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Spoiler warning!
This article or section contains plot spoilers for Mortal Engines quartet. Proceed at your own risk. |
Speedwell (known as Scuttlebug in the film) is a Traction City that was introduced in Mortal Engines.
Description[]
Scuttlebug moves and resembles a giant, metallic centipede.[1]
History[]
Mortal Engines quartet[]
Mortal Engines[]
After Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw are thrown out of London, they find Speedwall on their way back to the predator city. Orme Wreyland, the mayor of Speedwell, says that recently even giant cities have turned around to chase them when in the past they would drive past them without giving a second glance. Tom and Hester are fed drugged soup that made them fall asleep. They are then locked in a room so that they could be sold as slaves the next day at the Trading Cluster. However Anna Fang rescues Tom and Hester, as she herself was once a slave. Several bodies are seen and Anna tells the two that the people were only knocked unconscious (Tom rethinks this when he discovers she is an Anti-Tractionist). The towns of the trading cluster fire missiles after them, but they escape anyway.
It is unknown what happened to Speedwell after that, though it is possible that it was eaten by London, as London came across a group of towns and ate them.
Film[]
Scuttlebug found Tom and Hester the first night they were out of London, while they were chased by scavenger towns. Orme watches the scavengers as the duo recover. Tom notices that Hester is wounded, and begs Orme to take them to a town for a doctor. Mrs. Wreyland then feeds the duo algae-laced tea, which Tom swallows like medicine, as the city heads for a trading cluster.
Mrs. Wreyland then leads Tom and Hester into a room, suggesting that they are lovers (which Tom vehemently deflects) before leaving. With her gone, Tom admits that the events of the film up until that point are his fault. Hester then tells her backstory, detailing of life with her mother and Valentine before the latter cut down the family.
The next day, Scuttlebug stops at the Rustwater Marshes, where they sell Tom, Hester, and many other people to potential buyers. When Anna disrupting the auction with a fight to save Tom and Hester, it is presumed that Scuttlebug fled back into the wastelands alongside other traction cities.