Seriously, if Richard really dies, I will stop reading the comic. Or no I won't but I will be reaally pissed. Benny has said herself that she's but a "barely trained priestess", and it would be rather retarded if Richard died because of that arrow since, as said before, he is undead and not surrounded by some sort of enchantment.

And btw, I also thought Cale was gonna shoot the bubble thing. I mean, how can he prefer to try to kill his closest friend rather than risk to upset a bunch of bunny-praisers? Sure they're good allies and such, but still.... I hate Cale now. Heartless brute!

At least Richard didn't sing: "Shot through the Heart- And You're to Blame- You give Love, a bad name"
In any case I'm sick of hearing people say that Richard's trying or is going to expose the Archmage. He gains nothing from that and he's on the Archmage's side.

I would find it incredible amusing if thanks to Cale's action the bunny would actually suffocate, because Richard passed out or something. Not that I see this happening - but then Cale would be in real trouble and I love to see that.

But I do not see that happen. I am not sure if Richard would be proud or pissed, maybe a little of both.

Not sure what Cale thought he would achieve with his actions in this one ... it seemed to be a rather, "I ran out of ideas so I do what Richard would do - shoot someone". Or maybe he is just a lousy shot ... or he has a dramatic lapse like Legolas in the second movie.

I have to say, this one surprised me. I mean, Cale taking down Richard? Who would've thought?... EVERYTHING I KNOW IS A LIE!!!!!

Now that I'm done with my over-dramatization. First of all, Richard is not dead(well, he is. But you know what I mean). At most, he'll just be unconscious for a while. Killing off the most popular character, just not gonna happen. I imagine Richard's gonna be pissed when he wakes up though. The big question though is, now what? Cale still has to try and get them to follow him, and they are gonna try to take the bunny now. Assuming that Richard is out for a bit, he won't be able to prevent them. Perhaps Cale will trust that Richard had a good reason to keep the bunny and won't let them take it?

...the scene isnt over yet Jonath... he could pop back up, spin around and say that...-sigh- its bad enough i hear the "never gonna give you up" song on the radio i start laughing and after go "you just got dick rolled"

and the only reason cale did is was because richard didnt think about the rabbit needing air in his little bubble, and since richard wasn't listening, he made him listen by making him stop. not killing him, cuz he's dead..but a normal arrow wouldnt stop richard..

Just one thing. The phrase it's wrong:if is a quote of Caesar, it was supposed to be "Quoque Tu Cale"...

However, putting aside my fastidiousness...
Richard cannot be defeated!!! He has to protect the bunny, if he doesn't kill him...

The actual last words of Caesar are not certain, but that's the line used is Shakespeare's play "Julius Caeser" and is the best known version.

Yay Wikipedia.

There's still time!

The arrow is spelled to go through enchantments, not dispel them. I also thought that Cale was going to shoot for the Bunny in the Magic Bubble, and not for his nearest and dearest friend. This may score pointswith the maniacal bunny Blues, but, poor Richard... No Almanack, either.

i think that its just richard keeping up the humor.
besides cale wouldnt try shooting an enchanted arrow through him if he wasnt dead sure that it would kill him(although he can be an idiot sometimes).
just think about it would richard really tell "Et,tu cale" if he was really hurt??
well i think not.

I think the reference to Julius Caesar is quite apt. If, this enchanted arrow has some ability to harm Richard, then the most powerful man in the world would, indeed, be betrayed by the one closest to him. I don't remember seeing any comets in the previous panels, though.

Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!

I've been pondering over the page while at work today... I think Cale asked Benny to enchant the arrow with a binding spell to hold/paralyze Richard for a time so the archbunny could be freed.

...Just my two cents on it.

Maybe it is so in Shakespeare, and is more famous to you because you can read Shakespeare in original language, but i'm sure that it's like i said: i study Latin and Latin Literature, so i know it.
WIKIPEDIA: Last phrase of Caesar

However, as i said, it's not important it was only a clarification.
The important thing is that richard was defeated by cale: tath cannot be ture!!! All the things i've ever known were destroyed!!!

I bet with Cale's line of sight he had to shoot through richard to hit the bunny. In the third panel it looks like the arrow is flying toward the end of the chain. We've seen richard have huge holes burned through him in the same place he just got shot. It would make no sense if one arrow took him down. I bet he's just hamming it up and feeling betrayed by the elf.

I would of been slightly more interesting if that arrow pierced the bubble and hit the bunny causing the archemages illusion to fail.

