Annotated 11-18
I can’t see any circumstances in which our heroes would let Best die for anything he’s done here. Syr’Nj may be trying to forbid this, but that’s her concern for Byron talking: she’d be doing it herself if it were just her and Best. That’s one of the things that makes heroes heroes.
Not that Byron feels all that awesome or heroic here; he just feels like he’s better than Best, which is a pretty low bar as far as he’s concerned. He’d have to do it even if he didn’t owe Best for soothing the berserker, on top of the debt they all just paid by getting Best to the basin.
I like that Byron at least knows to grab Best’s wrist AND let Best grab his. It’s better than normal insurance against a wardrobe malfunction or muscle failure mooting the rescue attempt, though as you can see, it’s not foolproof.
To be fair, it looks like Byron grabbed Best’s bracer. Had he grabbed his arm just above the bracer, we could have had a different story arc.
Best panicing probably didn’t help. But he probably did what came best to him… I’ll see myself out.
Best didn’t wear bracers. He wore a jacket with metal cuffs (and shoulder pads). You can see, and ‘hear’, the cuff on the arm Byron grabbed ripping free in the last panel.
The fact that Best grabbed Byron’s glove instead of his sleeve is more like what you say.
See, THIS is why you pack a chunk of cedar with your adventuring wardrobe, Best!