Who died in the hotel fire?

[Mr. Dent]

I like to think that they all survived. Or perhaps I prefer to think that they all died? It depends on the day. All or nothing though.

[vfds321s]

Dec 13, 2018 14:40:10 GMT -5 Uncle Algernon said:

Ever since I first considered the question I have held the not-entirely-serious but extremely appealing theory that the Sinister Duo was un-duoed in the fire. The Woman With Hair But No Beard made it out fine, but the Man With A Beard But No Hair really should have known better than to keep his Beard considering his line of work. Long beard, a spark, roasted bad guy. I think you can figure it out.

I like this idea because on the one hand, it'd be uncharacteristically happy for ASoUE for the Sinister Duo to be foiled altogether, yet on the other, "they slipped away with not a scrap and went on to commit other miscellaneous crimes as usual" isn't much of a way for two of the series' scariest villains to bow out of the tale at its climax. Hence I split my bets by literally halving the Duo.

Also, insofar as fanfic material goes, this is a great reason for a vengeful WWHBNB to act as the Baudelaires' new archenemy post-Olaf, if you want.

About the Sinister Duo being together being uncharacteristically happy, they are both evil so them both surviving won't be happy for anyone else (Like Olaf escaping punishment in every book until the last one). If foiled it will be unhappy for them because their reign of terror would come to an end. As for slipping away and going on to commit more crimes not a good way for them to disappear, neither is them dying in an anti-climatic and pathetic manner, especially since one can't be the ultimate villains if they weren't smart and competent enough.

[Foxy]

I just don't see how they wouldn't have survived. They were on the ground floor!

[tonyvfd]

Also, they were not blindfolded

[Glittery666]

I think the Sinister Duo survived, they're practically fire-whisperers. Frank and Ernest probably survived as well, since they're said to have moved on to working
at smaller hotels. In TBL, Lemony thinks Esme is impersonating Beatrice, which indicates that she could be alive. As much as I dislike her, I like to think that
Carmelita survived since death by fire is kind of a harsh sentence for a brat who called everyone cakesniffers. Jerome believed the Baudelaires and thus probably
managed to get by(same with Hal). We know Mrs Bass survived since she was arrested for bank robbery.
On the flip side, Justice Strauss is pretty much screwed. She refused to leave her post and even if she changed her mind she was too high up to jump and survive.
Likewise, Mr Poe refused to either believe the Bauds or leave where he was(although it's emphasized that it's not his destiny to get shot by a harpoon on that
particular evening, so maybe that ends up happening further down the road). Not sure about anyone else, although I like the idea of Nero living up to his name and
playing violin while everything burns around him.
I may post more detailed explanations someday.