TGG pg 85: "There was a third shape of glowing green light, this one the biggest of all, a huge curved tube with a small circle at the end of it, slithering toward the center of the screen like a snake..."
TGG pg 311: "... The Baudelaires could scarecely see the this enormous and sinister shape. They could not even tell, just as I will not tell, if it was some horrifying mechanical device, such as a submarine, or some ghastly creature of the sea."
So what the heck was this thing?
What do we know about it? It's curved, and it's huge, and even Olaf is afraid of it. The VFDers (Widdershins and Olaf and Snicket) know what it is, but they aren't saying. So what could be so bad as to strike fear into the heart of Olaf?
The only parallel I can draw is that of the Aura of Menaceers- the Man with a Beard but no Hair, and the Woman with the Hair but no Beard. Olaf was scared of them as well, and Snicket refused to talk about them, just as he refused to talk about the Ship.
Based on that, which is pretty much the only thing we know, I would say it's the flagship of the Menaceers, but there's no confirmation or possible way of knowing for sure, I don't think.
Rick has a theory. Not one he particularly subscribes to, but one that's worth looking at:
We know from TGG that there was a schism. We know that Gregor Anwhistle was on the same side as Kit Snicket (and presumably the other Snickets, Baudelaires, etc.) and that he was involved in some questionable research that might have led to poisoning others. We know that Captain and Fernald Widdershins helped destroy Anwhistle Aquatics, and that Fernald has both good and bad characteristics -- he sees and recognizes the evil Olaf is doing, but also sees Olaf has done some things that weren't evil. We know that both Olaf and Captain Widdershins were afraid of being taken by the remaining "vessel." My guess is that, after the events surrounding the Anwhistle Aquatics fire, some of the "secrets" regarding VFD were made known to the public, and that BOTH sides of the schism have been investigated by government authorities, and both sides have committed crimes for which they are wanted by police. This may be a police vehicle searching for Olaf and the Queequeg.
TGG pg 311: "... The Baudelaires could scarecely see the this enormous and sinister shape. They could not even tell, just as I will not tell, if it was some horrifying mechanical device, such as a submarine, or some ghastly creature of the sea."
So what the heck was this thing?
What do we know about it? It's curved, and it's huge, and even Olaf is afraid of it. The VFDers (Widdershins and Olaf and Snicket) know what it is, but they aren't saying. So what could be so bad as to strike fear into the heart of Olaf?
The only parallel I can draw is that of the Aura of Menaceers- the Man with a Beard but no Hair, and the Woman with the Hair but no Beard. Olaf was scared of them as well, and Snicket refused to talk about them, just as he refused to talk about the Ship.
Based on that, which is pretty much the only thing we know, I would say it's the flagship of the Menaceers, but there's no confirmation or possible way of knowing for sure, I don't think.
Rick has a theory. Not one he particularly subscribes to, but one that's worth looking at:
We know from TGG that there was a schism. We know that Gregor Anwhistle was on the same side as Kit Snicket (and presumably the other Snickets, Baudelaires, etc.) and that he was involved in some questionable research that might have led to poisoning others. We know that Captain and Fernald Widdershins helped destroy Anwhistle Aquatics, and that Fernald has both good and bad characteristics -- he sees and recognizes the evil Olaf is doing, but also sees Olaf has done some things that weren't evil. We know that both Olaf and Captain Widdershins were afraid of being taken by the remaining "vessel." My guess is that, after the events surrounding the Anwhistle Aquatics fire, some of the "secrets" regarding VFD were made known to the public, and that BOTH sides of the schism have been investigated by government authorities, and both sides have committed crimes for which they are wanted by police. This may be a police vehicle searching for Olaf and the Queequeg.