Final Quest #22

Embala wrote:

Lunakat wrote:

I liked it. It had some sad moments, some happy moments. In all, it had momentum and and the feeling of wrapping up the series that I guess this has all been headed for.

It's easy to join your view on it, Lunakat. Better worded than I would be able to.

I agree. I wasn't expecting Moonshade to die, so that came as a surprise.

Apparently next issue the war comes to Father Tree Holt. Given the "Lives are lost on both sides" part of blurb, i'm expecting to see more deaths.

Mirf is going to die. He has a name and he has family connections to one of the (somewhat more) major characters (just as Star Trek red shirts how this works).

Moonshade's death was "ironic"; she wanted to escape death and become immortal; but what a twist! she dies while her mortal husband stays alive

Spoiler:

Wendy commented on FB that this issue should be read slowly and carefully, not rushed. Did I miss something? I’ve read it through twice and I don’t get what she was talking about?

Stargazer wrote:

Spoiler:

Wendy commented on FB that this issue should be read slowly and carefully, not rushed. Did I miss something? I’ve read it through twice and I don’t get what she was talking about?

You missed nothing, Wendy just fancies her story to be deeper than it actually is.

I'm kinda baffled, that the palace leaves right at the moment when the elves decide to attack the humans. There is even time to look with googly eyes at 'high one' Skywise (who sheds all his clothes but his loincloth).

Hmm, I guess the tone of the story is off

Yes, I appreciated him keeping his underdaks on!

Daw, little Mirff baby.

This is the first issue in a looong time I enjoyed, and I still have tears on my face...

But my god, the pacing is SO off! I'm guessing Wendy kinda knew because of her advice, but seriously, reading a story that is paced so wrong slowly doesn't help!

This is what was done so beautifully with One-Eyes death; it was quick and intense, we had one moment in the battle where we saw Clearbrooks immediate reaction and then a long pause of reflection where it was still tense because there was just so much to deal with before she ran out of the snowcave with the denial and then we (seemingly) got our resolution. Clearbrook and us got time to process it after a big shock, we got the feeling of passing time, but with reminders of Clearbrook looking at the fire but the issue still focusing on the current lifethreatening situation of Cutter and after processing it we got a second situation that really drove the point across. It was strangely distanced and very relatable to how we deal with death irl. It was beautifully done, perfectly balanced with the main story.

With Moonshade it's like they just list up things that needs to be done and write it. I was totally saddened, but it didn't have the impact it should've had and could've had with proper editing, better pacing and integration of plots.

Ugh, anyway. At least something of substance happened. I'm very happy they all left already. I liked that Timmain took mortality with her, it's a little bit interesting (and could that be what Jink got rid of if that was her posing as Cutter in the future?). I liked that Leetah became mother of memory, and tho her outfit is rubbish, it does have a very "pregnant lady"-look about it. She's probably going to start showing soon or i dunno what is time when it comes to elfquest... I'm also very happy that Sunstream and Ember got that little extra goodbye, I'm glad Brill decided.... something.. I liked Mirff teasing (sunstreams cub indeed!), I reaaallly liked the long hair of high one Skywise

There's also a few things I've had issues with that they all tried to explain with more or less success:

-Skywise despite being the loftiest one of all the elves, still can't really see further than gender when it comes to Timmain and Tam. Still creepy that he doesn't know, but at least it's explained.
-Winnowills priority is to prove Rayek wrong, and sort of confirming that she is just as obsessed with him as he is with her now. Still very creepy that he keeps her against her will, but at least its' kinda explained why everyone lets him get away with it.
-We all knew Moonshade would probably be the one to die, but one of the biggest fears was that she would be punished for her choice. She did made her choice, and she did die, but it was really one moment of weakness that forced her make another one, and in the end her actual choice was death...

None of these things really erase the problematic issues tho, but at least there's plausable deniability within the universe... i guess....
(Moonshade was totally fridged for Strongbow tho. That was damn unecessary)

But am I the only one who kinda hoped that the ship would sink with all the people? It could've gotten the invaders some much needed motivation to go to war. I mean, I agree that it would be hard to make believable, but still... I could really need some motivation for the invaders just now.

Yeah, I managed to read it today!
All in all, I find this issue quite good. I even had wet eyes when Moonshade (a character I have never cared about) died.
And I think the art and coloring are way better than in the first issues.
I will almost miss it when it will be over.

About the babies, I mean that there are only two issues left, so even if we see them, we wouldn`t get to know them, if you understand? I already feel disapointed we didn`t really get to know Korafay, not really, she is just in the crowd, talking with Reef and others. She feels two dimentional to me, not like Ember, Sunstream, Tyleet, Dart, Venka and other cubs we got to see grow up. I get that not everyone can get the spotlight, but all these are cubs of main characters, and that is why I feel a little disapointed.

