She said “they ceased to exist but I wonder if it is a clever way to hide the fact that they might have just lost their physical form for a while (at least for the devils and angels of the group).
For this one, I can’t tell if the alt text is from Jadis’ perspective wondering about her own omniscience, or if it’s Allison’s wondering about her place in the great game.
An observatory for a Space Jockey to be amazed by the myriad of small miracles happening upon a solid matter wall, truly the magnificence of nanoparticles is unending.
There’s no way that prediction doesn’t take into account the fact that Alison will be able to count every day, hour, minute, and second herself. There’s no way that Jadis didn’t know that she’d ask, and get her answer.
So why bother even cautioning her? Because that’s your role!? Are you a puppet or a god? Why not use your knowledge of the wheel to break it? Because it would make you knowledge worthless? How pitiful.
I think these last few pages focusing on Jadis paint a better picture of how she, like the other Demiurges, has stopped Wanting, and how that results in the decline in their power. Here’s how I think it goes, based on their Words and sins.
Jadis and her family Wanted to see the shape of the Universe so much that they toiled over their machine for ten generations. Now that she finally sees it, it terrifies and paralyzes her, and thus her perfect knowledge makes her powerless, not powerful. Her word is Mind, and it is the shape of the Universe etched in her Mind that shackles her. She is too Slothful and hesitant to break the Universal Script. After witnessing the Shape of the Universe she gave up on being a Shaper.
Solomon: he Wanted to rule justly, and thus he built his Laws over a foundation of his Will. Now, he is crushed by those same Laws, an Atlantic automaton bound by rules that he himself placed outside of his control. His word is Diamond, and like a Diamond he is too inflexible to change, even if the shape he has now constricts him. He is too Proud of his shining and spotless rules to break out of them.
Mottom: she Wanted to get out of a bad situation so much that she killed a Demiurge for it, but she was too enticed by power to finish the job. Now she has so much that none of it matters anymore, and yet she is still too scared to give it up, rationalizing through the slow descent into monstrosity that made her just like the husband she killed. Her word is Glory and her desire to maintain an eternal Glory forces her to put the wants of others above her own. She is too Gluttonous to stop feeding her vices.
Mammon: he was so ambitious that he broke every one of his culture’s rules and slaughtered his family. That ambition brought him more treasure than he can count, and now he is trapped by the size of his uncountable wealth. His word is Tower, and now he is literally stuck inside his Tower. He’s too Greedy to give up what he gained in order to soar higher.
Incubus: he Wanted to kill so much that he cut himself into the shape of a God. Now what? He’s so horny for power that he traps himself into his own decadence, granting favors to lesser creatures in order to have power over them. He fulfills so many dreams that he has no time to have dreams of his own. His word is Flame, and now the same burning desire for power that forged his kingdom now consumes him. He is too Lustful to stop giving into his basest instincts and actually aspire to something greater.
Gog-Agog: honestly, one of the hardest ones to analyze due to the lack of backstory for her so far, but maybe that’s the point! She’s hunger in its purest form, the grub that lives to gorge itself, to grow and multiply. Yet it is that same hunger that made her bloated. Her word is Beast and now it is her acting like an unreasonable ape that destroys her. She is too Envious to not care what others think of her.
Jagganoth: it’s not a coincidence that the bearer of the word Blade is the stronger of the Demiurges, and the one to put the others out of their misery. He was cut into a warrior, and now he continues to cut himself into a better and better warrior, thus losing the ability to be anything else. He bears the word Blade and thus he will ultimately fall victim to the Biblic adage: those who live by the Sword die by the Sword. He is the Wheel-Turning King because he is unable to cut the Wheel like he wants to. He is too Wrathful to try anything other than “cutting harder” as a way to get out of Zoss’ cycle, and thus will beat himself against the cycle until it beats him.
And, after all that, what does Allison want? To save Zaid, someone she barely knows, because it is what she believes is right. Whenever she wants power the least, she gains it with the least effort. Power is like the butterfly that flees those that pursue it and lands on those that sit still. She will stop Jagganoth because, at the end of the day, it’s what she needs to do to get what she wants: to take Zaid back to Earth. If only she wanted anything for herself too…
My advice for dealing with oracles capable of providing perfect knowledge of the future is to avoid asking for predictions that you want a specific answer to. That, of course, invites an undesired result to be determined for you.
Asking what path to take to reach a desired result is better, but leaves a fair chance that you could misunderstand, somehow disbelieve, or otherwise fail to take the path.
To my understanding, the question to ask would be something like “What response to this question from you at this moment sends me on a path that most closely fulfills my greatest ambitions and adheres to my highest ideals in a philosophically defensible manner, both now and in hindsight?”. And then hopefully whatever the oracle says in response to that sends you on a path that works out very well for you.
Being a Cassandra sure sucks
[You have no idea.]
I changed my name because of this.
People still don’t fucking believe me. Ever.
She said “they ceased to exist but I wonder if it is a clever way to hide the fact that they might have just lost their physical form for a while (at least for the devils and angels of the group).
Imagine knowing everything and believing none of it can be changed. Sloth indeed! What a terrible prison she has constructed for herself…
truly a brain-trembling magnitude of sloth
That chair is menacing and significant.
“To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
For this one, I can’t tell if the alt text is from Jadis’ perspective wondering about her own omniscience, or if it’s Allison’s wondering about her place in the great game.
Anyone else get Alien/Prometheus vibes from that chair in panel 4? The one that the Space Jockey/Engineer sat in as a cockpit?
I get Forbidden Planet vibes from this whole thing. Ancient device, population destroyed over night. Monsters from the Id.
