White Chain raises a hell of a good point. Zoss was exactly the kind of person everyone else on these forums wants Allison to be – a peerless ruler, thinker, and strategist. And in spite of all these things, Throne didn’t magically turn into paradise after the wheel was broken. If anything, it got worse.
How much “pain, ruin, and misfortune” is worth it? It’s a very dangerous line of thought to excuse any amount of suffering and misery for an outcome that may never be.
The good thing is, Allison seems to be taking the middle ground. She’s not letting herself be ruled by emotions or rash action, nor is she letting complacency or inaction slow her down. She learned a valuable lesson in the ring and won’t forget it anytime soon.
She doesn’t want the guy back, she thinks that she is saving him from this “cruel” fate the guy didn’t sign himself for and she thinks it’s her fault for him landing here and becoming of what he has become. That he is her responsibility to save.
And that is her mistake cause the guy I bet is enjoying the life here more than being cheap used bf for 2 weeks or whatever he was doing home in that moment in time. He became a hero of his own story here, a right hand to a God of a country.
I think if he would explain Alisson that she doesn’t owe him anything at all and he is not her responsibility and that she should live her own life however she wants that would actually let her move forward the most.
Honestly what the connection these two have, Allison choose him to lose her virginity with cause her friends were doing it and she just wanted to be like normal people, and that is a first mistake of reasoning of doing it like that in the first place.
Allisson needs a cold shower from the guy, I wouldn’t be even surprised if he just wants the power given back to him cause it’s rightfully his, or maybe he will think it’s better for it to be with Allisson seeing how she growed up.
One way or another Allisson needs to resolve this issue to be able to freely move forward with what she wants to do.
Nasty Gods around don’t help at all.
Zaid is not Solomon’s right hand: he’s the bait Solomon is putting out for Allison, and as far as he know he’s isn’t even pretending to keep him for any other purpose.
I can imagine his daily life. Lavishly decorated rooms with barred windows, polite escorts ordered to kill him at the first sign of defiance, delightful servants watching his every move…
Truly, Solomon is spoiling his prisoner. I mean pupil.
Kill him? Kill him?! Surely a madness has come upon you. All other things he may be — all other insults you may throw at the Demiurge Solomon, he is a man of his law. If Zaid is his ward, then there is no safer being in the multiverse.
Still. He would be wise not to try the Demiurge’s patience.
Zaid obviously ISN’T enjoying his time with Solomon. He doesn’t look any happier than he did a year ago when he had just been ‘thawed out’ so to speak. A golden cage is still a cage. Plus, he was worried about Alison, but I don’t fancy his chances to escape and go look for her – if he even had a clue where to look.
White Chain is a policeman, and policemen enforce the law. They do not make the law. And for heaven’s sake, they do not decide who is fit to rule! Tread carefully, angel.
White Chain arrests people and delivers them to jail and higher authorities. That sounds like a policeman, not a politician or a priest, doesn’t it? And violence follows White Chain around like a lonesome puppy, some peacekeeper!
Usually does, though. Absolute monarchy isn’t usually considered a great form of government, from the perspective of being good for the people or from the perspective of being functional as a nation.
I guess I still haven’t figured out just how it all slipped the reigns on Zoss. Supposedly Throne was a paradise for a long time, as other enlightened souls managed to make their way to Throne, and Zoss was there waiting for them. But enough immortal, or at least long-lived, demigods concentrated in one place eventually broke down into feuding and then outright war, and Zoss… didn’t feel like it was his place to step in? Were there just so many of them that he unilaterally trying to enforce order would’ve seen him simply swamped under them all as they unify long enough to reject central authority?
It’s a mystery because we still know so little about Zoss’ character other than his power. We know nothing about his motivations or desires or even his level of involvement in his rule.
Maybe he just saw the war as an extension of his “might makes right” philosophy, maybe he was just too apathetic to involve himself in keeping his empire together, or maybe he did try and failed, before going back into hiding?
If he just didn’t want to stop his age of paradise from disintegrating, that seems at odds with him helping build that golden age to begin with. But if he couldn’t, that raises some questions about just how powerful Zoss really was. This inconsistency is perplexing.
Very true. Also, when Allison was breaking into Yre, he said something about having thought that ‘this cycle would end differently.’ Has all this happened before? Are they all stuck in a Groundhog Day loop? Or was he talking about the first and second Conquest? Or something completely different?
One thing I have learned in my work is those that acknowledge that a plan may not work are those best suited to ensuring it does. The ability to see flaws is not too dissimilar to that of destroying them.
Curious to see where this goes and how she might equalize her position amongst the competition.
If Allison can make it through the tournament, that’s pretty much it. She’s in the 1% of the 1% of the 1% of warriors after a mere year. Sky’s the limit.
A parable from our world for the young lady:
“Power does not corrupt – it reveals who you truly are.”
We have seen this in some cases. Meti, revealed to be a pacifist. Mottom, revealed to be a tyrant. We haven’t yet seen Allison in the full flower of her power, but there are signs that it could cut either way, as all good swords do.
We can’t say for sure what young Allison will do with it, but we’ll see who she truly is under everything that’s happened to her.
And yet, Preem Machine, we see that answer to the question of power in Solomon David. He views every gleaming stone, every content peasant, every dutiful son as a burden.
And is no less monstrous for that fact, for he will not suffer his children’s attempts to bear that weight.
Terrible perhaps in how a storm is terrible, powerful and awe inspiring. But look at his worlds. The populace is educated and happy, the rule of law instead of an ever changing personality cult at the whim of a god. Perhaps the only flaw in his statehood is that he is still at the head of it, as seen by his citizens pushing themselves unreasonably out of their wish to impress him when Solomon would rather they treated themselves as more valuable.
Assuming he is truthful in his wish to give up temporal power so that he could proceed on his path to enlightenment, then is being stuck here out of fear for what might to all you love in your absence and your not unreasonable estimation that only you are powerful enough to protect the nation really enough to make you a villain?
Educated. Happy. And frozen. forever, as children, even as age curves their bones and leeches the color from their beards, because their father has bent all his godly will to prevent their maturity.
To enter adulthood is to learn the cost of your own mistakes. To fail, and to suffer, and to learn through that suffering how to endure and continue. No subject of Solomon David shall ever know that agony, for if they overstep even a little, out of affection for their father, he will be there to chide them, and take up their burdens for them, and send them home in shame.
He despises the terrible weight of the empire he has built, to be sure. Twenty-five generations of failures and weaklings, chaining him to Rayuba with blood and marble. But the alternative is permitting his children to make the same mistakes he made, in order to learn from them.
And Solomon David would burn the universe to ash if it would preserve the temple that is his pain.
Learn to delegate, my lovelies. Be you demiurge or mere guildsman, this story always ends badly otherwise.
Brings to mind a news story I heard yesterday about the death of Robert Mugabe. He was a huge hero for his leadership of the overthrow of the apartheid government of Rhodesia, then became just as much of a monster in the following years as the leader of Zimbabwe. Power corrupts absolutely.
I’ve never bought into that phrase. Arguably power polarizes absolutely, power magnifies weakness absolutely, but corrupts? If there is any corruption, it was there before power gave it opportunity.
And who’s really entirely free of corruption? The best part of democracy is that it turfs out rulers periodically, hopefully before they’ve had time to be corrupted fully.
It is said of Chairman Mao, “Had he died in 1956, he would have been a legendary hero. Had he died in 1966, he would have been a tragic figure. But he died in 1976, what shall we say of him now?”
Allison’s reluctance to follow in the footsteps of the despots that have gone before her is definitely her primary strength. She will be a great ruler thanks to her reluctance to rule. Like Siddartha who gave up his privelege in order to gain enlightenment, I think Allison will also forge an unexpected path.
You make a fair point, White Chain, but on the other hand consider this: what kind of person _could_ do a good job of ruling this hellhole of a Multiverse? And do you know _anyone_ like that?
From what we’ve seen of YISUN and all those gods that came after Them, I don’t think even they would do a better job. Even if they weren’t all, you know, dead.
I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS. The page is called “The Life Cut”, it’s something “dangerous” that they “might not like” and which “might not work”, and yet it gives them the best chances if they’re “going to win”. Giving White Chain her key or a piece of it fulfills all those criteria.
WC would become boss as all heck, I don’t think an angel has ever wielded a key before. Angels supposedly cannot or should not wield a key of kings; it’s never been done before. But Cio has proven that non-humans and servants can wield a key.
Additionally, White Chain was charged with keeping the key safe until it could be given to the true heir. I think if White Chain receives the key, they’ll be reluctant to part with it, and will wonder what their moral duty is with the key. Hence the alt-text, “Once the palm grips the sword, it tends to make lifelong friends with the hilt”. White chain will receive the Key of Kings, will be reluctant to relinquish it, and unsure what the correct action is.
