King of Swords 10-172
Yem Yeddo was astonished, and a great terror overwhelmed him. He was a quick and cowardly man, and fled. The people rejoiced and the granaries were broken open. The bodies of the tyrannical lord’s men were burned without rites and stomped upon. Flour was dragged forth by the sackful, the well Intra dug was quickly filled with fresh water and reinforced with stone, and soon many loaves of bread were emerging, steaming, from his oven. A goat was slaughtered and a great feast was had.
“Thankyou for the hospitality,” said Intra, when the night had grown long. “I will not impose upon you any longer.”
The populace were desperate for him to stay. “Lord Intra,” said they, “Yem Yeddo may yet return, with more men!”
“That is true,” said Intra, “And that I cannot help with you. But remember, men like him have forgotten their mothers. Their feet do not touch the earth, and they grasp at feeble things. They are like a mangy dog fighting over a fetid corpse. They have forgotten that with their brothers, working together, they could bring down a magnificent ox.”
He reached down and picked a goodly sized rock from the floor of the valley.
“This valley is broad and beautiful. It may have one Yem Yeddo, but it contains many more stones.”
– The Song of Maybe
the only just rule is one chosen by the people for the betterment of the people. an tús!
The Mandate of Heaven.
The people’s will.
For all the bad press and misunderstanding that Machiavelli has gotten, he had a lot more in common with Lao Zi then most these days would give him credit for.
The Tyrant, The Champion, The Beast, The People, The Empire, The Throne, The Wheel, every soul too gaze upon an open gate now knows:
Anyone can change. And, even Solomon “The Untouchable” bleeds.
The Tyrant, The Champion, The Beast, The People, The Empire, The Throne, The Wheel, every soul to gaze upon an open gate believes in the lies of society (Gog-Agog).
Gog-Agog is the beast.
“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”
Niccolo Machiavelli, (or it might have been The Purple Sage but I think it was Machiavelli.)
Thou art God, and I am God, and together we are God, and all that groks is God.
The only right to govern derives from a mandate of those governed; a mandate given from a position of informed consent and free choice. Monty Python wasn’t just making funny noises, you know.
This must be the boldest request in the history of Creation, bringing low the Celestial Emperor far more effectively than any sharpened blade or clenched fist. The Diamond will refuse to be cut, and he will shatter. Lots more blood to be spilled this day, yes.
The guy will take the offer on a heart beat and leave faster than my dad did when he said he was gonna buy cigarettes.
I came back eventually, and you said you were gonna let that go!
An unsurprising request, to be certain. Let us see how honorable the Emperor really is, shall we?
Pride and honor are often at odds with one another. I’m interested as well.
same. i have so much hope in my heart that he’ll actually do the right thing???
but also i’m scared that bruise might be an ego metaphor 😰
No.
Get the hell outta here, Bob.
and what would you prefer, lmao
anyways, i thought you were banned? guess that changed.
Anyone can say they’re Bob.
Aye lets hope he declines. Change for the sake of change is pretty silly when you think about it. Especially when dealing with the amount people in his part of the universe – alot of lives disrupted to satisfy WCs ego – good thing she’s no angel any more 😛
It’s not really change for the sake of change though? He’s a dictator and a tyrant, and like White Chain says, whenever he dies he’s created a kingdom that is not made to exist or grow without him. Other than the fact that he has a ~pretty city~ we have no reason to believe Solomon David is any less cruel or exploitative than the other demiurges, do we? I mean, we know he holds a semi-annual tournament that’s all about grinding people to dust, he just exploded a bunch of people a few pages ago.
Except all of his people absolutely adore him. And he crushed people who were greedy beyond their means. He gave them a choice, and they chose poorly.
I don’t understand all the hate Solomon gets.
Adore him? What makes you think that? They’re desperate to prove their worth to him, but they were glad to see someone stand up to him, glad to see him finally take a hit.
“Those people took an opportunity he presented them knowing that they would be helpless and completely unprepared. How could we blame him for murdering hundreds of people who were just following the rules he set?”
