The Order of the Stick

Perhaps the Oracle has one of those doomed to see but not change the future deals. Thus his death was unavoidable.

What I wonder is if Roy was effected by the memory spell seeing as he is a ghost. Will he still know about the Mark of Justice activating & cleric getting murdered when and if they res him?

571

What you say 'bout my momma?

Well I guess that answers that.

I guess he is lucky that Belkar didn't get around the litter box. Hehe those clerics remind me the Goofy Gophers from Loony Toons.

@ 570: Aww, man, I was kinda hoping they would leave him behind, just to shake things up. Damn you, Rick Burlew, for getting my hopes up just to dash them! I guess Haley really should've written it down. So now Belkar's activated the curse that's gonna incapacitate and/or kill him, and doesn't know about it. Man, sucks to be him.

@ 571: Man is death cheap for that guy. But hey, Roy's finally gotten through to someone. Too bad he doesn't have any money for a vision; it's all in the cart. Again, I wonder if he'll remember this all; my money's on yes.

If they left him behing he would just become a serial/mass murdered without focus. I don't think that would be as interested as we would like to think.

Baron wrote:

No, because he's currently under the effects of the mark of justice. He wouldn't get much killing done. And he wouldn't be without purpose—he'd be desperately trying to find Hinjo, the rest of the party or at least a high level caster to remove the curse.

I should've bet someone a coke. (Incidentally, I was also pretty sure that the oracle should've been able to see Roy, by the same logic that he was able to read Haley's cryptograms, but I didn't say anything, so I guess I lose my chance at a coke =/)

Also (570), I just noticed that Mr. Scruffy leapt off the cart when it became apparent that Belkar wasn't going to be coming with them! That's awesome.

And (back in 571 again) are the Fish brothers (and their boss) a reference to something that I'm missing?

Probably a Chekhov's Gun.

The Oracle had it planned out really well. I kind of expected that one of the other kobolds in the village would be promoted to Oracle. This is definitely a funnier resolution.

The comic has been updating every other day lately. That pleases me.

brickman wrote:

While you make a good point about the curse knowing our resident halfing as we do I think he would still find a way to kill people.

I think there would be some poetic justice if Belkar has to make peace with Miko's crazy soul or something over this but personally I think we've probably seen the last of Miko.

I actually think Belkar would make a great villain, but I think there's pretty much zero chance of that happening.

Mind you, this comic never ceases to surprise me.

No, Belkar being a villain would be no fun, because Belkar being one of the protagonists is thoroughly ingrained in his character such that he could not possibly be anything else.

Despite being a protagonist Belkar is often a villian. He was certainly a villain in the Miko story arc where he killed a guard to escape and attempted to get Miko to kill him in a fit of rage just to get a measure of revenge against her all before she snapped and went totally off the deep end.

Amusing or not Belkar was being a villian to the core there and loving it.

I could easily see him ending up as the villain to some secondary character in a future story arc or sub plot without switching sides or ceasing to be a protagonist in the over all story.

Baron wrote:

Thing is, in that instance Miko was so obnoxious that you still see Belkar as the hero, in spite of the fact that Belkar killed the guard.

He is one of the protagonists, and I don't think he'll ever be anything else. I just think he'd make an interesting villain, precisely because readers would still sympathise with him. But then, maybe it wouldn't feel like The Order of the Stick anymore.

Bobby G wrote:

That is highly subjective & there are lots of Miko fans who would totally disagree with you. Plus there is a huge difference between who you want to win and who is the hero. I personally enjoyed seeing Xykon kill Roy (nothing against Roy I just didn't want to Xykon go out like a punk again) but that doesn't mean Xykon was the hero even subjectively there even if he is more likable sometimes as Redcloak himself even points out after a fashion. Personally I've always found Belkar more obnoxious then Miko, Belkar's main saving grace is that a LOT more humor & generally better quality jokes come from him rather then the more bland humor and crazy plot/drama that tended to go with Miko. If Belkar made us laugh less he would be far tolerable much less enjoyable. I mean if Miko had been holier then thou, stubborn, narrow minded, arrogant, ax crazy & histerical people probably wouldn't have cared about the first four.

I mean Redcloak has beaten up some obnoxious people before and that doesn't make him any less villians.

The only reason Belkar doesn't get to play the villian more is because Roy & convoluted circumstances usually reigns him before he gets too out of hand or does anything powerfully unlikable enough to shake his fans. Really I think the author has been playing up this story arc just how evil Belkar is without Roy as a lead up to some sort of character growth. While Belkar does kill a lot of people the author rarely lets him get away with killing an innocent without some karmic payback later.

# 572

Okay, that wink to the audience makes The Oracle the cutest Magnificent Bastard ever.

Hooray, Roy remembers it!

Hmm, anyone wanna draw up some theories on how you can stop drawing breath without dying? He could be turned into a sentient undead. . . he could be turned into a merperson. . .

CTrombley wrote:

"# 572

Okay, that wink to the audience makes The Oracle the cutest Magnificent Bastard ever.

Seconded, along with the fact that he provided his own Clue from Ed. XD

I seem to recall there was some indication that Roy wouldn't be able to remember anything he saw while he was dead when he came back to life, but I can't remember what exactly it was. It would explain why the Oracle didn't care about the charm not affecting him, at any rate.

Anyway, now I'm thinking of Prophecy Twists for that one. He's probably actually going to die for serious, but it's also possible he'll be turned into some kind of undead and stay in the comic that way. If it weren't for the fact that the Oracle kept saying he was going to die, and we just had to go off the prophecy alone, I'd suggest he could get some sort of permanently bonded magic item or magical alteration to his physiology that meant he never had to, or could, breath again.

Also, didn't the oracle also say something about "Savoring your next birthday cake" to Belkar the first time they were there?

JethroQWalrustitty wrote:

That could still mean he's undead (can't taste). The only piece of damning evidence against it is that The Oracle suggests that Belkar should NOT bother with a retirement plan. If he were going to live as an undead, more planning for the future would be my recommendation. But maybe The Oracle was being cute (oh no, wait that's always ) .

So a little off-topic, but if there were an Oot S cartoon who would play Vaarsuvius?

John Barrowman.

...

What?

Anyway, I seriously hope Belkar dies for real. Not that I really have that much against him as a character (well, as a person, yes, he's a horrible monster that should be nuked from orbit, It's The Only Way To Be Sure™), but I also don't like cop-outs like "Ha, he dies, but comes back as an undead!" Profecy Twists are so overused thatit would be fun to see a profecy be played out straight for once.

Particularly since they just sort of did a twist with the oracle comming back to life.

The plot thickens!

Belkar is NOT looking good right now.

True but I'm more interested in his obvious growing insanity. Clearly the curse/disease is effecting his mind as well.

Of course, delusional insane is probably safer than murderous insane, which is what he was before.