The Order of the Stick

I am still confused though. Tiamat is a Western God isn't she? That means being the god of a monster race (Kobolds, Lizardfolk, and Dragons) doesn't preclude being part of a pantheon. Why are Goblins special?

I will admit this is not how I thought things would go. As for why Thor doesn't just vote to destroy the world and have the Dark One participate I have a theory. The Dark One has ascended but something about him isn't quite "fixed" so to speak. If this world is destroyed he'll be destroyed too unless something specific is done to make him a permanent part of the cosmology.

My best guess is that the Elven Gods don't have a Unique color for a simple reason: Elves are a PC Race. They were made as such. They were made as part of the God's Chosen. The Goblins where Fodder NPC and Monsters who ascended a God in opposition as that. Thats why the Dark One is different.

Also, how does Banjo fit in this

I imagine we'll get some sort of explanation of why the Dark One managed to end up with a unique colour when nobody else ever has.

So I'm seeing some speculation that Roy's sword is somehow connected to the Eastern Pantheon's quiddity. I disagree with this idea but it is an interesting theory.

The goblinoids didn't worship any of the pantheons, and had no gods before the Dark One.

And is it really hard to see why Thor voted "no"? He thinks there is a chance to fix this without destroying the world and killing everyone, and so he wants to go for it. Why does there need to be any deeper reasoning than that?

His actions now line up entirely with his reasoning given at the Godsmoot.

Edited by LSBK on Sep 21st 2018 at 2:32:01 PM

Hm... the first world's mortals were also made out of four quiddities, weren't they? So if one of them were raised to divine status, they'd presumably be good enough to fight the Snarl, wouldn't they?

I'm not sure if I'm going anywhere with this line of thought, it just occurred to me and I thought I'd share it.

That assumes the colors "stack". The Dark One was originally made of three colors, but his aura isn't four colors combined.

Edited by LSBK on Sep 21st 2018 at 2:45:19 PM

It seems like we may be overthinking things a bit. Although maybe we aren't and we'll get a full explanation for this.

I hope the next strip doesn't take too long. This is one if the most interesting sequences in a while.

Yeah, that idea occurred to me as well- a mortal from the original world would theoretically be able to fight the Snarl. But, like, the Snarl destroyed the original world in minutes- even without being more real than everything else, it's still probably more powerful than most Gods. Even if there are some souls from the original world left somewhere, it's doubtful they could ever have enough firepower to matter.

Edited by Gilphon on Sep 21st 2018 at 4:05:48 AM

My question becomes what this means for Redcloak.

A lot of time and effort has been spent on how he's super deep into sunk cost fallacy and making sure that no one thinks all the goblinoid deaths are his fault, I don't see Rich somehow making him amenable to whatever plan Thor has.

I don't think Redcloak is the kind of character it actually works to have a happy ending (even if I'm sure the goblinoids, as a whole, will get a happy ending).

Oh, I'm sure Redcloak isn't getting a happy ending. He's screwed himself multiple times in this. If he fails, he's toast. If he betrays Xykon, he's toast. If he succeeds, then the Dark One's Plan isn't going to work out the way he's been led to expect — either way, in fact.

Well, there is one potential outcome... the Dark One negotiates a deal wherein he'll help stop the Snarl but only in exchange for righting his people's existential injustice. But if that were something that the other gods were prepared to do (or able to do, for that matter), why didn't they make that offer ages ago and prevent all this insanity?

Wait. Do Thor and company know about The Plan? The whole idea behind it has been that the gods will be unprepared for the arrival of the Snarl in their throne rooms and be forced to negotiate. If they already know about it, then it's hardly a plan at all.

Secrets within secrets. Thor is keeping his hopes about the Dark One from the other gods, who all believe that this is just another iteration of the same eternal cycle. The Dark One is keeping his Plan secret from all of the other gods, so none of them know what his subjects are really up to with the Gates. But still, why hasn't Thor so much as broached the idea to the newbie god?

And why are the other gods in the dark? They all know that the Gates were destroyed, because that's why the Godsmoot was held. Do they not know why, or by whom? Has it really not come to any of their attention that a cleric of the Dark One is walking around trying to capture the things?

Something remains fishy here.

Edited by Fighteer on Sep 21st 2018 at 4:46:39 AM

It could just be that whatever Thor has in mind would be a gamble that the other gods aren't willing to take.

He said they have a chance to maybe end this once and for all. For most of the other gods that might not be enough if the plan also carries some risks to them.

