Page 1718…
Happy Monday!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
I’ve gone back and rewrote Friday’s page. Please go back and RE-READ it!
Thank you all who helped me clear up that continuity error. Of course, there was no curse.
Daniel was kept out of Dreamland because Arthur was still alive (stuck in Limbo).
I think this works just as well. And I hope it makes sense.
Working a page-per-day DOES have its disadvantages. No real time to go back and re-read 1700+ pages to research your own story.
For this (among other reasons) I am truly thankful to you all for helping keep me on track.
🙂
Scott
DREAMLAND IS NOW AVAILABLE IN:
Can Nic do that? I guess clearly he can, but what authority does Nic have to say where the sword goes?
*BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPP*
ALEX, NO!!!
I knew it! :O
HOLY MOLY! Talk about a cliffhanger, tomorrows page can not get up soon enough! This has got to be the biggest plot twist in the history of the comic!
Nic does not, but he can undo the whammy he put inplace to prevent proper inheritance of the sword. Now the Sword goes back to what it would have done pre-whammy.
I think it’s more the sword going wherever it wants to.
And the sword wants to go to its rightful heir.
F*** Nic
Dangit Grandpa, why did you read me this stupid story???
i’m sorry, i’m feeling particularly dense this morning— is the cosmic mishap Nic is undiong the loophole that allowed Alex to pick the sword up in the first place?
Wait… so is Arthur dead now? D:
I have to admit, I still can’t see how Nicodemus can “undo” what has been done. The sword has chosen a king from the available “king pool”. How can Nic negate that choice? What power does Nic have over the sword? In the past, the sword had no one to choose from, since Arthur had not yet passed on, so no new king could take over, but now there is a king in place. It’s Alex. Whether he was meant to be king or not should make no difference: the sword chose him, he is king. Only Alex should be able to abdicate in favor of Daniel (in my opinion, be it humble or not.)
That is just plain weird.
(Please, Scott, do not see this as criticism, but merely as befuddlement… you tell a wonderful and riveting story.)
Yup. His messing with Arthur and keeping him in Limbo (so Nic could rule for 1,000 years) made it impossible for Dan to become king… but possible for Alex to.
Now, he’s fixing that.
Yup. I mentioned it a hundred or so pages ago… but once Alex took the sword… Arthur finally found peace.
I’m still trying to make sense of it all too.
It’s almost there.
Nicodemus is the reason why Alex is King… and not Daniel.
He’s essentially telling (through the incantation) the sword to “reboot” to the ORIGINAL king.
Just as if Daniel had taken the sword when Alex offered it to him.
Had that happened… Alex would no longer be king. It would revert back to Daniel.
Nicodemus is just facilitating that… through magic.
I agree! Totally stunned here!
But with Daniel being awake, it could still be possible for the sword to be passed right back to Alex, without him using/accepting the sword. Or does the sword only get passed to Dreamland during the moment when one falls asleep (can’t remember how that works).
Or (in another batch of possibilities) could it be possible that the sword only chose Daniel to get Alex, and that eliminating the spell we could get someone new from the pool of possible Dreamland kings, but then our main cast would have no way of knowing what is going on……except for their cousin and of course the portal to Dreamland.
Looks like Alex and Nastajia will be lost from each other-quite literally!
Not if she follows her parents’ path…
This is what Alex must be thinking: Please let this be a dream. Please let this be a dream. Oh shoot! This isn’t a dream. Dang!
To be fair, I’m shocked that nobody is considering the possibility of this just being another nightmare. I mean, it’s not like this would be the first one he’s seen since he got here, and the nightmare realmians have proven more than capable of conjuring images of *other people* (Re: The many-Nastajia deaths.)
So: Yeah, not buying it until I see the sword in Dan’s hands. It sounds too good to be true (for the nightmare realmers, after all this delusion removes his biggest weapon), so I’m betting it is.
I’m with you… I thought the sword and the armor were a “matched set” so to speak. If he is no longer king… would he still keep the king’s armor without the sword?
Yegads. Don’t wake up, Alex!
So the sword really doesn’t have a say in who gets to be king. It is a predestined thing that Nicodemus interrupted by magic. He’s more powerful than I realized. Stupid, though. He’s completely underestimated the brothers, Nastajia and their allies.
Actually, I’m kind of glad to see that whole wretched decision taken away from the brothers. Just so neither of them had to be the cause of the other’s loss.
Not if you have any faith in Dan.
I vaguely remember that the Elves made the armor for Alex, but I could be totally wrong on that.
Daniel already has a sword. He’s having a hard enough time knowing what to do with one sword, what’s he gonna do with two? ;P
Ooooh, major plot twist. This is gonna be good.
I was thinking that too, but it would be a really interesting twist if it wasn`t.
What will they do next!?
What is Nastajia going to think when she can`t find Alex? Or when Daniel arrives in Dreamland in Alex` place?
I’ve thought about it, but it would be a really underwhelming move not worthy of the chapter cliffhanger that came from Nic’s re-reveal. Plus, I don’t think Abaddon would reveal its plans to conquer two worlds and then ask Alex to fight against him/it/them. Or taunt him to consider relinquishing the throne to the real king of Dreamland, who would be an even more powerful foe.
I get the feeling that this is gonna suck….
The situation, not the comic. Comic’s brilliant.
daaaaaannnng…that dragon’s got some POWER!
thanks:)
Honestly, I’m not having a problem with Nic “rebooting” the sword. He’s an immensely knowledgeable and ancient being, and if we accept that he can do active magic (glowing hands, mid-air runes, that sort of stuff) then it seems reasonable that he might be able to do this, particularly with the rewrite of Friday’s page. My only question is why he hasn’t used sorcery before. Is it just slow and unwieldy? Not combat-practical?
In any case, it doesn’t seem like Alex is kicked out of Dreamland just yet, and while the sword may be the mark of kingship, no hunk of metal can make someone a hero. That means Alex has about six hours, give or take, to show his true quality.
And when that time is up, we have elven royalty, a dimensional portal, a magic talisman (maybe), the body and soul of Merlin, “the dreamer”… there are a lot of things that could come out of the woodwork to help Alex (directly or no).
… Or will the time come up? I think it might be worth questioning whether or not Alex *can* wake up, having entered dreamland via the sword and lost it without exiting or dying.
The elves repaired the armor for Alex after his battle wit Nicodemus. They originally gave the armor, which had been left to them for safe keeping by Arthur and Merlin, to Alex when he showed up with the Sword of Kings in Ashendel if I remember correctly.
*with Nicodemus*
Is this the point where Alex gets the REAL sword he was meant to have, not Excalibur, but Ascalon–the sword of St. George, who, y’know, may have kicked some dragon hiney with it back in the day?
(hoping)
Since he’s in Dreamland, shouldn’t it be “please let this not be a dream”? :p
Couldn’t Alex come back to Dreamland if Dan gave the sword to Alex?
My thinking is… with Alex… he thought he could kill or control him. He was “the devil you know”.
But once Alex said “no” to helping Dreamland… Nicodemus said “Let’s try plan B”
So there what… two swords? Daniel has Excalibur and Alex has the “Sword of Kings”?
You all may be over reacting. Remember Orion’s training allowed Alex to access his inner child. He may not need the sword to access Dreamland anymore anyway. Nic may have to deal with both brothers now.
I stand by my previous assertion that Alex kinda asked for that.
When two different worlds, one of which you’ve been placed in charge of, are facing an invasion and your primary concern is rescuing your girlfriend, you’ve disqualified yourself from being a leader.
I think one angle no one has considered… this is the Nightmare Realm! And how many times did Alex see Nastajia DIE?!? It is quite possible that this is simply another “fear tactic”, to get Alex to feel helpless/hopeless in this realm.
Hmm?
Sorry, but this curve ball seems so… CONTRIVED. It just doesn’t follow or make a lot of sense.
The “cosmic mishap” that “allowed’ Alex to wield the Sword of Kings and become King of Dreamland was the FACT that Alex is Dan’s twin brother. You can’t undo a FACT like that – not without time travel or something.
Not EVEN Nicodemus could foresee that unlikely possibility (twins in the Arthur bloodline). Further, Nicodemus wasn’t even AWARE of Alex having a (slightly) older twin brother until his defeat.
Besides, the Sword of Kings CHOSE to be wielded by Alex and as the next King of Dreamland.
What did, what COULD Nic do to UNDO this choice of the Sword of Kings? He undid a “CURSE” that prevents Dan from entering Dreamland? Where’s the logic in THAT? Sorry, but that does NOT follow. What prevented Dan from going to Dreamland was how Nic TRAPPED King Arthur between dimensions, preventing him from dying. With King Aurthur technically “alive”, the Sword was prevented from finding a successor.
