Finally the four words! (spoiler)

[Porthos]

What's really going on here, at least IMNSHO, is that some people are either disappointed with the Four Words, or the deal of Ultimate Power (what exactly were you looking for, BTW, Pun Pun??) that they are looking for any excuse, no matter how small, to justify that this wasn't the Four Word Prophecy.

The phrase, "Da Nile Ain't Just a River in Egypt" comes to mind here.

Look, it's fine to be disappointed in something. No storyteller is perfect, especially one that has to please so many different types of fans. But, and let's be honest here, the Four Word Ship has Almost Assuredly Sailed (we're talking a 99.99999% probability). And it's time to move on. Now I'm not suggesting that people should stop criticizing Rich for what they feel might be a poor story telling option. Go ahead and knock yourself out.

But at least let's admit to what's going on. Or at the very least, face up to the possibility that one might be disappointed, and maybe, just maybe, are trying to look for an "out" for their disappointment.
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Now with all of that being said, I would point out that it ain't exactly Rich's fault if people blew up the whole Four Word Prophecy into something huge. If one was expecting either the Four Words to be something mind blowing and/or the Ultimate Power to be something on the scale of Pun Pun... Well, since the comic hadn't revisited the point since the Oracle was actually seen, isn't kinda the fault of people that built it up in their minds?

I mean, consider this: What would have happened if we never knew about the Four Word Prophecy? People would be freaking out (probably in a cool way) over what just happened in the strip. They'd be talking about how V was quite probably the most powerful caster that ever lived in OotS land. Which sounds like Complete and Total to me. [Mind you, many posters are freaking out in a good way right now, as various threads show. The only difference would be that we wouldn't have an inkling that it was coming]

Also, and I'm just thinking out loud here, people's internal definitions of Complete and Total Arcane Power might be different from others. And they probably didn't expect it to be a short time deal (though since CaTAP would "break" the comic storytelling wise, it'd either have to happen at the end of the comic or be a short term deal) I can see how that might have thrown people for a loop. I mean, if one builds a concept in their head, and they are presented with something different, it's only natural to fight back against it to some extent. I've seen this phenomenon time and time again on the Internet (take one look at either Doctor Who or Lost fandom, and you'll see what I mean ), and I expect to see it many times in the future.

Nothing wrong with that, BTW. It's just being human.

Maybe that's why I'm not so plussed about the situation. I didn't really think about the CaTAP nor the Four Words very much. So when they happened, I said, "Cool" and moved on.

Did I think that the Four Words were particularly noteworthy or awesome? No not really. Did I care that they weren't? Again, not really. What I'm much more concerned about is what's gonna happen to V. Now and in the future. Just how is this going to come back and bite him in the posterior?

And, when it comes down to it, that's what Rich intended the prophecies to be. To hint at future plot points and to let us know that Major Stuff Was Coming down the pike. Well that Major Stuff has just hit the fan, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

And I'm sure it will make up for whatever disappointments that people may or may not have had over the actual Four Words.

PS: Sorry about the length. Had a bit of a ramble there. But we are talking about V here, so it's probably appropriate.

PPS: The main reason I can't see the Four Words still coming in the future is that it would mean V would become more powerful than he is right now (or for a more permanent duration). This would completely kill the storytelling aspects of the strip and mean that short of a really dumb Deus ex Machina (or V leaving the strip permanently), the strip would be over.

And I ain't ready for the comic to end quite yet. Thus I am perfectly happy with this being the Four Words and letting V come back down to a "normal" character when this is all over.