The Seasoned Veteran

        Today I will compare Arthur Weisfelt, most commonly known as Arthur “Artie” Nielson, from “Warehouse 13” and Flynn Carsen from “The Librarians.” Both of these characters are seasoned veterans of their supernatural job. Artie has been an agent with the Warehouse for 35 years. Flynn was the sole Librarian for ten years before the new Librarians joined.

       Both of these men have been successful in their jobs for so long because of their intelligence and their knowledge. Artie was a talented musician who could have attended Julliard. He is fluent in Russian, German and French. He can read Latin as well. He worked for the National Security Agency as a cryptographer. During his career at the Warehouse, Artie had a high artifact retrieval rate and was considered as one of the best agent by Mrs. Frederic. By the age of 31, Flynn had earned 22 academic degrees, in subjects such as Egyptology, comparative religions and Cryptology. His strength lies in his extensive knowledge of history. Flynn is also a polymath, which is a person with an extensive knowledge of a large range of topic. Both of these intelligent characters can go into complicated explanations in dangerous moments that annoy their peers.

As is common with geniuses, Artie and Flynn exhibit antisocial behavior. Artie is a man who holds his secrets very closely, even from the people who are closest to him. His personality is stern, serious and quick to become grumpy. Before Flynn became a Librarian he was very isolated. He spent most of his time holed up in his mother’s apartment reading and studying. Even after his appointment as Librarian, Flynn did not like to go on missions with partners, which is demonstrated in his aversion to the appointment of Eve Baird as the newest Guardian.

Despite their prickly personality, these two seasoned veterans are often looked to as father figures or mentors. Artie becomes a mentor and father figure to Warehouse agent Claudia Donovan. Even though Artie gets frustrated with Claudia’s unorthodox behavior, he still cares about her deeply. Flynn is a person who the new Librarians look to for help in their dangerous occupation. Cassandra Cillian is definitely a huge fan of Flynn, since he sacrificed his life in order to cure her brain tumor, even after she betrayed him to aid the Serpent Brotherhood.

Although their occupations make it nearly impossible to have a relationship, Artie and Flynn try to fall in love. Artie Nielson loves Dr. Vanessa Calder, who worked with Warehouse agents Artie and James MacPherson and who also examined Mrs. Frederic. Throughout his career with the Library, Flynn dated or flirted with his Guardians Eve Baird and Nicole, an archaeologist named Emily Davenport, and the vampire Simone. These relationships always prove to be difficult and most likely do not last long.