Do we ever get to see what Laurin's favor is?

[Firestar27]

So far, Tarquin is beat and Laurin has run away. I'm wondering if anything thinks we'll be able to see what favor Laurin requested from Tarquin.

[Kruploy]

Patience dude. Both Tarquin and Laurin lived, the favor wouldn't be introduced if it wouldn't be touched upon later.

[martianmister]

She wants nothing. It was a practical joke.

[Bulldog Psion]

I figure it's going to be revealed soon. Probably Laurin and Miron will pop back into see if they need to pick up Tarquin's mortal remains, or something like that, and we'll find out then.

[Rakoa]

She wants nothing. It was a practical joke.

I don't see anything practical about not cashing in a perfectly good favour. :smallwink:

[dmc91356]

I'm hoping, based on the comment inserted in the thread of the last strip going up that this isn't the actual end of the book, that there is a sort of denouement back to Miron, Tarquin and Laurin where they sort that out and we can see some post-fight sniping and the reveal of the favor.

[Kish]

If anything thinks? Things don't generally think...

I would be surprised if the favor wasn't revealed. When I thought it might not be, I thought it might be a red herring to make the readers think one or more characters might have plot armor that actually didn't. Now that both Tarquin and Laurin have survived, I expect we'll find out what favor she meant, probably before the end of this book.

[SavageWombat]

She wants nothing. It was a practical joke.

What exactly constitutes an impractical joke?

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I don't think we are going to see what Laurin's favor is, at least not any time soon.

[martianmister]

What exactly constitutes an impractical joke?

http://surveycentral.org/survey/impractical-joke--19306.html

[KillianHawkeye]

I'm hoping, based on the comment inserted in the thread of the last strip going up that this isn't the actual end of the book, that there is a sort of denouement back to Miron, Tarquin and Laurin where they sort that out and we can see some post-fight sniping and the reveal of the favor.

We're more likely to get a denouement with the OOTS, Ian & Geoff (and possibly Aunt Ivy), and getting the heck off this terrible continent. I'm much more interested to find out about whatever details are left in the "Ian in Jail" conspiracy than to find out what Laurin's favor was going to be and if she is even still going to get it or not.

[Mighty]

I kinda hope we don't get to see it or at least won't for a while. Would fit well with Elan's comment of Tarquin not being the real villain (and therefore not really important in the grand scheme of things). Not that I'll mind finding out more about it, but at this moment, I think the story needs to get back to focus and not dwell more on Elan's family relations (as Elan kinda commented himself).

[SavageWombat]

http://surveycentral.org/survey/impractical-joke--19306.html

Thank you!

[David Argall]

I don't think we are going to see what Laurin's favor is, at least not any time soon.
All depends. If Tarquin is going to play no further part in the story, which he more or less should, the favor is apt to be mentioned in the next strip or two. But if he is going to persist, the favor may not be mentioned at all until Tarquin reappears.
Say the favor is that Elan is to be married to the plumber. Then we could have Tarquin & co. showing up at any time to fetch Elan for his wedding, and since the strip has a preference for surprises, the favor as the cause gets no advance mention.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

All depends. If Tarquin is going to play no further part in the story, which he more or less should, the favor is apt to be mentioned in the next strip or two. But if he is going to persist, the favor may not be mentioned at all until Tarquin reappears.
I'm assuming it's going to be along the lines of the latter. For now, we will be leaving Tarquin behind, but when he becomes relevant to the plot again we will find out what the favor was. Probably in a flashback or as explained by Tarquin.

[SavageWombat]

If we do get another panel or two with Tarquin's Team, I hope we see Shoulder Spikes Guy standing off to a side with a sign saying "My Name is Spike" or something.

"Can I just say this is probably the last time I'll ever be on television?"

"No, there isn't time."

[thereaper]

I'm fully expecting Tarquin to be eaten by that worm V charmed all those strips ago on the next page, so I'm going to guess that we won't.

Remember, Rich is not a huge believer in the Law of Conservation of Detail. Furthermore, he likes to play with, deconstruct, and go against narrative tropes.

[geoduck]

If we do get another panel or two with Tarquin's Team, I hope we see Shoulder Spikes Guy standing off to a side with a sign saying "My Name is Spike" or something.


That was pretty much my thought too. Give Shoulder Pad Guy a name!

[Geordnet]

I'm willing to bet the favor goes along the lines of "give up your ego for once; let your son go". Or something similar which puts Tarquin out of the picture permanently. :smalltongue:

[Blacky the Blackball]

Remember, Rich is not a huge believer in the Law of Conservation of Detail. Furthermore, he likes to play with, deconstruct, and go against narrative tropes.

This is an important thing to remember. Not everything is a Chekhov's Gun.

