I don’t think Kendal has actually smiled since like, chapter 15, but those is not the ideal words for smiling either. This boy flings himself at dangerous situations as one would chuck a rock into the ocean I swear-
The preternatural calm of someone whose made peace with their own death. That smile….
I predict the starfire will succeed … at first. But it can’t succeed fully, because otherwise Kendal’s martyr complex will be underscored. And we’ve had very strong hints Dainix’ soul fire is the real weapon here.
Plus, this is a god. Tynan might be defeated and make a bargain with another god, but he won’t bargain with mortals: they’re beneath him. So this is a taller order than what Vash had to contend with. They have to weaken him to the point of harmlessness. That’s more than what Vash did.
The panel of Alinua with the backdrop of the enormous fuck you dragon is gorgeous and thematic and brilliant! but i Can Not stop finding it slightly funny that it’s tynan-having-a-no-good-very-bad-day.jpg. he’s been woe-is-me-ing for a full two (short) conversations long. i mean good for everyone not getting killed, and a testament to erin’s (affectionately, /busted/) powerset, but I now choose to joke at this drama king’s expense.
NO. No. Bad Kendal. No. I see what you’re doing, and you’re not going to get away with it. No big heroic sacrifice “you won’t need to save me again moment.” No. Bad.
Kendal, you are not going to pull an Enoch* and fling yourself into a dragon in a heroic sacrifice! You’re too good for this!
(*By which I mean the cool monk from Rolling With Difficulty, not the cowboy from Belkinus Necro Hunt, or any other Enochs, fictional or otherwise.)
“How many times are you going to make me save you?” might sound selfish, but Alinua knows better than anyone that centering Kendal’s pain around the consequences it has for others is the only way he’ll pay attention to it.
Kendal, no. Engaging in a heroic sacrifice is not the proper way of dealing with the traumatic revelation of having your worst fears about your origins and identity confirmed. I know between the injuries and the giant dragon you’re not exactly thinking clearly, but there are still better ways of coping than trying to get yourself killed.
Just…Go find someone to talk to when this is all over. Maybe Tahraim–for one thing he appears to be pretty good at this whole therapy thing, and for another you’re probably going to end up seeking him out anyway due to what you just learned.
(And maybe see if you can get everyone else appointments, too?)
Is Kendal going to do the ‘Get Swallowed by the Dragon and cut himself Out’ gambit?
Vash’s original forging of the sword was when he was broken down and absorbed the materials that became the blade. I wonder if Kendal will pull a similar stunt and just become Kendal-both-Sword-and-Man.
I am wanting him to become something more distinct from Vash here, because both him and in the end Vash need to moe on from that defining principal because it no longer exists in any sense that can be rebuilt.
I’m guessing that Tynan will be defeated by a combination of multiple fire mages poking at him all over Zuurith, and Kendal and Dainix combining starfire and soulfire. Giving a nice power of teamwork vibe, and ramming it into Kendal’s head that he can’t go it alone.
Prediction for next week: It’ll happen again.
Ok, kinda concerned Kendal will pull something super rash; his “it won’t happen again” could also mean Alinua will never save him again, permanently. If he and the sword are connected he may be thinking of drawing the soulfire from his own body.
On the positive side of things, take a look at Tynan in panel 5. Sure he looks intimidating and the framing with Alinua is great, but he’s still clutching his eye and part of his shoulder is dissipating. I don’t think he’s used to having a body this solid or this big and he’s feeling the pain from Erin’s attack and struggling to hold himself together. The gang still has a very real chance and a bit of time to get their act together.
@icarusancalion You make a good point about Tynan not bargaining with mortals. Makes me think that, for better or worse, Zuurith needs to arrive and contribute. At least be present to “officiate” a new vow of non-interference, if he can arrive mid-battle maybe some binding chains would be useful.
Although I would personally love to see VD come out and kick some butt, I don’t think it’ll happen. It seems as though this arc is going to take a more power of friendship route, due to the fact that both Kendal and Erin are acting like they can or should be able to handle tynan on their own, im imagining that Kendal will (one way or another) unlock his starfire and dainix will channel his soul fire, and along with Erin they’ll be able to burn the dragon apart, or some of the city folk who were evacuating are gonna come and help too, further demonstrating the prospect that no single one of them can defeat him alone. Either way I’ll be happy 🙂
“It won’t happen again,” Kendal said, preparing to run headlong into danger again to fight the giant lightning dragon. “I won’t get hit *too* bad this time.”
@Evan Gross. Agree, agree. I live on this ship to.
I get that you two are having a moment but, can we please pan back to Falst? Is he okay? He got blasted with fire a couple pages back, he is definitely NOT okay. I need to know how he is.
