Chapter 36 – Page 40
Whew! And with that, our most mammoth chapter yet comes to a close! We’re gonna take a short break on updates until next Monday, where we’ll deliver our Kickstarter-promised bonus comic in the form of a short interlude story we’re calling “Breaking Bread With The Enemy,” which follows the events of Chapter 35! So tune in next Monday for that goodness!
I’m glad they are still friends! Oh wait, there was no beer involved in this… Oh no.
Heheh, yeah I remember slamming shots with my friends until we were bashing eachothers’ faces with bucklers. Ahh good times….I think…can’t really remember actually…
I have no idea how this will effect their relationship, long term. I guess it partially depends on whether or not Byron is dead dead.
I think this entire mission should be named, “Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal!” I mean, everyone was betraying each other. First Homon and Tom, then Berzerked Byron, then everyone.
I really like the contrast between this chapter and the Cyberian Beast chapter. The way the Guild members and the Rebellion members put aside their differences to defeat a common enemy was wonderful. Then, this chapter had everyone turning on each other. It’s like opposite ends of a spectrum, or something. I’m not exactly sure what to call it, but I love the way T and Phil juxtaposed the two chapters.
…And then there were Three?
… There are still four. Soon there shall be Five once more.
WAV is Payet Best?
Byron is fine. He is in the Patreon banner.
So is Wav… with distinctly elfy features… so yeah, Wav is probably Best.
And now he isn’t and there is another elf-dude with a moustache? Another Best-Alt?
That Patreon Banner is so utterly Spoileriffic.
Dammmnnnn. That might have shattered her jaw.
Is Isidro dead? His name has a different color in the tag text.
That is likely because you clicked on it. Try clicking another of the names and then refreshing.
I thought I saw him in an earlier page, up on the roof with Scipio. His hat was in the melee on the ground, but given the rest of him was nowhere to be found I’m assuming that he did indeed make it up to the rooftops.
That or Bragg was extra-hungry.
the cast thing could use some expanding or the places the tags lead to need faces is the mutonchop gnome isidro, tobias gnipgnop ??
He’s in the next to last panel, being supported by a medic.
And prepare for the upcoming political shitstorm heading our way.
If the people on the council were wise, they’d continue to support the Adventurer’s Guild despite these events.
Leaving aside that what happened isn’t the Guild’s fault and an example of how dangerous the Cultists are (and also leaving aside that a more dangerous bad guy is actually responsible):
Better that it’s the adventurers taking the brunt of these threats and suffering casualties, and not the army, the people, and, most importantly, the House of the Houses.
If you don’t take care of your meat shields, you soon won’t have a meat shield to hide behind.
Well indeed i think this will be proof that syrng was right all along.
But I think it will be seen as TO much of a loss and they will either try to shoe in their own commander or maybe have the entire operation taken over by “professionals”
“If the people on the council were wise…” Well, there’s the rub. Much of the council has proven to be less than wise. Plus, if memory serves, at least one member is in alliance with the cultist.
Aye, aye, indeed, TxGater.
But the silver lining: said member in alliance with the cultists IS “wise” (for lack of a better term) and has good reason to keep supporting the guild insofar as they can be used to serve him. Note that he has no reason- political or personal- to want to have them eliminated.
He doesn’t work for the cultists or serve their agenda. His alliance with them is just a tool for his own purposes. Keeping the Guild around means he has another piece in play with which he can check the power of the cultists where they may actually go against his plans (frenzying all of the Arkerra in a self-destructive orgy of bloodshed and killing is an example of that).
Well, the guy in charge of Lumber let one of his more important logging towns become completely taken over by cultist infiltrators which the Guild then cleansed. That storm has the potential to fling things in multiple directions depending on how tight the “Good Ole Human Boys” stay together on this one.
Given all the political and emotional pressure she’s been burdened with, I’m not surprised she finally buckled.
Especially since Byron was the one shielding her from a lot of her worries.
if she doesn’t get a grip, everything’s gonna slip through her defenses.
Alas, it was poor Bandit who caved in.
I’m sure she will glance back at this blow and see better for it.
Syr’Nj always was fairly blunt
She’s encouraging Bandit to keep her chin up.
This installment was a hard blow to take.
Definitely this was what J. Michael Straczynski called a “wham episode”.