While the mention of the favour could be there to introduce it for later use, it's just as likely (if not more so in my opinion) that the mention is there in order to give more expositional detail about how Tarquin's group work.

To my mind, the payoff to that is Laurin bugging out because a minor favour isn't worth potentially dying over.

[Geordnet]

To my mind, the payoff to that is Laurin bugging out because a minor favour isn't worth potentially dying over.
If that were the case, shouldn't it have been made explicit? There was no mention of the favor at all in that scene. Also, neither this explanation nor that of background exposition account for the "I already have one in mind" line. That quote implies we're going to find out what it is at some point.

[Blacky the Blackball]

If that were the case, shouldn't it have been made explicit? There was no mention of the favor at all in that scene. Also, neither this explanation nor that of background exposition account for the "I already have one in mind" line. That quote implies we're going to find out what it is at some point.

The whole line is "Although you could owe me a favour if it means that much to you. I even have one in mind, so it can be cleared by the end of the day."

To me that implies that the favour is something simple and small - and hence Laurin has only a small stake in the fight. We don't need to know what the favour is, only that it's a quick and simple one. Laurin's overconfident and only asking for a small favour because she thinks this is only a small thing.

She's happy to turn up and zap a few lower level people at little to no danger to herself, but once it's apparent that V has many spells left and she's in severe danger of running out of power she cuts her losses and leaves. She's only doing this as a small favour, and it's not worth putting her life on the line for it.

Of course, there's been a lot of discussion of the favour on this board, and I think there's a bit of an echo chamber effect going on. The more that people discuss it, the more important it seems to be; and the more important it seems to be, the more people discuss it.

But I think that's misplaced. I think it was just a single panel used to a) justify Laurin getting involved; and b) establish that she'd not being prepared to fight to the death because she hasn't a large stake in affairs.

Now Mr Burlew could have put an extra line of dialogue in when Laurin teleports out, which would have made it more explicit that this was the case (as you suggest it should have been); but the slight benefit gained from doing that has to be weighed against the visual impact of her realising it isn't going to be as easy as she thought and simply teleporting off without a word.

[KillianHawkeye]

Also, neither this explanation nor that of background exposition account for the "I already have one in mind" line. That quote implies we're going to find out what it is at some point.

I don't think that quote implies what you think it implies.

[Keltest]

I don't think that quote implies what you think it implies.

The Giant very rarely puts in panels just for filler. even if they have no immediate visible purpose, they can come back to haunt is (like the IFCC being shown a good while before they made the deal with V). If he made that many strips about the favors, he clearly wanted to emphasize how important they considered favors as well as the fact that Laurin now has one.

[KillianHawkeye]

The Giant very rarely puts in panels just for filler. even if they have no immediate visible purpose, they can come back to haunt is (like the IFCC being shown a good while before they made the deal with V). If he made that many strips about the favors, he clearly wanted to emphasize how important they considered favors as well as the fact that Laurin now has one.

I agree that the Giant wanted us to know how important favors are to Tarquin and his party. That does not necessarily imply that we will definitely find out what Laurin's favor was going to be, however. It could be enough that she wanted one. Remember that the Giant is not a strong believer in conservation of detail as you seem to think he is. It's hard to tell which lines of dialog are just bits of throw away minutiae or important pieces of foreshadowing.

Anyway, my point was Laurin wanting a favor does not actually imply that we'll ever find out what it is. Find out is likely, but not guaranteed. Perhaps we'll simply never see her again at all. We simply don't know yet.

[jere7my]

The whole line is "Although you could owe me a favour if it means that much to you. I even have one in mind, so it can be cleared by the end of the day."

To me that implies that the favour is something simple and small - and hence Laurin has only a small stake in the fight. We don't need to know what the favour is, only that it's a quick and simple one. Laurin's overconfident and only asking for a small favour because she thinks this is only a small thing.

I'm not sure I can agree with that reading. First, Tarquin hesitates before replying, which suggests that he suspects it'll be something he won't like. Second, I'm expecting it to be on par with Miron's favor, which Tarquin has been hanging on to for years. And finally, there are a lot of things that can be finished in a few hours that aren't small. "Hand over leadership of the Empire of Blood to me, then walk into this wormhole here and never return" isn't small, and could be finished up in five minutes. (Not that I'm suggesting that that's the favor.)

I'm sticking with my interpretation: If Rich had just wanted to establish the favor-for-a-favor motivation, he would've had Laurin stop talking after the first half of her speech bubble. The fact that she went on to provide such oddly specific details, and that we saw Tarquin act mildly suspicious after agreeing sight-unseen to a favor, makes me think that Rich was cueing the reader to expect an explanation. We'll have to wait and see.

[oonker]

Come on, guys, get out of your True Neutral chairs!

The fun in the forums is to pit one idea and one conspiracy theory against another. What's the fun in "let's wait and see"?

