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Post by doetwin on Mar 15, 2017 23:02:50 GMT -5
As Klaus pointed out, on every floor of the building, there was only one elevator, but on the top floor, there were two. The second elevator is the only elevator that the Baudelaires ever opened, and it was an empty shaft. At the beginning of TEE, Jerome explained to the Baudelaires that Esme insisted on having the elevators removed, but it's never made clear if he was taking about both elevators or the regular elevator. So I'm wondering if the second elevator used to be a real elevator that would take anyone from the penthouse straight to the passageway leading to the Baudelaire mansion without being to stop on any of the other floors. This seems to make sense, because in TSS, Quigley explains that the passageways are designed so you can escape to someone else's house in-case of a fire, but it would have been impossible to go from the Baudelaire mansion to the Squalor penthouse without an elevator or a rope. I also wonder if the regular elevator, the elevator that ran along all the floors, was also an empty shaft when the Baudelaires arrived, except in this case, one would be climbing down into a pit behind the elevator on the ground floor rather a secret passageway.
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Post by Dante on Mar 16, 2017 3:25:03 GMT -5
It's generally agreed that the penthouse-passageway elevator is meant to be a "secret" elevator known only to members of V.F.D., yes. It's unclear whether or not Esmé's decrees regarding the out-ness of elevators led to them being physically removed or disabled or just being forbidden without enforcement; we just know that the elevator was "shut down." It's hard to imagine that the hidden elevator didn't originally have, well, an actual elevator, though; otherwise, it would be rather difficult to traverse, and for that matter we don't actually know how Olaf was able to move up and down the elevator shaft at will. The U.A. hints that there was also a hidden floor above the penthouse, so possibly there really was an elevator that Olaf kept hidden at the true top floor, and which he got into through a trapdoor or something.
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Post by doetwin on Mar 16, 2017 11:58:46 GMT -5
otherwise, it would be rather difficult to traverse, and for that matter we don't actually know how Olaf was able to move up and down the elevator shaft at will. The U.A. hints that there was also a hidden floor above the penthouse, so possibly there really was an elevator that Olaf kept hidden at the true top floor, and which he got into through a trapdoor or something. I always assumed that Count Olaf just used an actual rope. My simple explanation is that Esme kept an eye on the top of the rope, and when Count Olaf reached the bottom, he contacted her to let her know, and she untied the rope and hid it before Jerome and the Baudelaires returned. I also think it was Fernald who constructed the net, using his hooks to navigate the elevator shaft similarly to how Sunny used her teeth. |
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Post by Dante on Mar 16, 2017 14:22:19 GMT -5
A compelling argument. If it would look interesting or silly, then it's worth accepting as a possibility.
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