Nah, he’s not dying in the arena. The author is just leading you on, suggesting it might happen by inserting cliche foreshadowing moments. That way when he does axe him later people people won’t be so sure about seeing it coming, and yet he’ll still be able to foreshadow it.
Sebmojo
3702
Eh, you could be right. Not having a twist can sometimes be the twist, though, y’know what i mean?
Per comic 665 or so Belkar had seven weeks from when they got on the boat.
So it’s entirely possible that time is about up.
Hmmm, I’d forgotten the time limit.
You’re off by one :-). But yeah, when I said…
…strip 666 was part of the reason why.
Just to clarify a bit: in my opinion, there is no way that Rich will write Belkar out of the strip when he dies. Belkar has always been his sure-fire go-to guy for an inappropriate laugh when things get too serious, and I can’t see him sacrificing that. I also cannot see him cheating readers by not fulfilling the prophecy, since he’s played fair every step of the way to date. The “undead Belkar” comment JoshV made earlier on this page may not be a joke at all–something along those lines will be necessary to resolve this conflict. Given how the Giant likes to surprise readers, it may be more complicated than that, but then again, it may not. Who knows? Perhaps he really will become a sexy shoeless god.
in an ironic twist he can become like skullsie.
An evil ghost Belkar might be amusing - haunting the OOTS for all time.
Jarmo
3709
So, who will it be? A new character that is ironically small or weak looking after this build up? Or Thog?
OrfBC
3711
Or Elan’s dad in another disguise, or one of his party members.
Jarmo
3712
It’s the flumph and he’s had enough!
I figured “undead Belkar” was such an obvious result of that prophecy, that the only way it doesn’t happens is as a deliberate subversion of the expected outcome.
I mean, “will draw his last breath”? That’s right up there with “no man of woman born”.
Drastic
3714
It’s actually going to refer to Belkar playing his one and only game of Pictionary.
Wouldn’t it be fun if it’s the Monster in the Darkness? I miss Team Evil–we haven’t seen them in a LONG time–and I’d squeal with glee if they’d formed some sort of behind the scenes alliance with Tarquin. I very much doubt it, but hey, why not dream?
Why not take speculation to extremes as long as I’m at it:
–the mystery foe is the MITD, hence the references to solitary confinement and its power
–the MITD will administer a severe beatdown to poor Roy
–Belkar, overconfident and jealous, will rush out to “save” him while really trying to steal the adulation of the crowd
–the MITD will kill Belkar
–Xykon will order Redcloak or Tsukiko to reanimate Belkar as Team Evil’s newest member
I doubt a single line of this will come to pass, but if it does, I’m all set to gloat now.
I’m going to wager that its a member of the Linear Guild. I highly doubt its Nale, as somebody would have noticed a bounty was out for a highly popular gladiator. However, it is high time these A-list villains are reintroduced to the plot. I mean, the 3 Fiends said how many strips ago that it was time to reintroduce them to the plot?
Male gender does limit the number of possibles, though. It could be Thog, though he never struck me as kill stone golem with PC levels good. Maybe one of the rejects who lived, such as that Druid or low level half elf. There is no reason to believe they are that good either, except they’ve been out of the plot for a long time.
To be fair, if he only said Belkar dies, that wouldn’t be much of a plot development in a world where the afterlife has a revolving door. So, it could be a way to give readers less mental weasal room to delude themselves that Belkar is not going to be written out of the plot.
SlyFrog
3719
Maybe he’ll come up with some plot that involves Belkar having to draw a picture of someone breathing, and then getting his hand chopped off. :)
As I’ve said previously, I don’t think he’ll be written out of the plot when he dies (and he will).
