Chapter 12 – Page 22
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…”mess”?
Also, I was quite perplexed before i realized that it was a new comic. Where’s all the awesome puns? I thought to myself.
Oh, i dunno – is it a “place where we get Army chow” mess, or a “great big pile of odds and ends” mess?
Considering this crew, I’m guessing the answer to your question is “yes”.
Yeah, likely a really messy mess.
There is a difference between the two?
While all messes are messes, not all messes are messes.
That’s logic!
Logic dictates! IT IS A MESS!!!
I suddenly don’t like Bandit at much. Seems..meh
Nah – like i say further down, it looks as if she’s more or less the First Sergeant. The First Sergeant is directly responsible for maintaining discipline and seeing that Lieutenant’s orders get translated into actual, practical, feasible terms and carried out.
Naw, I’m pretty sure she’s just a douche…
True but if I was Byron..Byron has a problem..he knows he has a problem. And people rub it into his face.
In honesty..I’d just go leave them and go back to my freelance days. Less worry about killing people you know..work by yourself..and no all encompasing fight that can get ya friends killed or get you to kill your friends.
And this dude has a problem and it just seems like people mess with him..but meh.I identify with him most, so figure just go Conan route..leave everyone no stress no muss.
Even if it isnt his fault, being killed would leave anyone alittle sour, but at least Syr’nj is finding a solution.
The problem with that idea is that he won’t. Byron’s a loyal guy to his team. He won’t abandon them, no matter the cost to himself. For now, at least. (Also, metagame reason: you don’t split the frickin’ party!! :P)
She does seem a bit unwilling to admit her own contribution to her death by cheerfully trotting up to a frothing berserker.
Ummm… Despite her niaveness of running up to Byron while he was in berserker mode, I really don’t blame her. If someone sliced off my shoulders and I died, I think I’d be a bit pissy and untrusting too—even after being “blessed” with being brought back to life.
Did Bandit die, though? If so, how did she return to life? The Harki-blood story is only plausible if Bandit never actually died.
Still got her arm chopped by someone she considered a friend, or at least trustworthy colleague.
That . . .that would put a damper on most relationships
Again. I say Byron just goes off and leaves them. And for Sry’nj..hmm. I don’t know. It seems a bit off that she comes off she can change/fix him. For ALL purposes..he never lost it UNTILL that very momment.He was able to keep his anger in check, fight logically, keep his mind focused. That one time was cause he himself was about dying really. For all intensive purposes..Byron is a model Beserker. Only worst momment would he rage. Even if he diddn’t they’d have died cause they were surrounded…heck if Byron had just jumped off into the crowds the others could escape.
To be fair, she got trisected by someone who was not themselves at the time, someone who put his problem in his name so that people shouldn’t forget, and someone she’d just seen go sickhouse on someone.
I think Bandit is a PC. I mean not one of the five (Byron, Frigg, Gravedust, Syr’nj, and Best); one of the regular player characters who are able to log in and out of Arkerra when they want, and she just respawned.
alt text is spot on…
everyone really hates Byron. :(
He ain’t called a berserker for nothing, folks. Besides, she appears perfectly fine, so what’s all the drama about? gawd.
Oh I dunno…how bout almost being cleved into three seperate pieces?
But dear Gods you think they understand that he’s been doin’ his best to control it, he can’t help it. :(
She got better…
Kick the berserker.
No don’t kick the berserker.
I think even without all of this his secret plan might have been to get himself killed in this war.
Meh. Byron was rather much inneffectual throughout the entire span of the story ’til he raged out. And what then? He simply cannot be controlled. Too dangerous to keep around unless Syr whips up some Prozac Potion. Then, he’ll just be good ol’ useless Byron.
Hell, he called hisself a skirmisher. Set him to it. Put him out in front.
Next page, Byron’s huge unfunny brother and annoying family show up!
Okay – Syr’nj is the Lieutenant – Bandit’s starting to sound a lot like a First Sergeant.
Y U NO KEEP SAME AVATAR?
She glared daggers, and cut him off at the knees.
That tiny piercing stare man, it cuts me deep. I think she might be capable of stabbing out someone’s will to live from fifty feet. An emotional sneak attack if you will.
On a side note I’m pretty sure Byron is performing his famous moose artillery stare here.
More of a low blow, I’d say.
You could say that she was a little “short” with him.
No matter how you slice it, she does have point. Byron is looking rather hamstrung at the moment, but he knows in his gut she is stab on.
I understand cutting to the chase, but she just cut him to the quick.
Talk about your perfect avatar.
Then maybe she can explain to Ardaic how she survived being killed by said beserker.
I’d really like to see Byron counter with that. We only saw one party member try to get answer from Bandit. In private, no less. Surely the others want answers too? I’m not going to assume Syr’nj updated them, but even if she did, Bandit didn’t give a satisfactory answer.
