To truly save the world you must spread your flames to others and show them they too can stand proud. Basically the answer is friendship is magic and you should start spreading it.
He said “breaking”, not, “banishing” or “disintegrating”. Breaking something does not necessarily destroy its constituent parts! I think that in this case, “Breaking the wheel” most likely suggests the destruction of all the infrastructure which keeps the 777, 777 universes in their current shape. A terrifying prospect indeed, but one hopes that the Rising King will help a new shape take form in its place afterwards.
The wheel of power is the connection of those universes. The keys are gates, and it is through that connection they have power. Maybe to break the wheel one must divide the spokes from the hub.
Well that could be for a number of reasons. Fallibility of the artist (Solomon’s disappearing sandals show that no creator is perfect), perhaps the universe is not so perfectly divided as we had been lead to believe, or maybe the symbol of the wheel is sufficient without exactly reflecting the universes structure, or more likely the metaphor was misplaced on my part. Who can say?
Spot on metaphor, one was surprised to see 8 spokes when there’s so many sevens about. One shall go with symbol sufficiency, and that drawing 777,777 spokes was perhaps not practicable.
The wheel also may well refer to the cyclic nature of the universe’s creation and destruction, and Heaven/Throne’s whiplashing back and forth between totalitarianism and anarchy. This is what 2 Michael and 1 Metatron both fear, and what (I forget but it’s now X+1) Juggernaut Star has spoken of explicitly.
It may well be that Juggernaut Star shall end up an ally before all is said and done. The groundwork has been laid out for it, and now it sounds like in truth their goals are similar, but Juggy has been going about it all wrong.
I think in this case the Wheel is the apparent time loo pthat Juggernaut Star referred to in her tirade. Of which 1 Metatron seems to be either the architect or jailor. It’s insane, I wouldn’t be surprised if 1 Metatron wants to keep this sterile timeloop going forever.
I am suddenly overcome by the idea that Alison is gonna have a backstory reveal where it turns out she grew up under a single mother, and the Zoss is her father who left when she was young. The time difference explainable by a literal time difference, wherein the wheel runs far faster than Alison’s homeworld. Thus, she is quite literally his only true heir.
If you count only the swords that Zoss has sticking in his body, that’d be the Ten of Swords. Upright, that’s usually interpreted as “painful endings, betrayal, a crisis or loss”. Inverted, “regeneration, recovery and avoiding what seemed an inevitable end”. All of it sounds appropriate here.
And the Ten of Swords combined with the Wheel of Fortune could mean a couple things. It could mean the loss of a place of status, a retirement. It can also mean that a person is beaten and defeated, but that they will shortly be in ascension again – though not in a way exactly under their control.
Also there’s the King of Swords itself, which stands for “mental clarity, intellectual power, authority and truth”, but when inverted can also mean “misuse of power” and “manipulation”. All of which seem relevant. Especially because Zoss seems to be stating that the King of Swords needs to stand down. He doesn’t expect Alison to take his mantle and continue his work; he wants her to take a different direction, to something that he himself, as King of Swords, is not fit to do.
The question, of course, is what is that thing he wants Allison to do. But maybe he doesn’t really know himself, and that’s why he isn’t more specific (?)
The deceptive power of patterns is strong. Easy to count the four demiurges not yet challenged in their own realms and assume a volume for each rather than watching the years or the growth of the story
42 Fragments the Universe Beyond All Reintegration
Zoss calls on Allison to split the universe! No gods, no masters, self-determination and multiversal loneliness! In breaking, God’s centrifuge shall fling creation through the void like so many seeds thrown on a field; and like seeds free of their fruit, the worlds shall take root and grow! We love to see it (?)
Reminds me a whole lot of The Scattering from God Emperor of Dune. Humanity, so chained and burdened by the great Tyrant’s rule, suddenly exploding into the infinity of the galaxy, never to be chained by any single event, be it man or otherwise.
There is no strength in publicity and renown, if there is none to admire you. There is no strength in money if there is none to spend it on. There is no strength in the written law if there are none to govern. There is no strength behind the slashing blade if there are none to pierce. There is no strength in possession if there are none who will take you in. There is no strength in war if you have no one to wage it upon. You have no strength over others, other than the strength they give you themselves.
Err Zaid. Finish rescuing Zaid. Who is definitely not Zoss, and will certainly not travel back in time to start the whole cycle over again at some point in the future.