I skipped the last 3 issues, so I got to read them all in one go.  For me, this didn't really work a huge improvement in the pacing, but it made the experience of reading slightly less annoying.  Of the three, this issue suffered the least from pacing problems.  There was some genuinely nice art in those issues, some non-recycled panels that really showed that Wendy's still got "it."  

Leetah looking up at Savah when she becomes the new Mother of Memory was really lovely and so expressive.  The series of panels with Cutter and Rayek in profile was gorgeous (I really hate what's happened with Rayek and Winnowill, seems very contrived to keep Rayek suffering planet-side, but it looks great.)  Was it in this issue that Moonshade had the little smirk on her face when she heard the preservers?  That was the first time she's looked like herself in a loooong time.  And the panels with Moonshade saying goodbye to her kids were lovely too.

There is just so much that is inconsistent and doesn't make sense.  If you pull one loose string, the whole story unravels.  The elves are unbound by space and time, so why couldn't the palace travel the whole universe and return to the WoTM at the very instant they left? They can travel anywhere instantly in the astral plane, so why can't Moonshade visit Strongbow and her kids every day?  All the Wavedancers decided to stay except Brill?  Guess she doesn't mind leaving her twin and her daughter, especially after she longed for a child for thousands of years?  And she gets to "jump the line" into the palace without learning "the lesson of pain"?  Guess it pays to know someone.  They sunk the ship and then saved everyone?  What was the point of even showing that (also I love that so many people on here called it after reading the preview--hilarious!)  Dre-Ahn answered the call, but he's not going with the palace?  Yun is keeping a palace pod?  So we can't even have a few issues without the overpowered deus ex machina of the palace ruining things?  And as everyone's said, there's no real reason for the trolls to be on the palace?  As shown in FQ, the palace is less a spaceship that needs to be "kept running" than a magic crystal that runs on "spirit juice".  

Skywise STILL doesn't know about Cutter and Timmain?? Seriously? That just seems so wrong and the explanation is sooo retrograde.  How can soul meet soul in recognition without him realizing exactly who she is?  How long are they going to keep him in the dark and how betrayed will he feel when he finally figures it out?  Hey....maybe that's why Jink erases his memory of both Cutter and Timmain, so he forgets how they lied to him by omission.  Or maybe that whole futurequest storyline has been scrapped.  

The panel where Moonshade gets shot is striking.  That one sad little petal flying off her headdress... I suppose I'm just glad that her death was presented as her own choice at least.  It does strain credulity that she was just coming back for one last farewell (despite the fact that these two have been saying goodbye for hundreds of years at this point.)  I liked the detail of Clearbrook's grief--those two have been shown to be close friends since the beginning of the series and it was a nice callback.  

Dodia's son has the worst hairdo. Can he even use his arms?  Everyone who has long "palace hair" looks absurd.  The palace outfits are awful, but at least they're all gone now.

Chitter's outfit looked a bit like Moonshade's from SaBM, cool callback especially since she's the tanner now.  Her character design is still too aggressively anime for my taste (just doesn't jibe with the look of the original characters IMO).

Cutter and Skywise's farewell was beautifully drawn and sweet.  It's just so weird that Skywise is still ignorant of TimTam.

So is the palace going back to the (previously consumed by a supernova, but whatever....) home planet?  That's what it seems like based on Ember's parting comment about there not being any animals there.  Why?

The weird fog effect over Strongbow on the last page looks cheap and awful.  I wish Wendy would chill it with the effects.

All in all, this was fine to good, especially in terms of the artwork.  Better than most of what came before in FQ, but I feel like previous missteps have seriously lowered my expectations.

I donno, I think it's a perfectly reasonable thing for them to not bring along, considering the last animals they took with them evolved, rebelled and doomed your kind to dying on an immensely hostile world.

I haven't gotten my copy yet, but now I'm braced for it. And maybe the elves will evolve to the point they no longer need to eat, hence no animals.

If you have the means for instant (time) travelling, complete surveillance and an all-powerful magic device, you have no right to mourn any loss of life. There was no reason why Moonshade had to die (except for the plot and the gut-punch). Also, I wonder if Strongbow will feel any remorse or whether others will blame him, it was his fault, that Moonshade died after all.

Teir's exclamation is supposed to exemplify his love for animals. Of course, Shadowpath is right, it hadn't been a good idea to take animals with them in the past. Bringing an invasive species with you to another planet isn't a good idea anyway. But Teir also has no right to claim that he an animal lover. He influenced whole herds magically just to show of his magic powers and kill them off with wolves (at least twice in the comics). That's neither the way of life (sometimes the prey defeats the predators) nor is it fair (why do the wolves/ elves deserve to live but not the prey?)

Miss Gillespie wrote:

Also, I wonder if Strongbow will feel any remorse or whether others will blame him, it was his fault, that Moonshade died after all.

