Annotated 22-21
So yeah, THAT happened. And this was the result of the suggestion I mentioned early on in this chapter’s annotations.
I was hesitant to suggest anything to Phil about his chapter beyond the basic continuity corrections like for Brother Tom. I was especially reluctant to suggest killing off characters he’d only just created, the way I did with Stokla, Brix, and a couple of others. I’m pretty sure he was getting annoyed with that dynamic, his carefully fashioning these toys that I immediately threw into the incinerator.
But it struck me early on that these two had a likable bond, and it would be interesting to see what they did if the values of Cultism came into conflict with that bond. I wasn’t sure it should go this way! I thought maybe they might both refuse and be killed for their lack of purity, have to escape their fellows’ daggers, or even get banished (if death’s a gift, surely denying them any sort of holy death would be punishment?). Or maybe what Tom would ask them to do would be something less obvious, like just verbally deny their own friendship. Even saying “Friendship is nothing in the face of the void” would test these two.
But I also thought of the most obvious possibility, and sometimes what’s obvious is obvious because it’s obviously right. The only slightly surprising detail here is that it’s Ulak killing Ashok, instead of our general pattern so far where the humans are the initial aggressors in most human-vs-nonhuman conflict (Death Pits notwithstanding). But we’d established that Ulak had absorbed a lot more of Cultist culture and Ashok was still a novice, so it really makes sense Ulak would be more prepared for this moment, intellectually and emotionally.
Tom’s face there is just the best.
I loved it the first time and I love it now.
Tom and Ulak’s faces are both great. Ulak’s gets bonus points for barely changing while he’s going a-stabbity.
Thus does the noble Ulak slay a vile cultist and save the life of his cat.
Possibly not for the best of reasons.
Still, there was a surprising lack of anything Ulak ever did in the comic that actually bothered me.
Yes, the cat avoids sacrifice, and that’s why Ashok being backstabbed like this is the best possible outcome.
Kinda makes me feel Ashok was lacked a sense of belonging. Not really in line with the cult, but the cult was the first thing he found to “accept” him. The first thing for him to bond and belong to.
At least he didn’t land in 4chan before the cult.
Agreed.
I mean, it’s a punchline, but when he’s registering he has a little “THEY WILL RECOGNIZE MY GENIUS” rant. So in the army he feels unappreciated/that his sense of entitlement isn’t being catered to, and he finds a really toxic group that tells him he’s as special as he already thinks he is.
That’s… very real.
The only thing that actually bothered me was that he asked for A volunteer and then there’s two? Otherwise the situation went pretty much just as you could imagine it going.
There’s also the chance here that, had Ashok not immediately tried to wriggle out of having to kill Ulak, they might have both lived.
I mean, going straight into a mexican standoff just might get a “Very good, brothers, let us proceed”?
But starting to negotiate is just so far out into the unacceptable that Ashok seals his own fate.
At least, that’s my headcanon! :)
A nihilistic death cultist not wanting to die or kill his friend. Reminds me of the scen fron “The Running Man” when they’re looking for the next “contestants”:
“How about the bank robbers that made the suicide pact?”
“Did they kill themselves?”
“No.”
“Then they’re unreliable.”
Was it planned that Ashok would be around to talk to Gravedust later, or was that just a happy accident in “oh, we have a spirit already here”. Or was Gravedust supposed to talk to that virgin guy? He had some “unfinished business”.
Nope, we had zero plans to bring back Ashok in any capacity after this! And I don’t think we ever had anyone else occupying his ghost’s place. It wasn’t clear to us at this point how much tracking of the Beast Gravedust and the others would have to do– it could have just appeared in their path, requiring WAV to rescue them and explain what it was– but once we settled on the pacing, it became clear we needed somebody else to deliver exposition and build up the threat. Ashok was by far the most interesting option to do that, and his return let us nuance the whole Cultist experience a little more.
In another context, this would’ve been a display of strong moral principles and courage. In this context, though, considering that Ashok put himself in this situation by joining a death cult, I believe he’s eligible for a Darwin Award.
Still, it was a shock for Ashok.
Good one!
Annd blockquote fail. The sentence I put inside the cite didn’t show up, but everything else is in cite mode.