IT'S RICHARD!! THE ARCHMAGE IS RICHARD!! IT'S HIM!! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

List of Things Not To Say Near Richard:

1.) Nobody in your group can stop me
2.) My life's ambition is fulfilled with the acquisition of this highly valuable and easily damaged item!
3.) Hey Dick!

Richard at easily his most badass apprearance in the story.

edit:not possibly, easily

WOOO! FIRST PAGE! YEAH!

hrm, time paradox anyone? And when richard said to "not put HIM in a corner", is he talking about the archmage not being able to do anything, or tavor putting richard in a corner by saying that nobody can stop him? clarification please!

*deep breath* ok, i am over-reacting.


...


OMG!!! ok, maybe it isn't really Richard, well, it is, but Richard's father's name is Richard also, and Richard was named after his dad... d'oh i don't know!! oh my gosh, i am shaking with excitement right now !!!! this is so... OMG!!

hes refering to putting him down in that alley while he was napping

ok, i think when Richard said "No one puts Richard in a corner", either he meant: yes, there was a soul among the group that could stop Tavor, or: no one puts the ARCHMAGE

crap, double-post

So your saying that the amusing story about how richard kills his father is the epic magic battle between him and the archmage huh?

Fun.

We arent even sure if the archmage is related to richard. (although he probably is his dad or something, I dont want them to say this is richards origins, thats why they have the movie coming next year.) Im betting A, yes there is a soul among the group that can stop tavor, as well as the archmage being richards daddy.

that's what i thought last strip. it may come true this next strip. we will just have to wait and find out!

EDIT: the archmage being Richard's daddy would so go with the plotline. it would also make perfect sense.

that was my first thought too even thought he got a fun little happy killing spree out of it

I'm not making the "Archmage=Richard's father" assumption, but it would certainly be amusing. Richard did seem pretty devoted on incapacitating Tavor.

But seriously, could any other character look any more BA right now?

He didn't say no one in the group could stop him. He said no soul could stop him, and Richard doesn't have a soul.

Does anyone think its weird that the archmage is very calm when richard blasts tavor? Either he knew it was coming, or he saw richard before. I cant think of more realistic options as to why he wouldnt be at least a little suprised at the sudden icebolt that just incapacitated your would be killer.

Well it didnt show the archmage reaction to what happend i mean it just showed richard blasting away then him saying no one puts me in a corner witch im taking as no one says he cant do something. or he is pist about being left in the back ally in wicth cale is gonna be turned to ash again

yes, this tells us that the archmage is definitely Richard's father. coolio, Richard was named after his father! ha ha!

ACK! Plot...thickening..can't..breathe. Ok, so either Richard is the Archmage (I still have my doubts), Richard is mad that the group left him in the alley, or he's referring to Tavor putting him in a corner by saying that no soul could stop him. I think the Archmage was acting calmly because he was already revealed to have some omnipotent knowledge. He was probably expecting this.

Poor Tavor. I guess his father and sister were killed in the invasion. But how does Tavor know this if he's been inside of those swords all this time? And if Tavor is a ghost, then how was it possible for Richard to blast him?

Anyway, I guess we were right about Richard stepping in at just the right moment.

It's quite likely he already knew, or had a feeling...the archmage is the one who forsaw everything, so that makes sense. There's also the fact that the old guy can't do jack in his position, so he just...sat there.

I get the feeling those guards the dwarf called for have been iced or fwoomed already.

It couldn't be hard predicting he won't be slain after he knew that the group came from the future?

Aaaanyway, that was one of the best Richard moments in the comic.

ARG! *screams incoherently*
Seriously what is it with some people and this "first page" nonsense?
In all my years online I had never imagined anyone would ascribe any importance to the location of a posting in a thread until I started to read webcomics and came across this moronic phenomenon for the first time; I now know SEVERAL webcomic fora where the mods react negatively to the words "first page", so much that in many of them anyone spamming a new thread by posting "I'm on first page whoot!" gets BANNED! I've seen morons who posted in a new comic thread the moment it was open, just to post this one single line, without having read the actual new comic strip! (as they themselves cheerfully admitted!)
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[edited to add]

Anyway.... yes yes I'm fine.... back to the comic.

Looks like Richard is not only a borderline Marty Stu, but a Deus Ex Machina, turning up suddenly when it's most (in)convenient.

As for the archmage actually being Richard... Hm, I reserve judgement until Monday. Somehow I think we don't have the full picture here yet.