Just bet something!

For me, yes, it will appear on screen and soon, what is this favour :)

[Wereboar_It]

Say the favor is that Elan is to be married to the plumber.

Very unlikely imho. Laurin wants her daughter to live a happy and low profile life, and being married to the son of a tyrant and maybe ruler-to-be is exactly the opposite to living a plumber's life.

Especially considering how little rulers last in the desert without tarquin's team pulling the strings.

[daryen]

While it is bizarre that there are so many who refuse to believe there is even the possibility that we will never learn what Laurin's favor is, it is downright disgusting that so many appear to believe that the favor has to revolve around someone boning someone else. Can we please at least give the Giant some credit and assume the favor doesn't involve any boning?

[Sir_Leorik]

She wants to stage an intervention for Tarquin, along with Miron, Jacinda and SPD, to keep him from doing nonsense like this in the future?

[The Pilgrim]

I wonder if Tarquin will consider he owes a favor to Laurin, and Miron no longer owes to him. Given how the two of them bailed on him when they still had a lot of juice left.

[Kish]

While it is bizarre that there are so many who refuse to believe there is even the possibility that we will never learn what Laurin's favor is, it is downright disgusting that so many appear to believe that the favor has to revolve around someone boning someone else. Can we please at least give the Giant some credit and assume the favor doesn't involve any boning?
Looks familiar. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16216847&postcount=226)

[Metahuman1]

I hope we do. I also hope Ian and his little inner circle get off the continent.

And I hope it ends there, and that that is the last we see/hear of anything that even remotely involves Tarquine. It's absolutely fitting that he stop being relevant form this point forward and never get's more then a passing mention in the remaining books.

[Havokca]

Laurin's discussion of how she had a favour in mind wasn't necessary for any part of the story that we've seen since she mentioned it.

The only purpose to those extra lines served are to make us wonder what the favour is... which also sets the stage for her to outline the favour.

So, while the following is true:


Remember, Rich is not a huge believer in the Law of Conservation of Detail. Furthermore, he likes to play with, deconstruct, and go against narrative tropes.

It's also true that Rich is incredibly detail-oriented (as evinced by the posts in these (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128211) three (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203505) threads (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261108), if not many more). So the certainty in all of this, is that if we never find out what the favour is, it won't be through accidental omission on Rich's part.

My guess:

We do find out the favour.... and we find it out at one of two times, for one of two reasons:


Within the next few strips (the favour further emphasizes Tarquin's defeat)
In a couple hundred strips (the favour brings TT back into the main story)


There's only one reason I could see for not finding out the favour at all; It was a smokescreen which will be used to have us off-guard when Tarquin dies some completely and utterly ignoble death.

"I can't believe he died before we found out what Laurin's favour was!"

Personally, I'd like to see it happen this way, as I think there's going to be a LOT for the order to deal with in the remaining 400 strips or so, without them having to worry about Tarquin coming back for another round.

[The Pilgrim]

I bet Laurin's favor revolves around Fyron's son.

[daryen]

Looks familiar. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16216847&postcount=226)
I saw that before, but since it won't stop, I thought it was worth mentioning again.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Considering the Mechane is heading west into the sunset, I suspect we aren't done with the sandy place just yet. There's enough dangling plot threads to fill up part of the next book, which by tradition is kind of a Road To movie.

So we'll probably see Laurin's favor come into play next book, along with the Rescue Ian plotline, and I suspect a trip to the elves is in order as well.

Then we skip across the ocean back to the Northern Continent, and Durkon's homecoming.

[Jay R]

While it is bizarre that there are so many who refuse to believe there is even the possibility that we will never learn what Laurin's favor is, it is downright disgusting that so many appear to believe that the favor has to revolve around someone boning someone else. Can we please at least give the Giant some credit and assume the favor doesn't involve any boning?

Can everyone stop using the word "bone" as a verb?!? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0204.html)

[happyman]

To my mind, the favor would be most satisfying if it managed to make Tarquin's plans really fall apart. Or at least, took him out of the plot for the foreseeable future.

From what we saw in this strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0924.html), these favors are worth a lot. Both Miron and Laurin are stunned when Tarquin calls his favor in. Look at the reaction in panel 5: "You've been sitting on it for twelve years!" "No way!" See Tarquin's reaction: "This is important. This is about my legacy." These favors are not small. Laurin is asking for something big. This isn't day-to-day diplomacy in their group. It's obviously not what holds the group together. (Twelve years is just too long.)

With this established, I can't help but feel like it's far too important a point to not matter to Laurin. Whether we see it or not is a different matter, but it will definitely, and soon, come up again between Tarquin and Laurin. It's too big to not have consequences. Look at the consequences of Tarquin calling his favor in.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Ehhh.

