The Order of the Stick

Well, "Parody Is Protected Speech".

New strip.

As god's go, this Thor is pretty chill.

Knew it. The only reason for Minrah to be here was if she was also getting revived. She has a narrative function for existing as a character that's yet unfulfilled; she hasn't really done anything of note, so if she really was just going to f*ck off to Valhalla now, then there wouldn't be any reason to have ever introduced her in the first place.

I need to know more about this pint... It had better be something like a brown, a ruby or up, because if it's a flipping commercial carbonated lager of bland, I scream.

Maybe. It could also just be a general message of "sometimes not taking risks because you're afraid of the outcome can be its own torture."

Edited by LSBK on Dec 12th 2018 at 10:55:55 AM

Alright. Now we wait another 5 weeks for the plot to continue.

...

We'll probably get a half dozen or so chapters fairly quickly and then a long hiatus again.

Come on now. You know Valhalla is going to have the good stuff. Going off the color of the beer the dwarves seem to mostly drink lagers or some sort of pale ale, but no way it would be commercial watery fizz. And I would be surprised if there wasn't any option to pick out your favorite kind of beer in heaven. I have kind of been wondering about what sort of beer styles they have.

Minrah is one of the more adorably awesome NPCs we've been introduced to thus far. I like her.

I feel obliged to quote Tom T. Hall:

The two aren't mutually exclusive. That's what she's doing right now and it's a good enough message - albeit kind of a rehash of one since Durkon just made this exact same choice - but delivering that redundant message is almost certainly not, like, her ultimate narrative function as a character.

Rich wouldn't have introduced her if she wasn't meant to influence the plot in some way, and so far she hasn't. Her utility as a character is presently unfulfilled, which is why it was inevitable that she'd be coming back.

Now, she might not come back right now. Durkon pointed out that diamonds may an issue, freeing up the narrative from the burden of having to bring her back right away. But if she doesn't, then she becomes a Chekhov's Gun in Durkon's back pocket, waiting to be fired at the narratively opportune moment.

Minrah's situation isn't actually the same as Durkon's at all. She's more of a "typical dwarf". Note her reason for wanting to come back isn't "I want to help out with the end of the world stuff" it's "I still want to live my life."

I'm sure she'll be back; but I wouldn't be surprised if that was just in the capacity of "okay, time for the epilogue and Minrah got brought back like Durkon promised."

I also disagree with your assessment of "he wouldn't have introduced her if he didn't want her to directly influence the plot." She might, but that is by no means something you should take as a given. Just having someone else for Durkon and Thor to bounce off of during this whole thing is reason enough.

Edited by LSBK on Dec 12th 2018 at 1:39:22 PM

I agree. She's been The Watson in this storyline so far, which might be her primary purpose in the plot. But I think it more likely that she will have some active part later.

Right, I didn't really consider the idea of Minrah changing her mind before this strip, and if someone had brought it up to me, I would have considered it a toss-up at best. Her role was to be around for the Order's side of the conflict, die, and tell Durkon the important things she overheard. And also to be The Watson and ask Durkon and Thor the questions we needed answers to.

She is a great character who seems like she could have more potential because Rich is really good at creating characters for such bit parts and making them into more than just their plot function. (edit: Think about how big a deal Malack was, and all he really needed to be was a vampire strong enough to defeat and turn Durkon.) And now that she's coming back, I still consider it up in the air whether she'll have another role, or will just show up towards the end of the book (or the entire comic) to confirm that Durkon fulfilled his promise.

Edited by HeraldAlberich on Dec 12th 2018 at 2:51:37 PM

I considered it - the way she reacted when Durkon said she didn't die for nothing, and their whole little conversation about him going back even though he got into Valhalla fair and square.

The set up was there, even if not guaranteed.

I'm wondering if Minrah knowing about the Snarl and previous worlds is key. The gods can't tell mortals but nothing says she can't.

Why doesn't Minrah just go back with Durkon?

Because that's not how resurrections work

If i bought a plane ticket, you still can't get on my plane.

Thor truly be best god

...but he could be a little better as a redhead by my reckoning.

Yeah I can! If I steal your ticket.

Now, do you want me to get all stabby?◊

Edited by VutherA on Dec 12th 2018 at 8:33:26 AM

"Give me your resurection, or your life! Er, wait..."

You guys have just inspired a plot idea for my campaign, so thanks for that

A hijacked resurrection? That sounds fantastic.

That does, actually. Like, I'm picturing a dude getting mugged in the afterlife and then some asshole vanishing down his revival pipe or whatever like "Haha! Suck it, asshole!"

And then depending on the kind of story it is, either he's a master villain who has to be uncovered and thwarted by the heroes while he works against them from within, or he's a thug who got lucky on a bad idea and has to learn the true meaning of friendship and why it wasn't okay to do that.

Or he could be a master villain who works against the heroes from within until he learns the true meaning of friendship.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Dec 14th 2018 at 8:27:25 AM

Or maybe he is an Anti-Hero who manages to stop the Big Bad from resurrecting The Dragon. Regardless of their heroism or villainy, it would also be interesting if they return to the body of the original guy.