Is Haley's Secret Safe? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

L0rv-

2013-08-22, 08:48 AM

In strip #309, it is revealed that Haley has a big unknown secret, something much bigger than her love for Elan or her father being a captive.

Two details that are just too convenient:

1) There's a nifty psion around.
2) Haley was called up for a "family meeting".

Detail #2 seemed very odd to me when it happened. It is all very suspicious. Are we about to receive a massive surprise?

Unisus

2013-08-22, 10:15 AM

What's so odd about inviting the fiancée of your son to a family meeting? I think it's more one of his "see, i'm not that bad a guy" gestures, pretending there was nothing problematic.

Chantelune

2013-08-22, 10:20 AM

Madfellow

2013-08-22, 11:00 AM

I'll admit it's possible for Haley's big secret to come out right about now, but it won't be because Tarquin knew it beforehand. We already know that Laurin can read minds, so the secret could come out by accident.

Shred-Bot

2013-08-22, 11:47 AM

That and Tarquin probably suspected that the order wouldn't let Elan come alone. By inviting the paranoid one along, he probably tries to put their mind a bit at ease.

And how in blaze would Tarquin know about Haley having a big, nasty secret ?

Maybe Tarquin doesn't know, but his critical plot revelation platoon does? They could be trained in all sorts of advanced secret gathering techniques.

David Argall

2013-08-22, 11:51 AM

This is just too general to be worth speculating about. Anything at all could be That. Haley might be a mother if we wanted to send the plot in that direction.

AKA_Bait

2013-08-22, 11:53 AM

Even if Tarquin, or his Psion buddy, discovered it during this scene we wouldn't know it yet because he wouldn't bring it up at this point. Tarquin doesn't just go around sharing new, secret, and potentially blackmail-your-son's-fiance worthy information on whim.

L0rv-

2013-08-22, 07:17 PM

That and Tarquin probably suspected that the order wouldn't let Elan come alone. By inviting the paranoid one along, he probably tries to put their mind a bit at ease.

And how in blaze would Tarquin know about Haley having a big, nasty secret ?

He wouldn't know. He would invite her up for the other reasons provided in this post and the psion would read her. Rich always has a purpose behind the things he does; Tarquin inviting Haley up seems fishy from a "why would the author make a big point of doing that" angle.

androkguz

2013-08-23, 06:24 PM

He wouldn't know. He would invite her up for the other reasons provided in this post and the psion would read her. Rich always has a purpose behind the things he does; Tarquin inviting Haley up seems fishy from a "why would the author make a big point of doing that" angle.

See the thing is... I don't think he made a big point out of it at all.
It just makes sense and saves panels. Because if Tarquin had only invited Elan we would have many panels of Roy and Haley having a talk with Elan about what he should do and say first.

IronFist

2013-08-23, 06:34 PM

I'm confused. Wasn't the "secret" her latent bi-sexuality?

SowZ

2013-08-23, 06:36 PM

I'm not convinced that secret will ever come out. It could have just been a hinting at a generic, "I have a really embarrassing thing from my past," not referencing a specific plot point.

I could be wrong, it could be important, but it could really go either way.

EMichael

2013-08-23, 06:54 PM

I'm confused. Wasn't the "secret" her latent bi-sexuality?

No, that was another divulged secret that is less important to Haley then the big one.

In panel nine of strip 309 she said "I kissed a girl once. OK, OK, more than once!"

Then she decides to try her other secret.

archon_huskie

2013-08-23, 07:10 PM

I used to be in the camp that Haley is half-celestial, she had a scar where her wings were removed, but that ended after we saw her mother sans wings.

No I think her big secret has already been revealed to the Order: her father was being held captive by an Evil Empire and she needed the money pay for his freedom. Oh and she loves Elan.

Most likely: The psion will be scanning her of course and after the Order has left will mention something to Elan's father. He will then note it and file the information away later.

ORione

2013-08-23, 09:13 PM

No I think her big secret has already been revealed to the Order: her father was being held captive by an Evil Empire and she needed the money pay for his freedom. Oh and she loves Elan.

People have translated the cipher. Apparently her dad being in prison was onne of the secrets she tried in panel 7 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0309.html).

skim172

2013-08-23, 09:40 PM

Tarquin bringing Haley up to him is likely harmless - I doubt he's got any specific plans for her. But Elan feels safer with her around and she is his daughter-in-law-to-be, so Tarkers probably wants to cultivate fondness.

But, he probably also calculates that if the need arises, his troops will be able to slaughter the three members of the Order he doesn't care about, while the two that are family will be safe. And, if need be, Elan's most valued person will be close at hand for him to take hostage.