Don’t you mean, “she buckled?”
Hmm. Syr’s action is understandable …
Nope. Still think Bandit got the shaft here.
Ok. Maybe she did what she thought was best, but at the same time, it wasn’t Byron’s fault. It was the Cultist leader and HR. Also, theory: Byron was already dead before he even got to the village.
Hard to say whether or not that’s true. Seems like he shouldn’t have been standing after the demons left at least.
This will be simple enough to prove. All they have to do is go back to where they found the altar and Gravedust can gather his soul into an arrow and talk with him and pass on the information of how he was killed and when. Then, heartfelt apologies all around and we see Byron is stored in an arrow for an extended period of time, with Gravedust communicating with him for Syr’Nj, until he is eventually used against HR. THAT would be a great storyline to see :).
Holy freakin’ cow! I think you figured it out. I actually think this is plausible.
But will our heroes think of that? I don’t know just yet.
Wouldn’t work. Because Byron, the real Byron, isn’t dead.
But that’s the point. From the games perspective, he would still be in it. He isn’t truly “dead”, so he could still interact in the game in some form. His “ghost” would still be active, so he would not technically be restored into a new body until they finished with it. So, in the case of utilizing an arrow against HR, he still wouldn’t die, but would be reincarnated after its use, unless they all become free after HR is shot with him. Well, that’s my current theory. It’s definitely entertaining to see how this will play out.
I wonder if HR even HAS an exit plan for himself, or if his plan is to just rule the Arkerrans until his protein shake bathtub runs out of juice.
She did what she “thought” was best? She just snapped out and blamed it all on one man.
I have to disagree with you. As pissed as Bandit was for what happened Byron was still Syr’s husband. To simply say ‘good’ when Syr declared Byron dead was cruel of Bandit.
Ah. A polite, well-reasoned counterpoint! You may disagree with me in this way as much as you like, Nintarie.
I’m glad you think so. It’s nice to be able to disagree without it becoming a flamewar, especially since I do agree that what Bandit has just been through is… horrid.
Nope. Bandit is so far into the wrong here that she can’t even see the edge of right anymore. No matter how you slice this, she’s wrong. Just to list a few:
What she did was murder.
She murdered him for selfish revenge.
Byron wasn’t responsible for this.
Now Byron can’t explain what the cult did, so they’re still in the dark.
The “infection” has apparently spread, so now she has to murder dozens more to remain consistent.
Murdering a sick person is never the better choice over trying to find a cure.
Bandit did the right thing from what she knew. She had no idea that Byron was not responsible. And she was justifiably angry at him for putting them all at risk (again). I doubt there are many people that would be able to step back and think rationally through this entire puzzle in the middle of the kind of battle Bandit just lived through. Don’t forget either that she tried the cure first and it didn’t work. Bandit shouldn’t have said “good” (in my opinion) to Syr’Nj, but that is the only thing I could fault her for doing.
Killing people that are actively trying (and succeeding) to kill other people is murder now?
She had no idea Byron wasn’t responsible? That’s a little far-fetched. Byron was very deliberately led into a trap and stolen by the cultists from right under her nose, on her watch. As always, this is about Bandit and not what’s right. She is filled with self loathing for failure, a behavioral trend we’ve seen in the past, and is redirecting it at the world. At the most obvious source of her woes. She knows the cultists did this to Byron, but she also thinks this is her fault.
Unfortunately, this is how she deals with those kind of feelings.
As far as Bandit knows, Byron set himself up for this. In her view, he is responsible because he went on the mission. He forced Syr’Nj to let him go even when she tried to get him to stay, knowing full well it was a trap for him. So yes, she didn’t know they were facing something stronger than the cure Syr’Nj made and so she didn’t know that Byron was not responsible for what happened. None of them knew that it could have been anyone, not just Byron, carrying those Cyberians. It could have been Brother Tom, even. But HR used Byron specifically because Brother Tom expected him to be the one that would be susceptible.
As for your psychoanalysis of Bandit, I disagree with everything you said about her. There is a difference between feeling like you are personally responsible for people under your command and “thinking stuff is your fault”. She is a good leader and makes the tough decisions when they need to be made. And she cares about her team.