It was a Catch 22: Dan couldn’t travel to Dreamland to inherit the Sword of Kings, and so the Sword of Kings couldn’t be passed to Dan. That is, unless Alex gave the Sword AMULET to Dan for him to wear around his neck.
To Nic’s credit, that was a very CLEVER loophole! And now we see a Deus Ex Machina pulled out of left field to undermine the whole thing. Was that key plot point retconned?
Alex disturbed the tomb where King Arthur was. The Sword of Kings influenced Alex to pick up the sword. This disconnected King Arthur and allowed him to pass on and allowed the Sword to pass to a successor. Yet, Dan STILL could not travel to Dreamland. And the Sword did not pass itself off to Dan. Nor did Alex pass the Sword to Dan. Clearly, the reason Dan could not travel to Dreamland was because he was no longer a child. Only children, or the King who owns the Sword of Kings, can travel to Dreamland.
This… this is… [sigh]
If someone can explain it to me, please try. I’m at a complete loss. -_-
I imagine the blue screen of death popping up now!
I knew that sooner or later, just because two promising relationships needed a plot twist, Dan would become king of Dreamland and Alex no longer. The thing is, Alex has already worked very hard to be successful in Dreamland, and he has a potential life there, without nearly as much going for him back on Earth. Dan, by contrast, while he has always wanted see Dreamland for himself, isn’t remotely prepared to be there, never flew there as a child let alone will he be able to now, etc. And, Dan has every reason to stay on Earth where he has invested his efforts and is being successful. So the question is: How will the two brothers work together to save both places and get back to their true loves? As far as Alex’s decision to go after Nastajia, I would have respected him far less if he’d wimped out on her and tried to ally with Nicodemus, a known liar, usurper, and all-around-can’t-be-trusted-dude. Maybe he thinks he has Dreamland’s best interests at heart and maybe that’s just another clever line of baloney, more likely the latter. He has never admitted fault or demonstrated an effort to change and partnering with him to save the worlds is less likely to be successful than partnering with Nastajia, who is a smart, capable, kick-butt leader. I didn’t think we’d really make it to the end of the story without Dan seeing Dreamland for himself and without Alex having to make a bigger commitment to Dreamland than just the night-time. I’m looking forward to finding out how we get there from here, and really hoping the answer isn’t heartache and giving each other up forever for Alex and Nastajia.
But… but Alex is the King Dreamland deserves….but not the one it needs right now…
So does that mean he just killed of King Arthur (or at least removed him from Limbo?).
Never mind. The comment below explains that. 🙂
he is… the Dark King …??
OK. Does this mean that the sword appears as a necklace around DAN’S neck right now? If he and Nicole are awake, at least she should notice it. And when they do, they ought to be quite terrified that Alex must have DIED in Dreamland – right? How else would the sword come to Dan? What will they do? Knock Dan unconcious to get to Dreamland fast in order to try and find his dead brother? Or will the sword come to life and tell Dan what the heck’s going on?
“Don’t miss the next episode of: The Dreamland Chronicles!”
This is just me, but Alex could’ve ask Nic a very good question such as:
“You have wings, help me get Nastajia back home and we’ll consider helping you”
Then Nastajia would most likely have shot them out of the sky, but they would have reached her faster. Alex could’ve handled the situation better, but he is still learning…
Except when said girlfriend is the QUEEN OF THE ELVEN NATION. OTher than the dwarves…yeah losing the elven faction cause you misplaced their queen wouldn’t really help the war effort.
But with no sword, can Alex still wake up? Or not?
He cannot enter Dreamland without sword, can he leave Dreamland without sword?
Here’s hoping that Alex can appeal to Nicodemus’ charitable side and restore the sword back to him,unless Nic doesn’t have a charitable side!
Sure, sure.
Dan<–real king
Alex<–Current King
Nic
Again, magic is weird and has a flair for the dramatic. Magic loves plotholes and plottwists. Or maybe it’s more that Dan and Alex have the same blood and since the curse only nixes out one ruler per generation and not ALL RULERS BORN to a generation, Dan was skipped but Alex was passed over. Possibly because Dan was the first child to have his brain further developed in the womb or maybe simply because he popped out first. Dan = older brother by seconds, Alex = younger brother by seconds. …hmm. That seems more likely. Kingship is passed to the firstborn heir.
urg. Half of what I wrote was removed. Oh well. Point is, Nic was being stupid wanted to rule forever. Fate said “NO!”
