Page 1149…
Hi all!
I’m building up a bit of a buffer. Hopefully….HOPEFULLY, next week we can go back to 5 days a week.
🙂
In the meantime…please have a wonderful weekend. And thank you all for reading.
Scott
Hi all!
I’m building up a bit of a buffer. Hopefully….HOPEFULLY, next week we can go back to 5 days a week.
🙂
In the meantime…please have a wonderful weekend. And thank you all for reading.
Scott
And cue the sword being stolen in 5, 4, 3, 2…..
Some of the best kings and leaders of all time were those who did not want to be the king or leader but were forced into it because somebody HAD to do it. As George Washington said “Have I not given enough for my country?” when he was asked to be our first President. This statement by our plucky hero makes me think he COULD be a VERY good king of Dreamland. He doesn’t WANT it. That means he is less likely to abuse it. It is those who WANT power that should be distrusted.
Wahh… Alex isn’t telling Dan that there is a threat for him, too… that there is a slight chance that Nicodemus could search for him. I see a plot possibility gaping open wide.
*gnaws at her fingernails*
Well, first, he’s not king, Dan is. Unless Dan starts being dead, Alex is not really the true king, just the applicable one.
Also, Alex’s motivations are not seemingly in the vein of leadership. Hell, his powers come from wanting to do right by Nastajia. He loves her. He loves Dreamland and wants to save it. But I think, beyond just not wanting it, he would be entirely complacent in the role of king. There is a line between masterful leader that does not want the job and inexperienced moron who does not want the job.
I still wonder what weird series of events managed to get him into college with Dan. Did Dan do all his schoolwork? Is it a twin scholarship? Does Alex have some sort of savant skill that only applies to his major and is so specific and focused as to have no effect on other activities? Is he a sport star? Because from the way he has been portrayed, he’d probably be held back enough times that he’d graduate college 15 years after Dan would.
Actually, Scott said that Alex is king. And to all your questions at the bottom, look on the Dreamland Chronicles wiki or the forum. There are lots of answers there.
I am amazed on how you captured Alex’s expression. He looks pained, maybe even about to cry. I sympathize with him, and I I’m sure he’ll do fine with a little (or a lot) help from his friends, Dan, and even Nicole!
(Tsk, tsk, tsk, not incredible Dan, inconceivable!)
why do i get the feeling that alex get the idea to let dan wear it to sleep to try to make the necklace work and only to find out it wont let him into dreamland.
or that Nicole steals the necklace to see if she can see felicity again..
Yeah, like we didn’t see that one coming 😉
i just thought something…
what if the wraights don’t steal the necklage… but someone else!!! someone named nicole….
that would also be cool!
great work Scott!!!
its been a while since i comment and i’m on the edge of my seat here Scott. really man, keep up the amazing work. i’m glad im paitient cause the wait is killing me.
alex is king -by default- because dan is not around. dan is the true king and if he showed up, alex could be the heir to the throne. this is obviously the solution, i hope dan gets to wear the sword soon and i sure hope the sword isn’t stolen. leaving it lying around like that does seem stupid…why did dan allow that?
Hmm, where did my post just go???
REPOST:
Mind your health, Scott – writes that decease from heart failure (stress) seldom deliver pages on time! And I would HATE that to happen! 🙁
We can live with the 3-a-week schedule, if that’s what it takes to keep you afloat of things and on top of your life.
Best Regards,
/L
Hmmm… this thingie keeps eating my posts??!?!? Where do they go?
REPOST ATTEMPT #2:
Mind your health, Scott – writes that decease from heart failure (stress) seldom deliver pages on time! And I would HATE that to happen! 🙁
We can live with the 3-a-week schedule, if that’s what it takes to keep you afloat of things and on top of your life.
Best Regards,
L
I removed ONE character – the forward slash (Shift+7) that is custom to put before your signature. Seems that a post gets disqualified – without ANY error notice – if there is one in a post.
I agree with Bezman Scott, take it easy on how much you stress yourself out. I am certain that all your loyal fans agree with me when I say that we don’t mind to get only 3 pages a week while you recover. After all you are the only web comic writer that I know who has gone to such great length to deliver a page every weekday for so many years.
On topic: Great page once again, I really like the look on Alex his face in the last panel, poor poor Alex
That’s frequently used as a good judge of who should rule in literature (and sometimes history), but what I want to know is does Alex not want to be king because he’s smart enough to realize that he’s not very qualified? Or does he not want to be king because he doesn’t want the responsibility and would rather just hang out with his friends while he’s in Dreamland? I think that will say a lot more about his development as a man than anything else we’ve seen so far.