Yes that too. The Great Machine. Also used in Babylon 5 for time travel…
An observatory for a Space Jockey to be amazed by the myriad of small miracles happening upon a solid matter wall, truly the magnificence of nanoparticles is unending.
The curse of knowing what’s going to happen, but also being unable to change any of it.
That’s… honestly a pretty good run, considering her fragile human origins and the world she’s in now.
The rabbit walks you to the links
the baby mice flood out the stink
notorious dressed for the ice rink
A most interesting jump from days to seconds.
11.55 minutes.
It seems something has begun to fray in a mind nearby.
How very curious…
It is on this page that Jadis should have become afraid.
Allison’s taken her first step on the road to breaking something important in another demiurge’s house.
There’s no way that prediction doesn’t take into account the fact that Alison will be able to count every day, hour, minute, and second herself. There’s no way that Jadis didn’t know that she’d ask, and get her answer.
So why bother even cautioning her? Because that’s your role!? Are you a puppet or a god? Why not use your knowledge of the wheel to break it? Because it would make you knowledge worthless? How pitiful.
Ah!- So just worthless, then!
This page actually made me somewhat optimistic about how this comic ends!
“Fuck, that means I need to keep fighting”
i love how creepy and weird jadis looks
Going to be a long wait..
I think these last few pages focusing on Jadis paint a better picture of how she, like the other Demiurges, has stopped Wanting, and how that results in the decline in their power. Here’s how I think it goes, based on their Words and sins.
Jadis and her family Wanted to see the shape of the Universe so much that they toiled over their machine for ten generations. Now that she finally sees it, it terrifies and paralyzes her, and thus her perfect knowledge makes her powerless, not powerful. Her word is Mind, and it is the shape of the Universe etched in her Mind that shackles her. She is too Slothful and hesitant to break the Universal Script. After witnessing the Shape of the Universe she gave up on being a Shaper.
Solomon: he Wanted to rule justly, and thus he built his Laws over a foundation of his Will. Now, he is crushed by those same Laws, an Atlantic automaton bound by rules that he himself placed outside of his control. His word is Diamond, and like a Diamond he is too inflexible to change, even if the shape he has now constricts him. He is too Proud of his shining and spotless rules to break out of them.
Mottom: she Wanted to get out of a bad situation so much that she killed a Demiurge for it, but she was too enticed by power to finish the job. Now she has so much that none of it matters anymore, and yet she is still too scared to give it up, rationalizing through the slow descent into monstrosity that made her just like the husband she killed. Her word is Glory and her desire to maintain an eternal Glory forces her to put the wants of others above her own. She is too Gluttonous to stop feeding her vices.
Mammon: he was so ambitious that he broke every one of his culture’s rules and slaughtered his family. That ambition brought him more treasure than he can count, and now he is trapped by the size of his uncountable wealth. His word is Tower, and now he is literally stuck inside his Tower. He’s too Greedy to give up what he gained in order to soar higher.
Incubus: he Wanted to kill so much that he cut himself into the shape of a God. Now what? He’s so horny for power that he traps himself into his own decadence, granting favors to lesser creatures in order to have power over them. He fulfills so many dreams that he has no time to have dreams of his own. His word is Flame, and now the same burning desire for power that forged his kingdom now consumes him. He is too Lustful to stop giving into his basest instincts and actually aspire to something greater.
Gog-Agog: honestly, one of the hardest ones to analyze due to the lack of backstory for her so far, but maybe that’s the point! She’s hunger in its purest form, the grub that lives to gorge itself, to grow and multiply. Yet it is that same hunger that made her bloated. Her word is Beast and now it is her acting like an unreasonable ape that destroys her. She is too Envious to not care what others think of her.
Jagganoth: it’s not a coincidence that the bearer of the word Blade is the stronger of the Demiurges, and the one to put the others out of their misery. He was cut into a warrior, and now he continues to cut himself into a better and better warrior, thus losing the ability to be anything else. He bears the word Blade and thus he will ultimately fall victim to the Biblic adage: those who live by the Sword die by the Sword. He is the Wheel-Turning King because he is unable to cut the Wheel like he wants to. He is too Wrathful to try anything other than “cutting harder” as a way to get out of Zoss’ cycle, and thus will beat himself against the cycle until it beats him.
And, after all that, what does Allison want? To save Zaid, someone she barely knows, because it is what she believes is right. Whenever she wants power the least, she gains it with the least effort. Power is like the butterfly that flees those that pursue it and lands on those that sit still. She will stop Jagganoth because, at the end of the day, it’s what she needs to do to get what she wants: to take Zaid back to Earth. If only she wanted anything for herself too…
Thanks to 29 Meandric Thoughts Cross the Mind – for these insights.
A Fine Summation on the Tragedy of the Demiurges !
Cheers !
My advice for dealing with oracles capable of providing perfect knowledge of the future is to avoid asking for predictions that you want a specific answer to. That, of course, invites an undesired result to be determined for you.
Asking what path to take to reach a desired result is better, but leaves a fair chance that you could misunderstand, somehow disbelieve, or otherwise fail to take the path.
To my understanding, the question to ask would be something like “What response to this question from you at this moment sends me on a path that most closely fulfills my greatest ambitions and adheres to my highest ideals in a philosophically defensible manner, both now and in hindsight?”. And then hopefully whatever the oracle says in response to that sends you on a path that works out very well for you.
Well, at least Allison’s participating in the conversation now… That’s progress… right?
i hadnt noticed that she put more colorful outfit/makeup and elaborate hairpiece on since the scene where allison woke up
l CAN’T FIND!
ENOUGH I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE AND I AM NOT AFRAID OF FEAR
ENOUGH I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE JUST GET IT OUT OF MY SYSTEM