Fire at the Baudelaire Mansion

[hookhandedgirl]

they already said olaf did it *in the books and in the movie*

[Dante]

They have said no such things in the books, and the movie isn't part of the book canon.

[Antenora]

In the books, it's strongly implied that Olaf burned the mansion, (ie, his "And arson" statement in TWW) but strongly implied =/= completely proven.

And of course, it's vital to remember that clues from the movie can't be applied to the books.

[Jacques the Environmentalist]

Ugh. A mathematical theorem/postulate needs to state that the asoue movie does NOT equal the asoue books.

But the implication in the movie DOES make it all the more believable that he did burn down the mansion. Obviously he didn't use that device(although that was reminiscent of madame lulu's lightning device.. kinda) but it would be foolish to assume he wasn't invovled in the fire.

[Dante]

It would be foolish to assume he was. It's heavily implied that he was responsible, but it's never directly stated. It could be a plot twist - that it was somebody other than him. But that's just a hypothetical situation to justify my stance of not taking a stance.

[Jacques the Environmentalist]

I presume it's him but I certainly know that there's a good chance he DIDN'T do it. But to propose the opinion that he had absolutely nothing to do with it is just absurd. That's what I was trying to say. I'm obviously leaning toward "Olaf did it." But of course handler's the type of author who'd switch it up on us.

[Dante]

ffwf said:

That discussion is also sort-of going on in here:

asoue.proboards11.com/index.cgi?board=future&thread=1113129334&action=display&start=0

So I'll allow this thread to remain if people only post their opinions and don't try to argue with each other. No debates.

Since the other thread has been all but abandoned, you can ignore this post now.

[whisperwolf]

I don't know... I can't seem to get my suspicion of Poe out of my mind. I do believe his character presented thus far is true... in that he genuinely cares for the children. But what is up with the coughing, specifically when he is backed into a corner. Seems like he may have inhaled something not so good for his lungs! I just can't seem to get the suspicion out of my head of his bank being behind these fires. If all these great fortunes are left without heirs, does a bank just keep the money? Where are all the err... helpful lawyers in this world of ASOUE, to keep an eye on all this trickery?
Mollie

[Dante]

whisperwolf said:

I just can't seem to get suspicion of perhaps his bank being behind these fires. If all these great fortunes are left without heirs, does a bank just keep the money?

Now that is an interesting idea. Poe and his bank turning out to be the worst of the lot... Well, just the bank then. I don't believe it, but I like the idea. I like it a lot.

And in TBB, it was said that Mr. Poe coughed all the time because he always had a cold, but they could easily go back on that; they've changed plenty of stuff as it is.

[Antenora]

There's also the possibility that Mr Poe was in a fire when he was young; perhaps one destroyed his house. And the exposure to smoke left him with a bad cough for life.

I think Poe is a puppet of Olaf, likely well-meaning but very dimwitted.

[darkangel667]

Like so many people in asoue. In one of the pages of UA it even states that Poe had his cough since he was a child and I like the idea of Poe being a puppet. A useful tool in Olaf's plan.

[lauren]

I agree with Dante's hypothesis (even though he just said it because he was not taking a stance) All clues lead to Olaf but it is too obvious to be true...there has to be a twist...Lol I like the idea of Mr Poe being the culprit hmmmm...*strokes place where beard would be if she was a man"

[Antenora]

While all signs point to Olaf for starting the fire, it's always possible that he wasn't working alone. Perhaps he had henchmen stationed about the house, starting fires in different points to ensure that the parents had no means of escape.

[whisperwolf]

Now that you mention this thought of escape...
Presuming Olaf helped to start the fires, and presuming his motive was the death of the Baudelaires... when exactly did he find out about the secret passage to 667 Dark Avenue? By the Ersatz Elevator Olaf already knows about it, and is using it quite a bit.
If he discovered it after the fire, then we could assume that someone could have escaped from the fire safely without Olaf knowing.
If he discovered it before then it would be safe to assume he would have had someone guarding it to take prisoner (or kill) anyone attempting to escape that way. Therefore our survivor would have been unable to help his/her children (at least until such a time as he/she escaped). This could have been the whole reason the cage was in the elevator in the first place... to imprison someone who tried to escape that way.

Anyway, feel free to comment... not that it makes a difference either way since I'm not the one writing this blasted mystery
Mollie

[Antenora]

I was under the impression that Olaf took the cage down there for the sole purpose of imprisoning the Quagmires, during TEE. But you raise an interesting question: When did Olaf find out about the passageway?

I imagine that the passageway opened in the library(isn't that where the Quagmire mansion's passageway was?) and Olaf, or an associate, may have started the fire from the passageway, creeping up into the library, torching it, and then running to safety back through the passage.