Stanley is still Wanda’s overlord. He can disband her at a whim, and she can’t refuse any of his orders unless it would lead to his death. So, no spanking for the Tool.
However, his little excursion with the foolamancer seems to have adjusted his attitude somewhat… he actually referred to Maggie by name, which was extremely unToolish of him.
Boop, his old nemesis is now a fanatical convert to his cause. (It could be a magic effect, but the fact that Ansom seems to be gravitating toward Parson – the one who gave him the “royalty is obsolete” speech that he now seems to believe – rather than Wanda makes me suspect that it’s psychology. His old worldview is shattered, and now he’s found a new one that makes sense of things…)
Holy crap. That “We will conquer the whole world” comment last page is looking more and more plausible… :eek:
Well, this explains why Jillian was convinced that Wanda had to be under some compulsion spell, as she would never follow Stanley of her own free will. Wanda was only following him because he was going after the Arkentools, and she wanted to be positioned to have the best shot at taking one.
Yeah… An unlimited-size, no-upkeep army that can be replenished from any side’s losses? Methinks the Titans screwed up the game balance a wee bit, there.
Does anyone else get the impression that Parson’s role in Erfworld is beta-tester?
Oh, and also note that all of the new troops are not bearing Stanley’s insignia, nor Parson’s, but Wanda’s. What the significance is of this I don’t know, but it surely will be significant.
The rest of the decrypted don’t seem as sanguine about being brought back as Ansom was, do they?
Well, presumably they didn’t have a worldview that could rationalize their new allegiance by simply(?) adjusting some assumptions about just what it is the Titans want. Going from one fanaticism to another may be easier than being brought back from the croaked as your old enemy’s intelligent but (presumably) Loyalty-bound minion.
Yes, but in the second panel we see (partially) a decrypted hobgoblin, who looks just as unsettled as the others, despite being brought back by his own side.
Not that I think being brought back from the dead would be an easy thing to go through, but it’s interesting how Ansom reacted so differently. He had about as much time to contemplate his worldview being wrecked on his way down to earth, as the others had to contemplate it as the volcano was blowing up the world around them, so I’m not sure it’s that, either.
This also tends to undercut Lightray’s assertion above, that Wanda is Stanley’s creature, subject to disbanding by him.
I wonder how he’s going to take that.
In related news, I’ve just discovered that, while they’re still in the Giant In the Playground site (who still seems to have first publication rights on new strips), they have their own page now.
I feel a “squee” coming on.
Squee.
GiantITP will only be showing new strips through the end of the current book (which has to be very soon, now). They’ll keep the archive of what they have now, but all Erf strips after that point will be solely on the new site.
On a similar note, there seems to have been a mix-up with the comic, as it’s been posted both as the Erfworld strip and as the Order of the Stick-- Steve MB’s link is actually the OOTS one, and won’t work right once they get it straightened out on that end.
My guess? She’s a Ruler, as defined by this klog page. She’s certainly powerful enough for one. That could also provide an explanation for why Parson thinks she knows something about troops and combat (link). As a Ruler, she probably would know, but if she’s trying to pass herself off as a standard caster unit, she would have to pretend otherwise.
The whole “royal rule is the Titans’ will” thing is particular to Ansom; everybody else had other motives such as friendship (Vinny), indulging a different grudge against Stanley (Jillian), or simply doing their duty for their side (most of the grunts). Also, Ansom must have felt some twinges of doubt, however suppressed, as more and more things went wrong on a campaign that was supposed to be a cakewalk.
Looks like they did – new link.
Wild Speculation: Banhammer, finally fed up with his “sword-swinging madwoman” heir, disinherited Jillian and made Wanda his heir. The catch is that we don’t know whether the former is possible (the latter would be exactly what King Saline IV did for Stanley).
New question: if Bogroll was too fried/hacked up to be decrypted, where did all these other bodies (including Ansom’s) come from? I mean, I’m not an expert on the effects of molten lava and falling giant volcanic rocks on flesh but I’m pretty sure there wouldn’t be much left of anyone within the lava field to decrypt.
Thoughts?
Ooh, and that description of how Duty affects Commanders. “Can’t withhold information.”
I’m pretty certain she didn’t tell Stanley that she intended to attune to the Arkenpliers herself. Consequently, I agree that she’s a Ruler, in disguise.
Think Stanley’s gonna put up with that? And is he going to be foolish enough to try to do anything about it? Wanda gets a decrypted archon to croak a dwagon or two now and then, and pretty soon, she’s controlling as many dwagons as he is.
Also, if Wanda is a Ruler, is Parson tied to her as the caster, or Stanley as the guy who paid for the spell?
It looks like the worst of the eruption was well down the mountain from the city proper, which would give the units in the city a change to avoid being totally fried.
I don’t think it undercuts Wanda’s own assertation that she can be disbanded by Stanley, at all. Just because she’s got Natural Thinkamancies to Stanley because he’s her overlord, doesn’t mean that she also wants to be there for her own reasons.
In fact, I assume that those reasons are what allowed her to (presumably) break the Natural Thinkamancy that once kept her loyal to Faq. 'Cause I assume she’s responsible for its downfall, and so would have had to overcome her prior Loyalty, Duty, etc.*
It is entirely plausible that Wanda and Stanley have been scheming together to get the Arkentools, knowing that Wanda would attune to one. She has no Duty to withhold information from the readers, after all.
Anyway, if she was a Ruler with her own side, she’d have her own Turn on which her movement would reset – to be sharing Stanley’s Turn, she’d’ve had to ally with him. Which no one has mentioned. And then both she and Stanley would’ve had to have concealed that fact. Maybe Wanda I’d buy pulling that off; never Stanley.
And Parson’s StupidMeal that gave him the list of Gobwin Knob’s forces should have listed her as an allied unit.
And presumably, since her stats are viewable to everyone, she’d’ve had to have found some way to hide her status as a Barbarian – Jillian’s status as such seems observable by everyone.
Also, if Wanda was the Heir of Faq, then she still wouldn’t have a Side of her own, because she holds no city. Gobwin Knob is still Stanley’s – otherwise he’d’ve started his Turn as a Barbarian.
Interesting points. I’m unaware of where Wanda reports that Stanley has the power to Disband her. And if she is a Ruler masquerading as a subject, her bare assertion that he could might not be reliable.
As to the Stupid Meal not listing her as an allied unit, I don’t remember it listing anyone as an allied unit. Not surprising, seeing that we’ve been assuming that Stanley has no allied units. A quick look indicates that it doesn’t list the Gobwin fighting units remaining in the city as anything other than forces, and they’re not exactly Stanley’s subjects either.
Page 44 (a Parson’s Klog entry) shows us how the 3D glasses inform Parson of Bogroll’s stats: they’re just stats, and they don’t mention class or side alignment. Is it possible for a caster with Wanda’s skill level to enter into an alliance, and conceal it even from Stanley?
Except that don’t we see most of the units in the city - and the Archons - getting fried?
I mean “totally fried” as in “beyond being uncroaked/decrypted” (like Bogroll, RIP).
