If the world was undone...

[ghoul-n]

...wouldn't it free Snarl right away?

Was just browsing through the old strips, and #275 explicitly says that the current world was built around it as, to quote V, "a padlock on the jailhouse door of reality".

So, errr. We've also seen from these backstory strips that creating a world actually takes some time and coordination from all the gods involved.

Also, that Snarl basically has destroyed the whole Eastern Pantheon in few rounds (killing two gods just in the first one).

So... huh?

Sorry if that was discussed before, just curious.

[Peelee]

...wouldn't it free Snarl right away?

Was just browsing through the old strips, and #275 explicitly says that the current world was built around it as, to quote V, "a padlock on the jailhouse door of reality".

So, errr. We've also seen from these backstory strips that creating a world actually takes some time and coordination from all the gods involved.

Also, that Snarl basically has destroyed the whole Eastern Pantheon in few rounds (killing two gods just in the first one).

So... huh?

Sorry if that was discussed before, just curious.

V - and even Shojo - does not have a complete understanding of the situation. Most likely scenario, the padlock analogy is fine for understanding the basic situation, but probably lacks certain nuances that would better explain it.

Like, if I was telling a five-year-old about how water moves, I'd probably leave out surface tension. Bad analogy, but it's all I can think of right now.

[PallentisLunam]

I would hypothesize that the gods could begin recreating the material plane quickly enough to prevent the snarl from causing any problems. Or at the very least they believe that to be the case.

[factotum]

The Snarl probably *would* escape straight away, but by that point everyone on the world is dead and gone to their eternal rest and the gods are hiding in their outer plane homes again (just like they did before), so what's the danger? The Snarl doesn't seem to be able to shift planes, or else the world wouldn't be an effective prison for it.

[Kantaki]

Considering Loki seems to think they have at least 15 minutes for a new vote until the Snarl emerges when the last gate falls - and no one called him out on this estimation - I think it is save to say that there will be enough time to rebuild the world. I mean the whole thing would be pretty pointless otherwise.
Besides, I'm pretty sure there is a difference between "undoing the world and weave a new one" and "the fabric of reality unravels because of holes in it" Snarl-awakening-wise.

[hroþila]

It's a controlled demolition. The gods just need to make sure they set up some safety measures first (say, using the outermost threads of reality to build a temporary cage or whatever). There are countless ways we could imagine this to work, so the specifics aren't important.

[PallentisLunam]

It was specifically called out that the snarl is incapable of comprehending systems of order... so the inability to formulate plans and strategies is likely.

[NerdyKris]

The gods already know that they can hide in the outer planes and remake the world. They've done it once already. And according to Loki, it's not something the Snarl will see immediately. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0998.html) Even those strips you linked show them weaving reality around the Snarl without it noticing. They aren't planning on standing in front of it shouting "Hey, over here!" if they go with remaking the world.


It's a controlled demolition. The gods just need to make sure they set up some safety measures first (say, using the outermost threads of reality to build a temporary cage or whatever). There are countless ways we could imagine this to work, so the specifics aren't important.

Mostly because it isn't likely to come up in the comic. There's almost zero chance of the world actually being destroyed, unless there's some sort of "reincarnate every soul immediately and without having PTSD from dying" plan put forth. First because it would completely negate the protagonists role in the story, and second because that would be incredibly bleak to count as Elan's happy ending.

[axus]

I thought Snarl was made from the threads of reality, so destroying reality would destroy the Snarl too, and they could try again to do it without making a Snarl.

[PallentisLunam]

Snarl is made from the threads of creation but it doesn't seem to be as simple as unraveling him. He survived one recreation already.

[Kantaki]

I thought Snarl was made from the threads of reality, so destroying reality would destroy the Snarl too, and they could try again to do it without making a Snarl.

If building a new world would unravel the Snarl it would already be dealt with. And someone would have mentioned it by now, but everyone talks about rebuilding its prison. On the other hand it was born from the strife during the creation of World 1.0. Thus the destruction of World 2.0 and the creation of World 3.0 shouldn't affect it even if it would work.

