Annotated 11-2
So yeah, kind of like Vulcans are into five-letter names that go “S???k” or at least “????k,” the “B*y*n” construction really seems to get buy-in from Battleshireans, and that’s by design. They won’t be able to defend Byron from his current bogeyman, but Bayen and Brayen can at least be delayin’, or belayin’, his braykdown. Okay, that’s enough, this is getting belaybored… on.
Everyone figured out that these two brothers were who Byron named his axes after so he could pretend they’re still with him: some figured out that Bayen and Brayen met a violent end in the way most guaranteed to traumatize Byron. No one, however, mentioned that Bayen’s tendency to give lessons at every opportunity translated directly into Byron’s “advice for the adventuring life” style of narration.
For whatever reason, Byron thinks of these two sort-of adoptive brothers rather than his own parents whenever he needs to remember nurturing figures in his life. I don’t think we nailed it down, but my thought was that his mom and dad had died in some other conflict. Byron remembers pre-berserk Battleshire as a fairly peaceful place, but it had to face some fighting now and then or it wouldn’t have been called “Battleshire.”
Huh, all this time I had assumed Bayen and Brayen had been his biological siblings, and that their parents, rather than the town itself, had an issue with creativity. I really should have noticed that they mentioned friends and neighbors, not family. Ah well :)
Oh man, I thought they weer his actual brothers.
I always thought they were his actual brothers too.
Me too. :P
That would confine the B*y*n naming pattern to a single pattern, much more likely.
Let’s try that again.
That would confine the B*y*n naming pattern to a single FAMILY, much more likely.
Too early in the morning…
Something I never understood from this page was the Bayen-Brayen passive agressive interaction, and I was hoping it would have some sort of meaning further on. But I think it was never explained or developed. Was there a reason?
I never felt like it was the sort of thing that called for explanation or development. They’re brothers, they sass each other, and each gives about as good as they get. Brayen may look a bit sour in panel 3, but he’s back to getting his licks in on Bayen in panel 5. Their mutual ribbing is gentle and without any real malice, and while the occasional too-sharp insult may annoy one or the other of them at times, it’s not gonna leave them with any lasting baggage.
I remember the first time seeing this page that in fact, I did suddenly see where Byron got his tendency to turn everything into a lesson. It was super clear to me, at least.