@Evil Tree — haha! I have this image of Zuurith showing up at the end going “… so there! And–and stay out!” Then trying to play it off, like “this is how I planned for it to go all along. My Champions!” Then “giving” them the rewards of Arena champions, nevermind Alinua broke the Arena.
OK, there’s been talk of Kendal death flagging here, so I want to drop an analysis (and I’, not on Discord, so this comments section will have to do).
Definitions first. So far, the core party of Aurora is Kendal, Alinua, Erin and Falst. It seems very likely that Tess and Dainix will be joining full-time at the end of the Zuurith arc. Old trope talks (while Red was still drawing Aurora characters into them) suggest that there will also be a 7th full-time party member (see: Strong Female Characters. Apparently Red’s second attempt at a female character, after Alinua, was a ‘warrior prince that [she] decided to add some oestrogen to’. This is probably the character in the bottom-most sketch on the Aurora sketches page, comparing muscles with Tess. I can’t wait to meet her). The party has 3 main quests: Kendal needs to rescue Vash and take down The Collector, Erin needs to sever his link to the void dragon and Dainix needs to… do something with his soulfire. Alinua and Falst (and, presumably, Tess) are just along for the ride.
Now, let’s assume that Red wants to kill a core party member. Her trope talk on Plot Twists underscores the need for the twist to create more drama and possibilities than you’re losing by killing off a character. With that in mind, killing off Alinua, Falst or Tess would be an obvious net negative. Alinua is still only at the start of finding out what Primordial Life wants from her, Falst creates endless possibilities for racial commentary and he apparently has some parental issues lurking in the wardrobe. Tess being alive will probably have more character chemistry and fun interactions than her getting killed off, which would create a lot of Erin-angst but not much else.
If Red were to kill off Erin or Dainix, their quests would end automatically. Erin doesn’t need to travel to the soulshaper monks and break his link to the void dragon if he’s dead, and the void dragon would stay imprisoned for another few millennia. Dainix would, by definition, complete his quest of killing the ‘demon’, even if Caliban and Tahraim would (probably) be miffed. But Kendal? Vash still needs rescuing, The Collector still needs stopping and you could bet Alinua, in particular, would move heaven and earth to see Kendal’s mission completed after his death. Erin gets shaken up by being powerless to save Kendal, while Falst and Dainix – who to some degree look up to Kendal – get shaken up and Alinua would never be the same again. Lots and lots of potential drama and I am definitely nervous.
That said, I think the chance of Kendal dying *now* are slim-to-none. He’s right on the cusp of activating his starfire powers, he still has unresolved beef with Zuurith and he’s barely met half the core party members. We’d be losing *tons* of potential character interactions and juicy stuff. But I will definitely be keeping a closer eye on Kendal as we head into future arcs.
@Gigabyte22 — I’m not sure anyone really thinks Kendal won’t survive this arc (or the other characters for that matter). We’re just nail-biting at the effective building tension, popcorn in hand.
Everybody, please see a therapist
Every goddamned protagonist in this series needs therapy except Tess
Alinua now has has enough
But Kendal somehow shrugs it off
*has had
Narrator: It would absolutely happen again.
KENDAL. stop. Also Alinua makes my heart hurt ♡
his face in the last panel- I am out of words
Oh he thinks going god mode is gonna kill him. Cool.
EXCUUUUSE ME THIS IS TOTALLY *NOT COOL*
googling how to give fictional characters a warm blanket a cup of soup and a referral to a therapist
“OngoingConversationCouplet” eh? I see a new challenger approaches.
Joking aside, that’s a good couplet. Nicely done.
I was wondering where HelloHaiku had gone but now i see we have GoodbyeBallad and OngoingConversationCouplet??? the lore deepens.
Starfire time? If so, I’ve got mood music ready. https://youtu.be/Ur7Dz5UqT0k
Ok but that panel with Alinua and the dragon in the background is very cool, good job Red
Oh Kendal, I’m so worried
Of course! That’s what we’re all thinking, right?
Really love the fifth panel. The statement, the framing, the light(n)ing, amazing.
TL;DR: alright healing was nice but now I’m gonna charge into danger again! Bye!
Gods the art the last couple pages has just been top tier. Absolutely enthralled
The bottom left panel is just <333333 crying emoji
*Insert Anakin Padmé meme*
The Mythologeek
I don’t like sand?
I don’t think Kendal has actually smiled since like, chapter 15, but those is not the ideal words for smiling either. This boy flings himself at dangerous situations as one would chuck a rock into the ocean I swear-
Tynan on panel 5 just… *facepalm*
The preternatural calm of someone whose made peace with their own death. That smile….
I predict the starfire will succeed … at first. But it can’t succeed fully, because otherwise Kendal’s martyr complex will be underscored. And we’ve had very strong hints Dainix’ soul fire is the real weapon here.
