Will Save World for Gold

[Anteros]

LOL, no! Ardon is pretty much a villain at this point. Or did you miss the totally unnecessary murder he just committed?

He means that Ardon is still the protagonist of the story.

[Celestia]

LOL, no! Ardon is pretty much a villain at this point. Or did you miss the totally unnecessary murder he just committed?

Yeah, hence the anti part of the name. I'm not saying he's a good guy; he's clearly evil. The important thing, however, is that he is working on the side of good. He does the right thing for the wrong reasons using the wrong methods. That's anti-hero, not villain.

[The Glyphstone]

He might be drifting from anti-hero into full-on Villain Protagonist before too long.

[JumboWheat01]

Well, that was sudden and blunt. At least he was honest about it, rather than evasive.

[Mabn]

Well, that was sudden and blunt. At least he was honest about it, rather than evasive.

Actually I loved today's comic mostly because Ardon was lying through his teeth. Because for him, that was honesty. The closest he ever gets to actually saying something true. And doing it was apparently a notable labor for him that will discourage him from doing it again. He set Odi up to fail, used that as an excuse to kill him more or less in cold blood, and then took off with some of dire's minions in order to sabotage 2 or 3 other things his teammates had shown a vested interest in because the opportunity presented itself and their having asked him not too apparently offended him. And he considers telling Eli that Odi died, it was his fault, and Ardon escaped while he had the chance to be putting himself out on a limb to be honest. Because that is the refreshingly horrible kind of sociopath Ardon is.

[Douglas]

Technically, everything he said was true, so he really was telling the truth. He just didn't tell the whole truth.

[Suvarium]

It's funny how even 45 looks surprised. I mean, how many times have we seen him with his brows raised?

[Anteros]

Actually I loved today's comic mostly because Ardon was lying through his teeth. Because for him, that was honesty. The closest he ever gets to actually saying something true. And doing it was apparently a notable labor for him that will discourage him from doing it again. He set Odi up to fail, used that as an excuse to kill him more or less in cold blood, and then took off with some of dire's minions in order to sabotage 2 or 3 other things his teammates had shown a vested interest in because the opportunity presented itself and their having asked him not too apparently offended him. And he considers telling Eli that Odi died, it was his fault, and Ardon escaped while he had the chance to be putting himself out on a limb to be honest. Because that is the refreshingly horrible kind of sociopath Ardon is.

I can't agree with most of this. Odie failed because he's painfully incompetent, not because Ardon set him up. He's been incompetent to the point of almost getting himself killed in almost every arc we've had, and this time it finally got him. There's also no interpretation of that situation where Ardon can be considered to be murdering him in cold blood. Murdering? Maybe. Cold blood? No.

Honestly, you can mount a pretty reasonable argument that the way he acted with Odie was understandable and forgivable. Odie has tried to either kill him or leave him to die multiple times now. When faced with a situation where only one of them could survive, I can understand what Ardon did. It's the complete lack of remorse that pushes it into sociopath territory.

Murdering Groffnar in cold blood and robbing his store after is a lot harder to justify though. He's definitely an evil little ****.

[eschmenk]

Murdering Groffnar in cold blood and robbing his store after is a lot harder to justify though. He's definitely an evil little ****.

And although we may have forgotten, he was one from the start. He was already called a "monster" on about the third update and before long he murdered a gnome and he also kicked a child in the face repeatedly.

[JumboWheat01]

Peanut bringing the feels in. What is it with Kobolds and their ability to bring forth strong emotions? (I'm looking at you Deekin, my sides still hurt from your antics and don't think I've forgotten about your display of loyalty.)

[dude123nice]

Yeah, hence the anti part of the name. I'm not saying he's a good guy; he's clearly evil. The important thing, however, is that he is working on the side of good. He does the right thing for the wrong reasons using the wrong methods. That's anti-hero, not villain.

Nothing Ardon has done in the last hundred strips has been the right thing. An anti hero is still a hero, Ardon is, as others have already pointed out, a villain protag at this point.

[Anteros]

Nothing Ardon has done in the last hundred strips has been the right thing. An anti hero is still a hero, Ardon is, as others have already pointed out, a villain protag at this point.

He helped take out Dire. That's got to be a net benefit for the world. I'm struggling to come up with anything else though for a long long time. He hasn't shown any "humanity" that I can think of since the first Dire arc where he went back for Peanut. Being betrayed by the party during his brother's arc really pushed him off the deep end.

