Ed is one of those sorts of characters that need to be involved in the plot, but if a villain/Knight Templar injures them, they tend to lose any sympathy the audience had for them. Therefore…
Regardless, it’s an excellent bit of cliff-hangering.
Is that a word? What is the word for the act of producing a cliff hanger?
I guess he sought refuge in the best possible place, with Ganesh the god of hosptitality and compassion. Since if he went to his old tribe, he would likely get beaten, or worse.
Ganesh’s scowl on the previous page may have been in frustration at not bieng able to do much of anything in the situation.
Very interesting. I think in his own twisted way, Jhalm thinks he’s doing good by reuniting Ed and the rest of the Hyenas. He’s definitely showing his ignorance for other cultures… or maybe he thinks that his way is the only and best way… and that these “savages” should not be living by themselves.
Whew. Thank Ganesh he’s alright. Also, Jhalms a bit of an idiot, isn’t he? How hard is it to grasp the idea that trying to send an exile back to his tribe might be something of a bad idea?
Well I’m definitely glad Ed is unhurt!
Jhalm really is a fool – what part of “exile” does he not comprehend? Also, if the Veiled serve all gods, how does Jhalm get away with being that ignorant of other cultures, not to mention being that colossally arrogant? He seems to have made the assumption that he can just “force” the tribe to reverse Ed’s exile.
I’m eager to see how this works out.
Ohhh I just had a thought too! What if Jhalm had the bad judgment to try to go directly to Boneclaw Mother with his crap?
Suddenly images of Jhalm-for-dinner spring to mind…and I’m strangely comfortable with that.
I wonder if Jhalm DID know that Ed would have been killed and that’s why he did it. Probably not, as I find hard to believe he’s that vicious, but I also can’t believe he’s that stupid as to think the hyenas wouldn’t kill an exile on sight.
I had a feeling that The Veiled was going to try and round up Ed. How awkward would that have been, eh? Do you figure Grimm Eyes is leading the Hunting Party?
That first panel just made me go “awwwwwwww!” I’m so glad Ed’s okay! And resourceful enough to get away from the veiled (love the term “mask tribe”) and get somewhere safe!
I’m really glad I wasn’t the only one who initially thought the “masked tribe” were the cold servants; it makes me feel infinitely less dense.
I love how this comic tends to line up with whatever textbook I’m editing at the moment. I’m working on a book about diversity for counselors, which talks about how important it is to know the cultural norms and work within them, and how far you can push someone out of their approved cultural norms before you hurt them instead of helping. I wonder if reading it would help Jhalm be less of an idiot?
I’m trying to see this from Jhalm’s eyes right now, now that I know he hasn’t phisically harmed Ed. If he had, well, to hell with his point of view. Anyway, it’s a little difficult. I don’t see how Jhalm couldn’t have gotten the jest of “Ed can’t go back to old tribe. His name been eaten. Old tribe no want Ed anymore.”
I wonder if the veiled know they are servants of she-is? It’s not like they have shown themselves to be tolerant of anyone at all thus far, and I doubt anything covered in fur and refusing to put down their weapons would be given much consideration…
@Cerulean: I also thought for a moment the “masked tribe” were the cold servants, and that got me confused too, til I read your comment, definately makes more sense
It’s good to see Ed again. And it’s funny how Digger channeled the general feeling of the comments of the last strip.
“I’ll make him regret the day he slid out of his mother’s pouch” made me laugh. Ah, marsupials…
and I sorta suspect Jhalm et al. weren’t even bothering to listen to what Ed was saying. Hey, he talks kinda funny, it takes some work to understand him and why bother anyway – a hyena is a hyena, right? They’re all making a fuss about the new way of things, who cares what this one’s complaint is. Just following orders.
I don’t think Jhalm really sees what hyenas do as terribly important — exile Ed, kill Ed, who cares? Just get them all in one place, and away from “his” place. Think of “ethnic cleansing” — it doesn’t matter if “they” are alive or dead, as long as they’re gone.
What mouse said. I don’t think the Veiled listened to a word Ed said. The rank and file guys have already proven to be the kind of grunts that just listen to whatever Jhalm says. He is pretty charismatic, in his own special snowflake way. 😛
Once again we see parallels with the reservation “treaties” made with the American Indians. Shameful, arrogant, ignorant, uncaring…every adjective applied to Jihalm can also be applied to President Jackson.