I think actually that being a dictator in the midst of conquering a seventh of the universe who slaughters hundreds of people to protect his ego is bad.
he’s not watching over every one of his worlds though is he? Even if we assume the “best” about his ruling style- say that every one of his worlds is essentially run like this one, AND that his laws are perfectly “just” insofar as they can be (both big assumptions)- it’s still a state made up of conquered lands, with an enforced culture, or lack thereof, and an apparent hierarchy, such that even minor leaders within his own capital city can easily end up whipping their workers as if they were slaves unless he’s literally there in person to stop them. I can’t imagine his tens of thousands other worlds would be faring much better under this power structure. Maybe Solomon does have some high minded ideals about personal rights for his citizens, but it’s clear he considers the state apparatus they live under to be even more important to his success as a ruler, and his empire’s success as an empire. He believes that above all, the most important thing for his country’s well-being is the maintenance of some kind of strict order, and he achieves that by promoting his own worship, and emulation. But the exact character of that emulation matters less than the fact itself- as long as each citizen *thinks* they’re acting in his image, then the empire is unified in a way no other section of the universe is, and he can more or less rest easy in the knowledge that he’s done better than anyone else has at this job. He would argue that, despite any obvious flaws, this is obviously the best *realistically* possible scenario for the largest number of his people. White Chain just knows the truth that none of those people were made in his image at all, and as long as they all labor under the idea that they were, nothing will ever get better, and none of them will ever rly be free, yknow? thats how i read it anyway
I think there’s a reason these pages are above stories of Intra. Both were unquestionably powerful, both killed- Just, so many people. But, one did it to rule, and the other to build.
Intra is not an allegory for Solomon David, Yem Yeddo is.
Intra might be powerful, but he rules nothing but himself. The parable of Intra and the stones is one that teaches us that the might of the people is always grander than the power of a tyrant, and should there be more tyrants or should they try to return, this fact of life doesn’t change. Solomon’s empire can do better without him, for the greatest might lies in people coming together to help one another, not in the hands of the kings. While Intra has defeated Yeddo on his own, following his example the people can ensure any future would-be tyrant or Yeddo trying to return will be dealt with by the many stones of the earth.
This has to be the single most impressive case of missing the point of a story in the history of humankind. Please, read the recentmost parable of Intra once again. Solomon David is Yem Yeddo, and so is every other demiurge. And the multiverse is full of stones. There can be no freedom and no happiness while the few exploit the many for the sake of building shiny capitols on their favored hills, decorated with nought but plundered wealth.
As stubborn and prideful, and as fragile and doomed, as Solomon David himself.
Zaid has a little brown flame? And Nyaeve has one too???
Also ugh i can never spell Nyave’s name right 🙁
She actually manifested it before when they were discussing in their godhead home about their decisions to go to the tournament to rescue Zaid
I remember that, but I was terrified that it was actually an indication that she was A-Gog’d.
Zaid’s is purple.
I guess it makes sense. We do not know exactly what happened to Zahid, but we do know he had one hell of a trip, and I imagine that forges your soul.
Note that Solomon David’s flame has gone out.
I disagree that it’s “gone out” (and all that implies) so much as “it’s been tempered” (and all that implies).
Solemn Dave has always been my fav of the demiurges, and here I think I see him growing moreso. The next few pages will tell.
every single one of these flames makes sense to me except nyave’s. zaid has a dim little black (purple) flame, like a human should. cio and princess have black flames. white chain and vigilant gaze have white flames. alison has cool uncle gilgamesh he-man’s key to the universe.
but nyave’s flame is… green?
… 😰
Tiddies out so you know she’s serious.
Interesting that she’s clad the same as Solidus Denarius: bared chest, robed from the waist to the ankles. Is it because they are equals here?
Come to think of it, Vigilant Gaze also has the titty-out-long-white-skirt look going right now. It’s like it means something…
I mean, the sun’s out, and big lumps of fat can get pretty warm.
A bare chest and covered legs is apparently common garb among men here. White Chain has labored under a male or quasi-masculine identity for eons. Why start covering her chest now that she’s “out”, I guess?
