Oh, that doesn’t sound good. So once he’s gone Kendal will just have a huge stab wound? Sounds like a good enough explanation why he won’t just do that all the time.
well, that’s interesting. presumably Kendal’s gotten a soul for himself at some point, which is interfering with Vash’s ability to manipulate his body.
Oop, I was wrong. Oh well.
Vash says Kendal gave him an “out”, does that mean this can be done again? If it can, is there a set number of times Vash can return before he’s to weak to come back again? Can Kendal activate ‘starfire mode’ by himself now?(unlikely)
Also, Alinua must have done some serious modifications for it to be impossible for Vash to remake it. Or perhaps she’s healed him too many times? Either that, or Kendal has settled in enough for the body to be more his than Vash’s.
I think Kendal’s soul (as Red has confirmed that Kendal has a soul, he can’t live for long without one, and soul energy just kinda fills up a body the make a soul, so it’s not to hard to think the Kendal acquired a soul) is what’s stopping Vash from repairing Kendal, as souls protect their vessel from non-life magic elements, some souls even block out life magic, on later pages, Alinua can’t heal Kendal BECAUSE of this barrier, I don’t think Alinua is at fault (though she will definitely blame herself
Everyone’s concerned about Kendal and Vash is here like “dude chill, as if i’m just going to nerk a literal child, what do you take me for? Jeeze.”
Also the theory folder of what the hell is Kendal’s deal is slowly growing, and I’m just going to be here waiting for whatever kind of awkward situation is coming right after Vash is forced back because damn dude… what do you even say after all that? just wake up back in your body like “Kendal you’re back!” “Hah yeah………(0___0)…………tea?”
I’m surprised how much people thought this could be permanent. For one, would YOU be down for drawing mr sparkly-blue-and-floaty for the rest of the comic?
But yeah, this does bring up some interesting stuff regarding Kendal and how he exists. Vash says here ‘what you did to it’ but Kendal was definitely moving independently of Vash BEFORE Alinua found him, so that’s not quite right. So what DID happen?
A crack of thunder resounds behind the retreating heroes,
Who slow as Vash staggers with pain.
“That’s not your body! Not anymore! Give him BACK!”
Alinua yells at Vash again.
“That’s going to happen anyway,” shining Vash explains.
Though Zuurith and Tynan he deceived,
He is still bound to the pull of the collector’s prison,
And he can no longer rebuild this body, he adds aggrieved.
Red has gone with a small “c” on collector, so I went with that as well, even though it feels wrong.
Okay I don’t think that stab wound will be a problem. Like Kendal will start bleeding out when he comes back but Alinua and Erin, both powerful healers, are RIGHT THERE.
One of my favorite details on the last few pages is that even ignoring all the blue shinys, Vash is so obviously Not Kendal. It’s most obvious in his dialogue of course, but his expressions and the way he uses the body are also subtly different. Good job, Red!!
Neat detail in the first panel: Dainnix is the fastest runner, the closest behind Vash, his fiery state clearly gives him a speed boost.
Alinua is up next, as she’s powered by emotion and, from what we can see, has the least physical damage out of all of them
Up next is Falst, and then finally Tess supporting Erin, because obviously people shuffling along like that wouldn’t be super fast.
Also, I would like to ask the question, what’s June up to? Is she gonna interrupt the reunion with Kendal? Is she just gonna attack a passed out Erin?
Kendal may have been moving around independently prior to any modifications by Alinua, but that was mostly just due to Vash’s exteme overdesigning of the body. Kendal perhaps had the *potential* to be a person, but absent the extreme circumstances that happened, that’s not something that would have ever been a concern, and even then it would probably take a while to happen.
Buuut then the avatar of Life stepped in and healed Kendal. If nothing else, even just providing an extra spark, a slight flicker of her patron’s domain, could well have been enough to qualify Kendal as his own Person.
Perhaps Kendal’s existence is preventing Vash from being able to alter his body, since souls protect the body from elemental manipulation and all that. Or maybe Alinua did something to change the way his body works in some fundamental way? This was kinda hinted at all the way back in chapter 2, idk maybe even Life herself did something?
