Annotated 37-22
I’m always fond of the “character working outside their comfort zone” setup, so I almost wish we’d done more with this scenario, where Frigg ends up de facto leader of the Peacemakers just because no one else can do the job. Sometimes leadership is a form of tanking, after all. We couldn’t really pursue the idea with all the other plates we were spinning (Syr’Nj, just for example, needed to start getting back into shape to deal with upcoming developments), but this scene does hint at it in an interesting way.
…But seriously, E-Merl, of course you’re not fired! There’s like three active Peacemakers still on the team right now! The group is at serious risk of dissolving, but if it doesn’t, then your job security is about as ironclad as it gets!
Not sure if the bad news E-Merl bears would’ve been received better or worse if he’d mentioned that Gravedust left with Byron’s corpse.
[Syr] ‘I should know better than to tempt the gods.’
[Frigg] ‘Yeah, they’re all assholes. Trust me on this.’
Panel 4: That realization that one should never, ever tempt the gods. For they are gleefully bent and have very sharp hearing.
“No of course not, E-Merl. I’ve never fired anyone in my life!
No ,go to Bandit’s jail, you live there now.”
Nice tic you’ve developed in Panel 4, Syr’nj!
Actually, I kinda though she’d be relieved to know that Gravy had Byron. She did, after all, just ask Gravy if he could… “fix” Byron, didn’t she?
I would assume that learning Gravedust had Byron’s corpse with him would be a relief to Syr’Nj, as there’s no reason for him to lug it around if he’s not planning to, you know, use it
I kinda figured Gravedust carrying him around on Syr’Nj’s orders.
Not to mention for E-Merl to know it was a well preserved corpse, Gravey was lugging around… I’m not sure it would still be so easy to figure…
“I kinda figured Gravedust carrying him around on Syr’Nj’s orders.”
Not only that, but it pretty much had to have been Syr’Nj who told Clair to wait for Gravedust to show up and then open the portal for him, because Gravy would have no reason to do that himself instead of simply taking Clair back with him so he didn’t have to haul the bag through the streets.
Also, “the bad news E-Merl that bears” should probably be “the bad news that E-Merl bears”.
I’m all for E-Merl’s right to bear bad news!
Did E-Merl accidentally the bear, or the other way round?
Part of me wishes that Syr’Nj’s apology that started so well had not been interrupted by E-Merl but resulted in her standing back and letting Frigg take over for a while. Should be hilarious.
…except of course Frigg is busy in her own way with coming to terms with shit, and so is E-Merl. Which means that actually all the remaining peacekeepers should probably huddle together at this point, for a good cry.
I do wonder, by the way, if Fr’Nj and Scipio are aware that the remaining Peacekeepers are all in mourning, and should probably not be left alone right now.
This is remarkably generous from Frigg, especially taking into account that she’s in a state of grief where being able to blame someone, anyone, for the pain she’s feeling would be welcome. Instead, she not only restrains herself to blame her for exactly the one thing she’s guilty of but also words that criticism in as close to a positive framing as she’s able to do.
“Promoted is what you are, E-Merl. You’re the new Peacemaker field leader. Frigg’s the new representative for the Heads of House. I’m going on vacation.”
Yeah, I don’t know that I agree with that reading, of Frigg acting out of her comfort zone, tanking for the team and taking responsibility.
Seems to me like she’s doing the exact opposite. Stomping on Syr’nj’s buttons, effectively teansfering her own anguish onto someone else, to get her to take responsibility so she can go back to being the dumb fighter. And she doesn’t even take responsibility for doing that – she lays it squarely on E-merl’s shoulders.