"I, I must succeed" are the infamous four words which V said to gain ultimate arcane power. But this is not about them. In Don't Split the Party, V has said four words on occasion. Two of these four word instances are important because not only do they reflect an important moment for V, they were both said to the right person for the wrong reasons. Here we are:
Disintegrate. Gust of Wind
These four words were said to Kubota (the right person as he was evil and needed to die). But they were said for the wrong reasons. V only blasted Kubota because Elan tied him up and because he threatened to stall the story. Elan's reaction to these four words causes V to leave OOTS in frustration.
My power...EXCEEDS yours!
These four words were said to Xykon (the right person as V intended to kill him). However, they were said for the wrong reasons as V was not more powerful than Xykon. The words caused Xykon to react by giving the hannibal lecture about how Power equals Power. This caused V to snap out of it and use hir powers constructively (Blackwing, Guess which spell I put on this before giving it to the bird), something still done to this day (Kobold Crossbow!!!).
Is this a coincidence? Yes. But it is a very clever one.
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We're all in the Monster Manual somewhere. My entry is between Howler and Hydra.
Worst case scenario (for you): someone comes in and points out that Burlew actually said that the four words were "I... I must succeed".
Best case scenario: cool, the prophecy gets fulfilled more than once.
My actual reaction: He didn't really gain power from either of the other two instances. (Well, the Kubota thing could be argued, but he specified "ultimate arcane power" and I don't think combat creativity counts as arcane power...)
Worst case scenario (for you): someone comes in and points out that Burlew actually said that the four words were "I... I must succeed".
He did acknowledge they were, right at the start:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunken Valley
"I, I must succeed" are the infamous four words which V said to gain ultimate arcane power. But this is not about them.
I see this
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunken Valley
In Don't Split the Party, V has said four words on occasion. Two of these four word instances are important because not only do they reflect an important moment for V, they were both said to the right person for the wrong reasons.
Is this a coincidence? Yes. But it is a very clever one.
as more a "four words: important moments" comment.
But I think a coincidence that is clever is impossible, did you mean the Giant did so on purpose?
I don't see how it's impossible. Or even unlikely.
Important events require emphatic statements. The longer a statement is, the less emphatic it's going to sound. Three, four, or five word statements are the ones that are most likely to mean something (I mean, what can you say in one word that's not "ow" or a curse word?), and because we know about "the right four words" we're all more likely to notice four word phrases.
If we carefully went through all the comics we'd likely notice lots of Very Important moments that are marked with sentences of varying lengths. And then we'd disregard them because they don't fit the mold of "four words".
It's nice to see someone saying it isn't for once, the forum IQ did just go up. Please have a cookie.
Thank you for your praise, if it had my name on it it might go in the siggy.
@Conuly: Absolutely correct. There is also the right three words Sneak Attack Bitch! the right four onomatopeia slash, slash, slash, slash!, the right five words talky-man broke thog's tusk! (although Thog would tell you that's four. Thog would tell you lots of things) and the right two words I'm invisible!
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We're all in the Monster Manual somewhere. My entry is between Howler and Hydra.
For the last time....
Wait, you are NOT suggesting a nonsensical theory about what will happen next?
And you are NOT suggesting some absurd "hidden meaning" in the strips, since you even admitted it was a coincidence?
The forum IQ just went up.
Belkar and Thog are Chaotic Good, If I was a DM O-Chul would have fallen for not smiting Xykon* and the MitD, Miko is the Paladin I'm going to play from now on, V's alignment changed to Neutral Good thanks to Familicide.
Belkar and Thog are Chaotic Good, If I was a DM O-Chul would have fallen for not smiting Xykon* and the MitD, Miko is the Paladin I'm going to play from now on, V's alignment changed to Neutral Good thanks to Familicide.
*Try or not, he didn't succeed.
Crisis averted.
Godammit!
Oh, and you forgot, Haley caused the death of those slaves.
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Aww man! Even all the witty self referencing sigs are gone now! Squeeable Avatar by CheesePirate, Awesome banners by Pink Haired August
"I, I must succeed" are the infamous four words which V said to gain ultimate arcane power. But this is not about them. In Don't Split the Party, V has said four words on occasion. Two of these four word instances are important because not only do they reflect an important moment for V, they were both said to the right person for the wrong reasons. Here we are:
Disintegrate. Gust of Wind
These four words were said to Kubota (the right person as he was evil and needed to die). But they were said for the wrong reasons. V only blasted Kubota because Elan tied him up and because he threatened to stall the story. Elan's reaction to these four words causes V to leave OOTS in frustration.
My power...EXCEEDS yours!
These four words were said to Xykon (the right person as V intended to kill him). However, they were said for the wrong reasons as V was not more powerful than Xykon. The words caused Xykon to react by giving the hannibal lecture about how Power equals Power. This caused V to snap out of it and use hir powers constructively (Blackwing, Guess which spell I put on this before giving it to the bird), something still done to this day (Kobold Crossbow!!!).
