One other problem: Malevolus is in the line of succession, and was confident enough that he could land the job so long as the Princess was taken out of the equation…
Aaaand Divine Right of Kings, well Princesses, goes right down the crapper as a speed bump on the way to Democracy. Remember, we are all special, just like everybody else.
Also this establishes that this is really a principality and not a kingdom. Unless she’s not queen until crowned, and the coronation has an age requirement.
Everyone has a purpose; yours, your Highness. is “placeholder”. It is noble purpose and you come from a long line of placeholders. It guides the delicate dance of dominance.
Of course if you would just start pumping out some heirs, that should help.
I really don’t think this is a good reaction from the Princess. At least not for the Kingdom, for her maybe the stress was too much but her stepping down doesn’t magically deescalate the other side. The “enemy” has serious power on their side and the Kingdom just lost someone really strong.
Additionally, a monarchy rarely survives the sudden loss of a ruler with no line of inheritance in place bloodlessly.
You’ve got a good point. Perhaps my projection of Mimic’s incoming reaction down below is a little too accepting of her decision (not to mention sappy). Maybe Mimic twists the whole “friendship” bit into a reminder that the Princess does have friends who will be there to help her rule? Maybe he turns it into a “You’re not alone” speech that helps her find the will to come back?
She might not change her mind right away, but perhaps she will after Level 11 completes and Malevolus inevitably takes over as the Viscount’s figurehead. It could be one of those Lion King moments, where Princess returns to lead her people after they’ve suffered under Malevolus’ rule and we get a big dang cast reunion with a big dang war for the kingdom to cap everything off.
Oh, and at some point Maddie duels Malevolus, says he killed her father, and he tells her that HE is her father. Which she points out can’t be possible, citing her family’s extensive tree and her father’s official cause of death as confirmed by coroner. Malevolus tries to take advantage of her Maddielogue to attack her, but ends up losing his hand in the process. Calamitus makes a snide remark about his utterly failed “Vader gambit” and tries zapping Maddie with lightning, skipping the whole “Let the hate flow through you” song and dance.
Whelp, that confirms it. The Princess does have a more altruistic reason for giving up her throne. Surprising to see she used to be a more traditional kind of princess. Dang adorable, too. Though I think there’s a slight grammar error in “Sometimes I was kidnapped, or an assassination attempt…”.
Come to think of it, wasn’t that missile redirected at Plaidbeard, the guy we all think is Tarta’s father? She doesn’t look too happy right now…
As for why so many would risk their life for one person, I can already see Mimic’s answer going something like this:
“I can’t speak for evr’yone else, Princess, but as for me? It’s because I care. Yer my friend, Princess. Aside from Cube and Rusty, yer the first friend I ever had, before Presti, Roxie, Stabs, or even Maddie. It don’t matter to me that yer the Princess, nor tha’ someone else asked me to find you. If’n I knew ya were here, I woulda come lookin’ fer ya all the same. And I’ll respect yer wishes not to come back. Just knowing yer okay is good enough fer me. I’ll let everyone else know yer okay for their peace of mind, but I won’t tell ’em where ya are so they don’t come botherin’ ya. We’ll just have to find someone else to run the kingdom. Now all’s we need to do is find that Belt of Genre-Changin’ so the rest of us can all go home!”
Don’t forget this is casual speech. Narration needs to be grammatically correct. Prepared speeches need to be grammatically correct unless inability to get through a speech correctly is an intended character trait. Casual speech, though, doesn’t. People who can’t look at their words and hit backspace will from time to time, — and especially under stress or with people they aren’t trying to impress — use sloppy grammar.
It’s perfectly reasonable not to want to be involved in that kind of life, but the (former) Princess is mistaken if she thinks that her not being there will make the country safer. Installing a weaker leader will just make it easier for the villains to accomplish their goals.
I think we can all see Malevolus taking over in the Princess’ stead. I think I even know how they’re going to do it. Level 11 is going to be about planning defenses for an invasion, right? Well, what if a certain blackguard showed up to “save the day” at the end of said invasion, making him a “hero” to the kingdom…and it came to light that he is next in succession to the throne? He’d have the support of both the public due to his “heroics” and the politicians due to his heritage, leaving few obstacles to his rule.
And of course standing behind him like a silver-tongued snake in the shadows is a certain Viscount with an invisible imp on his shoulders, pulling Malevolus’ strings like a master puppeteer. But that’s not all…the Viscount has been gathering some “friends” who’d be all too happy to fill the seats of leadership, like Calamitus the Court Mage, Plaidbeard the Treasurer, the Derro Jesters of the Court, and the Captain of the Guard, that notorious gnoll we all love to hate, THE GRINNER. A-heh, a-heh.