“Sooth’d with the sound, the king grew vain;
Fought all his battles o’er again;
And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain!
The master saw the madness rise,
His glowing cheeks, his ardent eyes;
And while he Heav’n and earth defy’d,
Chang’d his hand, and check’d his pride.”
All come to Ash in the end. Even the Great Zoss knew this. The top of the Wheel is Fire, the bottom is Ash ever ground down flat to crush all Potential within. To break it means to toss all such away…
and perhaps something new will finally sprout from the Ash.
53 Provide Winter Air Through Green Carbon Lightning
One wonders if the inside of the Wheel has an inscription, much like a old tale I’ve heard before. “Just know, This too shall pass.” Words that brighten the darkest day, and blot the brightest sun all the same.
He do be King o Swords. He be wearin ten o thums in most regal fashion.
Wait, only one more title drop? So this is the second-to-last volume?
It would seem so, but then perhaps it is merely that the following volumes shall not drop their titles.
To truly save the world you must spread your flames to others and show them they too can stand proud. Basically the answer is friendship is magic and you should start spreading it.
Breaking the wheel….
As in, like, destroying the 777,777 universes?
He said “breaking”, not, “banishing” or “disintegrating”. Breaking something does not necessarily destroy its constituent parts! I think that in this case, “Breaking the wheel” most likely suggests the destruction of all the infrastructure which keeps the 777, 777 universes in their current shape. A terrifying prospect indeed, but one hopes that the Rising King will help a new shape take form in its place afterwards.
The wheel of power is the connection of those universes. The keys are gates, and it is through that connection they have power. Maybe to break the wheel one must divide the spokes from the hub.
One finds it strange that the wheel Zoss should be depicted bestride should have 8 spokes. One rather thought this one might have had seven.
Well that could be for a number of reasons. Fallibility of the artist (Solomon’s disappearing sandals show that no creator is perfect), perhaps the universe is not so perfectly divided as we had been lead to believe, or maybe the symbol of the wheel is sufficient without exactly reflecting the universes structure, or more likely the metaphor was misplaced on my part. Who can say?
Spot on metaphor, one was surprised to see 8 spokes when there’s so many sevens about. One shall go with symbol sufficiency, and that drawing 777,777 spokes was perhaps not practicable.
The wheel also may well refer to the cyclic nature of the universe’s creation and destruction, and Heaven/Throne’s whiplashing back and forth between totalitarianism and anarchy. This is what 2 Michael and 1 Metatron both fear, and what (I forget but it’s now X+1) Juggernaut Star has spoken of explicitly.
It may well be that Juggernaut Star shall end up an ally before all is said and done. The groundwork has been laid out for it, and now it sounds like in truth their goals are similar, but Juggy has been going about it all wrong.
I think in this case the Wheel is the apparent time loo pthat Juggernaut Star referred to in her tirade. Of which 1 Metatron seems to be either the architect or jailor. It’s insane, I wouldn’t be surprised if 1 Metatron wants to keep this sterile timeloop going forever.
Nothing can be destroyed, only Divided.
And tomorrow White Chain becomes a martyr and sets The Wheel aflame.
I am suddenly overcome by the idea that Alison is gonna have a backstory reveal where it turns out she grew up under a single mother, and the Zoss is her father who left when she was young. The time difference explainable by a literal time difference, wherein the wheel runs far faster than Alison’s homeworld. Thus, she is quite literally his only true heir.
Bah, such fixation on… blood. It is nothing.
An Heir of Blood would not be sufficient to produce the Wheel-breaking Sage King. Zoss needs an Heir of his Mind or Heart, one who wishes as he does.
…damn it. I REALLY need to stop getting blindsided by these freaking Homestuck references everywhere I go.
One does not simply escape the Homestuck.
Alison… I am your FATHER!? Oh god, please don’t.
I’m just here to relish the irony of speaking to the Unreligious Man.
How odd that I have never met one before.
Feh, none o’ these old kings can tell it straight. Always needin’ to be cryptic, these ones!
I suss he’s tellin’ Allison to start an uprising with some buddies, but hells if I know. Maybe friendship’s the best weapon in a war.
Can’t wait to see Alison finally kill 6 billion demons.
In the seventh panel: 21 of swords. I wonder what tarot this belongs to. . .
