The Wrong Four Words

[Sunken Valley]

"I, I must succeed" are the infamous four words which V said to gain ultimate arcane power. But this is not about them. In Don't Split the Party, V has said four words on occasion. Two of these four word instances are important because not only do they reflect an important moment for V, they were both said to the right person for the wrong reasons. Here we are:

Disintegrate. Gust of Wind (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0595.html)
These four words were said to Kubota (the right person as he was evil and needed to die). But they were said for the wrong reasons. V only blasted Kubota because Elan tied him up and because he threatened to stall the story. Elan's reaction to these four words causes V to leave OOTS in frustration.

My power...EXCEEDS yours! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0653.html)
These four words were said to Xykon (the right person as V intended to kill him). However, they were said for the wrong reasons as V was not more powerful than Xykon. The words caused Xykon to react by giving the hannibal lecture about how Power equals Power. This caused V to snap out of it and use hir powers constructively (Blackwing, Guess which spell I put on this before giving it to the bird), something still done to this day (Kobold Crossbow!!!).

Is this a coincidence? Yes. But it is a very clever one.

[Incom]

Worst case scenario (for you): someone comes in and points out that Burlew actually said that the four words were "I... I must succeed".

Best case scenario: cool, the prophecy gets fulfilled more than once.

My actual reaction: He didn't really gain power from either of the other two instances. (Well, the Kubota thing could be argued, but he specified "ultimate arcane power" and I don't think combat creativity counts as arcane power...)

[hamishspence]

Worst case scenario (for you): someone comes in and points out that Burlew actually said that the four words were "I... I must succeed".

He did acknowledge they were, right at the start:


"I, I must succeed" are the infamous four words which V said to gain ultimate arcane power. But this is not about them.

I see this


In Don't Split the Party, V has said four words on occasion. Two of these four word instances are important because not only do they reflect an important moment for V, they were both said to the right person for the wrong reasons.

Is this a coincidence? Yes. But it is a very clever one.

as more a "four words: important moments" comment.

[Sarco_Phage]

I wonder if the pattern recurs. She isn't the only character to have spoken four words at a critical juncture.

:roy: "YOU! BROKE! MY! SWORD!"

[ThePhantasm]

Is this a coincidence? Yes. But it is a very clever one.

A clever coincidence? My brain has exploded.

[137beth]

For the last time....
Wait, you are NOT suggesting a nonsensical theory about what will happen next?:smallconfused:

And you are NOT suggesting some absurd "hidden meaning" in the strips, since you even admitted it was a coincidence?:smallconfused:
The forum IQ just went up.

[Palthera]

I wonder if the pattern recurs. She isn't the only character to have spoken four words at a critical juncture.

:roy: "YOU! BROKE! MY! SWORD!"

And, by extension "YOU! BROKE! MY! TUSK!"

Which I think was very well done after Roy saying that he and Thog were nothing alike.

It's nice someone isn't overanalysing the comic for once but was just noticing a mildly interesting coincidence. :)

[hamishspence]

"Four words: Out of fudge ripple."

another Thog-related one.

[MoonCat]

It's nice to see someone saying it isn't for once, the forum IQ did just go up. Please have a cookie. :smalltongue:

But I think a coincidence that is clever is impossible, did you mean the Giant did so on purpose?

[Conuly]

But I think a coincidence that is clever is impossible, did you mean the Giant did so on purpose?

I don't see how it's impossible. Or even unlikely.

Important events require emphatic statements. The longer a statement is, the less emphatic it's going to sound. Three, four, or five word statements are the ones that are most likely to mean something (I mean, what can you say in one word that's not "ow" or a curse word?), and because we know about "the right four words" we're all more likely to notice four word phrases.

If we carefully went through all the comics we'd likely notice lots of Very Important moments that are marked with sentences of varying lengths. And then we'd disregard them because they don't fit the mold of "four words".

[Sunken Valley]

It's nice to see someone saying it isn't for once, the forum IQ did just go up. Please have a cookie. :smalltongue:

Thank you for your praise, if it had my name on it it might go in the siggy.

@Conuly: Absolutely correct. There is also the right three words :haley:Sneak Attack Bitch! the right four onomatopeia :miko: slash, slash, slash, slash!, the right five words :thog: talky-man broke thog's tusk! (although Thog would tell you that's four. Thog would tell you lots of things) and the right two words :elan: I'm invisible!

[MoonCat]

It's nice to see someone saying it isn't for once, the forum IQ did just go up. Please have a cookie Sunken Valley. :smalltongue:

[VanBuren]

For the last time....
Wait, you are NOT suggesting a nonsensical theory about what will happen next?:smallconfused:

And you are NOT suggesting some absurd "hidden meaning" in the strips, since you even admitted it was a coincidence?:smallconfused:
The forum IQ just went up.

Belkar and Thog are Chaotic Good, If I was a DM O-Chul would have fallen for not smiting Xykon* and the MitD, Miko is the Paladin I'm going to play from now on, V's alignment changed to Neutral Good thanks to Familicide.

*Try or not, he didn't succeed.