My main problem with this whole scenario is that Laurin bailed. Even if Tarquin still technically owes her favor at this point, it would be better to just call it even than to call in whatever favor she was planning, only to have him screw it up to make a point.

That said, if we ever see Tarquin again, I'm guessing that it will be some time after the, "real," story has already ended. During the credits, as it were. Then, tucked by the 200-foot-tall flaming H in one of the two names featured in said credits, Tarquin will be shown in one of two scenarios:

1. Dying a disappointed and bitter old man as the empire he's built crumbles under normal social and economic pressures, or
2. Cleaning Laurin's condominium on the semi-elemental plane of ranch dressing.

[Living Oxymoron]

I wonder if Tarquin will consider he owes a favor to Laurin, and Miron no longer owes to him. Given how the two of them bailed on him when they still had a lot of juice left.

This is what I'm wondering since Miron left the battle. The favor is won/cleared by succeeding or simply helping?

[Jay R]

It's a story.

If it were a game, or real life, the three of them would decide how it counts based on their previous expectations of favors, or how they feel about it.

But here, the favor will count if Rich thinks it furthers the story (or is funny on its own).

[Chronos]

In another thread, Rich said that he realized that he was oversexualizing all of his female characters, and so to compensate, decided that he wasn't going to sexualize Laurin at all. So the favor definitely isn't her wanting to sleep with Tarquin, or anything of that sort.

[phobiandarkmoon]

Ehhh.

My main problem with this whole scenario is that Laurin bailed. Even if Tarquin still technically owes her favor at this point, it would be better to just call it even than to call in whatever favor she was planning, only to have him screw it up to make a point.

That said, if we ever see Tarquin again, I'm guessing that it will be some time after the, "real," story has already ended. During the credits, as it were. Then, tucked by the 200-foot-tall flaming H in one of the two names featured in said credits, Tarquin will be shown in one of two scenarios:

1. Dying a disappointed and bitter old man as the empire he's built crumbles under normal social and economic pressures, or
2. Cleaning Laurin's condominium on the semi-elemental plane of ranch dressing.

The stated terms of the favour was 'open a wormhole for you' in 924: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0924.html

Tarquin is way too lawful not to make good on his word, so I anticipate seeing it in the next few strips

[Kish]

The stated terms of the favour was 'open a wormhole for you' in 924: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0924.html

What Laurin said she would do without a favor was "open a wormhole for you": "I'll open a wormhole, but I don't owe you any favors, Tarquin. Although...you could owe me one, if this means that much to you." Neither Tarquin nor Laurin says exactly what they're negotiating for instead of talking through inferences, which is why whether Laurin earned a favor is under debate now, but it has to be something more than what she said she would do freely before indicating she would not do more because she didn't owe Tarquin a favor, and then indicating that she would do something if Tarquin wanted to owe her a favor.

[The Pilgrim]

This is what I'm wondering since Miron left the battle. The favor is won/cleared by succeeding or simply helping?

I don't know the answer to that question. But I expect that the party of evil aligned characters who have got their asses handled to them, may not agree about it.

[Bedinsis]

Come on, guys, get out of your True Neutral chairs!

The fun in the forums is to pit one idea and one conspiracy theory against another. What's the fun in "let's wait and see"?

Just bet something!


Okay.

I bet we'll see what the favour was; the fact that she told us that she already had a favour in mind feels like an obvious clue.

I bet the favour is that she wants control over the hole in the Windy Canyon. That would make sense from how she looked away from Tarquin when saying that she already had a favour in mind. It would also make thematic sense: in Tarquin's attempt to fit Elan into what a hero opposing him should be he lost the very thing that would still make him relevant to the plot Elan is experiencing.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Has anyone thought that maybe Laurin's favor may have changed since agreeing? I mean, thats a possibility too.

[Keltest]

Has anyone thought that maybe Laurin's favor may have changed since agreeing? I mean, thats a possibility too.

Its of course possible, but not probable. Nothing really happened that would drastically change her goals or desires.

[David Argall]

Very unlikely imho. Laurin wants her daughter to live a happy and low profile life, and being married to the son of a tyrant and maybe ruler-to-be is exactly the opposite to living a plumber's life.
Like most people, Laurin has a confused, if not completely contradictory, idea of what this means. Note that daughter was installing plumbing for the king, an act that any plumber can tell you is highly political, and in this case was likely arranged by Mom. The girl may well have done a good job, but she almost certainly got the job thru pull.
Ma would be thinking that she wants grandchildren, and daughter is not making any progress on the subject. & here is this attractive lad who will be good for her and... The fact he has political connections is a bonus even when she hates politics.



Especially considering how little rulers last in the desert without tarquin's team pulling the strings.
But Tarquin's team would be pulling the strings, and daughter would be safe, or at least as safe as anyone can be on the same continent with him.

