I think I may have misunderstood something...I thought it was Stratford disguised as a bartender on the Roberta E. Biscuit, and I included that when I wrote his wiki article. But recently somebody's changed it to say that Willikins was the barman! What's the correct interpretation here?
SPOILERS Snuff: Who was the barman? (SPOILERS)
- Thread starter tmoh
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I posted the same question on dA and tumblr as well as here, and most of the people on those sites voted Stratford. :think: The explanation I've been seeing for the drinks is that Willikins could've switched them out when barman!Stratford wasn't looking? Mr Stratford certainly isn't as smart as he thinks he is...
I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't both the barman!
I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't both the barman!
It was Willikins.
When Stratford is caught in what should have been Young Sam's cabin by Vimes, Stratford comments that he saw Vimes drink several cocktails and everyone knows Vimes is a 'lush'. He is then told that Willikins was the bartender and made Vimes a 'virgin' version of the cocktail. It had been a set up. Vimes knew that Stratford would try to kill Young Sam, so he and Willikins had clearly arranged for Willikins to pose as a bartender (no one else knew who he was) and Vimes would pretend to be the worse for drink to lull Stratford into thinking he would be able to attack the child unopposed. He mistook Sybil's snoring for that of the 'drunken' Vimes. Vimes, subsequently assisted by Willikins', was thus able to capture Stratford as planned. And there you have it.
I've listened to the audiobook so many times, I could almost quote this section!
When Stratford is caught in what should have been Young Sam's cabin by Vimes, Stratford comments that he saw Vimes drink several cocktails and everyone knows Vimes is a 'lush'. He is then told that Willikins was the bartender and made Vimes a 'virgin' version of the cocktail. It had been a set up. Vimes knew that Stratford would try to kill Young Sam, so he and Willikins had clearly arranged for Willikins to pose as a bartender (no one else knew who he was) and Vimes would pretend to be the worse for drink to lull Stratford into thinking he would be able to attack the child unopposed. He mistook Sybil's snoring for that of the 'drunken' Vimes. Vimes, subsequently assisted by Willikins', was thus able to capture Stratford as planned. And there you have it.
I've listened to the audiobook so many times, I could almost quote this section!
The reader is supposed, initially, to think that this unknown bartender is Stratford, but the story unfolds to reveal that it was in fact Willikins. Also, think about it. By that time, Vimes knew what Stratford looked like and it would have had to be something of a disguise to deceive Vimes, and that is beyond Stratford's capabilities - he hasn't got that kind of subtlety. Also, during the dialogue after he was captured, Stratford would have mentioned he was the bartender if that had been the case, not just that he'd observed Vimes drinking the cocktail, e.g. something along the lines of 'and I gave you three of those cocktails!' TP would have given that much of a clue at the very least if he'd intended it to be Stratford.
If you still really doubt it, you could always ask the author!
If you still really doubt it, you could always ask the author!
You'all are right. Willikens definitely was the bartender. Pterry tries to throw you a curve ball making you think because someone mentions they had never seen the bartender before and because it took a few minutes for the bartender to get up to speed on inventing the Sam Vimes cocktail that it could be Stratford.
A
You know that 'Re-reading the text makes it perfectly clear' is a pretty mean insult towards the threadopener? I doubt anyone here has read Snuff as often as TMOH. Not to mention, if re-reading makes it so clear, how come several other people who read the books several times thought it to be stratford?