Bringing up the beserking incident would force her to explain to Ardaic how she’s alive. Her stable gig won’t last if she’s accused of being a necromancer, so how serious can she be?
I think she’s bluffing or there’s a writing oversight.
I think she’s bluffing or there’s a writing oversight.
Or he swallowed her explanation whole just like everyone else.
He might not even be aware of her death, considering it hasnt really been brought up and Byron might have been unaware of his actions while berserking
When they were first brought back to life, he seemed plenty aware of his actions, and everyone updated him in their own way.
While this is only a theory, he may only be aware that he berserked, not what he did. since this presumably has happened before, hes probably use to apologizing for his uncontroled actions.
If Bandit is actually Dedalus, and Ardaic is an NPC, that might very well mean that Bandit could ‘program’ Ardaic to believe anything she says, and back her up on just about anything. The only people who’d need plausible explanations for anything would be the five players. (Not that Bandit’s explanation to Syr’nj was plausible.)
That would be a plausible explanation. My personal theory has been that Carol is Bandit, and Dedalus is Ardaic. They seem like the two characters Carol and Dedalus would use to manipulate the Five (Carol from the inside as a party member, Dedalus from the outside as the taskmaster).
Come to think of it, if all that were true, Bandit wouldn’t have to explain anything about rezzing and showing up in Ardaic’s compound, and getting “close to him” pretty much covers the fact that she’s gonna have a special connection to the big boss from here on out.
Also, check out that mustache.
Unless she already has explained it to Ardaic.
Or is cozy enough with him to get Byron banished without any chance of him explaining himself.
Don’t mind me, just thinking aloud on the comment section.
Understandably harsh.
Predictably severe
reasonably destructive
Objectively acrid
Adverbly adjective
postmodernly meta
Metaphysically philosophical
I suspect gnomes aren’t too big on forgiveness…
They’re coming up a bit short yeah.
They certainly aren’t skimpy on the harshness though.
Not to quick to forgive a slight. Small wonder considering the circumstances.
It’s a little understandable, however.
Her compassion really is dwarfed by her desire for vengeance.
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Come on, Byron! Chop-chop!
Did I not make myself clear cut enough for you grunt?! Split or I’ll skin ya!
YES! I’m in the thread before the Rocky Horror jokes begin!
Well it’s at least a better severance package than she got.
And on the next episode, Syrn’j asks Byron to to undress and bend over for a thorough examination.
Bow chica wow
Rule 34.
People here are saying Bandit’s being a bit harsh.
I think she’s actually being pretty damn lenient just giving Byron a warning about his beserker rage, considering I’d probably have been a lot harsher if I’d just recovered from havig two big axes sliced into my shoulders and just found out it’s not the only time he’s ever done it. I think she probably wants to see him cured just as much as Syr’nj does and is just reinforcing that point to Byron to make sure he at least contributes towards it.
That or she knows she can’t really look very harsh when she still looks too damn cute…
You are now one of the few as opposed to the many I’m afraid good sir or madam. She was naive to what a Berzerker entailed, she’s obviously naive to what the life of a Berzerker is like. Thus, I find anything she says at this point to be ignorant.
Personally I’m hoping for some old grizzled veteran Berzerkers to come in like they own the place (and unless you wanna end up as Sashimi, you’d better let ’em) and teach Byron the ropes to being a Berzerker. I think that’d be kinda kewl.
Dear internet: Please stop using “more people disagree with you than agree” as an argument. Unless the argument is about public opinion, the many can be just as wrong as the few…or the one. Additionally, it’s unverifiable because there is likely a large lurker-to-commenter ratio.
/rant
With the high likelihood that she is controlled fairly directly by sepia-worlders, I don’t consider her “ignorant” so much as acting on motives that are alien to in-game thought. That’s the lens through which I view her, and it colors this exchange.
Colors it purple like a tie.
Retort: Please stop using “Dear Internet” as a retort to another’s opinion. It makes you look like just as much of an ass as I apparently was looking like, due to your glowing reply. /sarcasm
And to answer the less pointless paragraph of your reply. Unless he can control her without actually paying attention to any of the screens or the game itself, i.e.: having a conversation with his secretary while all the characters (including Bandit) being on the training grounds (his technomagical mumbo jumbo not withstanding), I have high doubts that he actually IS in control of bandit. The closest thing I can see is that one of his trusted confidants/employees (if he even has any other than his secretary, I haven’t seen any indication to otherwise), and even that’s a stretch.
Good day.
But if I ev’r see one bit o’ froth
Then I do swear, by my troth
That I will stop acting soft
And send your soul to Yog-Sothoth
avatar win!
I gotta say, yeah, this isn’t exactly HARSH. Sure, Byron is doing his best to control it, but he also is _fully aware_ of what happens when he goes gonzo, he’s done it before.
