Final Quest #19

The cover and synopsis is up on Dark Horse
https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/28-260/ElfQuest-The-Final-Quest-19

What do you think?
The little palace?

nah, it's the trial thingy (head, heart something) :-)

That feels like a cop out. How would that spell doom for the palace elves? Well, you never know. Also the ancient wrong quest seems to be over and Cutter is back to normal. Sounds a lot like a spirit quest of some sort. Something about coming to terms with the two sided personality

Misc I was thinking the same thing. Why would that be in the story at this point, though? It feels like this story is bouncing all over the place.
Good to see Kimo on the cover, though!

The little palace would almost seem too obvious. Also, they just left it behind and forgot about it? That does not make sense...Maybe it's the sun symbol on top of the collapsed bridge?

We never learned where Aurek's little egg ended up after Kahvi had left the Troll caves.

... tho this wasn't a story told by Mrs. Pini. Makes it rather unlikely ...

Or something else Yurek made?

Really. If she wants to kill of the Palace elves that badly she could easily have the soldiers storm the Palace. They could likely break down the walls and start a new massacre that would make Strongest Man proud. 
No new dull plot ideas needed.

For me the only way to give "death" a meaning again - a meaning that leaves some impact - would be to kill off elfin souls. Would they vanish if the Palace is destroyed? What can extinct a soul?

I rather hope it's something new, actually. I'm bored with the humans being the perpetual bad guys. It would have been interesting if the elves had developed a relationship with Shuna's new tribes-- but they didn't. We barely saw them. I liked the interaction between Korafaye and the old man-- that was cool. A little more of that kind of thing would have created more of a contrast between these groups and the Djun-- and made the invasion more dramatic. As it is, it feels... a touch redundant? I don't see why the humans are such a big deal. The elves can just move. They really ought to. They can go anywhere in the world-- so why are they sitting there and waiting for this to happen? Why not just take off?

In this case, I fully agree with Timmain-- they have no business fighting.

Unless they had a relationship with the humans of that continent-- then they might have a moral obligation to defend them or fight alongside them.

If the Talismen were something we hadn't seen before-- I would like that. Now that I think about it... wasn't Savah holding the little Palace when Sunstream, Skywise and Timmain first picked the Sunfolk up? (from the cave they were living in?) Why would she leave it there? Otherwise-- I can't imagine what else it might be. I'd love to be surprised by something.

Door probably is closer to Sorrow's End than to where the Palace is, though. So if he's coming for the Little Palace-- that kind of makes sense.

@Embala-- I think death still has meaning-- even if spirits do live on. They don't live on in the same way or the same form. Think about it this way.. Lots of people are religious. They believe in God. They believe in a soul. But when someone dies, it's still tragic for them-- even if they do believe the person is not lost and they will be reunited. Why would it not be the same for the elves?

Take Ruffel for example. Skywise can maybe go commune with her and feel her flitting about. But he can never sit down and really have a conversation with her again-- or romp with her in a field of flowers. That's over and done with-- never to come back ever. The closest analogy I can think of.. it's like breaking up with someone you used to date and only ever interacting with them again on facebook.

howler monkey wrote:

That feels like a cop out. How would that spell doom for the palace elves? Well, you never know. Also the ancient wrong quest seems to be over and Cutter is back to normal. Sounds a lot like a spirit quest of some sort. Something about coming to terms with the two sided personality

I thought it was obvious that I'm joking

Miss Gillespie wrote:

howler monkey wrote:

That feels like a cop out. How would that spell doom for the palace elves? Well, you never know. Also the ancient wrong quest seems to be over and Cutter is back to normal. Sounds a lot like a spirit quest of some sort. Something about coming to terms with the two sided personality

I thought it was obvious that I'm joking

Well, if Savah's people did become the fungus elves, maybe there was something they had that Savah's family took with them when they left. Something that Savah had in her hut and didn't realize the significance of. It isn't too far-fetched to think that it could be that thing that Rayek threw at Cutter to challenge him. (Plus, it's final quest - nothing's off the table.) Maybe it's a soul-cutter, and they will use it to sever Cutter and Timmain's souls. (Sorry, I don't know why the final quest keeps making me think of the Golden Compass lately.)

