Tear Jerker / Drowtales

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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• Si'lice telling Kau and Shala about the Nidraa'chal war and her part in it.
  " I went back to my warriors... My children. Or what remained of them..."
  " So few came back."
• Vaelia's backstory, all of it.
• In this scene, Mel's anger at her situation, especially here, is really heartrending.
• Shinae, when Chrys'tel decides to leave, even handing her her crown. It's hard not to feel sorry for her in when it happens, even though the situation is partly self-inflicted
  Shinae: You are not to go on your own. I am supposed to be your shadow. We were finally getting back to the good days...
  • Later, her despair upon accidentally breaking Chrys'tel's crown.
• This scene of Vaelia and Ariel, which really shows how deep their bond is.
  Vaelia: I cannot become immortal, darkling. I only become dead, ghost. Same fate for children I can make.
• Naal'suul and Kiel'ndia, especially since this is Naal's Not So Stoic moment when she shows fear of her eventual death.
• After being missing for years of comic time, Ariel finally finds Faen. And it is not pretty.
• "Farewell... my... friend" Naal's death and the ensuing pages are nothing short of heartrending, especially Kiel's scream of frustration.
  • Following that, Kiel's breakdown is just as bad, and probably the only time you'll ever see a Breaking the Fourth Wall moment played for tragedy.
• This. Page. As well as the next two.
• The bottom panel combines this with heartwarming, as we see Ishii, the girl whose tongue was almost cut out, taking shelter from the rain with one of the drowussu slaves who only barely escaped having her head cut off. It really drives home how the civil war has shaken things up for these people.
• Nau'kheol asking where Yami'ni and Jiaan are right after they jump from the ancient ship, and Word of God confirms that at least Yami'ni is dead.
  • My God, Yami'ni. Pretty much everyone (fans) disliked her. It's hinted that she didn't want to be tainted, felt she was impure and being reminded that she had a demon inside her was her Berserk Button the unfortunate painter pressed. Basically chapter 37 had her characterized then killed off. Jerkass Woobie at its finest.
• Kery's expression as her mother rescues her, since her guilt at leaving her dragon behind to be killed by the Sarghress is quite clear. Turns into a Heartwarming Moment when we find out in the post battle report that Oiloss'lin found a dragon plushie in a ruined shop that she left by her daughter's beside for when she woke up.
• The fate of Shinae's baby. Poor thing never even had a chance.
  • The mothers reaction to the news. No crying or denial, she walks out, stands on a ledge of a balcony and lets off a pressure sorcery scream which tells us what she's really feeling.
• Poor Tsuris'lok in Chapter 41. After a lifetime of being a Butt-Monkey and kicked out of every clan he's been part of he gets badly injured enough that his seed takes him over, and he stays behind to take on the Beldrobbaen troops after them. Especially poignant since he's a former Dutan'vir, which adds extra punch to him staying behind for a Last Stand.
• The death of Shimi'lande in chapter 42, a prime example of Face Death with Dignity. Especially since it takes several pages for it to sink in since we were seeing it through Chiri's eyes and at first didn't realize just who had actually died. And then you realize that her last words were very likely "Goodbye D(aughter)."
• The second image.
• Poor Petri'cho. She was tortured, made tainted and exiled from the Kyorl'solenurn clan, all because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Panel 6 shows her tears and knowing what she's been through, it's enough to make the reader cry as well.
• Mel doesn't want to get attached to her new baby daughter, to the point that she refuses to name her having been burned once on that before.
• Despite all of the terrible things she's done, the sight of Sarv'swati dragging her axe up the stairs while barely standing in the wake of Kyne's near fatal attack still manages to evoke pathos in the reader.
  • Gets even more painful two pages later. She goes to the tunnel leading to Diva's throne room, the same corridor she destroyed thirty-one years ago. Tries to lift one or two fallen boulders, uses earth sorcery, all to no avail. She screams, collapses and whimpers for her mother, begging for forgiveness.
• Chiri's Epic Fail at cooking started out as just plain Funny. Chiri herself, however, is genuinely upset about the utter mess she's made of things, and the squad's witty comments send her storming out of the room, crying. All she wanted to do was cook Shan a nice meal...
• The young Quain'tana sitting at the bottom of a pit with a broken arm after seeing her friend get cut down by a dragon knight, clearly crying. Especially depressing when you remember that she later does pretty much this exact same thing to Mel since her experiences have left her with little room for mercy or tolerance towards those who disobey her.
• It took 45 chapters and over 6 years of real time, but someone finally found Diva'ratrika's body and even though the audience knows she's still around via Liriel it's still a sad sight. Several readers commented that they had been expecting a skeleton and it would have been less upsetting than what we actually see, which is a brutal reminder of how Snadhya, Sarv and Zala intended for her to die alone and slowly of starvation and dehydration.
• Jiaan's fate. Weeks of Mind Rape make him willing to bow down to Snadhya'rune. "Mastering" his Taint makes it even worse, since it's pretty obvious that he isn't himself anymore. In light of how much he and Yami'ni loved each other, seeing him reduced to being Snadhya's boytoy is just sad.
  • Later, he seems to get unceremoniously crushed by Snadhya'rune's summon, who apparently doesn't even notice and/or care what just happened.
• Filfrae, one of the captured Sarghress, combines this with a CMOA. Besides barely reacting to her own hand dangling by a thread off her wrist after the first hit from Snadhya's ship, she's shown as being more concerned the gruesome sight of what's happened to her companions, and when she sees the ship powering up for round 2 her only reaction is to attempt to shield their youngest member, who's still alive, and manages to save her life at the cost of her own.