If I was Bandit I’d be like…. ‘So, uh, you _know_ you’re a sociopathic ****er when you’re mad, and you never bothered warning us? Bye now.’
Regardless of it’s pseudo-common knowledge that Berserkers are killing machines when enraged (as per Frigg’s knowledge), you still _warn people_ if you have a history of uncontrollable violence or not. If you have a problem and you know it and you’re not an ass, you do that.
And you don’t play lone wolf being all “I can totally fight it down and never accept help by admitting it’s a problem” which is what Byron tried to do prior to all of this.
Mmmm, I do believe that he informed them up front that he was a beserker. There were a number of jokes about him being one. I just don’t think they understood what that means or actually believed him.
Ah, right here.
Uh, I’m fully aware of that strip, and referenced it myself in my post– wherein Frigg, yes, cracks a joke about him being a berserker, and tosses an axe in his face, and sums up her perception of ‘being a berserker’ as it consisting of ‘anger management issues’.
Unless there’s ANOTHER strip I’m not aware of where Byron goes, “Um, see, no, the thing is, it’s not actually just anger management issues, I have _murdered people en masse_ when I’m in my rage…” then I’m sorry, but I think my point still stands. As many many comments in here have said: it’s a bit muddy in-world as to just what being a Berserker really is. It’s something that is apparently viewed beneficially enough that you can do GOOD BUSINESS by having it on your cards, which to me implies that the full negative consequences of it aren’t popularly understood.
This is what Byron did: he introduced himself as a berserker. People (okay, Frigg) laughed about it, and nobody else so much as arched a brow.
If I am Byron, and I consider myself an ethical human being, and I KNOW I’ve committed horrific slaughter in my life before, I would at the very least consider I’m obligated to try and clarify to them that ‘really, this isn’t a joke, guys, seriously’. I might not do this with everyone I meet, but I would damn well feel morally obligated to do it with the people I’m fighting side by side by, including my quasi-love interest.
Are you reading the same comic? I don’t think you’re reading the same comic. I agree with John, and your last phrase was obviously done without any prior knowledge or memory of the comic.
-gives you the Gravatar condescending stare-
I always get the same Gravatar, it’s a pretty nifty one. :3
Byron never advertised himself as someone who might kill his companions and friends. This isn’t something that goes without saying, readers are simply assuming what the term “berserker” might entail in the world of Arkerra. Everyone was caught off guard by Byron’s condition, even Harky. Regardless of what one calls himself it was not a common or an expected occurrence.
Really, I think the point was surprising the readers. We’re used to fantasy RPG berserkers, who simply have some special attack. We didn’t expect a berserker who *actually* went berserk.
Yes, this.
Harki knew what he was when he went into Berzerker rage though. To his kind, it’s called “The Sickness”, that doesn’t mean that it’s the same thing for all races. Also, even though things have happened and won’t change, you would think that as the party’s rogue, or as a rogue in GENERAL, that she would have had a moniker of danger-sense for the current situation. I think I remember Frigg and/or Syrn’j warning her not to approach Byron, because they knew immediately that he was a threat to everyone. I don’t see that as them not having enough to put 2 and 2 together that Frothing-at-the-mouth = Danger.
Yeah, I agree. If someone attaches “the beserker” to the end of their name then they’re doing one of two things:
1) They’re trying to be badazz and are going to fight all crazy like in a battle, or
2) They’re trying to give you the warning “Hey, when I get stressed, I snap in a bad way”.
Byron is apparently #2. Either way, you’re going to want to keep an eye on them cause they’re both dangerous. And warn anyone who joins your party later, i.e. Bandit. Frigg has probably seen #1 a few times cause she didn’t believe the warning and obviously hadn’t met a true beserker before.
Silly Bandit. Doesn’t she understand how the world works? Women aren’t allowed to be angry about *anything*—not even being killed. Those who do so are labeled as “bitchy.” XD
But I really can’t blame her. As much as Byron has a condition, he is an idiot for putting himself into situations to allow the Beserker to emerge (combat)—especially since he’s done it before. I’d think after the first time of beserking and killing innocent people, I’d get a nice safe job as a librarian or something…perhaps the kind that smokes lots of pot and listens to new age or folk music. But that’s just me! :)
It’s not that she’s angry that makes her “bitchy” in this circumstance, it’s the fact that she’s deliberately kicking Byron when he’s down. She (and the entire party) knew that he’s a berserker and knew the risks that go with fighting along side one. It’s obvious that he feels shitty about what happened and he did his best to apologize. Hell, it wasn’t even entirely his fault. Whatever Syr’nj did to him during that fight helped set it off. And only a naive fool (or Best) approaches a berserker right after an intense battle.