It also works because it will show Allison acting *differently* than the 7, who are collectively “character foils” for her (i.e., Mottom with her self-pity and victim mentality vs Allison’s motivation to choose the route of King, Mammon with his stagnation and hoarding vs Allison’s ability to grow and let go of the past, and in this arc, Solomon’s INDEPENDENCE vs Allison’s ability to have strength in teamwork).
It’s an interesting thought. I’m not clear on how key sharing works. If Allison starts making emissaries, is she dividing up her power? Can she copy as much as she likes, but her recipients *can’t* because they don’t have the master? What if she wants to revoke it?
Well, she is a demiurge so it makes sense she could pass out portions of her key. But the question is, after she gives a third to White Chain and a third to Cio, how long before Cio goes totally bat-shit insane again?
Or perhaps she’s going to go tell auntie Maya what she thinks about death and get some training in Sword Arts? The caption and alt text are very sword themed.
White Chain is, after all, a double agent here. We’ll see if this arc ends with Allison winning Chain fully over, like she did with Cio in the previous one…
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White Chain raises a hell of a good point. Zoss was exactly the kind of person everyone else on these forums wants Allison to be – a peerless ruler, thinker, and strategist. And in spite of all these things, Throne didn’t magically turn into paradise after the wheel was broken. If anything, it got worse.
How much “pain, ruin, and misfortune” is worth it? It’s a very dangerous line of thought to excuse any amount of suffering and misery for an outcome that may never be.
The good thing is, Allison seems to be taking the middle ground. She’s not letting herself be ruled by emotions or rash action, nor is she letting complacency or inaction slow her down. She learned a valuable lesson in the ring and won’t forget it anytime soon.
I doubt Allison wants to rule, though. She just wants the guy back.
… well, it’s a moot point anyhow. She’ll pull through.
She doesn’t want the guy back, she thinks that she is saving him from this “cruel” fate the guy didn’t sign himself for and she thinks it’s her fault for him landing here and becoming of what he has become. That he is her responsibility to save.
And that is her mistake cause the guy I bet is enjoying the life here more than being cheap used bf for 2 weeks or whatever he was doing home in that moment in time. He became a hero of his own story here, a right hand to a God of a country.
I think if he would explain Alisson that she doesn’t owe him anything at all and he is not her responsibility and that she should live her own life however she wants that would actually let her move forward the most.
Honestly what the connection these two have, Allison choose him to lose her virginity with cause her friends were doing it and she just wanted to be like normal people, and that is a first mistake of reasoning of doing it like that in the first place.
Allisson needs a cold shower from the guy, I wouldn’t be even surprised if he just wants the power given back to him cause it’s rightfully his, or maybe he will think it’s better for it to be with Allisson seeing how she growed up.
One way or another Allisson needs to resolve this issue to be able to freely move forward with what she wants to do.
Nasty Gods around don’t help at all.
Zaid is not Solomon’s right hand: he’s the bait Solomon is putting out for Allison, and as far as he know he’s isn’t even pretending to keep him for any other purpose.
I can imagine his daily life. Lavishly decorated rooms with barred windows, polite escorts ordered to kill him at the first sign of defiance, delightful servants watching his every move…
Truly, Solomon is spoiling his prisoner. I mean pupil.
Kill him? Kill him?! Surely a madness has come upon you. All other things he may be — all other insults you may throw at the Demiurge Solomon, he is a man of his law. If Zaid is his ward, then there is no safer being in the multiverse.
Still. He would be wise not to try the Demiurge’s patience.
Zaid obviously ISN’T enjoying his time with Solomon. He doesn’t look any happier than he did a year ago when he had just been ‘thawed out’ so to speak. A golden cage is still a cage. Plus, he was worried about Alison, but I don’t fancy his chances to escape and go look for her – if he even had a clue where to look.
What are the odds that he recognized the Alison Ruth in Arena Four as the girl whose bra he was fiddling with a year ago?
White Chain is a policeman, and policemen enforce the law. They do not make the law. And for heaven’s sake, they do not decide who is fit to rule! Tread carefully, angel.
Not a policeman.
A peacekeeper.
White Chain arrests people and delivers them to jail and higher authorities. That sounds like a policeman, not a politician or a priest, doesn’t it? And violence follows White Chain around like a lonesome puppy, some peacekeeper!
They struggle against the violence inherent in the system, despite the fact that we carved it into their soul with a chisel.
Sounding awfully autocratic there…
Royalism?
In my K6BD???
Acting like monarchism is grounds to ignore your advisors is a mistake King Joffrey would make. Royalty doesn’t necessarily mean stupidity.
Usually does, though. Absolute monarchy isn’t usually considered a great form of government, from the perspective of being good for the people or from the perspective of being functional as a nation.
