THAT has been a given since the soul splice.
All the more reason for V to “adult elf” up. What’s done is done. There is a task ahead of the OoTS NOW, and V has contributions to make, without which the task may not be completed.
Shunning further participation could be an even blacker mark against V’s soul than anything which has gone before.
I agree. The probability of the OOTS winning the coming battles is greatly compromised by the lack of the elf’s participation. However, from the point of view of dramatic tension, the existential crisis that V is undergoing is rather interesting.
Agreed. Personally, I’m just worried about her (him/her, whatever) croaking in the near future. Not only is she in a really vulnerable state, it seems like with everything that’s happened, it’s the sort of storyline where the morally complex character dies just at the moment they finally redeem themselves. (You know, like Therkla, the orc ninja. And not Miko.)
The Three Fiends won’t let V die yet. They have to get their time in, so they’ll intervene if necessary to save V until the debt is paid.
That would follow a standard trope and it appears that Mr. Burlew likes to use them to his own advantage, sometimes by subverting them as a ‘lampshade’ ploy.
In other words, I don’t think we can accurately predict anything our Gentle Giant will do (or not) in the future.
I doubt that’ll happen. The way that the Three Fiends bought control of his/her soul for specified time periods just screams for a future scenario where they grab control of V to carry out their plan at a crucial moment. Which they can’t do if V is dead.
It would be interesting if V’s self-exile from the scene of the action is what’s going to thwart Evil, Inc. simply by being too far away from what’s going on to DO anything in the time they have control…
Burlew has mentioned on several occasions that it can be difficult to write a story when some of your characters are so much more powerful than others. So he’ll intentionally take a powerful character temporarily out of the picture so the other characters can either be realistically challenged or have their own triumph.
He’s already done this once by having the Order fight the Guild without Vaarsuvius - their victory over the Guild was much more impressive because it didn’t include Vaarsuvius hurling fireballs. And if Burlew is planning on another fight in the near future, he might keep Vaarsuvius separated for a little while longer for the same reason.
Or to have V appear at a dramatically appropriate moment, possibly after Team Evil shows up.
Sure, sure. What I mean is, I have a feeling–I’ll be so bold as to make a prediction–that V won’t last long after that debt is repaid. As in, she won’t survive the strip after which the debt is repaid. And, sure, maybe that particular plot element won’t occur until the climactic ending of the story in its entirety, but I’m not so certain it won’t come up within this particular plotline.
(Which, I suppose, would mean they would need to find replacements for both V and Belkar for whatever happens at Kraagor’s Gate, and maybe that’s why this doesn’t happen. Hmm.)
That presumes that Rich isn’t fucking with us and doesn’t end the quest at this Gate. 
Burlew has enjoyed defying his readers’ expectations. But I don’t think that’s going to happen here.
Because Burlew has also made a point of plotting out his overall story very tightly. He doesn’t seem to introduce elements and then drop them. He seems to only put something into the story because he has a reason for it. So I don’t think he would have put Kraagor’s Gate out there (along with several other open plot lines) unless he had future plans for it.
One other thing unrelated to the current strip. Morland Studio has released its second OOTS miniature: Belkar and Mr Scruffy.
My own personal prediction - when the fiends come demanding repayment, V will refuse. Cur trial scene where fiends try to enforce contract. Jones and Rodriguez prosecute. Celia successfully defends, finds a loophole that voids the contract.
Whoa. That’s a good one. Although, if that does happen I hope it’s not for a while yet. I’m kind of sick of all three of those characters right now (counting Jones/Rodriquez as two).
I’d be really surprised. Burlew has put a lot of work into setting up the situation where Vaarsuvius is going to do something really major while under the fiends’ control. I can’t see how Burlew could now decide to not have it happen. It’s like Chekhov’s gun now.
And on the other hand, Burlew has already done a big trial scene - and even made jokes about how many strips it ran on for. I don’t see him having another one.
Also, the fiends didn’t actually have a contract. They said “contracts are for people with something to hide” though I think they didn’t want a complicated legal document so they wouldn’t risk someone finding a loophole in it.
I think it’s going to be saved for the series climax - we won’t hear about them for 100 strips or so, and then suddenly, just when the gang is about to kill the Snarl (or whatever) and save the world, then they’ll suddenly reappear and be all, “Oh, V? Time to collect”; at which point things will go from bad to much, much worse.
Duh duh DuuuuNNN! (That is how you spell that, right?)
Yes, this would certainly be a remarkable ending to this saga.
How many game years has this story lasted?