What if Hel wins?

[Mandor]

Full disclosure: I'm pretty sure Durkon will find some way to break free from the vampires control. He's been in Heroic Blue Screen of Death for too long now, it's totally time for him to do something useful.

That said.... what if Hel wins? What if,

no calvary comes in the form of an undead Belkar,
no calvary comes in the form of the mechane,
Hel's vote is not invalidated,
no other priest kills themself / gets killed,
and the demigods go her way, and the final vote is to destroy the world.


Hear me out: I think there's a modest chance of this happening. I wouldn't call it it likely, but maybe 1 in 4. Rationale: I don't think the gods will actually get a chance to do it. I think the moment the gods start tugging on the first few threads of the world, the Snarl comes busting loose (heck, it's already aware of the gaping hole in reality by Laurin and trying to reach through that), and the gods will flee for their lives. Yes, in it's infancy, the snarl ate the first world, and devoured the souls of all those living on that world. (at least, so we have been told in 3rd hand info, but for the moment let's take that as true). But it's got a world now, which it hasn't destroyed. It may be using it as bait, or it may be less destructive now. It may have even figured out a way to create things of it's own, if only from sheer boredom / lack of anything to DO in it's demi-plane that it's been locked in. So the Snarl getting loose early, I do not see as necessarily meaning that the world ends and all souls get devoured.

Plus, it would be a massive curve ball from the author when the whole audience is expecting a save, which is always fun. :smallamused:

[FollowerofBanjo]

I think (here's another crazy theory) that the monster in the darkness :mitd: is the snarl and because of his experience with O'chul hes become a good guy and will not destroy the world or he will start to and then he'll see O'chul and stop so thers no real danger here

[Reathin]

I think (here's another crazy theory) that the monster in the darkness :mitd: is the snarl and because of his experience with O'chul hes become a good guy and will not destroy the world or he will start to and then he'll see O'chul and stop so thers no real danger here

As I recall, Rich specifically said that the Monster in the Darkness wasn't one of his own creations, which would exclude the Snarl.

EDIT: Here's the quote:

So, just so everyone is clear: I know exactly what the Monster in the Darkness is. I have (almost) always known. Its first two or three appearances were before I had worked out much of the plot's details, so at that point, I just figured it was a mystery I would never answer. Once I started developing the real story that I was telling, around strip #100, I figured out what the monster really was and have been dropping hints ever since. (Note that nothing from before strip #100 actually contradicts the truth of what it is, either.) [...]I now know exactly when and why the monster will reveal itself, too ... don't expect it any time soon, though. Sorry. There's a lot of story left, and that little tidbit will need to wait to close to the end.
I will say this much: It is possible to guess.
That is, it isn't something I just made up for the story. It wouldn't be any fun for the answer to a mystery to be something I invented just for one purpose, would it? I won't finally throw back the darkness and have someone say, "Look! It was a therblewurkersaurus the entire time!" or some other made-up monster.
I realize that the line between something I made up and something someone else made up is a pretty fine one, but I trust that someone will figure it out eventually.

[Lord Stoneheart]

Full disclosure: I'm pretty sure Durkon will find some way to break free from the vampires control. He's been in Heroic Blue Screen of Death for too long now, it's totally time for him to do something useful.

That said.... what if Hel wins? What if,

no calvary comes in the form of an undead Belkar,
no calvary comes in the form of the mechane,
Hel's vote is not invalidated,
no other priest kills themself / gets killed,
and the demigods go her way, and the final vote is to destroy the world.


Hear me out: I think there's a modest chance of this happening. I wouldn't call it it likely, but maybe 1 in 4. Rationale: I don't think the gods will actually get a chance to do it. I think the moment the gods start tugging on the first few threads of the world, the Snarl comes busting loose (heck, it's already aware of the gaping hole in reality by Laurin and trying to reach through that), and the gods will flee for their lives. Yes, in it's infancy, the snarl ate the first world, and devoured the souls of all those living on that world. (at least, so we have been told in 3rd hand info, but for the moment let's take that as true). But it's got a world now, which it hasn't destroyed. It may be using it as bait, or it may be less destructive now. It may have even figured out a way to create things of it's own, if only from sheer boredom / lack of anything to DO in it's demi-plane that it's been locked in. So the Snarl getting loose early, I do not see as necessarily meaning that the world ends and all souls get devoured.

Plus, it would be a massive curve ball from the author when the whole audience is expecting a save, which is always fun. :smallamused:

So assuming that the Snarl isn't going to devour all the souls, and is not a threat to all creation and that gets revealed here when we still have more than one book worth of stuff remaining, then what? That leaves Team Evil without an evil plan. I mean there would still be a story I guess in the sense that it's still Roy vs. Xykon, but we would pretty much back to where we were in book 1, with Xykon just sitting on his throne waiting for some heroes to show up. (I mean we would be back further than that in a sense. Xykon had an evil plan with the Gates going at the time. We as the readers just didn't know about it yet. In this hypothetical Xykon wouldn't even have a plan). That would be a massive deescalation.

I mean I think there's more to the Snarl than what we know at this point in time. I just don't think it's going to be revealed in the next twenty strips or so.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

If Hel wins the next scene is the order all sitting on a cloud together singing alway look on the bright side of life death the end of the world as we know it.

That's all there is to it. Not going to happen. It's an anticlimax at the wrong point in the story, with too few of the right people present.

Durkula might get killed and Durkon raised, but honestly I'm thinking Durkula will just be deafeated temporarily at the end of his chain of plans here (with the help of a living breathing non-undead Belkar) and will get away to be part of the villainous plot pile-up at the end of the next book. Now maybe there we could get an anticlimax. I don't see Rich as the type to do that, to let years of story buildup end in an unsatisfying joke ending, but it could happen. But not here, not now.

(The only semi-good reason to think of that Belkar would die here (and for aome reason not get raised by the army of high priests) is to signal that **** just got serious. And we had that scene after Durkon was vampirized and they destroyed the second last gate.)

[DavidBV]

Maybe the world's destruction takes a certain time, let's say 1 day, and that will be the next 400 strips.

[Kantaki]

Maybe the world's destruction takes a certain time, let's say 1 day, and that will be the next 400 strips.

According to Loki ten to fifteen minutes are the maximum time the end of the world should take.

Now, what happens if Hel wins? End of the world aside? Elan get's a refund from the Oracle because it gave him a wrong prophecy.

[Pyrous]

According to Loki ten to fifteen minutes are the maximum time the end of the world should take.

Now, what happens if Hel wins? End of the world aside? Elan get's a refund from the Oracle because it gave him a wrong prophecy.

Good luck getting that refund. Or spending it. :smalltongue:

[Kantaki]

Good luck getting that refund. Or spending it. :smalltongue:

I never said it would be easy - or useful - just that Elan would get one.:smallbiggrin:

[Zmeoaice]

According to Loki ten to fifteen minutes are the maximum time the end of the world should take.

Now, what happens if Hel wins? End of the world aside? Elan get's a refund from the Oracle because it gave him a wrong prophecy.

Hey everyone getting saved from oblivion is a happy ending!

[Porthos]

As always:

This (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0326.html) and this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0571.html) would seem to preclude the world being destroyed anytime soon. :smallsmile:


Hey everyone getting saved from oblivion is a happy ending!

*insert Grumpy Cat "No" Pic HERE* :smallwink: