Was Therkla fridged by the story?

[dancrilis]

I suspect that Greyview would have something pithy to say about it.

All deaths revolve around Elan, and all are somewhat unfortunate.

[The Pilgrim]

"Fridged" wouldn't be the word I'd use, since it generally means characters whose sole purpose is to unceremoniously die to serve as another character's (usually a man's) motivation. But the way Therkla's death revolved around Elan... is still somewhat unfortunate.

Elan is mostly meaningless in Therkla's mental process. Substitute Elan by any other handsome dashing action hero, and Therkla would have behaved in a similar way. Her mind was poisoned by too much romantic "literature". (1)

She was a person suffering from a lack of validation. She was a social outcast, she grew up being either ignored or looked down by those around her. Her loyalty to Kubota was founded mostly in the fact that Kubota was perhaps the first person with social relevance who paid attention to her and gave her a position and a sense of self-worth. (2)

When she meet a handsome dashing action hero, she began inmediatley projecting on him, way before she even crossed words with the chosen object of her love. When Elan made clear he didn't share Therkla's feelings, she felt unworthy, she felt she was not good enough to deserve her ideal man, and prefered to quit the game and remain dead, because she felt she was defective beyond any chance of fixing. (3)

Her tragic story is powerful because that happens to a lot of people in real life, in some cases with similar sad outcomes.

That's how I read her character. I think there was a lot more about her than just being a catalyst to show Elan's commitment to Haley. Any easy-going good-looking girl could have played the role of temptress for the hero, but only a character like Therkla could have played a deep and meaningful tragic role like hers.

(1) Her backstory in GDGU showns her fondness in that kind of genre.
(2) Sangwaan mentions in GDGU that being loyal to the patron that supported her while others would have sunned her, was a common trait Therkla shared with her. There are also evidences of Therkla being side-lined and looked down by others for being a low-class half-breed, and mentions to her lack of social life or dating prospects.
(3) Therkla did identify herself and Sangwaan as "damaged goods" in GDGU. Despite being a perfectly physicaly fit girl, she perceived herself on the same terms as a blind girl with a terminal condition.

Edited to add the footnotes

[Peelee]

Elan is mostly meaningless in Therkla's mental process. Substitute Elan by any other handsome dashing action hero, and Therkla would have behaved in a similar way. Her mind was poisoned by too much romantic "literature" (her backstory in GDGU reinforces that).

She was a person suffering by a lack of validation. She was a social outcast, she grew up being either ignored or looked down by those around her. Her loyalty to Kubota was founded mostly in the fact that Kubota was perhaps the first person with social relevance that paid attention to her and gave her a position and a sense of self-worth.

When she meet a handsome dashing action hero, she began inmediatley projecting on him, way before she even crossed words with the chosen object of her love. When Elan made clear he didn't share Therkla's feelings, she felt unworthy, she felt she was not good enough to deserve her ideal man, and prefered to quit the game and remain dead, because she felt she was defective beyond any chance of fixing.

Her tragic story is powerful because that happens to a lot of people in real life, in some cases with similar sad outcomes.

I hadn't thought about it like that, and I really like that analysis.

[Emanick]

I hadn't thought about it like that, and I really like that analysis.

I do, too. It's the best take on Therkla I can remember reading.

[Throknor]

I suspect that Greyview would have something pithy to say about it.
No sale.

She died mostly because she betrayed her evil boss/master/mentor, the man / character for whom she killed others, which meant that he had no further use for her and, as a variety of evil characters will do, disposed of her in a manner convenient to him.

That's what's in the narrative. Whatever meta baggage you are adding to that is yours to keep.

I'd go further to say she died because she tried for a neutral resolution. If she had committed to turning on Kubota she would have captured or killed him when getting to the ship and he couldn't have killed her (at least not then). If she had stuck with her given job she would have left the island without Elan (perhaps after killing him) and would have either helped kill the Katos or simply returned to her ship. Not realizing Kubota would rather kill her than lose was what killed her.

As for not coming back, why would she? She lives in a world that knows there is an afterlife. She couldn't go back to he life she knew and she was likely facing prison if not execution as far as she knew.

[KillianHawkeye]

I'm going to agree with those saying that Therkla's death doesn't count as a "fridging".

Yes, her death pushed the story forward. But really, that's true of any character's death who isn't just an extra or collateral damage. But I disagree that her murder was designed to motivate the hero. It was the natural end of her story arc as an inherently tragic character, and it only motivated Elan for a few short panels until Kubota surrendered and defused the situation. Kubota, ever the manipulative bastard, of course tried to leverage it against Elan as best he could, but his motive to kill her was entirely because she betrayed him rather than anything directly relating to Elan.

The real outcome of Therkla's death was the resulting death of Kubota, which directly led to V leaving Durkon and Elan to go it alone and get baited into her confrontation with the dragon and subsequent soul splicing shenanigans.

Elan being Elan of course tries to learn some lesson from this tragedy and tries to be a better healer and a more useful party member going forward, but I see that as pretty much normal character growth. He had already been on a path of self-improvement since training with Julio and getting illusion tips from V.

[Vinyadan]

Elan is mostly meaningless in Therkla's mental process. Substitute Elan by any other handsome dashing action hero, and Therkla would have behaved in a similar way. Her mind was poisoned by too much romantic "literature". (1)

She was a person suffering from a lack of validation. She was a social outcast, she grew up being either ignored or looked down by those around her. Her loyalty to Kubota was founded mostly in the fact that Kubota was perhaps the first person with social relevance that paid attention to her and gave her a position and a sense of self-worth. (2)

When she meet a handsome dashing action hero, she began inmediatley projecting on him, way before she even crossed words with the chosen object of her love. When Elan made clear he didn't share Therkla's feelings, she felt unworthy, she felt she was not good enough to deserve her ideal man, and prefered to quit the game and remain dead, because she felt she was defective beyond any chance of fixing. (3)

Her tragic story is powerful because that happens to a lot of people in real life, in some cases with similar sad outcomes.

That's how I read her character. I think there was a lot more about her than just being a catalyst to show Elan's commitment to Haley. Any easy-going good-looking girl could have played the role of temptress for the hero, but only a character like Therkla could have played a deep and meaningful tragic story like hers.

(1) Her backstory in GDGU showns her fondness in that kind of genre.
(2) Sangwaan mentions in GDGU that being loyal to the patron that supported her while others would have sunned her, was a common trait Therkla shared with her. There are also evidences of Therkla being side-lined and looked down by others for being a low-class half-breed, and mentions to her lack of social life or dating prospects.
(3) Therkla did identify herself and Sangwaan as "damaged goods" in GDGU.

Edited to add the footnotes:

Sounds a lot like a character by Pushkin, "she had read a lot of novels, and therefore was in love..."

[Metastachydium]

The Dark One has much less appearances than Jirix, for example, but only one of them is subject to crazy cosmic theories, and it’s not the latter.

(You sure about that?)

[danielxcutter]

Thirding Pilgrim’s analysis. I haven’t read the side books(though I have been spoiled heavily for what it’s worth), but that sounds just about what she is.

[woweedd]

I suspect that Greyview would have something pithy to say about it.
No sale.

She died mostly because she betrayed her evil boss/master/mentor, the man / character for whom she killed others, which meant that he had no further use for her and, as a variety of evil characters will do, disposed of her in a manner convenient to him.

That's what's in the narrative. Whatever meta baggage you are adding to that is yours to keep.

Ya know, there's this guy who once said fantasy only matters for how it relates to the real world and anything other then that is petty escapism. A certain...Rich Burlew? My point is, meta-analysis should be applied, because how a text relates to the world that, ya know, exists, is pretty important.

Anyway: So the definition of "Fridging": When a (usually female) supporting character is killed off in service of a (usually male) hero's development. And, yeah, Therkla is that. She's certainly that. That's not inherently a bad thing, per say: I mean, The Death of Gwen Stacy was a fridging, indeed, the first fridging (before it wa called fridging, it was called Gwen Stacy Syndrome), and it's considered one of the best single-issues ever written. I think OOTS does some good work making Therkla's death genuinely heart-breaking, but...Yeah, she is a female character who is killed off in service of Elan's character arc progressing. She is a major catalyst for Elan's maturation, living proof of the consequences his immaturity can have. It's kinda textbook. It's not very problematic, as these things go, but...Yeah, it's there.

[Ionathus]

I mean, The Death of Gwen Stacy was a fridging, indeed, the first fridging (before it wa called fridging, it was called Gwen Stacy Syndrome), and it's considered one of the best single-issues ever written.

It's actually its own, separate trope...and in fact, fits much better with Therkla's story! The definition for Fridging on TVTropes seems to explicitly require "corpse left for hero to find", but I don't have many complaints about the term being used more broadly.

I think OOTS does some good work making Therkla's death genuinely heart-breaking, but...Yeah, she is a female character who is killed off in service of Elan's character arc progressing. She is a major catalyst for Elan's maturation, living proof of the consequences his immaturity can have. It's kinda textbook. It's not very problematic, as these things go, but...Yeah, it's there.

I'm with you on this. Therkla was absolutely introduced and then killed to advance Elan's story. Was she still a kickass character, who got to direct her own actions and exercise her own agency? Yes!

I wouldn't go so far as to say she was done dirty by the story. But I do think, even though the events were a consequence of her actions, you can still look at the big picture and call it a fridging as well. Doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

[Metastachydium]

It's actually its own, separate trope...and in fact, fits much better with Therkla's story! The definition for Fridging on TVTropes seems to explicitly require "corpse left for hero to find", but I don't have many complaints about the term being used more broadly.



I'm with you on this. Therkla was absolutely introduced and then killed to advance Elan's story. Was she still a kickass character, who got to direct her own actions and exercise her own agency? Yes!

I wouldn't go so far as to say she was done dirty by the story. But I do think, even though the events were a consequence of her actions, you can still look at the big picture and call it a fridging as well. Doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

Dunno. Doesn't the term imply it's bad and carries unfortunate implications? I'd say „it's all right” and „it's fridging” are mutually exclusive.

[Saint-Just]

Dunno. Doesn't the term imply it's bad and carries unfortunate implications? I'd say „it's all right” and „it's fridging” are mutually exclusive.

Usage (memeplex, paradigm, discourse) is changing. Merely four or five years ago people who was pointing out a problematic nature of those tropes usually added disclaimers such as "any single example is not necessary problematic, but a huge proportion of works with those tropes indicates a problem with the industry". Behdel test has intentionally set a low bar to indicate something that should in reality happen all the time very rarely happens in certain works of fiction. Nowadays I see critics actually talking about fridging as a black mark (not necessary immediately damning but still a strict negative) against the work, applying Behdel test to individual characters etc.

[Ionathus]

Exactly. Plenty of feminist works "fail" the Bechdel test, while something like Twilight passes it. The individual work can be good and still contain these elements.

[Peelee]

Exactly. Plenty of feminist works "fail" the Bechdel test, while something like Twilight passes it. The individual work can be good and still contain these elements.

It's not about whether a work is good or not, though, it's about representation and the value of the character in the narrative. Now, admittedly, I still think it's not a great test regarding those (the "if your female character can be replaced with a sexy lamp, you need to rewrite the character" is more on-the-mark, frankly), but it also wasn't originally designed as anything other than a pointed joke, per the author.

[brian 333]

Modern readers of Shakespear tend to read his stories straight, but try to imagine you live in the 1600s and are watching from the balcony of The Globe. You would be in a crowd of smelly, unwashed people who had to pass by rows of produce vendors selling rotten vegetables to get in, and to the majority of the audience, a two-by-four to the head would have been hilarhous.

Now, the opening scene:
"I thumb my nose, sir!"
"Do you thumb your nose at me?"
"Wait, let me check with my lawyer..."

Had it been written today, Romeo and Juliet would have been a dark comedy. Back then?

By the end the audience would have been rolling in the aisles!

"She's dead!" he faints.
"I'm not dead, it was Sominex. Oh! He's dead!" she kills herself.
"I'm not dead, I was powernapping. Ah crap, she's dead-dead now!" he kills himself too.

Back to the comic:
Samantha only existed to advance Elan's character growth. Her story ends when she is helpless and under the control of a male character. Was this an example of fridging?
Was this an example of sexism?

One must be careful when judging art to judge it for its content and to avoid inserting one's personal baggage into it.

Let's go that direction a bit. Suppose Therkla had been a gay male. The story could have played out exactly the same, but instead of fridging we'd be discusring the Tragic Gay trope.

I do not believe Therkla was Fridged. For that she would have had to be someone with whom Elan was emotionally engaged.

I also do not believe Therkla's unrequited crush had much of an impact on Elan's subsequent actions. He would have reacted exactly the same if Therkla had been a straight male who was murdered right in front of him. The only difference would have been a few lines of dialogue.

Again, the correct trope is Bond Girl.

[Peelee]

Modern readers of Shakespear tend to read his stories straight, but try to imagine you live in the 1600s and are watching from the balcony of The Globe. You would be in a crowd of smelly, unwashed people who had to pass by rows of produce vendors selling rotten vegetables to get in, and to the majority of the audience, a two-by-four to the head would have been hilarhous.

