History Recap / AsterixInSwitzerland

* PlayAlongPrisoner: Keeping Sinusitus as a hostage is merely a plot to prevent the poisonser from finishing the job. In the end, Vitalstatistix tells Sinusitus that he was in fact a guest.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Losing three pieces of bread in the cheese fondue gets you drowned. Lacus Lemanus is full of butterfingers.

* OhCrap: Flavus has a fairly spectacular one when he realises Sinusitus has been cured.

* SwissBankAccount: Petitsuix and Zurix hide Asterix in and Obelix in a Swiss bank vault. Of course they have to open a joined account and grant Petitsuix power of attorney so he can let them out.

** Flavius mentions that his orgies are organized by the Roman impresario Fellinius. The orgy images are a spoof of similar scenes in Federico Fellini’s film ''Film/FelliniSatyricon''.

* WhatTheHellHero: Getafix tells Flavus that Sinusitus will be executed if Asterix and Obelix do not return. Not only is this very much out of character, it also paints a target on his friends, since Flavus is the prime suspect for wanting a quaestor dead (that’s why Getafix wants Sinusitus out of the palace in the first place).

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Varius Flavus knows perfectly well that Rome will ignore prefects embezzling ''some'' money, as long as the quotas are met. But he embezzles so much that Rome sends [[IntimidatingRevenueService an auditor]] who immediately notices that Flavus has too much luxury compared to the taxes he pays. Downplayed, because Flavus did count on an auditor and intended to either corrupt or kill him.

* PlayAlongPrisoner: Getafix demands that Sinusitus be kept at their village as a 'hostage' for Asterix and Obelix's safe return. Flavus naturally assumes that having our heroes come to a sticky end will mean that the Gauls will kill Sinusitus in retaliation, but it's actually to forestall any further attempts to kill him (though he points out Asterix and Obelix need to move fast as it's a lethal poison and Sinusitus's already-slim chances for survival hinges entirely on how quickly the heroes can retrieve ingredients needed for the only cure to it).

* PragmaticVillainy: Caius Eucalyptus objects to the tax skimming, not for the illegality of it (especially as he gets his own cut) but because the scale of it had reached the point where they were in danger of facing an outside audit and getting caught.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Sinusitus, excluding Caesar, the first honest, upright and truly incorruptible Roman official in the series. Even Vitalstatistix is impressed enough by Sinusitus to invite him as their first Roman guest in their traditional banquet.

** Getafix decides to help cure a poisoned Roman, despite the fact that Romans are usually their enemies, on the grounds that he is honour-bound to help anyone who needs his services. It should be pointed out that Getafix stays neutral throughout the series on who deserves his services. He has been known to provide treatment and assistance to Romans (and adversaries) with legitimate or honourable needs while denying his own villagers and countrymen who have selfish agendas.

* SwissBankAccount: Where Asterix and Obelix spend the night without being bothered by Romans. Obelix's usual approach to enclosed spaces results in a vault door being ripped off his hinges, causing a Roman centurion to declare he's closing his account if the security is that bad (and sheepishly justifies his having a SwissBankAccount to his underlings).

** While it's mentioned that both Varius Flavus and Curious Odus will have their day in the Circus over their actions, no mention is made of Flavus' tax collector Caius Eucalyptus, who was very much in on the scheme and disappeared from the story at the halfway point. Granted, Eucalyptus did seem smarter than his boss (in particular, warning him that Rome ''might'' get a bit suspicious if he carries on holding huge orgies while claiming to earn no money), so he may have taken more care to hide his misdeeds and hightail it out of there once the game was up.

* BrickJoke: The Roman officer who searches the bank has a safe full of keepsakes from Egypt. Much later he is buried in snow and wishes he was back there.

* ForeignQueasine: Rich Romans have unusual tastes (e.g. boar’s tripe fried in aurochs dripping). When Sinusitus asks for vegetable soup, the cook is peeved.

* HeavySleeper: Obelix misses most of the excitement, sleeping through climbing a mountain and several battles due to him drinking a whole barrel of alcohol. His description of Helvetia after the fact is "Flat."

* PaperThinDisguise: Petitsuix’s idea of disguises are...just bows and arrows to carry. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work.

** The orgy scenes at Varius Flavus' palace in Condatum are a spoof of similar scenes in Federico Fellini's film ''Film/FelliniSatyricon''.

** The fact that two of Varius Flavus' poison rings turn out to be empty heavily suggests this isn't the first time he disposed of an opponent in this manner. It's a chilling thought, considering how much power a Roman elite has to subvert and undermine Rome's system of checks and enforcement.

* HangoverSensivity: After a little orgy in the guardroom, the Condate palace guards are in a bad way.

** Every time the possibility of eating boar's tripe fried in aurochs' dripping is mentioned, someone will excitedly ask, "With honey??" At one point, one of Flavus' guards falls into a cauldron of cold boar's tripe fried in aurochs' dripping, and as he eats the contents, he asks if anyone has a spot of honey.

* NationalStereotypes: The Helvetians (Swiss) are portrayed as punctual, obsessed with keeping everything clean, and very good at banking. They are also seen playing Alpine horns, yodeling and eating cheese.

