Countdown to Belkar's Death Scene

[evileeyore]

Remaining Days: 24-n


I will be editing this post to reflect comics as they are posted (or within a day or two of them).

This thread is primarily for the listing of days as they pass, and to countdown to Belkar's long awaited and much anticipated demise. If I miss a day or miscount, please point it out.


My Count

As of sunset on strip 666 Roy declares Belkar has 7 weeks to live:
"Well, if it's a ploy that takes... let's see... more than seven weeks for him to pull off, we don't have a problem."

This tells me Belkar has 49 days to get his living on (as long as Mr Burlew is using the same days to weeks convention and Roy competently knows the calendar, and the Oracle wasn't being especially enigmatic).

Day 1 - Strip 671 End of the previous night, dawn of the next day. Strip 672 ends with the Order sailing into a setting sun (probably headed to Western Continent).

Post #19 Thread: How much time has passed since the beginning of OotS? The Giant states "a few days traveling to Sandsedge". This occurs off panel. From here out read all Day counts as having "+n" added to it (I'm just lazy) due to inexactitues of descriptive language and The Giant's non-timeline keeping (I can't tell if some jokes are meant to advance time, or just be jokes - The Montages. I'm treating as "time advancing" for now).

Day 2 - Strip 673 The Order is in Sandsedge. As confirmed by Blackwing, it's been only two days since Vaarsuvius was back home, Strip 678

Day 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - One week passes traveling from Sandsedge (and searching the desert) to the location of Girard's Illusion as specified by The Giant. Travel occurs on and off panel.Strip 692 The first "Searching the Desert Montage". I count 5 days. Day 9 ends on Strip 697 (the second "Searching Montage").

The Giant's temporal declaration and my original maths do not add up. I'm chalking this up to 1 part "Rode Giant Worm Across Desert" and 1 part "The Giant Doesn't Have a Written Timeline And Doesn't Check The Comic When Making Message Board Posts".

In Strip 698 Roy states that it is 4 days to the nearest edge of the desert. According to their map, that would be the either Evilopia (closest actual city) or some town in the Empire of Blood. (Map names provided by ZerglingOne's Most Excellent Map)

Day 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 Happen off panel. Added one day for the "searching cities" to make maths confirm to both in comic statements and Word of Giant.

Day 14 - Strip 710 As revealed by The Giant it should be 2 weeks since Roy made his '7 weeks' comment.

Day 15 - 729 Stubbles von Smackhammer is is praying for his daily spells, so it's morning now in the capital city of the Empire of Blood. Counting the end of Day 14 to find the dagger and Wanted Poster, and that night to travel.

In Strip 741 Vaarsuvius Sends to Roy: "Guests of government, head general is Elan's father. Knows Girard somehow. Agreed to spill details three days hence." This doesn't happen that way, but it's close.

Strips 748 and 749 are the dawning Day 16, 750 is the Day 16 montage.

Strip 754 is the evening of Day 16 in which Vaarsuvius gives the laws of physics the night off so they may cry alone in the corner.

Day 17 Strip 775 is the day of the Big Fight (and all the smaller ones too). Strip 818 is when the OotS leave (on the same day) on carpet for Windy Canyon (the Vector Legion and the Linear Guild join forces over the next few strips).

Days 18 and 19 - Strip 835 Evening in the desert, Durkon comments that Vaarsuvius was in the Elemental Plane of Ranch Dressing for two days. Further he comments that they can reach the Windy Canyon "in a day" with Overland Flight. Presumed night travel.

Day 20 - Strip 836 Daylight reunion of OotS. Very long day. Much happen. Wow. Day ends on Strip 945.

Day 21 - Strip 946 Dawn of a new day. Julio takes his leave, Evil Vampire Durkon communes with Hel.

Day 22 occurs off screen

Day 23 - Strip 952 Captain Bandana: "Damn it! Three days in command, and I've already wrecked the ship."

Day 24 - Strip 964 The Mechane limps into port at Mechanicsburgh Tinkertown, repairs will take one day.

Day 25 - Strip 992 Party debarks at the Godsmoot.


So we stand with the Stunted Murder Machine having roughly 3 weeks to live.



