Charles Frederick Des Voeux

## Charles F. Des Voeux

**Charles Frederick Des Voeux** is a character on AMC's *The Terror*. He is a mate on *HMS Erebus* and the youngest of the ship's officers.

## In The Show

Des Voeux first appears in Episode 1 when seaman William Orren falls off the main mast. When Second Master Henry Collins tries to go in after Orren, Des Voeux talks him out of it. He also later appears when Collins puts on his diving suit to go underwater and listens to his report afterwards. Des Voeux is then seen when Sir John gives his speech to the sailors of *Erebus* and is heard giving orders afterwards.

Des Voeux is later sent out with Lt. Gore's sledge party in episode 2. He helps the party locate a message cairn and he remarks how the Cairn has been left alone by the Inuit and Gore suggests maybe it frightens them. Afterwards he and Gore place a note inside and Gore, along with Sgt. Bryant, heads off to another cairn. Des Voeux and the others return to camp and find the sledge boat turned over and supplies scattered, causing Des Voeux to suspect that a bear is nearby. Hail starts falling later that evening, and Des Voeux remarks that is just what the camp needs, more ice! Gore and Bryant then return with a polar bear apparently tracking them. Des Voeux suggests killing and eating it and later calls out to Dr. Goodsir after Bryant accidentally shoots a Netsilik Shaman whom they thought was the polar bear.

In episode 3 he disregards Goodsir's concern about disrespecting the Shaman's corpse by throwing it down a fire hole and later arrives with a rescue party when Sir John is killed by being thrown down the same hole by the Tuunbaq. In the next episode he is seen reading a book and watching over Lady Silence as Goodsir brings food for her.

In episode 5 he and Lieutenant Vesconte are measuring weather conditions outside and later appears in the sick bay of *Erebus* warming his feet. In episode 6 he finds Goodsir to inform him about Jacko and the feral, aggressive state he's in. He later attends the carnivale where he catches Cornelius Hickey trying to urinate and orders him to do it outside.

In episode 8 he becomes increasingly paranoid after Lieutenant Irving and Thomas Farr are allegedly killed by the local Netsilik according to Hickey. He tries to accost Lady Silence but is stopped by Thomas Blanky. Des Voeux, along with Samuel Crispe, begins hearing noises in the fog and convinces Sgt. Tozer to open up the armory. Tozer is later replaced with Des Voeux in charge of the armory to prevent more unauthorized uses. After the Tuunbaq attacks the camp later in the episode he joins Hickey's mutineers.

In episode 9 he is heard threatening Lieutenant Hodgson when Goodsir initially refuses to cut into William Gibson's corpse for consumption. When Goodsir relents and completes his task, Des Voeux and the others dine on Gibson's flesh. When Tozer suggests to Hickey they should return to the ships he mentions Des Voeux has sighted birds in the area but Hickey refuses. Later Des Voeux leads a party sent out to retrieve Captain Crozier and kills Tom Hartnell.

In the last episode Des Voeux helps bring an injured Crozier back to their camp claiming "he took a stumble" and is asked by Hickey to have his wounds tended to by Goodsir. After Goodsir dies and the mutineers are eating his body, Des Voeux informs Crozier that Goodsir committed suicide and was not murdered as Crozier initially suspected. Hickey asked Des Voeux if the muntineers still have a boat chain and Des Voeux confirms they do. Later before the final battle with the Tuunbaq, Des Voeux states they should kill the creature and butcher it but once it arrives, he flees. He is eventually found by Lady Silence but she refuses to help and leaves him to die.

## In The Novel

The two Des Voeuxs, book and series, are of markedly different temperaments. In the book, he is portrayed as being a kind and brave officer with an indefatigable spirit. Des Voeux never joins Hickey's mutiny and ultimately remains loyal to Crozier. The series gives him slightly wicked twist, revealing him to be a petulant young man who is almost always possessed of a bad mood.

## Trivia

* Like a few other characters, Des Voeux served in China during the Opium War, and in Africa during the Egyptian-Ottoman war.
* A piece of one of Des Voeux's shirts was recovered from Repulse Bay in 1854.