And we have only Strongbow's word that Moonshade deliberately phased in front of the bullet, as opposed to just happening to phase in the wrong place at the wrong time. She only said that she wanted to touch him one last time. All that "she chose, she gave" ... that was all said by others, all rushing to eulogize her as a great self-sacrificing martyr... and ignore the fact that if Strongbow hadn't gone off alone, none of this would have happened.

A cynical person might say Strongbow spun it that way as a desperate attempt to cope with the crushing remorse.

A REALLY cynical person might say he and Timmain are spinning it that way as a deliberate attempt to claim moral superiority. "Look, she wanted to live forever, the foolish girl, but in the end she realized it was much better to die so that Strongbow could live! Self-sacrifice and self-erasure, that's real love!"

Aaand.... a bitter person might just sigh and say that if the scripting of her death had been a bit clearer, the cynics wouldn't have nearly so much fodder.

How was it Strongbows fault that Moonshade died? Of course feelings of guilt after the violent death of a loved one are natural, but from what I understood, she went after him in spirit form, phased in front of the bullet (whether on purpose or accidentally, either way it was her doing not Strongbows). Also the facts that he went into the forest alone and that he encountered humans were accidents.

He was in his mind and didn't realise, the deserters were close-by. When he saw that the humans were aiming their guns at him, he decided to let them kill him.

Miss Gillespie wrote:

He was in his mind and didn't realise, the deserters were close-by. When he saw that the humans were aiming their guns at him, he decided to let them kill him.

I don't see how any of that makes Moonshades death his fault.

I think Moonshade's death is one of those things best not thought on too deeply, tbh. I think I get what the Pinis were going for, but, like with the Palace, there's the question of why this cool new ability wasn't actually useful in a crisis. The ability to atomize oneself and then reform is the ultimate in self-shaping. Why not go misty after the bullet strike and reform whole? Moonshade wasn't killed instantly, after all. Why not use the time spent in dramatic farewell to do something as sensible as not die?

I know we can handwave it. She was in shock or whatever. I know it goes against the grain of the narrative. But it's one more thing added to the pile of "from the heart, not the head", and the more I'm asked not to think too much about my sci-fi, the less I'm inclined to enjoy it.

Sifra wrote:

Miss Gillespie wrote:

He was in his mind and didn't realise, the deserters were close-by. When he saw that the humans were aiming their guns at him, he decided to let them kill him.

I don't see how any of that makes Moonshades death his fault.

It doesn't make it Strongbow's fault at all. Just pisspoor character assassination of Strongbow and Moonshade by the hands of Wendy and Richard. But we've been getting hints of Moonshade's death since Dreamtime.

wingthing wrote:

Miss Gillespie wrote:

Also, I wonder if Strongbow will feel any remorse or whether others will blame him, it was his fault, that Moonshade died after all.

And we have only Strongbow's word that Moonshade deliberately phased in front of the bullet, as opposed to just happening to phase in the wrong place at the wrong time. She only said that she wanted to touch him one last time. All that "she chose, she gave" ... that was all said by others, all rushing to eulogize her as a great self-sacrificing martyr... and ignore the fact that if Strongbow hadn't gone off alone, none of this would have happened.

Actually- there's an image of her forming behind him and then quickly zooming around in front. I think that is supposed to be her choosing in a split second to shield him. I guess it's not a coincidence that that's what she's always done in battle.

I do agree that it's his fault. He's so dramatically suicidal. How many times has Strongbow tried to suicide so far? Just two? Or were there more incidents?

See I interpreted that panel as she's "beaming in" but not necessarily aware of what's going on. Once again
, a bit more clarity about what this quantum teleportation is and how it works - to say nothing of a better blocking for the scene itself - would have made the whole death scene "click" better.

Between Strongbow, Cutter and even Redlance, there is a real glut of Wolfrider guys making grand suicidal gestures lately.

Meanwhile the Wolfrider women just keep picking up the pieces and getting actual shit done. Typical

Moonshade's death is mostly bothersome to me not because it was so avoidable, and it was (healers, palace pods, de-materialization); or because it was kind of Strongbow's fault, and it was (carelessness, suicidal tendencies). It's because I still sense a moral undertone in the narrative of "Oh, foolish mortal Wolfrider. She wanted to be a High One even though she wasn't born to it, she wanted to live in the Palace even though her lifemate begged her to stay on Abode. Behold the price she has paid for her hubris!" Maybe I'm projecting that entire theme onto the story, but ever since the loooong sloooow separation of MS & SB began I've been afraid there was this kind of "punishment" in store for Moonshade.

I don't see it as punishment. What I get from it is that no matter how much Moonshade wanted to be immortal and free herself of grief and sadness, she was still tied to the world and its grief and sadness through her loved ones.
There are many elves who went to live in the palace to become high ones, and they were not punished... Unless they run into a Klingon Warbird on their way to the stars...

There are still 2 issues left