Well, Richard sure knows his classics.

Interesting turn of events.
Let´s see what happens next.

CU
SaM

Cale, what have you done?!!
I really hope Richard is bein' over dramatic...

What if that's the point?
"Et tu, Cale?" = Shakespeare play = drama = Richard is just faking.
"Quoque Tu Cale" = Caesar's last words = death/betrayal = Richard actually is hurt\feeling betrayed by Cale.

Personally, I don't think Richard is hurt, either physically or emotionally. I'm of the opinion that Richard will actually be proud of Cale shooting him through the back, and then Cale will clumsily try to explain that it was the only shot he had at hitting the bubble to free the bunny (I like the idea that he had to shoot through Richard to free the bunny).

Additionally, if it is the case that he shot through Richard to hit the bunny, then I think it is likely the arrow will dispel the AM's illusion as well.

Hilarity will ensue.

If the arrow reveals the Archmage, I can imagine the Matron getting somewhat frazzled and asking "What have you done with out Bunny Lord?!"

Hmm. I've apparently made some incorrect conclusions recently, or these guys are adamant on keeping their perspective secrets from each other. Regardless, Richard getting shot in the back by Cale caused me to go from "WTF" to "KILL CALE!". How dare he? I mean, he's suffocating the Archbunny, but he's got to be planning to release him soon or he's got some plan in place to get him out of here. I have no idea why he'd bother to kill the bunny for the sole purpose of making enemies out of the (what are they now) Family. (I guess?)

I is confuzzled. Awaiting explaination Monday for what just happened.
-EM

If you think that Richard has a plan here...well you're probably wrong. So far very few of Richard's plans have even made the slightest bit of sense (seriously, stuffing Cale in a Dwarf?) and he probably doesn't even realize he's suffocating the Bunny.

Also am I the only person here that thought about Inuyasha when they showed the blessed Arrow?

Apparantly, it's not enough for some people to believe that Richard is omnipotent (which he isn't). They also need to believe that he is omniscient (which is really laughable).

Richard doesn't always have a plan. He doesn't always know what's going on. And right here, he was taken out, temporarily, by Cale, because he was being a complete jackass in the process of keeping his and the rabbit's dirty little secret.

* sigh* I remember having to memorize twenty-some lines of Julius Caesar and reciting them for English class. I'm the only one who decided to speak for both characters in the dialogue, from "Good even, Casca: brought you Caesar home?" to "Unto the climate that they point upon" (Act I, Scene 3). Ah, school days.

As for Cale's untenable actions... well, they aren't. He obviously had a reason for doing what he did, and Richard does seem to be "hamming it up", as it were, even as he falls, so my guess is, he'll be fine. But why?

This brings us to the question of what type of undead Richard is. To kill a lich, one would need to destroy the phylactery or soul-vessel. Vampires are killed by exposure to sunlight, or staking and beheading; ghosts must be appeased or exorcised by a priest; zombies, mummies, and other animated corpses are most effectively destroyed by burning. While there are many other types and variations, I think I've covered the basics.

Thus far, the lich-type seems closest to whatever Richard is, suggesting that he can suffer any amount of bodily harm and eventually get back up. In other words, CALM DOWN.

my theory is that Richard was just in the way.

Cale had the arrow bound to go through enchantments. Richard is undead, not an enchantment, hence Cale's aiming for the Bubble Bunny, not to kill Richard.

However, my bet is that when the arrow breaks the felbunny's bubble, it will also remove the archmage's bunny suit, and we get our big reveal.


/just reg'd and posted to say that lol, been lurking a while

Facemelting is in store for Cale.

Also, you people saying "Omg Cale swore!21211", actually, 'Damn' isn't considered a swear word, he's still clean.

From what I can tell Richard isn't falling, he's bowing.
2nd last panel he's reaching out his hand in a dramatic gesture accompanying his "theatrical quote of the week", noone retracts their arms to a position paralell to their torso when falling down, there's neither time nor logical reasons for it.

For reference
http://www.nigelwrightactor.co.uk/bowingactor.png

And besides, an enchanted arrow rendering richard unconcious before even hitting the ground? Please, he's practically a demi-god.

My money is on him doing a theatrical bow for the audience.

This is quite the interesting turn, seeing as Richard's eyes simply go grey in the last panel, implying that he was knocked out in some way. However, when he was knocked out due to overexertion, his eyes were simply closed. In any case, his crystal is still red, so his essence or power, which he has shown on several occasions, can be placed elsewhere. He will be back, but I have a feeling our friend the Archmage is going to make an appearance soon.

