Will Save World for Gold

[Ibrinar]

Though at some point there has to be Profit for Ardon in it otherwise he wouldn't have waited for them to appear.

Seriously though why let him be the leader, even if you are a pointlessly loyal paladin the party still should have just chosen another leader (not that any of them would be good at it). They can't trust him to have goals they agree with just makes him a really poor choice even if he is their best strategist.

[Anteros]

No one who has ever followed one of Ardon's plans has been better for it except Ardon. His teammates tend to ignore him because allowing Ardon to succeed at whatever (usually poorly conceived) goal he has that day isn't their singular, unequivocal overriding purpose in life. Much as he tells them it is.

Edit: his party is brainless enough not to have killed him yet though, so I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for them

That's just objectively false. Despite being a selfish little monster, Ardon's plans are ultimately responsible for every bit of success they've ever had. Partially because they're all incompetent, and partially because he's the only character in the entire story that actually does anything proactive at all.

Though at some point there has to be Profit for Ardon in it otherwise he wouldn't have waited for them to appear.

Seriously though why let him be the leader, even if you are a pointlessly loyal paladin the party still should have just chosen another leader (not that any of them would be good at it). They can't trust him to have goals they agree with just makes him a really poor choice even if he is their best strategist.

Partly because none of them want to be a leader. Mostly because his plans do have a solid history of actually benefiting the party. At least, they did until Odie tried to murder him in cold blood, and then the rest of the party made the decision to leave him to die when his brother showed up. He was actually slowly becoming a better person before that point.

[Mabn]

That's just objectively false. Despite being a selfish little monster, Ardon's plans are ultimately responsible for every bit of success they've ever had. Partially because they're all incompetent, and partially because he's the only character in the entire story that actually does anything proactive at all.

Other people helping them out has been responsible for every bit of success they've had. Whether it be minions, mystery ranger, Ellie's parents, or what have you the group, Ardon included has been hard carried through every single encounter they succeed at. Ardon alienating literally everyone and frequently backstabbing said people has done more to hinder them than help.

[Anteros]

Other people helping them out has been responsible for every bit of success they've had. Whether it be minions, mystery ranger, Ellie's parents, or what have you the group, Ardon included has been hard carried through every single encounter they succeed at. Ardon alienating literally everyone and frequently backstabbing said people has done more to hinder them than help.

I'm not sure if you're letting your distaste of Ardon color your view, or if you actually did read some sort of alternate version of the comic. Ardon is responsible for beating the original dungeon (twice), the Nightmare spirit, Dire, and his brother. Other characters were present, but Ardon's plans were ultimately what carried them to victory every single time. Yes, he does require help from others sometimes, but that doesn't invalidate his contributions.

In fact, the only arcs where Ardon wasn't primarily responsible for their victories are the joke arcs. The livestock, the squirrels, or the clowns.

Edit: I guess the Sons did kill Dire in the latest meeting, so Ardon's only responsible for the vast majority of their victories, not all.

For today's comic: Maybe this will finally be the push El needs to stop enabling Ardon? I doubt it, but surely she has to wise up eventually.

[Lizard Lord]

The thing is Ardon's original plan was never going to be about preventing damage to the city and its citizens. In fact there is a chance that it would somehow require such damage. This is the sort of thing Ell and Peanut want to prevent, but Ardon is 100% okay with.

Heck I wouldn't be surprised if Ardon planed to sacrifice the city to destroy the Army.

As far as what Ardon gets out of it, I could see him doing this just to kill Fortyfive since he most likely considers him a lose end.

[Onyavar]

Ell, what you should do is heal Peanut and run from Ardon. The creep has hold you hostage enough...

Except that it will not help the entire city, which Ardon also holds hostage now (whether or not his "plan" will prevent mayhem, we don't know).
So, revised advice: Ell, what you should do is heal Peanut and work with Ardon, starting with him telling you the plan. Because, really, Ardon can't solve this crisis as a single-man-party. He HAS to heal them if he wants to win.

Of course, Ell is a SHY paladin. She will hope desperately that Ardon is actually a good guy, she will not confront him on his motives and his plan (which he doesn't have anyway, ofc). So she will swear an oath as a paladin by her paladin sword to obey him and do what he says (like... raiding the mayors palace for gear, putting the torch to a quarter of the city for minimal losses, murder the town's finest who obstruct her doing "good"?).

Sure, it could go differently, with Ardon actually having a good plan, but I don't believe that Ardon's Army will be publicly hailed as the "Heroes of South Crossing" once this is over. Maybe Ell will become a blackguard; it would be character development.

[Anteros]

This comic really has gotten quite dark. I keep expecting things to take a lighter turn again at some point, but it just never happens.

Can you even redeem 45 from this? He's worse than Ardon now in my book.

Spoiler: Future predictions that I hope are wrong.

