One more take on the 434

[MetalPsycho]

I mostly doubt it can be Thief for two reasons.

One, I'm still pretty sure the first pannel is a smoking Thief corpse.

Two, he's not running away like a pansyelf.

It's kind of obvious this is REALLY late into the story. Possibly at the very end. Remember, Swordopolis said FIGHTER would be the great hero. Not Thief or RM.

[bolevar321]

I'll agree that it's not him, and the first panel looks like his body.

[PsychicKid]

To be honest the first panel doesn't look too much like Thief's corpse smoking. It's too distorted and the smoke just seems off place. It looks like smoke rising with a mountain backdrop, possibly Gurgu? I'll have to agree on the White Mage robe panel with blood thing.

...To be honest I never put much thought into the meaning of this comic. I just thought it was Black Mage rambling to himself about some non-sense. Didn't think it would have some deep meaning that Brian's plotting.

Guess we'll just have to see what Brian does at the finale then. Don't go dying in some stupid wind-based death structure with an eye and arms now.

[bolevar321]

I'm not sure even if the gray crap is smoke, but that's thiefy colors on the outside of the panel.

[MFD]

Those who think Brian is misleading us: Don't be ridiculous!

Brian clearly left 434 as a clue. The textboxes are the clue as to who is talking.

To change them just to be misleading would be against every narrative convention, and destroy the clue he tried to create. The title, "Wouldn't you like to know?" shows us that he is dropping a clue, and not trying to mislead us.

Everyone saying that the red text could be WM later obviously hasn't heard that WM will not receive a class change. She'll be the same ol' WM.

BM will not be the same ol' BM after the class change. I would not be surprised if his BW sprite has the "Hell-King BM" text, simply because he's more powerful.

I like the theory that each panel depicts a dead cast member. Panel 1, a volcano post-explosion, is clearly Blackbelt, whose body is lost to the ages. Panel 2, and this is just a hunch, has something to do with RM. I've seen that red background attributed to one of RM's nightmares. Panel 3 is possibly a hadoken coming straight at the viewer. Thief, likely, because BM hates Thief. And Panel 4 is WM with blood on her robes.

[Burkion]

As I mentioned before, as others have mentioned, it wouldn't be as good if it ended between BM and RM, or Theif, or anyone esle OTHER than Fighter.


ALso, might I point out something here: BB was the last good guy to be shown, correct? He was the first to die. RM was the second to last good guy shown, correct? Cue the second to die. Theif wasn't offically introduced until AFTER White Mage, thus striking him up for third spot to die. White Mage was the second good guy(Gal) to be shown, thus she will be the fourth to die. Fighter and Black Mage were shown togeather as the first. And they will die as the last.

[Steel Shadow]

Thats a really depressing ending you got there.

[POS Industries]

Originally Posted by MFD

Everyone saying that the red text could be WM later obviously hasn't heard that WM will not receive a class change.

I wasn't aware that there was official word on ANY of them receiving a class change. All I've heard is readers posting on these forums, speculating about such things. I know in episode 300, they are shown in their upgraded classes, but I think that was more of a joke about something that was never really supposed to happen. "But it also feels correct somehow. Like a horrible mistake was corrected in an instant."

As for Brian's use of the word "presently", I think it more or less meant that no other characters have been introduced that use red text. As for RM, he seems to believe in fate in some respects, that life is a big story concocted by a dungeon master. The only exception is that he feels that,by knowing and understanding the rules of the game, you can essentially bend reality to your will, and fate with it. And BM and RM standing alone at the end just doesn't really work. Dramatically speaking, it would only make sense to use Fighter. It was the two of them at the beginning, it should be the two of them at the end. Therefore, Fighter in fact does have some serious character develoment ahead of him.

Don't be shocked. If you haven't noticed, he's kinda the hero of the story.

[The Wizard Who Did It]

Fighter has already had some character development, in my opinion. I just reread the archives and everything around the Mt. Gurgu scene is... different... from normal Fighter.

Obviously, there is the time when Fighter figured out the riddle that Vargus told him in Episode 473, and everything it represents. Then there's the analytical-ness displayed in Episode 481 which has also already been used as evidense. I'm not sure about this but Episode 484 has Fighter, yes, being an idiot but also using words and ideas that seem above him. Then there is Fighter being amazingly cynical in Episode 488. And then he becomes normal Fighter again, until his ordeal.

[Benpc91]

Originally Posted by Carnivore

I think that it is Fighter and Black Mage talking. White Mage's text box is pink, not red. The panels show how Black Belt, Red Mage, Thief (as much as I love him, I know he's doomed.) and White Mage were killed to leave Fighter and Black Mage alone. The first panel looks like smoke, so maybe that's Black Belt's death. The next looks like somebody staring down a Hadoken, or other spell, which is either Red Mage of Thief. the third looks like... I dunno, a hole to a hell dimension or something, again, Red Mage or Thief, and the fourth is White Mage's robes covered in blood, she is likely dead as well.

Carnivore makes a good point. Seems like his post was ignored and then the same thought was brought back by Burkion. The backround could represent their own deaths.