Do you guys think that Tess felt Tynan get his soul yanked? She seems to have sensed something was weird. Also, I had a feeling we were going to cut back to the gang after the last page, the only indication of what happened being a giant scream in the background
Okay. So, depending on who the “you” is referring to here, it could be Ali healing him that did it, which was sooort of a concern in the first chapters, or it could be… (c’mon, I know there’s a name for this)… soul protection? Insulation? Because he has a soul now? Okay, I don’t remember the word they used, but it’s a thing.
Hmm. The lack of healing may be from the lore on the 7th Element. Voidy mentioned Kendal has none of “his” energy and one of the bits there mentions “The first is the fact that homunculi created by mages, though composed of the same six elements as all of us, lack the ability to repair or sustain themselves. Without external healing or repair, these homunculi inevitably degrade within a handful of years.”
If Kendal doesn’t have the… hunger that Voidy represents, then he might be unable to heal naturally and need Life magic to keep going. This does not explain why Vash can’t heal him though. The process of making Kendal pulled a lot of energy out of the environment and physically built him; perhaps to heal they have to literally rebuild the body and Vash isn’t there enough to do so.
Yeeeees, let Vash be an actual hero-king who legitimately cares about his people in particular and mortals in general! Let him deserve Kendals drive to save him! Look at him being all protective and cool, checking to make sure everyones alright before he gets yanked back to his fate worse than death.
That right there is an obi-wan style free older brother figure and if the squad don’t adopt him asap I will.
Tess just noticed that her elemental link abruptly stopped stinging.
I figured this would be temporary, but getting the confirmation is still a good thing; it’s looking like this’ll be a somewhat similar relationship to what Alinua and Life have going on. Vash acknowledging Kendal as a separate being is also a very good thing; it seems that Vash has had a mental link with Kendal, and watched his entire journey from the heart, unable to help until now. Ignoring all that would be an uncharacteristic d*ck move on Vash’s part.
As far as Vash being unable to rebuild Kendal’s body, I think it’s a combination of Kendal’s soul barrier preventing Vash from doing anything drastic, and Alinua’s wild magic in chapter 2. I don’t know what exactly she did, but I have a feeling that she helped cut off Vash’s control of Kendal.
I had my suspicions that Vash was bluffing. As soon as he said “not here”, I knew he was hiding SOMETHING he didn’t want Zuurith and Tynan to hear. Not that I’m complaining, of course. I would’ve missed my boi.
Alinua miiiiight just wanna get those healing hands of hers ready for when he leaves though. I’m guessing Kendal’s gonna pass out as soon as he does.
Also, a message to Tahraim: I hope you know what you’re doing, ’cause I sure don’t.
Well ok, that…that’s bad, don’t get me wrong, but unless I’m missing something important Alinua should be able to heal his multiple broken bones and massive gaping stab wound, no problem…right? After all, she’s healed him before, and is pretty crazy powerful. Well…unless she happens to be super exhausted and out of energy. Like, say, if she just strained herself to break a mountain in half with a single giant tree, and then jumped into battle to throw leaves around minutes afterwards…oh, and then got super injured and had to heal herself by instinct…ok fine maybe they ARE actually in trouble.
Long-term, though, I can’t help but worry a lot about the fact that apparently Kendall now knows he has the ability to temporarily summon Vash into his body BY STABBING HIMSELF. That is just…ripe for all kinds of abuse right there, when you’re an existentially confused & stupidly self-sacrificing paragon who has a history of ignoring other people’s concern for his wellbeing…
Congrats on both your predictions come though (in reverse order) Evil Tree!
Perhap Vash’s influence on Kendal’s being was interfered with Allunia’s use of healing while under the Chimera Curse or Life spirit blessing. Perhaps both?
Ah, yeah, I figured Vash wouldn’t be freed quite so easily. I guess we’ll be finding out sooner or later whether the Collector caught on to his absence (and where Kendal was all this time).
Also, maybe this was discussed earlier, but Panel 3 is reminding me of the place where Vash got stabbed by the Collector way back in Chapter 1. That makes me think that Kendal stabbing himself specifically in that spot was intentional, and that there may be some sort of “sympathetic magic” element going on (or at least narrative resonance).
Ah, there we go. I was worried there was a huge plot hole of “wait, if stabbing himself is all Vash needed Kendal to do, why didn’t he whisper that to him first thing in the dream visit?”
But now it’s clear that his confident assertion that that’s all he needed was a bluff. I suspect that idea didn’t even occur to him until after it worked, and he just rolled with it to put on a confident face to the other gods.
