It is indeed difficult to imagine Ankh-Morpork without Vimes. That's part of the trouble, really... PTerry has been trying, I think, to relegate Vimes to a more of a support role with every passing book, without really being able to let go. The result is that Vimes can't work as a support role character anymore, because the character as crafted by Pratchett is too bossy and stubborn for his own good. The only possible scenario that I can see at the moment is that Vimes will become relegated to a full secondary role due to child and health issues (a heart attack sounds like a reasonable literary device here), letting Carrot finally grow out of the "simple yet maybe deep" secondary role at last, and taking full control of the Watch in *essense* and not just in job description. After which, I can also see Vimes succumbing to a heart attack while trying to bail an older Young Sam out of some mess... We'll see. First PTerry has to come to grips with the fact that he has to let Vimes go.

Also, a bit unrelated, but at this point, I must admit that I have reached fairly close to the level of revulsion that Doors holds for any appearance of the Igors. They have simply grown to be a regressive character in terms of depth. The whole Igor thing is starting to remind me of the old standard parodies that PTerry wrote as his earlier books. Nice, but we've grown up since then, I had hoped.

Now, a bit more related to the original topic: I can see Granny as a "spirit guide" character, and can work out rather well in my view. Unlike with Vimes, Granny can be "let go" with much greater ease.

Anticipate charity by preventing poverty. - Rabbi Moshe ben-Maimon