# Order of the Stick - Book 6 Discussion Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755 "2014-03-03T16:07:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 277
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5522 "2019-01-10T19:23:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m sticking with my long-standing prediction that Belkar won’t die before there’s a confrontation with Roy. Roy has known about the prophecy of Belkar’s death for months (or whatever amount of time it’s been in story) but has chosen to keep using Belkar without warning him. That’s pretty far from good. > > There’s been way too much foreshadowing for there not to be a pay-off. At some point, Roy will have to answer for this. The most obvious way will be for Belkar to find out and confront Roy over his callous disregard for Belkar’s life. What strip had that prophecy? ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5523 "2019-01-10T19:48:47Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > What strip had that prophecy? #572[572 The Resistance of Memory - Giant in the Playground Games](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0572.html) ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5524 "2019-01-10T19:52:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What’s unresolved about Haley’s background? This isn’t more of the “I might not be exactly what you’d call\_\_\_” thing, is it? Because that’s the only thing I remember where people were speculating about her background being a Plot Point, because nothing’s too crazy for an OOTS fan to theorize about. > [@DrDeth](#): > > What strip had that prophecy? [572](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0572.html) EDIT: ninja’d ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5525 "2019-01-10T20:01:46Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > And I give you his friendship with Malack. Durkon wasn’t aware that Malack was evil; at their tea time, Malack says that in his pantheon Death was not an innately evil concept. Between that, his aid in Durkon’s spell research and Malack’s hatred for Nale, he probably assumed Lawful Neutral. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5526 "2019-01-10T20:12:22Z")
Unresolved: 1. the love triangle between Redcloak’s niece, Fryon’s son, and Jiminy 2. has Jiminy gotten any polearms in his shop yet? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5527 "2019-01-10T20:49:55Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Durkon wasn’t aware that Malack was evil; at their tea time, Malack says that in his pantheon Death was not an innately evil concept. Between that, his aid in Durkon’s spell research and Malack’s hatred for Nale, he probably assumed Lawful Neutral. Quite possibly though having been taught about the other pantheons he would have known that Nergal was Evil. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5528 "2019-01-10T21:15:28Z")
He didn’t even have enough Knowledge: Religion to realize that Loki was evil. As for a confrontation between Belkar and Roy, I expect something like this: Belkar: What!? Why didn’t you tell me? Roy: Because you’re an evil psychopathic murderer that I’ve only barely managed to keep under some semblance of control. Belkar: Eh, fair enough. I will confess, though, that I’m a bit surprised that Belkar hasn’t already died. His death has to be at some dramatic moment, right? But what would have been more dramatic than dying during the resolution to Durkon’s vampirization, given Belkar’s involvement in it? Probably too late for that now, though, since that’s now mostly resolved (there’s still the Exarch to mop up, but that should be anticlimactic compared to the battle vs. Not-Durkon). ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5529 "2019-01-10T21:17:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Probably too late for that now, though, since that’s now mostly resolved (there’s still the Exarch to mop up, but that should be anticlimactic compared to the battle vs. Not-Durkon). Which means it would be the perfect place to have it happen. 😛 ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5530 "2019-01-10T22:50:12Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Alessan, was that first one supposed to be CN (Chaotic Neutral)? Yeah. Typo. > [@Chronos](#): > > Belkar might be Chaotic Neutral, and he’s certainly more Good now than he used to be, but he’s not Good. Consider, for instance, that his primary entertainment is still killing. He might be OK with restricting himself to only killings that Roy approves of, but enjoying killing for its own sake really isn’t a Good attitude. If being good means you can’t enjoy killing bad guys, then there hasn’t been a good player character in the history of D&D. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5531 "2019-01-10T22:54:44Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Quite possibly though having been taught about the other pantheons he would have known that Nergal was Evil. Nah. [Malack tells him](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0737.html) that Nergal isn’t necessarily evil, nor are his clerics and that they’re actually more Neutral. Obviously that doesn’t hold for vampires but Durkon was unaware of Malack having that particular condition. As **Chronos** pointed out, Durkon isn’t even especially sharp about [his own pantheon](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0052.html), much less those in other parts of the world. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5532 "2019-01-10T22:55:55Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What’s unresolved about Haley’s background? [What is it that Haley may not exactly be? It’s a secret that even Vaarsuvius doesn’t know.](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0309.html) [And who are Kyran, Rachel, and all the others?](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0311.html) ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5533 "2019-01-10T23:14:35Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > What, if anything, is Tarquin’s group going to do vis a vis the Order and the main plot. Actually, I tend to think that Tarquin’s story is done. He’s served his purpose. The key characteristic with Tarquin was that he saw events as a narrative but he imagined himself as one of the central figures in the narrative. He figured his son Elan was the main protagonist and he himself was the main antagonist. He dismissed Roy and Xykon as just being secondary characters in “his” story. As Julio told him _“You always think that everything that happens is about you.”_ I think Burlew used Tarquin to mock the attitude that’s common in D&D gaming and fiction in general of treating the central characters of the story as if they live in a different plane of existence from everyone else. A thousand nameless NPC’s can die and nobody gives it a thought. But if a main character dies, it’s treated as a world-shaking event. Burlew would want you to remember that none of those thousand nameless NPC’s thought of themselves as a minor character. They all would have had lives that were just as important to them as the main character’s life was to him. Everyone is the center of their own epic lifelong story and nobody gets to decide that they’re the main character and their life has more meaning than everyone else’s. So dropping Tarquin out of the story and never having him reappear, while he was protesting about not having a satisfying resolution, would be his resolution. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5534 "2019-01-10T23:21:46Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > I really think The Holey Brotherhood was just a throwaway gag in The Order of the Scribble’s backstory, and that they were defeated by Soon’s party, which put up a gate despite their objections. I might think so too if the Holey Brotherhood had just appeared that one time. But check out the mysterious cloaked figure in [these](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0448.html) [strips](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0459.html). He’s there in the middle of one of the major climatic scenes of the story but he appears to be separate from the crowd with no explanation given as to who he is or why he’s there. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5535 "2019-01-10T23:53:19Z")
He’s a paladin of the Sapphire Guard, and is exactly as significant as any of the other paladins of the Sapphire Guard we’ve seen. Remember, the first time we saw Miko, she was wearing a similar cloak. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5536 "2019-01-11T00:33:08Z")
And then Belkar wore [a similar cloak](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0294.html). It seems it’s a fairly common item of clothing. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5537 "2019-01-11T00:33:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He didn’t even have enough Knowledge: Religion to realize that Loki was evil. Whether Loki is CN or CE has been argued at length on the GiantITP forum - and elsewhere. That Hilgya is CE is now undoubted. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5538 "2019-01-11T01:11:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He’s a paladin of the Sapphire Guard, and is exactly as significant as any of the other paladins of the Sapphire Guard we’ve seen. Remember, the first time we saw Miko, she was wearing a similar cloak. Might have even been TWO Paladins of the Sapphire Guard. The one in #448 has no stripe at the hem of his cloak (and is corporeal). The one in #459 has the stripe (and is incorporeal). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5539 "2019-01-11T01:50:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Belkar, IMHO, has been a hard CG for a while now, and he’s edging toward CG. He was still being hurt by his Protection from Evil brooch twenty strips ago, so he can’t have been CN for all that long. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5540 "2019-01-11T02:14:48Z")
I think the current strip (1151) pushed him over the CE-CN boundary. Just the unprompted apology is evidence, but to be certain we’ll have to wait until he activates the cloak clasp again. Which he’ll probably do in the upcoming battle with the remaining vampires. I predict a massive thread/argument on the GitP forum when that happens.\* - I don’t know about anyone else, but I am thoroughly sick of alignment arguments, of which they have a surfeit on the other forum. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/5541 "2019-01-21T21:10:32Z")
[1152 - Reunion](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1152.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755.md?page=276) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755.md?page=278)