Pffft… C’mon Alex, like the sword said pre-flashback… the spell was on ARTHUR. Likely a spell that prevented eligible firstborn children from entering Dreamland.
Thus the loophole that allowed Alexander – being Dan’s twin, younger by 5 minutes or so if I remember correctly – to not only draw the sword but be accepted by it as the human king of Dreamland. If this is logically sound, then Dan was the rightful king but was prevented from taking up that responsibility by the spell on Arthur that kept him trapped between worlds.
He can’t enter Dreamland because he is a successor to the throne and the previous king (Arther) is not truly dead. and the laws of the magic of dreamland won’t let 2 rightful kings in at the same time to preserve peace. Yet Alex was allowed the sword because there is a strange loophole with twins.
There have been several (hundreds?) of “next in line kings” that never got into Dreamland as they were meant to be. All because Arthur still “ruled” Dreamland within the tomb. He still possessed the sword.
This kept all future kings from ever entering.
Not all needed to be firstborn. But in Dan and Alexander’s case.
Dan was the next in line to be king.
And now Dan can’t get to Dreamland because he’s an adult, and adults never could get into Dreamland in the first place! 🙂 Poor Dan. I’m still wondering how it was determined that Dan was Arthur’s successor. Are they decendants of Arthur in the real world, and none of his decendants ever got into Dreamland (or in the case of second born twins, never discovered the sword)?
Scott, you’ve outdone yourself with this part of the storyline. I really like reading a story where I can hardly wait for the next page, but I have to!
Hehe…. all of it was implied through dialogue over the years, but it only recently made perfect sense. That, and I think Scott said something to that effect in a facebook thread a while back when he asked if the flashback was making enough sense to people, or something like that so I can’t really take all of the credit for getting it right.
I’m sure a LOT of possible rulers, similar to Dan and Alexander’s condition, entered and had fun in Dreamland, all the while Nicodemus grew to hate and fear humanity in equal parts as he had gone to so much effort to erase the human rule from Dreamland. Alex was just the first one to find the Tomb of Ancient Kings, and the only to touch and draw the sword for himself. As for the sword passing from Arthur to Alexander… well, that’d have to be a conscious decision on its parts, wouldn’t it? It KNEW Arthur was trapped, and it knew that Dreamland was subject to rule by a human king… Knowledge-bearing swords totally rock like that. 😀
Kingship is often passed down within a family, but that’s not always the case. I’d imagine that the kingship in Dreamland is no different, and may – for a time – be passed from father to son, but at times will go to someone completely unrelated to the previous King.
I imagine it’s a functional imperative that the Kingdom be granted to a worthy child, and there’s probably some passing of the torch – or sorts – where the former king bestows on another Dreamland visitor the Sword of Kings. Then the former king wakes and lives the rest of his life, hopeful that the new king will serve in his duties faithfully while being unable to return to Dreamland any more.
ALL speculation, as there’s no real in story support for the idea, but it makes some decent sense that this is how it could have worked prior to Arthur being overthrown.
Oh! And there’s still the bracelet to consider. I doubt Scott introduced a new story element only to not mention it or use it in some manner. Dan’s likely going to see Dreamland for himself at some point.
About the dialogue, Alex just asks about ‘the spell’ that keeps Dan out of Dreamland, he doesn’t specifically ask about a spell on Dan, but just about ‘the spell’ in general. The swords reply makes it seem like Alex asked specifically about a spell on Dan, but he didn’t… or am I just reading it wrong?
Still rendering.
Looks like all the extra tweaks I’ve put into these scenes are catching up with the computers.
They’re taking about 8 hours a frame or more.
I’ll post in the morning.
As it was mentioned before the spell was cast on Arthur not on Dan, as the Sword tells Alex and Co.
Now i suppose that the nextbig thing will be “Dan in Dreamland” (and maybe Nicole) using the magic of the “lost” bracelet, that i think it is not so “lost” as we never told the story from the wake world.
So i suppose that Merlin hide it somewhere safe in order to be found by “the chosen one”.
Keep up the good work Scott!!!!
From what I understand (from what scott wrote and the comic itself) is that there was never any spell cast on Arthur or Dan (or the other possible kings for that matter). Arthur was caught in limbo, but his body remained in Dreamland. Because the sword was placed with Arthur’s body (normally, when a human king dies, his body doesn’t stay in Dreamland), it blocked all future possible kings from entering (Arthur was still considered as the ruling king). It’s just the way the system of succession to the throne of Dreamland works. Nicodemus found a way to abuse that system by placing the sword with Arthur’s body, which normally wouldn’t have been there after his death (assuming he’s dead after all these years, he’s hundreds of years old now).
First time posting here, no idea why…! Maybe some kind of weird phobia… either way, I greatly enjoy The Dreamland Chronicles, Scott! Thanks for all your hard work, and don’t even worry about those times you couldn’t update every day. We know you do your best to give us the best, and anybody who tells you otherwise can go…. *ahem* elsewhere >_> Hope your back is feeling better from when you injured yourself!!