* IntimidatingRevenueService: Sinusitus, causing Flavus to use poison in an attempt to avoid the impending audit. Atypically for this trope, Sinusitus is portrayed as [[BeleagueredBureaucrat just an honest official trying to do his job]], and Flavus genuinely was doing things that were grounds for an audit.

* BigGuyLittleGuy: Obelix and Asterix's respective matching of these descriptions is played up in the opening sequence after Vitalstatistix sacks his shield bearers and "awards" our heroes the "honour" of replacing them. Since Asterix is only half Obelix's height, Vitalstatistix ends up tilted at a 45-degree angle and struggles to remain standing, to the loud laughter of the other villagers. (At the end of the book, Geriatrix and Fulliautomatix have been forcibly drafted into the roles, with similar results for the same reason.)

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Varius Flavus knows perfectly well that Rome will ignore prefects embezzlinz ''some'' money, as long as the quotas are met. But he embezzles so much that Rome sends [[IntimidatingRevenueService an auditor]] who immediately notices that Flavus has too much luxury compared to the taxes he pays. Downplayed, because Flavus did count on an auditor and intended to either corrupt or kill him.

* ComicallyIneptHealing: The physicians of the Roman garrison that Flavus has on call are all hopelessly incompetent (one proposed treatment even includes the phrase "if the patient survives...") and prone to arguing over who is the best suited for the operation. In Flavus' words, "when they get together, they're more murderous than a legion armed to the teeth." Of course, Flavus didn't ''want'' Sinusitus to recover, so from his perspective that was a good thing: either none of their "cures" would work, or they would inadvertently kill Sinusitus with their bungling.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Varius Flavus knows perfectly well that Rome cares about getting tax revenue from the provinces and sets up quotas, but doesn't really care if the local officials embezzle ''some'' money so long as the quotas are met... And yet he embezzles so much that he only sends a few coins in taxes to Rome, causing the arrival of [[IntimidatingRevenueService an auditor]] who immediately notices Flavus is cheating Rome's money away.

** Getafix decides to help cure a poisoned Roman, despite the fact that Romans are usually their enemies, on the grounds that he is honour-bound to help anyone who needs his services.
*** It should be pointed out that Getafix stays neutral throughout the series on who deserves his services. He has been known to provide treatment and assistance to Romans (and adversaries) with legitimate or honourable needs while denying his own villagers and countrymen who have selfish agendas.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The Romans mostly cared about getting taxes from their provinces, even setting up quotas based on what they believed the province's economy could take and not caring ''how'' they were met... But if said quotas were not met, an envoy from Rome would come and see what's happening, exactly as Caesar does by sending Sinusitus to audit Varius Flavus.

** Asterix and Obelix have their tire changed by Antar, the mascot of the French service station Antar. In the English version, it is changed by Bibendum, the Michelin Man himself.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Lose your piece of bread in the cheese fondue once, and it's five of the best with a stick. Lose your piece of bread twice, and it's twenty lashes with a whip. Lose it three times, and it's into the lake with weights tied to your feet. The orgygoer who keeps losing his piece of bread, Malodorus Caseus, seems almost as delighted as his fellow revellers when he incurs these punishments.

* IntimidatingRevenueService: Sinusitus, causing Flavus to use poison in an attempt to avoid the impending audit. Atypically for this trope, Sinusitus is portrayed as just an honest official trying to do his job, and Flavus genuinely was doing things that were grounds for an audit.

* DidNotThinkThingsThrough: Flavius Varus knows perfectly that Rome cares of getting tax money from the provinces and sets up quotas but doesn't really care if the local officials embezzle some money as long as the quotas are met... And yet he embezzle so much money he only sends a few coins in taxes to Rome, causing the arrival of [[IntimidatingRevenueService an auditor]] who immediately notices Varus is cheating Rome's money away.

** Redbeard and his band of pirates have this role in the story. They don't appear on panel, but are mentioned by Vexatious Sinusitus; apparently, they attacked his ship while he was on his way to Gaul, but fortunately got into an argument with each other and [[RunningGag sank their own ship]].

* PragmaticVillainy: Eucalyptus objects to the tax skimming, not for the illegality of it, but because the scale of it had reached the point where they were in danger of facing an outside audit and getting caught.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The Romans mostly cared of getting taxes from their provinces, even setting up quotas based on what they believed the province' economy could take and not caring ''how'' they were met... But if said quotas were not met, an envoy from Rome would come and see what's happening, exactly as Caesar does by sending Sinusitus to audit Varius Flavus.
* SuspiciousSpending: Varius Flavus' being able to host non-stop orgies while simultaneously only being able to raise a pittance in tax revenue to send back to Rome gets Sinusitus sent to Condatum to look over his books. Eucalyptus actually warns him that the obvious disparity between what Flavus is spending on parties and what his district is allegedly able to afford is likely to get a Quaestor sent their way.

** Sinusitis's guard is also missing from the scenes at the end of the story. Presumably, he was sent to report back to Rome about the poisoning, but it isn't stated anywhere.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** After swimming and climbing a mountain to get Asterix and Obelix one Roman complains about doing all these activities. His centurion snaps back: "We're not taking a holiday here." Amusing, because today both swimming and mountain climbing are holiday activities in Switzerland.
** When Asterix uses Obelix's body to slide down the snowy mountain he references another popular Swiss sport and holiday activity: snow sliding and/or skiing.