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This is really starting to look like a tragic story where Ardon inevitably kills his entire party one at a time while slowly dragging El along with him until she finally snaps and he kills her too. I really hope we're not headed that way. I don't mind a darker tone, but the grimdark has been a bit extreme lately.

[tyckspoon]

This comic really has gotten quite dark. I keep expecting things to take a lighter turn again at some point, but it just never happens.

Can you even redeem 45 from this? He's worse than Ardon now in my book.

Spoiler: Future predictions that I hope are wrong.

Show

This is really starting to look like a tragic story where Ardon inevitably kills his entire party one at a time while slowly dragging El along with him until she finally snaps and he kills her too. I really hope we're not headed that way. I don't mind a darker tone, but the grimdark has been a bit extreme lately.

Can you forgive a character for things done while under mind-control? 45 was deconstructed, rebuilt, and reprogrammed by the assembly plant's central system. I don't believe he's really acting under his own free will at this point (and arguably wasn't before - he just had a fairly open-ended task previously, which left a lot of leeway in how to achieve it.)

[PopeLinus1]

Can you forgive a character for things done while under mind-control? 45 was deconstructed, rebuilt, and reprogrammed by the assembly plant's central system. I don't believe he's really acting under his own free will at this point (and arguably wasn't before - he just had a fairly open-ended task previously, which left a lot of leeway in how to achieve it.)

But... If 45 was never doing anything on his own free will, than it does not really matter in the first place. he never was a friend. This is who 45 is, but Focused. And I think it's who he always was.

[Ibrinar]

At least I remember no indication that he has a problem with his role.

[Anteros]

Chandea (or whatever her name is) has been surprisingly competent lately.

[JumboWheat01]

Well, someone has to be competent, the main team most certainly isn't right now.

[PopeLinus1]

Well, someone has to be competent, the main team most certainly isn't right now.

They often are, but Ardon, despite helping them quite a bit with his planning, is too much of a wild card for any of them to rely on. This combined with Ardon not distributing information properly so that they even know whats happening, results in Ardon saving the party when he gets them over their heads. Which he uses as leverage in the future, to manipulate the party even more.

[Emperor Time]

Starting to think that by the end, that no characters will be left.

[Kantaki]

Starting to think that by the end, that no characters will be left.

Nah, Ardon will still be around and thriving.
...
Somehow that makes it worse.

Besides, there's no skull. Chandrea will be fine.

[JumboWheat01]

Makes me think she has a lot of HP for a Ranger and and Elf, but really, if she's been soloing quests, she's probably just a really high level.

[Anteros]

Anyone want to translate all that binary? I'm obviously too lazy to do it.

[Douglas]

Two updates ago, panel 2 "ACQUIRING TARGET", panel 5 "TARGET LOCKED".

Current, panel 1 "VITAL SIGNS DETECTED" in the top block, then "ACQUIRING TARGET".

[Anteros]

Two updates ago, panel 2 "ACQUIRING TARGET", panel 5 "TARGET LOCKED".

Current, panel 1 "VITAL SIGNS DETECTED" in the top block, then "ACQUIRING TARGET".

See? This is the type of in depth characterization I was worried about missing out on. Thanks for translating it.

[Lizard Lord]

So its head counted as a seperate creature?

[JumboWheat01]

So its head counted as a seperate creature?

Or maybe just subverting the trope that humanoid robots have all their brain like functions in their head. There really is no reason for it to be there.

[Celestia]

I'm betting each limb counts as a separate creature, which is also why it gets so many attacks per round.

[The Glyphstone]

Looks like Head, Torso, Left Arm, Right Arm, and Legs are each a separate creature. Head is destroyed, leaving the other 4 intact.

[Lizard Lord]

Or maybe just subverting the trope that humanoid robots have all their brain like functions in their head. There really is no reason for it to be there.

I would agree if it wasn't for the skull ghost we see in that panel.

[Onyavar]

I'm betting each limb counts as a separate creature, which is also why it gets so many attacks per round.

Naturally. It explains why the Giant robot got so many attacks: they are multiple robots pretending to be only one.

[The Glyphstone]

Voltron confirmed.

[Shadowcaller]

Well, I didn't expect to see a sniper rifle in this comic, then again I didn't expect to see an atomic bomb or airport security either.

Now let's see what Ardon's plan is...

[Leewei]

Well, I didn't expect to see a sniper rifle in this comic, then again I probably didn't expect to see an atomic bomb or air port security either.

Now let's see what Ardon's plan is...

Spoiler: Wild speculation

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Ardon will offer the construct army firearms technology if they leave the local humans alone.

[Celestia]

Spoiler: Wild speculation

Show

Ardon will offer the construct army firearms technology if they leave the local humans alone.

I highly doubt that will happen because I highly doubt it would work.

[Ibrinar]

Also how would Ardon profit, he waited for them for a reason.