True Prophet (SOD Spoilers)

[EmeraldFire]

Hey all,

I apologize if this was already discussed once, but this regards something that was said over 100 strips ago.

I was just reading some older strips from OOTS when I got to 704 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0704.html) when the Dark One told Jirix "My true prophet waits for you".

Now, the obvious conclusion is that he is referring to Redcloak (it is certainly what I thought for the longest time), but now a new idea came to me. It was the fact that he said "true prophet", which implies to me that there is a false prophet of the Dark One out there. Now I'm wondering if Redcloak is the false one by this point.

We know the Dark One's plan as said by Redcloak back in SOD (Snarl as assassin threat), but the ultimate goal was equality for goblins. Now we know that Right Eye's daughter was hidden from Xykon and left to be raised by humans, so I got struck by the idea that maybe a goblin who has a deep understanding of humanity (from living in their world rather than always being at war with them) is the one who can bring this equality.

So basically, my idea is that Right Eye's daughter is the "True Prophet" the Dark One is referring to. Now, with a new goblin city being founded it would only be a matter of time until she arrives to meet Jirix, and potentially work together to lead the goblins. This could cause a lot of change in how goblin society works, and the odds of it succeeding are increased by the recent departure of Team Evil (no interference by Redcloak or Xykon). Who knows, if Redcloak dies, maybe the Crimson Mantle will pass to her in the end and she will fulfill her destiny and become the Dark One's True Prophet.

My theory anyway, any thoughts?

[Biggoron]

wow... thats actually very possible, If it were to happen I would have been very suprised and I am sure that alot of people would also be suprised.

I am less sure about the Idea that right-eyes daughter would be his true prophet, while it is interesting, it would require introducing both right-eye and his daughter(possibly the whole newer village) for those who haven't read SOD

[Forikroder]

Hey all,

I apologize if this was already discussed once, but this regards something that was said over 100 strips ago.

I was just reading some older strips from OOTS when I got to 704 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0704.html) when the Dark One told Jirix "My true prophet waits for you".

Now, the obvious conclusion is that he is referring to Redcloak (it is certainly what I thought for the longest time), but now a new idea came to me. It was the fact that he said "true prophet", which implies to me that there is a false prophet of the Dark One out there. Now I'm wondering if Redcloak is the false one by this point.

We know the Dark One's plan as said by Redcloak back in SOD (Snarl as assassin threat), but the ultimate goal was equality for goblins. Now we know that Right Eye's daughter was hidden from Xykon and left to be raised by humans, so I got struck by the idea that maybe a goblin who has a deep understanding of humanity (from living in their world rather than always being at war with them) is the one who can bring this equality.

So basically, my idea is that Right Eye's daughter is the "True Prophet" the Dark One is referring to. Now, with a new goblin city being founded it would only be a matter of time until she arrives to meet Jirix, and potentially work together to lead the goblins. This could cause a lot of change in how goblin society works, and the odds of it succeeding are increased by the recent departure of Team Evil (no interference by Redcloak or Xykon). Who knows, if Redcloak dies, maybe the Crimson Mantle will pass to her in the end and she will fulfill her destiny and become the Dark One's True Prophet.

My theory anyway, any thoughts?

the dark one doesnt want equality he wants to be able to stare the other gods and force them to look away

plus why would he give a message to Jirix to give to his true prophet if Jirix wouldnt ever meet him?
and why doesnt the Dark One jsut stop backing Redcloak then?

also Gobtopia doesnt create equality for goblins it creates a good plot hook for a group of adventurers what the dark one wants isnt goblins to live in peace he wants to essentially rewrite history and remove goblins from the role of being the fodder that adventurers slaughter to get high enough level for the cool enemys

[B. Dandelion]

I think he means "true" in the sense of "steadfast", "of proven loyalty," etc. It's a rather grandiose way of wording it, which I believe is the setup for the joke: how the Dark One speaks of Redcloak versus how he speaks to him ("don't screw this up").

I'm not sure where to start with the rest. Basically, the entire narrative of SoD would fall flat on its face. Redcloak followed his god's Plan to his own ruination. Reversing the roles now -- making the Dark One somehow helpless to do anything about this priest that's either deceptive or delusional about what his god actually wants, except when he talks to Jirix who apparently misunderstood what he wanted anyway, since he passed along a message to RC that amounted to "keep doing what you're doing" -- is nonsensical. TDO has every reason to hate humans, the narrative only makes sense if he does, and there's no reason for that to have suddenly changed.

[sparkyinbozo]

True Prophet: MitD. Definitely. :smallbiggrin:

[ti'esar]

wow... thats actually very possible, If it were to happen I would have been very suprised and I am sure that alot of people would also be suprised.