[hamishspence]

Ma would be thinking that she wants grandchildren, and daughter is not making any progress on the subject.

Or- given how little we know about Hannah, Laurin could already have grandchildren, and the favour could be something completely different.

No reason to assume the favor must have something to do with her daughter.

[Ridureyu]

With the way things work in this strip (read: The stray arrow in Azure city, Elan explaining Julio's reappearance, etc.), I'd put my money on the favor being a throwaway, inconsequential thing... and then either being lampshaded as unexplained off-panel, or lampshaded as a throwaway, insignificant thing.

[Fish]

I vote that Laurin's desired favor is irrelevant. We may learn what it would have been, but never get to see it paid off.

Laurin's line achieves three things: it increases dramatic tension through her show of overconfidence ("I can beat these guys!"). It reminds us of the time ("I can beat these guys quickly, because I said 'by the end of the day' and it's almost sunset!"). It emphasizes that she isn't loyal to Tarquin or his goal ("And you will owe me.").

As far as I'm concerned, her line has already paid off. The moment she fled, we saw the payout: she wasn't loyal to his goals, indeed.

Consider the dramatic effect had she said, "I dunno, Tarquin, taking on five adventurers? Maybe six or seven? You're going to have to owe me someday." It would undercut the dramatic tension completely.

[orrion]

Like most people, Laurin has a confused, if not completely contradictory, idea of what this means. Note that daughter was installing plumbing for the king, an act that any plumber can tell you is highly political, and in this case was likely arranged by Mom. The girl may well have done a good job, but she almost certainly got the job thru pull.
Ma would be thinking that she wants grandchildren, and daughter is not making any progress on the subject. & here is this attractive lad who will be good for her and... The fact he has political connections is a bonus even when she hates politics.

Objection - assumes facts not in evidence. Most importantly that there's no evidence Laurin wants her family to have anything to do with Tarquin. Also, you're saying she continued to approve of this plan directly after she watches Tarquin kill off his own son?


But Tarquin's team would be pulling the strings, and daughter would be safe, or at least as safe as anyone can be on the same continent with him.

I doubt a plumber has a target on her back. A plumber married to a head general? Might as well paint the bullseye on as part of the wedding ceremony.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I think Laurin would probably notice how Tarquin has a very poor track record with his marriages and decide that any favor involving marriage to him would end poorly.

[HendoJ]

I don't think it's been definitively stated that there will not be another showdown this book. (has it?) I think our fearless leader said we were close to the ending.

It's very possible we another tussle. From Elan's standpoint Tarquin has been dealt with. As a threat to the Order, Tarquin's group is still relevant.

[Bulldog Psion]

Well, as I've analyzed it before:

1. Laurin's favor can't be trivial, it has to be something pretty important because they treat these favors very seriously.

2. It can't be related to the OotS in general, since she was willing to kill them outright.

3. It won't be anything Tarquin would be unwilling to do. It's not a no-save enchantment that compels people to do stuff they wouldn't do. So it isn't anything like "kill yourself," "kill Elan," "give up your empire," etc. because Tarquin would just say, "You think a favor is worth THAT? Ha!"

4. Since Tarquin is useful to their scheme, I doubt it will be anything harmful to Tarquin, even leaving out the "no compulsion anyway" part. Why do something to harm a friend and asset? Because some of the audience beyond the 4th wall wants him gone? No way.

5. It seems unlikely to be related to Elan, since she knows nothing of him, plus she would have had to ask the favor before Tarquin set up whatever he was planning with Elan.

6. If it's going to be revealed to the audience, it has to make sense to them, IMO. So it has to relate to something in the story. If it's not revealed, it's moot, because it doesn't matter if it makes sense or not if not revealed.

7. By process of elimination, the one thing left that makes sense to the audience AND is important AND won't get Tarquin's back up AND won't interfere with their scheme, is something with the Gate. What, it's hard to guess, but the Gate/Rift seems likely to be involved. To me, anyway. Due to everything else being eliminated one way or another.

[CaDzilla]

She wants to set Tarquin up with Jacinda. This way Tarquin won't have to waste time with marriages and Jacinda gets to do Tarquin. If she wanted to set her daughter up with someone, she would have done it with SPG

[David Argall]

Objection - assumes facts not in evidence. Most importantly that there's no evidence Laurin wants her family to have anything to do with Tarquin.
She has been his business partner for 20 years or so. That sort of thing makes a marriage between the next generation almost routine. So we start off with plenty of evidence. Then we have a very attractive young man that Laurin would be after herself if she were 20 years younger.



Also, you're saying she continued to approve of this plan directly after she watches Tarquin kill off his own son?
As far as Laurin is concerned, Nale got off easy. Her daughter, being a good girl [in Laurin's view anyway], would never be in that situation.



