What about those bandits? Did she knock them unconscious with a PICK AX?
Granted, she very likely has never been anywhere near a situation like Ed’s, let alone been forced to murder a loved one in their sleep for the greater good.
Okay, so I admit, I’m nitpicking the details; but still …
I remember she clonked the first one upside the head without killing him, and the rest happened off-panel, so it’s mostly believable. It requires her to be very good with a pick axe to avoid killing anyone, but seeing as she’s a wombat, a pick axe is probably like an arm extension to her.
That’s probably quite true, Mark. But still, the physics of a pickaxe are designed to put a lot of force behind a single sharp point – seems like kind of a waste of energy to use it in another way …
Of course, I guess you could argue that the “not killing” thing is more important than the “inefficient use of force/energy” thing …
Not to mention that hitting someone on the head that hard, especially hard enough to knock them out, is cause for significant medical concern. It’s not like TV, where you can just hit somebody on the head, give whoever’s nearby a message for when they wake up, and leave. People, if a friend of yours falls unconscious from a blow to the head, please have the common sense to call an ambulance.
But yeah, I’m nit-picking, too. As I said earlier, this is Ursula’s world. If she wants to make it one where people can take head injuries without causing medical issues, that’s her choice.
I love how Ed is sympathetic to Digger in the second-to-last panel. In his own way, he’s as pragmatic as she is, just from different cultural backgrounds.
It might be that she hasn’t *knowingly* killed anyone. Ed’s asking her if she’s killed anyone, not if someone has died as a result of her actions, otherwise she gets the blame for the Cold Servants as well. Grim Eyes certainly saw it that way.
Having seventeen years explains how he was able to tell his story without a hitch: I’m sure he thinks about it every day, and the fatalism he’s come upon in that time makes it easier to talk about it. That, and he’s teaching Digger. That could be what he’s thinking about, rather than his feelings.
I think they mean, “Did you ever kill anyone who wasn’t trying to kill you?” The difference between protecting yourself in battle and killing someone in their sleep.
“I think they mean, “Did you ever kill anyone who wasn’t trying to kill you?” The difference between protecting yourself in battle and killing someone in their sleep.”
Or protecting yourself and your child from further harm? (not potential further harm, it had happened and would have continued to happen, as was clear)
Yes, Brandon, but I doubt that was what was meant (I could be wrong, though).
Digger used the blunt end of the pickaxe, no? Still bad, but broken bones aren’t (necessarily) fatal, and the bandit who was knocked unconscious was… I don’t know. Never argue philosophy when sleep-deprived, in addition to when vomiting. Maybe she thought that Jhalm would have accused her of murder had the first bandit died, or that it was self-defense (as Brandon and Tyndi and possibly others suggested).
After all, she’s threatened murder to a Veiled, and may well have been ready to follow through on it. Or, if not murder, lack of intrest in the consiquences. But even that was, roundly, a self defense situation. We’re still worlds apart.
It’s a world where 1 in 10 reattached body parts go mad and try to kill their owner, so I can totally fit “insignificant head injuries” within the already existing framework of willing suspension of disbelief.
Wait, Digger’s never killed anyone!?
What about those bandits? Did she knock them unconscious with a PICK AX?
Granted, she very likely has never been anywhere near a situation like Ed’s, let alone been forced to murder a loved one in their sleep for the greater good.
Okay, so I admit, I’m nitpicking the details; but still …
😉
seventeen years…….
I remember she clonked the first one upside the head without killing him, and the rest happened off-panel, so it’s mostly believable. It requires her to be very good with a pick axe to avoid killing anyone, but seeing as she’s a wombat, a pick axe is probably like an arm extension to her.
That’s probably quite true, Mark. But still, the physics of a pickaxe are designed to put a lot of force behind a single sharp point – seems like kind of a waste of energy to use it in another way …
Of course, I guess you could argue that the “not killing” thing is more important than the “inefficient use of force/energy” thing …
😉
Not to mention that hitting someone on the head that hard, especially hard enough to knock them out, is cause for significant medical concern. It’s not like TV, where you can just hit somebody on the head, give whoever’s nearby a message for when they wake up, and leave. People, if a friend of yours falls unconscious from a blow to the head, please have the common sense to call an ambulance.
But yeah, I’m nit-picking, too. As I said earlier, this is Ursula’s world. If she wants to make it one where people can take head injuries without causing medical issues, that’s her choice.
I love how Ed is sympathetic to Digger in the second-to-last panel. In his own way, he’s as pragmatic as she is, just from different cultural backgrounds.
It might be that she hasn’t *knowingly* killed anyone. Ed’s asking her if she’s killed anyone, not if someone has died as a result of her actions, otherwise she gets the blame for the Cold Servants as well. Grim Eyes certainly saw it that way.
Having seventeen years explains how he was able to tell his story without a hitch: I’m sure he thinks about it every day, and the fatalism he’s come upon in that time makes it easier to talk about it. That, and he’s teaching Digger. That could be what he’s thinking about, rather than his feelings.
I think they mean, “Did you ever kill anyone who wasn’t trying to kill you?” The difference between protecting yourself in battle and killing someone in their sleep.
Essentially asking, “Did you ever murder anyone?”
“I think they mean, “Did you ever kill anyone who wasn’t trying to kill you?” The difference between protecting yourself in battle and killing someone in their sleep.”
Or protecting yourself and your child from further harm? (not potential further harm, it had happened and would have continued to happen, as was clear)
Yes, Brandon, but I doubt that was what was meant (I could be wrong, though).
Digger used the blunt end of the pickaxe, no? Still bad, but broken bones aren’t (necessarily) fatal, and the bandit who was knocked unconscious was… I don’t know. Never argue philosophy when sleep-deprived, in addition to when vomiting. Maybe she thought that Jhalm would have accused her of murder had the first bandit died, or that it was self-defense (as Brandon and Tyndi and possibly others suggested).
After all, she’s threatened murder to a Veiled, and may well have been ready to follow through on it. Or, if not murder, lack of intrest in the consiquences. But even that was, roundly, a self defense situation. We’re still worlds apart.
It’s a world where 1 in 10 reattached body parts go mad and try to kill their owner, so I can totally fit “insignificant head injuries” within the already existing framework of willing suspension of disbelief.
I can’t find it now, but I thought I remembered some reference to the bandits surviving Digger’s attack and being hanged.