In 8 books I think this is probably the worst thing I've ever done to a character.
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Cast: Dr Esther Flack, George Knott, Vincent Knott
Comments (54)
ThoughtBubble
14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
Harrogate Convention Centre
Manchester Megacon
31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
Yeah no this definitely is
Worst thing you've ever done to a character? What about that time Mr O'Malley broke a bottle of ink on Mr Thackerey's carpet?
Unrelated to this comment, but hats off to you for your surprisingly-not-far-off prediction of how Flack wanted to use Knotty in her new plan.
I think several people predicted this. But I still think it's Councillor Rana behind it all. I'm wrong, of course.
I wonder where is she now, btw.
Rehearsing her impassioned speech condemning capital punishment, to be given to the shocked crowd as a weeping George holds the body of his only son in his arms.
But this comic [https://widdershinscomic.co...](https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/may-17th-2019 "https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/may-17th-2019") suggests that Rana will not bother to show up. After all, Eliza and Sharpe did not have time to disenchant her before their fall and I doubt Knotty was allowed to disenchant her. Given the timing I do not think Eliza and Sharpe have time to go look for her if they are going to get to Gibbet Street in time to save Knotty.
All part of Rana's Evil Plan. Once Bob has made himself scarce, Flack desharpens Rana, takes the payoff from her and is on the boat train for Ecuador before the the truth comes out, leaving just enough time for Rana to make her speech and get elected.
I'm making this up as I go along.
On this page (https://widdershinscomic.co... "https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/june-11th-2019)"), Flack told Hackett to escort Rana to her rally. I suppose they're hoping that having the leader of the rally acting like it's too much trouble will make it lose its force.
Komiyan: "What about it?"
Daaaaaaaaaang
Is Flack the most evil Widdershins villain so far? Outside of the sins, anyway?
My first thought was "Maybe, hanging is too good for her". But, to be fair, she doesn't know that Knotty is the hangman's son. Didn't make her less of bastard, though.
Well, the Sins can't exactly do anything about it. They're emotions, they're stuck acting the way they act and it isn't their fault they happen to be negative emotions.
So no. Flack is the most evil Widdershins villain including the sins.
Although Miss Acedia is a close second.
I have been thinking about Miss Acedia as a candidate for the prize, but, well... Flack's hypocritical and treacherous ways revolt me much more. The panel where she draws the circle around sleeping Sharpe... it's so disgusting.
Acedia is more straightforward, she wants something and she is ready to do horrible things for getting that. And she is (supposed to be) dead, because of her single-mindedness, it is a plus, too. :)
Also I want to believe that she was, at least partially, messed up by Lux's influence. It's not an excuse, of course, as we see even not-so-good people come to realise that you shouldn't help Deadlies.
Yeah, that part about Lux's influence is exactly what kept her in second place… he did sort of groom her into being what she was, whereas Flack (as far as we know) is evil all by herself.
I feel like the normal rules of morality and choice as we understand them don't apply to spirits in the same way, but I don't think it lets them off the hook either. So I'd still say Lust or Envy if we include the sins, because regardless of their incapacity for growth, they still sought to hurt and control people on a large scale, and delighted in it. I don't see them as stuck because they don't (and as far as we know, can't) want to be anything else.
I guess it comes down to whether evil humans having the capacity for change and empathy and rejecting it makes them more evil than a sentient being that's a pure expression of sociopathy. Which I thought was tough to answer, so I separated them :p
Ok but like...they'll definitely notice after the hanging. This is a poor plan. Tho maybe they can claim Sharpe used magic to trick people into the mistake?
Well, WE know that, but does Flack? She has no idea Knotty is the hangman's son, and no one else who knows Sharpe is attending the hanging, nor was his picture in the papers. The prison staff may be kept from seeing the body as well; I doubt Flack would expect they'd insist on taking off the hood. I imagine she expects to be able to identify the body to the coroner and have done with it.
Now, we as readers have more knowledge than Flack and know exactly how this would blow up in her face if she did actually 'pull it off'... but that wouldn't stop the tragic events from having happened, which is where the tension lies for the reader.
Oh, I'm sure it'd all come out after the hanging. But her story would be that Sharpe must have escaped and switched places with his lawyer.
this is uuuuuuh horrifying.
I'm sure there is some message to get from the scene, but I'm not in the right mood for that. :(
No no no no no no NO
The twist is, that's Bob Hackett under the hood.
Either Dr Flack has been very busy or this is a really lax prison.
The guard hasn't noticed he's lost his keys and his baton and no-one checked on him for over eight hours. 'Visitors' are allowed to wander around unescorted and apparently they are not searched for weapons or other contraband on entry. The prisoner is not guarded on his way to execution; that's not the hangman's job and there has not been an identity confirmation/check that they are taking the correct prisoner .
The Victorian standard hanging party included the governor, a chaplin and a minimum of two guards. Having assessed the weight and frame of the prisoner the hangman went ahead to set the drop.
thanks for this piece of information
"A priest joins the procession just to help me kneel. With a warder at my elbow and another at my heel." But remember, AU and all that. And we're still in the age of public executions.
