# What is the longest establishment of a Chekov's gun? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2010, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111 "2010-08-31T10:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/1 "2010-08-31T10:18:23Z")
After reading about [Chekov’s Gun](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlexn9xzsjd5fif) (warning: TV Tropes) in which a seemingly inconsequential detail is mentioned early in a piece of work only to become essential to the plot later, I was wondering what were some especially, notably long delays between the setup and payoff? I remember in Arrested Development, they were making sly jokes about Buster losing his hand from very early on in the first season but the actual act didn’t happen until quite far into the second, making it a year’s delay. But my absolute favorite has to be Agrajag from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which was finally revealed in the 3rd book, making it a 3 year delay. I’m sure there are examples longer than that. What are some of your favorites? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/2 "2010-08-31T12:01:07Z")
The black & white stones in Lost, shown in an early episode, and not explained until the end of the final season. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/3 "2010-08-31T12:30:42Z")
Kilgour asks if he can tell the spotted snake joke in _Sten_, but doesn’t until **6 books** later, in _The End of Empire_. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/4 "2010-08-31T12:43:54Z")
The crannogman, Howland Reed, who was first mentioned in A Game of Thrones but we’ve still never actually met. I’m pretty sure that he’s going to be essential to the plot of the series in the future. He was present at pretty much every major flashback. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/5 "2010-08-31T13:12:08Z")
The climax of the web comic, [8 Bit Theater](http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/02/20/episode-1221-longest-set-up-in-webcomic-history/). He set up the (shaggy dog) joke something like 8 years before the end of the strip. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/6 "2010-08-31T13:39:36Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > The climax of the web comic, [8 Bit Theater](http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/02/20/episode-1221-longest-set-up-in-webcomic-history/). He set up the (shaggy dog) joke something like 8 years before the end of the strip. Yeah, that’s got to take the cake, timewise. I’m also still waiting for an “Arkensaw” joke in Erfworld. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/7 "2010-08-31T13:44:25Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > But my absolute favorite has to be Agrajag from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which was finally revealed in the 3rd book, making it a 3 year delay. Did Douglas Adams know he would do that when he created the bowl of petunias in the first Hitchhiker book? Or was that a ‘retrofitted’ Chekov’s gun? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/8 "2010-08-31T14:07:41Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > The climax of the web comic, [8 Bit Theater](http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/02/20/episode-1221-longest-set-up-in-webcomic-history/). He set up the (shaggy dog) joke something like 8 years before the end of the strip. Got a link to the setup? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/9 "2010-08-31T14:15:09Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > > [@Finagle](#): > > > > The climax of the web comic, [8 Bit Theater](http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/02/20/episode-1221-longest-set-up-in-webcomic-history/). He set up the (shaggy dog) joke something like 8 years before the end of the strip. > > Got a link to the setup? [Episode 7](http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/03/20/episode-007-kamehameha-or-something/) from March 2001, paying off in Episode 1221 in February 2010 (linked above). Nine years, and based on a throwaway line. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/10 "2010-08-31T14:23:34Z")
Even without the set-up strip, that’s a thing of beauty. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/11 "2010-08-31T14:34:30Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Munch](#): > > > > Got a link to the setup? > > [Episode 7](http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/03/20/episode-007-kamehameha-or-something/) from March 2001, paying off in Episode 1221 in February 2010 (linked above). Nine years, and based on a throwaway line. I don’t get it. Where’s the joke? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/12 "2010-08-31T14:41:39Z")
nvm, misremembered plotpoint. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/13 "2010-08-31T14:42:49Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > > [@Gyrate](#): > > > > [Episode 7](http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/03/20/episode-007-kamehameha-or-something/) from March 2001, paying off in Episode 1221 in February 2010 (linked above). Nine years, and based on a throwaway line. > > I don’t get it. Where’s the joke? I recognize the individual words, but not the meaning or humor they were meant to impart. Man, I feel like an outsider reading those 2 strips. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/14 "2010-08-31T14:54:31Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > After reading about [Chekov’s Gun](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlexn9xzsjd5fif) (warning: TV Tropes) in which a seemingly inconsequential detail is mentioned early in a piece of work only to become essential to the plot later … . Technically speaking, that’s not “Chekov’s Gun”. Chekov’s Gun is a CONSEQUENTIAL detail that DOESN’T get used later. If an audience sees a rifle hanging on the wall in act one, they’ll start speculating on when it will go off. If it never does, they’ll leave the theater disappointed. Chekov is saying that you shouldn’t introduce intriguing elements into your plot that never pay off. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/15 "2010-08-31T16:17:49Z")
Would Nibler’s shadow in the pilot of Futurama count? I never noticed it until it was pointed out in Season 4. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/16 "2010-08-31T17:33:25Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > Would Nibler’s shadow in the pilot of Futurama count? I never noticed it until it was pointed out in Season 4. That’s an Easter Egg in my view. I don’t believe anyone who’d say they spotted that shadow in pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/17 "2010-08-31T17:36:55Z")
I just rewatched the pilot on Netflix the other day and I don’t remember seeing Nibbler’s shadow. I wasn’t looking hard for it, but it was in my mind to keep an eye out. That may be my fault though, because sometimes I’m distracted by hey look a bird! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/18 "2010-08-31T17:54:31Z")
Harry Potter’s scar is mentioned throughout the books but it’s not until the 6th you could have any idea it’s a horcrux and vital to killing Voldemort. (In the 7th it’s actually revealed to be one but most had clocked that one after learning about horcruxes.) ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/19 "2010-08-31T18:02:51Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > > [@Shalmanese](#): > > > > After reading about [Chekov’s Gun](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlexn9xzsjd5fif) (warning: TV Tropes) in which a seemingly inconsequential detail is mentioned early in a piece of work only to become essential to the plot later … . > > Technically speaking, that’s not “Chekov’s Gun”. Chekov’s Gun is a CONSEQUENTIAL detail that DOESN’T get used later. If an audience sees a rifle hanging on the wall in act one, they’ll start speculating on when it will go off. If it never does, they’ll leave the theater disappointed. Chekov is saying that you shouldn’t introduce intriguing elements into your plot that never pay off. In that case, _Lost_ is the biggest Chekov’s Gun in history. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-establishment-of-a-chekovs-gun/552111/20 "2010-08-31T18:04:22Z")
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