Is this a coincidence? Yes. But it is a very clever one.
Huh, what?
You bring up a wild theory with little grounds for it being valid, then debunk it by saying not even you the person who suggested it believes in it. Why? It'd be like making a thread point out Belkar isn't evil, naming a few token examples that don't hold up well at all, then going on to say "Never mind, he's still evil. These don't count."
I disagree. Let's derail the thread with conflicting definitions of good, evil, law and chaos.
V says four word sentences so rarely that they actually do kinda stick out. Most people's out of character moments are huge rants. V's is a concise proclamation.
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"You think you have won, do you? You are mistaken! I will not be defeated! I will destroy EVERYTHING and you BOTH will die! I hold the prophecy stone in my hands. When it breaks the DARK DRAGON will rise to destroy ALL of Silmaria. You cannot stop me. NO ONE can stop me. I AM YOUR DOOM!" - QFG V
talky-man broke thog's tusk! (although Thog would tell you that's four. Thog would tell you lots of things)
But that IS four words since it's hyphenated, isn't it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr.Epic
Huh, what?
You bring up a wild theory with little grounds for it being valid, then debunk it by saying not even you the person who suggested it believes in it. Why? It'd be like making a thread point out Belkar isn't evil, naming a few token examples that don't hold up well at all, then going on to say "Never mind, he's still evil. These don't count."
There was never really a theory here, he was just sort of noting that it was an interesting coincidence that V's said four words that might fit the criteria (if not for the fact that we know that, "I... I must succeed" are the real four words, which he acknowledges) a few other times.
There was never really a theory here, he was just sort of noting that it was an interesting coincidence that V's said four words that might fit the criteria (if not for the fact that we know that, "I... I must succeed" are the real four words, which he acknowledges) a few other times.
A four word statement isn't that uncommon. I'm sure there are a ton of them throughout the comic by many characters. The fact that V said them isn't that special other than we can try and loosely interpret them as the prophecy.
A four word statement isn't that uncommon. I'm sure there are a ton of them throughout the comic by many characters. The fact that V said them isn't that special other than we can try and loosely interpret them as the prophecy.
Except, as some one else pointed out, V is rather verbose and thus a sentence (or successive sentences) totaling only 4 words is rather rare for V. Likewise, if we saw a huge long rant from Z in the next strip, it would stand out (if a little out of character I admit) as a defining moment for Z.
Except, as some one else pointed out, V is rather verbose and thus a sentence (or successive sentences) totaling only 4 words is rather rare for V. Likewise, if we saw a huge long rant from Z in the next strip, it would stand out (if a little out of character I admit) as a defining moment for Z.
But the first instance was just V saying the name of their spell like all spell casters do. And the second, V already had ultimate power as it were so how could they have gotten it twice?
I think he meant that someone would miss that and call him out for it anyway.
I mentioned "My power... EXCEEDS yours!" once before, before the book was over, and got called out by people frustrated with various "four words" theories (and for the record, I did recognize the actual four words, but not in that thread).
(What does it say that that is, by far, the longest thread I have ever started?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Conuly
(I mean, what can you say in one word that's not "ow" or a curse word?)
A four word statement isn't that uncommon. I'm sure there are a ton of them throughout the comic by many characters. The fact that V said them isn't that special other than we can try and loosely interpret them as the prophecy.
Great, you get it! Now you can join in on the fun instead of being a wet blanket
But the first instance was just V saying the name of their spell like all spell casters do. And the second, V already had ultimate power as it were so how could they have gotten it twice?
The OP never claimed that what he presented was the 4 words mentioned in the prophecy. And while yes, the first example was just spell names, but in the context, it was decisive and defining of the character at that moment in the story. The point I'm making is when V is not being verbose, whether its just a succession of spells or an actual sentence, is when the essence of V's character is shown. Which the OP has kindly gathered and pointed out for us.
If it's word spoken to the right person for the wrong reasons, you might as well list all the things V had ever said to Belkar. I'm sure some of them would make perfect groups of 4.
Also, you might want to double-check the meaning of the word "reason", because there's no wrong reason in both of your examples.
__________________ "A good way to get a decent person to do something horrible is to convince them that they're not responsible for their actions" - Cedrik - OOST #0640
"Geez! You give a guy a crown and it goes straight to his head!''
_ "Where else would a crown go?"
RSS Feeds: 
The Wrong Four Words
"YOU! BROKE! MY! SWORD!"
Sneak Attack Bitch! the right four onomatopeia 
slash, slash, slash, slash!, the right five words 
talky-man broke thog's tusk! (although Thog would tell you that's four. Thog would tell you lots of things) and the right two words 
I'm invisible!
