The Order of the Stick/Fridge: Difference between revisions

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So you're reading ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'', and something catches your eye. You don't think too much of it at the time. Then, a little while later, as you're going to the fridge for a drink or a snack, you think, "WAIT a minute...."
 
This page is for showcasing noteworthy moments of [[Fridge Brilliance]] or [[Fridge Horror]] in ''The Order of the Stick''. Note that any [[Fridge Logic]] examples do NOT belong here -- put them on the series' [[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)/Headscratchers|Headscratchers]] page, instead.
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*** Actually, his words were "for you AT LEAST". That allows for a scenario where EVERYONE has a happy ending.
**** He also noted that Belkar isn't going to survive for much longer and Durkon will be returning to his beloved homelands "post-mortem" (and we know {{spoiler|he will bring destruction to his entire civilization when he does so}}), so while the wording does not necessarily exclude happy endings all around, it seems unlikely.
***** Although {{spoiler|that's already happened, since he's dead (albeit a vampire, but still)}}, and the kicker is {{spoiler|he's just done so by voting to destroy the world, bringing destruction to his entire civilisation.}}
* Exactly why Belkar finds [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0335.html Mrs. Butterworth] attractive is confusing, until you realize he probably likes the syrup, and since hating her would mean hating the syrup, his "Proto-Brain" has made her an object of lust.
** Alternatively, V's theory doesn't work, or Belkar had the hots for Lord Shojo.
*** Or [[Rule of Funny]] is in effect.
** Wait . . . are you saying you don't find Mrs. B. to be hotness?
* Z's [[Parody Retcon]] actually makes a lot of sense. Yeah, like Drizzt, he's a dark elf who wields twin scimitars and presents himself as a [[Defector From Decadence]], but he's different in several respects. Unlike Drizzt, who is a Ranger and fights with his scimitars, Z is basically a [[Squishy Wizard]] (albeit slightly more athletic than V), and only uses his weapons for channeling spells. There's also the fact that Z is a [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil|typical dark elf]] and not a [[Defector From Decadence]]. Thus, it couldn't have been too hard to prove he was a parody rather than a plagiarism.
* Something that elevates Burlew's writing: [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0545.html Strip #545]: {{spoiler|O-Chul was right, that's EXACTLY how Girard's Gate is guarded... and he managed to slow down Redcloak by telling him the truth.}} Props to O-Chul for making an educated guess based off no information, and the Burlew who told us 200+ strips in advance and still made it surprising.
** Um... We still don't know {{spoiler|exactly how Girard's Gate is guarded.}} Sure, we've seen an {{spoiler|illusion, but Girard's an illusionist -- illusions were a pretty safe guess.}}
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** Meh... that one's kind of thin. Sabine is a succubus. In her own words, she's an evil incarnation of illicit sex who had sex four times when separated from Nale for a couple hours. She was also turned on by Miko.
*** Not really. Sabine's nature is ''to'' seduce, not to ''be'' seduced. She has sex with things because she makes ''them'' turned on by ''her'', not the other way around. She wasn't "turned on" by Miko, she was trying to turn ''Miko'' on to seduce her to the dark side.
* I read ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'', and always thought it was pretty good. I enjoyed the universe's neat little backstory but didn't think too much on it. Then I read [[Continuity Snarl]] over here, and reread those strips outlining the history of the OotS universe, at which point I realized Rich Burlew is a genius. -- [[J Dubya]]
** I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I didn't get the [[wikipedia:Pompeii|Vaarsuvius/Pompey]] joke until like a month after I read it. -- [[Japanese Teeth]]
*** I didn't get it until just now. -- CDL (Unregistered)
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** I read the above and was thinking a bit. At which time Belkar fought kobolds? Why, yes. He had a kobold counterpart in the Linear-Guild teams. So why would Nale send a kobold against Belkar, if they were his favored enemy? Because they are his favored enemy, which make them somehow his evil counterpart. Then I thought, that Nale is dumb. But them I realized, if Belkar ever lost to a Kobold it would make the victory oh so much more ironic and sweeter! -[[GJ Physic]]
*** Doubly so if the kobold who killed him had ''halflings'' as his favored enemy
* It took me way too long to realize what the comic title "Second Chance" referred to. Likewise, I only just realized how Vaarsuvius (and O-Chul) manage to hoist Xykon with his own petard; Xykon points out to V that power can take many forms...including something as simple as a class feature or a fairly low-level spell...
** When Xykon punished Redclock to not recover his eye I thought it was a bad punishment in it of itself, but the punishment sound a lot worse when you read The Start of Darkness
** Regarding [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0496.html this] famous [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]], note Roy's comment about what class his brother might have taken. Maybe that's a reason why he puts up with [[Cloudcuckoolander]] Elan.
* Spoiler heavy: after {{spoiler|Miko's death, she asks if she can visit her Paladin mount in the afterlife, since she no longer qualifies for the [[Lawful Good]] one. This takes on a whole new meaning when you realise her mount was most likely ''her only real friend on the world'', as everyone else finds her [[Lawful Stupid|too crazy or insufferable]] to get along with. [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]] indeed.}}