I doubt a plumber has a target on her back. A plumber married to a head general? Might as well paint the bullseye on as part of the wedding ceremony.
Nobody would make Elan general of anything. And his wife makes a poor target. Consider V just after knocking off Kubota. V couldn't even get Elan to understand there was a threat.

[Ridureyu]

Laurin explicitly said that she wants her daughter as far away from "the family business" (i.e., empire-ruling) as possible.

[oonker]

7. By process of elimination, the one thing left that makes sense to the audience AND is important AND won't get Tarquin's back up AND won't interfere with their scheme, is something with the Gate. What, it's hard to guess, but the Gate/Rift seems likely to be involved. To me, anyway. Due to everything else being eliminated one way or another.

Especially considering that, when she said "I also have one in mind", she looked away from Tarquin, in an undisclosed direction. Might as well have been to the gate.

Nice analysis, by the way :)

[oppyu]

She has been his business partner for 20 years or so. That sort of thing makes a marriage between the next generation almost routine. So we start off with plenty of evidence. Then we have a very attractive young man that Laurin would be after herself if she were 20 years younger.


As far as Laurin is concerned, Nale got off easy. Her daughter, being a good girl [in Laurin's view anyway], would never be in that situation.


Nobody would make Elan general of anything. And his wife makes a poor target. Consider V just after knocking off Kubota. V couldn't even get Elan to understand there was a threat.
You... what? This makes absolutely no sense on a number of levels.

One; how on Earth does working with the guy for a long time make a marriage for the next generation routine? When has this ever been a thing?

Two; are you suggesting that Laurin wants her daughter to rape Elan and produce children against his will because he's attractive? She runs an empire. Assuming that her daughter is single, her daughter has no children, and that Laurin is personally invested enough in being a grandmother that she is willing to kidnap the first hot guy she sees for breeding stock (three wildly unlikely assumptions), why Elan? Why not the first non-revolutionary male model she sees on the street?

Three; If Laurin somehow forced Elan to marry and sleep with her daughter, that would be rape. Why would you possibly assume that a character's primary motivation for doing anything is 'I want my daughter to rape that man'? That has to be the most ridiculous, unlikely, and offensive character motivation in the history of stick-based literature! (Admittedly, it wouldn't be the first time a female character Rich wrote kidnapped a man with the express purpose of having him raped, but I file Samantha in the 'try not to think about it' basket along with Evan's Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion and what the Mummy Queen did in Snips.)

Four; People know Elan is Tarquin's son. The dude shouted it from the rooftops. Elan looks exactly like Tarquin's other son, and I'm doubting Nale was raised in complete and total secrecy. And so long as people know that Tarquin's a big bad general, his son will be in danger. Laurin knows that. Laurin would be foolish to then publicly link her daughter with Elan.

[RMS Oceanic]

I think it fits beautifully with Tarquin's perception of 936 being a Terrible Ending that we never find out what the favour is: It would be another loose thread that isn't given closure, just to rub it in. Recalling that not every piece of world building/character development is a Chekhov's Gun, 924 just becomes a way of establishing how Tarquin can persuade his allies to act when there is no direct benefit for them to do so.

[Jay R]

I think it fits beautifully with Tarquin's perception of 936 being a Terrible Ending that we never find out what the favour is: It would be another loose thread that isn't given closure, just to rub it in. Recalling that not every piece of world building/character development is a Chekhov's Gun, 924 just becomes a way of establishing how Tarquin can persuade his allies to act when there is no direct benefit for them to do so.

The thing is that Tarquin is wrong. This isn't the ending; it's just where a minor character is kicked off the boat. The important characters still have an ending coming, where they put this arc in perspective, and focus on their next goal.

[orrion]

She has been his business partner for 20 years or so. That sort of thing makes a marriage between the next generation almost routine. So we start off with plenty of evidence. Then we have a very attractive young man that Laurin would be after herself if she were 20 years younger.

That's just you imposing what you think should happen. There's actually zero evidence of it in this particular instance, and this particular instance is all that matters.



As far as Laurin is concerned, Nale got off easy. Her daughter, being a good girl [in Laurin's view anyway], would never be in that situation.

Tarquin's view is what matters here, and we've seen that view change. There's no guarantee of Laurin's daughter remaining free from his influence. Nor any children she may have with Elan.



Nobody would make Elan general of anything. And his wife makes a poor target. Consider V just after knocking off Kubota. V couldn't even get Elan to understand there was a threat.

Sort of like how nobody would make Elan leader of an adventuring party? Oh, wait, Tarquin just spent 20 comics trying to force Elan to be just that.

[RMS Oceanic]

The thing is that Tarquin is wrong. This isn't the ending; it's just where a minor character is kicked off the boat. The important characters still have an ending coming, where they put this arc in perspective, and focus on their next goal.

