| “ | Nobody chose to go there... They chose you. It was surely the only school in the world where there were more teachers than students. There were no holidays, no sports days, no uniforms, no punishments, no visitors, no prizes and no exams. And yet it was, in its own way, a school. You could call it the Eton of murder | ” |
—Yassen Gregorovich's opinions of Malagosto |
||
Malagosto is an island a few miles from Venice, Italy, which is owned by the criminal organization SCORPIA. Half a mile long and shaped like a crescent moon, the island has a firing range and only six buildings on it. Being that it is mostly covered by wild grass and poplars, it does not stand out against anything. However, in the inside, it is a place of luxury and is surrounded by soundproof walls, closing it off to the outside world. SCORPIA leased it from the Government of Italy in the mid-1980s, and ever since then SCORPIA has been using it to train its agents and assassins.
Origins[]
During the Middle Ages, Malagosto had been a thriving island community. However, during the Genoese war, in 1380, it was ransacked and later, victims of the plague were taken there for quarantine. When the plague died out it became an official quarantine centre.
In the eighteenth century, it was used as a mental institution for the insane, but after a while it was finally abandoned and left to rot.
About[]
SCORPIA bought the rotting island on lease from the Government of Italy in the mid-1980s. Soon after they built their Training and Assessment Centre there to train their assassins and agents in a variety of subjects such as botany, history of weapons, psychology, Ninjutsu, and other skills necessary for assassination.
John Rider was an instructor at Malagosto during his deep-cover assignment with SCORPIA. Yassen Gregorovich was a student of his during his period there.
Alex Rider also spent time training there during the Scorpia novel. Julia Rothman had deceived the young spy into believing MI6 had killed his father John Rider, one of their highly skilled assassins, and persuaded Alex into developing his skills alongside the other students of Malagosto.
Differences in the TV series[]
Season Three[]
Malagosto is reimagined as an abandoned Cold War listening station on the island of Malta. The bunker is Scorpia's main headquarters and training facility.
Staff[]
- Oliver d'Arc (Principal / Head teacher)
- Professor Yermalov (Practical lessons, martial arts)
- Miss Eijit "Jet" Binnag (Botany)
- Mr Gordon Ross (Technical Specialist, History of weapons)
- Dr Karl Steiner (Psychiatrist)
- John Rider (Undercover; deceased)
- Mr Sefton Nye (Ex-principal; deceased)
- The Countess (Infiltration training and camouflage; most likely deceased)
- Hatsumi Saburo "HS" (Ninjutsu, among other things; most likely deceased)
Students and ex-students[]
Students training during the novel Scorpia[]
- Alex Rider (formerly)
- Miss Craig
- Klaus
- Walker
- Amanda
Students training during the novel Russian Roulette[]
- Yassen Gregorovich
- Colette
- Marat
- Sam
- Unnamed Chinese man
Other students[]
- Nile (deputy to Mrs Rothman; deceased)