[Kish]

It is, of course, entirely possible that the gods' reliance on the Snarl being unable to learn or develop beyond the simplistic form of intelligence it demonstrated in its first attack is horribly misguided and, if the world was actually destroyed, the gods would shortly follow it, screaming "It's not supposed to be able to do that!"

[Mad Humanist]

Can the gods really be sure the Snarl has not learnt from the experience and will have its own plans? Some semblance of consciousness may have emerged even in a creature of pure chaos.

[KorvinStarmast]

It was specifically called out that the snarl is incapable of comprehending systems of order... so the inability to formulate plans and strategies is likely.

That's what the Snarl wants you to think (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20527552&postcount=19).

[Mad Humanist]

That's what the Snarl wants you to think (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20527552&postcount=19).

How long before it is revealed that the Snarl is behind every conspiracy from 9/11 to the Moon landings?

[Mandor]

It is, of course, entirely possible that the gods' reliance on the Snarl being unable to learn or develop beyond the simplistic form of intelligence it demonstrated in its first attack is horribly misguided and, if the world was actually destroyed, the gods would shortly follow it, screaming "It's not supposed to be able to do that!"

Thank you. Someone had to post that. I mean, OK, storyline wise, I don't see all creation being ended by the Snarl and it munching down the gods and the souls of mortals like a big bag of cheetos. In theory that could happen, but the likelihood is that the author doesn't intend that.

Still. As point of fact, just because a character in the story gives backstory on the Snarl, in no way guarantees that to be true. The character may honestly believe it, but they may be horribly mistaken. Everything Shojo said about the Snarl and the order of the scribble should be filed under "probably true", but not "carved on a stone tablet true". And even what the GODS say, *could* be wrong. They have more direct experience with the Snarl, true, but that's not saying much. They saw it first awaken, saw it tear up Zeus and the Eastern Gods, and fled for the Outer Planes with Iron Maiden's Run To the Hills cranked up to volume 11, where they then cowered for a few eons before re-trapping the Snarl.

That's not much basis for a definite evaluation of what it may or may not be capable of. It could have been like an infant before and now either an adolescent or an adult now, with much more awareness and capacity to plan and anticipate action / reaction. Or, maybe, the gods are still right and it's just an unaware being of chaos. But NONE of them, not the gods themselves, should be tooooo certain of their knowledge, from that one single encounter.

[Rift_Wolf]

How long before it is revealed that the Snarl is behind every conspiracy from 9/11 to the Moon landings?

It's seems 'everything we know is wrong' is a default setting for the Snarl. So far I've seen nothing in-comic that utterly refutes the Scribble story. Some things that make it seem like an incomplete telling, and certainly one that omits unfavourable details about Soon and his motivations, but not an entire Platos Cave revelation.

[NerdyKris]

The world in the rift directly contradicts the image of the Snarl literally tearing apart the planet in Shojo's story. That's a pretty big indication that something else happened.

[PallentisLunam]

Well it's an indication that we clearly don't know exactly what's going on, and Soon/the order of the scribble probably didn't either.

[Rift_Wolf]

The world in the rift directly contradicts the image of the Snarl literally tearing apart the planet in Shojo's story. That's a pretty big indication that something else happened.

The assumption I made (which might turn out to be wrong) is that the Snarl is made up of threads of creation. What would threads of creation look like to a human? What would the Marie Rose look like to a termite?
So far all we've seen through the rifts are incongruous bits. Admittedly, we've not had much time to study, but the planet and sea might be parts of the Snarl; stray threads of creation that humans perceive differently.

[dps]

My take is that if the world were destroyed, yes, the Snarl would be released from its prison, but since there'd no longer be a world for it to be released into, it would basically just be released into a void. And then the gods could re-weave the threads of reality around it to make a new world and imprison it again, pretty much at their leisure.