Whose dream? Mister Scruffy's!

[Ashtagon]

I just picked up on something in the last couple of panels in 890.

I don't think that dream panel was Belkar's dream; it was showing Belkar cooking fish and bringing them to a table. But only one place was set at the table - with a cat bowl. Belkar and Shojo were both serving the wants and needs of Mister Scruffy.

Somehow, Mister Scruffy outvoted Belkar in deciding how their shared illusion progressed. This either means that Belkar has no hopes and dreams for his "ideal future", or that Mister Scruffy is more than he seems, and may be an ace in the hole later in the story.

[Obscure Blade]

To quote The Giant from another thread:


It's not the afterlife. It's Shojo's quarters, as previously seen in one of the bonus strips in War and XPs.

Belkar's dream was entirely separate from that of the rest of the Order, and he never died in his. Instead, he saw whatever improbable string of events would be required to justify Shojo's resurrection so that Mr. Scruffy could get tummy rubs, because that's what Mr. Scruffy wanted.So yeah, that part at least was Mr Scruffy's dream. My theory is that yes; Belkar just doesn't really have any long term dreams or goals. So the cat gets his long term goal - Shojo back and infinite tummy rubs. And I expect Belkar got his shorter-term appetites satisfied along the way, with stabbing and whores and cooking.

[Oakianus]

Obviously we didn't get to see all of the shared dream world by any stretch of the imagination, but it's definitely heavily influenced by Mr. Scruffy. I don't doubt there are at least some whores and corpses stashed somewhere in the background, but honestly, it's very believable that being filthy rich and just getting to hang out and cook with his kitty all day would suit Belkar just fine.

[Ron Miel]

But only one place was set at the table - with a cat bowl.

No, I don't think so. There's a white square in front of Shojo. There's another one we just see the corner of behind Belkar's speech balloon. I'm pretty sure that's meant to be square plates. And we see chopsticks that
Scruffy doesn't use. And three fishes.

So, the three of them are dining together at the same table, each having the same meal.

[Lord Torath]

Per The Giant, it was Belkar's Dream.

[EmperorSarda]

Per The Giant, it was Belkar's Dream.

Technically Belkar and Scruffy shared the dream. Else why would the Giant say Scruffy got what it wanted, tummy rubs?

[ObadiahtheSlim]

It's a shared dream. Belkar likes the nutty chaotic old dude who got to boss around paladins and Roy. Why wouldn't our resident sexy shoeless god of war want to hang around with one of his heroes?

[Ninja]

Stuff happened that way cause Mr. Scruffy is intellectually superior to Belkar and thus had a greater influence on the dream events.

[asphias]

i'd say it's a shared dream in which both mr. scruffy and belkar have about as much influence.

compare this with the dream the other 3 had: nale&tarquin being part of elan wishes, roy's dad part of roys wishes, the gold mostly haleys, etc.

the different parts are all compatible with the dreams of all 3 of them, but you see parts heavily influenced by either one of them, and parts influenced by all of them.

so in belkars and scruffy's dream, i imagine that they both would've liked shojo back(mr. scruffys former master, and to quote belkar, "i actually liked the old guy"). mr. scruffy prefers the bellyrubs, and Belkar prefers to cook. that he cooks fish is of course influenced by mr. scruffy, but its belkars influence that he's the one cooking, and not some kind of servant.

and thats of course not looking at anything we didn't see(compare to the dream the other 3 had, and see how much could happen outside just the single panel). sure, mr. scruffy had a big influence, but belkar had just as big an influence.

[Ashtagon]

Per The Giant, it was Belkar's Dream.

The Giant did not specify whether it was Belkar's dream (the dream that Belkar owns) or Belkar's dream (the dream that is associated with Belkar), although I think we can assume it is not Belkar's dream (the dream that is an integral part of Belkar).

[Thlayli]

Don't forget, fish are delish. More than just cat food.

[Belkar<3]

We only got to see part of the dream, and therefore I'm sure Belkar was heavily influenced by Mr. Scruffy. I'd like to think that Mr. Scruffy is making Belkar a better person, but meh. Fake character development. He's tricking us all.