Final Quest #15 - Delayed.

I'm wondering why they waited ten years. They waited ten years to decide to answer the call? That's some indecision. I just assumed Reef shaped them both tails and was going to shape them both legs when they got there.

They are millennia old, tho, right? Maybe they wanted to be sure.

Besides, I have a feeling hat the call is basically a nagging constant. Or maybe the desire just snuck up on them. I have had things snuck up on me... including my gender identity.

10 years is a long time, immortal or not. I always likened the call to recognition for some. They had to follow it. While others didn't seem particularly drawn at all.
And then there is someone like Shenshen who made a solid decision, or even Kimo also, and are happier with their own choices instead of the stupid call (btw those two are probably my favorite FQ story arcs, and probably the most worthwhile, with interesting twists. The rest is just masticated bits of new age stuff as far as I am concerned).

Anyway, I always felt The whole concept of the call is just ridiculous. Sending out to other elves and once again, it is Cutter who finds another tribe all on his own. It makes Suntop/sunstream look very expendible imo.

Yes- This is my problem with it basically. Cutter set out to find new elves and gave himself a year on foot. Ultimately-- in that time, he found two new tribes, the forest Savah's people came from, the preservers and the Palace. And he fights a war. Suntop psychically contacts every elf on the planet instantly-- and in ten years, only four people show up-- and one of them is Aurek. Oh right-- and the Go Backs. So we get three new people in ten years. That's it. Where is everybody?

To be honest, given the elves' long lifespan and low reproductive rate(I theorize that, had the forest not burnt down and barring any unlikely bursts of fertility, the wolfriders wouldn't have lasted much longer), that they haven't become more populous isn't exactly impossible. What I find confusing is that the Go Backs didn't inherit the earth, so to speak. They have the advantage of both toughness and a higher fertility rate. You'd expect them to at least have a few off shoots.

I don't even know what to say about the latest issue... Where as before all the stories (previous to Final Quest) felt tightly weaved - this feels so sporadic and chaotic... At least this issue, not everyone is thin as a twig - Nightfall seems fuller, the way she should be, as do most of the others... the whole Dum-Guy or whatever that silent humming elf is - proved to be a colossal disappointment (as I expected)...

Something that really saddens me was how angry Ember got at Daboi.
He was tortured! He didn't want to betray the Wolfriders, he didn't want to tell the humans where to find the elves. He didn't even want to become ship's surgeon, he just wanted to be able to live his life in peace, helping people in the best way he could.
I guess it just saddens me to see Ember react like this because I identify so strongly with her, yet I can't identify with someone being so unforgiving.

And, oh Rayek. Ekuar isn't betraying you. He's trying to save you. From Winnowill, and from yourself.


Then there was the sudden random nakedness.

Erh, Ember's comment doesn't surprised me at all.

I honestly thought Dre-Ahn was offering up himself to get devoured by the tree elves.
I'm honestly surprised that didn't happen.

Shadowpath wrote:

Erh, Ember's comment doesn't surprised me at all.

I honestly thought Dre-Ahn was offering up himself to get devouvered by the tree elves.
I'm honestly surprised that didn't happen.

Maybe even disappointed

Ember said something sharp after she realized that one of the people she(unwilling) took in had betrayed not only her but what basically amounts to her entire species, and she's disappointing.

But Rayek kills a bunch of people and the Wavedancers sit by and allow a genocide to take place, and we're apparently cool with that, okay.

Actually-- I'm cool with it, cus the guys on the ships were just randomly killing villagers. I don't see why Venka didn't let Rayek wipe them all out. I mean, yeah, the Winnowil thing, but still...

I don't really have a problem with killing all those guys.

kathleen3.0 wrote:

Ember said something sharp after she realized that one of the people she(unwilling) took in had betrayed not only her but what basically amounts to her entire species, and she's disappointing.

But Rayek kills a bunch of people and the Wavedancers sit by and allow a genocide to take place, and we're apparently cool with that, okay.

Don't think the Wavedancers could have stopped Rayek. None of them really had the power, and the one who might was (almost) literally scared out of his skin by the presence of Winnowill. At least the skin he was wearing at the moment.



Besides; Daboi didn't want to betray the elves, he was tortured into doing it. Moreover, Ember was actually suggesting that they should've killed a child!
But of course, Ember regretting that they didn't kill Daboi when time was, fits rather nicely with Cutter regretting that he didn't kill Rayek when time was back in KoBW.

