2011-06-16: In Order

[The Comment Golem]

Discussion thread for In Order

[Slamlander]

Aha! The long anticipated Sara v Anita duel is about to commence.

*grabs popcorn and lounge chair*

Odds favor Sara at 85:90, a 6% spread, due to additional combat training from Sarine and tactical training by her brother Jon.

Actually, I expected odds to be more in Sara's favor than that Anita also has an overconfidence problem.

Paul already disfavors Anita and is not happy with her policies. He could let this evolve into a coup d'etat, making this a duel for the leadership of the Ensigerum. He could just stand aside and enjoy the popcorn with Jon. However, I wouldn't put it past Jon to have a solution for Paul should it turn out differently.

I just want to see Sara hand Anita her own ass

[Alberich]

What I find interesting is that Paul wants to let them live, given that he was the one who first suggested sending Sara to kill Jon.

One possibility is that he's still convinced the Ensigerum, or the Ensigerum as he knew it, is completely finished, and he doesn't see the need to keep trying to enforce its rules. But I think it's likelier that he is simply sick of killing.

[stellar]

Apologies in advance for the Star Wars reference but I instantly got echoes here of Return of the Jedi as soon as I saw this page (which I do quite like, might I add, I just felt a lil bit of .. ehm .. resonance?)

Skywalker: "Your overconfidence is your weakness."

Palpatine: "Your faith in your friends is yours."

Apocalyptic winner-takes-all battle going on, small band of plucky adventurers on a rather desperate gamble to save everything from going very bad. Except Ian would fit the analogy a lot better for this scene and the parallel doesn't stretch much further than that (unless you're creative) but it did jump into my mind. Odd vibe.

ANYHOW ... I'm thinking Paul is a lot more reasonable or cunning than he appears. Could be a bit of both maybe. It's hard to tell, but I do think it's a bit of political maneuvering on his part. Can't wait for the next couple of pages, will be excellent.

[Viking-Sensei]

When you're as meme-blind as Anita, the words coming out of her mouth are essentially the same as signing your own death warrant. Paul's even doing a wonderful job of playing the "voice of common sense" here - not that Anita's going to survive this long enough for him to say "I told you so" to her.

[Forrest]

If she's going in the order she received her tasks, wouldn't that mean eradicating the Wraith first, and then dealing with the missing initiate?

Not that Sara would let Anita take a swing at her big brother without something to say about it, anyway....

[Ori Klein]

Cue Meji dropping a Tsuirakuan Warship on Anita, but that'd be cheating so she'll have to take it back.

When you're as meme-blind as Anita

I think you meant Genre-Blind?

What I find interesting is that Paul wants to let them live, given that he was the one who first suggested sending Sara to kill Jon.

Someone is definitely playing hidden agenda here and rolling dice on both camps.
Could it be that the Gewehr's high command has managed to infiltrate the ranks of the Ensingerum and plant a mole close to top of the food chain?

[normalphil]

Boss fight!

("eradicating the wraths")

[throwrug]

Tired of killing may be one idea, but I think that Paul is just wary. The Ensigarium has thrived for thousands of years by not even being a rumor. Nobody knew they existed except the church, and they liked it that way. They thrive on quick ambushes of unsuspecting non-magic users. This is exactly the kind of fight that they don't want to be having. Only an idiot or someone suicidal would have walked in without a plan for dealing with the Ensigarium they would meet. It's never smart to assume your enemy is an idiot, and because Paul doesn't know what their backup plan is, that makes it more dangerous.

There are really 2 scenarios:
Jon and Sara are a threat, which means they shouldn't engage.
Jon and Sara are not a threat, which means there's no need to engage.

[eee]

Anita's being an idiot. Anyone observing the Elf/Ensigerum fight would see the Elves are holding their own and inflicting fatalities on the Ensigerum that they may not be able to recover from if allowed to continue. She and Paul need to either join in and bring the battle to an end quickly or disengage and get their survivors out of there. Instead, she's letting her ego and cruelty take over and going for personal satisfaction regardless of the cost to those she leads. Not to mention she so felt the need to gloat she spoke rather than attacked and so gave up the element of surprise. She's a traitor to her position AND a fool, and Paul needs to wait until she turns her back then spit her.

Also, Jon has shown tactical thinking and ability before sufficient to take out an Ensigerum, even before he fully understood their capacities. Now he knows more, and if Paul and Anita are foolish enough to leap down from there he'll probably shoot them (where'd he get the gun? Maybe Sara brought it) before they hit the ground, or find some other way to negate their advantages.

And maybe he has Ellis up his other sleeve...