The Order of the Stick Megathread - Page 91

Meister · 05-12-2010, 02:09 AM

All these new characters have been great so far and the General is no exception. Love the third-to-last panel.

Kim · 05-12-2010, 02:12 AM

I'm a bit confused as to why he'd make the "You will come to no harm" promise when he doesn't seem to know the full situation. Doesn't make sense. If this is setting up for a predictable "Whoever said I was a man of honor" joke I will be incredibly disappointed by all this.

Aerozord · 05-12-2010, 02:34 AM

well it is a lawful evil kingdom, and honorable antagonist is kind of their thing. But yea was rather pointless. Best case is that it was done just as a poorly written way to say "this guy is totally honost"

tacticslion · 05-12-2010, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NonCon

I'm a bit confused as to why he'd make the "You will come to no harm" promise when he doesn't seem to know the full situation. Doesn't make sense. If this is setting up for a predictable "Whoever said I was a man of honor" joke I will be incredibly disappointed by all this.

See, he didn't know the whole situation... until he saw the Order. Now, he does, and can make that promise with conviction. Also, we haven't seen his face. It could be Girard in magic-general-disguise. It would be especially ironic if the ultimate General in the Blood military was the former hippie "fight the man" now that he, himself, is over thirty.

ALT explanation: it's Girard and all of this is an illusion that he'd prefer to maintain than dismiss and remake!

ALT, ALT explanation: I'm a neener-head!

Osterbaum · 05-12-2010, 09:52 AM

The general is... ELAN'S FATHER!

tacticslion · 05-12-2010, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osterbaum

The general is... ELAN'S FATHER!

... Wow. I actually think you're right.

Donomni · 05-12-2010, 11:32 AM

I was thinking that too.

...huh? Oh yeah, I've been following this comic.

Looks like you guys...

*glasses*

...failed a- *gets shot*

(The Who, somewhere in the background): "So, uh, do we still start our number?"

Kim · 05-12-2010, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tacticslion

See, he didn't know the whole situation... until he saw the Order.

How could he know any of the situation. He was downstairs the whole time. He doesn't know why they were captured nor why they were going to be eaten. As far as he knows, they totally deserve it. Why would he make such a stupid promise?

tacticslion · 05-12-2010, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NonCon

How could he know any of the situation. He was downstairs the whole time. He doesn't know why they were captured nor why they were going to be eaten. As far as he knows, they totally deserve it. Why would he make such a stupid promise?

Sorry, actually, I re-arranged the words before posting, and that made my post read ~~oddly~~ badly. Oops. My first post was made presuming he was Gerard and had seen the order through his magic-eye thing. He didn't know what was going on at all - and he probably still doesn't know everything, but he also presumably has enough power and influence so that it doesn't matter. He presumes his promise will stand and everyone will acquiese to his will, whether they want to or not. Further, I suspect that because we can't see his face, the big reveal will be that he's someone important to the quest and/or the party members. I was thinking Gerard (which, especially if they were his self-crafted illusions, his presumed authority would make sense as he'd have absolute power over them) but I think that Osterbaum is far more likely to be correct - that it's Elan and Nale's father.

I strongly suspect him to look very similar to Elan/Nale (even though they should probably have at least a bit of their mother in them, this is a stick-comic) and he probably recognized his son (or, if it was Gerard, he could have seen them through his magic eye and made the decision that way, but I've mostly abandoned the idea of him as Gerard). Even if he is merely the "General" position of this country (instead of the creator/sustainer of a persistant illusion), I suspect he's got enough authority to be listened to absolutely. I mean, we may even see he's got some sort of power/hold over Malak, or he may even be in a sort of rivalry with Malak... and the general wields more power over the empress because the general gives her food or something. We simply don't know, but he seems completely confident, and he knows much more about this government than we. So, to sum up: there are reasonable elements to his promise. It could just be a set up for a joke, and it could be unreasonable, but it could also actually be good characterization with a set up for an interesting reveal.

Also:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donomni

Wat.

Wat..

Aerozord · 05-12-2010, 12:31 PM

to me the issue isn't his ability to keep his promise, but why he would give it at all. As Elan attempted they are perfectly ok with fighting to the death and only surrendered to save Haley. His "you will not be harmed" statement in no way affected anything that happened and he had no real reason to make that promise in the first place

05-12-2010, 02:12 AM	#902
Kim adorable Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 12,950	I'm a bit confused as to why he'd make the "You will come to no harm" promise when he doesn't seem to know the full situation. Doesn't make sense. If this is setting up for a predictable "Whoever said I was a man of honor" joke I will be incredibly disappointed by all this. __________________ this post is about how to successfully H the Kimmy

05-12-2010, 02:34 AM	#903
Aerozord So we are clear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Former murder capital of the world Posts: 13,824	well it is a lawful evil kingdom, and honorable antagonist is kind of their thing. But yea was rather pointless. Best case is that it was done just as a poorly written way to say "this guy is totally honost" __________________ "don't hate me for being a heterosexual white guy disparaging slacktivism, hate me for all those murders I've done."

05-12-2010, 09:52 AM	#905
Osterbaum The revolution will be memed! Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: FIN Posts: 5,967	The general is... ELAN'S FATHER! __________________ D is for Dirty Commie!

05-12-2010, 11:32 AM	#907
Donomni Would you deign to supply me food? Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida Posts: 2,004	I was thinking that too. ...huh? Oh yeah, I've been following this comic. Looks like you guys... glasses ...failed a- gets shot (The Who, somewhere in the background): "So, uh, do we still start our number?" __________________ Dance your cares away! Chirrrrrrp. Also, dead blog.

05-12-2010, 12:31 PM	#910
Aerozord So we are clear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Former murder capital of the world Posts: 13,824	to me the issue isn't his ability to keep his promise, but why he would give it at all. As Elan attempted they are perfectly ok with fighting to the death and only surrendered to save Haley. His "you will not be harmed" statement in no way affected anything that happened and he had no real reason to make that promise in the first place __________________ "don't hate me for being a heterosexual white guy disparaging slacktivism, hate me for all those murders I've done."

05-12-2010, 02:09 AM	#901
Meister Pure joy Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 10,689	All these new characters have been great so far and the General is no exception. Love the third-to-last panel.