Lets follow this to its logical conclusion. If indeed, she doesn’t know he isn’t responsible for this and is completely oblivious to the possibility that there’s something stronger than the cure, then by extension you’re suggesting she believes he’s doing this of his own volition or that this is an intended outcome.
Does that seem like a plausible thing for Bandit to believe in the context of the overtly magical display Byron just put on?
What does it matter if Byron meant to do this? When a dog has rabies, it gets put down. And Byron just demonstrated that his rabies is no longer treatable.
So the next chapter will be an interlude taking place earlier in the story?
No problem, someone just let me know when chapter 37 starts and I’ll pick the comic up again there.
And does anyone get the feeling that Syr’Nj and Bandit aren’t finished with their conversation here? I mean, there’s no way one blow to the jaw is going to keep Bandit from venting her frustrations, anger and hatred towards Byron for (as she sees it) starting this whole disaster in the first place.
(And I shudder to think what Homon, H.R.’s homnoculus, is going to do next to further reduce the Five’s ranks…)
Oh, I think it’s going to be worth your time.
If it involves the reporter interviewing Rachel’s sepia self and friends about The Five then yes, yes it is.
It’s called “breaking bread with the enemy” and it happens after ch 35…so I would bet it’s going to be Frigg, Gravedust, and that group hanging with Penk and his dudes. Plus, Cyber Knight (who we *all* know is really Payet Best ;-)
one of my headcanons is because best rerolled into wav, rachel’s file wasnt outright corrupted either; she rerolled into a different character in cyberia. and because she was fighting a monster from cyberia at the time, she was at least a little bit prepared for the transition. once she gets her bearings, she’ll start to make her way back to arkera trying to follow wav.
That would be interesting too.
I knew of the name but thought that because of past articles and her general attitude the journalist is sort of “The Enemy” to the role playing gamers.
That could be it, too. I’m going to stick with my original feeling, but leave it to Phil to prove me wrong.
Yeah but that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
Your prescient, spoilers-informed…hm.
Spoiler Alert:
Read my fucking comic.
I will fucking read your comic, yes?
So there is fucking then?
Good to know!
See, now I don’t want to. :/
Oh right, reverse… ahem:
Don’t read his fucking comic! Its only for the special people. Go read whatever ordinary people read.
Better?
Mr. Phil! I was not aware that you made a NSFW comic as well!? Well, sex sells after all.
I don’t want to! Crazy kids telling me what to read… who am I? Why am I here? GET OFF MY LAWN
Dun DUn DUUUUUNHHHH
You just murdered her husband, Bandit. Were you expecting her to be cheery?
Littlebottom?
Murdered is a bit harsh…
Preemptively euthanised/executed?
Pretty sure, if byron could be accessed for rational discussion, would 100% support bandits actions, given that this scenario is his worst nightmare times 1000.
“Murdered” is ridiculously harsh. Did Scipio murder all those cultists that he chopped down? No? So Byron’s life is somehow a beautifully unique snowflake because of who he knew? Nonsense; in the state he was in, he deserved every stab he got.
It might still turn out that Bandit stabbing him only somehow contributed to his animating demons being released, but I hope they won’t go into such detail.
knowing people seems to be how politics work, and the judicial process is largely political, especially for celebrity cases, soooo…. the court might just sling around the term “murdered”
I don’t think Bandit will be on trial for murder as a result of this. Doesn’t mean she’s not going to have a trial, but I suspect it will be less of a legal one and more of a metaphorical one. Stabbing the guildmaster probably won’t make her a lot of friends, especially amongst the people that weren’t there.
Murdered is not the least bit harsh, because that’s what she did. She killed him out of selfish revenge, nothing more or less. And it’s not like he was in his right mind or acting willfully (unlike all the cultists in town, apropos of nothing), so he absolutely did not deserve what she did.
And just to add insult to injury, by murdering him, she killed the one person who actually knew what the cultists were really doing (because they told him before raging him), so now that bit of knowledge has been lost. Great job, Bandit. Great job indeed.
No, murder isn’t even vaguely what she did.
She ‘killed’ (deanimated, really) him in a battle which he initiated. That is the furthest possible form of killing a person from murder.
It was clearly self defense. Did you see Braggo chomping on Rabbit’s face? That is what Byron brought with him. And it doesn’t matter that it wasn’t his fault at that point. He had to be stopped or Arkerra was over.