If you count only the swords that Zoss has sticking in his body, that’d be the Ten of Swords. Upright, that’s usually interpreted as “painful endings, betrayal, a crisis or loss”. Inverted, “regeneration, recovery and avoiding what seemed an inevitable end”. All of it sounds appropriate here.
Yeah and judging by the composition that does seem to be the intention. I’m just being funny.
And the Ten of Swords combined with the Wheel of Fortune could mean a couple things. It could mean the loss of a place of status, a retirement. It can also mean that a person is beaten and defeated, but that they will shortly be in ascension again – though not in a way exactly under their control.
Both would also make a lot of sense here.
Also there’s the King of Swords itself, which stands for “mental clarity, intellectual power, authority and truth”, but when inverted can also mean “misuse of power” and “manipulation”. All of which seem relevant. Especially because Zoss seems to be stating that the King of Swords needs to stand down. He doesn’t expect Alison to take his mantle and continue his work; he wants her to take a different direction, to something that he himself, as King of Swords, is not fit to do.
The question, of course, is what is that thing he wants Allison to do. But maybe he doesn’t really know himself, and that’s why he isn’t more specific (?)
Zoss’s expression in panel four: “Yes, boy, that is my point”
everyone’s surprised KSBD’s got one book left when it’s been running since 2013
The deceptive power of patterns is strong. Easy to count the four demiurges not yet challenged in their own realms and assume a volume for each rather than watching the years or the growth of the story
Abbadon previously suggested that there would be six books. He must have decided to omit or abridge some parts of the arc.
Zoss calls on Allison to split the universe! No gods, no masters, self-determination and multiversal loneliness! In breaking, God’s centrifuge shall fling creation through the void like so many seeds thrown on a field; and like seeds free of their fruit, the worlds shall take root and grow! We love to see it (?)
Reminds me a whole lot of The Scattering from God Emperor of Dune. Humanity, so chained and burdened by the great Tyrant’s rule, suddenly exploding into the infinity of the galaxy, never to be chained by any single event, be it man or otherwise.
There is no strength in publicity and renown, if there is none to admire you. There is no strength in money if there is none to spend it on. There is no strength in the written law if there are none to govern. There is no strength behind the slashing blade if there are none to pierce. There is no strength in possession if there are none who will take you in. There is no strength in war if you have no one to wage it upon. You have no strength over others, other than the strength they give you themselves.
Huh. It’s hard to see everything being wrapped up in one or two books, unless some major time skips are going to be involved.
I suppose Allison could finish rescuing Zoss, declare victory, and go home, leaving the multiverse to do what it wilt.
Err Zaid. Finish rescuing Zaid. Who is definitely not Zoss, and will certainly not travel back in time to start the whole cycle over again at some point in the future.
I think your first instinct was correct, finish rescuing Zoss from the cycle of destruction he started. Very astute of you.
Hm. Nicely done, Abbadon — the King of Swords become the Ten of Swords (panel 7). Very nicely done indeed.
And is Metatron therefore the Hanged Man? He’s always drawn head-down. Both the forward and reverse meanings of that card seem relevant.
I see a Ten of Swords. The dire tarot.
“Sooth’d with the sound, the king grew vain;
Fought all his battles o’er again;
And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain!
The master saw the madness rise,
His glowing cheeks, his ardent eyes;
And while he Heav’n and earth defy’d,
Chang’d his hand, and check’d his pride.”
Kingdoms, empires, crowns, and swords…
All come to Ash in the end. Even the Great Zoss knew this. The top of the Wheel is Fire, the bottom is Ash ever ground down flat to crush all Potential within. To break it means to toss all such away…
and perhaps something new will finally sprout from the Ash.
What if the real ROYALTY was the friends we made along the way?
A thousand eyes can look, for one that can see…
A king is only such because they are carried aloft by their many subjects. Allison will rise above and be borne by those she trusts with her burden.
The sword is an ugly piece of metal and its adherents idiots.
Only the worst kind of idiot strives to be king.
What does that make a King of Swords?
An Idiot Sandwich.
All of the moments in which Zoss appears in feel so powerful, he has such an imposing presence and his dialogue is just CHEF’S KISS
One wonders if the inside of the Wheel has an inscription, much like a old tale I’ve heard before. “Just know, This too shall pass.” Words that brighten the darkest day, and blot the brightest sun all the same.
Huh. Incubus’ eyes have turned almost solid red.
That can’t be good.