Poor Tavor. I'm pretty sure that ice bolt wasn't fatal... well technically Tavor is already dead (under D&D rules I'd call him a "risen martyr") so I'm not sure what can stop him or kill him permanently. Normally, souls bend on vengeance business are very hard to get rid off in folklore and fantasy literature.... ghosts may be temporarily destroyed but they always reform after a while and return even more pissed off. Only fulfilling their task can lay them to rest and grant them peace.

The problem is, I guess a fight between Tavor and Richard is now inevitable, and I'm afraid Richard will win simply because he's a main character and Tavor has just been upgraded to the status of "antagonist", and we all know that the main characters always win. Tavor can't win against narrative inevitability. But at the moment, I like Tavor better than Richard. I don't want him to get offed simply because Richard waltzes in and snuffs him out with his Cool Powerz.

And if they fight, what side will Cale be on? He's disappointed in Tavor, but Tavor is of Gamlon, while Richard is an undead abomination that Cale in his delusion considered "a friend"... Cale doesn't know yet that Richard just massacred a whole village because conveniently, Richard has cleaned the blood off.

A few more things I noticed: I guess now we know for certain just how far back in time Cale traveled. Gamlon fell 3,000 years before "present-time". Also, now that we've seen the Archmage in profile, I'm beginning to doubt further that he is Richard. The guy's nose is way too long. Richard, when seen in profile, has a fairly flat nose.

And I have to agree, Richard looks completely and utterly bad ass in the final panel.

someones angry!

this has been added to my favorite quote list (for sheer awesomeness.)

more fav quotes:

"WHY THIS CHICKEN KEEP MOVING? ME SO HUNGRY!"- tim, stupid half troll
"Hail"- richard
"Hrm, a mountain that eats people. I want one"- richard
"good times?"- richard

Just to name a few!

If that ends up actually being richard from the past (they do look similar, but that would also be true were they related), I would just like to point out that some people (me among them) guessed that two weeks ago.

Come on, please, vindication.

Ok, is it Monday yet? Seriously, I would gladly skip my weekend if it meant that I could see the next one sooner.

let me copy and paste what i said from a previous post in another thread:

i'm telling ya, the archmage is Richard's father.

1. The archmage looks almost exactly like Richard, except his nose is a tad bigger than Richard's, and he does not have that same tattoo over his eyebrow.
2. Richard is a devious little guy, as are all sons who have great mages as their fathers. the archmage is a rather calm, peaceful guy, but Richard is Hell itself. definitely not the same person.
3. They are both magic users. i'm sure it runs in the family
4. Notice how the archmage is sitting so calmly when Richard totally knocks Tavor off his feet? the archmage knew this was coming, so decided he better not make a fuss. he had to die sooner or later.
5. If my point isn't clear enough, let me try to explain this: how could a cute little archmage who has nothing against the world choose to have a life whose purpose is nothing but to summon Hell itself to aid him into killing every living thing in his path?

think about that for a while.

Don't think it's the only possibility merely because it's what you want. I agree, it would be quite interesting, but it would bring up so many space-time questions which would lead many of us to discuss anomalies and paradoxes indefinitely. That answer would only bring up more, unnecessary questions.

By being left in a corner, I think Richard was merely referring to the fact that he was left in some back alley with a feline. As someone mentioned, he did get a refreshing slaughter out of it, but Richard, as far as I can tell, prefers an audience for all his antics. At the core, he's a child; a bloodthirsty, sociopathic, and highly amusing child with a bass voice and a local-level political chair.

Melfina, I agree about the guards. Richard seemed pissed enough when he caught up with the rest of the group, but if he was searing mad, Tavor would've been fwoomed. He probably had a small chance to vent while coming up the stairs.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that noticed how calm the Archmage appeared, and there could be plenty of possibilities. One, he really COULD have had some relationship with a past/living Richard. If he really was a former Richard, I don't think now-Richard would think of harming himself, let alone sending malicious spells towards himself. Quite simply, I think the Archmage kept calm merely because he's an Archmage. Beings of magic is typically perceived as wise beyond their years (no matter how old) and who tend to accept whatever happens with a cool head.

it's not because that's what i want, i know that there is also a big possibility that the archmage is actually Richard, it's just that i've added up all the things i know and convinced myself, and maybe others, that there is an even bigger possibility that the archmage is Richard's father.