He did save us from suffering through Odi for a while, so I thank him for that at least.

[wobner]

So is he going to accidently res groffnar instead? or will we get something like this

http://willsaveworldforgold.com/?p=2088

made out of the two?

[Magelyte]

I wonder if the fresh stains on Ardon's armor are from Odivallus or Groffnar? They might end up resurrecting Groffnar instead of Odivallus. If Odivallus is resurrected I think Chandea will end up joining the Sons of Solemnity. She was level eight when they fought the kidney pinchers, Glend was only level 9 and she could easily have gained a level since then.

[Anteros]

He's going to resurrect Odie. That's what makes the most sense for the plot moving forward. Also the guardian probably wouldn't have been so sad about Groffnar's death if it only lasted an hour.

[Emperor Time]

He's going to resurrect Odie. That's what makes the most sense for the plot moving forward. Also the guardian probably wouldn't have been so sad about Groffnar's death if it only lasted an hour.

I agree plus Odie can't stay dead for good until his story arc has been completed.

[Kantaki]

Well, whoever would get resurrected there, Ardon would be in trouble.
So I kinda expect he'll (try to) weasel his way out of this.
Hopefully unsuccessful.

[Anteros]

Do people who get dominated by the nightmare spirit necessarily realize what happened? Odie might not be fully aware what Ardon did.

[Celestia]

Do people who get dominated by the nightmare spirit necessarily realize what happened? Odie might not be fully aware what Ardon did.

Probably not, especially considering the tension and emotion of the situation. However, he still definitely knows about the nightmare spirit and will definitely tell the others.

[ImperatorV]

Maybe Ardon will surprise us and not do something horrible?

...Nah, not sure what I was thinking.

[Douglas]

While the comic is maintaining suspense, I just remembered a pretty strong rules reason why this can't be raising Groffnar - Groffnar is level 16, so Raise Dead would cost 10 times as much for him as for Odivallus. Also, Groffnar's red hair would already be visible on the portion of the body the new update shows.

[Celestia]

Ten gold says it's Dire somehow.

[Draconi Redfir]

Ten gold says it's Dire somehow.

i'm not sure what the terminology is to say it, but yeah i'm betting it's Dire too.

[Jane_Smith]

My money is on it actually being sorc just because he is one of the main characters - and killing him off with his story so unfulfilled would be kinda bullcrap. The whole dire thing would be beating a dead horse and continuing a plot line I had hoped was finished. Id rather the story went back on the normal party over the parents.

[Douglas]

Huh. Didn't see anyone call this result.

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How many people think this happened because Odie's already alive somewhere else, somehow?

[Kantaki]

Huh. Didn't see anyone call this result.

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How many people think this happened because Odie's already alive somewhere else, somehow?

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Either that or he's not coming back because he's home, in a manner of speaking.

[Celestia]

Huh. Didn't see anyone call this result.

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How many people think this happened because Odie's already alive somewhere else, somehow?

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I don't think he's alive, per se, but his soul is definitely not in the afterlife. I'm thinking that his dragon daddy somehow has it right now and will eventually bring him back to life when it's more dramatically appropriate.

In any case, I knew Odie wasn't coming back right now. It would completely deflate all sense of danger. He's going to be out of the story for a long while. I'm guessing we won't see him for two or three chapters, then he'll suddenly show up without notice. We'll then get an entire chapter in flashback showing his side of the story and how he came up.

[Draconi Redfir]

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wasn't there somethin about the dragon-chosen guardian or whatever in his tribe reincarnating or something? idk. if that's the case then that explains it.

edit: just looked. Doesn't look like it...

[Leewei]

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Either that or he's not coming back because he's home, in a manner of speaking.

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Odi's soul could be trapped somewhere, especially given the circumstances of his death.

Ardon or his possessing spirit may have somehow interfered with the ritual.

Odi may be refusing to return to protect his friends from Ardon or his possessing spirit.

That last one is what I'm leaning toward at the moment.

[eschmenk]

Another question is where is Ardon? Did he flee, assuming the res would be successful or is he still there? I doubt him leaving would be enough to disrupt the ritual since Odie's body was already completely formed; I'm more interested in his "No loose ends, remember" comment from a couple of updates ago. He was assuming they would come after him, so he was intending to take them out.