Book 2 – Page 99

[Brucester]

Hurrah! He's finally through the portal.

Great strip.

[╒╦╧╬╩╦╦╛]

Well... he did disappear somewhere between issue 90 and 94... Clever Mr. Snipe, very clever.

[tleilaxu]

who is the guy in the painting (panel 11)?

[Azukar]

Other possibilities:
First, the time it takes for Ace to remove the pack from Cubbins and equip it himself, would probably have been the end of both of them.

Second, and under the circumstances pretty likely, Ace just didn't make the optimal decision. He's under pressure and literally under fire - could you blame him for making a mistake?

[splintermute]

Also, you can't entirely count out the cloth golems - as a non-juiceless dollamancer, Ace is capable of healing them, or at least he probably was until Sylvia incinerated them.

[bladestorm]

Also, you can't entirely count out the cloth golems - as a non-juiceless dollamancer, Ace is capable of healing them, or at least he probably was until Sylvia incinerated them.

True. Ace may be able to pull off the same maneuver Sizemore used to croak Dora and Webinar.

[MonteCristo]

Eh, one thing that did kind of annoy me was how Sylvia gave credit to fate for helping her out with the chief warlord bonus. The annoying part is that she seemed to be winning without it... frankly i feel like it would have all been more surprising if Sylvia and her dwagons seemed to be loosing against the cloth golems(or atleast stuck in a stalemate) and thus the chief warlord bonus beeing what turned it around for her. It would also help explain how Ace could think he still had a way to fight since he's golems would have been seen as holding her off while he was helping cubins; it was only after he sent Cubins off did things become impossible for him.

Shame no one gave Ace orders to preserve himself so that he could he could aid Trem. Hard to say if Cubins was more valuable... after all he does retain value in that hat magic is jetstone's primary method of communication, but cloth golems have been a huge part of jetstone's combat strategy; not to mention that Ace's gear has been a real service in this battle... Though i guess Ace could bank on jetstone having a natural tendancy for dollamancy; even if he's lost, a new dollamancer may pop up to take his place.

[ftl]

Eh, one thing that did kind of annoy me was how Sylvia gave credit to fate for helping her out with the chief warlord bonus.

Regardless of whether or not it's correct, it's entirely within character for her to see Fate everywhere. She's sort of obsessed.

[Whispri]

Edit: Ace could carry Slately's body while wearing the jetpack. Why wouldn't he carry Cubbins away from the city himself if getting Cubbins out was his primary concern? It's not like he has any cloth golems left to command. Erfworlders' sense of duty puzzles me to no end.

He did have Golems to command as he was making the decision. And if they'd survived Sylvia's latest onslaught, he could have healed them and fought on. I do think the time had come to retreat, but still...

[Mogster2]

Maybe Jack never went into the magick kingdom.....and maybe neither did Wanda. That entire scene of them entering could have been a foolamancy projection from the other side of the portal. Aside from getting the tower knocked down, Jack has shown time and again to be a brilliant individual capable of extensive forethought. Taking all of the casters out of a fight to check on the progress of a CWL lacks forethought.

I'm pretty sure Wanda did go thru, since Ossomer was able to unturn when she stopped commanding.

[mortissimus]

Nice progress in this update! Still very puzzled by Isaac's choice to not let the casters that came out of the portal go back into it.

My interpretation is that the MK rule allows casters to retreat from a battle to MK at any time they can, but only allow exiting MK throgh the portal to their own capital. Making it a very foolish move indeed to go into MK for Wanda and/or Jack in the first place.

[No one in particular]

Something I'm not sure people are remembering... Cubbins was NOT the primary mission goal. Cubbins was a secondary, if-possible goal.

The primary goal for units in the courtyard was, and still is, to distract enemy forces and shield the Slately-ditto until it can get to the throne room and change the capital.

Just because Ace was able to accomplish his personal mission (saving Cubbins), he is still Duty-bound to stay in the Courtyard and fight for as long as possible.

