#As much as I defend the miniseries here I must say it didn't do any better either.

[lepurcinus]

Hey so. I was revisiting the "There's a dog loose in the woods" scene from Watership Down and I noticed an extremely important detail that may be seem silly or a bit obvious, but I don't think it's been given the attention it deserves.

It wasn't Fiver who actually gave Hazel the idea. It was EL-AHRAIRAH HIMSELF who did it through him. And I'm not just saying that because literally the chapter is called "A Message from El-ahrairah", Hazel himself says it "El-ahrairah has shown me what to do".

And i didn't take credit away from Fiver, maybe he was the only one who could have brought that message. He is also the one who begins, giving us the clue by quoting Rowsby Woof. It's like a roundabout way of El-ahrairah/Fiver saying "Hazel, through this story of my adventures I'll tell you something".

One thing the adaptations put in is that it was Fiver who starts yelling that "there's a dog loose in the woods" which makes Hazel think about it. However, what really happened is that Hazel, worried about his brother, touches him with his paw and that is when Fiver SHARES HIS VISION TO HAZEL. He sees it too, an offhand form of vibrating branches, the sensation of fear and a powerful figure emerging along with a group rabbits watching and listening to their barking along with the song of a jay. And that's when a voice (we are not told who it belongs to) tells Hazel not to wait any longer, to go now, that there is a dog loose in the woods. (I like to imagine that it is the jay that spoke with the voice of El-ahrairah but that is up to each one). And that's when the idea emerges.

Sometimes I really regret the lack of art direction for these little scenes.