To argue for Jhalm here, a beaten-by-old-tribe Ed is still an alive Ed, unlike a hunted-down-by-cold-servants Ed. I honestly don’t see Jhalm caring one way or another what hyena tribes do to exiles, he just wants them all in one place, out of the way.
I still think Digger needs to kill Jhalm. And…er…what about his bones? We can’t just leave them to waste like that! The hyenas can have his meat, though.
Where did anyone say that Jhalm himself even knows that Ed exists at all? Ed just said that the Veiled were trying to put him back with his old tribe, and the statue just confirmed that Jhalm had ordered the Veiled to keep the Hyenas on their reservation.
Incidentally, exile has nothing to do with serving the gods, unless She-Is-Fiercer personally exiled Ed.
I would say “I don’t know why everyone’s so eager to call Jhalm an idiot when he’s given every indication to the contrary,” but I know exactly why 🙂
“The hero’s the hero, but everyone loves a villain.”
Ed may not be the most articulate character in the strip, but he’s definitely one of the wisest….”You guys are arguing? Well, I’ll just go off and leave you to it!” Smart move taking refuge in the temple of the ‘snout-god’.
Hey Mark Antony, I was just reading Julius Caesar in my English class, so I just now realized where your name comes from. Why did you choose that name?
Oh, and will everyone here please tell my ignarent friend (who loves to look over my shoulder as I read posts) that Ed is frickin’ AMAZING?!
From Jhalm’s perspective the Hyenas are dangerous. Even before the Cold Servant events he was attacked without provocation. After the Cold Servants episode all Hyenas are suddenly twice suspect. It certainly doesn’t help that the Hyenas are relative isolationist. Why would Jhalm believe Ed that Ed is an exile? From Jhalm’s side of things Ed is a potential enemy he can’t leave unattended. Jhalm is a cross between cop and soldier so he needs to do his duty to protect the humans. He is doing his duty the best he can. Be glad he hasn’t issued orders to kill the Hyenas.
@Mani: I think the question about She-Is arose because, if the Veiled ARE supposed to be serving her, then they certainly aren’t doing their job by persecuting her children.
What did I say! Didn’t I say this was exactly what Jhalm would try to do! I’m glad Ed got out of it, dropping him into the middle of his old clan would’ve been a giant mess.
I’m glad Ed’s okay, but it’ doesn’t fill me with too much reassurance that he will Stay okay.
I Love Ed. As a character he’s perfect. Ursula has that very rare talent of actual making me emotionally invested in a character to the point were i feel very, very protective. And that worries me.
Ursula is an excellent visual artist and a great writer. But more importantly she’s a writer. I writer, not just my dry archaeological reports or my silly fanic. I write fairly seriously and i know you write The Story. And the trouble with writing The Story is you have to write The Story. As it comes. When the muse calls you follow, and when the wind blows you are swept along, even if you don’t like were you go. If you write you have to be honest i.e. you have to write the ending you know The Story needs, not he one you necessarily want. Ursula is more than good enough to be honest with herself and all the evidence have seen says she respects us too much as an audience to be anything but honest with us. I really don’t like to even think about it, but if The Story requires it, Ed will die. If the Story requires it Digger will die. If The Story requires it everyone will die. That’s the price of having the talent to write the ending you know the story needs: you HAVE to write then ending you feel the story needs, or you can’t respect yourself as a writer afterward. Your Muse has you by the short and curlys. Steven King used the metaphor of The Story being a machine, if you want it to run well you have to LET it run, even if you know characters will get ground in the cogs. He never wanted to kill Jake in the Gunslinger, but he knew he had to. alright he un-killed him later, but at least that made some sense in context. The story is an alter it itself, if the characters need to be raised on high on it and passed they will be. If they need to be sacrificed on it they might. I don’t know what Ursula is going to do and I do not presume to guess, but I know she will do what she must to ensure we, her audience, get the ending to The Story we deserve, even if its not the one that we many have thought we wanted. And I will accept that gladly. I love Ed, but what I NEED is The Story. And I think no matter what you say, with all of your “if anyone hurts Ed I’ll get them” and “I knew Ursula wouldn’t do anything to Ed” talk, most if not all of you want The Story too, and be it happy ending or tragic or bitter sweet you’ll thank Ursula when the time comes for being honest and telling the story how it needed to be told. I know I will. I’m happy he’s Okay, but I know it’s better to have had Ed introduced into my life and then taken away again as part of a story that from start to end was honest, than to have met him and see him loose his integrity and linger on because the fan’s won’t let him die. I really, really hope he doesn’t die or have anything more tragic happen to him, but more than that, first and foremost, I’m here for The Story. ‘Cause it’s a corker.