Oh sure, but that’s not even the beginning of the Viscount and his benefactors’ plans. They’ve been setting up whatever their actual plan is since at least the Games, and I’m betting that Malevolus either gets crushed and tossed aside the moment he serves his purpose or becomes a mind-controlled pawn that they’ll use as a meat shield.
This is an unfortunately short sighted point of view for someone raised to rule. Stepping down without a line of succession plan just gives the assassins exactly what they wanted.
And we already know they’re not very nice people who aren’t concerned with creating a body count to get their way.
I want to add something here so it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining about the story (I realize how I can come across sometimes). This is an incredibly believable reaction to the situation that the Princess is going through that serves to humanize her and makes a fascinating addition to her character and the plot. It’s not the “best possible” decision she could make but it is a very real one for someone that is under a lot of stress and has a literal target painted on their back.
She keeps seeing people around her get caught in the crossfire and it’s hard to keep dealing with the fallout day after day.
It wasn’t an air-to-surface missile. It was launched from a building on the ground, which makes it a surface-to-surface missile. The fact that it spent some of the intervening time in the air is irrelevant, all missiles do that.
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That is a fair reason to leave. Whether or not it is a GOOD reason, I’m not certain, but it is a fair reason.
She cares about other people, so I’ll say she’s Good. Wait, is that not what you meant?
She was willing to beat up an entire crowd of mind-controlled innocents earlier. What we are seeing is Character Growth.
To be fair, unarmed attacks in D&D can deal nonlethal damage at no penalty.
(Mind you, nonlethal damage probably still hurts…)
Slight problem: Unless the line of inheritance is nailed down tight, this risks civil war nearly as much as an assassination would.
One other problem: Malevolus is in the line of succession, and was confident enough that he could land the job so long as the Princess was taken out of the equation…
Nearly?
IMHO this risk civil war even MORE.
She did say she’s no good at ruling…
Even a bad monarch is better than civil war.
Tell that to Ben Franklin and John Adams
That was a war of secession.
Only because the rebels won.
Does this mean she’s going to actually have a name, now?
Of course she does. It’s Ragnar Ravenuff, but you can call her Nuff.
Everyone has their breaking point.
The Princess reached hers.
And then Calamitus, of all people, provided her with a way out.
Aaaand Divine Right of Kings, well Princesses, goes right down the crapper as a speed bump on the way to Democracy. Remember, we are all special, just like everybody else.
Wow. What a regal point of view.
Also this establishes that this is really a principality and not a kingdom. Unless she’s not queen until crowned, and the coronation has an age requirement.
Everyone has a purpose; yours, your Highness. is “placeholder”. It is noble purpose and you come from a long line of placeholders. It guides the delicate dance of dominance.
Of course if you would just start pumping out some heirs, that should help.
I really don’t think this is a good reaction from the Princess. At least not for the Kingdom, for her maybe the stress was too much but her stepping down doesn’t magically deescalate the other side. The “enemy” has serious power on their side and the Kingdom just lost someone really strong.
Additionally, a monarchy rarely survives the sudden loss of a ruler with no line of inheritance in place bloodlessly.
You’ve got a good point. Perhaps my projection of Mimic’s incoming reaction down below is a little too accepting of her decision (not to mention sappy). Maybe Mimic twists the whole “friendship” bit into a reminder that the Princess does have friends who will be there to help her rule? Maybe he turns it into a “You’re not alone” speech that helps her find the will to come back?
She might not change her mind right away, but perhaps she will after Level 11 completes and Malevolus inevitably takes over as the Viscount’s figurehead. It could be one of those Lion King moments, where Princess returns to lead her people after they’ve suffered under Malevolus’ rule and we get a big dang cast reunion with a big dang war for the kingdom to cap everything off.
Oh, and at some point Maddie duels Malevolus, says he killed her father, and he tells her that HE is her father. Which she points out can’t be possible, citing her family’s extensive tree and her father’s official cause of death as confirmed by coroner. Malevolus tries to take advantage of her Maddielogue to attack her, but ends up losing his hand in the process. Calamitus makes a snide remark about his utterly failed “Vader gambit” and tries zapping Maddie with lightning, skipping the whole “Let the hate flow through you” song and dance.
This is all speculation, of course.
