The Dark One's true intentions...

[martianmister]

We know, even before being a god, The Dark One was different from all other Goblinoids. From SOTD:

...Until one day, a goblin warlord arose who was not like the others of his clan. Born with violet skin, he was different. He had the Elite Array of ability scores. He had class levels...

There is no in story explanation for these differences, especially his weird and eerie skin color. Violet? Realy? What we know from OOTS violet as well? Oh wait! It could be... SNARL?!

My theory: True intentions of The Dark One is releasing of Snarl. Both Xykon and Redcloak are puppets of this plan. There is two possibilities:

1. The Dark One is Snarl, or avatar of Snarl. Everything else is part of his plan.

2. The Dark One is created or effected by Snarl and manipulated by him in entire time.

What do you think?

[G-Man Graves]

{scrubbed}

[ThePhantasm]

V's HAIR is violet as well. She must be the Snarl.

And Belkar is violent. . . take away the n and you get violet . . . clearly the SNARL!

It all makes sense now.

Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. Couldn't help myself. But G-Man is right, these aren't really theories. The fact that Xykon and Redcloak at their roots don't exactly have the same plan goes against what you say about them being used as puppets as well.

[martianmister]

I never said anything about being different and being violet's being conclusive evidence for Snarl. It's just a theory, and not really farfetched as you implying. TDO's differences and violet skin color are underlined by Redcloak and there is no in world explanation for these attributes.

Even if you discard them, "TDO is Snarl" or "TDO is manipulated by Snarl" theories aren't more impossible than most of theories in this forum...

[King of Nowhere]

Even if you discard them, "TDO is Snarl" or "TDO is manipulated by Snarl" theories aren't more impossible than most of theories in this forum...

I can agree on this, but given the epilectic trees on this forum, that's not much. The only argument to support is just a violet skin color.
By the way, if the dark one was an emanation of the snarl or something, why didn't he knew of the snarl before the goblin cleric accidentally found a rift?
Unless you want to say that is not true and tdo manipulated the story to cover the truth, but when you start to argument "it's all a plot, every proof agaoinst this theory is fabricated, every lack of proof is just because they hid well" you can argument everything.

Anyway, we all know that the dark one can't be related to the snarl: the dark one is therkla.
You see, the-rkla, "the" is the same for both names, and "rkla" means "dark one" in some language (there are around 6000 languages spoken in the world, so there's a good chance of this being true just for the law of great numbers).
Unless therkla and the snarl are the same person...

[martianmister]

By the way, if the dark one was an emanation of the snarl or something, why didn't he knew of the snarl before the goblin cleric accidentally found a rift?

1. He could be lied to Redcloak.

2. He could be manipulated by Snarl.

Anyway, we all know that the dark one can't be related to the snarl: the dark one is therkla.

Yes clearly, releasing of Snarl is part of Therkla's plans...Hillarious!

[FujinAkari]

1. He could be lied to Redcloak.

2. He could be manipulated by Snarl.

See, and this is why no one buys your theories, they aren't grounded in anything. When someone points out a problem you don't produce evidence, you speculate.

I don't mean to seem rude, but actual theories ("Elan's Father is holding Haley's Father hostage") cite direct evidence and make well reasoned arguments, yours just references a tangential connection and stops there :P

[G-Man Graves]

1. He could be lied to Redcloak.

Ah yes, the classic "Assume that the character lied to another character (and by extension the audience) with no hints that it is occurring because it supports my argument" line. A classic, especially in relation to TDO.

[Velarias]

One theory you could say and perhaps make a bit more sense is that tdo is actually planing to kill the other gods so that he could be the one true god in the pantheon of one. At least that makes some sense.

And guys we all know that it is actually Élan who is the snarl, I mean he already blew up a gate trying to release himself! We must stop him before all is lost!

[Dr.Epic]

His mission: to find out what his mission is.

There is no in story explanation for these differences, especially his weird and eerie skin color. Violet? Realy? What we know from OOTS violet as well? Oh wait! It could be... SNARL?!

Wait, V's hair is purple. It's the Snarl!

[M.A.D]

We know, even before being a god, The Dark One was different from all other Goblinoids. From SOTD:



There is no in story explanation for these differences, especially his weird and eerie skin color. Violet? Realy? What we know from OOTS violet as well? Oh wait! It could be... SNARL?!

My theory: True intentions of The Dark One is releasing of Snarl. Both Xykon and Redcloak are puppets of this plan. There is two possibilities:

1. The Dark One is Snarl, or avatar of Snarl. Everything else is part of his plan.

2. The Dark One is created or effected by Snarl and manipulated by him in entire time.

What do you think?

How does that relate to what Blackwing saw in where the Snarl supposed to be?

[ThePhantasm]

Wait, V's hair is purple. It's the Snarl!

Dude, I totally ninja'd you with that prediction. Great minds think alike.

[rekuu]

If the Dark One is on the Snarl's side, it sure would be a waste of some epic back story.