Let’s see…
First she tried a dose of the antidote. That didn’t work.
Second she inflicted what should have been a debilitating, but non-lethal wound. That didn’t work.
Finally she resorted to lethal force.
If her only goal were revenge, she would have skipped the first two. It would have been easier. From where she stuck the syringe on her first pass, she could just as easily have taken his head.
The fact that she snapped while defending her friends against a nigh-unkillable foe is not unreasonable. Furthermore, if Byron is not responsible for the death he causes when he’s not in his right mind, then neither is Bandit.
Bandit did not know that the cavalry was on its way. If Syr’Nj hadn’t already been bringing the medics and met Emerl at the gate it likely would have been too late by the time they mobilized. You can’t condemn Bandit for not being psychic.
Bandit did not know that Byron had knowledge of what the cultists were up to. (The only person who knew that was Byron, and he wasn’t talking.) Again, you can’t condemn her for not being psychic. It’s not on her list of class abilities.
Mouthing off to Syr’Nj was uncalled for, but again, she’s not in her right mind at the moment.
Unless you’re trying to make the case that she had some option other than lethal force and deliberately chose not to use it because she just wanted to kill him… But since she’s tried two such options already that’s a difficult case to make. In point of fact, had she refused to strike him down when she could, she would be morally responsible for every additional person he killed.
I expect she’ll probably be rather broken up about all this and hide it under a mask of being glad he’s dead. We’ll see how much the writers decide to dig into that.
I get the feeling there’s going to be a form of PTSD expressed herein with Bandit until the Byron storyline is resolved. She definitely wasn’t going for the throat at first, but when she jumped forward and he tried to attack her in the exact same way he “killed” her before, I’m quite sure she stopped caring after that.
And only 2 days to retirement.
And I was going to make pineapple salad too….
Married? I don’t remember them getting married. Did I miss something?
ye-… yes?
omg… the battle of b’ial vezk LITERALLY half the comic ago. ima use the low bandwidth version, might be quicker.
You know what, I’m glad Scipio survived that. I was kinda afraid he’d eat it during this chapter, for some reason.
“eat it during this chapter”
No, he left that to Braggadocio. Its more his thing anyway.
It’s because he put out the cigar. It seemed dramatic.
I am wondering what happened to that woman he stuck in the jail cell.
I’m happy Isidro and Tobias survived, as well. I am surprisingly sad about Rabbit, though.
Bragg looks dead too… So pre-rage injuries take effect after the ragequit.
Braggs isn’t listed in the tags. He may be dead, but he’s not in this scene.
This chapter has been horribly sad and I can’t even begin to guess what the consequences will be for both it and the last one. . .but at the same time, I’m looking forward to seeing how Gobularaunce and Frigg get along. Not shipping it, I just like to see curmudgeonly people converse.
Oh, gods, I got a smiling Byron face. Now I’m sad again.
OK, but why Byron is still tagged?
And why no one of all the brave witnesses of Byron’s actions in the last pages says anything to her “Majesty” Syr’Nj?
It’s normal as a human … excuse me… as an elf being to be devastated by the loss (?) of your lifemate, but as a leader (of the kind Syr’Nj have proven to be) is it acceptable to lose your temper and control in such a way?
Spoilers?
$10 says he’ll come back to life one way or another. Also I’m betting Bandit will be executed or killed in some way soon, and we see return of Best.
I’m pretty sure the “Bandit is Payet Best” theory stopped holding water when we were told who was actually playing Bandit.
ahdok speaks the truth. Also, imo, Best is already back as the Cyber Knight.
I missed it. Who is Bandit???
Anakin Skywalker.
Girl with glasses in dark hair that’s part of the players in Sepia World. c:
It’s Chrissie. Look at Ch 33 Page 14.
Chrissie is also Anakin Skywalker, he dual boxes.
Usually, if someone makes an appearance in this comic, even if only in body, they are tagged.
And no one is saying anything to Syr’Nj because they are probably both fatigued and shocked.
And it may not be acceptable for Syr’Nj to do what she did as a leader, but I doubt she cared.
This.
