panel three focusing on the sword kendal while the guy Kendal is talking about Tahraim shaping people does seem to be on purpose, the faces in panel five are just great. no one wants to be on this adventure, except for us, the readers!
The worst part about this is, it’s totally in-character for the rest of the group to give the retreating kraken a weird look before moving on. Meaning this is an utterly realistic prediction.
You have split a 6 person party three-ways and Falst is about to go on solo mission while Kendal plays distraction. The only way party could be more split is if Erin and Tess get separated 😀
Is Kendal a lefty and Vash a righty? Three out of every four times we see each of them with the sword, they’re using these hands (but they probably are ambidextrous) And yes, I counted.
Kendal: I’m sure Alinua’s fine. She’s probably having another godly dream where she’s ambiguously nude and facing Life herself as they have a one-sided discussion on free will, purpose, and Life’s body dysmorphia about becoming part of a planet. … Or she safely landed on a different beach, that’s also possible.
Falst: … Yeah I’m just gonna ignore that and focus on the mission.
Nice to see how much faith Kendal has in Alinua’s ability. She survived for years alone, has a primordial as her patron, and helped save these three during a very chaotic event; she’s no slouch, and Kendal knows she could still show them up yet. I wonder what Tahraim thinks about Alinua and Life, how their journeys are going.
I like that phrasing about Tahraim shaping people into “reflections” of the potential he sees; he has a vision of what a person could be, but knows the final product won’t be a 1-to-1 match, nor would he want it to be. Shown nicely with Tahraim’s flashback dialogue in 1-17-17 where Vash took his advice more literally than he expected, and was fascinated by the end result because of that.
However, I think Falst will have lingering suspicious of them; all this talk of seeing people as projects and mortals as tools might be giving him flashbacks of Jolon. Caliban and Tahraim can trust Falst to save Dainix now, but afterwards Falst may try and “save” Dainix from those two and complicate their plan, as Cali feared. Maybe one of them or Kendal might talk Falst out of doing that.
As to what that plan is, I’m not sure. When Dainix talked of Demons routing entire armies, I thought Caliban wanted him as a warrior, but after seeing what he’s truly capable of, I don’t think it’s that simple. If they wanted him to counter V.D. or the Collector, I’d have thought they’d be more open about it with the rest of the gang.
If I were to theorise, I’d say this has something to do with the invocation of Fire’s truename. It was an Ignan who did it, and afterwards, from what I’ve gathered in lore, the Ignan population was noted to be half it was before, volcanic fissures opened, and they don’t talk about it with outsiders. Maybe there’s some lingering issues about it that Caliban and Tahraim think a Crucible, beings that came into existence after the truename invocation, can fix.
Ah, your sample dialogues are the highlight of these comment sections.
I quite like your read on Kendal’s description of Tahraim. I personally found it nonspecifically ominous, but your interpretation rings true.
Love your theorizing on Dainix’s purpose. I’d missed that connection of the reduced Ignan population. Time to go poring through the lore doc once more.
In related news, yesterday I pre-ordered my copy of volume 1!
I was a little hesitant initially, because when I first checked the only option for UK shipping was through Amazon, a site I try not to use out of principle. However, a fourth option appeared recently for Bookshop.org that not only ships in the UK, but supports the local bookstores.
Needless to say I ordered, and now I wait.
For some reason, new pages aren’t showing up for me when I go on the site at first, even when I re-load the page and re-open it in a different tab. Is anyone else having the same problem? This has been happening to me since February, I think.
She’d probably also be trying to make a seaweed sail or something. Or she’s drifted out of sight of the island and has no idea where she is, meaning she’s just sitting there waiting for someone to fly overhead.
Our girl Alinua can handle a lot, but we DID have a suspiciously Life Shaped sea creature … so I’m concerned about that. But anyway ummmm I’m totally sure that the Tahraim and Dainix plotline won’t come up and be relevant in the future SURELY. SURELY THE WRITER (KNOWN FOR BEING A SKILLED ANALYSIS AND STORYWRITING) WOULDNT DO SUCH A THING CERTAINLY
And Now we’re going to get that scene switch. I suspect to Alinua, I think that’s signaled pretty clearly here. There are so many options, but I’m hoping mermaids.
I love that Kendal always voices concern for his friends while never down playing their abilities or underestimating them, he’s worried yes but he has faith in them. I just love that 💗
Oh, I think Red removed the text. I honestly didn’t even see it until you pointed out that there was no bubble.
For posterity (sorry, Red): “I know, but-” is I think what Falst said there.
Does this crucible business happen a lot? Kendal implies that it does. If so, I wonder what happened to the other crucibles? Did Caliban and/or Tahraim discard them after making some mistake? Or, once completed, were they left to their own devices? I think it’d be cool if Dainix got to meet one of these…beings…somewhere down the line
oh, I just realized: Vash would’ve known where everyone in his city was at all times, right? So that’s probably part of the reason why Kendal doesn’t like not knowing where his friends are.
