So about Hel's plan

[Glar_Grimblade]

Wouldn't Hel fail to receive any dwarf souls even if her plan succeeded? If the gods destroy the planet to stop the snarl, aren't they all dying violently in the battle against the snarl.

[JeenLeen]

I think the reason they would become Hel's is because the gods would be killing the dwarves in the process of ending the world. No battle against the Snarl is occurring, since this is basically before any fighting can occur. Hence no honor. Just dead.

I think someone mentioned that a good way to get an honorable death would be to tell the dwarves it is happening a day or two beforehand, so they can drink themselves to death or go die fighting trees* (or just in massive fights for the sake of fighting, for a less ridiculous scenario).

*these are legit 'honorable deaths', if I recall correctly, but I haven't time tonight to search the comics for the proof. At least death of liver disease from drinking counted as honorable, I'm pretty sure.

[RedSand]

The snarl isn't the thing killing them, though. It's like getting your throat slit so you won't die to a horde of orcs that are at the gates. They're not engaging the enemy, and the enemy isn't killing them, so it's dishonorable.

[Kish]

Wouldn't Hel fail to receive any dwarf souls even if her plan succeeded? If the gods destroy the planet to stop the snarl, aren't they all dying violently in the battle against the snarl.

No. They're getting killed, in their fields with rakes in their hands or in their beds partway through having sex or at their tables while eating dessert or wherever they happen to be at the time the decision is made, by the gods. Arguing that anything done to thwart an enemy constitutes a battle and anyone who dies as a result of it was fighting in that battle--well, I doubt it's a stretch Thor wouldn't make, but it is apparent that it is not a stretch he has made.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I think generally the death has to be a result of the Dwarf doing something honorable. If the gods just blow everything up, then while it might technically be construed as dying in order to "save" people from the Snarl, it wouldn't really involve the Dwarves actually dying honorably.

From a slightly more meta reasoning, I don't think that Hel would be such an idiot to make such a large mistake, and I think if it was likely then the other gods wouldn't have taken her as a serious threat.

[Jasdoif]

From a slightly more meta reasoning, I don't think that Hel would be such an idiot to make such a large mistake, and I think if it was likely then the other gods wouldn't have taken her as a serious threat.

And even if they somehow were all mistaken on how the dwarf conspiracy deal works, destroying this world still frees Hel (and the future dwarves) from the terms of that deal. She could easily benefit from the world's destruction on that basis alone.