I would have to agree with Rae..on every point really. As far as the mage being Richard's father, I dunno. The fact that it's been three thousand years between past and present really puts a damper on that theory. I mean, an undead could technically live forever but still, that's a long time for Richard to be running around, shamelessly killing people.

which is why Richard has all those titles

I'm pretty sure the "No one puts Richard in a corner" is a reference to the thrice accursed chick flick Dirty Dancing and not some deep convoluted metaphysical hint to Richard's past or resemblance to a (skeletal) old man. But I could be wrong...

AAAHGHH, my brain!

Note: I edited in my first thoughts about the comic to my other posting, above...

Poor Tavor.... 3000 years waiting to fulfill a task would drive anyone around the bend. Interesting that he says he was bound to the twin swords; that means he didn't wait in golden-desert-mirage Kethenecia all this time for Cale to turn up, he was hanging around in the ethereal plane.

Wait... but Cale took the swords from the past through the Shriek's portal directly into the present! Huh? So why 3000 years?

Maybe Cale didn't actually carry the swords through the portal. I had always wondered how the Shriek had actually managed to allow objects from the past to pass through a time portal, when it was never clear if Cale had actually physically been back in time, or if the Shriek had created a sort of temporal loop for him in which he could observe and interact with the King and Tavor, because Cale had been there before in real history, but could not actually change the historical outcome. Lena told Cale, "I brought you there to the fall of Gamlon not to change the past but merely to observe it". Maybe Tavor's twin swords lay in the catacombs, preserved for three millennia, with Tavor's spirit bound to them, until present-day Cale turned up in the ruined castle and claimed them. Maybe the Shriek placed them into Cale's hands when the Worst Portal Ever sequence ended and Cale fell back out of the big swirly portal thingy.



Noses are cartilage, once someone's dead and starts to putrefy, they start to umm go manky and liquify, that's why most undead in fantasy art whose faces look skull-like have no nose.



As the undead lich Xykon of Order of the Stick fame said (in Start of Darkness) when he turned undead: "Suck this, arthritis!" (paraphrased) The archmage is an old man, with body fialing. Richard on the other hand has nothing left to stave off the boredom of tedious centuries than the joy of killing.



It would be hilarious if Benny gets up and finds out that the old geezer has passed away from a heart attack brought on by all the excitement... then neither Tavor or Richard could claim to have killed him. Or both.



That "cute little archmage" is an amoral politician who places the fulfillment of the prophecies and the idea that "Kethenecia must endure" over the lives of the elves and Gamlon and over the lives of all the men, women and children of Kethenecia... they will "all be put to the sword".

[edited to add]


Is it? It's been years since I last saw that movie. (My mother was a big fan of it, back then, I must've been made to watch it like 15 times whenever it was on TV. Ah, the 1980s....) If it is, which character spoke it? And under what circumstances?

Oh and welcome to the forum, Mousehulhu.

your point is?

I think Richard saying "no one puts Richard in a corner" probably doesn't refer at all to the archmage. Most likely, I think, is that Richard woke up, perhaps a little befuddled, realized that the group had just left him and got a hair . . . angry. He took this out in a very Richardly way (slaughtering the village because they could not give him what he wanted - basically, Richard is a very powerful nine-year-old). Then he goes on to find the group, probably still angry at all of them equally. Then, I'm betting he heard Tavor's little "No one can stop me" line. Bad mistake, Tav.

See the thing is, immature as Richard is, he ain't stupid. I am pretty sure he heard Tavor say that and immediately deducted that it WASN'T the group's idea to leave him the the alley - rather, it would have been Tavor's suggestion. Now, why Krunch would have been the one suggesting it, I don't know - maybe he and Tavor bent heads together and talked it over or something. Or maybe it was Krunch's idea all along but Richard heard Tavor say that line (and he was unconscious when Krunch explained that they were going to leave him in the alley to rest) and assumed it had been Tavor's idea all along, thus saving the day inadvertently.

Whatever the case, Richard looks hardcore in that last frame. Poor Tav though lol. I sense and epic battle coming up, which may be bad for Richard; he's already exhausted quite a bit of energy, I'm sure. And also, I'm calling it here and now:

The Archmage might be the one that comes back with them, instead of Tavor.

Hey man, I dunno. Just a thought I had lol.

Anyway, I'm probably not making much sense at this point. Time for bed haha.

i'm expecting him to be killed by Richard once and for all.

wait, i take that back. twice and for all. heh heh

I also subscribe to the thought that Richard means that he was placed into the alley while everyone else left. Tavor was just the innocent victim of Richard's ice, because shooting him (Tavor) would get Richard the most attention upon entrance.