I am less sure about the Idea that right-eyes daughter would be his true prophet, while it is interesting, it would require introducing both right-eye and his daughter(possibly the whole newer village) for those who haven't read SOD

Although I find this theory totally implausible for the reasons people have said, this isn't a very good objection to it. It's almost certain that Right-Eye and his daughter will come up at some point in the online comic - when they do, we'll probably get a "recap" for those who don't have SoD similar to Tsukiko's recent discovery of what the ritual actually does.

[Morquard]

The DO doesn't want equality for goblins. That's what he told Redcloak back in the days so RC can sleep easily and gets on the bandwagon. RC's village had just been slaughtered, the prospect of doing something about that must have had a very big impact on the young, impressionable goblin novice.

What I think the DO truely wants is to rule over all the other gods. Screw what happens to the gobbos on the material plane. Sure if he succeeds he can promote them to better positions but do you really think an evil god will stop at "equality" if "superiority" is just as easy to achieve?

[Fish]

Right Eye's daughter can't be the true prophet because she was
killed when she was run over by a platoon of buses, in a comic strip I really wish would get written so people stop speculating about her.

[Math_Mage]

Thought about it before; dismissed it because the narrative doesn't hold up.


Right Eye's daughter can't be the true prophet because she was
killed when she was run over by a platoon of buses, in a comic strip I really wish would get written so people stop speculating about her.

Unfortunately for your wishes, that was probably intentional.

[Tetsujin-28]

I think it's safe to say that The Dark One isn't interested at all in goblin equality, he just wants to make goblins superior to all other species. Besides, what's the point of having a false prophet? If he truly wanted goblin equality, he could just have the Crimson Mantle transmit plans of diplomacy with humans instead of the gate plan.

[Bogardan_Mage]

I think it's safe to say that The Dark One isn't interested at all in goblin equality, he just wants to make goblins superior to all other species. Besides, what's the point of having a false prophet? If he truly wanted goblin equality, he could just have the Crimson Mantle transmit plans of diplomacy with humans instead of the gate plan.
Diplomacy with humans was what killed The Dark One in the first place. They've tried that already.

That said, it's pretty obvious that goblinoid supremacy is The Dark One's (and Redcloak's) actual goal, and it's only this bizarre urge to imagine Redcloak as some kind of tragic hero that makes people ignore this.

[B. Dandelion]

Funny enough, I think the notion of an eventual schism between Redcloak and his god has merit as a potential plotline and may have even been foreshadowed a little... I'm just surprised the OP would suggest it'd be Redcloak who proved false to the Dark One and not the reverse entirely. The Plan is the Dark One's idea; Redcloak nearly abandoned it. Right-Eye calls him a "petty, spiteful god." We can (and I do) criticize Redcloak for his hypocrisy, but there is at least some demonstrable desire to do right by his people and a willingness to make some personal sacrifices for it. With the Dark One, that might be true, but almost everything we know comes entirely from hearsay. I think a plot where Redcloak found out some ugly truths about the god he's been devoted to all this time would wring a fair amount of drama out of a character the audience has already invested in, that's a betrayal you'd really feel. Finding out Redcloak is playing false to the Dark One and there's some other "real" prophet out there just undercuts the legitimate development he's had, in favor of a character we don't know anything about -- her having the same identity as a character who got one whole line in SoD doesn't substitute for audience rapport.

[Forikroder]

Diplomacy with humans was what killed The Dark One in the first place. They've tried that already.

That said, it's pretty obvious that goblinoid supremacy is The Dark One's (and Redcloak's) actual goal, and it's only this bizarre urge to imagine Redcloak as some kind of tragic hero that makes people ignore this.

im pretty sure Redcloak is legit jsut after trying to forge peace for all goblins for eternity

[Bogardan_Mage]

im pretty sure Redcloak is legit jsut after trying to forge peace for all goblins for eternity
Uniting the world under an iron fist is a pretty solid way of forging peace. Just ask Tarquin. Serious, if you actually believe Redcloak has noble goals what comic have you been reading?

[Forikroder]

Uniting the world under an iron fist is a pretty solid way of forging peace. Just ask Tarquin. Serious, if you actually believe Redcloak has noble goals what comic have you been reading?

what iron fist? the hobbys are following him becuase they want to

[Bogardan_Mage]

what iron fist? the hobbys are following him becuase they want to
The Hobgoblins are the rulers, not the ruled. Do you honestly not get the whole "human slavery" thing?

[Jay R]

Go read strip 704 in its entirety. If Redcloak is not the true prophet, why would the Dark One have sent him the message "Don't screw this up (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0704.html)"?

What I want to know is this: what, besides the message, was the stuff Jirix left out (4th panel from the end)?