Sealed vs Gated

[dancrilis]

Taking a read through 276 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0276.html) I noticed that the gates were sealed prior to having Gates (and the the gates were to prevent them from growing), further Redcloak in 545 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0545.html) mentions that the accounts he has heard had the Snarl reaching out for people.

As such it would seem that the Rifts are still sealed - just not gated, with the exception of Girard's gate which seems to be behaving in a more traditional manner based on Redcloaks understanding after Laurin had a look at it (and presumably unsealed it).

Possibly not a lot to discusses on this but I thought it was an interesting distinction - and I wonder how it might play into the remaining story (of at all).

[kivzirrum]

I've wondered about this for quite some time. We saw the Snarl lash out at Laurin--was that a different situation? Was that one fully unsealed? What about the one above Azure City, which was once the tiniest and has grown huge? Can it "unravel" like that without being unsealed?

In my opinion, breaking the gate probably unseals it as well. That doesn't really explain what all is going on with the relative inactivity of the Snarl, though.

[dancrilis]

Well we know that there is a single in combat spell that can seal a rift (panel 10, 276), we also know that the gates prevent them from growing (panel 12, 276). So it would seem that sealing it to prevent Snarl action (as Redcloak noted) and Gating is to prevent Rift expansion (a separate item).

Or such is my reading.

Note that in 945 Laurin is trying to sense life in the rift and doesn't find anything until she say 'Wait, I think ...'.

One interpretation of this is that the Snarl seeks out life to attack but the seals prevent it detecting life through the rifts, when Laurin made contact the Snarl detected her and thereby she broke the seal by making herself known (or that the Snarl broke it by tracing the life back to the source).

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I agree with kivzirrum that breaking the Gate probably breaks the seals on it as well.

[factotum]

The seal spells were presumably of limited duration, or else there would have been no need to create the more permanent solution offered by the Gates. I think it's entirely within reason to assume that the seals broke ages ago and that only the Gates lock the Snarl in its prison now.

[littlebum2002]

The seal spells were presumably of limited duration, or else there would have been no need to create the more permanent solution offered by the Gates. I think it's entirely within reason to assume that the seals broke ages ago and that only the Gates lock the Snarl in its prison now.

That's not EXACTLY how it works. It's not that the gates are more durable, it's that they're tougher to crack. Think about the seal as a doorknob and the gate as a lock on the doorknob. The doorknob isn't less durable than the lock, but it's a lot easier to open.

[factotum]

Well, in that case you can consider this to be the situation that somebody has deployed sufficient force against the lock to destroy it, so the weaker seal has gone too. :smallsmile:

[littlebum2002]

Agreed. If you smash the lock on the doorknob, the doorknob is probably busted, too.

[thereaper]

Redcloak speculated that the existence of the other Gates prevents the Snarl from seeing through the rifts.

However, I would question the implicit assumption that what happened at Girard's rift isn't happening at the other rifts right now. There is only one gate left now, after all.

[theasl]

However, I would question the implicit assumption that what happened at Girard's rift isn't happening at the other rifts right now. There is only one gate left now, after all.

This, plus we also haven't seen the other rifts in a while. In fact, did the main comic ever show Dorukan's or Lirian's after they were destroyed?

[kivzirrum]

This, plus we also haven't seen the other rifts in a while. In fact, did the main comic ever show Dorukan's or Lirian's after they were destroyed?

Nope. The first rift we've seen post-gate was Soon's. Which has unraveled quite a lot, despite being the smallest at one point. Dorukan's was biggest--imagine how big the rift in Redmountain Hills must be now!

[factotum]

Yeah, but said rift is buried under tons of rock, so it's possible it hasn't even broken the surface as yet despite its size.

[theasl]

Yeah, but said rift is buried under tons of rock, so it's possible it hasn't even broken the surface as yet despite its size.

Or maybe, given that it seems to be a portal to another world, the rock and stuff fell into the rift and there's now a giant sinkhole in the ground with a rift at the bottom...
That would be pretty cool.

[dancrilis]

Redcloak speculated that the existence of the other Gates prevents the Snarl from seeing through the rifts.
Yes that is what he speculated but he has shown no knowledge of the seals as far as I know (the rifts and the gates yes of course, but the seals I don't know if he has mentioned), and if the others are sealed that would also explain why they are not reaching out.



However, I would question the implicit assumption that what happened at Girard's rift isn't happening at the other rifts right now. There is only one gate left now, after all.
My theory is that the seals are perhaps somewhat fragile (requiring the gates to protect them and also to pervent the rifts from growing), and so Laurin caused it to be breached it when she probed (although she might have alerted the Snarl to her when she made contact and it was broken from the Snarl's side when it followed the probe back).