Annotated 34-21
At this point, Byron’s irrationality is starting to reach a fever pitch. Part of him can see that irrationality growing in the rest of himself, but he can’t stop it, which kind of breaks the rules Flo and I normally kept for ourselves but has a certain power in this context. There’s that “certain doom” phrasing, again.
If I had this one to do over again, I might’ve tried to work in one of Byron’s “narrated tips for the aspiring adventurer” here. Maybe something like “Sometimes you can overthink things in the blade-swinging business. Sometimes the only way out is through.” Or more ironically, “When you’re resolved to face down your archenemy, you should… absolutely not do what I’m doing now. But I don’t care…”
I’ve got a bone to pick with the original alt text. “A trap’s only a trap if you don’t know it’s coming?” No, come on. A trap is “a device designed to catch and retain living creatures,” and if it’s not strictly psychological, it works just fine whether someone walks consciously into it or not.
I wish I had been smart enough to realize panel three is some hecking foreshadowing.
“My name is Byron Hackenslasher. I used to be an adventurer …”
I do really enjoy the emotions and expressions in these few pages, it really sells the story. I guess it’s the heartbreak coming up that made this part of the story frustrating for me as you guys did a great job with art and dialog.
Byron is not a soldier. He’s a hero. No right-minded soldier walks knowingly into a trap, but heroes do, if given enough reasons to do so.