Plus, this is a god. Tynan might be defeated and make a bargain with another god, but he won’t bargain with mortals: they’re beneath him. So this is a taller order than what Vash had to contend with. They have to weaken him to the point of harmlessness. That’s more than what Vash did.
my GOD.
THERAPIST. NOW. ALL OF YOU.
The panel of Alinua with the backdrop of the enormous fuck you dragon is gorgeous and thematic and brilliant! but i Can Not stop finding it slightly funny that it’s tynan-having-a-no-good-very-bad-day.jpg. he’s been woe-is-me-ing for a full two (short) conversations long. i mean good for everyone not getting killed, and a testament to erin’s (affectionately, /busted/) powerset, but I now choose to joke at this drama king’s expense.
NO. No. Bad Kendal. No. I see what you’re doing, and you’re not going to get away with it. No big heroic sacrifice “you won’t need to save me again moment.” No. Bad.
Kendal, you are not going to pull an Enoch* and fling yourself into a dragon in a heroic sacrifice! You’re too good for this!
(*By which I mean the cool monk from Rolling With Difficulty, not the cowboy from Belkinus Necro Hunt, or any other Enochs, fictional or otherwise.)
@GoodbyeBallad thanks! Means a lot to get compliments from the professionals. Still no sign of HelloHaiku though?
“How many times are you going to make me save you?” might sound selfish, but Alinua knows better than anyone that centering Kendal’s pain around the consequences it has for others is the only way he’ll pay attention to it.
@toby lonelytuatara
One word: fanfiction!
The purpose of fanfiction is to:
“Heal what has been hurt
Change the fates’ design
Make the clock reverse
Save what has been lost”
This comic is just absolutely stunning. It’s so pretty, that I could stare at it for hours.
Here comes the anime powerup. I can feel it.
“It won’t happen again.”
Yes it will
Kendal, no. Engaging in a heroic sacrifice is not the proper way of dealing with the traumatic revelation of having your worst fears about your origins and identity confirmed. I know between the injuries and the giant dragon you’re not exactly thinking clearly, but there are still better ways of coping than trying to get yourself killed.
Just…Go find someone to talk to when this is all over. Maybe Tahraim–for one thing he appears to be pretty good at this whole therapy thing, and for another you’re probably going to end up seeking him out anyway due to what you just learned.
(And maybe see if you can get everyone else appointments, too?)
To youngstormlord:
I know that quote. Isn’t that from Tangled?
Is Kendal going to do the ‘Get Swallowed by the Dragon and cut himself Out’ gambit?
Vash’s original forging of the sword was when he was broken down and absorbed the materials that became the blade. I wonder if Kendal will pull a similar stunt and just become Kendal-both-Sword-and-Man.
I am wanting him to become something more distinct from Vash here, because both him and in the end Vash need to moe on from that defining principal because it no longer exists in any sense that can be rebuilt.
alt text: because you’ll stop charging headlong into danger, right? right?
ok since it seems like everybody could use a laugh now, here’s how i’m picturing what’s about to happen over in Erin’s corner:
VD Walter, powering up: I’LL SHOW YOU A REAL DRAGON!
Alinua: Bad dragon! How am I supposed to heal Erin when you’ve got corrosive energy all over you? Clean it up NOW!
VD Walter: But —
Alinua: NO BUTS!
VD Walter: Yes, mom. *retreats*
I’m guessing that Tynan will be defeated by a combination of multiple fire mages poking at him all over Zuurith, and Kendal and Dainix combining starfire and soulfire. Giving a nice power of teamwork vibe, and ramming it into Kendal’s head that he can’t go it alone.
Kendal: “LEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOY… JENKIIIIIIIINS!!!”
Prediction for next week: It’ll happen again.
Ok, kinda concerned Kendal will pull something super rash; his “it won’t happen again” could also mean Alinua will never save him again, permanently. If he and the sword are connected he may be thinking of drawing the soulfire from his own body.
On the positive side of things, take a look at Tynan in panel 5. Sure he looks intimidating and the framing with Alinua is great, but he’s still clutching his eye and part of his shoulder is dissipating. I don’t think he’s used to having a body this solid or this big and he’s feeling the pain from Erin’s attack and struggling to hold himself together. The gang still has a very real chance and a bit of time to get their act together.
@icarusancalion You make a good point about Tynan not bargaining with mortals. Makes me think that, for better or worse, Zuurith needs to arrive and contribute. At least be present to “officiate” a new vow of non-interference, if he can arrive mid-battle maybe some binding chains would be useful.
Awww. Alinua is so awesome and sweet and also completely and totally deadly. I love it.
