OOTS #961 - The Discussion Thread

[Edric O]

I'm... a little confused at the punchline. What does "Know? Thor won't!" actually mean?

[Porthos]

For those saying this was forced, dare I say it....

That's the joke!

Personally, I saw this comic as a throwback to a lot of the humor we saw in the first hundred strips. Maybe even the first three hundred.

Of course it was a forced joke. To me, it was blatant that it was supposed to be.

[Sunken Valley]

Is Andi the $5000 cameo?

[DaggerPen]

I feel like Roy misinterpreting the chant isn't really his fault either way, because - well, come on, his interpretation sounds way more fluid than "Know? Thor won't!" You'd probably mishear it too.

But if not intentionally formulated by the HPOH, I feel like the chant was really stretched to make the punchline. Not the end of the world - I still liked the strip - but it killed the punchline for me. YMMV.

[ti'esar]

I agree with Porthos. This one made me laugh pretty hard from just how ridiculous it was.

[Jasdoif]

I'm... a little confused at the punchline. What does "Know? Thor won't!" actually mean?

Presumably, Thor isn't aware of whatever's supposed to drive him to his knees.

Other than that...I don't know. Maybe that means I'm Thor? Pretty sure I'm not....

[Jay R]

There. Now everybody on the forum should be satisfied. Roy actually considered Belkar's point of view, looked into it, and assured himself of the truth.

Problem solved.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

But if not intentionally formulated by the HPOH, I feel like the chant was really stretched to male the punchline. Not the end of the world - I still liked the strip - but so it goes.

Now that I have seen the idea expressed I think it looks as though it is intentional. The strip definitely feels better if that's so. I feel a little silly I didn't see this possibility until several people pointed it out.

[tomandtish]

I'm... a little confused at the punchline. What does "Know? Thor won't!" actually mean?

Presumably that Thor won't know whatever Hel is up to.

And as with all listen checks, success means you heard. Comprehension is something else entirely.

[Porthos]

The real problem here is that Roy has a piss poor Listen check.

[Drake2009]

LOL. Seriously though, Roy has a pretty good intelligence, and wisdom id say, he should be able to hear what hes saying through A WOODEN DOOR! its not exactly sound proof...

[Porthos]

For those who want to say that Durkon is doing this messed up chant intentionally, look at how happy he is while he is chanting. If you want to interpet that look as a person happy that they are messing with someone, I could see worse interpetations.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

LOL. Seriously though, Roy has a pretty good intelligence, and wisdom id say, he should be able to hear what hes saying through A WOODEN DOOR! its not exactly sound proof...

His hearing appears to be fine. It's just that he comes to the wrong conclusion about what he hears.

[ORione]

Roy is checking to see whether or not Durkula is up to no good...

... and the forum still thinks he's being stupid.

[Kish]

I'm wondering why we're getting so many strips that, at least so far, look like they can be summed up as, "No, the Order is not going to abruptly realize the High Priest of Hel is not Durkon without more evidence than is currently available to them." If that truly is the message Rich is trying to convey, the forum split into "get it" and "will never accept it" after the very first such strip, and I don't see that there's been any change in the relative numbers since then.

Perhaps Rich is, with what I'd call excessive optimism, hoping that if he hammers it enough some number of people who haven't gotten it yet will get it. Or perhaps he's having fun teasing some of his readers.

[Gnome Alone]

Sure, I can understand the story needs Roy to not realize right away that Durkon isn't control of his body anymore.

That's not what I meant. Or, it's part of it, I guess. But really, it doesn't make sense for Roy to be that suspicious of the vampire right now. The only things he has to go on are the halfling who cried wolf's testimony, and possibly a sense of unease about his friend's transformation.

It is entirely believable that the vampire could be Durkon, just a little more sadistic and/or pragmatic in battle and more taciturn in speech. The High Priest's facade is decent enough. It will require more time to develop cracks enough that Roy can see through it.

I suspect a lot of forum-folk are metagaming, so to speak, and wanting Roy to act on information we are privy to that he is not.