EDIT #1 - A few spelling and formatting errors.
EDIT #2 - To reflect information gleaned from archive diving, with aid from Jaxzan Proditor (pointing out such a post existed) and Jasdoif (for keeping the Archive of The Giant's Posts).
EDIT #3 - Added in comic confirmation of "2 days to get to Sandsedge" as per Blackwing's discussion with Vaarsuvius.
EDIT #4 - See, I can do simple math.
EDIT #5 - switched to "roughly" as still not sure how many 'n' days have occurred.

[Finagle]

Look, Belkar has clearly been shaping up for a redemption and consequent heroic sacrifice. It won't happen until the end of the story. We can stop obsessing over it now. Although, I guess there's not much else to talk about since the increased workload of the new art style is causing us to only get 3 comics per month. Belkar isn't going anywhere anytime soon. He's got to perform more kind acts, and get at least one of them thrown back in his face so he can see how it feels.

[Domino Quartz]

Look, Belkar has clearly been shaping up for a redemption and consequent heroic sacrifice.

Are you serious?

It won't happen until the end of the story.

How could you possibly know that?

[Forealms]

It won't happen until the end of the story.

No good reason to assume that. Rich has said that there will be two more books maximum - though I don't have a source for that handy - even if the last one is extra long. Given how much time Belkar has, and the timeframe of the previous books (after DCF), it's reasonable to assume that Belkar will die in this story arc.

Plus, given the amount of time he had at the end of book 4 (DStP), many people assumed he would die in this most recent book (Blood is Thicker something something). While I'm not sure how tied Rich is to the 7 weeks thing - I don't expect this countdown to change the pace of the story at all, for example - I think the plot would have to be crunched to fit into the arc without Belkar dying, given that we will also likely see the resolution of the Bozzok side plot in this book.

Speculation ahead:

Spoiler

Show

If ever Haelga is planned to return to the comic, this seems to be the book: a stronger focus on Durkon's character and a return to the Dwarven homeland are both signs of her potential return, given how they left things.

[ti'esar]

No good reason to assume that. Rich has said that there will be two more books maximum - though I don't have a source for that handy - even if the last one is extra long. Given how much time Belkar has, and the timeframe of the previous books (after DCF), it's reasonable to assume that Belkar will die in this story arc.

Plus, given the amount of time he had at the end of book 4 (DStP), many people assumed he would die in this most recent book (Blood is Thicker something something). While I'm not sure how tied Rich is to the 7 weeks thing - I don't expect this countdown to change the pace of the story at all, for example - I think the plot would have to be crunched to fit into the arc without Belkar dying, given that we will also likely see the resolution of the Bozzok side plot in this book.

Speculation ahead:

Spoiler

Show

If ever Haelga is planned to return to the comic, this seems to be the book: a stronger focus on Durkon's character and a return to the Dwarven homeland are both signs of her potential return, given how they left things.

You're assuming that the rest of the comic will take more than a month, which is at least a debatable assumption. The entirety of WXP took like a week, and a lot of events have been known to occur in other in-comic short periods.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Day 2 - Strip 673 The Order is in Sandsedge. They spent n days sailing to Sandsedge (I'm guessing 1 for this count, but it could be more). From here out read all Day counts as having "+n" added to it (I'm just lazy).

I think it was conformed as two days in Sandhedge. Other than that, this looks pretty good. It also conforms my estimate of around 3 weeks.

[evileeyore]

I think it was conformed as two days in Sandhedge. Other than that, this looks pretty good. It also conforms my estimate of around 3 weeks.

If anyone has links to The Giant posting time lengths anywhere (and it's not too much trouble to hunt them down) can you post them?


I spent about 8 hours rereading these 300 strips checking for time clues, but I don't expect anyone else to get so obsessed (I occasionally have a problem... and long weekends in which to be bored).

[MagicalMeat]

I could easily see Rich pulling a Narnia and having time go by at a slower rate, especially if they end up on the other side of the Rifts.
Dispite that possibility, I think it's more probable the next two months or so will simply take forever, like W&XP.

[Finagle]

Are you serious?

Uh, you haven't noticed the fact that Belkar has started caring for others? His cat, his new dinosaur, and he felt bad when Enor and Gannji were forced to fight in the arena. He's started to have empathy - to feel what others feel. This isn't what narcissistic Chaotic Evil murderers do. It's clearly setting Belkar up for a redemption.

How could you possibly know that?

Because it's the most likely outcome. Just imagine how much more awesome it will make Belkar's death scene. Finally, he realizes what it means to do for others, and sacrifices himself just when things are going badly for OOTS.