I think the battle report will come after everyone has a chance to at least wipe cultist blood off their faces. Syr’Nj will get a better idea of what happened after talking to Scipio and taking a look at the Brother Tom altar scene. But this is all happening in the heat of the moment, following a pretty traumatic battle. So how about we cut everybody in this scene a little slack?
B-but they’ve all already been cut some in their slacks!?
(More cuts in the torso, though)
Not only that, but whether it was acceptable or not I don’t think anyone is liable to take Bandit’s side on this. No one but the cultists is at fault for what happened here. Bandit is twisting the knife on a mutual tragedy because she’s angry at herself for failing to prevent it. She is lashing out.
Cause most everybody involved in this is going “what the hell happened?” or “Oh god my arm is missing oh god” or being passed out. I’m sure Syr’nj is going to ask a lot of people what went down. I’m sure she will conclude that what Bandit did was not murder. I’m also sure that will do very little to help her anger towards bandit, because no matter how rationally she acts with that information the feelings rarely care about rationality.
It’s not acceptable to lose it and shield bash someone under your command, but it’s also not acceptable to stab someone under your command in the back repeatedly, after they’ve stopped attacking and stopped moving at all.
If they were in the military, they’d both probably be facing a court martial. They’re not, however, and I have a feeling that the Guild has a lot more leeway, when deciding how to treat fights between its members.
Hopefully, when everyone has calmed down, given their reports, and discussed what happened, the Guild will decide that everyone did the best they could do under the circumstances, and that no one needs to be punished any more than they’ll already be punishing themselves.
I think after today, most of the Guild will understand berzerker rage better, having experienced one or both sides of the berzerker battle, and will understand that Bandit was in a berzerker rage, herself, even though she wasn’t possessed by one of the actual demons. I think they’ll also see that Bandit deserved the shield bashing that Syr’Nj gave her, and might even be impressed that Syr’Nj restrained herself from going farther than she did.
I think Bandit felt bad about killing Byron, even though she said it was good that he was dead. She also felt responsible for the mission going so wrong. It almost seemed to me that she deliberately egged Syr’Nj into hitting her, because she felt she deserved it. (I might be reading too much into it, though)
What a standoff between Bandit and Syr’Nj… Who’d have thought that Bandit would have been buckled first. *Places some knockout syringes in the jar*
…It wasn’t his fault, Bandit. It wasn’t his fault….. Fuck HR. And fuck the Cultists.
Gave me a flash back of the movie with Robin Williams, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. D: I miss Mr. Williams. ;w;
The reward for being a kickass crossbow wielder is bringing out the dead? Someone better talk to the union rep
I needs me some Auraugu to cheer me up after this chapter.
Hyes! I forget, why wasn’t he around for the big monster fight?
Judging by the comments that says we’re getting a “Kickstarter-promised bonus comic in the form of a short interlude story we’re calling “Breaking Bread With The Enemy,” which follows the events of Chapter 35!” I hope we might find out what he was up to during the big monster fight!
I know this is a bit messed up, but I want Bandit to not express any real remorse over this (maybe she assumes Byron’s player is just ‘playing’ perma-dead because he’s THAT hardcore with teh RP) and get under Syr’s bark even further until miss science totally snaps into (a slimjim? no) a very uncharacteristic midget-punching rage. *ding* *ding* Bandit vs Syr: no weapons, no armor, no science, no potions, no items, fox only, final destination.
Just the two most cautious ‘physical’ fighters of the group in a brutal, bloody, proportionately awkward fistfight.
>_> C’mon don’t gimme that look. I’m operating under the probability they will eventually make up…though it’ll take a LONG time I’m sure.
For some reason, I figure Syr’s resentment will last longer than it’ll take to resurrect Byron and him thanking Bandit for what she did. Mostly because of those “Good”.
Yeah, it’d take a lot for them to ever be friends again.
Nice plausible deniability reflexes in panel 6.
“You mean ALL of you just HAPPENED to be looking elsewhere at the time?”
“Yes. Yes, that is what happened. We did not see anything.”
I’m thinking this was a collective “le gasp!” moment, yeah? They come through all that… The cavalry has arrived! Then one of the leaders of their Guild falcon punches another in the face, with gusto.
I -like- Bandit. I see her rationale. But dang. Not the best way to work through this, here.
And now for Byron’s adventures in the real world!