Looking forward to Monday's strip.

Maybe this was what Richard had hoped would happen.

He seems to be helping both Cale and the Archmage rebuild Kethenecia, and he's known Cale long enough to know how he reacts in certain situations.

The Sisters were unlikely to agree to follow Cale to Kethenecia so Richard deliberatly prevoked them into a fight by rubbishing their religion and then put the Bunny in danger forcing Cale to take action.

Cale has known Richard for long enough now to know that an arrow will have little or no effect on him, but from the Sisters point of view he has just attacked a member of his party to protect the Sons and also to release their God from Richards bubble.

Also Richard has only injured several of the Sons, which i'm sure Benny could heal putting the Sisters a bit further into Cales debt.

my first thought was that if the shot went through richard to hit the orb the bunny is in, it's probably going to hit the bunny too, because cale just needs to screw up for hilarity to ensue...i think i just wanted to see actual badass angry fighting from the elves, since we missed it all earlier...(i'm let down with them fighting richard, he's not even into it)

Poor Richard.

First Cale forgets his Deathday; now he's shooting him in the back?

I have a feeling our warlock is going to reference this some day in the future. :|

I think that mostly depends on who you ask, however some of the definitions included on dictionary.com indicate it is used for cursing or swearing.

Yeah whereas "Hell" could be considered a rather mild one Damn is usually considered rather dirty. It's more of a curse word than ass or hell but lower than the others. It's still counts as profanity.

Eh, my only point is that it wasn't incorrect persay. It was obviously from the play. Also, there's the fact that as the wikipedia page I found said that the last words weren't exactly known for sure and is still up for debate. Unfortunately your wiki page doesn't offer much information to me, as I cannot read it. As you said though, not really important.

I have to say, I do think some of you are giving Richard more credit than he deserves. I doubt he planned any of this out. Partially cuz Cale shooting his friend would not be an expected response. And really, I'm not sure I've ever seen Richard show that much planning in anything he's done, though I could be wrong there. He doesn't seem like the type to think much about his actions. He does what he wants, when he wants, and for whatever reasons (or lack thereof) he wants. I think the reason for his actions is the simple solution here. He doesn't want the archmage to be revealed, and he can't let the matron take him away. So he created a magical sphere to protect the bunny while he fights, and he chains it to himself so they don't just take the magical sphere away. Being undead, breathing isn't something he's familiar with. Remember, the memories of his life are sparse. So he forgot to let air into the sphere, thus causing the bunny to suffocate. Unfortunately, by the point he realized the mistake he was too busy fighting off the sons and daughters to release the bunny.

I'm not sure he doesn't want the archmage to be revealed, he just doesn't want to leave him here, and as a bunny, the AM can't really explain (nevermind that he could change and then explain; that's thinking too far ahead).

And I don't think Richard ever realized that the Bunny is suffocating (or appears to be); I think he's tuning Cale out 99% of the way; he hears *something* coming from Cale, but doesn't really care what it is; it can't be as important as slaughter.

I still say Richard is way more calculating than we give him credit for. Sending the Archmage his own undead army was just one example. Saving Cale's life in a very effective (if bizarre) way was another. I think through the centuries he's learned to keep his motives and thought processes to himself. He's Cale's antithesis.

And remember, kids; you can't spell slaughter without laughter, especially of the maniacal variety. MWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

Richard just having a plan wouldn't make him omniscient. It would just mean he had a plan.
I personally don't think he had much planned out. Especially the part where Cale shot him.
But I think a lot of the time he has his noodle working overtime.
He's defiantly very resourceful and makes the most out of dier situations. So it wouldn't surprise me if he somehow changes this to his advantage.
And personally I don't see how a bound arrow would be any more efficient against him than a normal arrow. Its not like he had any barriers or enchantments up.
I think it was probably just enough to stop him from keeping the bunny encased. And although he isn't omnipotent [as you put it] hes still more than strong enough to ignore an arrow [even to critical areas].
The whole 'et tu' will just be him being over dramatic as usual.
He'll probably get up next page pick the bunny up and storm out of the room.

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART! AND YOU'RE TO BLAME!

You give loooove, a bad name.... *head bobbing*

I'll grant you that Richard has the occasional plan, but being a mastermind doesn't really fit with the warlock we've seen this whole time, in my eyes. Yes, this was most definitely not something he planned, with regards to getting shot, but I don't think there are as many instances where he was planning (to a grand degree) as some of his fans like to think.

