Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #8 Discussion

[grendeljd]

If anyone would like to hear our OTV:VCR podcast discussing/reviewing this issue (& Adv. of Archer & Armstrong #4), please follow the link;

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr69/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to any who listen in

[nonplayer]

Listening right now. Absolutely hilarious 69'th episode "softcore"
I loved wrath today.

[greg]

Great book this week!

[grendeljd]

Great book this week!

Agreed!!

Loved the tone of it - the writing & visuals (of this arc & the last two-parter) have been top notch. The creative team has been firing on all cylinders the last 4 issues!

Very intrigued by what will happen with Kalam... Is he going to try and cross over to the real world? What happened to him when The Sovereign took him away thousands of years ago? Did he do something to him back then that will come into play here in the present day? This book has me eagerly anticipating the next issue.

[jmatt]

Very intrigued by what will happen with Kalam... Is he going to try and cross over to the real world? What happened to him when The Sovereign took him away thousands of years ago? Did he do something to him back then that will come into play here in the present day? This book has me eagerly anticipating the next issue.

Yeah, Kalam was not in the background of the panel the last time Gillie departed...

Good issue.

[Phoenix8008]

Very intrigued by what will happen with Kalam... Is he going to try and cross over to the real world? What happened to him when The Sovereign took him away thousands of years ago? Did he do something to him back then that will come into play here in the present day? This book has me eagerly anticipating the next issue.

Yeah, Kalam was not in the background of the panel the last time Gillie departed...

Good issue.

I just reread it this morning and noticed that. Didn't catch it on the first read-through. Can Kalam make it through the Demon gauntlet? Maybe if he's got enough arrows, he seems to be a near perfect archer. Since Gilad didn't seem to bump into him on his last time through, I'd guess that means Kalam either made it out, or he got captured by the big boss demon who is prepping to use him as bait to lure Gilad into a better trap. Be more interesting to see Kalam alive again and helping Gilad out against the Immortal Enemy that kidnapped him originally though.

[grendeljd]

Very intrigued by what will happen with Kalam... Is he going to try and cross over to the real world? What happened to him when The Sovereign took him away thousands of years ago? Did he do something to him back then that will come into play here in the present day? This book has me eagerly anticipating the next issue.

Yeah, Kalam was not in the background of the panel the last time Gillie departed...

Good issue.

I just reread it this morning and noticed that. Didn't catch it on the first read-through. Can Kalam make it through the Demon gauntlet? Maybe if he's got enough arrows, he seems to be a near perfect archer. Since Gilad didn't seem to bump into him on his last time through, I'd guess that means Kalam either made it out, or he got captured by the big boss demon who is prepping to use him as bait to lure Gilad into a better trap. Be more interesting to see Kalam alive again and helping Gilad out against the Immortal Enemy that kidnapped him originally though.

Cool theory about the demon kidnapping... That brings up another point of interest to me though - we specifically didn't see Gilad run through the demon gauntlet to the iron gate. That may have been for brevity's sake, but it made me wonder if perhaps there are other routes, other gates to pass through back into the land of the living for Gilad. Perhaps he doesn't have to go through that specific path every single time he dies? I kind of had that impression in the first arc, like he was somehow lured into the demon realm path that time, and only a few times before in his past...

[Phoenix8008]

Very intrigued by what will happen with Kalam... Is he going to try and cross over to the real world? What happened to him when The Sovereign took him away thousands of years ago? Did he do something to him back then that will come into play here in the present day? This book has me eagerly anticipating the next issue.

Yeah, Kalam was not in the background of the panel the last time Gillie departed...

Good issue.

I just reread it this morning and noticed that. Didn't catch it on the first read-through. Can Kalam make it through the Demon gauntlet? Maybe if he's got enough arrows, he seems to be a near perfect archer. Since Gilad didn't seem to bump into him on his last time through, I'd guess that means Kalam either made it out, or he got captured by the big boss demon who is prepping to use him as bait to lure Gilad into a better trap. Be more interesting to see Kalam alive again and helping Gilad out against the Immortal Enemy that kidnapped him originally though.

Cool theory about the demon kidnapping... That brings up another point of interest to me though - we specifically didn't see Gilad run through the demon gauntlet to the iron gate. That may have been for brevity's sake, but it made me wonder if perhaps there are other routes, other gates to pass through back into the land of the living for Gilad. Perhaps he doesn't have to go through that specific path every single time he dies? I kind of had that impression in the first arc, like he was somehow lured into the demon realm path that time, and only a few times before in his past...

I think that he DOES have to run that gauntlet every time. I think this is why they spent the first whole story arc covering this happening in full detail so that we understand what he has to go through each time. I think in this issue, they very cleverly showed a speeding up of the whole process by cutting out more and more of the process and such between the death and the resurrection.

[Keith]

Great issue, really loving this arc.

I am trying to piece together the big "Ah-hah!" moment Gilad arrived at. Was it that he noticed the magical creature he fought was able to do damage to the labyrinth when Gilad wasn't? So he figured adding the magic on top of his breakout attempt would allow him to break out?

[grendeljd]

Great issue, really loving this arc.

I am trying to piece together the big "Ah-hah!" moment Gilad arrived at. Was it that he noticed the magical creature he fought was able to do damage to the labyrinth when Gilad wasn't? So he figured adding the magic on top of his breakout attempt would allow him to break out?

Yeah, thats it. I think the Manticore's spikes were able to penetrate through its own magic sigils on the wall in that one panel, and Gilad observed it. Love how he then punched the ground to drive the spike further into his hand to hide it, & then allowed himself to be eaten/killed right away as well. Talk about being a quick thinker to formulate a quick plan like that in an instant.