* I realized that Elan's father Tarquin and Tarquin's buddy Malack are counterparts to Xykon and Redcloack. In both groups, the first is a goofy [[Evil Overlord]] and the second is their [[Lawful Evil]] cleric partner who tends to facepalm at their goofiness. This kind of makes me think that Rich expected Tarquin and Malack to get the [[Draco in Leather Pants]] treatment and was doing a deliberate [[Bait the Dog]]. With Tarquin and Malack, it's like he took Xykon and Redcloak and filled them with likable traits.
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* This line by Girard: "Give a man enough power, and he's bound to abuse it, no matter how noble he thinks he is." {{spoiler|The IFCC gave V power, and s/he abused it, likely killing Girard in the process, and definitely killing his entire family line.}} ''Damn'', Girard, you were right on the money.
** {{spoiler|Girard was long dead before the Familicide was cast, seeing how he got properly buried.}}
* Keeping in mind that warlocks in most D&D settings get their powers from [[Deal Withwith the Devil|contracts with demons]], V's anger at being called one in the marketplace suddenly takes on a much more personal tone.
* All of the Gates (or at least, their defenses) have so far suffered a [[Death Byby Irony]]:
** Lirian's Gate--so besotted with the power of Nature to guard it, it had no real defences against the unnatural lich Xykon or even a simple forest fire.
** Dorukan's Gate--guarded with the idea that arcane power was the ultimate defence, which fails when you face an enormously powerful arcane caster who is specifically built to take down other arcane casters; plus, Dorukan clearly valued the intelligence of wizards, and the gate was inadvertently destroyed by Elan who is, simply put, a buffoon.
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** Assuming the blast didn't destroy the gem, freeing them.
*** Blast occurs after Xykon reaches the rift. Ergo, Dorukan and Lirian's souls have been destroyed.
** Given that the black gem is enchanted by an epic level sorceror, it can really be either safe or destroyed. He did manage to make his phylactery extremely durable.
* When the Order was being held in the Azure City prison, Belkar mentioned he'd concealed his Ring of Jumping "someplace on [his] body that [he] was reasonably sure no one would search." We all know a few obvious places on the body that a casual search would exclude. Combine that with the size difference between halflings and humans (i.e., a certain body part on a male halfling might correspond in circumference to an average human ring finger) and we can only come to one conclusion: Belkar has a Cockring of Jumping... one he later gave to Roy, presumably without washing it.
** I assumed he hid it in his anus and crapped it out, hiding it in a more obvious place now that he's past security.
* Think about all the stupid things Elan has done and how much trouble they have caused. Now look at the explanation for why he is so dumb in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0050.html this comic]. Nale caused Elan to be the way he is.
** Assume that Elan would have high intelligence like both of his parents had Nale not prevented it. We already know Elan has high charisma. We can assume he also has high wisdom, from his [[Genre Savvy|genre savviness]] and his [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0670.html practical use of it] while going against his bardic sensibilities to avert the [[Rule of Drama]]. His strength and dexterity, while [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0390.html not as high as his charisma], are probably in the 12-13 range. His constitution can't be too bad on account of his not dying yet. So if not for Nale, Elan would have been an awesome character.
*** He's still an awesome character.
* Regarding the different afterlives for each different alignment, it's quite sad to think that Haley and Elan will never be able to see Roy and Durkon again after they die, because the former are Chaotic Good and the latter are Lawful Good.
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'', blowing up Dorukan's dungeon was done so the party wouldn't loot and XP farm the population of said dungeon, with Elan doing it out of dramatic necessity. Well, that's fine and all, until you remember 3 things: 1. there were those rebellious goblin teens inside that dungeon. 2. Redcloak declared them all dead. and 3. If you've read ''Start Of Darkness'', you'd know that {{spoiler|Xykon gang-pressed a lot of innocent goblins to work for him}}.
* The recent arc with {{spoiler|the mother black dragon seeking vengeance on Vaarsuvius}} was inspired by a moment of [[Fridge Horror]] that creator Rich Burlew had when he noticed that of all of the races in D&D, {{spoiler|dragons}} are the only ones with character stats for every stage of their lives, including childhood, and therefore the only race whose children the game effectively condoned killing.
** In D&D 3.5, that is. By the same metric 1st edition condones killing the children of many more species, including ogres, bugbears, giants and other intelligent, humanoid races. It also gives notes on the price certain intelligent species' skins can fetch on the open market, as well as the possibility of kidnapping their young and selling them.
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* This [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0755.html comic]. Sure, {{spoiler|the news anchor getting killed and replaced by a member of the death squad is a pretty funny piece of [[Black Comedy]]. But remember a few panels earlier, when they show the "Sanguine Street" characters, she mentions "her three-year-old". Yeah...}}
 
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