Order of the Stick 597 is up!

[Mouseferatu]

Wow. What a strip! It makes me sad to see V headed this way, but I suppose that the seeking of ultimate power does come with a price. Compare this strip with this earlier one if you have any doubt that V has completely changed character.

I'm pretty sure that we're not seeing V's descent into A) evil, or B) lichdom.

What we're seeing is just how vital Roy is to keeping the party together, and how badly things are falling apart without him.

I'm not saying I think everything will go back to exactly as it was when he returns, or that there won't be consequences, but I'm betting a lot of what's gotten shaky in terms of party actions and interactions will firm up again.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think V and Belkar might reconcile at some point in the future. Who knows, maybe they will even end up together, though gender ambiguity of V could make that difficult... or interesting in a very distubing way.

Well, you might want to cast your mind back to V's theory on Belkars lust/hate relationships...

 

[Miyaa]

Well, you might want to cast your mind back to V's theory on Belkars lust/hate relationships...

Oh, please not. And I had just used the last of Boom coffee too.

 

[ArisKatsaris]

Simply put V puts a smaller output of effort for a smaller gain, saving the people of the Azure City, behind a larger output of effort for a larger gain, saving the world. He sees Roy as a necessary element of that second good and therefore more important than all of the survivors of the Azure City.

The idea that Roy has information and that's why they must find him is too obvious a self-justification. The very fact that V was never so obsessed when they were actually helping save the world indicates that it's not the fate of the world that has turned him like this -- it's the loss of his only real friend (Haley) and the only teammate he respected (Roy).

V is putting a huge output of effort for a *small* gain (getting Haley and Roy back), and a small output of effort to the larger gain of securing the fleet, which you know, contains the only people in the world that are even more dedicated to defeating Xykon than the Order of the Stick is.

If V really gave a damn about the world (for anything other than a self-excuse) he'd be helping Hinjo.

 

[Storm Raven]

V is putting a huge output of effort for a *small* gain (getting Haley and Roy back), and a small output of effort to the larger gain of securing the fleet, which you know, contains the only people in the world that are even more dedicated to defeating Xykon than the Order of the Stick is.

I was with you until here. The Sapphire Guard is arguably less interested in defeating Xykon and saving the world than they are in preserving their oath. In many ways, the story of the Sapphire Guild shows the inherent limitations of a paladin order with respect to actually defending the world, since they are constrained by the rules and traditions, even those that interfere with the larger task at hand (which necessitated, for example, Shojo's machinations).

They are certainly less interested in defeating Xykon and saving the world than the OotS, since they appear to be currently mostly interested in getting the Azurites either back home or located in a new safe area.

 

[SteveC]

I'm pretty sure that we're not seeing V's descent into A) evil, or B) lichdom.

What we're seeing is just how vital Roy is to keeping the party together, and how badly things are falling apart without him.

I'm not saying I think everything will go back to exactly as it was when he returns, or that there won't be consequences, but I'm betting a lot of what's gotten shaky in terms of party actions and interactions will firm up again.

I hope that you're right, because I've always liked V. Still, we are coming up to a big strip, so there might be some big developments coming up.

It would be nice to get the group back together again, but that doesn't seem too likely at least right now. I suppose the time limit on X's spell could finally wear off, letting the rest of the group be detected again, which would solve most of the problem.

Still, good comic, I wants more!

--Steve

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Am I the only one that remembers the whole reason V is doing all this is because he blamed his lack of magical power? Remember, V's primary motivation, through and through, is accumulation of power. That's the question he asked the oracle, that's the entire reason he's become obsessed. Look back at the earlier strips - he has no guilt with using invisibility to run away, or that countless people died in the goblin raid. His only concern was that he wasn't powerful enough.

That's why he's going insane over Hailey. It's a direct threat to his magical power. Not being able to do something that should be incredibly trivial is driving the elf (more) insane (Because all elves are naturally insane. And inferior. And smelly >:|). In earlier strips, V took things as challenges - she tried to help random shopkeepers who were selling potions at a loss until finally conceeding that they were morons. Now, however, she's threatening her own team mates and casually waved off when sea trolls were slaughtering people. In Azure city, he ran away with invisibility because he had no other options, but here, he HAS options, but doesn't care - because he's become obsessed with proving his magical superiority.

 

[Scribble]

V's goin all Evil Willow.

 

[frankthedm]

So is anyone else thinking we are giving the comic too much credit on regards to Alignment? The Author went on the record to say "Good is Dumb" in a OotS Strip titled as such.

 

[freyar]

Am I the only one that remembers the whole reason V is doing all this is because he blamed his lack of magical power? Remember, V's primary motivation, through and through, is accumulation of power. That's the question he asked the oracle, that's the entire reason he's become obsessed. Look back at the earlier strips - he has no guilt with using invisibility to run away, or that countless people died in the goblin raid. His only concern was that he wasn't powerful enough.

That's why he's going insane over Hailey. It's a direct threat to his magical power. Not being able to do something that should be incredibly trivial is driving the elf (more) insane (Because all elves are naturally insane. And inferior. And smelly >:|). In earlier strips, V took things as challenges - she tried to help random shopkeepers who were selling potions at a loss until finally conceeding that they were morons. Now, however, she's threatening her own team mates and casually waved off when sea trolls were slaughtering people. In Azure city, he ran away with invisibility because he had no other options, but here, he HAS options, but doesn't care - because he's become obsessed with proving his magical superiority.

Seems pretty accurate to me. Nonetheless, I think this is pushing V somewhat more toward evil than before. Certainly a lot less likable.