Keychain #301-305

Is it odd that I find Secret more endearing in this comic than the past few? There's just something touching about Secret's first act as a Creation-slaying death machine being to perform funeral rites for the former inhabitants of her home.
 
I enjoy both Keychain of Creation and the character of Secret. But I have a hard time seeing what the Silver Prince saw in her that made him think Secret would be a worthy investment as a deathknight. Secret could of been made cynical by her lot in life but she has a lowkey optimism instead. Exceptionally kind even if Secret enthusiastically eliminates wrongdoers to satisfy certain requirements. You might expect a deathknight to be a bundle of resentment and rage but Secret has a rather even and forgiving temper. Assailed by doubts about her worth she turns to positive pursuits under good teachers to make herself better. As far as I can tell there was never much doubt Secret would be revolted by her deathknight status and eventually turn rogue.


Never say I don't love the story and the characters but this particular character development leaves me puzzled.
 
The Silver Prince is a dick. And it specifically suggests in MoEP: Abyssals that particularly dickish Deathlords might entice their Day Castes to go rogue, just so they get depressed by the whole inevitability of Resonance thing and come crawling back.


Also, incredibly sweet with the whole helping-the-ghosts thing...


Yes, they're Creation-destroying death-machines, but they're also the champions of the Underworld, standing up for the rights and needs of the dead.


Did I mention I like Abyssals?
 
Secret could of been made cynical by her lot in life but she has a lowkey optimism instead. Exceptionally kind even if Secret enthusiastically eliminates wrongdoers to satisfy certain requirements. You might expect a deathknight to be a bundle of resentment and rage but Secret has a rather even and forgiving temper.
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The more sweet and kind a soul, the more satisfying to corrupt.


And when finally broken(he can afford to wait, Deathlords and Abyssals are immortal) to the inevitable, what better covert agent than one who does not have the urge to run around causing bloodbaths, and has a sweet, endearing temperament?


Consider Secret's attitude towards killing now(first answer is Dodge, second answer is stabbity), compared to not-yet-Secret.
 
Of course, this kind of thing tends to backfire massively if the deathknight in question falls in with a bunch of damn gold and silver shining do-gooders who're powerful role models towards goodness and an aged, wise ex-Immaculate Monk who can instill in her the zen and temperment to overcome the inevitable.
 
ShadowDragon8685 said:
Of course, this kind of thing tends to backfire massively if the deathknight in question falls in with a bunch of damn gold and silver shining do-gooders who're powerful role models towards goodness and an aged, wise ex-Immaculate Monk who can instill in her the zen and temperment to overcome the inevitable.
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Damn, I can't resist:


Nooooo! His scheme!
 
I enjoy both Keychain of Creation and the character of Secret. But I have a hard time seeing what the Silver Prince saw in her that made him think Secret would be a worthy investment as a deathknight.
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To be honest, I'm more curious about why the Neverborn agreed with him.
 
Now look what you did, Jukashi! You started a meme.

To be honest' date=' I'm more curious about why the Neverborn agreed with him.[/quote']
This one's easy to answer. The Neverborn only care if you accept the Catchecism of the Void, not if you want to destroy Creation. The Neverborn believe that once you are an Abyssal, you'll start pushing Creation towards oblivion one way or another.
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I enjoy both Keychain of Creation and the character of Secret. But I have a hard time seeing what the Silver Prince saw in her that made him think Secret would be a worthy investment as a deathknight
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She survived long enough to say "yes"?
 
Kyeudo said:
This one's easy to answer. The Neverborn only care if you accept the Catchecism of the Void, not if you want to destroy Creation. The Neverborn believe that once you are an Abyssal, you'll start pushing Creation towards oblivion one way or another.
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Pretty much, every time an Abyssal exerts power in Creation, Creation gets tainted by Death essence. Every time they do good, Resonance ensures it goes bad.


In short, Secret is going to be the badass woobie as long as she stays good.
 
That definitely qualifies as a Xanatos Gambit, then, as whether the Deathknight rebels against his/her masters or aids them, Creation gets darker. The only way out would therefore be for an Abyssal to actually somehow revert to a Solar.
 
