Annotated 36-21
The serum still works if (1) Homon hasn’t counteracted it and (2) there’s only one berserker spirit possessing the body at a time. These are important qualifiers.
In retrospect, it’s interesting that Rabbit and the other adventurers don’t know as much as they don’t know. Byron would’ve had to remain closeted to the adventuring community at large, and his fellow Peacemakers would’ve had to aid in that little lie-by-omission for the sake of the Guild. Even Bandit understands that “our leader is a few missed meds and a bad mood away from killing us all” might not be the best bulletin to share for the sake of morale.
But the mask slips a bit in the last panel. Originally, Bandit’s line was “Neither had I,” underscoring that she had told no one about her death by Byron’s hand who didn’t already know about it, probably not even the newer Peacemakers she recruited. She vented about the experience to Byron privately and in front of Gravedust, but that’s about as close as she came to unpacking it, as far as we know.
Isn’t Byron’s adventuring handle literally Byron the Berserker?
It is! You’d think that’d be a tip-off! But there appear to be multiple definitions of that word (remember Brix? Hammerhead?), and warrior titles sometimes involve exaggeration: Sundar the Sunderer isn’t literally chopping through everything ever. Byron’s secret is a case of hiding in plain sight.
That kinda muddied the waters imo. I mean, are they talking berserkers or berserkers?
Fair point. It won’t come up again, at any rate.
Her dagger still quivers in her hand!
Looks to me like she’s indicating the syringe. It might’ve been more interesting to see her start experiencing the PTSD harder here, tho.
I think TheWreck’s right. Look at her pulling out her dagger in panel 2 even after Tom’s down.