Crisis averted.

[MoonCat]

Belkar and Thog are Chaotic Good, If I was a DM O-Chul would have fallen for not smiting Xykon* and the MitD, Miko is the Paladin I'm going to play from now on, V's alignment changed to Neutral Good thanks to Familicide.

*Try or not, he didn't succeed.

Crisis averted.

Godammit!

Oh, and you forgot, Haley caused the death of those slaves. :smalltongue:

[Dr.Epic]

"I, I must succeed" are the infamous four words which V said to gain ultimate arcane power. But this is not about them. In Don't Split the Party, V has said four words on occasion. Two of these four word instances are important because not only do they reflect an important moment for V, they were both said to the right person for the wrong reasons. Here we are:

Disintegrate. Gust of Wind (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0595.html)
These four words were said to Kubota (the right person as he was evil and needed to die). But they were said for the wrong reasons. V only blasted Kubota because Elan tied him up and because he threatened to stall the story. Elan's reaction to these four words causes V to leave OOTS in frustration.

My power...EXCEEDS yours! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0653.html)
These four words were said to Xykon (the right person as V intended to kill him). However, they were said for the wrong reasons as V was not more powerful than Xykon. The words caused Xykon to react by giving the hannibal lecture about how Power equals Power. This caused V to snap out of it and use hir powers constructively (Blackwing, Guess which spell I put on this before giving it to the bird), something still done to this day (Kobold Crossbow!!!).

Is this a coincidence? Yes. But it is a very clever one.

Huh, what?:smallconfused:

You bring up a wild theory with little grounds for it being valid, then debunk it by saying not even you the person who suggested it believes in it. Why? It'd be like making a thread point out Belkar isn't evil, naming a few token examples that don't hold up well at all, then going on to say "Never mind, he's still evil. These don't count."

[VanBuren]

Godammit!

Oh, and you forgot, Haley caused the death of those slaves. :smalltongue:

And Tarquin is more Lawful Good than Roy.

[Dr.Epic]

And Tarquin is more Lawful Good than Roy.

Yes, yes he is.

[Ekul]

I disagree. Let's derail the thread with conflicting definitions of good, evil, law and chaos.

V says four word sentences so rarely that they actually do kinda stick out. Most people's out of character moments are huge rants. V's is a concise proclamation.

[The Dark Fiddler]

:thog: talky-man broke thog's tusk! (although Thog would tell you that's four. Thog would tell you lots of things)

But that IS four words since it's hyphenated, isn't it? :smallconfused:


Huh, what?:smallconfused:

You bring up a wild theory with little grounds for it being valid, then debunk it by saying not even you the person who suggested it believes in it. Why? It'd be like making a thread point out Belkar isn't evil, naming a few token examples that don't hold up well at all, then going on to say "Never mind, he's still evil. These don't count."

There was never really a theory here, he was just sort of noting that it was an interesting coincidence that V's said four words that might fit the criteria (if not for the fact that we know that, "I... I must succeed" are the real four words, which he acknowledges) a few other times.

[Dr.Epic]

There was never really a theory here, he was just sort of noting that it was an interesting coincidence that V's said four words that might fit the criteria (if not for the fact that we know that, "I... I must succeed" are the real four words, which he acknowledges) a few other times.

A four word statement isn't that uncommon. I'm sure there are a ton of them throughout the comic by many characters. The fact that V said them isn't that special other than we can try and loosely interpret them as the prophecy.

[MesiDoomstalker]

A four word statement isn't that uncommon. I'm sure there are a ton of them throughout the comic by many characters. The fact that V said them isn't that special other than we can try and loosely interpret them as the prophecy.

Except, as some one else pointed out, V is rather verbose and thus a sentence (or successive sentences) totaling only 4 words is rather rare for V. Likewise, if we saw a huge long rant from Z in the next strip, it would stand out (if a little out of character I admit) as a defining moment for Z.

[lio45]

...and the right two words :elan: I'm invisible!

Those two words were definitely the wrong two words.



But that IS four words since it's hyphenated, isn't it? :smallconfused:

In spirit at least, it's certainly four words. "[you] broke [my] tusk".

[Dr.Epic]

Except, as some one else pointed out, V is rather verbose and thus a sentence (or successive sentences) totaling only 4 words is rather rare for V. Likewise, if we saw a huge long rant from Z in the next strip, it would stand out (if a little out of character I admit) as a defining moment for Z.

But the first instance was just V saying the name of their spell like all spell casters do. And the second, V already had ultimate power as it were so how could they have gotten it twice?

[Morgan Wick]

He did acknowledge they were, right at the start:

I think he meant that someone would miss that and call him out for it anyway.

I mentioned "My power... EXCEEDS yours!" once before (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113102), before the book was over, and got called out by people frustrated with various "four words" theories (and for the record, I did recognize the actual four words, but not in that thread).

(What does it say that that is, by far, the longest thread I have ever started?)


