Nah, they’re playing a bigger game than that. If they just wanted a world, they’d create a new one of their own. Heck, Sabine’s considerably older than the world, and I would imagine that her superiors are older yet. They’re not out to conquer the world; they want the multiverse.
My heart was in my throat the whole time.
Go V!!! Go O-CHUL! My trust in Vaarsuvius is merited as the elf shows that as utterly helpless and vulnerable as s/he is, where freedom was a mere Feather Fall away, s/he’s still got the heart to go back and heal O-Chul. Now that’s bravery. And O-Chul is about to pull off a last-ditch effort… Each panel with Invisi-V and Xykon monologuing was pure torture.
How does Rich keep pulling these cliffhangers out? I don’t remember a more tension-filled arc, even the Azure City fall wasn’t this agonizing. Brilliantly done.
Best line: “Let’s play Hide-and-Seek, just to be sure. I’m ‘It’. Actually, so are you, as near as I can tell.”
Damn! That’s fantastic! I’ve enjoyed OOTS for a long time, but I can’t believe how hooked I am right now. I check for updates at least three times a day.
What makes this strip extra powerful to me is…
that there’s an extra level of cruelty in Xykon – not that it’s any surprise – but that he got so physical with V. I don’t remember seeing him use his own hands in a fight before; blunt instruments, yes. Getting up close and personal just to show extra brutality (and specifically to show just how weak and vulnerable his formerly powerful victim is) makes him especially scary. A whole new level of creepy. And makes V’s plight even more pathetic.
…Shudder…
Well… It is really sad, but that last panel with O-Chul standing up still and looking like he has finally gotten good and pissed off actually brought tear to my eye. Go big O!
plus, what is in his trailing hand?
A very good question! Where’s his pointy stick at? Also, what’s in Vaarsuvius’s right hand in panel #10?
A big old can of whup-ass!
DAMMIT. I leave for a week’s vacation in 3 hours, and I made a decision to stay unconnected, so no computer access for SEVEN DAYS. This is NOT good timing on my part.
Go O-Chul! Hang in there, V!
So as a rough guess, the next thing O-Chul says will be “Smite…”.
Beautifully done, including the chalk-figure V’s expression on suddenly deciding to do something about O-Chul. Go O-Chul!
don’t know for sure, but either healing or buffing potions taken from the dead hobgoblin
So is V dead in the last panel from a crushed windpipe?
Never count them as dead until you see X X in their eyes.
If O-Chul were only holding his prybar in his off-panel hand, it’s unlikely Rich would need to hide that from us.
On the other hand, I can’t think of anything else in the room O-Chul could have had time to pick up. The dead orc body is too far away, and on the wrong side, for him to have seized a weapon from there.
What could it be?
Maybe it’s glowing blue. Can he smite evil with his hand?
Possibly whatever V was holding in 10, which, I suppose, brings us back to where we started.
I’m pretty sure that V is just holding a third bottle/flask. It’s rounded at one end and has an extra line near the smaller end, just like the other two. I don’t think Burlew was trying to be sneaky. He just didn’t make it distinct enough.
So… glorious beatdown take two?
Okay, I think you’re right, it’s an empty flask. I was looking at it like a white square but now I think it’s just an empty bottle.
Edit: Hmm… I wonder, if O-chul kills Xykon’s body and they high tail it out of Azure city with the Phylactery in hand… hmm, could they go to Girard’s gate next (before he has a chance to respawn) for help? That would fulfill the Oracle’s prophecy and allow for Xykon’s death.
He hasn’t actually hit him with it yet, maybe pointy-jail-bar-stick is a Disrupting weapon 