"Not to say you're wrong to be mad about it," adds Wagtail, perhaps unhelpfully. "It's your mother. You deserved to know. You should have known. But let's be honest, Crow was never going to tell you."

If he'd known, would he have told Ken? He thinks he would have, in the end. Not without the whole story, but he'd have told him. Maybe he hasn't learned as much as people say.