Now, the opening scene:
"I thumb my nose, sir!"
"Do you thumb your nose at me?"
"Wait, let me check with my lawyer..."

Had it been written today, Romeo and Juliet would have been a dark comedy. Back then?

By the end the audience would have been rolling in the aisles!

"She's dead!" he faints.
"I'm not dead, it was Sominex. Oh! He's dead!" she kills herself.
"I'm not dead, I was powernapping. Ah crap, she's dead-dead now!" he kills himself too.

Ya know, I should really argue that Shakespeare plays should be updated to modern language for basic education and early college and should only be taught in its original, preserved state to collegiate classes that focus specifically on Shakespeare or to 300 and above level classes.

[understatement]

I'm going to agree with those saying that Therkla's death doesn't count as a "fridging".

Yes, her death pushed the story forward. But really, that's true of any character's death who isn't just an extra or collateral damage. But I disagree that her murder was designed to motivate the hero. It was the natural end of her story arc as an inherently tragic character, and it only motivated Elan for a few short panels until Kubota surrendered and defused the situation. Kubota, ever the manipulative bastard, of course tried to leverage it against Elan as best he could, but his motive to kill her was entirely because she betrayed him rather than anything directly relating to Elan.

The real outcome of Therkla's death was the resulting death of Kubota, which directly led to V leaving Durkon and Elan to go it alone and get baited into her confrontation with the dragon and subsequent soul splicing shenanigans.

Elan being Elan of course tries to learn some lesson from this tragedy and tries to be a better healer and a more useful party member going forward, but I see that as pretty much normal character growth. He had already been on a path of self-improvement since training with Julio and getting illusion tips from V.

OK, yeah, I've mentioned upthread before that I wouldn't strictly classify it as fridging because Kubota did attack her out of self-defense.

I'm just not too on board with the fact that Therkla has to die in order for Elan to feel bad.

(You sure about that?)

Never.

Thirding PilgrimÂ’s analysis. I havenÂ’t read the side books(though I have been spoiled heavily for what itÂ’s worth), but that sounds just about what she is.

The side book about Therkla is great. It's probably one of my favorite stories. Not gonna bring up alignment stuff here, but I think GDGU Therkla fits True Neutral much more than the comic version, and is just a better developed character all-around.

Back to the comic:
Samantha only existed to advance Elan's character growth. Her story ends when she is helpless and under the control of a male character. Was this an example of fridging?
Was this an example of sexism?

One must be careful when judging art to judge it for its content and to avoid inserting one's personal baggage into it.

Let's go that direction a bit. Suppose Therkla had been a gay male. The story could have played out exactly the same, but instead of fridging we'd be discusring the Tragic Gay trope.

I do not believe Therkla was Fridged. For that she would have had to be someone with whom Elan was emotionally engaged.

I also do not believe Therkla's unrequited crush had much of an impact on Elan's subsequent actions. He would have reacted exactly the same if Therkla had been a straight male who was murdered right in front of him. The only difference would have been a few lines of dialogue.

Again, the correct trope is Bond Girl.

Okay, I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to claim, so I'll comb through it.

First and foremost, you would be right about Samantha's scene...if you completely took it out of context, focused on one panel, and cut off everything else to fit your definition. So no, Samantha's scene is most decidedly not fridging, and trying to draw comparisons between them is like comparing apples to monster truck tires. Samantha was killed by Miko. Her dad followed soon after. Elan is not a deal here.

Elan is emotionally engaged with Therkla. He wouldn't have been half as mad as Kubota if he wasn't. He considers her a friend, even if Therkla's narrative role is as an unrequited love interest.

The Tragic Gay trope can absolutely falls under fridging. Fridging can apply to any sexuality, any race, gender, religion, background. The fact that Therkla is female and a love interest is more immediately noticeable because many previous examples of fridging share these traits as well, but if she was a gay male explicitly killed by the villain to make Elan feel bad it would very much still be fridging. Sexism implications is not my directive here. Pointing out Therkla's narrative role is.

And, uh...since many Bond Girls are the classic film example of fridging, that example is probably not the best.

[brian 333]

Actually, most Bond Girls survive to achieve their dream.

The example with Samantha was exactly what you made of it: something distorted from its original intent until it fit the trope. Well done, you understand exactly what I meant. The question before you now is, how much distorting is required to make Therkla fit the trope?