Sure, she can still be angry, miffed, peeved, vexed, wary, frightened, or even terrified, but approaching Byron after he’s been publicly chastised to remind him of what he did and then holding threats over his head is, as you said, “bitchy.”
Did they? She trotted up to him. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Bandit did not in fact know what was gonn ahappen.
Also, Byron just admitted this happened before. Now, we don’t know the circumstances of that… but that looks really bad. Especially apologizing to somebody. It comes across like the alcoholic trying to make amends, but you know he’s going drinking again tonight.
I don’t think that’s an accurate representation, but it appears like that on her end and that suggests she’s being pretty damn tolerable, as opposed to just knifing him in the back then and there to be sure.
Byron can’t be solely blamed for another’s ignorance. The fact that he is a berserker is common knowledge. I he was probably counting on the other party members to act with the appropriate caution in battle. Sure, he could have been more explicit in his warnings, but the others could have also pressed him for details to know what they were getting themselves into. The party is not entirely blameless. Neither is Byron. Mistakes were made on everyone’s account. The best thing to do is acknowledge the mistakes, come up with a plant to prevent them from happening again, and move one. No one needs to belabor the point as Bandit did here.
That being said, I do see what you mean about the apology. Byron does need to realize that he can’t keep using “I’m a berserker” as an excuse.
By that logic we should let a lot of murderers out of prison (or the asylum)—as I’m sure many of them couldn’t help it (even have conditions) and regret it.
The dude cleaved off her arms. He can be as sorry as he likes, but I believe she’s taking the higher ground not enacting “tit for tat”—except golly, she’s a woman. How dare she kick a man when he’s down?! She teh bitchiest of bitches. XD
Really, the women here (including Syr’Nj) are showing restraint, intelligence, and even (dare I say it) compassion for Byron by not killing him off and doing what they can to help him gain control of his condition (even using threats). Frigg tried to bludgeon him to death, and I’m sure Gravedust and Best would join in the Byron-distrust (if not all out “capital punishment”) if they had actually experience or even seen what had happened.
Being killed off (and your friends being killed off) is a good enough reason to do whatever you’d like to a guy—regardless of his condition or sad feewings.” Even old Yeller got shot when he went rabid, and I’m sure he is far less dangerous than Byron in berserking mode (makes for an interesting thought of a “celebrity death match” – haha – Beserker Byron versus Old Yeller and Cujo).
No. By that logic we would not let murderers out of prison. This is a fantasy world wherein Berserking is a real condition. As far as I know, berserking is not actually recognized in the DSM IV and cannot be used as a criminal defense.
The fact that Bandit is a woman has absolutely NOTHING to do with how I feel about her actions. Now, in the sake of full disclosure, I am a woman. I’ve often seen and ranted about the assertive/bitchy double standard. Believe me, it pisses the hell out of me. But in this case, I don;t see that happening here. I would have been just as hurt on Byron’s behalf if Gravedust had approached him like Bandit did. I would be here raning about what a bitchy jerk Gravedust is being.
The way I see the situation, Byron has already been chastised for his actions. He was removed as de facto leader of their merry band in a rather public and (at least for Byron) embarrassing manner. Syr’nj already made it clear that he is not to participate at all until he has his berserking under control. His whole identity is tied to his fighting. That has been forcefully taken away from him. Forgive me if I sympathize with Byron as Bandit rubs salt in his wounds.
tl:dr NO ONE has the right to kick a man when he’s down. Bandit being a woman is NOT affecting my opinion. Please stop telling me that it is.
Bravo! It’s nice to see a clear and equanimous evaluation of the situation.
For my part, it’s hard for me to really be too judgemental about the behavior of any of the characters, because I can understand, more or less, where each of them is coming from on the issue. That being said, I sympathize with Byron, and in my opinion I think he would be perfectly within his rights to tell them all that he is breaking ties with them and going his own way, but I have feeling that he doesn’t even consider it out of an over-inflated sense of duty to the party and their mission.
Right now, a little compassion and forgiveness would go a long way toward rebuilding Byron’s sense of value to the team, and their appreciation for what he has already contributed. After all, doesn’t comradery, and friendship, depend upon trust? If they refuse to forgive him there can be no trust, and if there is no trust, then they are better off parting ways.
Allow me to say that you’ve impressed me with your argument, and that I wish I could reiterate your points as well as you have.
Because Bandit would have survived if Byron hadn’t gone berserk? I missed where that was a possibility. The party’s collective goose was cooked; it seems like a fine time to pull out the high risk options. And if they don’t work, at least he did something other then stand there and wait for everyone to die.