Well, I’m really glad to see that Tess has Erin’s bag. I know that’s like the least important thing happening this page, but I was wondering what happened to it XD
I wonder/hope if Vash will be able to bestow some kind of blessing on the Floof Squad to mark them as his “new people”– a little something more he can technically have dominion over? I don’t know how dominion is established, but it would make sense to me for gods in this world to have such an ability. The only members of the crew I don’t think would be able to except such a blessing would be the Runnasar siblings (as they may be under the dominion of Asera) and Dainix (as his god is Caliban). I’m sure both of those gods are on friendly terms with Vash, but sharing dominion over a thing seems like a violation of god etiquette or something. I don’t think any primordials in the picture here would have a problem as they’re sorta dead but also sorta passive? They don’t seem to be taking as much of an active role with their “avatars” as normal gods do. But yeah, BLESS THEM VASH! ADOPT THEM!
Vash knows Alinua is Life’s vessel. So what’s the concern? He knows she can Heal Kendal’s wound. She can, can’t she?
Uh-oh. What if a wound caused by star metal isn’t like other wounds?
No, no… she Healed the wound made by The Collector. But no doubt she’ll need to rest first. There’s an Inn back there in nearby… oh, dear. (Hope Erin still has his bag, even if he’s lost most of his shirt.)
Can Tess feel Tynan suddenly vanishing? Yes, it seems. Is she going to look that gift horse in the mouth? Probably not.
Vash, while a little tone deaf in places, seems genuinely respectful of Alinua. Calling her Life’s Chosen, not vessel, wanting to thank her for saving Kendal, and here trying to reassure her of Kendal’s safety. I wonder if these experiences and knowledge of her and the Collector have given him a new perspective on Iras and the chimeric plague.
I’m beginning to wonder whether Alinua’s wild magic healing in chapter 2 that saved Kendal was as wild and random as it seemed. Kendal has starmetal inside him and V.D. recognised it or something else inside him; could Life have seen the same thing and acted though Alinua to both save and modify Kendal? We still don’t know Life’s true movies.
Ok, this is giving me concern over the Kendal-homunculus theories a while back; whether Kendal, without Void but with star-something, can absorb new material into himself. Or it might be that Vash himself can’t heal/upgrade Kendal, leaving him potentially vulnerable. Guess we’ll have to wait till tomorrow for the answer.
@Evil Tree — I think Vash can no longer fix Kendal’s body because of the inviolability of souls. Only Healing magic could do. Though stabbing oneself with a star metal sword to make your body open to possession by a god can’t be exactly a normal wound. What if it’s both a physical and soul wound?
“Give him back!” Yes, we heard you the first time. Anything to add, re-phrase?
“Right” “All right” “everyone all right” — Darling, I realize you’re a man of action, but flaming star metal aside, with conversational skills like that, you are not coming across as the brightest bulb in the box here.
The Collector: “I’m going to nab Vash, because I can Heal the crater his city is in.”
Also The Collector: “…and it helps he’s as dumb as a box of rocks.”
Tahraim: “He figured out my riddle though.”
Vash: “Alll right. Right. Are you all righ-?”
Tahraim: “–nevermind. I’ve decided to help you with your weapon.”
called it!
no free lives
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: oh yea, that would be too easy
Image source: back
Oh, that doesn’t sound good. So once he’s gone Kendal will just have a huge stab wound? Sounds like a good enough explanation why he won’t just do that all the time.
Alinua has to heal Kendal now.
well, that’s interesting. presumably Kendal’s gotten a soul for himself at some point, which is interfering with Vash’s ability to manipulate his body.
UH OH LOOKS LIKE THAT STAB WOUNDS GONNA BE THERE FOR SOME TIME BUDDY
Oop, I was wrong. Oh well.
Vash says Kendal gave him an “out”, does that mean this can be done again? If it can, is there a set number of times Vash can return before he’s to weak to come back again? Can Kendal activate ‘starfire mode’ by himself now?(unlikely)
Also, Alinua must have done some serious modifications for it to be impossible for Vash to remake it. Or perhaps she’s healed him too many times? Either that, or Kendal has settled in enough for the body to be more his than Vash’s.