[Vinyadan]

Ya know, there's this guy who once said fantasy only matters for how it relates to the real world and anything other then that is petty escapism. A certain...Rich Burlew? My point is, meta-analysis should be applied, because how a text relates to the world that, ya know, exists, is pretty important.

Anyway: So the definition of "Fridging": When a (usually female) supporting character is killed off in service of a (usually male) hero's development. And, yeah, Therkla is that. She's certainly that. That's not inherently a bad thing, per say: I mean, The Death of Gwen Stacy was a fridging, indeed, the first fridging (before it wa called fridging, it was called Gwen Stacy Syndrome), and it's considered one of the best single-issues ever written. I think OOTS does some good work making Therkla's death genuinely heart-breaking, but...Yeah, she is a female character who is killed off in service of Elan's character arc progressing. She is a major catalyst for Elan's maturation, living proof of the consequences his immaturity can have. It's kinda textbook. It's not very problematic, as these things go, but...Yeah, it's there.

That's actually something I wondered. Gwen is famous, while the girl in the fridge is, to me, a very obscure character from a story I honestly never heard about otherwise. So I assumed that there was a key difference that wasn't just in writing quality, because the girlfriend in the fridge gets a bad rap that Gwen doesn't. And why call it fridging, when you have a much more famous case? (also, in 1999 Gwen wasn't yet preggers with Norman's babies).

[understatement]

The example with Samantha was exactly what you made of it: something distorted from its original intent until it fit the trope. Well done, you understand exactly what I meant. The question before you now is, how much distorting is required to make Therkla fit the trope?

Is it now? You didn't address the question. You only pointed out Therkla's own traits (straight, female), focused on the "what-ifs" even though fridging has little to do with it on a technical level, lobbed a few condescending comments that could be done without, and then...that's pretty much it. And maybe some bonus Shakespeare.

I don't think I distorted the scene (at least, not intentionally). I included the scenarios in my post, with author quotes; I'm focusing on both the story content and the meta-narrative intentions. I'm perfectly fine with discussing if the term pertains to the situation, but that comes more from different perspectives and less of purposeful exclusion of information, as you're stating here.

So if you want an answer to your rhetorical question, please consider reading through the thread before jumping to assumptions.

That's actually something I wondered. Gwen is famous, while the girl in the fridge is, to me, a very obscure character from a story I honestly never heard about otherwise. So I assumed that there was a key difference that wasn't just in writing quality, because the girlfriend in the fridge gets a bad rap that Gwen doesn't. And why call it fridging, when you have a much more famous case? (also, in 1999 Gwen wasn't yet preggers with Norman's babies).

I think it's the fact that Gwen continues to have a lasting impression on Peter and had a long run, while Kyle Rayner's girlfriend (who, as you mention, is pretty obscure) is introduced and killed off briefly, on top of having an excessively cruel death, and Kyle moves on relatively quickly.

[Schroeswald]

That's actually something I wondered. Gwen is famous, while the girl in the fridge is, to me, a very obscure character from a story I honestly never heard about otherwise. So I assumed that there was a key difference that wasn't just in writing quality, because the girlfriend in the fridge gets a bad rap that Gwen doesn't. And why call it fridging, when you have a much more famous case? (also, in 1999 Gwen wasn't yet preggers with Norman's babies).

In addition to what understatement said, part of the difference is how much they appeared. Kyle's girlfriend died seven months after her first appearance, and Gwen Stacy died 8 years after her first appearance. If Gwen Stacy had disappeared around the time of her death and was never mentioned again she would still be somewhat significant to the history of Spider-Men, and Kyle's girlfriend isn't actually important to the history of Green Lantern even after naming a frequently discussed trope.

[Ionathus]

It's not about whether a work is good or not, though, it's about representation and the value of the character in the narrative. Now, admittedly, I still think it's not a great test regarding those (the "if your female character can be replaced with a sexy lamp, you need to rewrite the character" is more on-the-mark, frankly), but it also wasn't originally designed as anything other than a pointed joke, per the author.

I was responding specifically to Meta's suggestion that they had to be mutually exclusive. I argue that no example of a trope HAS to be bad. For example: LGBTQ* folks can die without it being objectively bad storytelling, but the frequency with which they do die in fiction has led to Bury Your Gays becoming an accusation of poor storytelling.

[KorvinStarmast]

I'd go further to say she died because she tried for a neutral resolution.

Fair point.

