OOTS #998 - The Discussion Thread

[dtilque]

Hey, remember Loki was the one with enough common sense to NOT taunt the god-killing abomination.

Loki knows a Happy Fun Ball when he sees one.

Also, are the gods just not commenting on the world inside the Snarl?

They may be unaware of it. The gods are not omniscient.

[Spoomeister]

I know there's variants on the expression '3 sides to every story', and that there has been for some time. But the title to 998 gave me a smile anyway because I'm a huge Babylon 5 fan (as you can tell by the screen name...) and I know Rich is too.

"Understanding is a three edged sword. My side, your side, and the truth." - JMS (well, explaining the quote... Kosh only said the first sentence in the show...)

[137beth]

Wow.


I suppose Loki speaking for the Keep-the-World party could be an indication that Thor might vote to destroy the world, which would validate several conjectures on the forums.

[Toper]

But if souls destroyed in the world's end move on to the afterlife, then it seems pretty clear Hel will be on the "destroy" side. That's a lot of souls she'd gain from ending the world...

That's a good point, and does seem to fit with her stated goal of bringing death and destruction to the world. And yet if the end of the world were really what she expected to bring about -- in mere minutes -- why would her high priest busy himself vampirizing random priests? It's hard to imagine them influencing the vote in any way, though I guess it's possible. My suspicion is that she views ending the world as a second-best option, just as the Dark One does. (Of course, it's also possible that the vampire priests are themselves the backup plan, in case the world survives.)

There's also the issue that this would be a rather convoluted way for Durkula to pursue simple world-destruction -- he could have just accompanied the Order on their original quest and figured out a way to blow the last Gate, guaranteeing that the gods would reboot the world at that point, rather than pushing them into this unlikely sidequest to the Godsmoot. I think Hel has some other idea, or at least an extra twist besides just wanting the reboot.

This also makes it pretty likely that the IFCC want the world destroyed, since that's perhaps the most predictable consequence of breaking gates, if they're up on divine politics and attitudes (which is not unlikely).

[Person_Man]

"In summary, Vote Loki 2016."

Why vote for a lesser evil?

[WickerNipple]

Total
Planet
Kill
#1000

[Spoomeister]

New comic is up.

Is the final speech bubble supposed to be yellow? I.e. she's channeling her deity saying that voting should start? We hadn't seen her cast Proxie herself.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

I totally understand Wrecan's anger and shock at Roy knowing about the gates.

What a harsh revelation for him. Imagine learning that our world was to be destroyed.

I also like how his first thought is, "My wife and kids are on the world".

[Ghost Nappa]

New comic is up.

Is Loki supposed to be breaking the fourth wall by using the real year instead of the in-comic year?

[DR27]

Is Loki supposed to be breaking the fourth wall by using the real year instead of the in-comic year?

Sure seems that way

[Grey Pilgrim]

Wonderful update, Giant!

Great to see the Shojo scene through the new art perspective!

Also, the High Priest of Loki is an emo halfling?? Who'd have thought?

Edit: Also also, is that Natalie Dormer?

Agreed on all of the above.
I was kinda surprised how many new female bodyguards appeared - and they all look badass, including what must be Natalie.

Also, I totally guessed right the HP of Heimdall (even without any Marvel knowledge. I hate that some !*%@/ comic company can go ruining my religion by turning my gods into ☼*!◄% 'superheroes' and... where was I? Oh, nevermind.)
On the other hand the priest of Loki I guessed wrong.
And there are some new faces for the list here:
-the short brown haired woman, previously seen only from the back (no idea of her deity)
-the halfling who does not have the heart (no idea of his deity)
-the greenclad old small-sized lady. My 2gp say that she is the HP of Baldr, as she seems to have a circlet of mistletoe.

In traditional Norse Mythology the souls Hel collects are her army for Ragnarok.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, nowhere in Eddas is there stated that Hel participates actively in Ragnarok. She does help with building of the Naglfar by providing material support, yet while her siblings go and unleash hell (no pun intended), her role is not described. Also the great enemy army is composed primarily of the people of Muspellheim and not of 'unworthy dead'.

[Mad Humanist]

Is Loki supposed to be breaking the fourth wall by using the real year instead of the in-comic year?

US election

[Jadzia Dax]

If Heimdall is telling the truth and they'll all move on to their afterlives--and the Snarl is what we've been told it is--then I have to go with him on this. No point risking the annihilation of anymore souls.

But then what happens? The Order dies, so do all their enemies, so does everyone else, end of story? To quote Tarquin....
YOU GET BACK HERE AND GIVE THIS STORY A SATISFYING CONCLUSION THIS INSTANT! And what happens to Elan's prophesised "happy ending"? I get the feeling the Oracle didn't mean heaven. What happens to the other timeslots V still owes the (demon, devil, daemon)s? We still don't know what that world in the rift is! Too many unfinished things. In the normal world, I'd agree but this is a story! I don't expect "and-they-all-lived-happily-ever-after-the-end" but come on.

[Snails]

I know there's variants on the expression '3 sides to every story', and that there has been for some time. But the title to 998 gave me a smile anyway because I'm a huge Babylon 5 fan (as you can tell by the screen name...) and I know Rich is too.

Sheridan put together the second half, of course. Yay, Rich!

[Mad Humanist]

I totally understand Wrecan's anger and shock at Roy knowing about the gates.

What a harsh revelation for him. Imagine learning that our world was to be destroyed.

I also like how his first thought is, "My wife and kids are on the world".

Wrecan is ascended to OOTSland. His family remained behind.