Doesn't the area where Rayek and Daboi are look like the area around Sorrow's End? It's kind of weird, I thought they needed to go to the Troll tunnels. Now they are going to Sorrow's End. It's like a big scavenger hunt.

Lunakat wrote:

@Embala-- I think death still has meaning-- even if spirits do live on. They don't live on in the same way or the same form. Think about it this way.. Lots of people are religious. They believe in God. They believe in a soul. But when someone dies, it's still tragic for them-- even if they do believe the person is not lost and they will be reunited. Why would it not be the same for the elves?

I know what you mean, Luna. Though religion is not the best example in my case XD ... More than once I'd wished to strangle the priest on a funeral. But I know that the belief in an afterlife is a big comfort for some people. For me it's just a cheap promise - not true. The part that really irks me is this "God in his wisdom has taken ..." and that everything is better in heaven. Pretty much what happened with the spirit sphere in EQ.

Don't get me wrong - the KNOWLEDGE of an afterlife, of an surviving soul, was one of the parts of EQ I really liked. There was even contact possible between living elves and spirits. And I've loved those scenes.
Nevertheless we saw elves grieving for the loss of loved ones - for the loss of a daily life mate, the loss of touch, the loss of sharing joy and hardship. Well balanced.
Even the "death-seeking trait of the Go-Backs made sense. They basically were born to fight and win back something of immense importance for them. Their attitude helped them to live, fight and die.

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Take Ruffel for example. Skywise can maybe go commune with her and feel her flitting about. But he can never sit down and really have a conversation with her again-- or romp with her in a field of flowers. That's over and done with-- never to come back ever.

Ruffel's death was possibly the last one that had some impact for me. Because we see Skywise grief. Because the WRs were not actually familiar with the spirit sphere at that time. And Moonshade even "overreacted" to this death.

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The closest analogy I can think of.. it's like breaking up with someone you used to date and only ever interacting with them again on facebook.

I like your analogy, Luna. It illustrates your point well. Still - it is somehow differrent with the Elves. They can send. They can touch minds. They did it in life - and can do it with the spirits. Sending transports feelings. They can most probably show what they have seen and done much more livelier than any talk on facebook. You are still right - a physical touch, the actual exitement of hunting together, the fun in the furs is no longer possible. They will miss it. It should show.

But it hardly does. Krim decides to die because her expiery date has been outrun. XD A useless death - most interset was: I want to have a fun fight and a really great story to be told! (for me it was a really great fail - tho I LOVE how the death scene is drawn!).
And Pike agrees like a loving elf should do, huh? ... and after the obligatory howling he's like: My lifemates moved to Australia. I'll moove to New Zealand for easier visits.
Kahvi, Skot and Krim demonstrate how totally COOL the spirit life is - I bet they have even a substitute for the roll in the furs. ^^
The elf tribes and loners that might or micht not struggle, fight and die on their way to the Palace? Nevermind - they must do so to be sure they want. And btw - if they die on the way their spirits will find us anyway. Here - this brave spirit made it.

And that's where I wanted to strangle Timmain ... tho there's at least more proved truth in her words than in the real life priests sermon.
This might be just Timmain's pov - but we do not see any opposition. No discussions. Besides Skywise ... he's the "everyone must become immortal and live with me forever in the Palace" guy with the deathphobia. (I exaggerate XD) And he's obviously wrong *points at fight with Cutter*

The point is - I get the feeling that the author wants to tell me that life or death does not matter. It's the same - spirit life might even be greater.
After the "This is Final Quest. We will break all rules. Nothing stays as it was." the "But her brave spirit made it (so everything is good)" line made me drop out emotionally. The first one made me stop speculate ... the second one made me stop caring.

I'm aware that I kind of overreacted to those simple lines. It's like an allergy that suddenly caused an anaphylaxis.
There's still the possibility that my view on it is totally wrong. That the last chapter proves how much death cares and that all this was a misinterpretation or a clever red herring and and and ...

