But the spell doesn’t do what Xykon thinks it does.
I don’t feel we’re going to have that reveal yet.
I dunno… it’s the final volume, and they seem to be preparing the ground for it.
I feel it’s going to happen at some point. Just not quite yet.
I feel that when Xykon finds out, it’ll represent the big break between Xykon and Redcloak. And I don’t feel we’re at that point in the story. I don’t feel we’re going to see this confrontation between Xykon and Redcloak until after we’ve seen another confrontation between Xykon and Redcloak versus the Order of the Stick. Having Xykon and Redcloak fight before then would throw off the dynamic of that battle.
And while I feel it’s too early at this point, I also conversely feel it’s too late. Burlew could have had the Xykon and Redcloak split already if he had done it a book or so ago. That would have given him enough time to redirect the characters into new roles; perhaps having one of the villains join sides with the heroes for the final battle with the other main villain. But now I think we’re too close to the end of the story to develop that kind of major shift.
The thought occurs (wrt the power dynamic between Xykon and Redcloak and who holds the advantage should a showdown transpire) that Redcloak has possession of Xykon’s phylactery.
Until Xykon orders The Monster In the Darkness to eat him and spit up the phylactery. He set that compulsion up books ago.
I doubt Redcloak is carrying the real phylactery on him.
When last seen, RC put the real phylactery in a Bag of Holding. I expect he still has that BoH, but could the MitD find it if he eats RC?
BTW, the compulsion was set up in SoD, so you should spoiler any reference to it
Rich has done another q&a
He posts them all on line, but I’m not sure where. Hopefully someone else can add the link, because all the answers are interesting. But the answer to q3 seems to specifically support the theory that
the Monster in the Dark is Zeus
3.) River Psmythe: For the MitD I’ve seen a lot of speculation out there on what it is, and my two questions tie into that. I’m hoping these can be answered without spoiling anything. I realize saying who would be, so I’m hoping only for yes/no here. First, has anyone out there that you’ve seen guessed right? Second, has anyone out there made a guess or come to the wrong conclusion but made you think ‘that’s better than what it really is, even for a second?’
Obviously I cannot answer the first question. If I say yes, then everyone will go scouring through the internet to get a fixed list of what he could or could not be, and if I say no, then they will throw out all the existing guesswork and start over. Either way, I’ll be spoiling something. And besides which, I don’t really read what people are speculating in the first place and I’m not about to start, so I have no actual way of knowing.
For the second question: No, because if he was something else then it wouldn’t fit everything that is going to happen and has already happened. It’s not a guessing game I added to the strip just for extracurricular fun and games, it’s part of the story. There’s no answer that’s better than what he is because everything written for the last 15 years has been written with that answer in mind.
If he’s Zeus, then how has he survived umpteen-zillion universe reboots without worship, faith, or souls? And how have some characters been able to recognize him? And how does that fit, well, anything about what we’ve seen of him?
Thanks!
My guess? For the past billion or so years he was nothing more than a spark, a bare ember of divine power. Zeus was the most powerful of the Olympians, and as such could never disappear completely; something always remained. It was only now, after countless aeons, that he was able to regain some semblance of a consciousness and corporeal form, albeit vastly diminished from his true self.
As for people recognizing him… they didn’t. He’s a shapeshifter, and they saw one of his shapes and thought that that was what he really was. That, or they were lying. It’s as simple as that.
By that standard, there’s just as much evidence that Roy is actually Zeus.
Besides all the other evidence, you mean?
But that goes against how it’s presented. It’s like saying that starving for years is how you gain enough strength to start making an impact again. We’ve seen what a single cycle with lack of worship did to Hel and to Odin (who is also the most powerful deity in his pantheon and is suffering dementia from barbarians not believing in magic last cycle) – it seems extremely unlikely that Zeus would survive millions and millions of cycles for untold eons without any worship. There’s no reason to believe that Zeus was ever more powerful than Odin or even that any of the top tier deities are significantly weaker than the nominal heads of each pantheon.
I don’t know what MitD is but I don’t like any of the “top 3” over at GitP. I don’t think it’ll be something that requires more DnD knowledge than is required to follow and enjoy the strip.
The answer to “What is MitD?” will be an Elan style narrative one, not a Vaarsuvius based rules lawyer one.
Yeah, that’s definitely an issue. Still, I don’t remember - Thor mentioned gods being diminished, but did he mention any gods that ceased to exist completely, other than those killed by the Snarl? He was afraid of gods dying, but do we know whether that has actually happened?
My point is, maybe there are things that the gods themselves don’t know.
Yeah, exactly. What’s a better line: “Luke, I am your father”, or “Luke, I am an obscure monster from a forgotten 3rd Edition splatbook”? The reveal needs a dramatic wham! factor. Having it be Zeus has it. Having it be a Protean, for instance, doesn’t.
Yes. “I’ve seen new gods with more worshippers than he has fail to make it.”
The Dark One is unique in that he has a new color of quiddity . Presumably new deities have arose within the existing pantheons before but failed to survive the recreation of the universe.
Well, Loki has at least a little bit of worry that Hel might not survive a reboot.