Woundwort's Fate

[Claws]

So, I was thinking... after General Woundwort's desperate fight with the dog atop of the hill (and surprisingly undetailed death), everybody seems to assume that he has actually died at the hands of this foe and are ready to resume their lives from that point onwards. But only after the fact (and I mean, a long time after it supposedly happened) Ragwort -I think that that's his name in the English version- explicitly says that, since no-one has seen the corpse, he's not all that convinced of the General's death. Even weirder, he says that with passion, as if he really holds some respect for the rabbit that has lead them to such an useless on-slaughter. But, aside from that, he does have a point there; since Woundwort was described to be a HUGE rabbit and his corpse would have driven a lot of attention from the survivors after all fighting had stopped.

Of course we know that he manages to survive the whole fall of Efrafa in the series, both making it to Redstone and Darkhaven, but what impressed me about the book is that he seems to have earned a god-like status among both the Efrafan survivors (who don't seem to hate him) and the Watershippers, who are ready to assume that was some sort of god all-along (even if only thru mockery).

So, what do you think happened to him? This might be explained in the next book, but I won't be reading it soon, so... let's discuss :P!

PS: When the farm girl picks a wounded rabbit in the middle of the yard, I was going to assume that it was Woundwort all-along. It would have been fitting.

[Chipster-roo]

I haven't read TFWD, but I highly doubt the General appears in it.  He isn't mentionned in any online summaries I have seen and it is written in the epilogue of the original book that he "was never seen again".

As for what happened to him.  It is rather unusual that the body was never found because  it REALLY was rather big.

And even if the dog had killed him and tore the body apart, at least some pieces of it would have been found.

From another point of view, he was already injured from the fight with Bigwig, so he couldn't really have fought the dog without suffering further injuries.  So I guess he survived the immediate battle, but probably died from his injuries some way from the warren.

[Myrkin]

Ragwort -I think that that's his name in the English version- explicitly says that, since no-one has seen the corpse, he's not all that convinced of the General's death. Even weirder, he says that with passion, as if he really holds some respect for the rabbit that has lead them to such an useless on-slaughter.

I think that was Groundsel, who would later become Chief of Vleflain. I remember how he had a great adoration for Woundwort, even saying they (he and other Efrafan rabbits) were not good enough for General. A little odd that Watership Down rabbits would be okay with having a neighboring warren ruled by someone so openly devoted to Woundwort. Then again, rabbits in these series don't tend to hold grudge for long (Hazel's leadership probably helped on this too).

So I guess he survived the immediate battle, but probably died from his injuries some way from the warren.

And then some other predator or scavenger could have stumbled across his corpse and took care of it, so nobody would be able to find the body.

[Acacia Heartstrings]

The truth of the things we'll never know what happened to General Woundwort, all we can do is make assumptions. Even in the second book "Stories of Watership Down" there is something about it. Only the author Richard Adams knows the truth.

However, the history of General Woundwort, became a legend for Efrafanos.  

And Hazel in one of the most beloved series rabbits ...  

[Claws]

And then some other predator or scavenger could have stumbled across his corpse and took care of it, so nobody would be able to find the body.

Well, some other rabbits have disappeared on the aftermath too (like those four who found themselves separated from the main group and were never heard of again), so I think that this is likely.

[Myrkin]

And then some other predator or scavenger could have stumbled across his corpse and took care of it, so nobody would be able to find the body.

Well, some other rabbits have disappeared on the aftermath too (like those four who found themselves separated from the main group and were never heard of again), so I think that this is likely.  

And also Vervain.

[Acacia Heartstrings]

Now I remember, around there a good fanfic about General Woundwort in which survives. I do not remember where they are, but they exist. There are also fanfics about Campion, silverweed and Hawkbit if I remember.  

[Chipster-roo]

Now I remember, around there a good fanfic about General Woundwort in which survives. I do not remember where they are, but they exist. There are also fanfics about Campion, silverweed and Hawkbit if I remember.  

Most of the WD fanfictions are available here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/book/Watership-Down/

From what I have seen, there are a few in which Woundwort survives, especially among the older ones.

[Claws]

Now I remember, around there a good fanfic about General Woundwort in which survives. I do not remember where they are, but they exist. There are also fanfics about Campion, silverweed and Hawkbit if I remember.  

I would love to read all of those !

And also Vervain.

The small development he got on the book is astonishing to say the least. Wasn't expecting that after such an active role on the TV Series.

[Acacia Heartstrings]

Now I remember, around there a good fanfic about General Woundwort in which survives. I do not remember where they are, but they exist. There are also fanfics about Campion, silverweed and Hawkbit if I remember.  

Most of the WD fanfictions are available here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/book/Watership-Down/

From what I have seen, there are a few in which Woundwort survives, especially among the older ones.

So many great fanfic of Watership Down, so little time!  

[Chipster-roo]

*bump*

Since my last post in this thread, I have read TFWD and, as I suspected, the General does not appear.  He is mentioned a few times, but there are no further clues as to his fate following the fight with the dog.

The more I think about it, the more it seems that he survived the immediate fight, but didn't last much longer.  Either he died from his injuries then was eaten by elil, or he was attacked by elil and was too weak to put up much of a fight, and so was killed and eaten.

But I still like the fact that Woundwort is incorporated into the rabbits' stories, even after his death.  It's going to be interesting to see how the miniseries handles this.

[MeadowRabbit]

Maybe the dog ate him up, bones and all. 

[Yerathanléao]

I think that if he had survived, he'd have gone back to Efrafa to reassert his authority. He doesn't seem like the kind of rabbit who would just run away to start a new warren. Agreed, the dog probably ate him.

[Chipster-roo]

Maybe the dog ate him up, bones and all. 

This dog is going to have a massive stomach ache...

@Yerathanléao makes a valid point, though, that he probably would have gone back to Efrafa if he had survived.

At one point, I thought that perhaps the dog hadn't entirely eaten him, but the body was so mangled that nobody could identify it, but that wouldn't really make sense, I think.  Just by size alone, it would be easily to figure out it was him.

[Cowslip]

Maybe he couldn't find Efrafa and went on to form a new army somewhere else...