But the sword has acknowledged that Alex is the king now, so it doesn’t matter if he became king by default. Dan cannot enter Dreamland while Alex is king. That is how Dreamland works. Taking the sword necklace wouldn’t be enough to get him in I imagine. The sword has named Alex as his possessor.
The sword, alone on the nightstand.
Nicole.
Wraiths.
Going to be realllllly interesting next week!!!
There’s a quote that comes to mind re Alex: “When you argue for your limitations, sure enough, they’re yours.” – Richard Bach.
Also…
Tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune.
–Lois McMaster Bujold Shards of Honor
It’s a lot for Alex to deal with, all coming together like this. He never really wanted to be king in the first place (which says a something about his innate sensibility) – but there’s more to it than the Kingship. He doesn’t want to fail his friends, he really doesn’t want to fail Nastajia, and I’m guessing that’s what is a big part of his fears. This is going to be a defining moment for Alex, depending on what he decides to ultimately do.
A tactical retreat is not a bad response to a surprise assault, you know. First you survive. Then you choose your own ground. Then you counterattack.
–Lois McMaster Bujold A Civil Campaign
it would be easy for Alex to be King–Nastajia would do all the work. I can see this turning into a power struggle between the twins–Alex wants Dan to be king, but not if the Wraiths get to him and turn him to the dark side (i hear they have cookies!).
I doubt Nicole takes the necklace, unless Dan and Alex routinely leave their door unlocked…
do u know what would be funny! if the sword didn’t get stolen , but it will
what day is it???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Dan yells, “You’re not the king, usurper! I am the one true king!” And then cuts Alex’s head off.
That’s my prediction, and I’m sticking to it. Yup.
Inconceivable!?
“You keep using that word….I do not think it means what you think it means….”
Yup… Can’t say I don’t see that coming.
er, Howdy Doody day?
I don’t think Alex knows that the Wraiths are involved. That happened in the tomb around the time Alex was waking up.
Yes. Dan is the true king. But Alex is the one who HAS to be king.
Well. Sux to be Alex.
Makes for a great story, though. 😉
If the sword heard this and relayed to Nastajia, I think she’d respond by pulling a Buttercup and shoving Alex down a steep incline, “And you can die too for all I care!” Better still, strip him of his armor, and then shove him, see if his tighty-whities fall off. 😀
All jokes aside, all of you are right. The exact reasoning behind *why* Alex doesn’t want to be king will decide whether or not he will indeed be a good king. If he’s afraid of failing and letting everyone down, then I think he’ll be a good king, because he’ll take every precaution not to mess up.
As for Dan being the rightful king, well he gave up that right, intentionally or not. There’s no law anywhere saying that only the firstborn son of the king of any kingdom can inherit. Alex is still of royal blood so legally he can take over, and Dreamland needs a human king NOW, not wait until the next generation that results in twins and hope that that second-born has no qualms about becoming king because it might already be too late. Nick may have succeeded in sealing the gateway between the two worlds.
I don’t understand your comment.
The sword was there when the wraiths killed the Centaur Shaman, so the sword knew about that and told Alex during it’s story. But what the sword probably couldn’t tell him was that the wraiths can spy on people in the waking world and apparently, kill them.
But, he should be aware of the possibility. After all, he knows they went after Merlin in the waking world.
Awesome to see the brothers together in the waking world again. It’ll be interesting to see how things pan out. I know Scott’s said that Alex is the twin who has to be king, but I’ve still got my fingers crossed for Dan to play some part in it all! He seems to be the more levelheaded one that would make the better king, in my opinion. Yet Alex sure makes a great “savior of Dreamland”!
At the very least, Alex relaying that to Dan should make Dan realize that possibility. I mean, Dan’s smart enough to put two and two together even if Alex might not.
But, but… It’s good ta be the king! Just ask Mel Brooks.
Judging by his expression, it’s more likely to be the second one, but because he said, “I’m in way over my head” … It’s probably a bit of both. I know [b]I[/b] wouldn’t want that responsibility.
Here’s the part that is a bit iffy, even by Scott’s admission. Some parts of Athur’s story took place (specifically the first Nic/Wraith conference) took place with the Sword not present, but they are still in the flashback.
I’m going to assume that if something happens in the waking world with Arthur, the reason we got it in the flashback is that the small sword (presumably around Arthur’s neck) can still witness what happens there. If that’s the case, then yes, Alex should put 2 and 2 together and warn Dan about the potential danger. Oh, wait. This is Alex we’re talking about. 🙂
How the wraiths would find him in the waking world is another matter. Maybe that’s just an innate ability of theirs.