I mean, let’s not forget that Bandit’s official story is that the blood on Byron’s axes actually saved her life. (yes, almost certainly a lie, but still)
I think it’s getting to the point where I’d really like to find out what people in Arkerra think Berserking is, how common it is, and what the “politics of the disease” are among different races. Because even though it’s true that we never saw Byron explicitly warn people, and we can fault him for that, he also never hid what he was–as someone once pointed out, it’s on his business card. (In a similar vein, Bandit doesn’t seem to have a problem using her profession as her name.) If it’s a stigma, why doesn’t he hide it? (To warn people?) And if being a Berserker is a “banishing or worse” offense, why did Ardaic even hire him, or at least without questioning him about it? Because, you know, maybe sending a berserker into a delicate diplomatic situation with an angry troll would have been worth reconsidering. Why did Frigg think it was so awesome until she actually saw it happen? All of this seems to imply berserking is very rare or even considered mythical, and/or that no one actually believed Byron because the idea that he really was a berserker would have been outlandish. We might also ask whether the real issue is that Byron can’t control it, where perhaps the norm is that a berserker can, but that would seem to contradict Frigg’s comment about “arghle bargle anger management issues grarrgh.”
So right now, to me, everyone’s behavior seems a bit murky and at times hypocritical.
He actually did warn them, and Frigg asked him about being a Berzerker… ten chapters ago. Chapter 2, page 23 to be exact.
That’s exactly what I’m referring to–the matter was out in the open very early on, so what did people think was going to happen when he actually did berserk, and why did it not seem to, eh, meet their expectations? That’s what I’m trying to work out–Why was everyone simply OK with it until they actually saw it happen? Why didn’t anyone, as Tito suggests below, say, “Whoa, pal, sorry, I can’t work with you. Too dangerous.”?
I guess it never really his home. It’s one thing to hear stories of berserkers in action. It’s an entirely different thing to experience it first-hand.
I’m all for hypocritical characters. Character flaws are delicious.
Character flaws make the world go ’round. :) I’m not actually complaining about the hypocracy, but wondering what rules of this world caused them all to behave this way. The answer lies in establishing just what “berserker” means in this context, since I’m getting the impression that like all the other tropes used in GA, it’s been turned on its ear.
Agreed. It’s the similarity to people who believe that they’re ‘Desensitized to violence’ because of video games, movies, television, etc.
But then if they actually witness violence out in public, or see a robbery or a murder take place, it’s COMPLETELY different. Seeing/Hearing/Talking about it, and actually Experiencing it are on completely different wavelengths.
Complicating this mess is that we don’t entirely know who’s an NPC and who’s not, so as someone pointed out above, Ardaic could simply be an AI or programed to do specific things–which makes my question about why he even hired Byron problematic right there, as it may have simply been “part of the game’s plot” that he did so. Still, I’d like to imagine there is come consistency in the world and its “rules.”
I believe the point of “it’s magic, and because it’s magic it was sculpted rather than constructed” suggests the world – work of artistry or no – has its own consistency and rules.
Which is why the heroes got chastised by Ardaic for behaving like adventurers, instead of getting the praise they’d have gotten in WoW for behaving exactly the same way. “Do this but don’t kill this dude or attract that dude’s attention” missions are rare in MMO play, largely because they’re only popular with a niche.
I believe there were hints earlier that this may be an actual world.
Awesome, awesome and thought provoking comment, flevine, and I agree with you completely. Nicely worded. :)
Maybe it’s slightly meta and Bandit means Banished as in Banned. Like she’ll report him if he PK’s(player kills) again. There are people playing this game, aren’t there?
Berserker is in his name, it’s not like they weren’t warned. If Kharn the Betrayer screwed me over at some point, people would laugh at ME for not seeing it coming.
It’s in his name, his business card, and he bragged about it before giving someone the axe.
They wouldn’t even seem like such enormous six-wheeled douchewagons if they hadn’t spent so many of their dialogue points on mocking him for all the times he wasn’t berserking. I was really hoping he’d gib Best, but it was pretty obvious he was deliberately holding back.
The Green Lantern Corps has some explaining to do on that note.
But berserk doesn’t automatically mean “can’t distinguish friend from foe.” That’s part of one description. There’s also the option of them taking on the actual form of a bear. There are many legends. Having a name that alludes to one of many legends doesn’t count as “fair warning.”
Maybe so, but are those various legends present within the Akerran mythology, or are you drawing that inference from our real life mythology? We have to be sure we aren’t judging the characters based upon OUR understanding of things, but rather the in-game context from which the characters understand them.
… Carnivale?
Flevine is right. Everybody thinks is cool to have a mindless killing machine on their side, until they realize it is a MINDLESS killing machine. I´d never go out on a fight with a berserker…that´s like going to the front with a nuke under your arm and throwing it like a grenade.
Related note: I think Frigg should use her KaSMITE powers to launch Berserk Byron into crowds of enemies like a deadly red golf ball. Just send him flying into enemy ranks over and over.
Reminds me of the Colossus-throws-Wolvie “Fastball Special.”