Unless I’m reading way too much into this and he just doesn’t like not knowing where they are because they’re his friends.
I was hoping Alinua would find Tess and Erin first, but it seems that she’ll be having a solo adventure? Maybe with sea monster? Do we have a name for the sea monster??
Something tells me Kendal’s plan to be Bait while Falst sneaks into the volcano isn’t going to go the way he thinks. I mean, we all already know that, but it looks to me like his eyes are glowing just a hair more than usual, and if he’s drawing on his semi-divine nature just to walk–and to do so with Falst’s assistance, mind– he’s really in no condition to fight.
i wasn’t expecting kendal to be this chill about not knowing where the rest of the party is but honestly i think its fitting, a few plot points ago he would have been in a complete panic if alinua just disappeared like she did now and i think it’s a nice sign of his character development that he’s confident she knows what she’s doing 🙂
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: oh I see it’s only cool when YOU split the party huh
Image source: trust
Bluesky text: everything always a damn ordeal in area fantasy adventure
Tumblr text: ✅climb the highest mountain
✅cross the wildest sea
Interesting insights from Kendal.
Will Ali find them first? I think it won’t be that simple.
May be a good opportunity to cut to her tho…
Oh GOD, you’re so absolutely right. We’re gonna cut to her in some dire situation or wide shot, and that oh-so-dastardly phrase, “See you on Monday!”
I wonder when we’ll get a cutaway to Alinua or Tess and Erin
same…. im getting worried abt alinua especially
We’re gonna get a cutaway to Alinua *finding* Tess and Erin :V
Honestly the end of this page seems like the clearest possible setup for an Alinua cutaway so. I am hopeful that it is Soon
Oh yeah, BIG cutaway vibes on this page.
Alinua be yub-nubbin’ it up with the merfolk. Well, they’re trying to cheer her up, but she just wants to go find her friends.
bonding time for the boys!!! yayyyyyy,,,,,
Alinua: the plot holes are her fox holes.
panel three focusing on the sword kendal while the guy Kendal is talking about Tahraim shaping people does seem to be on purpose, the faces in panel five are just great. no one wants to be on this adventure, except for us, the readers!
Plot Twist the entire arc resolves without Alinua, only for her to ride into the scene on her new pet Kraken at the very end.
This is never elaborated upon.
The worst part about this is, it’s totally in-character for the rest of the group to give the retreating kraken a weird look before moving on. Meaning this is an utterly realistic prediction.
Sounds legit to me.
You have split a 6 person party three-ways and Falst is about to go on solo mission while Kendal plays distraction. The only way party could be more split is if Erin and Tess get separated 😀
please don’t give her any ideas
😂 true tho
Is Kendal a lefty and Vash a righty? Three out of every four times we see each of them with the sword, they’re using these hands (but they probably are ambidextrous) And yes, I counted.
Y’know, i love Kendal’s and Falst’s friendship. Started off as a rivalry, and now we’re here. They trust each other completely and I love it.
The “We’re not so different you and I” speech from Kendal really did wonders
Kendal: I’m sure Alinua’s fine. She’s probably having another godly dream where she’s ambiguously nude and facing Life herself as they have a one-sided discussion on free will, purpose, and Life’s body dysmorphia about becoming part of a planet. … Or she safely landed on a different beach, that’s also possible.
Falst: … Yeah I’m just gonna ignore that and focus on the mission.
Nice to see how much faith Kendal has in Alinua’s ability. She survived for years alone, has a primordial as her patron, and helped save these three during a very chaotic event; she’s no slouch, and Kendal knows she could still show them up yet. I wonder what Tahraim thinks about Alinua and Life, how their journeys are going.
I like that phrasing about Tahraim shaping people into “reflections” of the potential he sees; he has a vision of what a person could be, but knows the final product won’t be a 1-to-1 match, nor would he want it to be. Shown nicely with Tahraim’s flashback dialogue in 1-17-17 where Vash took his advice more literally than he expected, and was fascinated by the end result because of that.
However, I think Falst will have lingering suspicious of them; all this talk of seeing people as projects and mortals as tools might be giving him flashbacks of Jolon. Caliban and Tahraim can trust Falst to save Dainix now, but afterwards Falst may try and “save” Dainix from those two and complicate their plan, as Cali feared. Maybe one of them or Kendal might talk Falst out of doing that.
As to what that plan is, I’m not sure. When Dainix talked of Demons routing entire armies, I thought Caliban wanted him as a warrior, but after seeing what he’s truly capable of, I don’t think it’s that simple. If they wanted him to counter V.D. or the Collector, I’d have thought they’d be more open about it with the rest of the gang.