His first quest? Escaping the basement of a creepy wannabe god!
Well… thad wuz…
*collapses into a bundle of nerves*
*falls asleep from exhaustion*
Well, Syr’Nj didn’t kill her outright so that’s good.
Unless she means to do Science to make Bandit the life support for Bryon until she can make him… Better… (that’s BAD – ish… )
When I saw the panel where Syr’Nj clocked Bandit in the face, I felt really satisfied. Also, the face Scipio makes in the second to last panel is priceless.
Whuh
THIS HAS TO BE THE PAGE I GET ALL CAUGHT UP ON
ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS
AAAGGGHHH
BOOM! FAST ACTIN’ TYNACTIN!
JOHN MADDEN! :D
And so their friendship ends the way it began, with Bandit taking something from Syr.
Should’ve stuck with caps, Bandit.
That buckler’s small enough that she might’ve even been able to wear it as a hat.
Very understandable reaction by Syr’Nj – I didn’t expect it, but I think I was the exception here. Nice to get surprised.
I’m seeing a lot of….interesting interpretations of events here, and I do believe it’s about time for that post-battle analysis of Bandit’s tactical choices (just in time for most people to miss it, of course).
For brevity’s sake I’ll skip most of the events preceding “Byron’s”/The Carrier’s arrival at the town, but I made a brief examination of Bandit’s psyche and motivations in last comic’s comments that’s relevant to this. I’d suggest ctrl-F searching for my name to save time if you want it.
The Carrier arrives: Having reasonable suspicion that Byron has been subjected to Cultist manipulation and returned to a berserk state, Bandit confiscates Scipio’s immunization shot. And leaves Scipio with an understanding that she will attempt to deal with The Carrier. This is a gamble, as will be elaborated below, and after dispatching E-merl to secure reinforcements and requesting cover she makes no further orders. The last bit isn’t fantastic leadership, but the situation is already a disordered bloodbath, she just got here, and she is not experienced as a force lead, so not unreasonable.
Bandit engages The Carrier (Phase 1): Bandit attempts to use the suppressant dose to re-immunize Byron. This is the aforementioned gamble, and it’s an incredible risk. Bandit is not immunized herself, and if she suffers a wound during this process the Guild will have lost their entire leadership core without any designated successor or backup plan in place. They will also have lost one of their strongest fighters, and that fighter will join the enemy ranks. She’s also staking her success on the hope that the suppressant will still work despite that Byron’s existing dosage has obviously been neutralized. The Cult obviously knows about and can neutralize the suppressant. There’s no reason for them not to expect this re-immunization attempt. But she takes this bet anyway. Ultimately the dose is wasted. She does escape without harm, but not without notice.
Bandit engages The Carrier (Phase 2): Bandit now has The Carrier’s attention. She has two realistic options, she can either Engage or Skirmish. Engagement places her at an even higher risk of infection than she was at in Phase 1, without any particular indication that it’s even *possible* to stop The Carrier in this manner. No berserker in this comic has even been stopped by anything but either suppressant or sedative. Fatal wounds are demonstrably insufficient. She has just escaped being mauled by a man who’s head was no longer meaningfully attached to his body.
It’s also completely out of character. Bandit is easily one of the strongest fighters in the guild, largely because she knows when to fight and how to dictate the terms of an engagement. She specializes in skirmish combat, using speed and agility to keep an opponent occupied without being in genuine danger, striking only at a minimum of risk and a maximum of effect. She is combating an enemy that is excessively dangerous in melee but easily distracted and lacks any apparent long term planning ability, and The Carrier is the greatest enemy threat on the field by a large margin, due to his combat skill and that he is THE ONLY INFECTIOUS BERSERKER. This is a perfect opportunity for her to lead The Carrier away from combat with a minimum of risk, trust her troops to clean up the remaining resistance, and disable or neutralize The Carrier when and if a better opportunity arises to do so.
She chooses Engagement.
She again escapes damage, but the resulting wound to The Carrier reveals that there was one more reason not to engage. The battlefield is flooded with demons, both friendly and enemy troops are converted to berserkers by the dozen and the battle becomes unwinnable with the resources at hand. This is probably the second or third worst possible outcome to the battle.
