Commentary (Volume 4) Notice and Find. Tied to Belkar.

[PallElendro]

Belkar will die before the end of the game year as said by the Oracle
Belkar will draw his last breath-ever, before the end of the year.and as said in the commentary at the end of the book:
Oh, and someone will die.
Possibly Belkar. Yeah. I'm sorry for all you Shoeless God of War fans, he'd be gone fast in the next book. But hey, if we're lucky, he'd be in legacy with the Northern Gods.
But it's not gonna be too forward with that. He might live. How else would the Order of the Stick gonna get its primary melee attacker (other than :roy:) to beat up a few?

[ThePhantasm]

Ok, even I, who greatly dislike the idea of Belkar dying anytime soon in the comic (i.e. before the end) am getting tired of these Belkar death threads (pun not intended).

[factotum]

We have the in-comic words of the Oracle saying Belkar is going to die, and he said it several different ways just so we'd get the message. We have quasi-Word of God with the commentaries in the various books. HE IS GOING TO DIE, and I don't understand why there is still any question or confusion on that issue.

[Fale]

Something that I've noticed (and I'm sure many other people have too) is that Belkar is highly likely to be on the background cover of the next book. Every member of the team has been on one, with the sole exception of Belkar. The comics within the books seem to focus around the background character more then anyone else too. Perhaps we'll see Belkar get a little limelight in the coming comics before he dies.

[PallElendro]

Not to mention that Redcloak was on Volume -1.

[RecklessFable]

I think that whole breath thing just means Belkar is going to take a really long breath that lasts until the end of time.

What? It is just a likely as any of these other guesses! :smallwink:

[Kish]

"Belkar will die and not be resurrected" really is extremely simple and plausible. Whatever you might wish to believe on the subject. *squints at your sig*

[jidasfire]

I'm not sure why so many people are so very definite that the prophecy will play out exactly literally. Well, I can understand the reaction to people who are trying to find every technicality to make sure that Belkar lives through it, but I think we've all learned by now that certainty of what's going to happen next in OotS is the first step towards being absolutely wrong. The fact is, we just don't know. Prophecy is a tricky business. In storytelling, it's used to heighten dramatic tension through foreshadowing, and in practical terms, that means if they play out, it's usually in a way one doesn't expect. Just telling the readers exactly what is going to happen ahead of time and then having it happen would be boring (I'm looking at you, Kurt Vonnegut!). On the other hand, even though the Oracle is not exactly a reliable character, he does hate the Order and Belkar in particular, having it be a lie would also be a copout and make our time spent on the idea wasted. The truth, whatever it will be, is somehow twisted here. Quite probably in a way no one except the author has foreseen.

I, for one, think it would be a waste to kill Belkar now that he's undergone his fake character development. One assumes the reason to kill him off is that a shallow sociopath doesn't belong on the team now that the story is so big and serious. But giving him a cover adds dimension to his character and lets him play nice without really becoming a big softy. Still, just because those are my opinions doesn't mean they're what will happen, and perhaps this arc will end with Belkar dead. Hopefully, if that does happen, it will be done so well that my objections are washed away.

Still, assuming things will go down literally is as silly as assuming they'll have some absurd twist.

[ThePhantasm]

The only way I see Belkar living is in the scenario I outlined here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133387), i.e. that when the Oracle peered into the future he saw an illusion (created by Girard or V or someone) of Belkar dying, and just assumed that Belkar was dead. That is, the oracle was tricked.

One of the primary reasons that I want the prophecy to not come true is because I don't think predestination fits in the OOTS universe, and I don't think the Oracle is infallible. I also think Belkar is a great character. But all in all, that's just what I'd LIKE to see, not necessarily what I expect.