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The 00
I was always annoyed at how the films discard the way the books used the "00". MI6 only had three of them: 007, 008, 0011. several of the films (especially during the Moore days) they have 00's up the yang yang. Q mentioned the loss of a 003 in Siberia (AVTAK) the agent dressed as a clown killed at the beginning of OP is a "00".
I mean WTF? I would think that MI6 would not employ more than 3 of them at any one time. I would think the license to kill is not just handed out to any sociopathic operative.
I like to assume that the other 00's are off on their own assignments doing what 00's do. Protect British/Western interests and when the situation dictates: kill a mutha.
It would be cool to have Bond bump into one of his fellow 00's leaving M's office, or just passing or whatever. Perhaps one would be a woman. Now that would be so cool.
Maybe it's just me. Your thoughts?
I mean WTF? I would think that MI6 would not employ more than 3 of them at any one time. I would think the license to kill is not just handed out to any sociopathic operative.
I like to assume that the other 00's are off on their own assignments doing what 00's do. Protect British/Western interests and when the situation dictates: kill a mutha.
It would be cool to have Bond bump into one of his fellow 00's leaving M's office, or just passing or whatever. Perhaps one would be a woman. Now that would be so cool.
Maybe it's just me. Your thoughts?
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Comments
No, he was head of J section (Jamaica, obviously).
there is rumored to be one - but not sure if she is visible at all...
wasn't there a female '00' in TWINE, when Bond gets snubbed during the assignment handouts.... or are we to assume that she was just another random agent, and not a '00'?
The third from the left look feminine from where we can see them, but who knows??
001- Not mentioned
002- TMWTGG, Bill Fairbanks, killed by Scaramanga; another 002 in TLD, the agent who first failed the training excercise at Gibralter
003- AVTAK, dead body found in Siberia along with Zorin's microchip
004- TLD, killed by the 00 Imposter at Gibralter
005- Not mentioned
006- Alec Trevelyan
007- James Bond
008- Mentioned in both GF and TLD; in both movies, M threatens to take Bond off his assignment and replace him with 008
009- OP, killed by Mishka and Grishka
the 00 designation is rare and should be handed out to very very few agents. Not every MI6 field operative is a 00. would have made good sense to say Trevelyn was 008 instead of 006 in GE. I mean that would have been in keeping with the books and Fleming.
Given the way the films have knocked off 00's I can see why the need for so many.They have a high mortality rate.
IMO and what I gather from Fleming is that the 00 designation would only go to certain agents/field operatives. These persons would have to proove themselves and probably be the best agents. No organization would have agents who took pleasure in killing. Hence the rarity of a 00.
Some interesting trivia from the books: The three 00's shared the same office at MI6 and they had one "girl Friday" who did the filing and other tasks for them. they were never in the office at the same time , off on their respective assignments.
@OHMSS69 well of course! In those days filing was a huge task, people far more often had an assistant (As Bond does himself as well, Ponsenby).
You bring up an interesting point. Maybe they began back in the late forties with 001 and as they were killed off they kept adding numbers. Maybe 0011 came in after 0010 and 009 died in the line of duty. Killed while spying on the Soviets no doubt...
They mention the secretary in the MR novel and i beleive TMWTGG novel. I want to say her name was Mary Goodnight but don't quote me.
I did some research into MI6 and other, erm, let's call them 'Information Services' and the one thing that struck me was the fact that MI6 often follows no logic at all, just to confuse its opponents. So giving numbers to agents might as well have gone completely at random, with the one difference that they never hand out the same number twice.
So Bond was plain agent 7 till he slotted two blokes.
But then with so many agents in the service it seems odd that all the 00s are in the first 11 agents. By random chance you would expect there to be a 00246 or a 00379.
Presumably there are eleven or so 00 numbers and you just get assigned whichevers free when you 'qualify' as it were.
I guess I've answered my own question.
Brilliant question.
And more to the point how does the LTK actually work in the real world? Is it for if the local police turn up after you've just shot someone; you just flash the old LTK and they let you go?
But then would this mean it was some sort of international agreement ratified by NATO or the UN or something but would that mean the CIA would have LTKs as well?
And where do you draw the line? Presumably Bond can't shoot up a school and then when the SWAT teams arrive he just waves the LTK and they let him walk out past all the crying mothers?
Or do you have to fill out a form like an expenses form every month with a list of all the people you've killed and some clerk at MI6 has to square it away with the police?
We need to be told these things!
I would guess a LTK ensures that a British spy is allowed a weapon upon himself when he flies with a national airline, or that it says he's the only one to be allowed to send himself a weapon through the diplomatic mail.
Or that, if he gets cought, his government tries to make sure he's allowed to sit out his sentence at home and then is immidiately released when coming home..
I can see som advantages in those things. And I guess you wouldn't send any old spy out to kill enemies of your state..
I'm sure the LTK simply means that if Bond is in any threatening situation, he is already authorized to handle it. If that means taking a life, so be it. Bond has been in the service long enough to be trusted as someone who would use such a licence responsibly, and the LTK isn't just handed out lightly, like an 'employee of the month' award. The 'licence to kill' isn't meant literally, as in 'you can kill whoever you want and it's cool'; instead what it means is that in this line of work, you are authorized to use lethal force if you deem it necessary
That shouldn't take too long, knowing our man James. lol
Are you serious or are you just trying to make a small joke? Ha ha. we get it.
I believe that you are spot on with the first part. They are simple agents then when they get the license,then they are given a new number with the 00.
Naw, I don't think Bond would have to off two more folks to be reinstated. M can do that all by him/herself.
There are instances when a field operative "has to kill" that would be more justifiable homicide. But a 00 can kill anytime. Face it Bond rarely has done this. I can only think of two instances, In DN with the unfortunate Dent and when he gunned Elektra down. Both cases the victims were unarmed and posed no threat to Bond.
Had he shot Elektra before she ordered Renaud to dive then it would have been justified but to shoot her after she already done it? sorry chaps.
I think the general public would not identify with a hero who killed in cold blood on a regular basis, and scriptwriters avoid this.