qa6 posted:

You know, I always thought the situation with Vetinari, and Carrot/Vimes too, was more due to Pratchett inadvertently writing himself into a corner. Vetinari and Vimes play such essential roles in Ankh-Morpork as it evolves, that losing them would make it difficult to continue the city's development believably. The books give the impression that without them around to stop all the criminals and schemers, the city would quickly fall apart. So Pratchett has to keep them alive and in power, even though doing so starts to stretch believability after a while.