Yeah, BunnyRock, but we would STILL use Jhalm’s guts for guy-wires. We luffs the Ed. Not saying I don’t agree with you, because I do totally. Not wanting to write what HAS to happen is a common cause of writer’s block. The block won’t go away until you make it right. Right isn’t always fair. 🙁
There may be a bit of weirdness, though. Didn’t Murai mention that the specialties of the Veiled were “comparative mythology and hand-to-hand combat”? And the kind of exile poor Ed is suffering IS religious; it started with He-Is, after all, so Jhalm has to know on some level what he’s doing, and he DOESN’T CARE. He’s evolved as a character, too, but not in a positive way, like Murai. Has anyone else noticed that Murai seems to be doing much better with the crazies since she met Digger?
He’s not hurt! Wonderful.
Digger was really channeling the lot of our feelings, judging from the comments in the last comic. I’m so glad Ed’s okay.
I thought as much!
Ed is one of those sorts of characters that need to be involved in the plot, but if a villain/Knight Templar injures them, they tend to lose any sympathy the audience had for them. Therefore…
Regardless, it’s an excellent bit of cliff-hangering.
Is that a word? What is the word for the act of producing a cliff hanger?
I guess he sought refuge in the best possible place, with Ganesh the god of hosptitality and compassion. Since if he went to his old tribe, he would likely get beaten, or worse.
Ganesh’s scowl on the previous page may have been in frustration at not bieng able to do much of anything in the situation.
Yay! Ed just got evicted! Er.. yay?
Smj: It’s NOT Ganesh, it’s a STATUE of Ganesh.. any ‘scowl’ is kinda permanent.
Gotta love Digger’s graps of human reproductive biology…
I was quite confused until I realized that by “mask-tribe” Ed meant the veiled, and not the cold servants. That would be pretty weird.
I was worrying about poor Ed all weekend! Nice to know he’s okay!
Oh thank god, here I was thinking I was gonna have to invent some way to transoirt myself into the comic and murder Jhalm.
Oh, Ed’s okay…uh, I wasn’t worried or anything. *cough* Yeah.
Very interesting. I think in his own twisted way, Jhalm thinks he’s doing good by reuniting Ed and the rest of the Hyenas. He’s definitely showing his ignorance for other cultures… or maybe he thinks that his way is the only and best way… and that these “savages” should not be living by themselves.
Oh, yay, Ed is okay! *happy dance*
Dialogue is as perfect a ever. Three thumbs up, Ursula (I just may have to cut someone’s hand off for this, but it’ll be SO worth it).
Um. Yeah.
Whew. Thank Ganesh he’s alright. Also, Jhalms a bit of an idiot, isn’t he? How hard is it to grasp the idea that trying to send an exile back to his tribe might be something of a bad idea?
Cerulean – That clarifies everything; I was confused about that too.
I like how Ed calls them “mask-tribe.”
Well I’m definitely glad Ed is unhurt!
Jhalm really is a fool – what part of “exile” does he not comprehend? Also, if the Veiled serve all gods, how does Jhalm get away with being that ignorant of other cultures, not to mention being that colossally arrogant? He seems to have made the assumption that he can just “force” the tribe to reverse Ed’s exile.
I’m eager to see how this works out.
Ohhh I just had a thought too! What if Jhalm had the bad judgment to try to go directly to Boneclaw Mother with his crap?
Suddenly images of Jhalm-for-dinner spring to mind…and I’m strangely comfortable with that.
Whew…I thought they’d hurt him or something.
I love the “use his guts for guy-wires” bit. I don’t think even any of us came up with that one … 😉
Don’t forget to VOTE! http://topwebcomics.com/vote/10180/default.aspx
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It’s a little pathetic how glad I was that Ed is okay. It’s hard not to get attached to him, though. He’s so… Ed.
I wonder if Jhalm DID know that Ed would have been killed and that’s why he did it. Probably not, as I find hard to believe he’s that vicious, but I also can’t believe he’s that stupid as to think the hyenas wouldn’t kill an exile on sight.
I had a feeling that The Veiled was going to try and round up Ed. How awkward would that have been, eh? Do you figure Grimm Eyes is leading the Hunting Party?