And if he's a minor character, the question of his favour with Laurin doesn't really need answered. Moving on without answering it would be galling to him.

[Fish]

1. Laurin's favor can't be trivial...

2. It can't be related to the OotS in general...

3. It won't be anything Tarquin would be unwilling to do...

6. If it's going to be revealed to the audience, it has to make sense to them...
I'm not sure all these are airtight.

1. It's a comedy. Rich could certainly play her favor for laughs.

2. It could. "I get first pick of their loot" is a perfectly sensible request and directly relates to the OOTS. It could be fulfilled by the end of the day.

3. We could say "unwilling to do at any price," perhaps. Laurin was unwilling to fight the Order for free. She was willing, for a price of her choosing. What is Tarquin willing to do, for the price of getting his story? Very much, as we have seen. His arena was destroyed, his best friend and son killed, his private legion annihilated, his favor with the wizard expended... he went all in, pushing every chip he had into the center. It's hard to say what Tarquin is not willing to do for this price.

6. Not necessarily. Laurin's favor could certainly introduce a new idea or concept that would make sense to the reader.

[orrion]

2. It could. "I get first pick of their loot" is a perfectly sensible request and directly relates to the OOTS. It could be fulfilled by the end of the day.

Wouldn't have had to say it was a favor to do that. She could have just said "Ok I'll help, but I get dibs on their loot." Tarquin says "Sure," and off they go without ever mentioning a favor.

[David Argall]

One; how on Earth does working with the guy for a long time make a marriage for the next generation routine? When has this ever been a thing?
Of course. See arranged marriages.



Two; are you suggesting that Laurin wants her daughter to rape Elan and produce children against his will because he's attractive? She runs an empire. Assuming that her daughter is single, her daughter has no children, and that Laurin is personally invested enough in being a grandmother that she is willing to kidnap the first hot guy she sees for breeding stock (three wildly unlikely assumptions), why Elan? Why not the first non-revolutionary male model she sees on the street?
Women like to marry up [a serious problem for the upper class girl]. The male model [assuming he is not gay] is just another commoner, and by definition not good enough for daughter. And she may well have gotten tired of suggesting him to daughter anyway. [Tarquin is far from unique in wanting to run his children's lives.]



Three; If Laurin somehow forced Elan to marry and sleep with her daughter, that would be rape.
Again, see arranged marriage. We may deem it rape, and a lot of others have or had sympathy for the younger couple, but it happened often.



Why would you possibly assume that a character's primary motivation for doing anything is 'I want my daughter to rape that man'? That has to be the most ridiculous, unlikely, and offensive character motivation in the history of stick-based literature! (Admittedly, it wouldn't be the first time a female character Rich wrote kidnapped a man with the express purpose of having him raped, but I file Samantha in the 'try not to think about it' basket along with Evan's Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion and what the Mummy Queen did in Snips.)
"Try not to think about it" is not grounds for saying it doesn't happen. Quite the reverse, it means it does happen.



Four; People know Elan is Tarquin's son. The dude shouted it from the rooftops. Elan looks exactly like Tarquin's other son, and I'm doubting Nale was raised in complete and total secrecy. And so long as people know that Tarquin's a big bad general, his son will be in danger. Laurin knows that. Laurin would be foolish to then publicly link her daughter with Elan.
A-Daughter is already in danger from being daughter. Laurin may not hold parades for the kid, but the idea that her ancestry is any sort of secret is laughable. Anybody who wants to know does. And while Team T tries to keep their dominance of the government a secret, there are loads of people who know that Laurin is big stuff you should not cross.
Daughter is simply not safe from any such threat anywhere on the continent.
B-She is likely in less danger married to Elan. Our basic image, and that of any attacker, is that the mother is more vulnerable to pressure than the father, much less the father in law. Our image of Tarquin also argues any threat is trivial. He is the "threaten Junior and you die, painfully" type, not the "don't hurt him, I'll pay..."

[Bulldog Psion]

Especially considering that, when she said "I also have one in mind", she looked away from Tarquin, in an undisclosed direction. Might as well have been to the gate.

Nice analysis, by the way :)

Thank you kindly! :smallsmile:

With that said, I agree with Fish that it could be a new element that will still make sense to the readership. Again, who knows what that could be, but the Gate isn't the only thing it could be, just one of the better candidates, IMO.

[Fish]

Wouldn't have had to say it was a favor to do that. She could have just said "Ok I'll help, but I get dibs on their loot." Tarquin says "Sure," and off they go without ever mentioning a favor.
Or she didn't mention it because she didn't want to commit to asking for that favor until she got a better look at their stuff.

That really wasn't my point, though; my point was "the favor doesn't pertain to the OOTS" is not a statement of unimpeachable certainty.

