# Order of the Stick - Book 5 Discussion Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323 "2009-08-31T04:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/521 "2010-03-21T17:03:24Z")
> [@](#): > > So, are goblins unredeemable? Is that an action of a good character? Or should Good avoid being Stupid? Judging from the hobgoblin’s remarks about having been imprisoned for harassing an immigrant, I’d assume he was a bigot who picked on a green goblin. Redcloak wouldn’t have been annoyed if a hobgoblin had harassed a human or even some other “evil” race. So the dead hobgoblin probably wasn’t some secret hero. But if he was a bigot who hated other races, what does that make the elf who killed him? Or the paladins or other heroes who kill goblins on sight just because they’re goblins? Burlew was again making the point that the dividing line between good and evil is not as clear as the fantasy genre makes it out to be. One being’s righteous crusade is another being’s genocide. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/522 "2010-03-22T18:44:40Z")
[_Squeeeee!_](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0708.html) A new one! Already! Glad you’re feeling better, Rich! P.S. Poor Redcloak. ☹ heheheh. “Wrong Eye.” ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/523 "2010-03-22T18:46:34Z")
Dang! Believe it or not, the next one, [#708: An Animated Discussion](708: An Animated Discussion), is up. [spoiler] Seems like Rich is _reeeeally_ going out of his way to make the point that elves suck. Shooting a couple in the back as they return from a party? Is that really the way to hide an insurgency? I’m hoping this is a red herring, but I doubt it. I did cackle at “continue with your cop drama.” Tsukiko is a sick mofo but she’s hilarious.[/spoiler] ARRRGH! Therklaed by **kaylasdad99**! ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/524 "2010-03-22T20:35:48Z")
Heh, Therklaed – nice! Poor Redcloak; Xykon knows just where to stick the knife, even down to whom he has do the stabbing. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/525 "2010-03-22T21:23:13Z")
[spoiler] > [@choie](#): > > Shooting a couple in the back as they return from a party? It _was_ a party to celebrate the founding of a new evil, slave-using empire that executes human prisoners for possessing useful skills.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/526 "2010-03-22T21:43:54Z")
I can’t say I really see a problem with shooting the couple returning from the party. I mean, is there any chance that if they let them live, they’d do anything other than immediately tell the “cops” about the raid, as well as which direction their hideout is? It’s ugly, but the insurgents didn’t really have much choice, there. This is in contrast to the treatment of the hobgoblin prisoner. You don’t want to trust him, that’s fine, but the tactically smart thing to do would be to keep him locked up indefinitely in insurgent headquarters and pump him for information. It wouldn’t be completely reliable information, of course, but even unreliable information can be useful, as long as you know it’s unreliable. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/527 "2010-03-22T22:14:53Z")
Upon rereading this latest strip, it hit me that the wight talking to Tsukiko is still wearing Thanh’s boots. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/528 "2010-03-22T22:20:17Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Shooting a couple in the back as they return from a party? Maybe, but they’re just hobgoblins. It’s not like it’s wrong to kill them. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/529 "2010-03-22T22:43:41Z")
OK, that pretty much seals it. Redcloak is going to be the one who kills Xykon at the end. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/530 "2010-03-22T22:53:08Z")
Man I am just starting to realize how long this book is going to take. We have the order to follow. The gobos The Insurgents. Xykon and Redcoak. Havn’t even seen the linear guild. Still waiting on the fiends to collect their bargain. Possibly the Paladins possibly Eugene. and certainly a bunch more background on the rift sealing fellowship. This arc is gonna take years. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/531 "2010-03-22T22:56:22Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > This arc is gonna take years. Hopefully. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/532 "2010-03-23T00:22:09Z")
> [@](#): > > This arc is gonna take years. In _Don’t Split the Party_, Burlew wrote that the strip has passed its midpoint. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/533 "2010-03-23T03:28:35Z")
The Appendices are going to rival the ones at the end of _The Return of the King_, though. Then we’ll be able to look forward to _The Snarlmarillion_. I wonder if Mr. Burlew has a son? And can he draw? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/534 "2010-03-23T06:24:44Z")
I continue to find Tsukiko’s treatment of her undead oddly endearing. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/535 "2010-03-23T15:26:29Z")
“Wrong-Eye”? Ouch! Why is the undead goblin saying “I crave mortal flesh” instead of “Brains”? ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/536 "2010-03-23T16:31:51Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > “Wrong-Eye”? Ouch! > > Why is the undead goblin saying “I crave mortal flesh” instead of “Brains”? Possibly because, as Tsukiko says in panel #7, it is a “high-end undead” (and, therefore, presumably intelligent) rather than your average mindless zombie. ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/537 "2010-03-23T17:44:40Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > “Wrong-Eye”? Ouch! > > Why is the undead goblin saying “I crave mortal flesh” instead of “Brains”? Not sure Why, but totally whooshed on the “Wrong-eye” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/538 "2010-03-23T18:12:53Z")
> [@clnilsen](#): > > Not sure Why, but totally whooshed on the “Wrong-eye” In _Start of Darkness_ Redcloak’s deceased brother, who was co-leader of the goblins with Redcloak, had lost his left eye. It’s just a poke in a tender place for Redcloak courtesy of Xykon. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/539 "2010-03-23T20:11:17Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > Possibly because, as Tsukiko says in panel #7, it is a “high-end undead” (and, therefore, presumably intelligent) rather than your average mindless zombie. Specifically, a ghoul, which eats human flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/540 "2010-03-23T20:15:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Possibly because, as Tsukiko says in panel #7, it is a “high-end undead” (and, therefore, presumably intelligent) rather than your average mindless zombie. Also supported by her use of the “create undead” spell, rather than “animate dead”. I’m guessing ghoul (or ghast, basically a more powerful ghoul), since the end result doesn’t look like a mummy or mohrg. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323.md?page=28)