Here, the story had a problem. Well, the problem had existed all along, but this brought it to the forefront: we had a lot of heavy hitters fighting each other and not a lot of reference for how powerful some of them were except each other.

It would’ve been deeply unsatisfying to me and Phil if Frigg had gone down too easily facing off against Harky or Byron, but she couldn’t beat either of them, either. We had to make the bronze medal look respectable, and that’s hard to do without dragging the story out too long.

Phil scarcely had to lobby me to get this extra page, and he found a solution that may bend your definition of “berserker” a bit, but I think it’s pretty elegant. Byron, guided by some raw instinct or a split-second flash of intellect, uses his berserker strength to crush Frigg’s armor at the sides. After that, she can’t breathe, can’t get up, and definitely can’t fight. To me, at least, it’s implied that had Byron not “cheated,” Frigg might’ve lasted another crucial minute or two.