I doubt that it would change a lot for me. I'm like a runner who got lost on the way and after some effort to find back on the track I sit in a inn now, drinking bear and waiting for the news to tell me who the winners are.
I still LOVE my "old" ElfQuest. I still like enough of the FQ that I'll follow. And it's the only comic universe that inspires me. But now it's a kind of factual interest instead of passionate anticipation, paired with nostalgic loyality and the longing for completation.

Outlier wrote:

Maybe it's a soul-cutter, and they will use it to sever Cutter and Timmain's souls.

*Holds up hand*
If it is, can we please use it on Winnowill.

Thanks Embala for your writing on how the idea of death evolved in EQ, very clear and funny. It sums up how I feel about it better than I could have.

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And Pike agrees like a loving elf should do, huh? ... and after the obligatory howling he's like: My lifemates moved to Australia. I'll moove to New Zealand for easier visits.

I disagree about Pike. I think Pike respected Krim's decision to sacrifice herself and die a warrior's death in the custom of her people-- just like Skot and Vaya did. But he definitely grieved. He was miserable over it. And that didn't have to do with the Palace. It had to do with Go Backs.

Elwing wrote:

The little palace would almost seem too obvious. Also, they just left it behind and forgot about it? That does not make sense...Maybe it's the sun symbol on top of the collapsed bridge?

I would second that. Today I discovered that there are some new character pages on Elfquest.com from November 2016: http://elfquest.com/tag/elves/
Among others two sunfolk rockshapers: Tekshu and Alekah, who made the sun symbol. Coincidence?

The other new characters are mainly go-backs (I think some of them will be canon fodder against the Djunslander army...) and two jackwolf riders
Halek and Dodia (Door is on his way some where and who did he recognize...? Dodia ) and Thiro, Leetah's dead lovemate. (They also could have been added because of the Complete Elfquest volume-3,  which was released shortly before and contains HY1-5,8-9.5.

Actually the little Palace most likely have been left back:

- Ahdri ran away with the Little Palace in her arms over the Bridge of Destiny. She was shot and near death she seeked refuge in a cave behind the sun symbol and sealed it with her rockshaper magic.
- Then the Palace picked up the Sunfolk who dwelled underground. No sign nor hint that the Little Palace was recovered at some point.
- Several years later Ahdri's cocoon was found by Treestump - she was dragged along by the Misfit Trolls. The Little Palace would be still in that cave - or obtained by those Trolls.
- Last not least there are the Rebels finding the Little Palace in the original cave - whatever this means nowadays.

Still no clue how this can count as an ancient bad, though. It seems to have happened in comparably recent past.


Interesting observations, LurkingCat. Alekah and Tekshu point to Sorrow's End again. I vaguely remember that Yurek "has merged his spirit with the rocks" around SE (or something along this line). Windkin sensed something near the sun symbol he has mistaken for Ahdri's spirit. An echo of Ahdri's magic ... or something else? And - didn't Suntop catch a strange sending from underground Sorrow's End (after the Sunfolk was rescued)?

There's a thought ... maybe splitting off the Little Palace was the "ancient wrong"? It happened before the time jump. Maybe it was no issue as long as the two parts existed in the same time ... but a problem after the Palace was spirited away into the future?
The spirits go to the Palace and exist there. Do they "live" in the substance of the Palace ... or even form it? Can each shard of it hold a spirit or more? Would the spirits split with the shards?
Can it be that some spirits (or slivers of their souls) were isolated in The Little Palace - suffered and maybe turned foul?


P.S. Thanks for the link, LurkingCat. Makes it much easier to update the character threads!

That's interesting. Maybe the path to sorrows end is through the vault?

But then why not just have a palace pod fly everyone there... Never mind, that idea makes no sense. Forget it.

Or... Maybe the trolls found the little palace and it's in the vault? Except-- aren't the frozen mountain trolls different than the ones who went for Ahdri? Yeah-- those were the holt trolls. Never mind again.

Since there is a new ... seemingly almighty? ... "Troll Chief" of unknown origin - are there any rules left from the past?

I've stopped trying to give answers. All I can do (in case I'm inspired by a tribemate's thoughts) is asking more questions.