Moreover, if Belkar dies then where will OOTS get its internal conflict from? Who will deliver all the best jokes and insults? Story aside, Belkar has an important role to fill and that's why he won't die until the end.

[evileeyore]

I think it was conformed as two days in Sandhedge. Other than that, this looks pretty good. It also conforms my estimate of around 3 weeks.

If anyone has links to The Giant posting time lengths anywhere (and it's not too much trouble to hunt them down) can you post them?

I found the specific quote you are referring to. It looks like it cuts Belker's time by 2 weeksish... so he is down to 13ish-n days.

I rejiggered my initial maths to match The Word Of The Giant, and then double checked later maths. Belkar lost 1 day of life.




Currently editing the OP. Editing is done for now.

[Finagle]

Editing is done for now.

Starting at 748 all the links are broken.

[Kish]

Specifically, because the .html ending was cut off.

[evileeyore]

Starting at 748 all the links are broken.

Specifically, because the .html ending was cut off.

Stupid copy-paste error.

Thanks for pointing it out, I'll get it fixed tonight/early tomorrow.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I found the specific quote you are referring to. It looks like it cuts Belker's time by 2 weeksish... so he is down to 13ish-n days.

I rejiggered my initial maths to match The Word Of The Giant, and then double checked later maths. Belkar lost 1 day of life.




Currently editing the OP. Editing is done for now.

Actually, I have a better source. In 678, Blackwing says Vaarsuvius saw Inkyrius two days ago, which means two days passed between the end of DStP and the beginning of BRitF.

[evileeyore]

Actually, I have a better source. In 678, Blackwing says Vaarsuvius saw Inkyrius two days ago, which means two days passed between the end of DStP and the beginning of BRitF.

Thanks!

All the links should now be fixed as well!

[Domino Quartz]

Uh, you haven't noticed the fact that Belkar has started caring for others? His cat, his new dinosaur, and he felt bad when Enor and Gannji were forced to fight in the arena. He's started to have empathy - to feel what others feel.

I have noticed that.

This isn't what narcissistic Chaotic Evil murderers do.

No, that's not what one-dimensional narcissistic Chaotic Evil murderers do.

It's clearly setting Belkar up for a redemption.

Really? From what I can tell, he's still pretty far into Chaotic Evil; he's just less stupidly Chaotic and less stupidly Evil about it. What exactly do you mean by redemption?

Because it's the most likely outcome. Just imagine how much more awesome it will make Belkar's death scene. Finally, he realizes what it means to do for others, and sacrifices himself just when things are going badly for OOTS.

I guess it's remotely possible that this could happen, though I doubt it will lead to actual redemption of any sort. Personally, I don't think Belkar's death necessarily needs to involve any sort of redemption or heroic sacrifice to be impressive.

Moreover, if Belkar dies then where will OOTS get its internal conflict from? Who will deliver all the best jokes and insults? Story aside, Belkar has an important role to fill and that's why he won't die until the end.

This assumes, for some reason, that Belkar is both the only source of internal conflict in the team and that he delivers all the best jokes and insults. The first is plainly not true, and the second is a matter of opinion, which is why it doesn't seem to me to be a very strong reason for your conclusion.

[evileeyore]

I guess it's remotely possible that this could happen, though I doubt it will lead to actual redemption of any sort. Personally, I don't think Belkar's death necessarily needs to involve any sort of redemption or heroic sacrifice to be impressive.

Damn straight. He could easily pull some sort of Sexy Shoeless God of War moment and hold the line to buy the team time to foil Xykon, or not knowing that Xykon "hid his phylactery" be instrumental in murdering Redcloak and destroying it.


Also, I agree with the rest of your post.

[Codyage]

I have done this math extensively. This is what I figured out when I got it, if I am wrong correct me.

7 week start time. This leaves us anywhere from 43-49 days based on the term of a week. Giving a minimum of one day for week 7. However, since Roy was brought back on a Thursday that means 3 days are left in the current week. Changing it to the most 46 days.

43-46 remaining.

673-698 9 days pass total, including search montage. 34-37 days left.

709-710 The OOTS timeline has it spelt out, but for the battle to be on a Wednesday, 5 days must have passed. 29-32 left.

710-833 Five days have passed. 24-27 days left.

817-834 Two days to travel to the Windy Canyon. 22-25 days left.
835 a day to fly back to the group. 21-24 left

Class and Level Geekery Thread discussed on V's remaining spells based on the pyramid battle, and concluded, they must have rested the day they returned from the Plane of Ranch.

