part six, page thirteen

D=

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I knew he wasn’t entirely human.

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Huh. Perhaps things will be made clearer in subsequent pages, but as of right now, the
art has made it very, very unclear as to what’s happened to Broah.

If the art is meant to depict the bullet having flattened itself on Broah’s forehead
without penetrating, that’s simply kind of dumb. If Broah’s skin is actually bulletproof, that shot from Alric wouldn’t have done shit to him. He’d have MAYBE flinched. He wouldn’t have fallen over.

On the other hand, if it’s meant to represent a hole rather than the bullet flattening on his forehead, and Broah is simply all “Huh. Bullet in my thinking meats. How inconvenient” then it’s still okay, because even if he can just shrug it off that thing going into him probably still really hurt.

Can I say how much I love it that Fezay escaped death by zombie bonfire in the last chapter only to die less than twenty pages later? Because that’s an awesome fake-out.

I also think we can assume that Dalakhra would not have stabbed the Caliph to death without some plan to survive the fallout.

Also, I finally, finally realized whom the Caliph reminded me of.

This is a picture of the late (and wonderful) Turhan Bey, who passed last October, in his final role as the Centauri Emperor on Babylon 5.

You look at that and tell me you’re not looking at Jandal.

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Looks to me like a smoking hole in his head. The lack of blood would be more of a hint than I mistake, I think.

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Why is it that every time trained military veterans turn their backs on giant, inhuman threats without a few precautionary stabs, it comes back to haunt them? And just when the Evil Overlord was about to reveal his plans, too! I totally misguessed what tired trope was coming.

@Murc “I also think we can assume that Dalakhra would not have stabbed the Caliph to death without some plan to survive the fallout.”

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about what we could assume about the Caliph’s cleverness in admitting Broah. Awkward.

(And, similarly, every military dude who let Broah stand near the chick. (And did she drink a wussy potion off-panel or something?))

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Why is it that every time trained military veterans turn their backs on giant, inhuman threats without a few precautionary stabs, it comes back to haunt them?

Fezay did not “turn his back” on Broah in a cavalier or dismissive manner. Fezay was doing his job as a bodyguard, which is to ensure that his principal is safe. After ensuring that Rayana was no longer in imminent danger of having her throat slit, he turned back to Broah to ensure that he was down for the count.

Which is, of course, when Broah put a huge hole in him.

It would have been safer for Fezay to have moved directly against Broah at the same time as Alric shot him, but Fezay’s safety is of secondary concern to him. Rayana’s is.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about what we could assume about the Caliph’s cleverness in admitting Broah.

While Jandal was by all appearances and Word of God a very wise, very politically astute man, I think it is clear by this point that Dalakhra outplayed him in at least some respects. I will also note that, while Dalakhra may not have a GOOD plan for post-Caliph stabbing, he almost certainly has A plan.

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What Murc said.

Fezay did everything right. He did his duty perfectly.

It’s not his fault that Broah is some sort of freak of nature.

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@Murc: Start with Rayana herself. Instead of gasping out “Kahal” she needs to be gasping out “superpowers, be careful” or whatever.

So you’re trying to say, NO ONE was watching the giant dude armed with a giant sword? (So much happens off panel, it’s hard to trust our deductions, but ok.) Fine, I gladly withdraw my picayune, pedantic critique of the general guards’ awareness to replace it with questions about the Caliph’s general plan. Not having someone responsible for watching an ARMED Broah isn’t “getting outmaneuvered” — it’s criminally negligent on behalf of both Fezay and the Caliph (and breaks immersion). Rule number one in bodyguarding is keep an eye on the giant dude with the giant sword.

“He makes sure Rayana is safe FIRST.”

Ha, ha, he sure did! Well-done, Fezay! Nailed. It. (too soon?)

Yep, your layperson assumptions about how bodyguarding works in a fictional swashbuckling world were directly proven to be safe and accurate. Neutralizing the major threat really is much less important than tackling a possible combat ally!

But we don’t really need to theorize about how body-guarding SHOULD work, we have canon on Fezay’s casual attitude towards Rayana sharing the swash-buckling risks; whether or not she would tolerate over-protectiveness; and whether or not her contribution is significant and welcomed in combat. (q.v. book 4, pg. 4, 5, and 9-10)

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So you’re trying to say, NO ONE was watching the giant dude armed with a giant sword? (So much happens off panel, it’s hard to trust our deductions, but ok.) Fine, I gladly withdraw my picayune, pedantic critique of the general guards’ awareness to replace it with questions about the Caliph’s general plan

Who are these “general guards” whose awareness you’re talking about?

There are two guards in the room. One is named Fezay, the other is named Kahal. They just saw Dalakhra stab Jandal, the man whose safety is their top priority, right in the heart. They can be forgiven for taking their eyes off Broah when that happened.

Kahal and Fezay KNOW how fast Broah is. They’ve seen him in action. Rayana has no need to tell them, and even if she did, she just watched her father DIE and then had a huge dude put a sword at her throat. It is therefore reasonable she call out for her bodyguard and lover in that instant.

The most valid point you have is that nobody should have been allowed armed into the Caliph’s presence who wasn’t one of his own bodyguards. That’s a legitimate point. Fezay should have insisted that both Broah AND Alric be disarmed before allowed a private audience. (Dalakhra is probably too high-ranking for it to be socially acceptable to frisk him for a knife.)

The Caliphate has been around for a long, long time. Jandal can’t be the first Caliph to die by violence aimed at him from a jealous noble. He should have taken better precautions.

Neutralizing the major threat really is much less important than tackling a possible combat ally!

Rayana is NOT A COMBAT ALLY to Fezay! She is his PROTECTEE. Fezay is not doing his job if he either allows or encourages her to participate in fights as an equal! To an extent Rayana undercuts his ability to do his job by doing shit like sneaking out at night where assassins can get at her, but that doesn’t mean Fezay isn’t going to try.

@Thomas Wilde: My point was sort of that if the bullet didn’t, in fact, penetrate Broah’s skull, he shouldn’t have fallen over. Even modern rounds with high velocity AND high stopping power don’t typically hit people with enough force to make them fall over from the impact. (Falling over from the pain and shock of having a vital organ turned to jelly is another matter.)

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Man, if you think the page-a-week pace sucks for us, think about how much it must suck for MGK to read comments every week taking him to task for alleged “lapses” that he has addressed directly in the script for the yet-unpublished pages.

I learned my lesson when my own complaint about Dalakhra not recognizing Alric in the pits turned out to be addressed directly something like two weeks later. In a script I presume was finalized long ago.

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I love it. This comic is AWESOME.

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