I think Kendal’s soul (as Red has confirmed that Kendal has a soul, he can’t live for long without one, and soul energy just kinda fills up a body the make a soul, so it’s not to hard to think the Kendal acquired a soul) is what’s stopping Vash from repairing Kendal, as souls protect their vessel from non-life magic elements, some souls even block out life magic, on later pages, Alinua can’t heal Kendal BECAUSE of this barrier, I don’t think Alinua is at fault (though she will definitely blame herself
Everyone’s concerned about Kendal and Vash is here like “dude chill, as if i’m just going to nerk a literal child, what do you take me for? Jeeze.”
Also the theory folder of what the hell is Kendal’s deal is slowly growing, and I’m just going to be here waiting for whatever kind of awkward situation is coming right after Vash is forced back because damn dude… what do you even say after all that? just wake up back in your body like “Kendal you’re back!” “Hah yeah………(0___0)…………tea?”
I’m surprised how much people thought this could be permanent. For one, would YOU be down for drawing mr sparkly-blue-and-floaty for the rest of the comic?
But yeah, this does bring up some interesting stuff regarding Kendal and how he exists. Vash says here ‘what you did to it’ but Kendal was definitely moving independently of Vash BEFORE Alinua found him, so that’s not quite right. So what DID happen?
A crack of thunder resounds behind the retreating heroes,
Who slow as Vash staggers with pain.
“That’s not your body! Not anymore! Give him BACK!”
Alinua yells at Vash again.
“That’s going to happen anyway,” shining Vash explains.
Though Zuurith and Tynan he deceived,
He is still bound to the pull of the collector’s prison,
And he can no longer rebuild this body, he adds aggrieved.
Red has gone with a small “c” on collector, so I went with that as well, even though it feels wrong.
Okay I don’t think that stab wound will be a problem. Like Kendal will start bleeding out when he comes back but Alinua and Erin, both powerful healers, are RIGHT THERE.
Dainix is still on fire, he’s just vibin in the background but he is just casually in fire demon mode
One of my favorite details on the last few pages is that even ignoring all the blue shinys, Vash is so obviously Not Kendal. It’s most obvious in his dialogue of course, but his expressions and the way he uses the body are also subtly different. Good job, Red!!
Neat detail in the first panel: Dainnix is the fastest runner, the closest behind Vash, his fiery state clearly gives him a speed boost.
Alinua is up next, as she’s powered by emotion and, from what we can see, has the least physical damage out of all of them
Up next is Falst, and then finally Tess supporting Erin, because obviously people shuffling along like that wouldn’t be super fast.
Also, I would like to ask the question, what’s June up to? Is she gonna interrupt the reunion with Kendal? Is she just gonna attack a passed out Erin?
Or, if not June, will Caliban interrupt?
Kendal may have been moving around independently prior to any modifications by Alinua, but that was mostly just due to Vash’s exteme overdesigning of the body. Kendal perhaps had the *potential* to be a person, but absent the extreme circumstances that happened, that’s not something that would have ever been a concern, and even then it would probably take a while to happen.
Buuut then the avatar of Life stepped in and healed Kendal. If nothing else, even just providing an extra spark, a slight flicker of her patron’s domain, could well have been enough to qualify Kendal as his own Person.
Neet and about what I expected for poor Vash Still they’ll get him out…at the very end of the plot…If he doesn’t self sacrifice.
Well, I guess it’s theorising time.
Perhaps Kendal’s existence is preventing Vash from being able to alter his body, since souls protect the body from elemental manipulation and all that. Or maybe Alinua did something to change the way his body works in some fundamental way? This was kinda hinted at all the way back in chapter 2, idk maybe even Life herself did something?
@SerifStones I’m going to guess a simple, emotional hug between Kendal and Alinua
I mean, we can find Vash a new one somewhere else, and Alinua‘s been rebuilding this one pretty often so it’s no worry.
Do you guys think that Tess felt Tynan get his soul yanked? She seems to have sensed something was weird. Also, I had a feeling we were going to cut back to the gang after the last page, the only indication of what happened being a giant scream in the background
Okay. So, depending on who the “you” is referring to here, it could be Ali healing him that did it, which was sooort of a concern in the first chapters, or it could be… (c’mon, I know there’s a name for this)… soul protection? Insulation? Because he has a soul now? Okay, I don’t remember the word they used, but it’s a thing.