Also, it brings the ranged combat expert in melee range. The melee guys are all the way down there.

And, if there are any dramatic reveals, they'd much more effective if Elan has his fiancee there to react with him. Especially (as I suspect) if Tarquin has some secret reveal about Ian Starshine to bring up.

archon_huskie

2013-08-23, 10:55 PM

People have translated the cipher. Apparently her dad being in prison was onne of the secrets she tried in panel 7 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0309.html).

That big secret that she was trying to hide was that she was in love with Elan. See here it works: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0393.html

And that strip's title is Truth

Chantelune

2013-08-24, 03:39 AM

That big secret that she was trying to hide was that she was in love with Elan. See here it works: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0393.html

And that strip's title is Truth

Except that it wasn't much of a secret as most of the order already found out, save for elan who wouldn't find a hammer if it hit him hard in the face anyway.

And she could have thought that the other didn't noticed, I guess, but I doubt she was that clueless when she showed obvious hints. And it wasn't as dramatic or potential "get thrown out of the party" as she seems to think it would be.

Plus, don't remember the exact translation, but when she try to tell it to Elan, it didn't sound like it was a confession.

As for why confessing worked later, during the confrontation, it's because this time, she wanted Elan to know why she was kissing Nale to clear the misunderstanding that could lead to death. That wasn't necessarily her "big secret", just the pertinent one and not "trying" to tell it when she knew it wouldn't matter as nobody would understand.

Math_Mage

2013-08-24, 03:58 AM

1) Nothing that we know about Haley now could have been the big secret she was hiding, because there haven't been any big reveals about her character since then, only gradual developments.
2) It is highly unlikely that Tarquin has any inkling about Haley's big secret. He's too wrapped up in his own schemes.
3) I think now would be a bad narrative moment to reveal anything about Haley. There's so much buildup already happening in other aspects of the narrative right now, throw in a big Haley reveal and it gets too messy. That only applies for a little while, though.

ORione

2013-08-24, 06:54 AM

That big secret that she was trying to hide was that she was in love with Elan. See here it works: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0393.html

And that strip's title is Truth

That was the first secret she tried.

Lord Vukodlak

2013-08-24, 11:14 AM

That was the first secret she tried.
She wasn't ready to reveal the secret so saying it didn't work. The secret was Elan I love you but until she was ready to say it she couldn't say it.

F.Harr

2013-08-24, 11:35 AM

Math_Mage

2013-08-24, 07:48 PM

She wasn't ready to reveal the secret so saying it didn't work. The secret was Elan I love you but until she was ready to say it she couldn't say it.
I think you're talking about something different. "I love you" was the big secret that broke her out of the aphasia. However, it was NOT the big secret she tried to spit out at the end of strip 309, because she had already said it at the beginning of strip 309.

Evazan

2013-08-24, 08:03 PM

Panel 3 — Elan, I'm in love with you.
Panel 5 — Elan, I'm in love with you. Completely in love. Love, love, love, love!
Panel 7 — My dad is being held ransom by an evil dictator. I'm not really in the Thieves' Guild anymore.
Panel 9 — I cheat at solitaire. I have a tattoo you've never seen. I kissed a girl once. OK, OK, more than once!
Panel 11 — Elan, it turns out I may not be exactly what you would call——

That's the plaintext for Haley in #309, taken from here. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:NeoAC/Translations_for_Haley_in_Order_of_the_Stick)

IronFist

2013-08-24, 11:23 PM

Oh, is that what this is all about? I guess she was going to say "...a good person".

Happy Gravity

2013-08-25, 01:26 AM

This forum doesn't believe in simple explanations when an overcomplicated explanation built on a stack of mistaken assumptions like a house of cards will do.

It's like the reverse of Occam's razor.

davidbofinger

2013-08-25, 05:07 AM

how in blaze would Tarquin know about Haley having a big, nasty secret ?

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/Tarquin.png "A high-level true neutral rogue travelling with a good adventuring party? Of course she has a secret. She'd be a dramatic monstrosity if she didn't."

Math_Mage

2013-08-25, 05:26 AM

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/Tarquin.png "A high-level true neutral rogue travelling with a good adventuring party? Of course she has a secret. She'd be a dramatic monstrosity if she didn't."
Overly specific. And yet he reaches a conclusion of TN? Not buying it. Dramatically, he is aware that she is Elan's lover and Ian's daughter; that's more than enough to be getting on with.

archon_huskie

2013-08-25, 08:55 AM

Unless you want to resurrect the Haley is a creature type other than human debates. There really isn't anything dramatic to reveal about except Tarquin knowing that she's Ian's daughter.