The whole match between White Chain and Solomon felt like Solomon was mirroring her styles and stances. Solomon was beating her at her own game, at her BEST, as a way of crushing her, letting her know her best wasn’t good enough. It was an attempt to utterly crush her spirit, as well as crush any onlookers.
And now White Chain is mirroring Solomon. It’s his tactic, but subverted in the name of the underdog. It’s brilliant visual storytelling.
And the curtain’s were blue, too
i was gonna contest this cos she’s had her tits out for like 98% of the comic but thats about how much shes been serious too so
She didn’t have tits for most of the comic.
“Encased within a shell of stone” is about as not-out as you can get…
It’s an artistic allusion, I think. “Liberty Leading the People” is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X of France, featuring a bare-breasted woman leading an assault. It’s used on YouTube to illustrate “Storm the Bastille” by The Angels.
bare-chested *is* white chain’s classical look… 😌
Starring Intra in the Conquest of Bread
This comic has some great LGBT representation, and now Intra is giving us that LGTB representation.
That seems to be a very good joke that I’ve missed. Do you mind explaining it to me? Again, sorry to bother.
“Let’s Get That Bread”
Upon further reflection and research it seems that “let’s get this/that bread” is actually primarily a meme about working hard to earn an income and not, as I had been exposed to it, a reference to “The Conquest of Bread” by Peter Kropotkin, which is how it is generally used in anarcho-communist circles.
Well, he’s not stupid. Like White Chain says, he knows this. The question is, can a practically-immortal control-freak sole-survivor-and-literal-sire-of-an-entire-nation give up that control, that thing that has driven him over these many long centuries?
I recall that the start of this arc begins with a gathering of “advisors” in a chamber, and the topic of discussion (apparently an old, well-worn and very raw one) is the topic of the emperor’s succession, and that he has not named a successor. The conversation goes poorly, and remains unresolved.
Well. Maybe it’s time he resolved it.
Solomon David witnessed the impossible; an angel learning and changing. One might perhaps think “Can I, a practically-immortal control-freak sole-survivor-and-literal-sire-of-an-entire-nation, also learn and change?”
Or perhaps not…
Ohhhhhhhh I just realized something. If he gives up the throne then White Chain will become empress, as she became heir to the throne when she “won”
Thelo, you need to more carefully read what WC is saying. She is saying specifically that he give up ruling so his people can grow and rule themselves. For her to take the throne in his place is exactly the opposite of that.
Quick question,
Since Rayuba was entirely destroyed and Solomon David rebuilt it, *DID* he sire the entire “new native” people of this planet? Or did he just bring people from around the multiverse or survivors of the Rayuban diaspora, and his bloodline is relegated to his small council?
The People’s Law is the only just law. The People’s Rule is the only just rule. But how to contest with Empire? There can be no People’s Empire, it is neither just nor lawful. At the heart of the matter is Power, in all its facets. How does Power, as wielded thus far by one man, behave in the hands of the People?
I hope for peace.
“Empire” is just a term used to describe a large nation made up of multiple lands and territories. Its not bound by a particular type of government.
Apart from the inherent constraints of forging a large nation out of multiple lands and territories who may not be equally enthusiastic about the prospect.
They are gonna be impaled by a red army and Gog-Agog will be there to offer “salvation” to those willing to eat her worms.
Remember that she planned all of this.
I really appreciate the realism done with Scooby Doo on the last panel. It looks really nice. Also democracy is cool.
I hope Dave accepts this. This is his one chance to be based.
Yo even Zaid and Nyave are manifesting a soul flame!
One does not need a key of kings to be royalty.
And Cio, and Princess!
The problem with handing control over to the people in a multiverse where Gog Agog exists is that you need to implement some sort of anti-worm safeguard or eventually your society will be controlled by Gogs Agog. I think that the intricacies of the safeguards for democratic societies in this universe are beyond the scope of this comic, but it is something to think about.
holy fuck I just realized Gog-Agog’s name doesn’t just come from Mag and Magog, it comes from “Demagogue”.
