Zencao's first theory thread! [UBER SPOILERAGE]

[Zencao]

I've been looking through alot of theory threads lately on the development that roy has been dead for 3 and a half months, and they're all quite good, however...

I believe there are two possibilities as to what will happen next.

The first, and most likely, but therefore LEAST likely (explanation later) that we get some sort of "3 and a half months later..." comic series after some more time in celestia.

But that is expected, and if I believe one thing about the good ole giant, it's that he does alot of unexpected things. Or atleast putting an original spin on things.

Now from a literary standpoint, he has no option OTHER than the "3 and a half months earlier" choice, he has simply left too many things hinging on events right after we left off with the rest of the order, such as redcloak, xykon, the gob-ninja, haley and belkar, elan v and durkon etc all have too much going on right now (or before) to gloss over without going back and going into detail.

Now, he's written himself into a corner, the gods of literacy DEMAND he explain these plot points in a "3 and a half months earlier..." series. The problem with this of course is that the audience will KNOW what will happen, roy will not be rez'd until ATLEAST 3 and a half months later, so the order will either stay separate or lose roy. And this sort of ruins a lot of twists, for example.

Say haley and belkar where running and about to catch up with durkon and the others, roy's body in tow, the audience KNOWS at least sub-consciously that something will happen that will prevent them from meeting, or something will make them lose roy's body. Thus, the twist is ruined.

Now as you may know, he can't avoid going back into the past. But that's all reliant on one thing. And thats that the writer has been honest.

Or rather, that grandpa greenhilt and roy's archon have been honest.
Sick joke? Cosmic level-mistake? Pick what you will but something tells me that it hasn't really been 3 and a half months. "But that would never happen!" "No chance!" I hear you shout, but Rich has manipulated us all before, I wouldn't put it past him doing it again. And if I'm right, that means that he can keep the twists/plot suspense filled, no ending given away, no sure outcomes.

There's my first poorly written and ill-thought probably wrong theory, be gentle :smalleek:

[Icewalker]

I, and probably many others, have already considered that. I think this is too good of a plot point to be a joke. Then again, it is certainly possible.

[Kish]

Or rather, that grandpa greenhilt and roy's archon have been honest.
Sick joke? Cosmic level-mistake? Pick what you will but something tells me that it hasn't really been 3 and a half months. "But that would never happen!" "No chance!" I hear you shout, but Rich has manipulated us all before, I wouldn't put it past him doing it again. And if I'm right, that means that he can keep the twists/plot suspense filled, no ending given away, no sure outcomes.

There's my first poorly written and ill-thought probably wrong theory, be gentle :smalleek:
Rich has certainly surprised me, but I can't think of anywhere where I'd say he's manipulated us, as such. I'm curious about what you're thinking of.

Oh, and I'll be amazed if it turns out Roy has not, in fact, been dead for three and a half months.

[Yoritomo Himeko]

I, and probably many others, have already considered that. I think this is too good of a plot point to be a joke. Then again, it is certainly possible.

Well, here's my theory, don't worry, there isn't anything "spoilerly".

I think #500 will have things radically different, everything's all crazy, mixed up and doesn't make any sense. And then the next few strips will show how everything got that way.

[†Seer†]

Now, he's written himself into a corner, the gods of literacy DEMAND he explain these plot points in a "3 and a half months earlier..." series. The problem with this of course is that the audience will KNOW what will happen, roy will not be rez'd until ATLEAST 3 and a half months later, so the order will either stay separate or lose roy. And this sort of ruins a lot of twists, for example.

Say haley and belkar where running and about to catch up with durkon and the others, roy's body in tow, the audience KNOWS at least sub-consciously that something will happen that will prevent them from meeting, or something will make them lose roy's body. Thus, the twist is ruined.


What if the Order kept Roy's body, reunited....and decided they didn't really want to res him? Belk would see it as an opportunity to be as evil as he wishes, Haley would see it as more loot for her, Vaarsuvius would probably be against it at first, but could be persuaded, and they might just ignore Elan.
After writing all that...I'm not sure how Durkon could be convinced. That's up to you guys to decide :)

[Zencao]

I, and probably many others, have already considered that.

