It’s good knowing that you’re being sent to your possible deaths because it has to be done and there’s no better way, not because of a personal grudge or spite.
Digger has kingfisher-head! (Is that like a bad hair day?)
And yeah, I agree that it WOULD be easier to take. It’s less “I had to sacrifice your friend” and more “Someone had to do this despite its very likely being fatal.”
Ganesh could not have gone, so Digger and Ed were the best to go. I too am relieved that it was not a surety. Hugs to Digger and thanks for the votey link!
BAM! All of a sudden, another wombat bursts through the ground to greet them. “Alright so where did I come out thi- ancestors be praised! It’s an actual female! Hi! How are you? My name’s William. I’ve been digging a long time. Do you like digging¿ Really? Hows about you and me add a basement to this place sometime?…”
Lol
Digger had accepted that she might die, and that the others involved in the mission/quest to the mountains might die. But Ed showed up again late in the game, so she hadn’t accepted that he might die. So this basically points out that Ed was indeed part of their little verloren hoep and not just J. Random Prophecy-Victim, which makes Digger feel better.
As a mother, I can contemplate the prospect of my own death with some measure of equanimity, but the prospect of my child’s death is horrible, and my child dying just because God felt like it would break much more than my heart.
The wombat didn’t give the hyena birth, but Digger did give Ed a new name and a new life with it.
there’s also a difference between “This may cost the life of the disposable unimportant person” that Ed’s death might have seemed like, and “This may cost the lives of you two”…
Not sure I’m correctly conveying my thought here. Basically, if Statue was just sending Ed to his probable death, with no real peril to Digger, then it might seem like he considered Ed to be a “trash person” like his tribe did. But by sending both of them to their probable doom, it’s more a matter of “This must be done, no matter the cost”… no reflection on the inherent value of Ed.
@Melissa Trible: Yes. It’s not the “… even Ed would suffice”, which is what Digger was braced for and rightly finding repugnant, but rather “… even at so great a cost as this.”
I think God must be the only being big enough fully to know the price of every tear.
Also, sending Ed as a sacrifice without telling him or Digger sounds like the sort of thing Digger expects Gods to do and one of the reasons why she doesn’t like them. But Ganesh and his statue are not that sort of God. Sending Digger and Ed in as equals against great odds is honorable. Digger knew the odds were lousy. And there’s also a difference in sending someone into almost certain death compared to sending them into certain death. But I think for Digger the shared risk is more important.
Indeed – that does take away some of the sting, but i don’t blame Digger for not discussing this with BCM. Poor Digger! She’s had a rough enough time recently. What next???
Of course, that leaves Digger with no way home but an almost certainly eventful trip with Manuel and the Bandersnatch — which will no doubt be glossed over as a Noodle Incident. Or unspeakable. One of those.
Good, as long as everyone (including the myriad gods of Digger’s milieu) understands that Ed was not one of the Red Shirt Guys that nobody saw before from the Original Series of Star Trek. You know, the ones that always wound up dead in the end of the episode? We used to call them “Cannon Fodder.”
Just gotta love wombat metaphors.
There’s a few veins I don’t want anyone mining out.
Ditto. Everyone’s got their secrets….. and a right to their private thoughts.
Besides, Digger’s still grieving over Ed, and Grief never runs in a straight line.
*hugs Digger tight*
That’s definitely more okay 🙂
I actually understand…again, well written.
Strangely enough, it does make it okay, somehow…
That is a very sad face digger has there…
@Inlaid
There are shadows on her heart…
She’s a poor corpuscle. <3 Digger.
What’s a wombat have to do around here to get a vote or two?!?
http://topwebcomics.com/vote/10180/default.aspx
At the risk of being too analytical, I suspect Digger has a side-dish of survivors’ guilt to go along with her grief….
Seconding the hugs. and the vote link!
It really does make it better. *sigh* Poor Digger. Poor Statue too, having to make such decisions.
Two things. One, Digger looks great in that last panel. Two: *Gives Digger a big hug*
WHAAAAA I STILL MISS ED!
It’s good knowing that you’re being sent to your possible deaths because it has to be done and there’s no better way, not because of a personal grudge or spite.
Digger has kingfisher-head! (Is that like a bad hair day?)
And yeah, I agree that it WOULD be easier to take. It’s less “I had to sacrifice your friend” and more “Someone had to do this despite its very likely being fatal.”
Ganesh could not have gone, so Digger and Ed were the best to go. I too am relieved that it was not a surety. Hugs to Digger and thanks for the votey link!
I wish Ed could be there to comfort her. She needs a hug from her friend.
BAM! All of a sudden, another wombat bursts through the ground to greet them. “Alright so where did I come out thi- ancestors be praised! It’s an actual female! Hi! How are you? My name’s William. I’ve been digging a long time. Do you like digging¿ Really? Hows about you and me add a basement to this place sometime?…”
Lol
Digger had accepted that she might die, and that the others involved in the mission/quest to the mountains might die. But Ed showed up again late in the game, so she hadn’t accepted that he might die. So this basically points out that Ed was indeed part of their little verloren hoep and not just J. Random Prophecy-Victim, which makes Digger feel better.
As a mother, I can contemplate the prospect of my own death with some measure of equanimity, but the prospect of my child’s death is horrible, and my child dying just because God felt like it would break much more than my heart.
The wombat didn’t give the hyena birth, but Digger did give Ed a new name and a new life with it.
there’s also a difference between “This may cost the life of the disposable unimportant person” that Ed’s death might have seemed like, and “This may cost the lives of you two”…
Not sure I’m correctly conveying my thought here. Basically, if Statue was just sending Ed to his probable death, with no real peril to Digger, then it might seem like he considered Ed to be a “trash person” like his tribe did. But by sending both of them to their probable doom, it’s more a matter of “This must be done, no matter the cost”… no reflection on the inherent value of Ed.
@Melissa Trible: Yes. It’s not the “… even Ed would suffice”, which is what Digger was braced for and rightly finding repugnant, but rather “… even at so great a cost as this.”
I think God must be the only being big enough fully to know the price of every tear.
Also, sending Ed as a sacrifice without telling him or Digger sounds like the sort of thing Digger expects Gods to do and one of the reasons why she doesn’t like them. But Ganesh and his statue are not that sort of God. Sending Digger and Ed in as equals against great odds is honorable. Digger knew the odds were lousy. And there’s also a difference in sending someone into almost certain death compared to sending them into certain death. But I think for Digger the shared risk is more important.
Poor Digger.
Ooh! Someone here is named Bartimaeus! I just got the new book, the ring of Solomon!
Yay! People, keep voting!
I miss Ed
Indeed – that does take away some of the sting, but i don’t blame Digger for not discussing this with BCM. Poor Digger! She’s had a rough enough time recently. What next???
Of course, that leaves Digger with no way home but an almost certainly eventful trip with Manuel and the Bandersnatch — which will no doubt be glossed over as a Noodle Incident. Or unspeakable. One of those.
Good, as long as everyone (including the myriad gods of Digger’s milieu) understands that Ed was not one of the Red Shirt Guys that nobody saw before from the Original Series of Star Trek. You know, the ones that always wound up dead in the end of the episode? We used to call them “Cannon Fodder.”
–Perfesser
Shared risk is far more palatable than doomed to die.