Some thoughts on the Snarl

[unbeliever536]

So, we've been given some pretty heavy signals that the Snarl is not exactly what we were told in the Crayons of Time story. There's the whole business of the world in the rift, and there's also the fact that the Snarl, whatever it is, doesn't do anything at all until Laurin starts scanning the ocean (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0945.html). Even in flashbacks (with one exception), I don't think we've ever seen the Snarl "attack" anything that wasn't actively interacting with either the original world or the rifts. The gods are all tugging on the threads right up until it attacks the Eastern Pantheon (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0273.html), Mijung is examining the rift (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0275.html) (possibly with magic, although that isn't shown or clearly stated), the Order of the Scribble are sealing the rifts (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0276.html), and of course Laurin is doing her scan.


The priest of the Dark One who found the rift in SoD was also stated to be experimenting on it, as I recall.


The exception is the population of the original world, which it is described as having destroyed (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0274.html). I'll come to this in a moment.

The thought which has just occurred to me now is that the Snarl might in fact be some sort of natural (well, supernatural) hazard, rather than a malevolent entity. I think it could be a hazard that exists due to the fragility of World 1.0, without being a malevolent entity. In this interpretation, it would basically just be a pile of metaphorical broken glass: fairly dangerous, but not out to get anyone. The Eastern Gods were simply in some sense "close enough" to World 1.0 that they were killed as it began to fall apart; the population of that world was destroyed as the world collapsed.

If this is correct, it makes even more sense that the gods don't want knowledge of the Snarl spreading around (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0999.html) - the Snarl is an even more effective weapon against the gods if it's completely passive, and can essentially just be thrown at them.

Another possibility that occurs to me as I write this up: things make even more sense if the Snarl is in fact a weapon created by the gods for fighting their conflicts, which somehow got out of hand - essentially a metaphorical nuclear bomb. This explains why they have all of these treaties (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0954.html) and agreements (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1083.html) dividing up who has control over what aspects of reality in what regions, and how much they're allowed to affect the world, and makes clear why they'd be reluctant to tell the Dark One, a new god with nothing to lose and quite a bit to gain, about the workings (or even the existence) of the Snarl, especially if the Snarl is in fact something he could just create by himself.

[D.One]

Another possibility that occurs to me as I write this up: things make even more sense if the Snarl is in fact a weapon created by the gods for fighting their conflicts, which somehow got out of hand - essentially a metaphorical nuclear bomb. This explains why they have all of these treaties (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0954.html) and agreements (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1083.html) dividing up who has control over what aspects of reality in what regions, and how much they're allowed to affect the world, and makes clear why they'd be reluctant to tell the Dark One, a new god with nothing to lose and quite a bit to gain, about the workings (or even the existence) of the Snarl, especially if the Snarl is in fact something he could just create by himself.

Don't think the Snarl is something the Dark One could create himself; if so, he could simply try to create one instead of going with the much more convoluted path of developing a ritual that must be performed by a high level cleric and a high level wizard to move the gate and use it as a possible blackmail.

On the other hand, I agree that the snarl seems to be, as of now, more responding to interference than actively attacking whenever it can.

[unbeliever536]

Don't think the Snarl is something the Dark One could create himself; if so, he could simply try to create one instead of going with the much more convoluted path of developing a ritual that must be performed by a high level cleric and a high level wizard to move the gate and use it as a possible blackmail.


I was saying it might be something he could, in theory, create himself (but he doesn't know this fact), rather than something he could create himself that he has chosen not to. The idea only works if the Dark One is acting on limited information as well.

[ThatNickGuy]

I don't have any evidence to back it up, but my running theory is the Snarl is, in fact, The Dark One. The only thought I had was they have similar colour schemes.

[thereaper]

I don't have any evidence to back it up, but my running theory is the Snarl is, in fact, The Dark One. The only thought I had was they have similar colour schemes.

No, the Snarl is clearly Thog. They're both beings of pure chaos that lash out violently when provoked. That's why Thog's pants turned purple (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0387.html). It's a hint!

[martianmister]

Dark One is an avatar of Snarl. It's my headcanon.

[Potatomade]

On the other hand, I agree that the snarl seems to be, as of now, more responding to interference than actively attacking whenever it can.

If it turns out that the Snarl really is just reacting to other people's interference, I hope that the story ends with Elan putting up a "please don't bother the Snarl" sign in front of each Rift and calling it a day.

[KorvinStarmast]

If it turns out that the Snarl really is just reacting to other people's interference, I hope that the story ends with Elan putting up a "please don't bother the Snarl" sign in front of each Rift and calling it a day. Signs like that are a near guarantee that someone will bother the Snarl. See also "keep off the grass" and "no parking" signs. :smallcool:

[PopeLinus1]

The Order of the Stick are weapons created by the snarl, not to destroy the gods but rather to prevent Xykon or Redcloak from controlling the Snarl, if only by delaying them. it will reveal that and then in rapid succession that he was created by the Greek Gods as a weapon and everyone he ever killed was killed to prevent people from using his power to destroy the world. The gates are actually making things worse because they allow others to attempt to control them. Everyone he kills is in self defense, or barring that an attempt to prevent worse things from happening.
The Western pantheon created him as a weapon,
He didn’t actually disroy the past world. The gods did, when he showed up there. He has since then tried to rebuild
He was actually trying to murder Soon, not his wife as (known through divination) Soon would help create the Gates later.
Kraggar’s death was meant to split up the scribble, which it allmost did.
Laurin was going to use the rift as a food source, unknown to her though, the water in ANOTHER REALITY isint perfectly safe for drinking and irrigation. It is still a noble goal, which is why she wasn’t immediately skewered, by the thing that killed the Gods in two rounds.
The unnamed soilder skewered by the snarl is actually one of Tarquin’s heirs (He has had almost a dozen wives, and I don’t even know how many Julio rescued. He probably has some more children.) who would one day take control of the empire and take advantage of the rift.
For all of the deaths, however, it is still unknown if there souls where destroyed, as its hard to find evidence either way.

[NecroDancer]

I like the idea that that the snarl is more of a divine hazard than a monster.

My theory is this...

World 1.0 was created but the gods messed it up by being too aggressive in its creation. World 1.0 collapse in on itself like a house of cards and a sort of "nuclear fallout/the snarl" is left behind. The western pantheon is killed by being too close to the snarl and the other gods made world 2.0 as sort of a lead container for the snarl.

Now that the gates are destroyed the snarl is leaking out of world 2.0. However I'd imagine creatures of world 2.0 have a resistance to the snarl from living on top of it for so long. This is way the order of the scribble could get close enough to the snarl to seal it away while the gods couldn't, the Dark One was created by the goblins of world 2.0 so he might have the same resistance as the mortals, meaning the Dark One could potentially handle the snarl and use it against the other gods.

[skim172]

I like the idea of the Snarl as a weapon. It would explain why the gods would be hesitant to reveal the truth to the mortals. They describe it like a sentient being that was accidentally spawned - when in fact, it was a machine that was intentionally designed by the gods to do exactly what it did. They just messed up and used it when they really shouldn't have.

Perhaps Stickworld 1.0 wasn't destroyed, but the weapon forced the gods to abandon it. Looking into the rift gives glimpses of the universe that existed - and still exists. But either the Snarl is programmed to kill all life it detects or something specific about Stickworld 2.0 denizens triggers its "kill everything" protocol when it senses them.

It does seem like the gods of Stickworld don't care particularly too much about whether the mortal plane is destroyed or the mortals live or die. It's much the same to them either way. So perhaps the idea of creating a weapon to actually wipe out reality isn't something that's beyond them.