Miss Gillespie wrote:

Shadowpath wrote:

Erh, Ember's comment doesn't surprised me at all.

I honestly thought Dre-Ahn was offering up himself to get devoured by the tree elves.
I'm honestly surprised that didn't happen.

Maybe even disappointed

No.

I'm waiting for Teir to take a good hard look at Dre-Ahn and then serve him a lawsuit for copyright infringement and identity theft. Look at the evidence:

- inscrutable "mysterious stranger" schtick
- ability to soothe any creature by "making them match his own calm" in a maybe-magic/maybe-mundane way
- long dark braids in front of ears, vaguely "stereotypical Native American" leather fashion sense.
- long straight nose, shaggy eyebrows
- implied Go-Back heritage

Original!Teir's "Hidden Years" appearance TO THE LIFE!

(I'm being trying to be cool about it, but this ish was the last straw. First Teir gets Flanderized into a neurotic mess who "kills the trusting" animals by making them suicidal, then this Teir-knockoff shows up and steals all his Mysterious Stranger mojo, and now steals his powers of "calming predators with his indefinable awesomeness"??!)

... Original!Teir could have calmed the Fungoids AND kept his pants on, just sayin'...

Do we know how many issues Final Quest is running? Because, I am 15 issues in - and not sure I can commit to much more.

wingthing wrote:

I'm waiting for Teir to take a good hard look at Dre-Ahn and then serve him a lawsuit for copyright infringement and identity theft. Look at the evidence:

- inscrutable "mysterious stranger" schtick
- ability to soothe any creature by "making them match his own calm" in a maybe-magic/maybe-mundane way
- long dark braids in front of ears, vaguely "stereotypical Native American" leather fashion sense.
- long straight nose, shaggy eyebrows
- implied Go-Back heritage

Original!Teir's "Hidden Years" appearance TO THE LIFE!

(I'm being trying to be cool about it, but this ish was the last straw. First Teir gets Flanderized into a neurotic mess who "kills the trusting" animals by making them suicidal, then this Teir-knockoff shows up and steals all his Mysterious Stranger mojo, and now steals his powers of "calming predators with his indefinable awesomeness"??!)  

... Original!Teir could have calmed the Fungoids AND kept his pants on, just sayin'...

you should weave something like this into the Alternaverse and have Teir clean house. :p just sayin. that's probably the only way you'll get retribution for Teir. cause god knows Wendy won't.

kathleen3.0 wrote:

Ember said something sharp after she realized that one of the people she(unwilling) took in had betrayed not only her but what basically amounts to her entire species, and she's disappointing.

But Rayek kills a bunch of people and the Wavedancers sit by and allow a genocide to take place, and we're apparently cool with that, okay.

I think that's a harsher take on it than I had intended. You make it sound like I said she is a disappointment. I'm disappointed that she'd talk so casually about killing an innocent child but I understand it as a moment of anger and PROBABLY hyperbole.

Whereas yeah, I don't really have much problem with Rayek defending the village of humans from the Djun's men. Attacking an attacking force is hardly committing genocide. Unless you're referring to the Wavedancers sitting on their hands while the Djunsmen attack the humans - in which case, I guess we don't hold them to the same competency standards as the mainline tribes and characters. I don't think there's much they could have done.

Going back to Moonshade for a minute: she's past the point of "nourishing her soul" and is just burying herself in dung, IMO. Heh.

Yeah- I'm with you on this Manga!

wingthing wrote:

I'm waiting for Teir to take a good hard look at Dre-Ahn and then serve him a lawsuit for copyright infringement and identity theft. Look at the evidence:

- inscrutable "mysterious stranger" schtick
- ability to soothe any creature by "making them match his own calm" in a maybe-magic/maybe-mundane way
- long dark braids in front of ears, vaguely "stereotypical Native American" leather fashion sense.
- long straight nose, shaggy eyebrows
- implied Go-Back heritage

Original!Teir's "Hidden Years" appearance TO THE LIFE!

(I'm being trying to be cool about it, but this ish was the last straw. First Teir gets Flanderized into a neurotic mess who "kills the trusting" animals by making them suicidal, then this Teir-knockoff shows up and steals all his Mysterious Stranger mojo, and now steals his powers of "calming predators with his indefinable awesomeness"??!)  

... Original!Teir could have calmed the Fungoids AND kept his pants on, just sayin'...