This is the woman who punished Presti over the whole missile thing. Thinking of her subjects is good, even if she didn’t thit through.
Whelp, that confirms it. The Princess does have a more altruistic reason for giving up her throne. Surprising to see she used to be a more traditional kind of princess. Dang adorable, too. Though I think there’s a slight grammar error in “Sometimes I was kidnapped, or an assassination attempt…”.
Come to think of it, wasn’t that missile redirected at Plaidbeard, the guy we all think is Tarta’s father? She doesn’t look too happy right now…
As for why so many would risk their life for one person, I can already see Mimic’s answer going something like this:
“I can’t speak for evr’yone else, Princess, but as for me? It’s because I care. Yer my friend, Princess. Aside from Cube and Rusty, yer the first friend I ever had, before Presti, Roxie, Stabs, or even Maddie. It don’t matter to me that yer the Princess, nor tha’ someone else asked me to find you. If’n I knew ya were here, I woulda come lookin’ fer ya all the same. And I’ll respect yer wishes not to come back. Just knowing yer okay is good enough fer me. I’ll let everyone else know yer okay for their peace of mind, but I won’t tell ’em where ya are so they don’t come botherin’ ya. We’ll just have to find someone else to run the kingdom. Now all’s we need to do is find that Belt of Genre-Changin’ so the rest of us can all go home!”
Could be fixed as “or an assassination was attempted”.
Another typo in “politcal placeholder”.
I did like how career bureaucrat guy’s beard has gone longer and grayer in his second panel. Also got one more sheet of paper.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t that missile redirected at Plaidbeard, the guy we all think is Tarta’s father? She doesn’t look too happy right now…”
Good spot.
I think that was a little time-bomb hidden in the middle of Princess’ character development.
Don’t forget this is casual speech. Narration needs to be grammatically correct. Prepared speeches need to be grammatically correct unless inability to get through a speech correctly is an intended character trait. Casual speech, though, doesn’t. People who can’t look at their words and hit backspace will from time to time, — and especially under stress or with people they aren’t trying to impress — use sloppy grammar.
Looking back over it, it could be proper grammar after all, if Princess is describing herself as an assassination attempt.
It’s perfectly reasonable not to want to be involved in that kind of life, but the (former) Princess is mistaken if she thinks that her not being there will make the country safer. Installing a weaker leader will just make it easier for the villains to accomplish their goals.
I think we can all see Malevolus taking over in the Princess’ stead. I think I even know how they’re going to do it. Level 11 is going to be about planning defenses for an invasion, right? Well, what if a certain blackguard showed up to “save the day” at the end of said invasion, making him a “hero” to the kingdom…and it came to light that he is next in succession to the throne? He’d have the support of both the public due to his “heroics” and the politicians due to his heritage, leaving few obstacles to his rule.
And of course standing behind him like a silver-tongued snake in the shadows is a certain Viscount with an invisible imp on his shoulders, pulling Malevolus’ strings like a master puppeteer. But that’s not all…the Viscount has been gathering some “friends” who’d be all too happy to fill the seats of leadership, like Calamitus the Court Mage, Plaidbeard the Treasurer, the Derro Jesters of the Court, and the Captain of the Guard, that notorious gnoll we all love to hate, THE GRINNER. A-heh, a-heh.
Oh sure, but that’s not even the beginning of the Viscount and his benefactors’ plans. They’ve been setting up whatever their actual plan is since at least the Games, and I’m betting that Malevolus either gets crushed and tossed aside the moment he serves his purpose or becomes a mind-controlled pawn that they’ll use as a meat shield.
If indeed they don’t just grab power.
This is an unfortunately short sighted point of view for someone raised to rule. Stepping down without a line of succession plan just gives the assassins exactly what they wanted.
And we already know they’re not very nice people who aren’t concerned with creating a body count to get their way.
She wasn’t raised to rule. She is trying to do her best (now, at least), after being raised as a figurehead.
I want to add something here so it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining about the story (I realize how I can come across sometimes). This is an incredibly believable reaction to the situation that the Princess is going through that serves to humanize her and makes a fascinating addition to her character and the plot. It’s not the “best possible” decision she could make but it is a very real one for someone that is under a lot of stress and has a literal target painted on their back.
She keeps seeing people around her get caught in the crossfire and it’s hard to keep dealing with the fallout day after day.
It wasn’t an air-to-surface missile. It was launched from a building on the ground, which makes it a surface-to-surface missile. The fact that it spent some of the intervening time in the air is irrelevant, all missiles do that.