The Vorpal Blade story
Sitting on a garden bench, an old man called Von Baden discusses with a friend a duel which took place 50 years ago in Heidelberg, Germany. He has kept secret the events surrounding the death of one of the combatants, but now wants to relate what really happened. Directed by: John Jacobs. Story by: Edward D. Hoch.
8 total · 7 major · 1 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| honor | major | Cassan arranged for Von Baden to duel with Macker in order to uphold Cassan's honor. Von Baden explained that he could not have gotten out of the duel without losing his honor. |
| love triangle | major | Cassan, Macker, and Eva. |
| male-male rivalry | major | Cassan and Macker dueled over Eva. |
| poison murder | major | It was alleged that Macker had killed Cassan using a poisoned sword, but it was in fact Von Baden who was to blame. |
| romantic jealousy | major | Cassan was jealous of Macker who had stolen his girl Eva. |
| what if I had to fight to the death | major | Von Baden had three days to train to fight Macker to the death in a sword duel. |
| what it is like in boarding school | major | We saw some sort of Nazi boarding school. |
| war crime | minor | Von Baden was apparently serving a sentence for some war crime. |