[Fitzclowningham]

What I like about this strip is that it confirms that the gods knew about the rifts and the gates the entire time - they just decided to let the mortals try to handle it.

Can we assume the gods would know about the OotS as well, since they were directly responsible for the destruction of 2 of the 4 gates?

[Zelest]

There is one other thing to consider, and one question to ask based on that thing.
Before they arrived at the Godsmoot, Durkula was researching a spell. That much we know. But what spell did he research? It stands to reason that he could lie to Roy about the spell, but the true question is: Did he?
If he did not that means, if he indeed was researching Protection from Daylight, then Hel's plans go beyond the Godsmoot, and as such she will not allow the gods to vote yes (by either wiping out all the high priests or just by casting her vote on no). That is simply because Hel's High Priest would not waste time researching spell he could do without, and would rather spend his time preparing for the moot (summoning demons, vampirizing Belkar, those things).
If Durkula DID lie to Roy, then we still don't have any information. He could be researching Express Vampirism, so he wouldn't be reliant on the staff. He could be researching something like Mass Life Ward to protect his army of vampires from healing magic. We simply do not know :D

[Gift Jeraff]

Is Loki supposed to be breaking the fourth wall by using the real year instead of the in-comic year?

No, it's just a random number.

[Peelee]

This strip had enough words already.

Well, at least Roy didn't get them kicked out of the place. That might end up mattering.



I, for one, look forward to the extended monologues in this comic. So many witty asides. <3

I was about to say the same thing. I mean, nothing-but-wall-o-text comics (like a few of the 8-Bit Theater ones were) I dislike, but I tend to really enjoy text-heavy back-and-forth between characters.

Then again, my favorite shows are Columbo and Law and Order, so I really like character-driven, dialogue-heavy character studies.

[Gusion]

New comic is up.

If Loki is the one defending your argument, it probably isn't a very good argument.

But I guess it does make Roy's sound better in comparison.

[theNater]

That's a good point, and does seem to fit with her stated goal of bringing death and destruction to the world. And yet if the end of the world were really what she expected to bring about -- in mere minutes -- why would her high priest busy himself vampirizing random priests?

If I remember right, when a dwarf is vampirized, Hel creates an evil spirit to take them over. I'd guess that when the world ends and the souls of the living go to their various afterlives, those evil spirits will return to Hel's halls. So each dwarf vampirized is another servitor in her domain. Not super-valuable, but it doesn't cost her anything, either.

[dancrilis]

I don't have the heart to tell him the gods can only hear each other

.

This had me laughing I will admit, though I think Roy is overly optimistic about his and the high priests chances against Xykon.

[theasl]

I wonder why everyone's afraid to say "Snarl".

Err on the side of caution. Information blackout is still in effect, so far as we know.

Or the gods never bothered to name the thing. It's very possible that "Snarl" was only the name given to it by the Order of the Scribble, who discovered it on their own.

[stsasser]

Awesome plot move, Giant.

[Father Miles]

Well, I never thought things would move along this quickly...

It's interesting that this strip addressed almost every point/question raised in the discussion thread for #997. Either the Giant is really really good at anticipating reader questions or this seems freshly written. Good stuff. (Specifically, the dispute over whether peoples' souls would be saved is addressed, although the issue of all the Dwarves possibly going to Hel is not; Veldrina didn't know; the reason is because of the Gates; etc).

Speculative possibility: The various clerics are going to do the same summon proxy for voting. This could leave them vulnerable to Durkon's attack. If he disrupts the vote perhaps it cannot take effect.

Speculative possibility #2: Belkar returns and disrupts the vote, possibly in a bad way.

Speculative possibility #3: The vote to destroy the world is taken, but somehow the gods aren't successful due to interference from the rifts/Snarl.

[Gift Jeraff]

Or the gods never bothered to name the thing. It's very possible that "Snarl" was only the name given to it by the Order of the Scribble, who discovered it on their own.

Redcloak also calls it the Snarl, despite learning of it from the Crimson Mantle which got the info from the Dark One who was told about it by several evil gods. EDIT: Although a previous Bearer encountered the Order of the Scribble. Maybe they picked up the name from them?

[Snails]

If I remember right, when a dwarf is vampirized, Hel creates an evil spirit to take them over. I'd guess that when the world ends and the souls of the living go to their various afterlives, those evil spirits will return to Hel's halls. So each dwarf vampirized is another servitor in her domain. Not super-valuable, but it doesn't cost her anything, either.

She finally gets one proper worshipper in this second world. And now the gods are going to end this game on move onto the third. Poor Hel!

[ManuelSacha]

"That was not the stirring defense of the sanctity of life I'd been hoping for."
That made me laugh.

Still, Loki gets my vote.
He almost sounds like a D&D player voting against moving on to a new campaign/setting.
Now, if I could only figure out what the 2016 stands for...

[AbyssStalker]

It might be safe to assume the gods know much more on the matter than the mortals do, but didn't Shojo mention the world being a LOCK for the Snarl? The gods' demeanor does not seem to indicate this, but that said they might intend to create the new world ASAP to serve as a new lock, what if the Snarl does something crazy like shunt his world into the space before the gods can create theirs?

P.S. My opinion in summary, NEITHER plan is safe, but in a tactical appraisal having mortals alive to help deal with any snags for what will occur is in fact SAFER than the alternative (especially when it has been theorized that they, are more resistant to the snarl than gods).

Vote Loki 2016

[zinycor]

HEY!

NORTHERN GODS! Check your damn calendars! We use in-comic years around here, and the in-comic year is 1185! (-ish!)

Damn Gods never remembering to keep that fourth wall built in their creations...

A trickster god can break the 4th wall without any problem