I guess I still haven’t figured out just how it all slipped the reigns on Zoss. Supposedly Throne was a paradise for a long time, as other enlightened souls managed to make their way to Throne, and Zoss was there waiting for them. But enough immortal, or at least long-lived, demigods concentrated in one place eventually broke down into feuding and then outright war, and Zoss… didn’t feel like it was his place to step in? Were there just so many of them that he unilaterally trying to enforce order would’ve seen him simply swamped under them all as they unify long enough to reject central authority?
It’s a mystery because we still know so little about Zoss’ character other than his power. We know nothing about his motivations or desires or even his level of involvement in his rule.
Maybe he just saw the war as an extension of his “might makes right” philosophy, maybe he was just too apathetic to involve himself in keeping his empire together, or maybe he did try and failed, before going back into hiding?
If he just didn’t want to stop his age of paradise from disintegrating, that seems at odds with him helping build that golden age to begin with. But if he couldn’t, that raises some questions about just how powerful Zoss really was. This inconsistency is perplexing.
Very true. Also, when Allison was breaking into Yre, he said something about having thought that ‘this cycle would end differently.’ Has all this happened before? Are they all stuck in a Groundhog Day loop? Or was he talking about the first and second Conquest? Or something completely different?
The reason Zoss chose her is because shes not most of those things….but she might just be the person to break the chain.
One thing I have learned in my work is those that acknowledge that a plan may not work are those best suited to ensuring it does. The ability to see flaws is not too dissimilar to that of destroying them.
“Million-to-one chances…crop up nine times out of ten.” – Terry Pratchett
Tonight: the break-in!
She grows up so fast
Curious to see where this goes and how she might equalize her position amongst the competition.
If Allison can make it through the tournament, that’s pretty much it. She’s in the 1% of the 1% of the 1% of warriors after a mere year. Sky’s the limit.
A parable from our world for the young lady:
“Power does not corrupt – it reveals who you truly are.”
We have seen this in some cases. Meti, revealed to be a pacifist. Mottom, revealed to be a tyrant. We haven’t yet seen Allison in the full flower of her power, but there are signs that it could cut either way, as all good swords do.
We can’t say for sure what young Allison will do with it, but we’ll see who she truly is under everything that’s happened to her.
Fear those who seek power, for power will be their master.
Only those upon whom power is a burden have a chance of breaking the chain of tyranny.
And yet, Preem Machine, we see that answer to the question of power in Solomon David. He views every gleaming stone, every content peasant, every dutiful son as a burden.
And is no less monstrous for that fact, for he will not suffer his children’s attempts to bear that weight.
Solomon David is a good man. And a terrible king.
Terrible perhaps in how a storm is terrible, powerful and awe inspiring. But look at his worlds. The populace is educated and happy, the rule of law instead of an ever changing personality cult at the whim of a god. Perhaps the only flaw in his statehood is that he is still at the head of it, as seen by his citizens pushing themselves unreasonably out of their wish to impress him when Solomon would rather they treated themselves as more valuable.
Assuming he is truthful in his wish to give up temporal power so that he could proceed on his path to enlightenment, then is being stuck here out of fear for what might to all you love in your absence and your not unreasonable estimation that only you are powerful enough to protect the nation really enough to make you a villain?
and for all that, he continues to open the gates;
he continues the Conquest.
Educated. Happy. And frozen. forever, as children, even as age curves their bones and leeches the color from their beards, because their father has bent all his godly will to prevent their maturity.
To enter adulthood is to learn the cost of your own mistakes. To fail, and to suffer, and to learn through that suffering how to endure and continue. No subject of Solomon David shall ever know that agony, for if they overstep even a little, out of affection for their father, he will be there to chide them, and take up their burdens for them, and send them home in shame.
He despises the terrible weight of the empire he has built, to be sure. Twenty-five generations of failures and weaklings, chaining him to Rayuba with blood and marble. But the alternative is permitting his children to make the same mistakes he made, in order to learn from them.
And Solomon David would burn the universe to ash if it would preserve the temple that is his pain.
Learn to delegate, my lovelies. Be you demiurge or mere guildsman, this story always ends badly otherwise.
Ah, the classic dilemma. The hero you want during the revolution is often not the leader you want after.
This.
Allison is currently like a female Che Guevara, and that is not meant as a compliment.
Brings to mind a news story I heard yesterday about the death of Robert Mugabe. He was a huge hero for his leadership of the overthrow of the apartheid government of Rhodesia, then became just as much of a monster in the following years as the leader of Zimbabwe. Power corrupts absolutely.