(I mean, what can you say in one word that's not "ow" or a curse word?)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigNo)

[Holy_Knight]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Big No)

Even better: (http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/)

[The Dark Fiddler]

A four word statement isn't that uncommon. I'm sure there are a ton of them throughout the comic by many characters. The fact that V said them isn't that special other than we can try and loosely interpret them as the prophecy.

Great, you get it! Now you can join in on the fun instead of being a wet blanket :smalltongue:

[MesiDoomstalker]

But the first instance was just V saying the name of their spell like all spell casters do. And the second, V already had ultimate power as it were so how could they have gotten it twice?

The OP never claimed that what he presented was the 4 words mentioned in the prophecy. And while yes, the first example was just spell names, but in the context, it was decisive and defining of the character at that moment in the story. The point I'm making is when V is not being verbose, whether its just a succession of spells or an actual sentence, is when the essence of V's character is shown. Which the OP has kindly gathered and pointed out for us.

[Raistlin82]

My power...EXCEEDS yours! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0653.html)
These four words were said [...] for the wrong reasons as V was not more powerful than Xykon.
Uh... that means V was wrong.
It doesn't mean he said those words "for the wrong reason". That is not the reason.

The reason why he said them might be because V was trying boost his own morale (nothing wrong with that), or because he's a prideful guy.

[Sarco_Phage]

However, they were said for the wrong reasons as V was not more powerful than Xykon.

But he was more powerful than Xykon in terms of RAW.

[M.A.D]

If it's word spoken to the right person for the wrong reasons, you might as well list all the things V had ever said to Belkar. I'm sure some of them would make perfect groups of 4.

Also, you might want to double-check the meaning of the word "reason", because there's no wrong reason in both of your examples.

[Barstro]

... the right five words :thog: talky-man broke thog's tusk! (although Thog would tell you that's four.

I'm pretty sure that Thog would say "it's this many", and hold up three fingers on one hand and have an internal struggle on whether he should also hold up two fingers on his other hand.

[leakingpen]

The right (as in correct to get power, not right like right and wrong) four words to the right (again, correct) person for all the wrong reasons.

The words weren't "right" they were the right words to get the power.

The wrong reason is that the point of the power WASN'T to protect V's mate and kids, it was because V had to be the one to do it hirself, rather than allowing others to do it for hir.

[Ranzear]

Gonna squeeze in a different four words I noticed that really meet the criteria stated.

To Qarr, panel 4: "I cannot fail again! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0631.html)"

1. Four words.
2. To the wrong person (Qarr, who really can't do anything for V at all, but this initialtes contact with the IFCC and thus ultimate arcane power).
3. For all the wrong reasons: The understatement of fear of continued failure more than actual concern for one's progeny, this at least reaching a peak in that particular strip.

[Gandariel]

Gonna squeeze in a different four words I noticed that really meet the criteria stated.

To Qarr, panel 4: "I cannot fail again! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0631.html)"

1. Four words.
2. To the wrong person (Qarr, who really can't do anything for V at all, but this initialtes contact with the IFCC and thus ultimate arcane power).
3. For all the wrong reasons: The understatement of fear of continued failure more than actual concern for one's progeny, this at least reaching a peak in that particular strip.

Actually i'd say that was the RIGHT person and for a RIGHT-ish reason..

[super dark33]

The giant already said that the four words were 'I..i must succeed'

we should make a sticky thread about things that were answeard by the giant himself but are still argued

[Tebryn]

Gonna squeeze in a different four words I noticed that really meet the criteria stated.

To Qarr, panel 4: "I cannot fail again! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0631.html)"

1. Four words.
2. To the wrong person (Qarr, who really can't do anything for V at all, but this initialtes contact with the IFCC and thus ultimate arcane power).
3. For all the wrong reasons: The understatement of fear of continued failure more than actual concern for one's progeny, this at least reaching a peak in that particular strip.

V said more than four words during that little tirade. Thus it makes it fairly invalid.

[Raddish]

The giant already said that the four words were 'I..i must succeed'

we should make a sticky thread about things that were answeard by the giant himself but are still argued

Thats not what the thread is supposed to be about, the original post made it clear that those were known to be the words that were meant. It's about how other sets of words are coincidently able to fit the same criteria.

[Kurald Galain]

"Sigh, I suppose this" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0345.html) are four words, and followed immediately by four more words!!! That means this strip fulfills the prophecy twice! Isn't it amazing?!

[super dark33]

So what you mean that this is just for finding four words said by V?
i dont know how to define this thread.

[theinsulabot]

useless, but at least moderately more interesting then a V's gender debate or a belkar apologist explaining how he isnt really evil or going to die.

[Luminescence]

useless, but at least moderately more interesting then a V's gender debate or a belkar apologist explaining how he isnt really evil or going to die.

Could we mix things up with V apologism or a Belkar gender debate?

[martianmister]

V apologism

We had enough of that. Currently, "V apologism" is stronger than "Belkar apologism".

[Kish]

Belkar claims that careful examination will reveal that he's an adult male.

Of course, we only have his word for it.

[lio45]

Well, I believe -ar is generally a male name ending. :-P

[Capt Spanner]

Sure the four words will be:

"Hand me the doily (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0033.html)"?