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* BawdySong: The Culture has no national anthem, and the first song that Ambassador Shohobohaum Za can think of is one of these, called "Lick Me Out" -- which leads to it being played (sans lyrics) when Gurgeh arives on Azad. It could be argued that this [[FreeLoveFuture isn't entirely unfitting]], however.
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* IKnowMortalKombat: Gurgeh spots an ambush when he realizes how the area around him is like an Azad board. More generally, the whole Empire is based on the idea that a good Azad player is a good ruler: the regular grand tournaments of Azad are used to determine who becomes Emperor, and where everyone else falls into the pecking order.
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* IKnowMortalKombat: Gurgeh spots an ambush when he realizes how the area around him is like an Azad board. More generally, the whole Empire is based on the idea that a good Azad player is a good ruler: the regular grand tournaments of Azad Azad, held every six years, are used to determine who becomes Emperor, and where everyone else falls into the pecking order.
Changed line(s) 53 (click to see context) from:
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Used by the Culture against Azad in several respects. The drone Gurgeh travels with is encased in a suit which makes it look clumsy and malfunctioning, and while it plays the part of an officious translator drone, it is actually quite competent and ruthless. Also, [[spoiler:the hedonistic Culture representative in Azad is actually a foreign-born mercenary; Gurgeh's ship/living quarters looks demilitarized and he believed it to be so, but it's actually highly armed. However, this is mostly for the benefit of the majority of the Azadian population: at least eight of the Empire's most highly ranked officials know just how technologically advanced, sophisticated, and expansive the Culture really is.]]
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* ObfuscatingStupidity: ObfuscatingStupidity:
** Used by the Culture against Azad in several respects. The drone Gurgeh travels with is encased in a suit which makes it look clumsy and malfunctioning, and while it plays the part of an officious translator drone, it is actually quite competent and ruthless. Also, [[spoiler:the hedonistic Culture representative in Azad is actually a foreign-born mercenary; Gurgeh's ship/living quarters looks demilitarized and he believed it to be so, but it's actually highly armed. However, this is mostly for the benefit of the majority of the Azadian population: at least eight of the Empire's most highly ranked officials know just how technologically advanced, sophisticated, and expansive the Culture really is.]]]]
** [[spoiler:Shohobohaum Za, the Culture's ambassador to Azad, deserves some further elaboration: he behaves like an unabashed, immature hedonist, going so far as to present a BawdySong as the Culture's national anthem ([[FreeLoveFuture not that that's entirely inaccurate]]), but is in fact a Special Circumstances plant -- he rapidly springs into action to protect Gurgeh from an assassination attempt and {{Blackmail}} plot, and the ending notes that he quickly assumed a leading role in the revolution against the Empire after Nicosar's attempted murder-suicide]].
** Used by the Culture against Azad in several respects. The drone Gurgeh travels with is encased in a suit which makes it look clumsy and malfunctioning, and while it plays the part of an officious translator drone, it is actually quite competent and ruthless. Also, [[spoiler:the hedonistic Culture representative in Azad is actually a foreign-born mercenary; Gurgeh's ship/living quarters looks demilitarized and he believed it to be so, but it's actually highly armed. However, this is mostly for the benefit of the majority of the Azadian population: at least eight of the Empire's most highly ranked officials know just how technologically advanced, sophisticated, and expansive the Culture really is.
** [[spoiler:Shohobohaum Za, the Culture's ambassador to Azad, deserves some further elaboration: he behaves like an unabashed, immature hedonist, going so far as to present a BawdySong as the Culture's national anthem ([[FreeLoveFuture not that that's entirely inaccurate]]), but is in fact a Special Circumstances plant -- he rapidly springs into action to protect Gurgeh from an assassination attempt and {{Blackmail}} plot, and the ending notes that he quickly assumed a leading role in the revolution against the Empire after Nicosar's attempted murder-suicide]].
