# 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:** 433
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8643 "2014-02-13T16:07:34Z")
One of the Directors [set his Teevo](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0918.html) beforehand. So they may or may not know depending on how much they bother to watch. I assume they don’t watch V 24/7 since they have other duties and that’s partially what the imp is for. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8644 "2014-02-15T18:44:56Z")
[What Roy said (945)](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0945.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8645 "2014-02-15T18:52:56Z")
Arrrrrrgh, 2 minutes and **Sohvan** beat me. Once again Rich throws a snarl into the plot. At least we now know what Daddy Tarq’s favor to Laurin was. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8646 "2014-02-15T19:08:07Z")
So the Snarl story seems not to be an outright lie, (which was my preferred theory), still think the gods’ story is not as it appears though. (I’m guessing Miron and Laurin are now dead or unmade or whatever) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8647 "2014-02-15T19:42:45Z")
I don’t think so. Looks like Miron pulled Laurin away. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8648 "2014-02-15T19:50:20Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > (I’m guessing Miron and Laurin are now dead or unmade or whatever) I wouldn’t bet on it yet. Miron appears to be pulling her away from the rift. If he can buy a round, he can probably port the two of them clear. The only one who seems to be getting hit by a tendril is one of the helmeted soldiers. More importantly, in panel 12, Laurin’s eyes went Snarl-colored, while she was actively probing with her telepathy. My guess is that the Snarl just got an agent. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8649 "2014-02-15T20:28:09Z")
> [@sohvan](#): > > [What Roy said (945)](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0945.html) Yep. Speculating about the end of the story just got a whole lot harder. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8650 "2014-02-15T21:34:45Z")
Did Laurin actually re-introduce the Snarl back into the world with her telepathic probe? Alert it to the presence of some rifts with tasty, tasty sentient minds on the other side? ---
**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:** [February 15, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8651 "2014-02-15T22:44:04Z")
Why are there no fish? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8652 "2014-02-15T22:45:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Why are there no fish? Destroyed by the Snarl, I’d guess. Or they were never there to begin with - there may never have been life on that planet, wherever it comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8653 "2014-02-15T23:00:27Z")
I’m thinking the planet _is_ the Snarl. After aeons in seclusion you must get bored with shapelessness, plus the whole “It’s a whole world with nobody in it ! Dibs !” aspect might be deliberate to lure people in, let them try to create portals to and from (which the Snarl could then repurpose), that sort of thing. I also agree with **Balance** ’s idea : I think the Snarl just got itself a pair of eyes. High level eyes from an overpowered class, specialized in creating interdimensional portals to boot. Oh dear. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8654 "2014-02-15T23:02:35Z")
That strip was beautiful. Did Lauren know about the Snarl? It was ill advised to probe it telepathically without some experimentation first. Still, I’m glad she’s in charge of the valley rather than Tarq: her mistakes are more interesting. Perhaps the Snarl is something like [“that thing”](http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Truth) from Fullmetal Alchemist, or maybe a [more aggressive](http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Eye_of_God) entity. (FmA Spoilers in the links). ---
**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:** [February 15, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8655 "2014-02-15T23:11:03Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Destroyed by the Snarl, I’d guess. Or they were never there to begin with - there may never have been life on that planet, wherever it comes from. [Looks pretty green for a dead world.](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0672.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8656 "2014-02-16T01:20:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > [Looks pretty green for a dead world.](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0672.html) The Snarl destroys souls which includes fish spirits but not plants? A world populated with [shambling mounds](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shamblingMound.htm)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8657 "2014-02-16T04:09:57Z")
If the Snarl is awake now (thanks Laurin!) Gobbotopia might be in a bit of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8658 "2014-02-16T20:56:05Z")
Am I the only person convinced that the “Snarl” is our world? Or a world much like it? I had a big defence of the idea worked out in my head, but the gist of it is: OOTS makes a big deal out of how they have rules determining how their world works, and those rules make people interact differently than how they do here, make life’s meanings certain, etc. Our world (and Burlew makes a big deal of this on a regular basis) doesn’t have those rules, and as a result, it would appear to people from their world as total chaos —in other words, just like a snarl. Honestly, the only problem with the idea is that it’s so perfect and obvious, Burlew would do something else just to spite me. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8659 "2014-02-16T21:42:42Z")
Rich Burlew did say in one of the commentary columns in **Don’t Split the Party** that the world Blackwing saw inside the rift is _not_ our world, for what that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8660 "2014-02-16T22:42:35Z")
> **[OOTS #945 - The Discussion Thread - Page 8](https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?p=17004853)** > > New comic is up. _“So no, it STILL isn’t Earth in the Rift. It will never be Earth in the Rift. Earth will never show up.”_ Rich Burlew ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8661 "2014-02-16T22:58:16Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > If the Snarl is awake now (thanks Laurin!) Gobbotopia might be in a bit of trouble. Speaking of, re-reading the strip from the start, it occurred to me that the hobgoblins [HAD a large city](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0197.html) with a sizable outlying area already. I know some of the hobgoblins were from the smaller valley but, considering that the hobgoblin warriors outnumbered the Azure City guard [three-to-one](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0417.html), the hobgoblin home city and controlled territory had to be pretty expansive. Seems odd in retrospect that being able to squat in Azure City is what it took to get any status as a nation-state. > [@straight\_man](#): > > Am I the only person convinced that the “Snarl” is our world? Or a world much like it? Laurin said she didn’t even sense fish in the oceans there. You could guess that maybe psionics don’t function in our “real” world but that’s sort of taken apart by the Snarl sensing her using them. I’m sure you could work out an explanation around it but it doesn’t seem like pieces fit together for a “real” non-RPG style world beyond the rift. Earth or otherwise (since we know it’s NOT Earth via author comment). ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/8662 "2014-02-17T00:09:54Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Speaking of, re-reading the strip from the start, it occurred to me that the hobgoblins [HAD a large city](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0197.html) with a sizable outlying area already. I know some of the hobgoblins were from the smaller valley but, considering that the hobgoblin warriors outnumbered the Azure City guard [three-to-one](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0417.html), the hobgoblin home city and controlled territory had to be pretty expansive. Seems odd in retrospect that being able to squat in Azure City is what it took to get any status as a nation-state. Had to get a flag, too. No flag, no country. Those are the rules. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323.md?page=432) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323.md?page=434)