ShadowDragon8685 said:
Of course, this kind of thing tends to backfire massively if the deathknight in question falls in with a bunch of damn gold and silver shining do-gooders who're powerful role models towards goodness and an aged, wise ex-Immaculate Monk who can instill in her the zen and temperment to overcome the inevitable.
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/Kirk Mode


/throws fists into the air


TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


/Kirk Mode


Captain Hesperus
 
Fighteer said:
That definitely qualifies as a Xanatos Gambit, then, as whether the Deathknight rebels against his/her masters or aids them, Creation gets darker. The only way out would therefore be for an Abyssal to actually somehow revert to a Solar.
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That's the fun thing about Abyssals. It's generally accepted that the Neverborn have a better control mechanism then the Yozi, in regards to their respective Exalted. An Infernal can rebel against the Yozi, and so long as they act like a B-movie villain while doing so, they won't incur any torment. And since you can act as a B-movie villain while fighting other villains, rogue Infernals can be rather heroic. But the Neverborn have better control - they just built in the destructive principle of Resonance right into the Abyssal exaltation, so that all Abyssals, no matter what, must destroy. That's all the Neverborn care about - it doesn't really matter to them if you destroy a major god, a city, a group of nefarious bandits, or a random bird that's flying by, all of it brings creation a tiny, tiny step closer to Oblivion. And that's all the Neverborn want.
 
So, has anyone else noticed King's smile is always there, and always as huge as possible? Man, just think how it would be to see a normal person who went around with a near-permanent toothy grin. It's an element that's easy to ignore in cartoon form, but...


Anyway, this leaves Misho as the only one of the Keychain who hasn't had any significant backstory flashbacks (I am referring to First Age Misho, not the one whose memories no longer exist). I'm looking forward to those.
 
What's this, an Abyssal with an eye color different than red or non-existant?

Brickwall said:
Anyway, this leaves Misho as the only one of the Keychain who hasn't had any significant backstory flashbacks (I am referring to First Age Misho, not the one whose memories no longer exist). I'm looking forward to those.
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Me too, I'm looking forward to seeing just how Misho learned his humility.
 
Agreed.


Also, Secret must be very, very, very special if she is escorted by two high-ranking Deathknights. What do lower-priority new exalts get, a few Nemissaries?
 
Brickwall said:
So, has anyone else noticed King's smile is always there, and always as huge as possible? Man, just think how it would be to see a normal person who went around with a near-permanent toothy grin. It's an element that's easy to ignore in cartoon form, but...
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WhY.


sO.


SerIoUs?
 
Brickwall said:
So, has anyone else noticed King's smile is always there, and always as huge as possible? Man, just think how it would be to see a normal person who went around with a near-permanent toothy grin. It's an element that's easy to ignore in cartoon form, but...
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Rigor mortis.
 
Brickwall said:
Anyway, this leaves Misho as the only one of the Keychain who hasn't had any significant backstory flashbacks (I am referring to First Age Misho, not the one whose memories no longer exist). I'm looking forward to those.
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Me too, I'm looking forward to seeing just how Misho learned his humility.
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I'm right there with you. I'm a big fan of Misho and I'm really looking forward to learning more about him. :)
 
magnificentmomo said:
Fighteer said:
That definitely qualifies as a Xanatos Gambit, then, as whether the Deathknight rebels against his/her masters or aids them, Creation gets darker. The only way out would therefore be for an Abyssal to actually somehow revert to a Solar.
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It is almost a Xanatos Roulette.
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I have to disagree there. It's the plain, elemental Xanatos Gambit. Either the Abyssal kills stuff in the face, in which case it's all good, or the Abyssal does good stuff, at which point BAM! Resonance. Stuff is killed in the face. It'd be a Roulette if they really shouldn't be able to predict either of those outcomes... but they engineered Resonance right in and they know it works, 'cause they've been using it on the Deathlords for centuries.
 
Anything involving Exalted is eventually a Roulette though, simply due to the agents involved. They're sorta designed to do the impossible in unexpected ways.
 
That's Taking a Third Option, usually, which skips the "heads I win, tails you lose" trick of a Xanatos Gambit by using Exalted Essence to make it land on its edge.
 
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