"Discworld Noir" and "Interesting Times" - found the link

[RathDarkblade]

Heh. I'm re-reading "Interesting Times", and... I just thought of something.

I first played Discworld Noir when it came out - in 1998 - but only read my first Discworld book, Interesting Times, in the same year. So a lot of the references (in the game and the book) went 'woosh' above my head.

I re-played the game a couple of years ago and FINALLY got them all. Talk about delayed reaction. So I missed the fact that Two-Conkers is a reference to the game of Conkers, because I was never aware what 'conkers' is. *blush*

I was wondering if there is some other in-joke with the name. I thought perhaps the in-joke was "To conquer", because he is suspected of being a spy or assassin for the Counterweight Empire, who are rumoured to want to conquer Ankh-Morpork.

This was nothing more than idle speculation until I got nearly halfway through "Interesting Times" recently - and learned that Lord Hong was planning to unite the Agatean Empire under his heel, and then invade and conquer Ankh-Morpork. So it looks like my hunch was right!!!

What do you reckon?

 

[=Tamar]

Re: "Discworld Noir" and "Interesting Times"

According to what I read, conkers are named by how many others have been broken. That is, one chestnut strikes another until one of them breaks. The unbroken one is now a One-Conker. A Two-Conker is a chestnut that has broken two other chestnuts. My first impression is that Two-Conkers is incompetent or maybe just a beginner, with only two kills to his account. On the other hand, there may or may not be another meaning intended about something said to have broken two nuts.

 

[RathDarkblade]

Re: "Discworld Noir" and "Interesting Times"

Hmm... well, in the game, there is an assassin named Remora Selachii who attempts to kill Two-Conkers and fails (twice). The first time, he is stopped by Lewton; the second time, Two-Conkers is injured but not killed.

Maybe that's the connection? *wonders* I'm not sure what connection there is to nuts, though.