And as for the "omnipotency", I was going for hyperbole, but there are some fans who like to believe that Richard could do absolutely anything, up to and including the destruction of the universe, if he should so choose. I dislike that mentality.

On the same token, I'd like to think that some matter of precision and proper choice of weaponry, like the bound arrow, would have at least some sort of effect on Richard. I'm hoping for rendering him unconscious or slightly weak at the minimum.

Now that Cale has:
♫Saved the wabbit.♫
♫Saved the wabbit!♫
♫Saved the wabbit!♫
♫With his bow and magic awwow♫
Magic awwow?
♫Ma-gic Aw-wow!♫

The Sisters will follow Cale to Kethenicia as was obviously Richard's plan. For Richard to hold back from killing yet be oblivious to blue bunny makes no sense unless it was his plan.

For those who wonder why Cale didn't simply pop the bunny bubble, consider that Cale also needed to stop the fighting. Popping the bubble doesn't achieve much.

The only question that remains for me from this page is whether Cale will figure out that Richard had a plan before Richard tells him.

Et tu Cale? Thus....ends....Richard.....


sorry, I had to

but but... the bubble didn't break...

Well, considering he's known for a loooooong time about the AM, and hasn't said a thing, makes me doubt he wants to reveal him. So far, he's on the AM's side. And yeah, not really much reason for him to suddenly want to reveal him now.

And I do believe he heard Cale, as he did reply with "occupado." This means "occupied," which correctly asserts the idea that he was to preoccupied with fending off the sons and daughters to lower his protective barrier, nonetheless recast another one.


Neither of those really seem like what I'd call planning. For the first, he already had the army. Sending them to Kethnicia was a decision, not a plan. As for saving Cale, that's more of on-the-spot thinking, or ingenuity if you will, than planning.


And about why the arrow stopped Richard, I have a theory. Perhaps the arrow disruptive whatever magic is animating his undead body. Or maybe he's just being dramatic, it's hard to say.

Isn't Richard a magical living corpse?

The kind of passive magic you'd call.....enchanted?

Even if it does just knock him out, Richard is going to slaughter some blues. I doubt they'll take his wounding of several blue elves very well.

So, yeah, either they do something while hes out, or hes nothing more than a normal corpse now.


And if Cale DID kill Richard it just shows how he lacks priorities, here. He may want to protect all innocent life, but offing or pissing off a massively powerful mountain exploding Warlock is a bad idea to save a couple of elves from getting their feelings hurt.

And maybe both. I don't think the arrow will kill him; but it's gotta sting, even without enchantmetns on Richard's undead body, which is probably not something he's used to (since he usually doesn't feel anything like real pain, being kind of sort of undead, and all). The arrow missed his shard, albeit by a "hare".


Hey, hey. Cale wasn't doing it for the elves. He was doing it for the bunny.

RIchard didn't explode a mountain, he caused it to erupt. Huge difference. The fact that the mountain never exploded was one of the lamest moments in the entire comic. A month's build up for nothing.

A super powered warlock for a bunny that Cale dosen't know is actually special.

So, all he knows is that its a bunny that the blues worship.

Thu he may or may not have killed Richard to spare the blue's feelings.



Lava was spilled either way.

am I honestly the only one to think of this way...?

with the Matron calling him Unclean One, and thus hating him for being undead...
do you honestly think after this fight they will allow Benny to heal one they view as unfit for life, and who tried to steal their god from them after dangling it in front of their faces.....?
After all, they seem to react most favorably to violence, and they never liked Cale, since Sooba, his pet, and Tim blew out/peed on their sacred candles....
I honestly doubt they would allow Cale to either heal or remove Richard's body.... even though he's the one who stopped Richard

It's not to protect the elves feelings. It's to keep the Legion bashing Elves from assraping them should their precious Bunny perish. His actions make perfect sense, in fact given what Cale stands for he should have tried killing Richard a long time ago. Though he isn't trying to kill him, just knock him out or stop his Hulk-rage.

The Richard will not be amused later xD

This one made me laugh. And now my cat is staring at me wondering what the hell I'm doing...

As for Richard, he's been shot with innumerable arrows, harpooned, been used as a living missile (once to sink a ship), had his hands cut off by a dwarven bard, had said bard throw an axe into his forehead and had his arms cut off by Gid on a later occasion. The point is Richard has taken a beating like none other (apart from his victims of course). The enchanted arrow might've knocked him out for a few minutes, but it'll take more than that to end his excistence.