(The ordering of my responses to your points are in no way chronological)

A: I wouldn't say Teir is a 'neurotic mess'. Sure, he was a bit besides himself in the beginning of FQ, which is rather understandable considering that he first was reminded rather suddenly of the long-buried memories of his mother leaving him, then on top of it all had to deal with the sickness of Recognition denied and act as chief for the tribe.

B: When was it ever implied that Dre-Ahn has Go-Back heritage?

C: I don't think Teir could've calmed them. His magic, or whatever it is, works with animals hence why the Wolfriders instantly trusted him. On the other hand, his powers most definitely did not work on the only two pureblooded elves in Ember's tribe at the time, so why should they work on this tribe of pureblooded elves?

D: The 'mysterious stranger' schtick can't really be used for Teir anymore. He's not mysterious and he's not a stranger.

Redhead Ember wrote:

(The ordering of my responses to your points are in no way chronological)

A: I wouldn't say Teir is a 'neurotic mess'. Sure, he was a bit besides himself in the beginning of FQ, which is rather understandable considering that he first was reminded rather suddenly of the long-buried memories of his mother leaving him, then on top of it all had to deal with the sickness of Recognition denied and act as chief for the tribe.

B: When was it ever implied that Dre-Ahn has Go-Back heritage?

C: I don't think Teir could've calmed them. His magic, or whatever it is, works with animals hence why the Wolfriders instantly trusted him. On the other hand, his powers most definitely did not work on the only two pureblooded elves in Ember's tribe at the time, so why should they work on this tribe of pureblooded elves?

D: The 'mysterious stranger' schtick can't really be used for Teir anymore. He's not mysterious and he's not a stranger.

My point is, Wendy lifted Joellyn's Teir and basically reintroduced him as Dre-Ahn, while completely changing Teirs personality.

A. Compared to Teir as Joellyn wrote him, New!Teir is way more emotionally volatile. original Teir even took exile in stride (after one brief shouting match with Ember). If you compare his behaviour even to that aborted Recognition Summer Special, his reactions now are downright hysterical. original Teir was never that easily upset.

B. Dre-Ahn sure looks more Go-Backy that any other tribe. His physical appearance and fashion sense aligned him with Go Backs or some offshoot of proto Go Backs. More tellingly, he looks an awful lot like We day's loveamtes calendar pic of Teir.

C. Leetah liked Teir just fine until she realized Ember was falling for him. Then she self-retconned a distrust of him. But my point is that "magic to somehow make himself *feel* like he animals he's interacting with" is awfully close to "powers of making all creature he sings to *feel* like he is one of them".

D. Hence why I said Original Teir from Hidden Years. You couldn't go two panels without being reminded how different and mysterious he was, just like now with Dre-Ahn.

Ma Be Dre Ahn is going to turn out to be Tier's adopted brother or something

A: Again, the only time Teir was acting hysterical was during the whole losing Holt and Ember captured crisis.
He's acting pretty chill about things now, simply stating to fact that they need to get the two halves of the tribe back together to fight the humans.

B: Maybe he just 'looks Go-Back' because that's the look we've come to associate with Go-Backs. Doesn't mean he's actually related to the Go-Backs, just like Moonshade 'looking Sunfolk' doesn't make her related to the Sunfolk.

C

Leetah wrote:

Ember, think! We all liked him at first... save Skywise and your mother.

http://elfquest.com/read/index.php?s=HYC&p=34

D: Now "HYTeir" is the annoying one?
Besides, maybe he wasn't really like that, all cool, back then. Maybe he just acted like that as a survival mechanism. The years he spent with Ember's tribe finally teaching him that it's okay to have emotional outbursts every now-and-then.

Lunakat wrote:

Ma Be Dre Ahn is going to turn out to be Tier's adopted brother or something

Naah... I think he's just a completely random guy not related to anyone (closely related, that is.)
Though, I did very briefly get the crazy idea that he might actually be Dreen, but I'm pretty sure Savah would remember what happened to her adopted brother*.


*Dreen is described as Hassbet's adopted son, and since Hassbet was Savah's mother...

I just read it today and... Well, the plot is getting stranger and stranger.

Redhead Ember wrote:

C

Leetah wrote:

Ember, think! We all liked him at first... save Skywise and your mother.

http://elfquest.com/read/index.php?s=HYC&p=34

And yet, a few issues earlier, when they FIRST met Teir.

http://elfquest.com/read/index.php?s=HY/HY21&p=15

She's not saying she loves him, by any means, but she wasn't actively suspicious of him.... until Ember started spending too much time with him and Leetah's Mom Mode kicked in.