Ya know, there's this guy who once said fantasy only matters for how it relates to the real world

And either that guy is overstating the case _ I find that general statement to be a load of ballox _ or, you perhaps are overstating his case? Trying to shoehorn 'fridging' into this story arc seems to me like "trying too hard to fit a different foot into a shoe made already" - sort of like the problem that the wicked step sisters had to deal with in re an infamous glass slipper.

I understand that tastes will differ on that, and the level to which one wishes to spoil a story by dragging meta into it also varies with tastes. I find also Shippey's observation in re "examining the bones of the ox" as concerns an infamous author of faerie stories to be cautionary, and worthwhile, advice.

Anyway: So the definition of "Fridging"

Is irrelevant to our conversation, since I believe that a case of shoehorning is going on in this thread. Trying too hard for a bad fit.

No sale. (Mind you, the habit of trying to reduce an element of a story like that -with an offhand pigeon hole - offends me as a writer (granted, not one of Rich's accomplishments)).

[woweedd]

Fair point.
And either that guy is overstating the case _ I find that general statement to be a load of ballox _ or, you perhaps are overstating his case? Trying to shoehorn 'fridging' into this story arc seems to me like "trying too hard to fit a different foot into a shoe made already" - sort of like the problem that the wicked step sisters had to deal with in re an infamous glass slipper.

I understand that tastes will differ on that, and the level to which one wishes to spoil a story by dragging meta into it also varies with tastes. I find also Shippey's observation in re "examining the bones of the ox" as concerns an infamous author of faerie stories to be cautionary, and worthwhile, advice.
Is irrelevant to our conversation, since I believe that a case of shoehorning is going on in this thread. Trying too hard for a bad fit.

No sale. (Mind you, the habit of trying to reduce an element of a story like that -with an offhand pigeon hole - offends me as a writer (granted, not one of Rich's accomplishments)).

I gave the defintion so I could judge wheter it fits the defitnion, and, thus, wheter it's shoehorning. That's relevant, wheter or not it is. A for Rich's case:

Fantasy literature is ONLY worthwhile for what it can tell us about the real world; everything else is petty escapism.

[The Pilgrim]

"Fridging" is a Trope that involves a character specially meaningful for another character, that gets gruesomely killed to provoke a cheap emotional reaction on the latter.

That definition doesn't applies to Therkla, as:
- She was not specially meaningful for Elan.
- Was not gruesomely killed.
- Was not killed by Kubota to provoke an emotional reaction on Elan, but to cover his own escape and get rid of a turncoat and a witness.

The OP seems to understand "fridging" as "a female character that got killed and whose death had an impact on a male character". That definition is so board that it can be applied to practically every female character ever killed in a work of fiction. And it's a fundamentally wrong definition, as "fridging" doesn't requires the victim to be female, neither the protagonist to be male.

[Ruck]

It's not about whether a work is good or not, though, it's about representation and the value of the character in the narrative. Now, admittedly, I still think it's not a great test regarding those (the "if your female character can be replaced with a sexy lamp, you need to rewrite the character" is more on-the-mark, frankly), but it also wasn't originally designed as anything other than a pointed joke, per the author.

The Bechdel test was intended to point out the broader trend of just how few works pass it, and not a benchmark for individual works, as I understand it.

[Peelee]

The Bechdel test was intended to point out the broader trend of just how few works pass it, and not a benchmark for individual works, as I understand it.

That would make sense, because it's fantastic for that.

[Ruck]

That would make sense, because it's fantastic for that.

Yeah; the point wasn't "A story that doesn't pass is bad"; it's "We need more stories about women who exist outside of their relationships to men."

[Finagle]

The "metanarrative" was to write a neutral character who was neither good nor evil, and who went along with whatever seemed best at the time. Which is why she swooned for Elan so hard, blowing with the wind is how she ran her whole life. As befits a neutral character. Which is why she ended up working with Kubota, his political savvy enabled him to spot a diamond in the rough.

And she didn't want a Raise Dead cast on her because that's a cheap and easy way to get out of death in D&D, so the author had to back-engineer some kind of way where that wouldn't happen. Every time the spell comes up it's a huge deal (it took an entire book once!) instead of the "duh obviously we cast it and the recipient accepts because my friend spent ages developing his character" that D&D expects to happen. Heck, that's why it was a spell in the first place.

Someone nerdier than me can catalog all of the times Raise Dead has been mentioned in the comic and why it was shot down as a remedy. It's one of the author's big themes, right along with "evil villain NPCs aren't one-track minds that want to slay everything they see" that D&D also expects to happen.