PS: Is there a particular reason why Orion is surrounded by light on the previous page in the last frame, but isn’t in the first frame of this page..? Sorry if I missed the reason (rendering perhaps?)!
On your Orion question, it looks like several factors contribute to the lighting change: on this page we’re looking from a slightly different angle, and the clouds have changed, so the sunlight that backlit him on the previous page is more to one side and muted here.
I’m waiting for a page where Alex makes some off hand comment about ‘I hope Dan and Nicole are ok’ and then have a single panel showing Dan and Nicole in a corner of the dorm room, fighting off wraiths using school books and movie posters.
Sweet. I didn’t realize we shifted back to Dreamland!
Ah, the plot thickens regarding Dan!!
“…Your brother simply has no imagination.
Sorry if you were expecting a better explanation.”
Maybe now we will see both Dan and Nicole in Dreamland! 🙂
dun dun DUNNNN!
Pffft… C’mon Alex, like the sword said pre-flashback… the spell was on ARTHUR. Likely a spell that prevented eligible firstborn children from entering Dreamland.
Thus the loophole that allowed Alexander – being Dan’s twin, younger by 5 minutes or so if I remember correctly – to not only draw the sword but be accepted by it as the human king of Dreamland. If this is logically sound, then Dan was the rightful king but was prevented from taking up that responsibility by the spell on Arthur that kept him trapped between worlds.
Precisely right, my dear Watson!
I knew there wasn’t a spell directly on Dan.
He can’t enter Dreamland because he is a successor to the throne and the previous king (Arther) is not truly dead. and the laws of the magic of dreamland won’t let 2 rightful kings in at the same time to preserve peace. Yet Alex was allowed the sword because there is a strange loophole with twins.
Though that’s just my guess.
Awesome comic, love what’s been going on. Wanted to point out yesterdays comic…the headdress on the centaur was missing a paw in the 4th panel.
Wait, so all firstborns are banned from Dreamland, or are Dan and Alex related to King Arthur which is why Dan is blocked?
There have been several (hundreds?) of “next in line kings” that never got into Dreamland as they were meant to be. All because Arthur still “ruled” Dreamland within the tomb. He still possessed the sword.
This kept all future kings from ever entering.
Not all needed to be firstborn. But in Dan and Alexander’s case.
Dan was the next in line to be king.
Aren’t they too old now, though? (barring other sneaky methods — the sword necklace which I suspect is the amulet, etc.)
This is why I wait a week or two between readings. The suspense is killing me now, (^_^’)
Say WAH???
And now Dan can’t get to Dreamland because he’s an adult, and adults never could get into Dreamland in the first place! 🙂 Poor Dan. I’m still wondering how it was determined that Dan was Arthur’s successor. Are they decendants of Arthur in the real world, and none of his decendants ever got into Dreamland (or in the case of second born twins, never discovered the sword)?
Well, the time you spent rendering this was time well spent; the page looks great! 😉
What is that to the left of the sword in the last panel, though? I can’t quite place it …
Everybody keep voting, please! http://topwebcomics.com/vote/4274/default.aspx
Ah-ha! I get it now! 🙂 If only I’d read this far down before postulating above. 🙂
Scott, I thought the proper order is:
New answers.
New questions.
TekServer, I believe it’s Orion’s feather to the left of the sword.
He he, good catch.
Ah, thanks Scott!
And hats off to Tolin for getting it right as well.
Scott, you’ve outdone yourself with this part of the storyline. I really like reading a story where I can hardly wait for the next page, but I have to!
Sword: …there never was. But now that doesn’t matter because he was already torn apart by the wraths while I was telling you all this.
I’ve been thinking about that ever since the wraiths revealed that they could enter the human world.
Hey! That’s why the wraiths don’t want humans to travel between worlds. They want a monopoly on that power.
No spell on Dan?!? I REALLY didn’t see that one coming! Nice twist! Wonder what the explanation is?
OOH that last panel was a surprise! I’d love to know why his twin bro couldn’t dream 🙂
Thanks.
It’s a feather from Orion’s staff.
Thank you.
Nice! This must have been discussed a million years ago, but I like how his armor portrays a lion subduing a dragon, very symbolic…
Hehe…. all of it was implied through dialogue over the years, but it only recently made perfect sense. That, and I think Scott said something to that effect in a facebook thread a while back when he asked if the flashback was making enough sense to people, or something like that so I can’t really take all of the credit for getting it right.
I’m sure a LOT of possible rulers, similar to Dan and Alexander’s condition, entered and had fun in Dreamland, all the while Nicodemus grew to hate and fear humanity in equal parts as he had gone to so much effort to erase the human rule from Dreamland. Alex was just the first one to find the Tomb of Ancient Kings, and the only to touch and draw the sword for himself. As for the sword passing from Arthur to Alexander… well, that’d have to be a conscious decision on its parts, wouldn’t it? It KNEW Arthur was trapped, and it knew that Dreamland was subject to rule by a human king… Knowledge-bearing swords totally rock like that. 😀
Kingship is often passed down within a family, but that’s not always the case. I’d imagine that the kingship in Dreamland is no different, and may – for a time – be passed from father to son, but at times will go to someone completely unrelated to the previous King.