This!
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it too, but here is my understanding:
the Sword itself said “That law [the law that prevented any heirs from entering Dreamland so long as there was a ruler still there] did not account for twins.”
This is what kept Dan from entering, but allowed Alex to and subsequently pick up the Sword, allowing Arthur to pass on, and be recognized as king.
Nic is somehow closing that loophole, the cosmic mishap, that did not account for twins.
He is “rebooting” the Sword to go ONLY to the first born, twins or no.
So, i guess Nic has some degree of reality warping powers.
Okay… I think you almost got there on your own in your last paragraph, xpacetrue.
Alex gained access to the tomb where King Arthur was and took the Sword of Kings. This freed Arthur from limbo and the Sword passed to a successor. The reason Dan still could not travel to Dreamland at that point (when Alex and Dan were still kids) was because Dan was still a “potential heir” to the throne of Dreamland, and the law of Dreamland prevents the heir to the current throne-holder from being able to visit Dreamland while there is a reigning king…and the reigning king had just shifted from Arthur to Alex at that point. That law is the reason Dan couldn’t dream in the first place.
So yes, the Sword of Kings “chose” Alex…but the true heir (as He Who Speaks pointed out) has always been Dan (as can be deduced since Dan didn’t start dreaming once his brother took the Sword). Alex simply became King because he was biologically next in line by virtue of being Dan’s younger twin. He never was really “heir.” It’s just that once Alex was made King, the Sword wasn’t going to just abandon him. Alex would have to abdicate in favor of his brother…or apparently Nic can essentially reboot the system so that the Sword of Kings assigns itself to the heir. I’m assuming Nic can do this because Alex was never the “rightful” king according to the Dreamland laws of succession…he was a placeholder due to the loophole created by Nic’s nefarious scheming.
Hopefully that helps this make sense and seem less “contrived”…though you may feel that Nic having this ability is still contrived…I don’t know. I’m just waiting to figure out how this all will play out. 🙂
Gah! Epic twist! o_O
It may well be that Nic doesn’t have the power to bestow the Sword of Kings on just anyone. It seems to me that he only has the power to kind of wipe/reset the system so that the Sword goes to the heir…which in this case is Dan (I’m assuming there isn’t a new heir somewhere else that was also being blocked from Dreamland).
I don’t know if we can assume that Merlin and/or Arthur left the armor with the Elves. Based on this page, it just seems like the armor was in the keeping of the Elves for at least 600 years, and that it was created for the human king…and it was to be given to the human bearer of the Sword of Kings (whether or not he was king). Then again, there might be a later page that explains how the Elves came to posess this armor that I’m just not remembering.
Time for Alex to pick that rock back up.
I have to echo how this feels not only forced, but undoes a lot of the previous work. It’s very Deus Ex Machina. Why didn’t Nic use this when Alex was attacking his city? Why didn’t nic use this when he realised how close they were to solving the riddle? I’m sure there are several other occasions that this power could have been used. And then there is convenience to the plot. Alex’s character has grown a lot and I could just about settle on him telling Nic to get stuffed, but only given that a minute later he would have remembered what Natasha would have said to him he would have had to change his mind. He loves Natasha, and I can’t believe he would act so against her wants. Can’t say I’ve been happy with these scenes, I hope that the sudden plot pull pays off.
I think this may even be a http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShockingSwerve
What Julie said!
🙂
To Nicodemus, Alex was someone stupid he could kill or control. The last battle proved how wrong he was.
Not wanting the TRUE king to come (Daniel), Nicodemus did everything he could to control, enslave, or kill Alex to retain his grasp on Dreamland.
This final plea for reason with Alex proved unfruitful. So… he is going for “plan b”.
He’s going to see if Daniel will listen to reason.
My thoughts too, but wouldn’t Dan appear in Dreamland proper like all first timers to go there, not the Nightmare Realm? It’s only because Alex was there when he woke up that he appeared there after going to sleep. It would be more likely that they (Dan, the King and Queen, and perhaps his girlfriend who wouldn’t miss it for the world) would use the portal into the nightmare realm to make sure that they ended up in the right place. Of course they would end up meeting the invasion force. In any case Alex needs to get a weapon really fast.
Maybe…though it didn’t work with Nicole. 🙁
Win!
But…didn’t the centaur guy say that Alex would have to voluntarily give the sword over for ownership of it to change hands?