Annotated 35-32
ICYMI, and some people did miss it, Rachel’s got a compound fracture in her leg. Despite that, she could’ve maybe pushed through the pain enough to push herself out and into Sundar’s arms, if Frigg were safe elsewhere… and of course, if Frigg were up and about, she’d carry Rachel. But as it is, there is simply no way both Rachel and Frigg can survive.
I don’t know if anything else I can say will be worth hearing after that beautiful alt text from Flo, but I’ll try.
In a world where ghosts are provably real and resurrection is normally a possibility, you have to move some furniture around in order to get a death scene with the cold, firm finality that is death in our world. This is why it was key for Rachel, early on, to hear Gravedust’s assessment of the Corruptor Beast’s effects. Thanks to that conversation, she knows there is nothing waiting for her on the other side, no ghostly existence, no realm beyond. In short, she can hope for no supernatural reward for her life on Arkerra, as she might if she were dying to save Frigg from, I dunno, space pirates. And it makes no difference to her actions at all, and she spends her last few seconds of existence at peace. She sorta lies to quiet Sundar’s concerns and make sure he gets Frigg away with due haste, but in a certain sense, it’s not a lie. In a sense, she is fine.
This puts me in mind of a story from Hassidic literature presented by Martin Buber that gets passed around the internet now and then. In it, a religious student asks their mentor why God created atheists. The mentor responds:
“God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all — the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.
“This means that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say ‘I pray that God will help you.’ Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say, ‘I will help you.’”
An incredibly touching moment. Kudos.
“Without hope, without witness, without reward.”
Granted, she could have dropped anyway, been a bit further from the beast and bought more time for situation to change…
Buuuut then we still would have people worrying about her more, endangering themselves and wouldn’t likely have the epic conclusion for the fight that we did.
But I don’t recall was she even played at the moment? Or was she running on autopilot? ‘Cose if guided, just letting her get caught is still just tactical. It’s just a game, right? :D
She was not played at the moment — her player later complains about logging in to find the character deleted, without any indication as to what the reason may be.
Whether the player (I forget her name now) was engaged or not, isn’t the central conceit that the magic links each player to someone who always agrees on what should be done in that moment? So even if Rachel’s player were present for this, I think that doesn’t diminish Rachel’s choice at all: two people can arrive at the same decision for different reasons.
Oh, but she could have used her power to cut off a few more tentacle ends, and weaken the beast instead of feeding it … or used it to get herself out of that tight spot, or …
Sorry, I’m still in denial.
Of all the “good” characters, she is the goodest. She started off as one of the undeniable villains and completed her journey to sainthood in record time, while helping others become better people too, more than anyone else, with little recognition. Story-wise, it makes a lot of sense that Frigg and E-Merl need to walk the rest of the way without her aid, so her character arc could not have gone much further (that is: finally start a healthy relationship with E-Merl and be done), but oh the injustice of keeping that reward from her …
Come with me friend, to therapy.
Hopefully we can learn to cope. You for Rachel and me for never having my butthurt healed for Bandit’s relationship with the group at the end.
I hear you. I love this character, she’s the kind of person you hope exists in the world, and restores ones faith when one is fortunate to witness them in action. It hurts that they so often turn out to be the ones that we lose. But they wouldn’t put someone else in their place if they had the chance. One of the things that makes them so beautiful, is that when this time comes, they are exactly where they want to be. It just feels so unfair that the best of us, so often do not get to enjoy the fruits of their labor, that the truly good are often those who never get to know peace. It feels like of everyone, the good things of the world should be for them.
That’s why I get choked up over these kinds of people. They’re so good, and I just want good things for them. I mean I know why it was Rachel, I know she would hate for anyone else to die in her stead, or because she wasn’t there. I know as a character, which is both a person and a function that serves the narrative, she is exactly where she should be, fulfilling her purpose. I get that, and it’s part of what makes this part of the story so powerful.
But even knowing all that. Why did it have to be her?
Rachel is easily the best written character.
I’ve read this entire story line before and I KNEW this scene was coming…I just knew. And it didn’t matter. I’m heart broken all over again. She is such an amazing character. So well done.
Regardless of the consequences for her soul, it doesn’t make sense that Rachel just lets the beast grow stronger by consuming her; she knows from the example of one of her former sisters that people with her kind of power can use that power to destroy their own body, so she should at least attempt to do that.
I don’t think that would suit her charakter. While a warior nurse she was not a fanatic like Hestia. She tried to love other as much as she could and it included loving herself too. The Last thing she could do for herself was just leasing in piece.
Possibly she used the last of her glowy power to stabilize Frigg, so she had nothing in the tank to self destruct with
I think (in addition to what jdorr said) that her state of mind at this moment does not permit her to use the power. Frigg has to get all angry ‘n’ stuff to use her glowy hammershit, and while Rachel does not look very different on the outside, I find it hard to imagine her swinging her fists while being at peace with the fact that she will cease to exist at any moment now.
She has convinced herself that she has contributed everything she could have, and that this was the correct choice. That’s not the mood in which you start valiantly swinging your Fists of Righteousness. It makes complete sense.
… but it’s still a huge gut punch. This page was hard to read for me, even for the second or third time.
I have two favorite pages of Guilded Age: this one (for the writing) and the page where HR enters the tube (for the art). Everything about this page is absolutely beautiful, and it seriously choked me up when I first read it.
“Beautiful” in some sense, though I wouldn’t call it that. But I find nothing to improve about it, or the setup for it.
except, of course WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO RACHEL???!!!! WHYYYYYHYYYYYY!!!!???!??!?
GROWL
(Stupid noble sacrifices)
Good night Rachel, you were indeed loved too.
This is about where I stopped reading the comic in real-time as it released, only coming back some years later to finish the story (and now *many* years later to revisit the story a second, and probably final, time). I was going through an extended depressive episode at the time, and Rachel’s death hit me pretty hard at a time where my own desire to be alive was in open doubt.
This is, in no way, a condemnation of the story beat. Rather, intended as a compliment – you all did a fine job writing her, that she touched anyone so deeply. Kudos, and a long overdue thank you.