:smallfrown: Well that's ruined everything now :smallfrown:


Rich has certainly surprised me, but I can't think of anywhere where I'd say he's manipulated us, as such.

Well surprising someone in fiction is manipulating them into believing one thing will happen, then having something different happen. Like when Roy was falling , most thought that with all that build up he would make it just in time (and don't forget the main character shield) and when haley shot at redloak ("3 panels just watching the arrows! It was totally dramatic!").

So not manipulated per se :p

[NikkTheTrick]

And then the next few strips will show how everything got that way.
Given how messed up the situation is, I would expect "few" to be 50 strips:smalltongue:

[Lord]

What if the Order kept Roy's body, reunited....and decided they didn't really want to res him? Belk would see it as an opportunity to be as evil as he wishes, Haley would see it as more loot for her, Vaarsuvius would probably be against it at first, but could be persuaded, and they might just ignore Elan.
After writing all that...I'm not sure how Durkon could be convinced. That's up to you guys to decide :)

It'll never happen, V's speech about loyalty when Roy didn't want to rescue Elan shows it he would have to be a complete hypocrite to NOT try to ressurect Roy, Durkon would NEVER be that disloyal for proof read Origin of PC's, Belker doesn't want to be lugging around a corpse for the rest of his life {Hinjo would not remove the Mark after such a monstrous act.}, and Haley freaked out when Roy died, and Elan do you really think he would ever want to not ressurect Roy.

[kabbor]

Note that we are not sure that Roy will be rezzed. All we are sure of is that it is not done in the first 102 days. Rich will tell us why, and probablly in an awesome manner as always.

Plenty of room for suspense. Why, here we are, all hanging off the rafters, waiting for 499. (That strip 499 may well begin with 3.5 months earlier - Roy can stay hanging over the water like that for a few months. And gramp's special wizard-destroying feat is a bigger plot point than many people think...)

[Oberon]

Rich doesn;t necessarily have to show us what happened in the months of Roy's absense. We could suddenly rejoin the order 3 months later and only learn what might have happened in the previous few months by hints contained within the dialogue. In fact, very little could have happened aside from losing Roy's body, and therefore those months weren't worth showing. Maybe Haley and Belkar have been in hiding and the rest of the order have been trying to find them unsuccessfully.

Roy could be rezz'd and reunited with the order only to find them in a state of chaos and have them explain briefly what happenned. Or maybe Roy will find a celestial viewing window and watch the order, unsure as to what has happened. Many possibilities, and not all of them include a flashback sequence.

I think the story will continue to center around Roy, or be shown from Roys point of view, as he really is the central character.

[David Argall]

Roy will not be raised. Or rather, he will raise himself.

499 will show Roy finding the party is in dire straights [tho we may not see just how] and then there will be some running around to try to find a way for Roy to save them. Some idea will come forward and Roy will try it, and ...
Suddenly we are back to 3 months earlier.

The idea of just hints of the last 100 days won't do at all. We have had too many loose ends shoved in our face. We want to know what that spell was, how Haley & Belkar got out of the city, what happened to O-chul, what B&R voice is up to... No. This has got to be 50 pages.

[heroe_de_leyenda]

I think that when we FINALLY leave Roy for a moment, we will see the rest of the party in the present, not 3 and a half months ago. Some strips will slowly let us know what's going on right now and after a while there will be a couple of (or maybe 40 strips!) flashback strips.

[Alysar]

Well, here's my theory, don't worry, there isn't anything "spoilerly".

I think #500 will have things radically different, everything's all crazy, mixed up and doesn't make any sense. And then the next few strips will show how everything got that way.

You mean like the world has suddenly switched from D&D to, say, Shadowrun?

[†Seer†]

You mean like the world has suddenly switched from D&D to, say, Shadowrun?

