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The riddle says: “He walks on four legs in the morning. He walks on two legs at midday. And at night, he slithers from dream to dream effortlessly, like the air we breathe. And we love him.” Welcome to Night Vale.
— Cecil



"The Deft Bowman" is the 40th episode of Welcome to Night Vale. It was released on February 1, 2014.

Synopsis[]

The Telephone Service finally fixes the only telephone booth in town, and a submarine arrives from faraway Nulogorsk. Plus, a new campaign from the Tourism Board, we meet our station's newest program director, and strange texts from a mountaintop, if you can believe that.

Plot Developments[]

  • Nulogorsk: A submarine from Nulogorsk, Night Vale's sister city, appears in Night Vale though how or why it arrived is unknown. Night Vale stopped communication with Nulogorsk in 1997, when it became apparent that Nulogorsk was stuck in 1983.
  • Weird Time: The Junior Secret Detective who explored the vessel was aged significantly in the few moments spent inside the submarine.
  • There were a number items of interest in the submarine:
    • A postcard: postcard depicting the painted houses and the beautiful clear water of Nulogorsk. Written on the back was a message in Russian. “One adult man, missing hand, and the other items,” it read, according to Google Translate.
    • Unnamed Nulogorskian: the body of an enormous, bald-headed man with some faded flower tattoos and a left arm that stopped in a rough stump just above his wrist
    • a rotary-dial phone with no receiver cord: While the Sheriff's Secret Police were exploring the submarine, the phone began ringing. The unnamed Nulogorskian picked it up and spoke to someone on the other end, who turned out to be Megan Wallaby.
    • a large tin full of hardtack
    • a wrapped parcel (which was carried away by a man who was not tall)
    • a thick book (which was carried away by a man who was not short)
    • a front page article from the September 24, 1983 issue of the Night Vale Daily Journal, written by foreign correspondent Leann Hart. The headline of this article was “Sister City Nulogorsk Decimated by Nuclear Attack; No Known Survivors.”
  • Megan Wallaby: The unnamed man was sent as a “gift from Nulogorsk, in appreciation of Night Vale’s many years of friendship and kindness,” offering himself as an organ body donor for Megan. They surgically attached Megan to the stump where his hand used to be. She can control his whole being now, and will learn how to do...well, everything.

Subplots[]

Lauren, one of Cecil's new managers, expresses frustration at Carlos's investigation into StrexCorp's trans-dimensional oranges.

Recurring Segments[]

None

Proverb

You can’t get blood from a turnip. Listen, you need some blood? I can totally get you some blood. Set that turnip down and follow me to the blood. There’s a lot of blood.
— Proverb


Trivia[]

  • The episode title is a reference to the Able Archer incident of 1983, where a NATO simulation of DEFCON 1 was mistaken by the USSR for genuine preparations for a nuclear strike.
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