Also, Hat Magic provides secure lines of communication, Thinkamancy-buffing/Foolamancy-piercing accessories, powerful attacks (Pop a Cap) and more we haven't seen. Depending on the bonuses, a small team with the right buffs might be more useful than a platoon of heavy plushes or shockamantic bracers... (a squad of fliers might've been handy, though.)

[Saladman]

New page! I hope this means Xin is somewhat better; my best wishes for a full and continued recovery.

Art is beautiful as always. I continue to like the Portal lighting in the dungeon, and the crowd shots in the Magic Kingdom.

Panel 8 was a little unclear visually for me at first glance. I had to look a moment to be sure that was a burning cloth golem and not a green dwagon behind flames. However, backing up to page 98 cleared it up for me, so it should work better printed and bound. Also I'm coming off a long shift and not at my sharpest, so I may be the only one.

I love Jack's dialog in the last panel. Shows that, as much as he admires Parson, he still has a clear-eyed view of Parson's weaknesses. Not surprising, but good characterization.

[Aster Azul]

After all the buildup, I was really hoping for a more dramatic Parson X Portal panel.

[0beron]

I agree with previous suggestions that perhaps Jack was never in the MK at all. He got Wanda through, but stayed behind himself just in case. And as such, I expect there might be more to the plan, and that could be why Wanda was so quiet the past several pages. She's waiting for something.

Also, obligatory "yay he's through....and shit didn't IMMEDIATELY hit the fan" declaration.

[Salem]

I love Jack's dialog in the last panel. Shows that, as much as he admires Parson, he still has a clear-eyed view of Parson's weaknesses. Not surprising, but good characterization.

Jack has seemingly always listened to Parson when he's said he's not perfect and needs knowledge to do his best. He told him his best tool that he might not have otherwise known to use. It's always struck me as odd with Wanda, she's always being secretive with Parson. Which doesn't make sense with her own world view. She knows fate isn't perfect and sometimes you have to help it along or go with the flow. By withholding intel from parson she seems to be choosing the hard way.

[wrecan]

I think that's because Wanda recognizes that if Parson knew he was a slave to Fate, he would choose the even-harder way. She's hoping that his Perfect-Warlord status means he'll always make the seemingly optimal choice, which would almost inevitably be the easier way. So far, Parson seems to helping Wanda along on her Fateful path without too much prodding. Most of Wanda's problems come out when she chooses personal satisfaction (mostly Jillian) over her Fate.

[shneekeythelost]

I'm reminded of the opening to Serenity...

Zoe: "So... trap?"
Mal: *nods* "Trap."
Zoe: "We still going in?"
Mal: [effectively yes]

A Carnymancer just carved you an engraved invitation to go through that portal. What else could it BE other than a huge trap?

[cheeseaholic]

A Carnymancer just carved you an engraved invitation to go through that portal. What else could it BE other than a huge trap?

Perfectly safe and the other route is the trap, of course.

[effataigus]

Nice progress in this update! Still very puzzled by Isaac's choice to not let the casters that came out of the portal go back into it.

My interpretation is that the MK rule allows casters to retreat from a battle to MK at any time they can, but only allow exiting MK throgh the portal to their own capital. Making it a very foolish move indeed to go into MK for Wanda and/or Jack in the first place.

You may be right, but mentioning such a rule retroactively is somewhat heavy handed, and it would, as you say, make Wanda's choice very puzzling indeed... especially as Wanda didn't do anything to get Parson through the portal faster.

I should say that I don't think that this was heavy-handed story telling, since if Rob was just looking for a reason to keep Wanda in TMK and Parson and Jack in Spacerock, that could have been dealt with by Slately closing the portal at just the wrong/right moment. No, I'm guessing there is something else at work here. I'm hoping Isaac's motivations will become clear in time.

My best guess for now is that he was trying to go for some semblance of neutrality w.r.t. JS, but his solution is a weird one. "This criminal is about to rob a bank. We intend to let him, but, take heart, for we will rob his house while he is out."