I don't know if this has been asked and answered yet, but...

[GSFB]

Could Malack be Girard Draketooth in disguise? I don't believe we've seen him actually cast any cleric spells yet.

[Magicyop]

Could Malack be Girard Draketooth in disguise? I don't believe we've seen him actually cast any cleric spells yet.

Well, he cast heal, a high level cleric spell, in this comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0718.html). And I'm sure he's cast other cleric spells. So I think it's unlikely. But anything is possible, I suppose.

[Zea mays]

Don't be silly. Malak is obviously Hilgiyah in disguise. :smallbiggrin:

I do see where you're coming from though: Girard simply has to show up sooner or later (sooner rather than later), and Tarquin seems to know something about him.

[HappyBlanket]

The probability of Malack being Draketooth is slightly lower than the probability of Tarquin being Draketooth. Which is only somewhat higher than the probability of the entire EoB being Draketooth's illusion.

Which is to say it's not very probable at all.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Don't be silly. Malak is obviously Hilgiyah in disguise. :smallbiggrin:

I spend too much time on the theory threads. I knew what the white text was before I saw it.

[zimmerwald1915]

The Heal spell looked like it involved the rod he was holding somehow. However, he also cast Blade Barrier.

[Kibble Sage]

There's just so much wrong with this theory that it astounds me it could even be posted. But, here are a few pretty insurmountable objections --

1. Malack was part of Tarquin's old adventuring party. I doubt he spent many years wandering around the world with an evil adventuring party, leaving his gate unguarded, after achieving epic levels.

2. He has a pathological hatred of order and authority. If he couldn't stand a bunch of paladins, why would he hang around with, and participate in, the actually dictatorial Empire of BLood?

3. What on earth would he gain? THe EoB's resources are mostly mundane (armies of mooks, etc.) All he would do would be to place an identifiable marker on his gate, whereas it would be almost impossible to find just at a random location in the desert (which we've seen).

[ORione]

I spend too much time on the theory threads. I knew what the white text was before I saw it.

I bet you didn't guess how it was spelled.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I bet you didn't guess how it was spelled.

Nope. tencharacters

[Occasional Sage]

Nope. tencharacters

To be fair, I think Geomancer guessed too.

[Cizak]

1. Malack was part of Tarquin's old adventuring party. I doubt he spent many years wandering around the world with an evil adventuring party, leaving his gate unguarded, after achieving epic levels.

Unless Tarquin is lying about Malack being part of his group.



2. He has a pathological hatred of order and authority. If he couldn't stand a bunch of paladins, why would he hang around with, and participate in, the actually dictatorial Empire of BLood?

Because noone in the EoB killed one of his best friend for the sake of avenging a wife.


3. What on earth would he gain? THe EoB's resources are mostly mundane (armies of mooks, etc.) All he would do would be to place an identifiable marker on his gate, whereas it would be almost impossible to find just at a random location in the desert (which we've seen).

Maybe he's researching for new spells/illusions to guard his Gate with in the EoB's libraries.


I don't believe this theory either, but it's not worse than any other of the 56407 theories about various things we've seen on these boards.

[Klear]

2. He has a pathological hatred of order and authority. If he couldn't stand a bunch of paladins, why would he hang around with, and participate in, the actually dictatorial Empire of BLood?

Where is is said that he has a pathological hatred of order and authority? I thought he just hated Soon and perhaps all paladins by extension.

It's possible I missed something, though.

[factotum]

In strip #694, his own words:

"Luckily for me, I've never trusted authority figures, be they kings, presidents, or party leaders. Give a man enough power, and he's bound to abuse it, no matter how noble he thinks he is."

Seems a pretty clear distrust of authority in general, not just Soon Kim...

[ThePhantasm]

Why can't Malack just be Malack? I'd be super disappointed if he ended up being anyone else. He's an interesting character. Plus, Rich just did the whole "guy disguised as another guy (ambassador / Z)" and it would be really lame to do the same twist twice in rapid succession.

[Zea mays]

To be fair, I think Geomancer guessed too.