[nonplayer]

It would be neet if there was a connection between calam and war monger. I could see calam being mad about being born a woman.

[Thomas]

I wonder how time works when Gilad is dead. Since Gilad was in such a hurry, does that mean that time is the same in death as it is in life? I guess so, otherwise it wouldn't make sense for him to hurry so much.

[Phoenix8008]

I also love that they referenced Linton March (from the Dr. Mirage books) as their Magical specialist/contractor whom they used to load some summoning magics into the labyrinth. Another great inter-book tie-in point to strengthen the weave of the connected universe!

[jmatt]

I wonder how time works when Gilad is dead. Since Gilad was in such a hurry, does that mean that time is the same in death as it is in life? I guess so, otherwise it wouldn't make sense for him to hurry so much.

I was thinking the same thing. I also wondered that if he simply didn't go back and waited til the sovereign disposed of his body, he could just reawaken someplace else. But then, the Sovereign could have completely destroyed his body by then.

So, I guess it's time to ponder this, I don't think we've talked about it yet. It' an obvious point but since this whole afterworld gig is new for the character it's worth noting: If his body is destroyed, there's no coming back.

If he is eaten by an animal or drowned at the bottom of the sea (and stays there) or incinerated by fire, it's game over.

I guess the same was true for VH1 Gillie, but this afterworld thing is a new wrinkle on that.

I would also venture to guess that if he's been killed many times before, he has certainly been buried by comrades. I guess, judging by his strength in the Labyrinthe holding chamber, that he's strong enough to bust out of a coffin and dig his way to the surface.

Now a really evil villain, knowing this, could do something diabolical and bury him in an unbreakable steel and cement coffin. He would reawaken but be forever trapped in it.

[Dallow Spicer1]

Great issue, both story and art.

I'd like there to be more consistency of writing this character, his ability to heal and his powers in general. For example in Unity zero he had his legs blown off (from memory) and it appeared on the last page that it would take him months to regrow limbs. I think this is a much more interesting constraint on his abilities.

In another issue of Unity, Kindt wrote Gilad being able to jump out of a plane from a great height without breaking his legs, I'm less keen on him having 'super strength' of some sort. A minor bug bear about VEI characters is that they can be almost 'over powered' to the point where they can't be in any serious danger eg Armstrong not being hurt by arrows in his eyes

Hopefully Vditti will clarify this kind of thing during his run on the character.

Looking forward to next issue 4.5/5

[jmatt]

A minor bug bear about VEI characters is that they can be almost 'over powered' to the point where they can't be in any serious danger eg Armstrong not being hurt by arrows in his eyes

We once saw Aram with a hole the size of a cannonball blown through his face and out the back of his head. I think it was when Archer was being revealed as a psiot.

[Dallow Spicer1]

A minor bug bear about VEI characters is that they can be almost 'over powered' to the point where they can't be in any serious danger eg Armstrong not being hurt by arrows in his eyes

We once saw Aram with a hole the size of a cannonball blown through his face and out the back of his head. I think it was when Archer was being revealed as a psiot.

Did he just shake it off like it was nothing?

I don't have a problem with the healing ability so much, it's more the lack of consequences which bugs me. The healing should be slower, I think it would make for more interesting reading.

[jmatt]

A minor bug bear about VEI characters is that they can be almost 'over powered' to the point where they can't be in any serious danger eg Armstrong not being hurt by arrows in his eyes

We once saw Aram with a hole the size of a cannonball blown through his face and out the back of his head. I think it was when Archer was being revealed as a psiot.

Did he just shake it off like it was nothing?

My memory is that it was kind of a gag moment. We got a view through the back of his head and the villain seen on the other side gaping incredulously. I may be misremembering. But I don't recall a long healing period.

[Dallow Spicer1]

A minor bug bear about VEI characters is that they can be almost 'over powered' to the point where they can't be in any serious danger eg Armstrong not being hurt by arrows in his eyes

We once saw Aram with a hole the size of a cannonball blown through his face and out the back of his head. I think it was when Archer was being revealed as a psiot.

Did he just shake it off like it was nothing?

My memory is that it was kind of a gag moment. We got a view through the back of his head and the villain seen on the other side gaping incredulously. I may be misremembering. But I don't recall a long healing period.

Yeah, this is exactly the kind of thing which didn't work for me with FVL's run on A&A. Too many many throwaway moments without consideration for the longer term consequences/explanations. I know this wasn't always the case with his writing (really enjoyed LOTG) but too much of it for my taste.

[Ramses818]

And remember Aram, Ivar and Gilad seem to be different as was mentioned by Ivar in A&A. good issue for sure. Obviously Kalam will be a big reveal, I think even ... Well I will hold for a bit on that one...lol

[Phoenix8008]

And remember Aram, Ivar and Gilad seem to be different as was mentioned by Ivar in A&A. good issue for sure. Obviously Kalam will be a big reveal, I think even ... Well I will hold for a bit on that one...lol

Here's my question. IF Kalam left the realm of the dead and went through the gauntlet to be resurrected... How/Why was he ABLE to do so? Gilad is able to because the Earth grants him that boon in return for his service. No matter if Kalam was capable of fighting through the gauntlet or not, he shouldn't be able to be resurrected like Gilad unless the Earth (or some other force/House) gives him the ability to.

[jmatt]

I would agree. Although we don't know if he left, if he did return to Earth that's gonna take some explaining.

[Brother Darque]

This is my favorite valiant book out right now.

[jeremycoe]

Just read it, it was a great issue. I love the pacing.

[slack]

Kalam was already gone when we saw Gilad go past the target tree. That means he already made it through, he's been demon captured but hasn't been used as bait yet, or something else maybe.