They were likely already dead when Cale fell out of the time portal.
Or alternatively, once Tavor was dead he met the ghosts of everyone who had been killed on the ethereal plane.



In Eberron, the latest campaign world for d20 D&D, they have the Deathless (non-evil undead) and a prestige class "Risen Martyr" only available to a Deathless. Basically, if someone of great righteousness dies before his time and his will to live transcends death, his soul stays bound to the material plane because of an unfulfilled obligation, i.e. to bring his murderer to justice, or to wish to protect someone who is still alive. His soul is granted a new (immortal) body, formed from... well I don't know exactly, maybe ectoplasm? That body has all the toughness and resistances of a normal undead, but is powered not by death energy but by the kind of energy normally used in healing or resurrection spells... basically the character comes back from the dead with all his old abilities and knowledge intact, he doesn't lose a level, but gains a template and maybe a prestige class. Once he has fulfilled his task, his time is up, however, and his soul journeys on, and the body probably simply dissolves back into energy.



It'll be interesting to see how Benny and Krunch react... will they take a side, or not?

i can hardly wait

and about Tavor's father and sister, i think he was referring to the king and Leena. you know, the king, my father, the princess, my sister? well, i think you get the point

It definitely is.

It happens towards the end of the movie. Johnny Castle had previously left the resort after getting fired for being involved with a guest (Baby). The final scene of the movie takes place at an end of the summer party at the resort where Johnny returns and says to Baby's father "Nobody puts Baby in a corner". He then takes Baby up on the stage and they dance to the movie's theme song 'I've Had the Time of My Life'.

I think that by Father and Sister he literally meant that the King and Princess were his father and sister, if you read it the way it would be said in that situation, dramatic, it comes off as that being what he meant. And Richard looks completely awesome in that last frame.

yes, that's what i meant to say

Am I the only one who think that it's weird that ILR is 'shaking with excitement' over this?

Soo... didn't read the whole topic, but I read a bit.

1. The archmage was calm because he's just had a sword to his throat maybe? He hasn't had a chance to react, really...

2. I think Richard is referring to him being left in the alley... A corner is clearly visible in the comic where he wakes up

3. This is... 3000 years ago I believe? If Richard was an undead warlock for the... 2900 or so years that he'd've been dead with him being the archmage or his dad being the archmage, then wouldn't everyone in the world be dead? I mean really.

If a time machine is ever invented, I bet the inventor is a fellow geek who travels to the future to be able to read the conclusion of all those webcomics years from now. But then, if he returns to the past, his life will be bereft of excitement, wouldn't it? Truly, prescience is a curse. Especially if you already know how many times to come Marvel will screw around with Superman's story.

Hm, I was thinking of starting a thread on that. Back when we first met Tavor, I had the sneaking suspicion that he just might be the son of the King. I mean, I doubt it was uncommon for princes to be trained in combat and to display just as much respect for their king as any other citizen. It's not too much of a stretch for a prince to address his father as, "Sire". It would explain why Tavor and the King of Gamlon seemed to have such a (relatively) close relationship. Tavor was the one the king called for when he was being attacked. Tavor was also the one charged with taking care of the princess. He doesn't otherwise seem to have a higher rank than the other soldiers, so why else would he have such high standing with the king?

Also, Tobrian, we do know that Tavor's sister was still alive when Cale first went back in time. Tavor told him, "I have a little sister who asks a lot of questions." Not, "I had". Also, Tavor seemed upbeat when he mentioned her. If Tavor really is the King's son, then it would make sense that he knows of the death of his father and sister. I thought it was interesting that, on this page, Tavor mentioned avenging "Our King, my father and our princess, my sister." It's almost too perfect.

i almost feel sorry for the poor thing

wow..much to read..will catch up later ( i promise ).
BUT:
Im not sure bout teh archmage = richard theory, since the archmage is talkin bout "being careful not to damage time-space-thingie" and stuff..and richard goes ahead and slays his way through the villages tho he should know better.
On the other hand he just couldnt care ("a soul is needed for love *kicks doggie*" ^^).

You know what would be really mean? if the next comic would be TOTALLY unrelated xD

Yeah, me too, ILR. I also can't help but notice how comfortable Leena seems around Tavor. He's a seasoned soldier and yet this little girl has no qualms about snuggling into him as he carries her. I suppose it's possible that she is simply familiar with him because he's her father's trusted subject but to me, it makes more sense that she just feels safe being held by her big brother.