Is it just me, or did Byron’s thousand-yard stare just shoot past the two-thousand yard line?
He can SEE THROUGH TIME.
On the other side of TIME, there is a SANDWICH.
>get the sandwich
TIME is in the way.
>move time
…How will Byron move TIME?
>turn sundial
Byron turns the SUNDIAL in the background of the comic. TIME is moved!
Yeah, because it all would have ended better if he hadn’t berserked, right? Harki was about to embrace them all with a big hug of love, and shower them with presents before signing a big peace treaty…
Oh wait, that’s right, THEY WERE ALL ABOUT TO DIE ANYWAY. That seems like a good time to pull out risky moves, even if they are really really risky.
Seriously, the self-righteousness level from the rest of the party is making me ill.
I completely agree. And they all ended up dying anyway, not just because of Byron. Those thousands of arrows raining down on the party MIGHT have had something to do with it. The only person besides Byron that seems to be making any lick of logical sense as to the situation is Gravedust, and he hasn’t said much on the issue. I guess it’s true that the smart people try not to open their mouths as much as the dumb ones.
Besides, isn’t What’s-Her-Bandit-Face supposed to be a Street Savvy rogue? How does Frigg know more about Berzerkers than she does? Her getting killed was entirely her fault; the others didn’t walk up to the frothing killing machine non-nonchalantly. Sure, he ended up attacking Frigg afterwards, but that’s what happens when one of your DPS decide that it’s a good idea to aggro an elite.
Yeah, I agree–except I don’t think it was even a planned risky move, given that Byron appeared to be dead when Syr’nj ran to him. Byron has so far given no indication that he thought, “Hm…die, or rage and hope for the best?” I think you’re right–Gravedust has been almost oddly quiet on the matter, but the read I get off of Syr’nj is more one of actual care. Still, why she didn’t bring up curing sooner–like after the near-mishap with the Cultist? Why she was OK with the berserker thing like everyone else–is the question in my mind.
I agree with you on everything in this post, but with one caveat: Syr’nj might be ‘benching’ Byron out of a sense of caring and duty, but the manner in which she shows her caring is akin to a parent telling a child that because they used their crayons on the wall they have to be ‘fixed’, so they are now prohibited from drawing or coloring until they can be ‘cured’ of the ‘habit’ of coloring on the wall. I know it’s common to overreact when you care about someone, and I realize it’s not a completely equal comparison (it’s not intended to be one), but we’ve already seen that Byron can be effective in combat without going berserk (remember the chess board battle during the quest for the Basin, which is POST death?), so why all of the sudden is it an issue?
Hmm, upon reflection, I guess that’s sorta similar to what flevine already asked/stated, except for the bit about the overreacting care on the part of Syr’nj. Oops.
I believe the term for what Byron did to the party is “Ragequit.”
He ragequitted the hell out of them.
Actually, I remembered something…The last thing Bandit said before getting chopped was that she’d dealt with the lock on the arena gates and just needed some help getting the doors open (presumably because they were too big/heavy for her). So if Byron hadn’t berserked, Harki might not have called in the archers, and the gang could have made a run for it, which means they might not have gotten killed. (though I concede the odds were against them regardless.) That doesn’t mean I entirely blame Byron though, because if Harki hadn’t tried to murder a guy on a diplomatic mission, said guy would not have berserked. ;-)
The only reason she had time to check on the door was the time Byron bought while he was berserking, otherwise Harki would have still been in there carving them up. When he berserked: Grave was dead, Frigg and Syr’Nj were down and helpless, about to be killed, and Bandit was going “we’re all gonna die, we’re all gonna die!”
Byron bought them some time… and then Bandit messed it up by walking right over. I’m not saying I lay actual blame on her for that, but if I were her, I wouldn’t be giving Byron a guilt trip either.
Oh, whoops, true. Sorry. Remembered it wrong.
Good recollection! I had forgotten that bit if history.
This one incident is not enough to say whether she’s being harsh or not, it’s going to depend on whether she KEEPS needling him about it and for how long, and how goodnatured the jabs are.
I’m on Byrons side in this though.
I think we get it now, Byron is a bad, bad man and will go to the shortest level in Hell.
Can he man the buggery up and start telling the rest of the crew to pull themselves together [i]before they literally have to?[/i]
Hmm.. Bandit is lucky Byron is a good guy. Else, threatening his life (“or worse”) over something he can’t control may be sufficient grounds for him to kill her, and make sure the body is never, ever, found.
… really, dude?
Note to self: Never make vague threats to George Gordon.
LOL! XD
Hi, everybody! I’m Pete The Projectile Vomiter!
Hey, don’t stand too close to me when I’m freakin’ out, I kinda projectile vomit when I’m freakin’ out.
Check out my “Pete The Projectile Vomiter” signboard! Cool, huh? Say, y’might wanna stand back a little.