Bandit engages The Carrier (Phase 3): Bandit attacks Byron with the intent to kill. She does not do so for tactical reasons. She does not re-evaluate the situation and think logically. She does not verify that he is still berserking, which even the readership is not shown. She is not saving the world now. She is simply angry. She is angry and she wants to blame someone and the only viable candidates are herself and Byron.
The Aftermath: Bandit is found repeatedly stabbing Byron’s corpse, screaming for his death. She has obviously entirely abandoned both her duties as force lead and her reason. When confronted and ordered to stand down she threatens the safety of anyone that attempts to stop her. She is sedated and apprehended by force. She does not express regret on any count, and specifically states satisfaction with Byron’s death.
In short, Bandit’s choices can be largely separated into two distinct groups.
Her tactical decisions, which were increasingly unsound as the situation developed, even accounting for the limited information that she had. Her errors in this category are largely still understandable on the surface, but there is a discernable bias towards making poor decisions that lead to direct and personal confrontation with Byron. Given her history, her emotional baggage (see post from last page), and the ultimate outcome this is concerning.
Her emotional decisions are infinitely more concerning, though. Whether or not Byron was still alive for her to kill is largely a technicality. Her actions immediately preceding the “death” were unjustified, regardless of whether a justification can be found after the fact and her motive is entirely reducible to anger.
Summary:
Wow that looks a lot longer out of the text box. See this is why I didn’t type it up last page.
This is a nice analysis. I don’t agree, especially because I am not sure whether the demon-flooding did much damage and Bandit was successful in stopping the carrier, but it’s a nice analysis nevertheless.
So, I know I’m close to a year late on this, but I also discovered this amazing webcomic very late.
I wish to compliment you greatly for your entry here, and remark that I’m sad that noone else seems to have appreciated it.
Reading all these comment wars that I was much too late to participate in myself, your comment on this and the previous page were exactly what, I was hoping to find.
In all honesty, it seems to me that you were to only person, who managed to grasp the full picture of what happened here. Largely because you included the signs about Bandit’s inner thoughts and emotions that have been hinted throughout the comic for a while, and which became quite apparent on these recent pages (although, for some reason most commenters seem to overlook or ignore these).
In addition to that, you made a detailed, collected account of nearly all the key details to Bandit’s actions.
It was all in all an impressive and much needed comment for me to see.
Thank you.
Far be it for me to deny an artist the right to his art.
Sorry, big message incoming! I just want to let all my thoughts barf out on the matter; I disagree AND agree with Bandit’s actions.
Okay, so, I still moooostly stand by Bandit here, 2 years after this page published, but I can see WHY anyone else, and especially Syr, are mad at her; Bandit didn’t see the cultists infect Byron, and as far as I can tell, she was never told that was how it worked? She was told he was cured, or that she had a cure on hand to fix his ‘zerk if he should snap, and then he DID snap and her single cure didn’t work. (He snapped it like a twig and kept on going!)
Basically, she was told a mad dog with a history of violence was going to be okay to deal with if it got violent again, (already sketchy, even Rabbit comments on why she has a very specific cure on her) and/or that it wasn’t going to get violent again, and it DID (regardless of how or if she saw how it happened), and it started a VERY big shitstorm of infecting and murdering and this whole town just got murderfucked. She only knew that Byron was the cause, and to her, she was putting down the rabid dog as quickly as she could.
But also, on the other side of the argument, she apparently DIDN’T forgive him back when she said she did (many chapters ago) as we can see by the very personal monologue in the last few pages while she’s chopping at his dead body; she’s probably still traumatized by having been brutally MURDERED BY HIM. I think she did the right thing for BOTH some right reasons AND some wrong/personal reasons.
Also, saying “Good!” to Syr when she believes Bandit is the killer is pretty rude, yeah. I know she was still mad in the moment, but damn, it was still her boyfriend and all. Syr’s reaction is warranted.
I’m just super glad she didn’t also kill Bandit in return before getting all the facts. (Though, I’m not sure if we ever see a point later during which Syr gets all the facts because [SPOILER] Bandit escapes prison before she can be truly questioned, so that sucks because now I feel forgiveness still isn’t in the future for them and I’m coming back here from chapter 48, 2 chapters from the end, so it doesn’t seem likely. Can’t wait to see how it all plays out)