The End: Official Information and Speculation

[jman]

Yeah, have the tables turn.

[lauren]

yeah that is right....I wonder wether being outnumbered will put Olaf at the mercy of the Bauds rather than the other way around....but then again the people on board the self sustaining home are either kids or a useless skittish adult

[Antenora]

The Baudelaires and Quagmires together might be able to subdue Olaf, even though Hector probably won't be much help.

[Dante]

I suspect that Kit, and possibly Widdershins (and if he's there, Phil also) are on the SSHAMH as well as the Quagmire triplets and Hector. The following line seems to imply that Kit at least will be aboard:

"But if Quigley manages to construct a net big enough to capture all those eagles, and I manage to contact Captain Widdershins and have him meet me at a certain clump of seaweed, then I shall be there on Thursday. Hector should manage to land his self-sustaining hot air mobile home on the roof, even with all of us aboard."

TPP - p43-44

Edit: Possibly that's why Fernald and Fiona are fighting the self-sustaining hot air mobile home; they want Widdershins, but he's refusing to come down (or can't). They might also want to speak to some of the other volunteers aboard, like Kit or Hector, regarding their past, as well (remember Kit tried to warn Gregor away from the Medusoid Mycelium, presumably not long before the marine research and rhetorical advice centre was burnt to the ground by Fernald and Widdershins). Also, for those of you who like that sort of thing, this could be the opportunity for Isadora and Fiona to battle to the death over Klaus, as well as Duncan and Quigley over Violet.

[Leah is Bored]

I agree; that sounds very likely.

[RockSunner]

I suspect something went wrong with the Kit/Widdershins meeting. The book mentions Kit waterskiing to him, then away from him. Does Widdershins become volitile/dangerous? I think so.

[Antenora]

I agree; Fernald and Fiona probably want to speak to Hector about their past. And Widdershins probably became volatile when Kit tried to meet with him. He's probably pretty angry about Fernald and Fiona defecting.

[Dante]

That's made me think about Fernald and Fiona. They've defected so many times, the whole family has. Fernald defected from V.F.D. to join Count Olaf's troupe. Fiona defected from V.F.D. to join her brother. Widdershins defected from Fiona for reasons unknown, and before that he defected from V.F.D. by helping to burn down Anwhistle Aquatics, and he may now have become volatile and defected again. And now Fernald and Fiona have defected from Count Olaf, but they remain enemies of V.F.D. I guess Count Olaf was right - the whole family never could decide which side of the schism was theirs. At least they're being honest, and have shown their loyalty to themselves.

[RockSunner]

The attack on the SSHAMH is quite a puzzle. We have three seemingly incompatible facts.

1) Fernald and the eagles are attacking it. (190-191).
...their closest friends were high in the sky, in a self-sustaining hot air mobile home, battling eagles and a terrible henchman who had hooks instead of hands.

2) Olaf knows of this attack, and identifies himself with it. (210-211)
"...They're flying across the sea as we speak, and by tomorrow, their self-sustaining hot air mobile home will land on the roof."

"Only if they've managed to survive my eagles." Count Olaf said with a growl.

3) Fernald and Fiona stole Olaf's submarine. Presumably, they no longer work for him. (p. 209)

I imagine several levels of double-crossing going on. Speculation: possibly unknown to Fiona, Fernald is doing the bidding of the Menaces. The Menaces told Olaf about this mission and he approves of it (he'd like to see the Quagmires and Hector destroyed), although he'd doubtless like to get revenge on Fernald and Fiona later, after the SSHAMH is finished off. He is also annoyed with the Menaces and plans to kill them with Medusoid Mycelium along with everyone else.

How did Fernald get the eagles? The fact that Olaf calls them "my eagles" suggests they might have been loaded aboard the Carmelita, in some area we didn't visit in TGG. That could have happened at the same time Olaf got the Snow Scout rowing slaves.

[Deleted]

if you take the first S and the last H out of SSHAMH it spells Sham

[lauren]

Haha so it does Browncoat, but Daniel never uses that abbreviation in his books:P

hmmmm it would be interesting to see everyones reaction towards Count Olaf when he climbs aboard. I suspect Olaf being so intimidating as he is, will manage to convert Hector being so skittish. Purhaps Widdershins will convert in the knowledge that his children have converted and then phil will follow suit. That leaves Kit and the orphans. Maye she and her unborn baby will be killed

[volunteer]

ffwf said:

Widdershins defected from Fiona for reasons unknown, and before that he defected from V.F.D. by helping to burn down Anwhistle Aquatics, and he may now have become volatile and defected again.

Hmm,has it been answered why kit would be jet sking to and away from him, possibly under hostile curcumstances?

[Dante]

I imagine Olaf means "my" eagles, as that they're on his side of the schism, and doing work that benefits him. "Our" would be technically more accurate, but Olaf's never really been interested in being accurate or polite. As for the first and last points, I still imagine that Fernald at least is directly interested in speaking to some of the volunteers aboard the SSHAMH, and he's fully prepared to bring the mobile home down and capture the volunteers using violence if necessary. It's possible, of course, that he's now working for other villains, but there's no evidence to suggest who these hypothetical villains might be (except that they aren't Olaf, or anyone working for Olaf). So I think that the attack by the eagles and the attack by the Carmelita are separate, unless the hypothetical villains that Fernald is hypothetically working for are the sinister duo, or somebody else who has taken control of the eagles.

I think this is one of the most controversial and ambiguous points in TPP. Fernald does have a way of drawing debate. I love the subplot of him and his family.

Edit: I interpreted the jet-skiing incident as being that Kit had merely delivered a message to Widdershins, and that there was nothing sinister about it. I guess, though, that it doesn't really square with her apparent statement that both she and Widdershins would be aboard the SSHAMH, unless this was only one stage of resolving the situation in the sea, and they both had other things to do before the sea would be safe again and they could go to the hotel.

[RockSunner]

The idea that Fernald's attack and the eagle's attack are separate is a good possibility. It helps to resolve a couple of issues for me.

1) Fernald, having just stolen from Olaf, would have no reason to tell Olaf about his immediate plans and movements.

2) Olaf seems to expect the eagle attack to be lethal. "Only if they've managed to survive my eagles." It's hard to imagine Fiona lending her support to such an attack. In TGG she seemed sympathetic to the Quagmires.

So, if the eagles are attacking with lethal intent under control of some other villains (possibly working for the sinister duo) and Fernald just wants to bring the SSHAMH down to capture and question the volunteers, then Fernald and Fiona may end up helping the SSHAMH against the eagles.

[volunteer]

rocksunner said:

Fernald, having just stolen from Olaf, would have no reason to tell Olaf about his immediate plans and movements.

Unless he has turned into the typical villian, who always tells the victim their plans under the pretence know one will hear it but them