A character in The Terror
Played by Ian Hart
The Terror · 42 quotes
Tied for 5th most-quoted character in The Terror: in 5 of its 42 quotes
Most scenes with: Francis Crozier (3)
[Alone on a ridge overlooking the Northwest Passage, Blanky - forks tied around his body, boat knife in his hand - sits waiting for the Tuunbaq, as he hears growling coming from behind him...]
Thomas BlankyWhat in the name of God took you so fuckin' long? [laughs]
[about Tuunbaq] Do you know the word, Mr. Blanky?
Thomas BlankyIt's similar to a Yupik word I know from Russian America. "Tuunraq." A spirit.
Spirit?
That may not be her meaning.
Thomas BlankyA spirit that dresses as an animal.
[Fitzjames asks Blanky about "what happened to John Ross on Fury Beach"]
Thomas BlankyYou read the book, so you know we spent three winters on the Victory.
Yes. Nearly the same as we.
Thomas BlankyCaptain would have tried for a fourth if we hadn't run out of food. We shouldn't have waited to start walking. By the time we got to it, the scurvy was in us. And Captain Ross, he had no sympathy for illness.
What do you mean?
Thomas BlankyWe sledged the boats with us. We were carrying half a load a day's march, then doubling back for the other half. I finally begged Ross to drop the boats altogether, but he replied he'd rather leave our sick to die. This from his position riding atop one of the sledges. It was 300 miles to Fury Beach. We were barely standing. What little love we had amongst us the only thing keeping us civil. We had one day's provisions left. One. Were it not for the cache of stores left there from the wreck of the Fury, we'd still be on that beach, bleaching in the wind. We tried to row out to the whaling channels, but the ice kept us back.
This is where you built Somerset House?
Thomas BlankyAye. Somerset House. Even there, Ross kept rank. The officers kept their stewards and their wolf blankets, and what salmon we could catch. The rest of us just slept in ice ditches and fought over year-old biscuits. And once it's past all hope, the mind goes... unnatural with thoughts.
What kind of thoughts?
Thomas BlankyLike splitting open Sir John Ross's head with a boat axe. You said you wanted the truth, sir, in my own words. I trust you won't court martial me for them now.
Would you have done it? [Blanky just smiles knowingly]
Thomas BlankyLeads opened up in the August. We got picked up by the Isabella. We'd been taken for dead for two years.
Mr. Blanky, most of the men survived.
Thomas BlankyIf that's the point you want me to get to, sir, then yes, we survived. But if we're going to walk out of here ourselves, and almost three times as far, you need to understand it wasn't sickness or hunger that most mattered to our chances. It's what went on up here. [taps the side of his head] Notions. A darkness with no firm hand to stem it. I know many were thinking what I was. Sir John Ross, he never knew how close he came.
This kind of darkness, do you see it among us here?
Thomas BlankyI don't need to see it to know it's here. We've time enough to vent it.
How?
Thomas BlankyWell, first of all, you're gonna keep things from the men, you better give them something in return. Now. Something to keep their minds on, no matter what lies ahead. There'll be a tally for it, later, when things get hard. There always is.
[April 22, 1848: Crozier gives the order to abandon the ships, and tours Terror for the last time with Blanky]
Friend, mother, lover, all the things they say a ship is to a captain, and they miss the only thing that matters: Confessor. This ship knows everything about me, Thomas.
Thomas BlankyIn '37, when George Back wrecked it, tugged it home across the Atlantic, she was barely afloat. No one could believe she kept herself up. She may well triumph.
[After Fitzjames' death and burial, Crozier and Blanky discuss strategy to fight the Tuunbaq]
We need high ground. Put all the sick in the middle, then face it down with all the ammo we've got.
Thomas Blanky[nodding] I've got a strategy, Francis. You cut inland a bit, and I drive it back out onto the ice.
Not possible.
Thomas BlankyIt is. I smell like a thousand-year-old armpit.
I mean permission not granted! I'm not saying goodbye to two friends in one day.
Thomas BlankyBetween me and you, Francis, I'm done for.
If you need to ride in a damn boat, I'll put you there myself! [Blanky pulls up his pant-leg, showing his peg leg is cracked] Mr. Weeks can make another one.
Thomas BlankyThey're gonna have to cut it a lot higher this time. And that's only for the time being. [pulls his pant-leg up further to show his stump has gone gangrenous] Let's not make me or Mr. Bridgens go through that, shall we?
[voice breaking] Bleedin' hell, Thomas, why didn't you speak up?!
Thomas BlankyI kept it tidy. No one could've done a better job.
[anguished sigh] Jesus Christ!
Thomas BlankyFrancis, we both know what's comin' for me now! At least love me enough to admit it! [limps over to Crozier and puts an arm around his shoulders]
[quietly] What do you need?
Thomas BlankyI've got half a pouch for me last smoke. That'll do for me. Oh, I'll take some forks off you and the men. Forty or fifty.
[incredulous] Forks?
Thomas BlankyAye, and a piece of rope. Enough to go around me a few times. [Crozier suddenly realizes what he's asking] Fifteen feet should do it. [starts laughing as Crozier shoves him off]
You're mad! [Blanky nods as he laughs uproariously; after a moment, Crozier joins him, and the two men embrace for the last time]
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The Terror pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