836-837 The day resting before the pyramid battle. 20-23

837-945 The day at the pyramid. 19-22

946. The day Julio leaves. 18-21

947-950 Three days have passed according to Vampire!Durkon. As we saw him call Roy by his name in 939. This lines up with Bandana's comment.

16-19 Days.

The longest Belkar can go is 19 days. But depending on the terms for a "week" circumstances, the most could in theory be 16 days. Assuming Belkar dies on the start of the week.


Snips, Snails, and DragonTales.

Initially I missed the one day of travel on the boat to the Western Continent, when they tell stories. Now, if that night is indeed canon, that changes it to 15-18 days for Belkar. He can't live longer then 18 days at the most.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

However, since Roy was brought back on a Thursday that means 3 days are left in the current week. Changing it to the most 46 days.

I don't get your reasoning here. A week usually means a period of 7 days when you say it is a week until something. So, seven weeks until Belkar's death would be 49 days.

[Codyage]

I don't get your reasoning here. A week usually means a period of 7 days when you say it is a week until something. So, seven weeks until Belkar's death would be 49 days.

7 weeks does not have to be a full 49 days.

43 days would be 6 weeks, and 1 day. That can still mean a total of 7 separate weeks.

Going by that logic, Belkar could in theory live for 7 weeks, + 6 more days, since the week isn't up yet.

Since we also know the day Roy was brought back to life. Is he just disregarding the rest of the week he is in, or adding that into consideration? My interpretation of the 7 weeks left thing, is including the days left in the current week, and counting that as a week as well.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

7 weeks does not have to be a full 49 days.

43 days would be 6 weeks, and 1 day. That can still mean a total of 7 separate weeks.

Going by that logic, Belkar could in theory live for 7 weeks, + 6 more days, since the week isn't up yet.

Since we also know the day Roy was brought back to life. Is he just disregarding the rest of the week he is in, or adding that into consideration? My interpretation of the 7 weeks left thing, is including the days left in the current week, and counting that as a week as well.

When I see Roy saying "7 weeks" I'm picturing him meaning that the beginning of the New Year happens 7 full weeks from that point. I don't think he means seven weeks as in part of one week and all of six weeks.

[Codyage]

When I see Roy saying "7 weeks" I'm picturing him meaning that the beginning of the New Year happens 7 full weeks from that point. I don't think he means seven weeks as in part of one week and all of six weeks.

That would be 52 full days then. 49 days for 7 weeks, and the three for Thursday.

Which means by your own thoughts, the OP is wrong too.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

That would be 52 full days then. 49 days for 7 weeks, and the three for Thursday.

Which means by your own thoughts, the OP is wrong too.

...No, it wouldn't. 7 weeks, starting from Thursday, would be 49 days.

[evileeyore]

However, since Roy was brought back on a Thursday...

Which strip says he came back on a Thursday?

...battle to be on a Wednesday...

What battle on a "Wednesday"? And which strip is this?

[Codyage]

Which strip says he came back on a Thursday?


What battle on a "Wednesday"? And which strip is this?

Brought back to life on a Thursday, since the day he came back was when Familicide happened.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0842.html


The warden says the fights are on the weekend. (Saturday, Sunday) but they were moved to Mid-Week, which means Wednesday.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0741.html

[GuySmiley1970]

7 week start time. This leaves us anywhere from 43-49 days based on the term of a week. Giving a minimum of one day for week 7. However, since Roy was brought back on a Thursday that means 3 days are left in the current week. Changing it to the most 46 days.

I think the safest assumption is approximately 49 days from when Roy spoke, not 43-46. If there's 6 weeks and 1 day left until the end of 2014, I think most people would say in casual conversation that the end of 2014 will be occurring in 6 weeks; they wouldn't say the year would be ending in 7 weeks. Moreover, the fact that Roy was resurrected on a Thursday doesn't matter; giving 3 days left for the current week only matters if New Year's falls on a Sunday and New Year's could fall on a Thursday for all we know. So when Roy says 7 weeks from the date of his resurrection until the end of the year, I think we can take it at face value that there's roughly 49 days left in the year.

673-698 9 days pass total, including search montage. 34-37 days left.

40 days left going off my note above

709-710 The OOTS timeline has it spelt out, but for the battle to be on a Wednesday, 5 days must have passed. 29-32 left.