[Drake2009]

His hearing appears to be fine. It's just that he comes to the wrong conclusion about what he hears.

Hence, intelligence. I mean come on! hes a smart guy. I guess hes just in denial.

[Bulldog Psion]

Okay, that was just weird.

[YossarianLives]

I guess Roy failed his listen check.

Nice comic by the way I liked the interaction between Roy and "Andi"

[ti'esar]

Perhaps Rich is, with what I'd call excessive optimism, hoping that if he hammers it enough some number of people who haven't gotten it yet will get it. Or perhaps he's having fun teasing some of his readers.

I'd put my money on the latter. Although that's possibly just because I'm getting a kick out of the people who can't seem to accept the current story direction.

[Paseo H]

I'm wondering why we're getting so many strips that, at least so far, look like they can be summed up as, "No, the Order is not going to abruptly realize the High Priest of Hel is not Durkon without more evidence than is currently available to them." If that truly is the message Rich is trying to convey, the forum split into "get it" and "will never accept it" after the very first such strip, and I don't see that there's been any change in the relative numbers since then.

Perhaps Rich is, with what I'd call excessive optimism, hoping that if he hammers it enough some number of people who haven't gotten it yet will get it. Or perhaps he's having fun teasing some of his readers.

I still consider it a win, in that it showed that Roy wasn't too blindly trusting.

[Rogar Demonblud]

It should also be noted that the books tend to start a little slower in the pacing.

[BrotherMirtillo]

how do you get 'hell' from 'Hel' when YOU WERE HALF EXPECTING HIM TO SAY HEL?

Does Roy know who Hel is and what she does? If so, when did he learn that?

Also, this shows that the crew isn't 100% comfortable with the idea of a vampire as a fellow passenger. I suspect they've dealt with bizarre guests in their history, but everyone's got their own limits on "weird," I suppose.

Call for a second opinion: the woman in today's scene is named Andromeda, but I thought the woman in this scene was named Sally. Are they related? They've got the same hair, complexion, and boots, but maybe not the same clothes. (I am 99% sure that "Sally" does not mean the stubbly crewmember with the green cloak and brown vest.)

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Does Roy know who Hel is and what she does? If so, when did he learn that?

I don't think he does; we've certainly never seen Durkon mention her to him.

Call for a second opinion: the woman in today's scene is named Andromeda, but I thought the woman in this scene was named Sally. Are they related? They've got the same hair, complexion, and boots, but maybe not the same clothes. (I am 99% sure that "Sally" does not mean the stubbly crewmember with the green cloak and brown vest.)

Could be that they're related, or it could be due to the only so many ways to draw hairstyles thing.

[3Doubloons]

The joke feels less forced, if you imagine it being chanted: in monotone, with a pause between each word. The weird wording is just an artifact of HPoH finding a phrasing that praises Hel while sounding like praising Thor

[ManuelSacha]

Worst punchline in a thousand strips.
Heh... they can't all be winners.

[TheMiningDwarf]

I'm still trying to figure out what the prayer was supposed to mean. Considering the actual prayer makes almost no sense even with all the grammar you wouldn't get when someone is speaking I'd probably agree with Roy if I heard someone chanting that.

[Ghost Nappa]

I like how Roy does seem to have internalize that Belkar - while amoral - isn't really the kind of guy to run around and spread baseless conspiracies that are totally detached from reality without actually believing in them. What do you mean it's not a baseless conspiracy?

Unfortunately, he still has the character flaw of "Thinks he's smarter than he is," particularly regarding Vampires and whether or not Belkar's evil conspiracy detecting nose is capable of detecting false positives....Or is it Negative because it's a corpse powered by negative energy...? Hmm.


So, yes. Of all the members of the Order who seem to naturally have the capacity to Detect Evil, it's the guy who was blocking it with lead sheets before it was cool to do so.


Also, Durkula is totally yanking Roy's chain.

[Werephilosopher]

...once again, Durkula proves to be one clever SOB.

[Haleth]

I like Andi, and I like the rapport she has with Roy. I hope she shows up in the future.

On another note, I am ashamed at myself for actually snickering at the punchline.