In our timeline, the crowd would object most strenuously to not being able to look upon the condemned's face before he was hanged. They'd also -- oops, almost used a word that is much less profane in American English than it is in British English* -- check to make sure that they're hanging the right man.
*Or so I have been told.
I was really amused (in quite a dark way) to learn that there was a law that forbade making photos of public executions, in France. :/
Fair point, and we are just at the time when the switchover from short to long drop was happening so this might be the old, slower, more distressing method...
aaaargh
Oh, that's nasty. And I see why Flack thinks she might get away with it, too. Sharpe's picture wasn't in the papers, no one who knows him is attending the protest but her, and as his teacher she could 'identify the body' to confirm. Even if it's caught out after the hanging, she can try to blame it on Sharpe making the switch by overpowering his poor lawyer and have him caught and executed for that crime, or at least overshadow the paper with a bigger Sharpe-related story. And Knotty protests with his last words? She has no idea he has any connection to the hangman, so it can be written off as the last desperate ploy of the condemned.
Of course, it's a plan with a million ways to go wrong, since she has no freaking idea that that's the hangman's son -- and a hangman himself. If Knotty gets any chance for 'last words' he can unravel the whole thing, but I rather expect it to be Sharpe himself (with Eliza, but Sharpe's gotta be the focal point to complete his character growth) who busts onto the scene to save the day.
If said day-saving involves shooting the rope after Knotty's made the drop but before he, uh, exits the mortal coil (since his weight will be off and that would result in a botched hanging), I think that Knotty won't be the only Knot who decides to get out of the hangman business after this. Heck, George might do so either way; this is already close enough to tragedy to give everyone involved nightmares for years thereafter.
Seconded the last sentence. :/
Yes, I suspect whatever happens he'll be ready to hang up the noose by the end of the chapter.
Possibly after one last job, which he might even be willing to do free of charge.
He might not be a hangman anymore, but that doesn't mean he'll stop being an executioner. Papa Knott might prefer the guillotine.
It was originally designed to be more humane, after all.
Oh, man. She must have Knotty gagged under the hood so he can't call out. I don't even want to imagine what's going through his head right now...
Congrats, Doc! I do believe you have now reached 'More Evil than any of the literal Deadly Sins!'. Take a bow! Or Knott.
I just realized that in panel two you can see a little "CLK" indicating that Flack just retracted her fan knife. She was presumably using it to threaten Knotty before this.
Tell me if anyone has called this already: after disaster is averted in the nick of time, Dad will react to the horror of almost hanging his own son by retiring and letting him follow his own path as a defence solicitor.
after Dad hangs a couple final people, I agree :P
Let's just hope Knotty's dad is a pro and checks to make sure he's hanging the right person.
One would hope, but narrativly I suspect a last minute rescue by Eliza and Sharpe :P
I had hoped George would notice that the “prisoner” was exactly the same height and build as his son, but I guess that hasn’t clicked; after all, he has no reason to think Vincent is anywhere in the vicinity, much less in his current position.
He might notice that he's gagged, though. And if Vincent resists at all in any way, he's going to be forced to look closer.
But given that Flack has been cursing people, there's a good chance he can't. But then she wouldn't need to threaten him...
I guess it depends how much he knows about the prisoner already, whether he's seen a photo, and how diligent he is about making sure he's got the right man vs. just taking Flack's word on it.
I'd think if your job was to execute people, you'd want to be certain, but maybe after a long enough time in the job you just start thinking about it as little as possible to cope.
Also, it's interesting that we don't see Knotty's hands in any of these panels. If he's not gloved, and George knows Sharpe's skin color from a photo or something, he's bound to notice that.
there have been zero photos of sharpe in the paper. mentioned that right at the start!
Oh the irony.
Everyone in the comments: Flack will use magic to disguise Knotty as Sharpe!
Flack: ....bags exist, y'all.
Knotty voice: *yup, that's me. Bet you're wondering how i got into this situation, huh.*
Well shit...
That's basically it. I'm pretty sure I saw this coming, laying eyes on the approaching foot does nothing to mitigate the dental injuries dealt by the inevitable impact. It's a real kick in the teeth is what I'm saying.
Well, someone's being hoodwinked ^^;;
Yeesh, I knew Flack (I'm sorry, Dr. Flack) was nasty but this is just way past dastardly and right into malicious O.o
Flack is even eviller than I imagined, and I have known she's evil for a while. The fact that she is doing something this evil while literally wearing fripperies and furbelows makes it all the WORSE.
Rather like an Early-Victorian Dolores Umbridge.
Sooo... Eliza, Will, that conversation you were having about nobody being inherently bad...
... seriously, this is a special kind of nasty from Mme Flack.
Oh
Oh my :-(((((((((((((
Ok, I'm not an expert on hanging, but I'm pretty sure the rope has to be a specific length based on the height and weight of the person if you want a quick death. Knott and Sharpe are very much not the same height, and Knott would know exactly how much that matters, and exactly how bad it's going to be for him.