Original artwork, not a still
I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich because he was hungry.
— Blackadder • 1983
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Baldrick has retained the sounds of a history lesson while losing almost all its meaning. His hungry hunter is absurd, but the surrounding discussion makes the ignorance more than a cheap insult: the men are being asked to die in a conflict whose origins are remote from their everyday lives. The mistake turns a grand historical name into a completely different story.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for BlackadderShow the scene
In ‘Goodbyeee’, the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth (1989), the men discuss how the war began. Baldrick contributes his understanding of the event that set it off: an elaborate mishearing involving Archie Duke and an ostrich. Blackadder identifies the Archduke of Austria behind the confusion, then gives his own explanation of how the supposed balance of power failed. The conversation takes place as the men face the consequences of a war whose causes still need explaining to them.
Sources (2)
- Goodbyeee — episode subtitle transcriptBlackadder Goes Forth — Goodbyeee; quoted conversationReference checked
- Blackadder Goes Forth — WikiquoteGoodbyeeeReference checked
Context reviewed
