Annotated 32-6
Whoof, that sure is chilling foreshadowing in panel 2 with the benefit of hindsight. I didn’t know exactly what fate awaited Braggadocio, but we knew that Chapter 36 was going to be a meat grinder in general.
The rest is… well, it’s okay, I guess. Every Peacemaker has a little something to contribute to the conclusion, though only a couple of their contributions feel specific to their characters. It shows the team is pragmatic, as is needed, and sharp enough to allow for the chance that these plans could’ve been planted for them to find. Byron’s last line sets up a little formal experiment I was looking forward to trying on the next few pages.
Still, as our group-thinks-through-the-problem scenes go, this part feels a little too quiet to me. It’s more “Isn’t it nice when everyone agrees?” than “Only the combined best efforts of our heroes can deal with this ultimate threat” or “Oh, these lovable goofs, so full of life, I sure am glad to see them happy and healthy and hope nothing bad happens to them!” YMMV. At any rate, I did this one, so I can’t blame Flo!
To be fair, Rabbit didn’t die at Bragga’s HANDS….
I don’t know if I entirely agree with Gravedust and Byron’s assessment, here. I expect that the world will be a very peaceful place once it’s been cleansed of all sapient life. So, the main difference between Harky and the cultists is not that one wants peace and the other wants chaos; it’s that Harky plans on being around to enjoy peace, which means he may not go quite as far to get it.
“I expect that the world will be a very peaceful place once it’s been cleansed of all sapient life.”
You think so? Isn’t nature red in tooth and claw?
Also, what’s to say the Thing the cultists summoned would limit itself to eradicating *sapient* life?
Yeah, I think “acid-breathing frogon from the grove of the ur-animals” is Exhibit A of the cultists’ relationship to non-sapient life here.
You’re right, it’s definitely not going to stop with sapient life. I ought to have said “once it’s been cleansed of all life” full stop.