something that always existed, as well as its unnatural influence over its wielders' minds and the inordinate number of pop-culture gunfight references that crept into the story. It would account for the object seemingly having a life of its own, at the time it killed Mr. Hammerhock. Most importantly, it's the best plausible explanation for why Leonard '''didn't''' name it the Hurls-Lead-Projectiles-At-Speed-Due-To-Concentrated-Incendiary-Reactions-Of-No.-1-Powder Device.

[[WMG: The Gonne wasn't just an invention, but another Wild Idea like the one from ''Moving Pictures''.]]

** In addition, Lord Rust makes an appearance in the past during ''Night Watch'', and Vimes' reaction to him confirms that it is the same Rust as in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}''. Once again, unless the family succession got very messy, it's more likely a case of CharacterizationMarchesOn, as with the Patrician in ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'', according to WordOfGod.

[[AC: {{WMG}}s for {{Discworld}}/{{Discworld/MenAtArms}}. Warning: Potential unmarked spoilers.]]

* By extension, if this is the book where he had a HeelFaceTurn, then ''Discworld/{{Night Watch}}'' is the book that'd convinced him to become so cynical in the first place. He'd seen his own aunt's meticulous efforts to replace a corrupt and paranoid Patrician end up merely putting another ruthless backstabber into power. He'd applied all of his hard-won, elegant expertise from the Assassins' school to eliminating Winder, only to see Snapcase turn around and sic an uncultivated psychopath on the only sincerely well-meaning unit in the Watch. Vetinari's belief that the good people are only of use to replace one bunch of bad people with another, we can now see, stems from direct personal experience from that period, and he only shakes off that disillusioned cynicism when Carrot's proposal for a new Watch -- and the could-have-been-king's complete disinterest in personal power -- shoved his face in the fact that not ''everyone'' he might trust to share the civic authority is a Snapcase-in-waiting.

** In addition, Lord Rust makes an appearance in the past during ''Night Watch'', and Vimes' reaction to him confirms that it is the same Rust as in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}''. Once again, unless the family succession got very messy, it's more likely a case of CharacterizationMarchesOn, as with the Patrician in ''Discworld/{{The Colour of Magic}}'', according to WordOfGod.

* By extension, if this is the book where he had a HeelFaceTurn, then ''Night Watch'' is the book that'd convinced him to become so cynical in the first place. He'd seen his own aunt's meticulous efforts to replace a corrupt and paranoid Patrician end up merely putting another ruthless backstabber into power. He'd applied all of his hard-won, elegant expertise from the Assassins' school to eliminating Winder, only to see Snapcase turn around and sic an uncultivated psychopath on the only sincerely well-meaning unit in the Watch. Vetinari's belief that the good people are only of use to replace one bunch of bad people with another, we can now see, stems from direct personal experience from that period, and he only shakes off that disillusioned cynicism when Carrot's proposal for a new Watch -- and the could-have-been-king's complete disinterest in personal power -- shoved his face in the fact that not ''everyone'' he might trust to share the civic authority is a Snapcase-in-waiting.

* Jossed as of ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'', unless something ''very'' complicated happened to the succession, because the Lord Rust in that book is notably older than Vimes.

He could have died between Men at Arms and Jingo whereupon the [[UpperClassTwit Lord Rust]] we all know took over.

The Discworld Universe has the Question, and the HHGG universe has the answer. Unfortunately, because ''this'' universe has seen the answer, we'll never find out the details of Detritus' question.

* By extension, if this is the book where he had a HeelFaceTurn, then ''Night Watch'' is the book that'd convinced him to become so cynical in the first place. He'd seen his own aunt's meticulous efforts to replace a corrupt and paranoid Patrician end up merely putting another ruthless backstabber into power. He'd applied all of his hard-won, elegant expertise from the Assassins' school to eliminating Winder, only to see Snapcase turn around and sic an uncultivated psychopath on the only sincerely well-meaning unit in the Watch. Vetinari's belief that the good people are only of use to replace one bunch of bad people with another, we can now see, stems from direct personal experience from that period, and he only shakes off that disillusioned cynicism when Carrot's proposal for a new Watch -- and the could-have-been-king's complete disinterest in personal power -- shoved his face in the fact that not ''everyone'' he might trust to share the civic authority is a Snapcase-in-waiting.

* By extension, if this is the book where he had a HeelFaceTurn, then ''Night Watch'' is the book that'd convinced him to become so cynical in the first place. He'd seen his own aunt's meticulous efforts to replace a corrupt and paranoid Patrician end up merely putting another ruthless backstabber into power. He'd applied all of his hard-won, elegant expertise from the Assassins' school to eliminating Winder, only to see Snapcase turn around and sic an uncultivated psychopath on the only sincerely well-meaning unit in the Watch. Vetinari's belief that the good people are only of use to replace one bunch of bad people with another, we can now see, stems from direct personal experience from that period, and he only shakes off that disillusioned cynicism when Carrot's proposal for a new Watch -- and the could-have-been-king's complete disinterest in personal power -- shoved his face in the fact that not ''everyone'' he might trust to share the civic power is a Snapcase-in-waiting.

It is only after this novel that Vetinari's manipulative skills really begin to match his towering reputation for having them.