The Order of the Stick Megathread

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Invisible Queen

The nice thing about really good characters is that they can do things outside of their preconceived character attributes.

Poorly written characters can do it, too.

I'm not saying the characters are poorly written, this big old speech just didn't seem particularly entertaining, interesting or amusing in any sort of way, and the whole thing doesn't seem to fit Roy, in my opinion.

I guess part of my problem with it is also that it doesn't really seem to be something that somebody just comes up with then and there, and the fact that at the end he's all, "But my philosophy that I just spent a whole comic explaining is probably dumb because..." makes me inclined to believe that he'd have to make it up then and there.

[Mirai Gen]

People having concepts about death and afterlife isn't exactly out of character.

[Meister]

Maybe returning back to life after a year has passed since you've been taken out of the game by your undead nemesis in the middle of a fuck-off great battle will do that to you.

Although I'm not gonna lie to you, I don't think this episode does anything more or less for me than occupy the space between #668 and #670.

[Aerozord]

Now that I think about it, shouldn't SHE be the one thats ok with killing according to Roy's little speach. She knows that oblivion is what awaits her if she dies, and she knows a just afterlife (and potential ressurrection) awaits them when they die. Isn't it logical for her to kill everyone to save her very existance and litterally let god sort out the victims.

[Loyal]

No, because then everyone else would have the same train of thought, and an entire Outsider's existence would consist of a bloodbath in a futile attempt to save oneself.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Loyal

No, because then everyone else would have the same train of thought, and an entire Outsider's existence would consist of a bloodbath in a futile attempt to save oneself.

No more so than with the mortals.

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by Loyal

No, because then everyone else would have the same train of thought, and an entire Outsider's existence would consist of a bloodbath in a futile attempt to save oneself.

look at it as a comparison

If she chooses to die rather then kill them, then her very existance is nullified.

If she chooses to kill them rather then die, then she continues to exist and at worst they get what they deserve in the afterlife.

As Roy said her reluctance is based on the fact that killing someone ends their existance, but in the mortal realm thats not true, only her death is the end. She would lose everything is she died, while if they died justice would be served by whatever afterlife they are destined for. There is no reason for her to care about killing them and many reasons for her to care if they kill her.

[Art of Hilt]

She comes from an existence in which killing each other is avoided, because you are guaranteed to go 'poof' whether you like it or not.
It's a form of culture shock to see mortals killing each other wily-nily. The woman didn't even know that humans couldn't conduct their own electricity, so it's understandable that she stick to her psychological roots and habits rather than adapt them entirely for the battlefield, which would be more than foreign to her.

Besides, what if someone comes back from the dead for revenge?

In any case, she's not sticking around to risk being erased forever, kill or no kill, so I'm pretty sure this is a non-issue.

EDIT- This is all ignoring the obvious reason for her not to kill everyone, of course, ie- she's a normal person, not an adventurer. But I guess we're talking in terms of 'The Outsider' as opposed to 'This Specific Character' here, so yeah, okay.

[Aerozord]

but if you use humanity as an analogue example. Her way of thinking should not be "killing is always wrong" it should be "killing outsiders is wrong". As they name implies she is an outsider, she has no reason to apply the value of an outsiders life to that of a mortal, especially since they know for a fact which is more important. Even in DnD there were examples of this. Like Gods would think twice about killing a mortal for the greater good, I remember someone saying before even the elves thought little of human lives since from their perspective "well he'll just die in a few decades anyways"

[Art of Hilt]

she has no reason to apply the value of an outsiders life to that of a mortal

Considering that she's constantly applying values of an Outsider's biology to a mortal without realizing it, I think it's safe to say that she- as a character- has a habit of keeping the Outsider mindset even if it isn't appropriate for the situation. Even if she were to become aware of the difference afterwards, there will always be that little bit that would stay with her.

Besides, the value of a person's life isn't something that is so easily calculable, even for lawyers. A person has been taught that death means oblivion all their existence, it isn't really that simple to start considering the alternatives, even if the proof of it is having sex with you off-panel.

You could argue, as an Outsider, she should have a certain mindset, yes, but as a character- with her traits and experiences- it's easy to see why she thinks the way she does. For this particular character, to allow killing sometimes would just be too difficult psychologically, even if it is okay practically.