[King of Nowhere]

if the dark one was an emanation of the snarl or something, why didn't he knew of the snarl before the goblin cleric accidentally found a rift?
Unless you want to say that is not true and tdo manipulated the story to cover the truth, but when you start to argument "it's all a plot, every proof agaoinst this theory is fabricated, every lack of proof is just because they hid well" you can argument everything.

1. He could be lied to Redcloak.

2. He could be manipulated by Snarl.

I already answered to that.

Unless you want to say that is not true and tdo manipulated the story to cover the truth, but when you start to argument "it's all a plot, every proof agaoinst this theory is fabricated, every lack of proof is just because they hid well" you can argument everything.

[Xacal]

Now, this theory could be sort of interesting, if the Dark One was manipulated by the Snarl to have Redcloak use the ritual for the gates...

It'd be nice if we had a little more to go on than the Dark One being purple, though.
By the way, it's important to bare in mind that the Dark One is ok with the world being unmade again. If that's the case, then he and the gods trap it again, then rebuild the world, this time with the Goblins getting a bigger piece of the pie. Or at least, that's what Redcloack thinks.

This theory doesn't address some other issues, though, like the Planet inside the Snarl. The very foundation of what we know the Snarl as may not be true: before we can reestablish what the Snarl actually is, any conjectures about the Dark One being controlled by it are built on foundations of sand. Not that they can't stand in the future, but they could collapse at any moment.

Again, it would be interesting if your theory turns out to be true. But so far, I don't see any reasons why it should be. Time will tell.

[Who149]

Hm. It makes more sense then some of the theories I have heard.

I can actually see this happening, there just isn't enough evidence to support it, and it would seem to have came out of nowhere. It at this point only boils down to a "what if" scenario.

[Dvandemon]

By the points you made, the Dark One could just as easily be a form of Marty Stu, maybe a DM PC

[Mutant Sheep]

You guys are all wrong! Girard's obviously the Snarl, he has something purple on his face. And O-Chul has purple brain juice, he's also the Snarl. And the Snarl is confusing the gods because it is among them as Ox , because his hair is purple( 407, left side, 2nd panel). Girard and O-Chul are avatars of the Snarl with the Ox confusing the gods!

[Heksefatter]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Snarl was somehow manipulating the Dark One, Xykon and Redcloak. There just isn't much to base any speculation on.

[Sarco_Phage]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Snarl was somehow manipulating the Dark One, Xykon and Redcloak. There just isn't much to base any speculation on.

Isn't the Snarl characterized as a mobile deicidal temper tantrum?

That doesn't sound like something capable of manipulation. It is, however, quite old.

[Heksefatter]

Isn't the Snarl characterized as a mobile deicidal temper tantrum?

That doesn't sound like something capable of manipulation. It is, however, quite old.

Well, there are signs that the Snarl is more than it was. For example, what Blackwing saw in there and the fact that it has made no aggressive move in Azure City, despite the fact that it should be capable of sending out one of its tentacles.

I grant that these signs are by no means conclusive or anything. There are a lot of things it could be. It is just that if it turned out that the Snarl had learned prudence of some sort, and was manipulating events, I wouldn't be really surprised. Or if it was more than just a mobile deicidal temper tantrum from the beginning.

[RMS Oceanic]

I disagree with the OP's theory, but I have one of my own, one with an odd source...

Spoiler

Show

I bought those two posters that combine into a megaposter a while back, and an odd comparison drew my eye. On the "Good" poster, Thor was zapping Durkon's hammer, buffing it for the cause of Good. On the "Evil" poster, the Dark One was just standing there, while Redcloak was getting on with the plan.

This coupled with comic 701, where Jirix relays "don't screw this up" to Redcloak, and got me thinking: The default explaination would be "He's evil, evil people are like that." I don't buy that in this case, as Rich has taken efforts to show that evil people can have love and companionship. So the Dark One is treating Redcloak as Shredder might treat Rocksteady, and it is my belief we can discount his alignment as a base reason for this.

What if the plan Redcloak has been told isn't what the Dark One has in mind?

What if the Plan B is the true goal? Is it possible that the Dark One has been so embittered by his backstabbing by humans and the nature of the world that he's not going to hold the Gods hostage, but just live down to expectations and attempt to kill them all in a blatant power grab, abandoning Goblinoid Equality for Goblinoid Superiority? This could explain his cool approach to Redcloak, in that he's so determined to have his revenge that he doesn't care what he says or does to see it through.

Just a crazy thought, but I think it has a tad of merit.

[Sarco_Phage]

I disagree with the OP's theory, but I have one of my own, one with an odd source...

Spoiler

Show

I bought those two posters that combine into a megaposter a while back, and an odd comparison drew my eye. On the "Good" poster, Thor was zapping Durkon's hammer, buffing it for the cause of Good. On the "Evil" poster, the Dark One was just standing there, while Redcloak was getting on with the plan.

This coupled with comic 701, where Jirix relays "don't screw this up" to Redcloak, and got me thinking: The default explaination would be "He's evil, evil people are like that." I don't buy that in this case, as Rich has taken efforts to show that evil people can have love and companionship. So the Dark One is treating Redcloak as Shredder might treat Rocksteady, and it is my belief we can discount his alignment as a base reason for this.