710-833 Five days have passed. 24-27 days left.

OK, here's where I'm really getting confused. 10 days passing between 699-833? (I assume you meant to say 699 instead of 709). 699-709 is 1 day - see the OOTS timeline that you reference - then 5 days pass between 710 and 833. Therefore, 699-833 is a total of 6 days, not 10. Which means there are now roughly 34 days left.

817-834 Two days to travel to the Windy Canyon. 22-25 days left.
835 a day to fly back to the group. 21-24 left

Class and Level Geekery Thread discussed on V's remaining spells based on the pyramid battle, and concluded, they must have rested the day they returned from the Plane of Ranch.

836-837 The day resting before the pyramid battle. 20-23

837-945 The day at the pyramid. 19-22

You have 5 days in here when I think it is likely 3. 834-835 is the night of the day after 833, (Day 1 of 3). 836 is the morning of the following day (Day 2 of 3). Assume the Order took all of Day 2 to get to the canyon, V regains his spells the night of Day 2, and then we have the day at the pyramid (Day 3 of 3). Note that this matches up with Tarquin's assertion in 817 that it would take his group 2 days to get to the pyramid. With 3 days passing, there are now roughly 31 days left.

946. The day Julio leaves. 18-21

947-950 Three days have passed according to Vampire!Durkon. As we saw him call Roy by his name in 939. This lines up with Bandana's comment.

16-19 Days.

With 3 days passing between 939 and 950, this means that at the start of Book 6 there was approximately 28 days or 4 weeks left before the end of the year. The original poster is correct, except he is should be saying Belkar has almost 4 weeks to live instead of 3.

[TurtlesAWD]

On the subject of week rounding, based on how I speak in real life if I have to refer to a period of 20 days I may well say that that's three weeks out, since rounding it up flows faster in spoken conversation. I am pretty confident I'm not alone in this habit, either. It's believable to me that Roy might do the same and his estimate could be off by a few days for that reason. However... I think people also tend to round weeks down, meaning that if I'm speaking of something 15-16 days away I would just call it two weeks.

So I would personally not take "seven weeks" to mean anything less than, at most, six and a half weeks if Roy is rounding for simplicity's sake. Otherwise I think he would have been more likely to say six. He could have also meant as much as seven and a half weeks if he was rounding down from a period of slightly more than 50 days (I think this is a little less likely though given the "more than seven weeks" phrasing). Given the potential for inaccuracies that sort of thinking can cause in a timeline like this, I think it's perfectly fair to just call it a flat 49 days for the sake of making a coherent countdown which looks like the goal here.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

OK, here's where I'm really getting confused. 10 days passing between 699-833? (I assume you meant to say 699 instead of 709). 699-709 is 1 day - see the OOTS timeline that you reference - then 5 days pass between 710 and 833. Therefore, 699-833 is a total of 6 days, not 10. Which means there are now roughly 34 days left.

I think he means that 4 days pass between 698 and 710.

[evileeyore]

Brought back to life on a Thursday, since the day he came back was when Familicide happened.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0842.html


The warden says the fights are on the weekend. (Saturday, Sunday) but they were moved to Mid-Week, which means Wednesday.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0741.html

Oh, good catch. Interesting, I'll have to crunch a few numbers and see how that works out.

I think the safest assumption is approximately 49 days from when Roy spoke...

Yeah, and it's not like if Belkar drops a "few days early" from my estimates that it will really mean anything.

He will be dead by the year's end, not necessarily meaning he's dies when the ball drops.

The original poster is correct, except he is should be saying Belkar has almost 4 weeks to live instead of 3.

Eh, I started with "3-4 weeks" left to live as a hedge, and it changed at one point dropping to "2 weeks" when I screwed up some math. I bumped back up to "3 weeks" without bothering to think about it with the "final" edit before originally posting.

I'm personally more 'concerned' with the day count than my throw away line at the end (but it'll get edited at some point).

[Finagle]

How about doing an actual calendar? Google Calendar/MS Exchange style? Each day can contain the number of the strip most relevant to it listed, with 710-850 or whatever for those days when a lot happened. Start from December 31 and work backwards. We already know OOTS-world has the ordinary seven days of the week, and 12 months because of the 12 gods. So it shouldn't be that hard. It would also enable others to write notes and suggestions. It wouldn't fit perfectly, but it would certainly be easier to visualize!