I suppose we can assume that the small sword was buried with Arthur and only came into Alex’s posession after he took the sword in Dreamland.
And then the sword is taken away from him in prison by a prison guard who secretly dreamed of playing poker with dragons when he was a child, and when all the chips are on the table with Nic, . . . .
Nah. Never mind.
I thought that Nic’s spell keeping kings out was broken when Alex pulled out the sword. If I were in the story, I would suggest Dan try wearing the necklace to bed just to see what would happen.
Inigo Montoya from Princess Bride= priceless. Has the best lines of, like, all time.
So who’s son is the next king?
Could go either way, but I’d say that recognizing — and admitting — he doesn’t want to be king is a positive, mature step either way.
Right, because they totally have reason to do that! (wait, what? No…)
If they were going to do some kind of hostage thing, surely they’d snag Dan, or Mom even.
Or Tom Petty!
Needless to say, there are at least a dozen hilarious spin-off potentials from this strip alone.
You know, I was reading through my Dreamland books i got at ComicCon 2009, and I realized that there is a problem. Dan, Alex at first before he dreams, Nicole, and anyone else not going to Dreamland say they no longer dream. They should all be seen to by a doctor. Not having the ability to dream is a horrible disease that drives you insane and then kills you. This happens because, as far as we can tell, dreams are a way of getting rid of all the “junk” information, like renting a huge dumpster, if you will. Not getting rid of it literally overloads your brain with useless information; for example, let’s say I saw a girl with a red balloon at the San Diego Zoo one morning at 10:37 and 24 seconds. Now, I get on with my day, have lunch, go home etc. Then I go to bed, because let’s say it was Sunday, so school is tomorrow. When I wake up, I am not going to remember that at precisely 10:37 and 24 seconds A.M. I saw a little girl with a red balloon at the zoo. I might remember seeing a ballon at the zoo, or a little girl, or maybe even both if there was something that struck me about the girl, but that would be because I found it interesting. Yes, I know, this is just a webcomic, a good one at that, but I’m a bit of a stickler when it comes to disease, or anything else I find odd or interesting. Great comic, as ever, and keep up the good work.
For example, I have “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” from Disney’s Lion King stuck in my head currently. Aside from that, nothing comes to mind…
Things like that always happen, don’t they. I see the steal, but who? I’m thinking Nicole actually, but she will want it for research to test Dreamland’s existence. Then, once she is in Dreamland, Nic will pinch it. Or maybe I’m absolutely wrong. Maybe it won’t get stolen. Hmm, a comic that requires actual thought. I like it!
Alex and Dan’s father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate.
I forget in which of his writings he talked about it, but the famous philosopher Plato shared a similar belief. He talked about the “philosopher king”, a highly intelligent member of the nation which, despite no desire to rule, it was required of him by the citizenry.
Great Scott, it’s been a while since I commented! Great comic as always, Scott.
You make some very good points!
However, there are two unfounded assumptions in your argument:
1. Every dream is actually a visit to Dreamland.
I don’t think Scott has ever explicitly stated this as a premise. So it stands to reason that people like Nicole might very well still dream without visiting Dreamland.
It would, however, be accurate to say that people (like Nicole) stop visiting Dreamland after reaching a certain level of maturity. (In Nicole’s case reaching that maturity level involved a particularly traumatic event in Dreamland, as we know, which likely affected her adult psychological makeup.)
2. People who claim to never dream are telling the truth.
Now, I’m not accusing anyone of lying, but I’ve met literally dozens of people that claim they never dream. If I have the time and inclination, I usually correct them – they still dream, they just don’t remember their dreams when they wake up. This is actually very common in modern adults, primarily because of alarm clocks. For some reason, waking up to an alarm clock rather than by natural sleep rhythms reduces the ability to remember dreams.
Of course, Dan and Alex (before he got the sword pendant back) might very well be special cases because of their relationship to the kingship of Dreamland. The best way we can explain how they aren’t completely crazy is to say that there’s magic involved and it supports their mental health in some bizarre, inexplicable alternative way, and leave it at that. (In other words, “A Wizard Did It!”)
😉
Actually, Dan should be able to get in. It’s only the next generation’s firstborns that can’t enter while Alex is king (which is what prevented Dan from entering in the first place while Arthur was still king). I think the only factor that might prevent him from entering is his age since he’s no longer a child.
@J. Thank-you
I was reading through the comments and I kept thinking to myself ” how can no-one have said it yet”
Cause really “it’s good ta be the king”
Anyone who would want to be king is exactly the kind of person that should never be. Kinda like politicians.
Alex (Simba voice): “I could wait a while longer to be king…”