That first panel just made me go “awwwwwwww!” I’m so glad Ed’s okay! And resourceful enough to get away from the veiled (love the term “mask tribe”) and get somewhere safe!
Hi.
I just found your comic,and am very impressed! The depth of feelings in your people is wonderful!
I’m really glad I wasn’t the only one who initially thought the “masked tribe” were the cold servants; it makes me feel infinitely less dense.
I love how this comic tends to line up with whatever textbook I’m editing at the moment. I’m working on a book about diversity for counselors, which talks about how important it is to know the cultural norms and work within them, and how far you can push someone out of their approved cultural norms before you hurt them instead of helping. I wonder if reading it would help Jhalm be less of an idiot?
I’m trying to see this from Jhalm’s eyes right now, now that I know he hasn’t phisically harmed Ed. If he had, well, to hell with his point of view. Anyway, it’s a little difficult. I don’t see how Jhalm couldn’t have gotten the jest of “Ed can’t go back to old tribe. His name been eaten. Old tribe no want Ed anymore.”
If anyone can benefit from the protection of a god of infinite compassion, it’s Ed.
I wonder if the veiled know they are servants of she-is? It’s not like they have shown themselves to be tolerant of anyone at all thus far, and I doubt anything covered in fur and refusing to put down their weapons would be given much consideration…
@Cerulean: I also thought for a moment the “masked tribe” were the cold servants, and that got me confused too, til I read your comment, definately makes more sense
It’s good to see Ed again. And it’s funny how Digger channeled the general feeling of the comments of the last strip.
“I’ll make him regret the day he slid out of his mother’s pouch” made me laugh. Ah, marsupials…
WHEW!
and I sorta suspect Jhalm et al. weren’t even bothering to listen to what Ed was saying. Hey, he talks kinda funny, it takes some work to understand him and why bother anyway – a hyena is a hyena, right? They’re all making a fuss about the new way of things, who cares what this one’s complaint is. Just following orders.
Thanks Cerulean, i too was not sure.
I don’t think Jhalm really sees what hyenas do as terribly important — exile Ed, kill Ed, who cares? Just get them all in one place, and away from “his” place. Think of “ethnic cleansing” — it doesn’t matter if “they” are alive or dead, as long as they’re gone.
What mouse said. I don’t think the Veiled listened to a word Ed said. The rank and file guys have already proven to be the kind of grunts that just listen to whatever Jhalm says. He is pretty charismatic, in his own special snowflake way. 😛
Aaw… Just “aaw”.
“Regret the day Jhalm’s slid out of her mother’s pouch” 🙄
Wombat metaphores are cute sometimes.
Once again we see parallels with the reservation “treaties” made with the American Indians. Shameful, arrogant, ignorant, uncaring…every adjective applied to Jihalm can also be applied to President Jackson.
oh thank god. I may have had to throttle somebody through the internet… ahhhh.
To argue for Jhalm here, a beaten-by-old-tribe Ed is still an alive Ed, unlike a hunted-down-by-cold-servants Ed. I honestly don’t see Jhalm caring one way or another what hyena tribes do to exiles, he just wants them all in one place, out of the way.
“Is not trusting being lucky twice”.
It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again…
Oh, Ed…
I still think Digger needs to kill Jhalm. And…er…what about his bones? We can’t just leave them to waste like that! The hyenas can have his meat, though.
Where did anyone say that Jhalm himself even knows that Ed exists at all? Ed just said that the Veiled were trying to put him back with his old tribe, and the statue just confirmed that Jhalm had ordered the Veiled to keep the Hyenas on their reservation.
Incidentally, exile has nothing to do with serving the gods, unless She-Is-Fiercer personally exiled Ed.
I would say “I don’t know why everyone’s so eager to call Jhalm an idiot when he’s given every indication to the contrary,” but I know exactly why 🙂
“The hero’s the hero, but everyone loves a villain.”
Oh, Ed! Thank Ganesh you’re OK!
*collapses into a relieved heap on the chair*
Ed has joined the party!
*Sigh of Relief… Ed is okay!*
Ed may not be the most articulate character in the strip, but he’s definitely one of the wisest….”You guys are arguing? Well, I’ll just go off and leave you to it!” Smart move taking refuge in the temple of the ‘snout-god’.
Hey Mark Antony, I was just reading Julius Caesar in my English class, so I just now realized where your name comes from. Why did you choose that name?