Yeah yeah yeah, I don't remember how to spell the name of a character who hasn't appeared in the comic in years. :smallredface:

[GSFB]

Good points - but to be fair, the "knowledge" that we have about Malack's past, his motivations, etc., are all based on things that have been said - all could be lies. What motivation would Girard have for an elaborate "Malack" illusion? He has the resources of the EoB and most of the other governments on the continent at his disposal, which could all be employed to defend the gate - and since no one knows he is really Girard, there is less chance of anyone who knows some Gate-lore pegging it on him.

And no, I am not saying I think this IS what is going on. I am just wondering if this idea had already been discussed and what people think about it.

[ClockShock]

Good points - but to be fair, the "knowledge" that we have about Malack's past, his motivations, etc., are all based on things that have been said - all could be lies.

Except Tarquin said some of those things, so he would have to be 'in on it' (which raises a fist full of other questions).
Besides, nothing changes the fact that what we know so far directly contradicts the theory, and 'it could all be a lie' is a poor argument against that.


What motivation would Girard have for an elaborate "Malack" illusion? He has the resources of the EoB and most of the other governments on the continent at his disposal, which could all be employed to defend the gate - and since no one knows he is really Girard, there is less chance of anyone who knows some Gate-lore pegging it on him.


But does he have the ability to wield that power? No.
If Malack asked Tarquin (and the other members of the group) to turn a few countries worth of army into the middle of the desert because, 'it's really important' - do you think they'll listen?
So we once again rely on Tarquin being 'in on it', only this time the whole Tarquin and Co. gang have to know about what's going on (they change partners, remember?)
If this is the case, we have to discard a story arc's worth of knowledge, character development, and motivation.

Also. Girard relied on the strength of illusions to hide his gate, not the strength of half a dozen squabbling armies of mooks.


And no, I am not saying I think this IS what is going on. I am just wondering if this idea had already been discussed and what people think about it.


We're discussing it now.
We don't think much of it at all

[Occasional Sage]

Yeah yeah yeah, I don't remember how to spell the name of a character who hasn't appeared in the comic in years. :smallredface:

To be more fair, I wouldn't have remembered what the name was and couldn't even have guessed at a spelling.

[veti]

The Heal spell looked like it involved the rod he was holding somehow. However, he also cast Blade Barrier.

An epic-level illusionist can cast pretty much any spell he wants to, provided nobody is thinking too hard about it.

[jidasfire]

Girard COULD be Malack. He could also be Tarquin, the Empress, he could be anyone or anywhere, really. As an epic-level illusionist, there is no limit to the number of things or places he could be hiding or people he could be.

But, going back to an old Star Trek: TNG episode, where Data is trying to guess how Riker, who apparently thinks unpredictably will react, leading him into an endless loop of logic about how Riker will do the opposite of what he expects, even if he expects the unexpected. It's pointed out to him that yes, Riker is unpredictable, but he must nevertheless be the man he is. So it is with Girard.

What we know is Girard hates authority, and trusts the power of lies, deception and illusion. He has some sort of conspiracy working with him, and he's hostile toward some of his fellow Scribblers, particularly Soon, but probably also Dorukan. Honestly, that's not a lot to go on, but it seems to me rather unlikely that such a man would be hiding inside Tarquin's great con of an empire, because what would it gain him? Tarquin is probably someone he'd dislike but figure was beneath his notice, just another brutal warlord who'd be overthrown eventually. If he's hiding, he's probably either moving, or staying somewhere very secluded and very safe. Or he's dead, in which case he's no one.

Now, he may have agents in the Empire, that's possible, or he may have arrived of late, but pretending to be one of Tarquin's lieutenants for years would gain him nothing, and cost tons of resources. Naturally, as readers we expect the disparate story elements to be tied together, but in this case, I don't think they're tied together that closely. Such plot twists are honestly bad for a story, making the world seem smaller and more incestuous than it already is.

So yeah, I don't think so. Malack is a weird, not as bad as the rest member of Tarquin's entourage, and while he may have a part to play, it's not that colossal of one.

[TheMac04]

The probability of Malack being Draketooth is slightly lower than the probability of Tarquin being Draketooth. Which is only somewhat higher than the probability of the entire EoB being Draketooth's illusion.

Which is to say it's not very probable at all.

That would be simultaneously unbelievably cool and really, really stupid.