Although I would personally love to see VD come out and kick some butt, I don’t think it’ll happen. It seems as though this arc is going to take a more power of friendship route, due to the fact that both Kendal and Erin are acting like they can or should be able to handle tynan on their own, im imagining that Kendal will (one way or another) unlock his starfire and dainix will channel his soul fire, and along with Erin they’ll be able to burn the dragon apart, or some of the city folk who were evacuating are gonna come and help too, further demonstrating the prospect that no single one of them can defeat him alone. Either way I’ll be happy 🙂
“It won’t happen again,” Kendal said, preparing to run headlong into danger again to fight the giant lightning dragon. “I won’t get hit *too* bad this time.”
*tynan in the background casually covering his eyes to ignore character development*
Ooof. I relate real hard to Alinua’s cries for Kendal to stop.
What do you mean she won’t have to save you again…?
…oh…
…oh no.
getting 8 year old vibes…
maybe its the cheeky smile
Man! After all this combat and conflict… I wonder if these guys get a beach episode?
This Ship. I like this Ship. I live on this Ship now.
The look of confidence in the last panel fills me with determination.
@Evan Gross. Agree, agree. I live on this ship to.
I get that you two are having a moment but, can we please pan back to Falst? Is he okay? He got blasted with fire a couple pages back, he is definitely NOT okay. I need to know how he is.
Yep. Okay that right there is love. Platonic, semi-familiar, romantic, idk and I don’t care, but that is love and I absolutely adore these two.
@Evil Tree — haha! I have this image of Zuurith showing up at the end going “… so there! And–and stay out!” Then trying to play it off, like “this is how I planned for it to go all along. My Champions!” Then “giving” them the rewards of Arena champions, nevermind Alinua broke the Arena.
hey Alinua’s eyes are more yellowy green. is this because she’s using too much life magic?
Kendal reminds me of Carrot from Diskworld so much right now it’s scary
OK, there’s been talk of Kendal death flagging here, so I want to drop an analysis (and I’, not on Discord, so this comments section will have to do).
Definitions first. So far, the core party of Aurora is Kendal, Alinua, Erin and Falst. It seems very likely that Tess and Dainix will be joining full-time at the end of the Zuurith arc. Old trope talks (while Red was still drawing Aurora characters into them) suggest that there will also be a 7th full-time party member (see: Strong Female Characters. Apparently Red’s second attempt at a female character, after Alinua, was a ‘warrior prince that [she] decided to add some oestrogen to’. This is probably the character in the bottom-most sketch on the Aurora sketches page, comparing muscles with Tess. I can’t wait to meet her). The party has 3 main quests: Kendal needs to rescue Vash and take down The Collector, Erin needs to sever his link to the void dragon and Dainix needs to… do something with his soulfire. Alinua and Falst (and, presumably, Tess) are just along for the ride.
Now, let’s assume that Red wants to kill a core party member. Her trope talk on Plot Twists underscores the need for the twist to create more drama and possibilities than you’re losing by killing off a character. With that in mind, killing off Alinua, Falst or Tess would be an obvious net negative. Alinua is still only at the start of finding out what Primordial Life wants from her, Falst creates endless possibilities for racial commentary and he apparently has some parental issues lurking in the wardrobe. Tess being alive will probably have more character chemistry and fun interactions than her getting killed off, which would create a lot of Erin-angst but not much else.
If Red were to kill off Erin or Dainix, their quests would end automatically. Erin doesn’t need to travel to the soulshaper monks and break his link to the void dragon if he’s dead, and the void dragon would stay imprisoned for another few millennia. Dainix would, by definition, complete his quest of killing the ‘demon’, even if Caliban and Tahraim would (probably) be miffed. But Kendal? Vash still needs rescuing, The Collector still needs stopping and you could bet Alinua, in particular, would move heaven and earth to see Kendal’s mission completed after his death. Erin gets shaken up by being powerless to save Kendal, while Falst and Dainix – who to some degree look up to Kendal – get shaken up and Alinua would never be the same again. Lots and lots of potential drama and I am definitely nervous.
That said, I think the chance of Kendal dying *now* are slim-to-none. He’s right on the cusp of activating his starfire powers, he still has unresolved beef with Zuurith and he’s barely met half the core party members. We’d be losing *tons* of potential character interactions and juicy stuff. But I will definitely be keeping a closer eye on Kendal as we head into future arcs.
@Gigabyte22 — I’m not sure anyone really thinks Kendal won’t survive this arc (or the other characters for that matter). We’re just nail-biting at the effective building tension, popcorn in hand.
Ik it absolutely wont be a thing and I am usually not into this but I reeeeaaaallly wanna ship it
bruh its been monday for like a day.
Damn I’ve been trying so hard to not ship them but come on you’re really gonna hit me with panel 5
Oh I get it. Because he’s not expecting to survive this. Nice.
These two are perfect and I love them
Oh. This was the moment. This is the moment where he’s convinced that he’s going to die.
Excellent storytelling. Thank you for making this!