And as far as the Dark One goes, if the other gods aren't willing to go along with it, he really has no reason to either.

And they all might be thinking "Well, if he really can help stop this, let's just wait until we make another world, no skin off our backs." Thor might just think the chance to save, really save, their followers this time is worth the risk.

Edit: Plus, the gods must have noticed his different color at his ascension, and yet some of them still wanted to destroy him (at least, according to SOD, maybe not totally reliable.)

Edited by LSBK on Sep 21st 2018 at 3:53:21 AM

Seems like the mutual non-interference pact that the gods have created is kind of screwing them here, isn't it? Also, I forgot that Odin is definitely in on this, as he crafted the prophecy that brought Durkon here.

Edited by Fighteer on Sep 21st 2018 at 4:53:48 AM

Yeah, the Dark One's plan cannot be allowed to progress as he wants it to. The best-case scenario for him threatening the gods with the Snarl is a better world for his chosen race... just before the Snarl cracks the planet open like an egg. The worst-case scenario is him getting mad enough to make good on his threat and release the Snarl on the gods, resulting in the Snarl exterminating another Colour before they can rein it back in, making a permanent solution to the Snarl problem even less possible.

Oh, right. Loki might also be involved; we've been assuming he just doesn't want Hel to win, but maybe there's more to it than that.

From his speech at the Godsmoot, it sounds like he'd be willing to go with whatever longshot Thor has in mind.

Edited by LSBK on Sep 21st 2018 at 4:06:46 AM

Hmm. Looking at the votes again, it actually makes a lot of sense of the other gods to be aware of Thor's plan, if we assume it's a gamble that could either make things much better or much worse. Tyr's reasoning in particular sticks out to me- I don't think the Snarl is the type to think in terms of strategic advantages, but the Dark One certainly is. And Freyr- now we can see what the potential 'profit' he thinks is worth taking a risk to get is.

And Odin's makes me realize that this conversation sure doesn't look like it's going to explain what the deal with the planet in the rift is.

Edited by Gilphon on Sep 21st 2018 at 6:23:27 AM

Just thought of something. Is this the first time we've seen the Dark One not depicted as a crayon drawing?

Whoa.

You know, back at the Godsmoot, I thought this seemed weird. Specifically, it seemed strange to me that Redcloak was absent. He wasn't at the Northern moot with the others, but he also wasn't at the Western or Southern moots. Why wouldn't he be at the Godsmoot? He's the High Priest of a god and this is an "All gods on deck" situation.

That really bugged me. The Dark One had to belong to one of the pantheons, right? Redcloak should have been at one of the moots. Even if the Dark One was classed as a demigod, Redcloak would still need to have been there with that pantheon's demigods, waiting in the wings. But he wasn't. The High Priest of the Dark One has been at Kraagor's Tomb with Xykon this whole time while the gods deliberated whether or not the Dark One wins.

Why would the Dark One miss the chance to have Redcloak vote for apocalypse when apocalypse is one of the ways he wins? I couldn't get over it. It made zero sense for him to be excluded like this. He should have been there.

Now it makes sense. The Dark One never slotted into any of the pantheons, probably because of his disdain for the gods for their treatment of his people. He's become a pantheon unto himself.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Sep 21st 2018 at 5:08:36 AM

We were told the Dark One was in his own pantheon, separate from the others awhile ago.

That isn't new information.

Edited by LSBK on Sep 21st 2018 at 6:21:29 AM

When? I don't remember that. The Dark One's barely been spoken of outside of Redcloak's Plan.

I think in Start of Darkness Redcloak calls the Dark One "A Pantheon of One". Funnily enough this means he should have been given a chance to vote but just couldn't be bothered.

Unless, like I suggested earlier, he's not a full divinity yet for whatever reason.

Maybe Thor just hates Goblins.

Fair enough.

In theory, that should mean that not only does the Dark One get a vote, but his vote is equal in weight to a pantheon's, rather than any single god's.

Which would result in an unbreakable tie vote after the Northern Gods vote against apocalypse. There is no fifth pantheon. The hell happens then?

End of book twist?

Edited by TobiasDrake on Sep 21st 2018 at 5:43:07 AM

Redcloak is the Dark One's high priest and he can't just go off whenever he wants.

If they vote to destroy the world, great but if not that changes nothing for him. And him voting would likely just lead to a tie, anyway.

Edited by LSBK on Sep 21st 2018 at 6:46:59 AM