S3E20

Fitzwallace's Wartime Plea: Enable Shareef's Assassination

In the Situation Room, Fitzwallace eases Leo into a grave discussion with banter about shampoo, then dismantles the peacetime-wartime distinction using historical precedents like Agincourt's chivalry, Yamamoto's targeted killing post-Pearl Harbor, and the failed Hitler plot. He contrasts archaic international laws with modern terrorism—pregnant women as bombers—declaring nature's laws obsolete. As a 38-year soldier, he identifies Shareef as killable, urgently imploring Leo not to let Bartlet cancel the trip, thrusting the administration toward extralegal assassination amid legal dead ends.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

Leo and Fitzwallace's casual banter masks an impending serious conversation, with Fitzwallace noting Leo's changed shampoo to ease into the discussion.

casual to probing ['Situation Room']

Fitzwallace questions the distinction between peacetime and wartime, challenging Leo with historical parallels to illustrate modern ambiguities in international law.

probing to confrontational

Fitzwallace cites the assassination of Yamamoto and the moral justification for killing Hitler, pressing Leo on the necessity of targeting Shareef despite legal protections.

confrontational to urgent

Fitzwallace argues that traditional international laws and the laws of nature no longer apply in conflicts where enemy tactics involve atrocities like pregnant women delivering bombs, urging Leo to prevent the cancellation of Shareef's trip.

urgent to desperate

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

Percy Fitzwallace

primary

urgent

Sitting across from Leo, starts with banter about shampoo, then uses historical precedents (Agincourt chivalry, Yamamoto's killing after Pearl Harbor, failed Hitler plot by Dietrich Bonhoeffer) to argue that peacetime-wartime distinctions are obsolete amid modern terrorism, identifies Shareef as a killable enemy, and urgently implores Leo not to let the President cancel Shareef's trip.

Goals in this moment

• Convince Leo of the necessity of Shareef's assassination by dismantling peacetime-wartime distinctions using historical parallels
• Prevent the President from canceling Shareef's trip to enable the assassination

Character traits

composed pragmatic dryly personable decisive

Follow Percy Fitzwallace's journey

Supporting 1

Abdul Lebin Shareef

secondary

Referenced repeatedly as the terrorist enemy funded attacks, identified as killable under new warfare realities, with his upcoming trip positioned as critical not to cancel.

Follow Abdul Lebin …'s journey

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What led here 1

Thematic Parallel

"Fitzwallace's presentation of evidence against Shareef in the Situation Room directly connects to his later argument with Leo about the necessity of assassination, using historical parallels to justify killing Shareef despite legal protections."

Bartlet Rejects Circumstantial Evidence Linking Shareef to Terror Attacks

S3E20 · We Killed Yamamoto

Key Dialogue

"FITZWALLACE: "Can you tell when its peacetime and wartime anymore?""

"FITZWALLACE: "We killed Yamamoto. We shot down his plane.""

"FITZWALLACE: "He can't cancel Shareef's trip, Leo. You've got to tell him he can't cancel it.""