Annotated 11-8
And here’s our second poster design! Nice sweep-of-the-eye feeling to that first panel, there. Also, that last panel would serve as Byron’s button design. We’ve already seen Best’s in the last chapter, not sure I can remember where all the others came from.
Byron’s monologue, typically the most thoughtful part of himself, twists around until it sounds like what the berserker spirit would sound like, if the latter could form words. We had a pretty good idea of what the curse was by now, but Byron didn’t, and the really dangerous part of telling yourself that you’re bad inside is that you might make it true.
We didn’t have room to go as elaborate with the various chess pieces’ attacks as we’d planned. The focus had to remain on our heroes and what they did… and in Byron’s case, what the battle did to them.
I totally missed noticing that Byron actually took something out with his shoulder axe in this fight.
Badass!
I really enjoyed this scene when it first came up. Byron’s easily outperforming all of the others in kill count. It shows that Byron’s actually a really good melee fighter, but he’s been holding himself back in fights, afraid that letting loose would let the berserker out… and of course, now that his thinking’s unstable from the first round, it does.
So is there an official explanation as to what these chess pieces are supposed to be for and why they are the way they are? A magical board game that also doubles as security?
I think that covers it pretty well? The sky elves have an even higher opinion of their intelligence than the gnomes do, and while they don’t attach quite the same significance to the sport of kings, playing a game with gamepieces that show off their sorcerous abilities seems very on brand for them.
Every time I read these scenes, I’m reminded of a classic video game, “Battle Chess.”
If
I
fall
moondust
will
cover
me
I’m now imagining a world in which Best had survived this, and joined the party earlier. Best being able to sing Byron back to sanity would have solved so many problems later…
The pawn is putting back on his head (that Byron just cut off last page)?
(first panel, bottom left corner)
I missed this during the first reading.
Clearly, these are advanced automatons, better programmed than your basic animated corpse.