What if the plan Redcloak has been told isn't what the Dark One has in mind?

What if the Plan B is the true goal? Is it possible that the Dark One has been so embittered by his backstabbing by humans and the nature of the world that he's not going to hold the Gods hostage, but just live down to expectations and attempt to kill them all in a blatant power grab, abandoning Goblinoid Equality for Goblinoid Superiority? This could explain his cool approach to Redcloak, in that he's so determined to have his revenge that he doesn't care what he says or does to see it through.

Just a crazy thought, but I think it has a tad of merit.

I like this theory. The gods are pretty human (so to speak); the Dark One might indeed be planning for mass deicide and apocalypse rather than salvation for the goblinoids.

If this theory holds water, discovering this truth could push Redcloak into the overwhelming pit of despair. Or even a face turn.

[Red XIV]

My theory: True intentions of The Dark One is releasing of Snarl. Both Xykon and Redcloak are puppets of this plan. There is two possibilities:

1. The Dark One is Snarl, or avatar of Snarl. Everything else is part of his plan.

2. The Dark One is created or effected by Snarl and manipulated by him in entire time.

What do you think?

What I think is...what indication have we seen that the Snarl is even capable of planning?

[martianmister]

What I think is...what indication have we seen that the Snarl is even capable of planning?

It has eyes after all, meaning a INT at least in animal levels. And we seen the earth in the rift. It's a possibility.

I like this theory. The gods are pretty human (so to speak); the Dark One might indeed be planning for mass deicide and apocalypse rather than salvation for the goblinoids.

Meh. "Dark One is really evil god after all" isn't really interesting or surprising revelation. Even Right-Eye said same thing about him...

[skim172]

See, and this is why no one buys your theories, they aren't grounded in anything. When someone points out a problem you don't produce evidence, you speculate.

I don't mean to seem rude, but actual theories ("Elan's Father is holding Haley's Father hostage") cite direct evidence and make well reasoned arguments, yours just references a tangential connection and stops there :P

True, but as long as we're splitting semantic hairs, then it'd be properly defined as a hypothesis, as are most other "theories" about the comic, actual or otherwise. Ultimately, all our hypotheses are unprovable speculation, since none of us can empirically test our hypotheses, with the exception of those directly linked with the creative process - and they don't need to hypothesize.

I admit, though, this seems a fairly implausible idea. It doesn't seem to really fit with the logic presented in the story so far. According to SoD, the Dark One was a great general who decided to show restraint and reconcile with the humans, with tragic results. Upon becoming a god, he sought to guide and oversee his people as best as he can. I can't see the Snarl pursuing these ends at all.

Admittedly, that could all be a lie. But such a twist is most effective when grounded in truth (as in, true within the story). It would feel like shoddy writing if the twist hinged on an major plot point being entirely false, with no previous foreshadowing or suggestion. It's the reason why the "And it was all a dream" ending is so ridiculed in fiction.

[The Watchman]

It has eyes after all, meaning a INT at least in animal levels. And we seen the earth in the rift. It's a possibility.

Neither of those things show how it is a possibility.

That said, it is a possibility. We already know that the Snarl isn't quite what we've been told (on account of there being a planet inside the rift rather than an omnipotent deicidal maniac). The Snarl may be intelligent, or it may be an animal, or it might just be a planet. The only thing we know is that it's incredibly dangerous.

The Snarl might be manipulating the Dark One. It might be entirely inanimate. It also might be a T-6000 with an Abomination template applied.

It's fine to speculate that the Snarl might be manipulating people, even gods. But the fact that the Dark One is purple isn't evidence towards it.

[Gift Jeraff]

I think the greyscale nature of SoD represented the grey morality presented in the colour section.

But seriously, the Dark One's backstory becomes a serious waste of time and potential if he turns out to just be an avatar of the Snarl deceiving Redcloak. It also ruins Right-Eye's awesome moment when he says the Dark One is being petty. The Dark One being unknowingly manipulated by the Snarl? I guess that's okay...

[Nimrod's Son]

I think the greyscale nature of SoD represented the grey morality presented in the colour section.

That is a wonderful sentence.

[RMS Oceanic]

Meh. "Dark One is really evil god after all" isn't really interesting or surprising revelation. Even Right-Eye said same thing about him...

We already know he's evil. The plan as Redcloak understands it is to essentially take the Gods hostage with a super weapon and kill a couple to show you're not messing around. This is not a tactic that Good people usually employ in a calm, preplanned manner. The stated goal, changing the world so Goblinoids have a fair chance to thrive on par with Elves and Dwarves, is relatively noble, so we have what Xykon calls "evil for a good cause", rather than his own brand of Evil with a capital E.

This well intentioned extremist viewpoint is the one Redcloak subscribes to. That's the viewpoint he's sacrificed pretty much everything for. If it turns out that the Dark One is Evil rather than evil, and plans to seize complete power in his own right, the validation of Right-Eye's accusation of pettiness could be the final stage of Redcloak's development, the final straw that causes Redcloak to admit that at long last, the cost wasn't worth it.