Duudes, I’m seriously freakin’ out over here. Vomitin’ may happen.
Agh! Shit! Everybody’s gettin’ slapped around! I’m freakin’ out! I’m… BLLLAAARRGGGHHH!!! HOORGH- HWWAAAARRRGGGHHH!!! BWWARRRFFF!!!
What?!? Oh you did NOT just projectile vomit on me!
Oh, son of a BITCH! You fuckin’ PUKED on me!
What a fuggin’ ASSHOLE! I can’t believe you just fuggin’ hyper-horped on every damn thing! Jerk!
Man, we NEVER shoulda hired you to come freak out with us! This is all YOUR fault!
Yeah, I guess you’re right, I guess I AM totally a jerk for projectile vomiting on everyone. Probably shoulda given y’all a heads up or something. Gosh, sorry.
It’s not a parallel analogy.
Not all berserker stories say they lose the ability to distinguish friend from foe. In the oldest tales there were units of berserkers. They fought as a group, a pack, and those princes who employed them were considered wise.
So he said he was a berserker. He didn’t say what that meant.
He didn’t say he’d kill his friends if he berserked. He didn’t say there was a chance. Obviously berserkers are rare enough in Arkerra that not everyone know what it meant there.
Obviously, how? Bandit seems to be the only person we’ve seen that didn’t immediately recognize what was happening.
Also Texas, you forgot about the endless snark of “man, I haven’t seen you vomit even once, what a loser, when are you going to vomit for us?”
Jury’s out on that. My money is on Frigg not having a clue either until Bandit was cleaved. The only one who seemed to know was Syr’Nj, and she’s a doctor/scientist so she probably read about it.
No, she’s the first one to actually ask him about it, back when they met for the first time. Chapter 2 I believe.
Next they’ll hire a guy called “Myron The Migraine Sufferer” to carry all their priceless delicate objects and spend the rest of the mission randomly screaming in his ear and setting off flashbombs in front of him, then swan around like he‘s the dick when he drops all their shit and keels over clutching his head.
This made my night. Thank you.
Didn’t he introduce himself as Byron the Berserker in a nonchalant manner?
Yeah, but he never described what that entailed nor do we know if the other characters knew what that entailed. Yeah, for all we know there are service statement pamplets warning about “what to do around a beserker” but possibly not. On top of that, I don’t know if anyone believed him, bc he was so nonchalant about it. Given that he’s just said he’s killed others before in a beserk-rage you have to wonder why he even put it on his business card (aside from that being a comedy prop for our benefits :) ).
…I hope these two eventually bury the hatchet.
He already has.
We couldn’t axe for them to do anymore. It could cut things short.
…In her shoulders. That way they’ll have somewhat-matching Axe-shoulder-pads!
One thing I keep seeing about the Legends of berserkers. We don’t know THEIR legends. Their world is different than ours.
Hey, you’ve got the same avatar as me! ;)
Yeah, we don’t know but it was pretty evident that Syrn’j and Harki knew what the condition means and looks like. You would think that Syrn’j would have been a little more inquisitive. At least, for the sake of doing Science. :D
I’m voting that it’s rare enough that most people use it to either scare others or make themselves look tough. Frigg seemed to see it that way initially.
I think we are all forgetting a very important part in the comic the fortune teller who said something in byrons mind i believe it was kill or something along those lines, now what if that was a subconsie trigger to unlock his berzerker rage i think it may have been some underlying trigger myself but.
Has for bandit she’s just a midget with an attitude that thinks shes better than byron now because she’s all -tight- with the big man and i really didnt like how she was addressing byron acting all nice at first then going commando B***h she purposly rubbed that point in and made it quite clear -you its all your fault and the moment you get out of control your done- instead of treating byron like that why not try to understand more about what he is geez some people i tell ya
I really don’t see why this is supposed to be so harsh of Bandit. Whether or not his previous rage was ‘beneficial’, he’s still a fucking berserker, likely to go- well, BERSERK at any moment. He’s a ticking time bomb. She’s within her rights to warn him, because he is a liability. It’s good that he’s being ‘benched’, because he’s a liability. She hasn’t insulted him or anything, she has just given him this warning because he is a liability and yes, a threat, and she doesn’t want him doing anything to compromise her teammate’s lives. I’m going to hold judgment on how horrible people are treating Byron and how they’re ‘rubbing it in his face’ until I see actual examples of them doing that instead of two military characters acting like people making good tactical decisions, thanks.
Right? I don’t understand what is quite so heinous about Bandit’s behavior. Yes, I like Byron. Better than Bandit, even. That doesn’t invalidate the threat, nor does it make her warning ‘over the top,’ ‘kicking him while he’s down,’ or anything else.
* This is the first time they’ve talked, since.
