OOTS #1274 - The Discussion Thread

[Quinton250]

Why though? What's the point in having Eugene pretending to be Julia talking to Roy? What's the narrative importance of that? I know that this could be laying the groundwork for something, but I just can't see what that is. Having Julia game-planning with Roy makes a lot of sense as this is the run up to the end, but I can't see any reason for Eugene to be talking to Roy from his waiting room in the afterlife...

The blood oath was the catalyst for the story in this entire strip, it makes sense that we would circle back to it even if the stakes have become much higher since. While I don't think it's necessary to know exactly why the Giant chose to make Eugene pretend to be Julia right now to believe that it *is* Eugene that Roy is talking to, there are a few possibilities:

• The Giant intended the story to go one way when Roy vowed to no longer speak to Eugene and has since changed course, this is a way to bring Eugene back in contact with Roy.

• The Giant wants Eugene to come to respect Roy and trust in him to know how to deal with the world ending threat at hand, rather than have him show up after Roy saves the world with a "Thanks, I guess you weren't as useless as I thought". By pretending to be Julia, he is forced to talk to Roy in a (slightly) more loving way to maintain the ruse, and Roy speaks to him thinking he is Julia. This allows Eugene to see what a healthy relationship could look like for him, and also leads to him having open conversations with Roy that allow him to see how capable and intelligent he is. In the future, there could be a moment where Roy looks to Julia for advice and "Julia" responds by revealing she is Eugene and saying he trusts Roy to do what's right.

• The complete opposite could be true, and Eugene is selfish til the end. Perhaps "Julia" nixes a viable idea for dealing with Xykon because it would only take him off the board rather than defeating him (getting pulled into the world within the Snarl for example). Roy realizes it was Eugene he was talking to, changes course, and the day is saved but Eugene remains locked out of the afterlife. While Roy survives the battle, he is unsure if he will be allowed back into the afterlife when he dies because this time around he won't be able to say he did everything in his power to end the blood oath. Roy is okay the fact that he would have been better off staying dead the first time because he isn't as selfish as his dad.