If I were to theorise, I’d say this has something to do with the invocation of Fire’s truename. It was an Ignan who did it, and afterwards, from what I’ve gathered in lore, the Ignan population was noted to be half it was before, volcanic fissures opened, and they don’t talk about it with outsiders. Maybe there’s some lingering issues about it that Caliban and Tahraim think a Crucible, beings that came into existence after the truename invocation, can fix.
Ah, your sample dialogues are the highlight of these comment sections.
I quite like your read on Kendal’s description of Tahraim. I personally found it nonspecifically ominous, but your interpretation rings true.
Love your theorizing on Dainix’s purpose. I’d missed that connection of the reduced Ignan population. Time to go poring through the lore doc once more.
Thanks, I do try.
In related news, yesterday I pre-ordered my copy of volume 1!
I was a little hesitant initially, because when I first checked the only option for UK shipping was through Amazon, a site I try not to use out of principle. However, a fourth option appeared recently for Bookshop.org that not only ships in the UK, but supports the local bookstores.
Needless to say I ordered, and now I wait.
whoa nice!!! im also from the uk!!
For some reason, new pages aren’t showing up for me when I go on the site at first, even when I re-load the page and re-open it in a different tab. Is anyone else having the same problem? This has been happening to me since February, I think.
Kendal thinks Tahraim wishes to forge Dainix “right”
And right they’ll trust Ali to survive through her plight
this all wouldn’t of happened if Erin actually kept an eye on the magic battery.
alinua my love i miss you
Is that name a reference to Vanna the Golden?
Cuts to alinua floating on plant raft
She’d probably also be trying to make a seaweed sail or something. Or she’s drifted out of sight of the island and has no idea where she is, meaning she’s just sitting there waiting for someone to fly overhead.
Gotta split the party into as many dous as possible, the Aurora equivalent to ATLA’s life changing adventures with Zuko
Our girl Alinua can handle a lot, but we DID have a suspiciously Life Shaped sea creature … so I’m concerned about that. But anyway ummmm I’m totally sure that the Tahraim and Dainix plotline won’t come up and be relevant in the future SURELY. SURELY THE WRITER (KNOWN FOR BEING A SKILLED ANALYSIS AND STORYWRITING) WOULDNT DO SUCH A THING CERTAINLY
And Now we’re going to get that scene switch. I suspect to Alinua, I think that’s signaled pretty clearly here. There are so many options, but I’m hoping mermaids.
I love that Kendal always voices concern for his friends while never down playing their abilities or underestimating them, he’s worried yes but he has faith in them. I just love that 💗
Reminds me of my dad tbh
I love my kids and I worry for them, but I know that they’re capable of fending for themselves.
Meanwhile my mom’s like “MY BEAUTIFUL BABIES ARE IN A DIFFERENT AISLE IN THE STORE QUICK SEND AN AMBER ALERT”
Falst’s text on the bottom of panel 7 is missing a box
Oh, I think Red removed the text. I honestly didn’t even see it until you pointed out that there was no bubble.
For posterity (sorry, Red): “I know, but-” is I think what Falst said there.
Does this crucible business happen a lot? Kendal implies that it does. If so, I wonder what happened to the other crucibles? Did Caliban and/or Tahraim discard them after making some mistake? Or, once completed, were they left to their own devices? I think it’d be cool if Dainix got to meet one of these…beings…somewhere down the line
The reason Dainix is traveling with them is that Erin read a book written by another crucible at the soulshaper monastery about being a crucible.
I‘m thinking, due to her connection with life, Alinua will awaken 1.having spontaniously developed gills and 2. being surrounded by curious merpeople
TL;DR: Sword guy used reassurance! It’s not very effective… Is it?
oh, I just realized: Vash would’ve known where everyone in his city was at all times, right? So that’s probably part of the reason why Kendal doesn’t like not knowing where his friends are.
Unless I’m reading way too much into this and he just doesn’t like not knowing where they are because they’re his friends.
I was hoping Alinua would find Tess and Erin first, but it seems that she’ll be having a solo adventure? Maybe with sea monster? Do we have a name for the sea monster??
The last few panels are so wholesome 😊
I love it!
Something tells me Kendal’s plan to be Bait while Falst sneaks into the volcano isn’t going to go the way he thinks. I mean, we all already know that, but it looks to me like his eyes are glowing just a hair more than usual, and if he’s drawing on his semi-divine nature just to walk–and to do so with Falst’s assistance, mind– he’s really in no condition to fight.
Not that that’s stopped him before, of course…
i wasn’t expecting kendal to be this chill about not knowing where the rest of the party is but honestly i think its fitting, a few plot points ago he would have been in a complete panic if alinua just disappeared like she did now and i think it’s a nice sign of his character development that he’s confident she knows what she’s doing 🙂