I imagine it’s a functional imperative that the Kingdom be granted to a worthy child, and there’s probably some passing of the torch – or sorts – where the former king bestows on another Dreamland visitor the Sword of Kings. Then the former king wakes and lives the rest of his life, hopeful that the new king will serve in his duties faithfully while being unable to return to Dreamland any more.
ALL speculation, as there’s no real in story support for the idea, but it makes some decent sense that this is how it could have worked prior to Arthur being overthrown.
Oh! And there’s still the bracelet to consider. I doubt Scott introduced a new story element only to not mention it or use it in some manner. Dan’s likely going to see Dreamland for himself at some point.
Ah, I see it now! Thanks! (To you and to bmonk, whose pig avatar is unparalleled!)
😉
no spell on dan? then how come he can’t come to dreamland now?
Here comes the big answer.
About the dialogue, Alex just asks about ‘the spell’ that keeps Dan out of Dreamland, he doesn’t specifically ask about a spell on Dan, but just about ‘the spell’ in general. The swords reply makes it seem like Alex asked specifically about a spell on Dan, but he didn’t… or am I just reading it wrong?
Right before the flashback starts, Alex asks the sword, “Were you there when Nicodemus put the spell on my brother?”
See page 1077
The Sword O’ Kings knows what it’s talkin’ about.
Still rendering.
Looks like all the extra tweaks I’ve put into these scenes are catching up with the computers.
They’re taking about 8 hours a frame or more.
I’ll post in the morning.
OMG NO WAY!!!
lol… so whats up then??
“Hate to break it to you Alex, but he’s been lying to you all these years. Go beat him up!”
Yeah, sorry… Not all that funny. Um… Yay! I’d very much like to see Dan in Dreamland at least once.
WOH!
Dan is the rightfull successor, Alex is merely a worthy one (the first one to find the sword, at that).
The pivotal truth is about to be revealed!!!
For some reason I feel that the wraiths are going to take Dan hostage in the wake world once Alex get’s the upper hand in Dreamland.
Hmm, guest appearances by the Ghostbusters? 😉
Ermm…I really cant’t imagine Alex as a “lion”… B-)
As it was mentioned before the spell was cast on Arthur not on Dan, as the Sword tells Alex and Co.
Now i suppose that the nextbig thing will be “Dan in Dreamland” (and maybe Nicole) using the magic of the “lost” bracelet, that i think it is not so “lost” as we never told the story from the wake world.
So i suppose that Merlin hide it somewhere safe in order to be found by “the chosen one”.
Keep up the good work Scott!!!!
EPIC!!!
From what I understand (from what scott wrote and the comic itself) is that there was never any spell cast on Arthur or Dan (or the other possible kings for that matter). Arthur was caught in limbo, but his body remained in Dreamland. Because the sword was placed with Arthur’s body (normally, when a human king dies, his body doesn’t stay in Dreamland), it blocked all future possible kings from entering (Arthur was still considered as the ruling king). It’s just the way the system of succession to the throne of Dreamland works. Nicodemus found a way to abuse that system by placing the sword with Arthur’s body, which normally wouldn’t have been there after his death (assuming he’s dead after all these years, he’s hundreds of years old now).
For the record, I know my post is kinda repeating what has been said before, but some people seem to not get it.
Also, correct me if I’m wrong.
awesome strip scott. very thought provoking.
“There is no spell on your brother, you’re adopted. Oh, you didn’t know? Why are you crying, what’d I say?”
Yeah, swords have pretty bad social skills.
First time posting here, no idea why…! Maybe some kind of weird phobia… either way, I greatly enjoy The Dreamland Chronicles, Scott! Thanks for all your hard work, and don’t even worry about those times you couldn’t update every day. We know you do your best to give us the best, and anybody who tells you otherwise can go…. *ahem* elsewhere >_> Hope your back is feeling better from when you injured yourself!!
PS: Is there a particular reason why Orion is surrounded by light on the previous page in the last frame, but isn’t in the first frame of this page..? Sorry if I missed the reason (rendering perhaps?)!
Welcome, fellow Dreamer!
Don’t forget to show your support for Scott every day by going to TWC and voting!
http://topwebcomics.com/vote/4274/default.aspx
On your Orion question, it looks like several factors contribute to the lighting change: on this page we’re looking from a slightly different angle, and the clouds have changed, so the sunlight that backlit him on the previous page is more to one side and muted here.
“there was no spell. Daniel used an older version of the software for Dreamland, and he’s been downloading updates ever since…”
I’m waiting for a page where Alex makes some off hand comment about ‘I hope Dan and Nicole are ok’ and then have a single panel showing Dan and Nicole in a corner of the dorm room, fighting off wraiths using school books and movie posters.
Oh god… Dreamland 3.1 …