Hmm. The lack of healing may be from the lore on the 7th Element. Voidy mentioned Kendal has none of “his” energy and one of the bits there mentions “The first is the fact that homunculi created by mages, though composed of the same six elements as all of us, lack the ability to repair or sustain themselves. Without external healing or repair, these homunculi inevitably degrade within a handful of years.”
If Kendal doesn’t have the… hunger that Voidy represents, then he might be unable to heal naturally and need Life magic to keep going. This does not explain why Vash can’t heal him though. The process of making Kendal pulled a lot of energy out of the environment and physically built him; perhaps to heal they have to literally rebuild the body and Vash isn’t there enough to do so.
Yeeeees, let Vash be an actual hero-king who legitimately cares about his people in particular and mortals in general! Let him deserve Kendals drive to save him! Look at him being all protective and cool, checking to make sure everyones alright before he gets yanked back to his fate worse than death.
That right there is an obi-wan style free older brother figure and if the squad don’t adopt him asap I will.
Tess just noticed that her elemental link abruptly stopped stinging.
I figured this would be temporary, but getting the confirmation is still a good thing; it’s looking like this’ll be a somewhat similar relationship to what Alinua and Life have going on. Vash acknowledging Kendal as a separate being is also a very good thing; it seems that Vash has had a mental link with Kendal, and watched his entire journey from the heart, unable to help until now. Ignoring all that would be an uncharacteristic d*ck move on Vash’s part.
As far as Vash being unable to rebuild Kendal’s body, I think it’s a combination of Kendal’s soul barrier preventing Vash from doing anything drastic, and Alinua’s wild magic in chapter 2. I don’t know what exactly she did, but I have a feeling that she helped cut off Vash’s control of Kendal.
Referencing a much earlier page: oh right, the STAB WOUND
TL;DR: time to lose the divine buff…. It was never going to last, too OP.
I had my suspicions that Vash was bluffing. As soon as he said “not here”, I knew he was hiding SOMETHING he didn’t want Zuurith and Tynan to hear. Not that I’m complaining, of course. I would’ve missed my boi.
Alinua miiiiight just wanna get those healing hands of hers ready for when he leaves though. I’m guessing Kendal’s gonna pass out as soon as he does.
Also, a message to Tahraim: I hope you know what you’re doing, ’cause I sure don’t.
There once was a healer elf
Who, unconcerned with herself,
Demanded a god
Give back the bod
Of the hero of the story himself.
I think he can’t rebuild the body because it now has a soul. Kendal’s not just a puppet, he’s a souled being, and souls are inviolate.
Well ok, that…that’s bad, don’t get me wrong, but unless I’m missing something important Alinua should be able to heal his multiple broken bones and massive gaping stab wound, no problem…right? After all, she’s healed him before, and is pretty crazy powerful. Well…unless she happens to be super exhausted and out of energy. Like, say, if she just strained herself to break a mountain in half with a single giant tree, and then jumped into battle to throw leaves around minutes afterwards…oh, and then got super injured and had to heal herself by instinct…ok fine maybe they ARE actually in trouble.
Long-term, though, I can’t help but worry a lot about the fact that apparently Kendall now knows he has the ability to temporarily summon Vash into his body BY STABBING HIMSELF. That is just…ripe for all kinds of abuse right there, when you’re an existentially confused & stupidly self-sacrificing paragon who has a history of ignoring other people’s concern for his wellbeing…
Congrats on both your predictions come though (in reverse order) Evil Tree!
Perhap Vash’s influence on Kendal’s being was interfered with Allunia’s use of healing while under the Chimera Curse or Life spirit blessing. Perhaps both?
well i guess a deus ex machina is good enough to justify doing it, but for kendals information, gaping stab wounds are generally not advised.
Okay, so I gotta go, but just listen
‘Tis his body now, no more visitin’
Alinua panel 8: but I had a monologue ready!
Ah, yeah, I figured Vash wouldn’t be freed quite so easily. I guess we’ll be finding out sooner or later whether the Collector caught on to his absence (and where Kendal was all this time).
Also, maybe this was discussed earlier, but Panel 3 is reminding me of the place where Vash got stabbed by the Collector way back in Chapter 1. That makes me think that Kendal stabbing himself specifically in that spot was intentional, and that there may be some sort of “sympathetic magic” element going on (or at least narrative resonance).