Oh, and will everyone here please tell my ignarent friend (who loves to look over my shoulder as I read posts) that Ed is frickin’ AMAZING?!
From Jhalm’s perspective the Hyenas are dangerous. Even before the Cold Servant events he was attacked without provocation. After the Cold Servants episode all Hyenas are suddenly twice suspect. It certainly doesn’t help that the Hyenas are relative isolationist. Why would Jhalm believe Ed that Ed is an exile? From Jhalm’s side of things Ed is a potential enemy he can’t leave unattended. Jhalm is a cross between cop and soldier so he needs to do his duty to protect the humans. He is doing his duty the best he can. Be glad he hasn’t issued orders to kill the Hyenas.
@Jewelwolf I thought the name of a famously sarcastic and witty Roman orator was a rather appropriate handle to use in a forum.
Ed is frickin amazing … only surpassed by the awsomeness that is wombatdom personified by our own lovely Digger
@Mani: I think the question about She-Is arose because, if the Veiled ARE supposed to be serving her, then they certainly aren’t doing their job by persecuting her children.
What did I say! Didn’t I say this was exactly what Jhalm would try to do! I’m glad Ed got out of it, dropping him into the middle of his old clan would’ve been a giant mess.
I’m glad Ed’s okay, but it’ doesn’t fill me with too much reassurance that he will Stay okay.
I Love Ed. As a character he’s perfect. Ursula has that very rare talent of actual making me emotionally invested in a character to the point were i feel very, very protective. And that worries me.
Ursula is an excellent visual artist and a great writer. But more importantly she’s a writer. I writer, not just my dry archaeological reports or my silly fanic. I write fairly seriously and i know you write The Story. And the trouble with writing The Story is you have to write The Story. As it comes. When the muse calls you follow, and when the wind blows you are swept along, even if you don’t like were you go. If you write you have to be honest i.e. you have to write the ending you know The Story needs, not he one you necessarily want. Ursula is more than good enough to be honest with herself and all the evidence have seen says she respects us too much as an audience to be anything but honest with us. I really don’t like to even think about it, but if The Story requires it, Ed will die. If the Story requires it Digger will die. If The Story requires it everyone will die. That’s the price of having the talent to write the ending you know the story needs: you HAVE to write then ending you feel the story needs, or you can’t respect yourself as a writer afterward. Your Muse has you by the short and curlys. Steven King used the metaphor of The Story being a machine, if you want it to run well you have to LET it run, even if you know characters will get ground in the cogs. He never wanted to kill Jake in the Gunslinger, but he knew he had to. alright he un-killed him later, but at least that made some sense in context. The story is an alter it itself, if the characters need to be raised on high on it and passed they will be. If they need to be sacrificed on it they might. I don’t know what Ursula is going to do and I do not presume to guess, but I know she will do what she must to ensure we, her audience, get the ending to The Story we deserve, even if its not the one that we many have thought we wanted. And I will accept that gladly. I love Ed, but what I NEED is The Story. And I think no matter what you say, with all of your “if anyone hurts Ed I’ll get them” and “I knew Ursula wouldn’t do anything to Ed” talk, most if not all of you want The Story too, and be it happy ending or tragic or bitter sweet you’ll thank Ursula when the time comes for being honest and telling the story how it needed to be told. I know I will. I’m happy he’s Okay, but I know it’s better to have had Ed introduced into my life and then taken away again as part of a story that from start to end was honest, than to have met him and see him loose his integrity and linger on because the fan’s won’t let him die. I really, really hope he doesn’t die or have anything more tragic happen to him, but more than that, first and foremost, I’m here for The Story. ‘Cause it’s a corker.
Yeah, BunnyRock, but we would STILL use Jhalm’s guts for guy-wires. We luffs the Ed. Not saying I don’t agree with you, because I do totally. Not wanting to write what HAS to happen is a common cause of writer’s block. The block won’t go away until you make it right. Right isn’t always fair. 🙁
There may be a bit of weirdness, though. Didn’t Murai mention that the specialties of the Veiled were “comparative mythology and hand-to-hand combat”? And the kind of exile poor Ed is suffering IS religious; it started with He-Is, after all, so Jhalm has to know on some level what he’s doing, and he DOESN’T CARE. He’s evolved as a character, too, but not in a positive way, like Murai. Has anyone else noticed that Murai seems to be doing much better with the crazies since she met Digger?
…and that hug in the first panel, after the suspense of the last page, makes me go sniffly.