  • In the same scene, Erelice's pained expression as she realizes just what Snadhya'rune actually intends. When she realizes that Vayas has survived she collapses out of the pain of her injury, grief and relief at seeing the girl alive.
  • Much later, Erelice, lying broken on the ground and possibly paralyzed by Snadhya's counterattack, deliberately taunts Khaless to save Riz'riia from being absorbed as yet another face. Erelice's only comment as Khaless moves closer is that there's nothing they can do to hurt her anymore.
• It's all in the Facial Dialogue with Ariel when she realizes that Kyo'nne has sold her out to Snadhya'rune speaks of the deep betrayal she feels over one of her oldest friends and "big sister" lying to her face. And Kyo'nne seems to realize what she's done, pointedly avoiding meeting Ariel's eyes as she moves off. It's obvious the relationship between them will never be the same after this, especially given what comes later.
• Although this is an obviously happy moment for Nau and Kiel, it takes a much sadder turn if you've been following the story for a while; Nau is tainted with a faulty seed, courtesy of Snadhya. He's going to suffer the same fate as Naal, ("that Beldrobbean girl" as he called her,) and there isn't any way to stop it. This makes the final panel all the more poignant.
• After all the strife in the chapter it looked like Shala would survive her Kalki-inflicted Slashed Throat, only to die peacefully while being carried by her brother and boyfriend, who don't even notice she's not breathing until they set her down. The aversion of Death Is Dramatic makes it all the sadder.
  • For worse, imagine how Sarnel must feel about his "that'll stop her from wisecracking for a while" comment right before they realize what's happened.
  • Or how Sil'lice will react when she finds out that she has lost another child to Kalki and one who was named for an older sibling that Kalki also killed.
• Considering how many of the above instances were caused by her, seeing Kalki say "Mom?" in disbelief, right before Snadhya'rune coldly kills her, suddenly makes her look like a scared little girl who just wanted to be appreciated by a mother who saw her as nothing but a disposable tool. Even people who had been cheering when Kalki lost her arm to Ariel pages earlier felt sorry for her.
• While it's not canon, this◊ picture is pretty heartwrenching because Waes is clearly conflicted about seeing Naal alive albeit demon possessed.
• In a society where even serious relationships drift apart after a few decades, Zala'ess and Sabrror share a unique bond, having remained together for centuries. With no practical or ulterior motives for doing so, and with Sabrror slowly losing his soul and personality as well, their dedication to one another is possibly the most genuine romance throughout the series. This makes the events of chapter 47 all the more tragic; while Zala'ess is being swarmed by a horde of Kharla-Controlled friends and family, the man she loves slowly strides toward her with his sword raised, ready to slice her head in half while she futilely begs him to stop. One can only imagine what Sabrror was thinking at that moment; Zala was heavily pregnant, probably with his own child.
  • In the end, Sabrror did manage to break free of Kharla's influence... but at the cost of his soul. Even while he's being devoured from within by his own seed, Sabrror urges Zala to run. Yet even though she's completely helpless in a room full of people trying to kill her, it's clear that she doesn't want to go.
  • Even little Suna is being controlled, and tries to bite her mother's fingers off.
• Given her immense power and her tendency to dole out fates-worse-than-death at the drop of a hat, Kharla is a difficult person to sympathize with. Yet under the sinister façade she has the mentality and vulnerabilities of a traumatized child. Her powers made it impossible for her to have a ordinary childhood, she's been manipulated, indoctrinated, and used as a tool since she was a toddler, and she nearly starved to death once without anyone noticing. While the comic has no shortage of selfish or sadistic characters, Kharla is at her core a naive, mentally ill woman who will never have the chance to heal.
  • In the chapter 47, Kharla finally loses it completely, and uses her powers to wreak havoc throughout the city. As Chel falls into chaos, there is almost no question that she needs to die. Yet when Kiel finally reaches Kharla in her throne room, she isn't laughing manically or lording over her power; she's huddled in a corner, weeping uncontrollably, and begging "sister Kiel" to make the pain stop. And worse, as Kiel's trying desperately to save her she uses "I" instead of "We" for the first time in the comic, making it even clearer that it's the core, original Kharla we're seeing.
  • The Naal demon sacrifices itself bringing Kharla down with it. And it twist the knife further, it says Kiel's name right before it falls, proving that part of Naal was still there. In one fell swoop Kiel lost both her sister and her dearest friend (again).
• The look of sheer devastation on Sil'lice's face when she sees Kau, tainted, and his sister Shala nowhere in sight.
• The reaction Chrys has to realizing that Zala'ess doesn't remember her because of the flower poison Shinae gave her. As several members of the forums pointed out, it's eerily (and likely intentionally) conjuring up the nightmare of your own parents forgetting you because of something like Alzheimer's or dementia. It's incredibly hard to watch a Magnificent Bitch like Zala'ess be reduced to this.
• Diva Discovering Your Own Dead Body, and while her reaction is pretty blase (it has been 30 years by now and she's had time to get over it) and somewhat humorous that she's at least glad she put on clothes before killing herself, right at the end she mentions her newly deceased daughter Sarv'swati, reminding us that despite all the latter did she was still someone's beloved child.
• Vene was given a deadly shave in front of his siblings. He didn't make it.
• Ariel and Koil looking at each other in the aftermath of Quain killing Suu'be and then succumbing to her wounds. The silence from the two of them as they struggle to process it is heartrending, and Word of God says it was the only way he felt he could do the scene.