"I don't know why..."

[Loreweaver15]

"...the bird's just staring at the rift, though." (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0659.html)

I don't know why.

Interesting.

Most of the attention to this scene is paid to the fact that the Fiends were trying to shake up Xykon and the delicate balance between 'shake him up' and 'get the elf out alive', but I find that line so interesting. If true, it means that the Fiends don't know what's in the Rift.

Discuss. Is Cedrik telling the truth? Is he lying? How does this impact our understanding of their overall plans?

[factotum]

As far as we know, the IFCC didn't even know the Gates existed until Sabine reported the fact to them, so them not knowing what's inside is hardly a surprise. The only people who presumably *do* know 100% what's inside there are the Gods, and they don't appear to be telling anyone.

[Darth Tom]

I have a theory that the IFCC are going to step in either to prevent the eventual destruction of the world by the Snarl or to finally stop Xykon / Redcloak. This is mostly based on the comment in a Discworld book comparing demons to the Things from the Dungeon Dimensions, essentially saying that while demons would do terrible things to the world and everyone in it, this is because they think it is worth doing terrible things to, whereas the Things would just mindlessly destroy it. It would also seem to be a very Lawful Evil thing to do.

Thoughts?

[ChristianSt]

It could also mean that they are fully aware of what's inside the Rift, but are merely puzzled why the bird just stares at it. [Maybe they have the opinion that it is totally reasonable to expect a planet inside the Rift?]

[MagicalMeat]

If the fiends didn't know whats in the gates and only knew what Soon told Shojo told Nale told Sabine, then it is highly unlikely at they know anything at all about them and their plan with V was based on poor intel and would likely be doomed to fail. They almost certainly already knew about the gates, or did some heavy research into them, likely by scrying and sending fiends to the exploded gates or grilling the damned who had a connection to the gates (eg Holey Brotherhood and Baron Pineapple.)

[Anarion]

Our working assumption should be that the fiends know the same story that Shojo told. That's what Nale heard and what Sabine reported to them.

They don't watch the mortal world 100% of the time, but they do record it, so we can also figure that they'll learn about the Snarl explosion that just went off by Laurin in the desert.

So, I figure that for all their machinations, their long game isn't too different from Xykon's: they want access to the Snarl's power in a controlled way to support their own ends rather than to unmake creation.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I would say either the fiends can't see inside the rift, and therefore don't know what's in there, or Cedrik is puzzled that Blackbird keeps staring instead of throwing it in; he doesn't understand why he stopped.

[Pseudo_Nym]

Our working assumption should be that the fiends know the same story that Shojo told. That's what Nale heard and what Sabine reported to them.

#903 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0903.html) certainly suggests they know more than Sabine. It's possible they're just pretending to, but I wouldn't bet on it.

These guys are the big time. They provided the magic that wiped out a fifth of the world's black dragons, then talked personally with Tiamat and convinced her it was worth it. Personally, I think all they learned from Sabine was that now was perfect time to make their move. Or maybe they knew the real truth, but hadn't realized how misinformed mortals were. But that's just speculation.

[dps]

#903 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0903.html) certainly suggests they know more than Sabine. It's possible they're just pretending to, but I wouldn't bet on it.

These guys are the big time. They provided the magic that wiped out a fifth of the world's black dragons, then talked personally with Tiamat and convinced her it was worth it. Personally, I think all they learned from Sabine was that now was perfect time to make their move. Or maybe they knew the real truth, but hadn't realized how misinformed mortals were. But that's just speculation.

I think that it's more likely that they didn't know about the Gates until Sabine told them, but since then they've done some research of their own about the Gates. The Soon's people tried to wipe out knowledge of the Gates, but the IFCC probably has ways to access sources that the Azurites didn't know about.

[factotum]

#903 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0903.html) certainly suggests they know more than Sabine.

I'd say that strip suggests that V knows more than Sabine, not that the IFCC do--she clearly knows nothing about the "planet in the rift" that V mentions in the previous panel. She doesn't know what the IFCC's plans for the rifts are, but she wouldn't even if they have the same plan that Redcloak and Xykon do.

[Anarion]

#903 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0903.html) certainly suggests they know more than Sabine. It's possible they're just pretending to, but I wouldn't bet on it.

These guys are the big time. They provided the magic that wiped out a fifth of the world's black dragons, then talked personally with Tiamat and convinced her it was worth it. Personally, I think all they learned from Sabine was that now was perfect time to make their move. Or maybe they knew the real truth, but hadn't realized how misinformed mortals were. But that's just speculation.

The only additional knowledge from that strip is the planet in the rift, and we saw that on screen since the IFCC directors were watching the Xykon fight and keeping track of V when Sabine was not present.

I'm certain that their plans are complex and that their analysis of the information they have received is excellent. But we've seen nothing to indicate that they have access to secret information about the nature of reality beyond that which their servants report to them, or that they observe directly.

[Roland Itiative]

Even if the fiends do know what's inside the Rift, they would still not know why Blackwing just stopped flying and started staring, which presumably was because the planet looked like a shiny bauble and shiny baubles are sooooo pretty. Seeing the planet inside is not enough reason to stop on your tracks when an angry lich is in hot pursuit.