[orrion]

Women like to marry up [a serious problem for the upper class girl]. The male model [assuming he is not gay] is just another commoner, and by definition not good enough for daughter. And she may well have gotten tired of suggesting him to daughter anyway. [Tarquin is far from unique in wanting to run his children's lives.]

Does that even apply? Laurin is already at the top and she specifically does what she does so her daughter can do whatever she wants. You can't offer anything that tells us the daughter is in favor of this or even that she knows Elan exists in the first place.

If Laurin wanted her daughter to be in a powerful position she is more than capable of having arranged something before this and without connecting to Tarquin's family. She doesn't need to "marry up."

Heck, you don't even know that their society operates on patriarchal inheritance in the first place.

[chainik]

Well, as I've analyzed it before:
. . .
7. By process of elimination, the one thing left that makes sense to the audience AND is important AND won't get Tarquin's back up AND won't interfere with their scheme, is something with the Gate. What, it's hard to guess, but the Gate/Rift seems likely to be involved. To me, anyway. Due to everything else being eliminated one way or another.

The Rift also makes a lot of sense in terms of Laurin's personal motivations. In addition to any professional interest a high-level caster might have in the Gate/Rift, she's the shadow-ruler of a landlocked desert empire and the Rift appears to lead to a huge body of water.

[WindStruck]

I don't see anything practical about not cashing in a perfectly good favour. :smallwink:

Maybe she wants "nothing" kind of like how Nale wanted "nothing" from Tarquin.

[Fish]

The Rift also makes a lot of sense in terms of Laurin's personal motivations. In addition to any professional interest a high-level caster might have in the Gate/Rift...
Not just any caster: one who appears to specialize in gates and teleportation.

I still lean toward the idea that Laurin's favor is fairly irrelevant, but I can see why the Gate would interest someone of her psionic specialty.

[SavageWombat]

I think you guys have built a good consensus fan theory for this issue. We should just agree to it until such time as Rich confirms or denies it in-strip.

[Jay R]

A favor that could be cleared up immediately? Maybe she has a candidate for a cleric to replace Malack.

[St Fan]

Am I the only amongst the many readers of this comic to not care at all whether this hanging thread is ever resolved or not? I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

[Domino Quartz]

Am I the only amongst the many readers of this comic to not care at all whether this hanging thread is ever resolved or not? I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

No, you're not. I am also part of that group (that is, the group of people who don't care about the favour).

[Tom Lehmann]

I agree with other posters that Laurin's favor is likely to be about the Windy Canyon rift. She might ask that she lead its examination.

I think this makes sense from a number of perspectives:

* It appears to be where Laurin is looking as she mentions the favor.
* A rift leading elsewhere matches her apparent psionic speciality -- transportation effects -- and thus, may be of professional interest.
* A rift might be of interest to her personally. She says, "I do this thing we do so that [Hannah, her daughter] may have a good life far *away* from all this." [original emphasis] If Laurin is trying to figure how to ultimately extricate Hannah from the endlessly warring desert kingdoms, then a rift leading to another world might possibly be a solution and be worth investigating.

I don't think such investigation will be part of book 5. But, speculating a bit, I could see some cut scenes of the investigation being part of book 6. Her findings could both shed some light on the rifts for us, the readers, as well as possibly motivating Team Tarquin to intervene as one of the "9 sides" in the final Gate conflict (presumably -- but not confirmed -- in book 7).

In this manner, Tarquin wouldn't play a big role in book 6 (I think Rich needs to take a break from Tarquin to underscore that the main plot isn't centrally about him), but the rift and another side coalescing could still be portrayed.

Just my 2 coppers. Your mileage may vary.

[Geordnet]

If it involves the rift, it's probably going to be something more than "let me study it" since she probably wouldn't need a favor for that.

[Tom Lehmann]

If it involves the rift, it's probably going to be something more than "let me study it" since she probably wouldn't need a favor for that.
I said "lead its examination" -- since control isn't something that Tarquin gives up easily (being a very controlling person), I think it might require a favor for him to do so.

[David Argall]

I said "lead its examination" -- since control isn't something that Tarquin gives up easily (being a very controlling person), I think it might require a favor for him to do so.
It still sounds like something Tarquin would grant without thinking. "Huh? You want to study this "volcano"? Sure, sure, knock yourself out. I've got an empire to run and a marriage to arrange." Really nothing here that seems to fall in the favor range.
Now from plot purposes, there are some possibilities. Tarquin really has no reason to chase after Elan. He does have an empire[s] to run. But if Laurin studies for a week or so, and then reports that there is something Tarquin needs to see... Tarquin takes a quick trip and he [& maybe others] get engulfed by expanding rift, allowing him to meet up again with Elan when the party is engulfed by the rift when they destroy gate 5 at the end of book 6...
If we want to keep Tarquin in the plot, Laurin playing with the rift has potential.