*Gog and Magog
aye and in world where you cannot clench forever and hundress of thousands of other universes are led by immortals who wish to conquer you. Slaves do not learn to be the masters of their fates on the first day of freedom. Some learned years before and for most it requires years. Decolonization is a process not an instant.
So they are gonna be dismembered by everyone else until they learn how master their new powers, assuming of course your nice neighbor Gog-Agog, who is right there btw, is just gonna let them.
Well anyway in either case, is no longer Solomon’s problem, he is just keeping his word.
No one is saying Solomon can’t help them in the process.
Also, you need a way to prevent Gog-Agog from taking over even with an absolute monarchy. Even if the immortal ruler is untouchable, that doesn’t mean their subjects are and a kingdom is made of its subjects, not its rulers.
so Solomon as a protector, but not ruler? the risk of sentient worm infiltration is notably less when at any time the god emperor might show up and start blasting. or is it like the blood hot needle test in The Thing, but testing for gog agog? That would be pleasing to see
THE MASS REMEMBERS. THE MASS IS IMMORTAL. THE MASS ALWAYS WINS.
I appreciate the Problem Sleuth reference in the alt text.
Apologies if this posts twice. It did not seem to take on my first attempt.
I second this sentiment.
When one man would carry the whole world on his shoulders, when he stumbles the entire world shall shake and fall, broken.
The fate of the world is a burden born best by the multitude, the collective.
Tiddies our for justice!
Her eyes are stone grey. The last vestige of her past body.
Hell yeah, strength beyond strength.
That about covers it. Glad there’s more to come …
White Chain has made an executive decision of this being a Tits Out occasion
A great many stones indeed ::3
I love the fact that the scope and breadth of the soul flame shows the relative power levels of the characters. I think that the colours are also telling of the morality of the characters as well… which brings forth some fascinating ruminations on the associations of colours, divinity… also I hear in her ask the echos of the Sumerian, Eritrean, Indus, and Mayan elders… and it makes me so deeply sad.
Could you dive deeper into the elders thing? I have heard no such thing.
Wow, that’s gotta be the best speech of the entire series so far. The team certainly seems to think so; EVERYONE’S soul flames are manifesting. I guess you could say they’re…
Fired up.
PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES
PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES
PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES
PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES
PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES
Oh! Pardon. This was supposed to be a comment, not a reply.
But please say yes. I’m sure someone is asking.
ok, us guess so. As tha’s askin nicelike.
I look from afar at the situation next to a way back to Throne, but a cleverly placed, well-refracted ice golem animated by the White and Red Arts does help as far as seeing what’s going on without being seen in turn. (I *believe* that that shouldn’t be against the Empire’s laws?)
I hope that at least this tournament’s drink contract will be honored in the new regime should he accept, and that the social unrest should he not not be sufficient to prevent its fulfillment.
Be warned, though: the worm WILL react should he give up power. I would advise everyone to have an emergency exit ready if possible.
Nonsense! as if your good neighbor Gog-Agog would go and take advantage of a bunch of amateurs coming into possession of absolute power which they don’t know how to use, and that will only equal hers if they all work in unison.
She is clearly just leave them alone, maybe give them a hand while they stabilize, make sure all the other factions wont make any moves on them, you know, since she is so nice.
My Dear 2 Bob Utterly Fails At Reading Comprehension Despite Picking A New Name And Topic To Bellow About,
Gog was there before Solomon got hit. Gog had at minimum three bodies present, and half of the crowd was Gog. Even if you get your wet dream and Salami Deposed keeps his throne and goes on a multi-panel screed about why, and breaking character and message of the story to do so, the gang acquiesces, Gog will still be there, doing the same shit you’re yammering about. Silent Daddy doesn’t have more than the current agreement between the Seven protecting his precious Celestial Empire from whatever propaganda Gog wants to use, and he and his squabbling sons know it. And that’s assuming the Agreement doesn’t just go to one of 77 adjacent hells.
Whether it gets yet larger I don’t know, but it’s a new posse. It needs a name.