Round Table - Neptune Affair

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

The Neptune  Affair is one of those pivotal episodes in which we firmly establish that Illya Kuryakin is, indeed, a Soviet agent whose affiliation with his country is still intact.  He hasn't defected and he is not at all adrift from his homeland.  In fact, he is seen in uniform as a member of the Soviet Navy, something that comes across as a true vocation for him when he goes toe to toe with Napoleon over the origins of the plague that is affecting crops in the Soviet Union.
So, with all of that in motion, should the series have delved more deeply into the Soviet nature of our blond?  I think there are maybe only two other instances where it is referenced that Illya is Russian; Napoleon's 'smart Russian' comment (The Never, Never Affair), and another one I can't exactly quote or place.  Maybe one of you remembers where to find it.
Did we need more Cold War interaction between our heroes?
Do you have a favorite story that does go into this element of the series?

Comments

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Thank you for raising this subject. I haven't anything to add, but I am certainly interested in what those more knowledgeable had to say.

I think, once or twice, there's been the idea raised in fic where Illya's sponsors become political outs, which could make him less favoured later. Not that I can remember anything solid like the title or author. But that might explain why he doesn't return to Russia after UNCLE.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

In Return, his 'fashion design' business is named Vanya's and one of his offices is in Vladivostok certainly an odd place for a fashion design outpost. So maybe he's still working for them after all.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea. I only hope some writer uses it.

edit: really good icon. (excuse typo!)

[carabele.livejournal.com]

Actually I did use that idea that Vanya's was a cover for Illya to do some continued spy-type work for the Soviets in my THE WAVES OF CHANGE AFFAIR (http://carabele.com/uncle/WavesOfChange.htm)

That particular idea is forwarded in ACT IV (http://carabele.com/uncle/WavesOfChange2b.pdf) of the story.

Here's a snippet:

“Napoleon, do you really think my resignation from U.N.C.L.E. cancelled any debts I owed elsewhere? And does your Western arrogance somehow suppose yourself more a patriot of your country than I of mine?”
Solo stared a bit dumbfounded as realization hit him.
“GRU?” Napoleon inquired in an uneven voice.
Illya nodded slightly.
“Many a covert operation cloaked itself amidst the designer fashions of Vanya’s,” he enunciated with self-accusatory sarcasm.
Solo bit his lower lip lightly.
“I truly did want out of the spy game after what happened with Janus in Yugoslavia,” Illya explained, “but that game held me fast. You see, I wanted to stay in this country, yet at the same time I did not want to lose my homeland. I guess I had become enamored of the American idea of having it all,” he furthered a bit ruefully.
“That bait was constantly dangled under my nose,” Illya furthered, seemingly embarrassed by what he privately deemed his own past self-indulgence. “However to so ‘have it all’, to stay in the U.S. yet remain a welcome citizen of the U.S.S.R., it was made more than clear to me I had to keep firm roots in the GRU.
“Vanya’s was their brainchild and I was its front,” the Russian chastised himself in a very self-deprecating manner. “I think it amused the powers-that-were in my country to put a trained assassin and martial arts expert in the guise of a dress designer catering to the pampered upper class of a capitalistic society. Subtle mental punishment for what they labeled my surrender to the emotional decadence of the West.
“It was more than a half-dozen years,” he continued, bitterness plainly evident in his voice, “before I was finally permitted to sever all the remaining tendrils without incurring the status of a traitor. Afterwards I kept Vanya’s as a reminder never again to put myself in such a situation.
“I believe to this day,” Illya concluded musingly, “that Mr. Waverly too had a hand in my release from over-encroaching national demands.”

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Formidable! Good on you for the Vanya call.

I won't have the time to finish your fic for a while, but the opening Thrushie does strike me as original and interesting, and very deserving of inclusion in the Ladies First.