Annotated 24-5
Phil’s original version of this scene came at a different (and more confusing) part of the timeline before we rooted it as after Sundar’s child-selling days but before the trolls got to the orcs (those “next adventurers” SC mentions would reach the orcs at the start of Chapter 6).
And it was even more Metal Gear-y than what you see here, which in practice meant that the talking just went on and on. MG fans might have appreciated the style parody, but I was convinced (and still am) that most readers would’ve been ready to throw their screens off a cliff by the end of it. This is going to be a pretty talky chapter as is.
I wanted Brunhilde’s last words to be the threat in panel 2, one last act of protection hinting that SC’s(/Ardaic’s(?)) conscience could be reached, as long as he could justify changing his mind as an act of duty. Phil insisted on some abbreviated echo of the Metal Gear death scene, which you get in the last two frames of today’s page and all tomorrow’s.
I think the result was better than either of our original designs, especially since Brunhilde looks dead for a few beats, which justifies the Centurion walking off (it’d be pretty sloppy if he just said “Eh, I’m sure she’ll go any minute now, let’s go get some breakfast” when he could always just stab her again to make sure). She was ready to go, at peace with the knowledge that both the orcs and Sundar would be safe. Perhaps she’d already stopped breathing. But she comes back for just a bit, calling on one last reserve to hold death at bay. Why? Because one of her children needs her, one last time.
This little flashback was always one of my favorite bits. The faith that Brunhilde extends Sundar, who is a bit of a fuck up and had issues being a real contender, was really strong with complicated feelings. Making sure Sundar had the faith himself to try and fight for the right thing was what he needed, that even if she was gone that didn’t mean her cause had to.
“It discourages future rebellions.”
>Make an entire country in rebellion
Oh irony, you so crazy.
I think the Silver Centurion was just making excuses. Justifying more to himself than anyone else, why he didn’t finish Sundar off.
And yet Sundar was still able to be talked down from that. If things had gone differently, Rabbit might have gone to Rendar and told him what happened, and it would have been near-impossible to get Rendar to ever work with Gastonia again. SC’s act of mercy here managed to buy Gastonia a LOT of time when it came to keeping key assets from turning into determined foes.
It’s also worth noting that Sundar didn’t go on a roaring rampage of revenge kind of plan. His rebellion was more of the “y’all are dicks, so we’re going to go live over here now, and you can kindly fuck off kthx” kind, instead, and it’s a safe bet that the choice to respect Brunhilde’s final plea and show a bit of real humanity (in addition to Sundar’s own previous willingness to aid in the mistreatment of innocents) is why. The SC might have a different reason to lower himself to a despicable act like this, but it’s still relatable enough that Sundar can’t dehumanize the man.
I’ve never been a big fan of death scenes with lengthy monologue. I almost fell asleep in theaters watching Matrix 3 because it felt like it was taking an hour for Trinity to just die.
Don’t try opera. Or some theater pieces :-)
Othello, from Shakespeare, is a prime contender. Desdemona has a lengthy death scene monologue, while being strangled/suffocated under a pillow.
Lol! Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.
“He has a child’s smile. Turns out he kept it when he returned the rest of the child.”
The kidnappers were the pirates.
This, if I remember correctly, is where I decided I would be happy to see Gastonia overthrown and Aardic hung.