Got it in one, shweetheart. [/HumphreyBogart]
I guess in the end it could go any of many ways... and we shall have to wait patiently. *goes back to pushing F5 every three seconds*

[factotum]

I think there are dozens of ways this could go without any sort of "will they or won't they". For a start, Rich has done this before--he did the whole of Elan's escape from Cliffport as a flashback, and we knew while reading it that Elan was eventually going to reach Azure City and crash through the window on Nale and Haley, because we'd seen it happen! It didn't stop the suspense, though, because we wanted to SEE how it happened. (OK, we also wanted to see why Elan looked completely different than he had done, but that could apply with a "three months earlier" flashback too).

[Kish]

What if the Order kept Roy's body, reunited....and decided they didn't really want to res him? Belk would see it as an opportunity to be as evil as he wishes, Haley would see it as more loot for her, Vaarsuvius would probably be against it at first, but could be persuaded, and they might just ignore Elan.
After writing all that...I'm not sure how Durkon could be convinced. That's up to you guys to decide :)
What if Xykon suddenly decided that instead of ruling the world, he wanted to start a home for abandoned puppies and never hurt anyone again?

It would fit as well.

[BisectedBrioche]

Maybe Roy'll wake up and 1hp and realise he's been dreaming, having been knocked out by the fall and stablising at -9.

[Mad Mask]

Maybe Roy'll wake up and 1hp and realise he's been dreaming, having been knocked out by the fall and stablising at -9.

Not really, since he has X in his eyes.

[Lavidor]

Maybe it will only be hints and the full sequence will be released in a "bonus" boo.

[Roderick_BR]

Hmm... My theory:

Flashbacks gallore. Roy will meet the rest of the group, and they'll fill him on what happened thus far.

[Zencao]

I think there are dozens of ways this could go without any sort of "will they or won't they". For a start, Rich has done this before--he did the whole of Elan's escape from Cliffport as a flashback, and we knew while reading it that Elan was eventually going to reach Azure City and crash through the window on Nale and Haley, because we'd seen it happen! It didn't stop the suspense, though, because we wanted to SEE how it happened. (OK, we also wanted to see why Elan looked completely different than he had done, but that could apply with a "three months earlier" flashback too).

I didn't think that arc was suspense driven, but more comedy driven?

[BisectedBrioche]

Not really, since he has X in his eyes.

I was joking.

[Askaris]

Some things which might happen:


1) Roy was resurrected, but it's the wrong soul in the body. (Economy resurrection spells, anyone?)

2) The old reliable failsafe, parallel universes.

3) It's a part of the blood oath thing: Roy has to decide between not being resurrected, or being removed from paradise until Xykon is defeated.

4) He was enjoying himself so much, he never heard the call. (Like his brother.)

[Wych]

I am curious as to why he can't keep an eye on his party anyway, like Eugene came to speak to him. Eugene could only do it while Roy has his sword on him, well now Haley has Roy's sword, could Roy go and ask what is going on?

[factotum]

I didn't think that arc was suspense driven, but more comedy driven?

Maybe, but there was still opportunity for plot development, which is the point I was making. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was desperately trying to figure out how Elan had escaped from Cliffport and made it to Azure City (not to mention why he somehow seemed a lot more belligerent than previously).

[Goofy]

Rich already sucessfully pulled of a "[some amount of time] earlier" strip while maintaining humor, suspense and surprise so I doubt he'll fail if he does it again.

[Crimson Avenger]

darn it! I wanted to be the one to voice the "didn't hear the call" theory

[Soups]

Well, I do believe that, traditionaly, the planes in which souls go to are timeless. They go slower than the other planes. It would be hard to notice things happening maybe. It doesn't look like there are places to look at the living realm like there were in the could waiting area.

Since Rich isn't afraid to use PrCs, maybe Roy might take one up himself. It is probably something horrible for Roy to to, but he could come back as a risen martyr. Unless Durkon finds a true ressurection spell or hires one, Roy seems to be stuck.