I’ve never bought into that phrase. Arguably power polarizes absolutely, power magnifies weakness absolutely, but corrupts? If there is any corruption, it was there before power gave it opportunity.
And who’s really entirely free of corruption? The best part of democracy is that it turfs out rulers periodically, hopefully before they’ve had time to be corrupted fully.
Politicians are like diapers.
They need to be changed often and for the same reason.
It is said of Chairman Mao, “Had he died in 1956, he would have been a legendary hero. Had he died in 1966, he would have been a tragic figure. But he died in 1976, what shall we say of him now?”
Time for some shenanigans it seems. Wear a helmet, this may get bumpy
Allison’s reluctance to follow in the footsteps of the despots that have gone before her is definitely her primary strength. She will be a great ruler thanks to her reluctance to rule. Like Siddartha who gave up his privelege in order to gain enlightenment, I think Allison will also forge an unexpected path.
The superior in chair
warns to measure, cut with care
it’s sharp if it’ll shave a hair
Cut Once,
(sebenza, micarta, damascus, impinda)
this is axiomatic.
You make a fair point, White Chain, but on the other hand consider this: what kind of person _could_ do a good job of ruling this hellhole of a Multiverse? And do you know _anyone_ like that?
…Yeah, I didn’t think so.
I was going to go with ‘Rule, maybe. Manage? Not without a great deal of supervision.”
From what we’ve seen of YISUN and all those gods that came after Them, I don’t think even they would do a better job. Even if they weren’t all, you know, dead.
Truth.
I think she’s going to give a subkey to White Chain. The final panel emphasized the hole in White Chain’s forhead where it would go.
Alternatively, she might try just …walking up and asking to talk with Zaid
I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS. The page is called “The Life Cut”, it’s something “dangerous” that they “might not like” and which “might not work”, and yet it gives them the best chances if they’re “going to win”. Giving White Chain her key or a piece of it fulfills all those criteria.
WC would become boss as all heck, I don’t think an angel has ever wielded a key before. Angels supposedly cannot or should not wield a key of kings; it’s never been done before. But Cio has proven that non-humans and servants can wield a key.
Additionally, White Chain was charged with keeping the key safe until it could be given to the true heir. I think if White Chain receives the key, they’ll be reluctant to part with it, and will wonder what their moral duty is with the key. Hence the alt-text, “Once the palm grips the sword, it tends to make lifelong friends with the hilt”. White chain will receive the Key of Kings, will be reluctant to relinquish it, and unsure what the correct action is.
It also works because it will show Allison acting *differently* than the 7, who are collectively “character foils” for her (i.e., Mottom with her self-pity and victim mentality vs Allison’s motivation to choose the route of King, Mammon with his stagnation and hoarding vs Allison’s ability to grow and let go of the past, and in this arc, Solomon’s INDEPENDENCE vs Allison’s ability to have strength in teamwork).
Does allison no longer own a t shirt?
Royalty knows no shirts.
Suns out; guns out.
Meld with thy Lord Gog Agog
Embrace her lovingly
And let thy beauty erupt
To flow in rivulets of ecstasy
Prediction: White Chain is going to receive an offer of a Key.
It’s an interesting thought. I’m not clear on how key sharing works. If Allison starts making emissaries, is she dividing up her power? Can she copy as much as she likes, but her recipients *can’t* because they don’t have the master? What if she wants to revoke it?
Well, she is a demiurge so it makes sense she could pass out portions of her key. But the question is, after she gives a third to White Chain and a third to Cio, how long before Cio goes totally bat-shit insane again?
Or perhaps she’s going to go tell auntie Maya what she thinks about death and get some training in Sword Arts? The caption and alt text are very sword themed.
I am proud of you, Allison! You’ve grown wiser whilst still remaining yourself.
Why do I get the distinct feeling that, while Alison sees White Chain as a friend, the feeling is NOT mutual?
White Chain is, after all, a double agent here. We’ll see if this arc ends with Allison winning Chain fully over, like she did with Cio in the previous one…
I will preemptively say that this is a terrible idea but nothing better appears feasible.
In accordance with the way of things.
“Nearly All Men Can Stand Adversity, But If You Want To Test a Man’s Character, Give Him Power.” -Abraham Lincoln
Is this the same Zaid from all times previous? How/why has he come by his new candor? Grizzled is not an easily acquired countenance.
Best girl all in green, old stoney face with the red tinged eye – I am beginning to think things may not quite be as they seem.
Mind you, it is mushroom season…
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Great heroes make for ill rulers, and, similarly, the reverse is also true.