Ah, there we go. I was worried there was a huge plot hole of “wait, if stabbing himself is all Vash needed Kendal to do, why didn’t he whisper that to him first thing in the dream visit?”
But now it’s clear that his confident assertion that that’s all he needed was a bluff. I suspect that idea didn’t even occur to him until after it worked, and he just rolled with it to put on a confident face to the other gods.
Well, I’m really glad to see that Tess has Erin’s bag. I know that’s like the least important thing happening this page, but I was wondering what happened to it XD
I wonder/hope if Vash will be able to bestow some kind of blessing on the Floof Squad to mark them as his “new people”– a little something more he can technically have dominion over? I don’t know how dominion is established, but it would make sense to me for gods in this world to have such an ability. The only members of the crew I don’t think would be able to except such a blessing would be the Runnasar siblings (as they may be under the dominion of Asera) and Dainix (as his god is Caliban). I’m sure both of those gods are on friendly terms with Vash, but sharing dominion over a thing seems like a violation of god etiquette or something. I don’t think any primordials in the picture here would have a problem as they’re sorta dead but also sorta passive? They don’t seem to be taking as much of an active role with their “avatars” as normal gods do. But yeah, BLESS THEM VASH! ADOPT THEM!
Why do I feel like panel 1 with Dainix chasing Vash should be used as a meme template?
Vash, Dainix. Time to douse the torches, eh?
Vash knows Alinua is Life’s vessel. So what’s the concern? He knows she can Heal Kendal’s wound. She can, can’t she?
Uh-oh. What if a wound caused by star metal isn’t like other wounds?
No, no… she Healed the wound made by The Collector. But no doubt she’ll need to rest first. There’s an Inn back there in nearby… oh, dear. (Hope Erin still has his bag, even if he’s lost most of his shirt.)
Vash: Daddy’s gotta go back to prison now, be good, little Kendal
Vash: “I can’t rebuild this body anymore.”
Alinua: “I CAN!”
Can Tess feel Tynan suddenly vanishing? Yes, it seems. Is she going to look that gift horse in the mouth? Probably not.
Vash, while a little tone deaf in places, seems genuinely respectful of Alinua. Calling her Life’s Chosen, not vessel, wanting to thank her for saving Kendal, and here trying to reassure her of Kendal’s safety. I wonder if these experiences and knowledge of her and the Collector have given him a new perspective on Iras and the chimeric plague.
I’m beginning to wonder whether Alinua’s wild magic healing in chapter 2 that saved Kendal was as wild and random as it seemed. Kendal has starmetal inside him and V.D. recognised it or something else inside him; could Life have seen the same thing and acted though Alinua to both save and modify Kendal? We still don’t know Life’s true movies.
Ok, this is giving me concern over the Kendal-homunculus theories a while back; whether Kendal, without Void but with star-something, can absorb new material into himself. Or it might be that Vash himself can’t heal/upgrade Kendal, leaving him potentially vulnerable. Guess we’ll have to wait till tomorrow for the answer.
Oh no! If only we knew a healer that’s connected the primordial power of life itself! Bummer
https://comicaurora.com/#comment-33408 To Zero Wolf, I just want to thank you on behave of all mobile users
@Evil Tree — I think Vash can no longer fix Kendal’s body because of the inviolability of souls. Only Healing magic could do. Though stabbing oneself with a star metal sword to make your body open to possession by a god can’t be exactly a normal wound. What if it’s both a physical and soul wound?
Well this should keep the power up exclusive until power creep makes it less overpowered at least
Now let’s talk to Vash and Alinua:
“Give him back!” Yes, we heard you the first time. Anything to add, re-phrase?
“Right” “All right” “everyone all right” — Darling, I realize you’re a man of action, but flaming star metal aside, with conversational skills like that, you are not coming across as the brightest bulb in the box here.
The Collector: “I’m going to nab Vash, because I can Heal the crater his city is in.”
Also The Collector: “…and it helps he’s as dumb as a box of rocks.”
Tahraim: “He figured out my riddle though.”
Vash: “Alll right. Right. Are you all righ-?”
Tahraim: “–nevermind. I’ve decided to help you with your weapon.”
*re-reads comment* Sorry Vash and Alinua, that was snarky.