* IIRC, Bandit has never needled Byron about -not- berserking.
* She has not attacked him, she warned him in level tones that she understood him to be a threat, now, and that those actions were not valid in a team environment.
Actually, as flevine said, you could think of it as corporate, I suppose, or really, any group/team oriented environment with a talented but occasionally problematic member.
I’d like to point you towards the Dotcom/Magistrate of Mediocrity thread of comments a ways above yours, if you’d please. Here’s a snipet.
“It’s not that she’s angry that makes her “bitchy” in this circumstance, it’s the fact that she’s deliberately kicking Byron when he’s down. She (and the entire party) knew that he’s a berserker and knew the risks that go with fighting along side one. It’s obvious that he feels shitty about what happened and he did his best to apologize. Hell, it wasn’t even entirely his fault. Whatever Syr’nj did to him during that fight helped set it off. And only a naive fool (or Best) approaches a berserker right after an intense battle.
Sure, she can still be angry, miffed, peeved, vexed, wary, frightened, or even terrified, but approaching Byron after he’s been publicly chastised to remind him of what he did and then holding threats over his head is, as you said, “bitchy.”
Damn, talk about your perfect avatars.
Gah. Reply fail.
I don’t have an issue with Bandit being angry or upset regardless of any other factors–having your friend essentially kill you is disturbing no matte how or why it came about. What I find interesting is the shift in her tone and her behavior–how she’s conducting herself. It’s a bit out of character and distinctlycorporate. Try to imagine the conversation taking place in an office between a rank and file guy and a sort of middle manager. Replace “The Berserker–he isn’t me” line with something about a report or the server going down, and replace “Ardaic” with “the boss”…or “Mr. Daedalus.”
Hmmm.
On a related note, I never commented prior, but in this chapter Carol and H.R. seem a lot more human–seeing H.R. stubbly, disheveled and eating Doritos while trying to figure out why his code wasn’t compiling, so to speak, made him 100% more likable to me.
Huh, it never occurred to me that Bandit’s behavior might considered corporate. Nice word choice, flevine. :)
I want to hug Byron.
Hug him like a defenseless plushie with shoulder-axes.
That is all.
THIS PLUSHIE NEEDS TO EXIST.
I second this motion.
With optional woodpecker attached to head.
What I kinda want to know is whether it was Byron who went berserk, or his player–or whether that distinction even exists anymore. I mean, if “berserker” was written into his backstory, I wonder what it was like the first time the player “pressed the berserk button,” so to speak.
Actually, it’d be kind of cool to see what it was like for the Five when they first started out. Roleplaying is fun and all, but for each of us there is a limit, and it would be interesting to see what happened the first time the Five hit that limit and realized they couldn’t just go OOC.
hmmm, am I the only one thinking that the time Byron killed his previous team was at that battle where he was the only survivor?
Nope, or not exactly…I once speculated he was “the war that felled Battleshire,” though someone quickly pointed out he probably wouldn’t have been that effective based on what we’d seen of him so far. ;-)
Actually we don’t know for sure who he might have killed, or if and when. All we have seen is a younger version of him looking at a town full of corpses…that doesn’t necessarily mean he did it. Though this strip makes things seem a little more ominous.
I rather suspect the brothers he named the axes after, myself.
My 0.02 zorkmid:
Byron, go see the doc. Love may not always conquer all, but with SCIENCE!, we shall see. If Syrn’j can’t come up with a “Calming Cool-aid” or a “Focus Fizzy”, you can always talk to Gravy about getting a scroll labeled “HACKEM MUCHE” :)
Bandit: You are too cute for words. Seriously, stop it. You’re stealing all the limelight in this comic.
DEM SHEATHS
Why the thousand-yard stare at the end of the conversation? I’d rather expect him to be avoiding Bandit, and this inevitable confrontation. Being threatened with banishment if one goes insane and kills a party member again is actually pretty moderate. You’d expect a harsher threat than that from Bandit. So, the worst is over, for the moment, anyway. I’d expect it to be a relief, or maybe it would lead to more depression — but not the thousand-yard stare of the fear of death.
I… still love Bandit.
I don’t blame her at all for this.
Yeah, you can say she was naive, going right up to a frothing berserker – but she went up to him not only because she didn’t know better, but because she *trusted* him. …And he tried to kill her.
More than that, he’s saying it’s happened before. He’s saying he can’t stop it from happening again. I think it’s more than just being prissy, or whatever – I think she just doesn’t have much faith in him, at the moment. The trust is gone.
If anything, I admire her for giving him the chance to earn it back. For not writing him off completely. …I don’t see it as her trying to kick him when he’s down. I see it as her making sure he stays on the right side of the line, so that no one has to face what she did. Because let’s face it, if he ever froths, she’s the one fast enough to avoid him. It’s not herself she needs to worry about.