# Watership Down spoiler **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084 "2019-09-12T02:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/1 "2019-09-12T02:05:36Z")
Hazel went to Rabbit Heaven. Crap. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/2 "2019-09-12T02:28:03Z")
Buck up, **plant** , rabbits in the wild are lucky if they live 3 years, and that’s IF they don’t have to fight The General. May Lord Frith bless you and keep you. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/3 "2019-09-12T03:27:56Z")
Beats Rabbit Hell, I suppose. Rabbit Hell is, coincidentally, Fox Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/4 "2019-09-12T03:32:27Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Rabbit Hell is, coincidentally, Fox Heaven. Try Garnett’s **Lady into Fox** as a follow up, and be of good cheer. > **[Lady into Fox](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_into_Fox)** > > Lady into Fox was David Garnett's first novel using his own name, published in 1922. This short and enigmatic work won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Hawthornden Prize a year later. Being a work of fantasy set in the present-day society, it fits into the category of Contemporary Fantasy which was not yet recognized as a distinct genre at the time of writing. > Silvia Tebrick, the 24-year-old wife of Richard Tebrick, suddenly becomes a fox while they are out walking in the woods. Mr. ... ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/5 "2019-09-12T12:29:55Z")
dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/6 "2019-09-12T13:28:42Z")
What would you have preferred? That he live forever? That he go to Rabbit Hell? That he be eaten by a Venus Fly-trap? That he cease existence when he died, thus proving that the elaborate rabbit religion and mythology was a lie?:dubious: This is a very enigmatic OP. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/7 "2019-09-12T14:15:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > What would you have preferred? That he live forever? That he go to Rabbit Hell? That he be eaten by a Venus Fly-trap? That he cease existence when he died, thus proving that the elaborate rabbit religion and mythology was a lie?:dubious: > > This is a very enigmatic OP. It seems unusual to kill off the protagonist in an afterward. Then, I am an enigmatic guy after all. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/8 "2019-09-12T14:33:17Z")
You scoff at the Black Rabbit of Inlé? Good thing you’re a plant. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/9 "2019-09-12T14:50:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Hazel went to Rabbit Heaven. > Crap. Nitpick: Hraka. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/10 "2019-09-12T15:15:07Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > You scoff at the Black Rabbit of Inlé? Good thing you’re a plant. It has it’s advantages. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/11 "2019-09-12T16:24:24Z")
Never mind, ninja’ed by **Dung Beetle**. No surprise there, really. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/12 "2019-09-12T16:37:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It seems unusual to kill off the protagonist in an afterward. I think the phrase “kill off” doesn’t really capture the moment. He lives a long( longer than normal it is implied ), happy life. Long enough to see his dreams and struggles come to fruition with a harmonious, prosperous warren. He dies peacefully in his sleep of old age and then is invited by his god to ascend to minor divinity as the rabbit equivalent of an angel. He’ll be the hero that following generations will tell tales about and mythologize such that he will eventually enter rabbit culture as an exemplar of rabbit leadership. Can’t really call that a downer ending. It is the opposite of that :). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/13 "2019-09-12T16:43:25Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It seems unusual to kill off the protagonist in an afterward. Then, I am an enigmatic guy after all. Better than killing him or her off near the beginning, like _Game of Thrones_ or _Psycho_.:eek: Plenty of books or movies kill the protagonist off at the end, either tragically or elegiacally. This was only different in doing it in an afterward. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/14 "2019-09-12T18:13:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Better than killing him or her off near the beginning, like _Game of Thrones_ or _Psycho_.:eek: > > Plenty of books or movies kill the protagonist off at the end, either tragically or elegiacally. This was only different in doing it in an afterward. Phillip Marlowe doesn’t get whacked, Sam Spade doesn’t die, Tony Soprano doesn’t…wait a minute… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/15 "2019-09-12T18:15:52Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Nitpick: Hraka. I should’ve said, “By the Lord Frith!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/16 "2019-09-12T19:22:39Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Hazel went to Rabbit Heaven. > Crap. Hearing that hurts like some kind of punch. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/17 "2019-09-12T19:52:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > What would you have preferred? That he live forever? That he go to Rabbit Hell? That he be eaten by a Venus Fly-trap? That he cease existence when he died, thus proving that the elaborate rabbit religion and mythology was a lie?:dubious: I think the presence of cigarettes, and possibly automobiles iirc, within their creation myth handily disproves rabbit religion. Well, at least to any being who lives on a long enough scale to experience the emergence of such things within one lifespan. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/18 "2019-09-12T20:16:43Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > What would you have preferred? That he live forever? That he go to Rabbit Hell? That he be eaten by a Venus Fly-trap? That he cease existence when he died, thus proving that the elaborate rabbit religion and mythology was a lie?:dubious: > > This is a very enigmatic OP. Given the name of the OP, I think we can assume the third alternative would be their preferred outcome, and that the original post should be read in the same tone as “That cake got moldy. Crap” ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/19 "2019-09-12T22:48:02Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > I think the presence of cigarettes, and possibly automobiles iirc, within their creation myth handily disproves rabbit religion. The Lapine creation myth doesn’t have cars or cigarettes. It ends with El-ahrairah being gifted his tail and hind legs and Frith’s promise that his people will never be destroyed. Everything else is various tales of El-ahrairah’s cunning and/or trickery but, since El-ahrairah is essentially immortal, that could take place at any time from creation to last week. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084/20 "2019-09-13T00:57:14Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Phillip Marlowe doesn’t get whacked, Sam Spade doesn’t die, Tony Soprano doesn’t…wait a minute… Citizen Kane dies, King Kong dies, Braveheart dies, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid die, Jean Valjean dies, Cool Hand Luke dies, Charlotte the spider dies… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watership-down-spoiler/840084.md?page=2)