Annotated 15-15
“CONSEQUENCES (con’ sek wen’ sez): The result of an action or situation. See also ‘shmonsequences.’ All right, that’s done, now go play outside!”
Note that this is one of those scenes Ardaic is not present for.
The terms of this bargain are so clear that even Reynolds can’t miss them. He gets the money he needs for reparations and, in exchange, holds his tongue about the murder trials he’s not getting and the condescension he is getting. Or else he tries to stonewall despite having no real support in the Hall (even Caneghem’s not willing to roll the dice on backing him) and very possibly ends up getting nothing at all. Hey, government is about compromise, right?
(And he didn’t even ask to punish the person who was really responsible for the property damage and deaths, knowing full well that Iwatani would never agree to that, so he was already compromising before he even opened his mouth.)
What’s most remarkable here, looking back, is how quickly his idealism has curdled and yet how long it will take him to give up on Gastonian government altogether. To some degree that reflects pacing issues we still hadn’t worked out, but it’s also true that a few upcoming events– the ascension of Syr’Nj, the renunciation of Annunziata, the pro-gnome propaganda during the war effort– will feed his natural optimism enough to soothe this hurt. For a while.
I’ve reread this scene half a dozen times and only just noticed the way Reynolds keeps his arm locked in place. Caneghem’s sadface is just a bit too much of a scene stealer.
Honestly I didn’t even notice it until I read your comment and scrolled back up. Very subtle, but great detail.
It makes sense that he wouldn’t give up on Gastonia government entirely. Frankly, as far as he can tell they’re the only game in town.
There is a major war going on, so having the gnomes go it alone would be a bad idea. He probably doesn’t think he can secure a safe alliance among the World’s Rebellion (and that’s assuming he’s savvy enough to realize they aren’t savages). B’ial Vezk is clearly planning on being isolationist at this point. And he doesn’t have the political chops to get Asallah En-Qu’Laral to break their alliance and join the gnomes (notwithstanding his tentative friendship with Canegham).
Uh? I have no idea how I formatted my comment the way it is.
I believe I was using the html blockquote, but obviously I activated something else.
When did Caneghem actually start to care? I wanna say that the last time we focused on him he seemed vaguely irritated at having to be next to Dean Reynolds.
I think he was irritated at Reynolds’s naivety. He always cared, and that’s why it was annoying to watch someone not “get” what was going on.
To me it’s more like he was sympathetic for a split of a fucking second and then reminded himself their ways is being worthlessly neutral.
I would say he doesn’t really care all that much, but it doesn’t cost him anything to try to give Reynolds a hint to keep a low profile. Also, he might be worried that if one of the non-human heads of houses starts getting negative attention, it’s going to rub off on the other non-human head.
I believe that his final appearance at the very end of the comic proves that he does care, at least to some degree. But he also has multiple responsibilities that all basically amount to guiding and protecting his people. His actions toward the end prove that he’s still strongly isolationist and believes his people are better off alone. He’s only working with Gastonia now because he’s conceded that as things stand, they can’t be ignored.
Put all that together, and this flash of caring makes sense. Reynolds is in pretty much the exact same position as Caneghem: a disrespected non-human forced to work with Gastonia because they can’t be ignored. It’s not surprising that Caneghem can empathize with that. At the same time, he can’t really do anything about it, because he’s not going to risk his own people by sticking his neck out for another.
“The renunciation of Annunziata” – say that ten times fast.
Also, alt text.
I was confused by a reply that commented on the alt-text, indicating that they could see it but I could not. That reply is now missing…
I have the alt-text as
Man I can’t decide if these guys are either the worst or best Catan players.
It’s not like you can capture wood by conquest. If you’re going to lose it anyway, it’s an asset that’s very easy to deny to an invader. Indeed, setting fire to it after the invader has moved in can be a very effective defense.