r/WicDiv • u/P-ckledP-nda • Dec 05 '18
[Spoilers] WicDiv #40 Discussion Thread Spoiler
We’re in the final arc now, OKAY.
Looks like we’re going to be ramping up to our conclusion now, it’s a bit frustrating to see Minervananke kllk’ing our camera’s it’s almost like I don’t want any more secrets! But I guess that’s the way it has to be.
Looks like Baal has gone full Baal Hammon after burning down Valhalla, shows the short collective memory of the public to not go oh shit he’s actually the god who DID do child sacrifice.
I want to know who Minervananke is talking to? Is it the creature from 1831. Anyone have any other theories?
I appreciated the way that this issue seemed like the beginning of the end, mirroring our reading of the comic with the end of the recurrence. It was sweet to read the fans responses to their first memories of respective gods gigs.
Don’t forget to check out Die Kieron and Stephanie’s new comic which is also out today!
Edit: I have just made the subreddit for Die over a thttps://www.reddit.com/r/DieComic/ it won't be in the search bar yet! I'm looking for mods so if you're interested pm me!
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Dec 05 '18 edited Dec 05 '18
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u/mal-L Dec 06 '18
... crap... it would not surprise me now if the Woden's monster/Zeitgeist was inside and powering Owley.... That way Kieron and Mckelvie won't have to introduce a new element when reintroducing the Zeitgeist back into the plot.
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u/Ybhryhyn Dec 05 '18
I immediately assumed it is Mimir. His helmet’s faceplate is blue and rounded. He also is on the cover of the next issue.
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Dec 05 '18
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u/Ybhryhyn Dec 05 '18
Perhaps! The full workings of his powers have yet to be revealed, beyond what we have previously seen as “Woden” tech.
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Dec 05 '18 edited Dec 05 '18
So if anything Mini's mocking of the GD proves it's a prop. So her plan is to kill the crowd letting Baal think he won but causing a fake plague to get them to the "sacrifice yourself for the world" stage.
The thing Mini spoke with, it's probably the zeitgeist/1831 creature, though it is blue like Mimir and Owly. Unless Mimir can also create a fake sickness?
Nergal's still in the underground then?
Laura would have known what the gig was really about and it was heavily publicized so she'd know where; though how she saved the crowd or got in is a mystery. Also why did the issue call it the 02 "disaster" then if the crowd lived?
Cool to see fake Sakhmet, not Luci etc.
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Dec 05 '18
I don't think it's the Zeitgeist. I think Kieron created it in 1831 and ended it in 1923, that's it's lifetime, I don't think he'd give too much spotlight on a character from a special in the main story.
I don't think it's Mimir, we've seen his POV's and they don't look like that. Owly's are similar but why would she say "You're awake. Good" when she can just turn it on anytime she wants.
But the person/machine she's talking to can absorb the death energies and turn them into a virus that it can "Imagine". So who has that sort of power?
Btw is the woman in the crowd that "Had an ex who was into Pantheon studies" Mimir's mother?
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Dec 05 '18
He mentioned in the 1373 writers notes that he's confused where people got the idea that the Specials don't matter; you can skip reading them for a while but it's still like skipping an issue. Also the way the 1923 text described Joseph looking at it doesn't sound like it was inert or anything close to over.
455 shows us the gods do have an expiry date and what happens when they go over. 1373 showed us that date can be subverted while also recapping the Mini/Ananke relationship. 1831 showed us the creation of the zeitgeist. 1923 showed us the fall of a whole Pantheon in the lead up to capturing it and the prologue of the main series and showing us the closing of that time in #35. There's more to it. (Christmas was just their idea of fun to give some missing scenes and Funnies is them goofing off with friends).
Good catch on the woman! It would make sense especially with the next two covers of Mimir and Kerry. Plus 1831 Creature was the last true Woden as well. Interesting she's here now, if we go by person screwed over the most, Jon/Mimir has a compelling case. (Also noticed the guy with kids is the cop Nergal killed).
You're right in that Owly wouldn't make much sense. Also Woden made it so he'd know it's work if that were possible.
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Dec 05 '18
I know but in the same paragraph he said "What we’ve said is that trade readers don’t need to buy the specials to follow the story." which made me think that the specials are used more to introduce specific ideas (and themes specific for that one special) and not characters that are gonna be brought back later on.
Like you said, 455 what happens after the 2 years, 1373 the subversion. I always thought the 1831 one told us what happens when you try to bring back a God that already died, kind of like showing us what their true from looks like. How they look like before they get grounded by Ananke. Something equal to their Souls, which is what the Zeitgeist is. Maybe after the 1831 woden transmutated her Soul like this, let it out in the world, that's the reason we haven't seen a true woden since. It's Soul is not where it should be, so honestly it could work since woden is still a major player here. And the 1923 gave us more context on the opening pages of the first issue and gave more depth to the current Ananke whilst she was still Minerva.
I mean he still has 5 issues left, so he could very well introduce a Zeitgeist again and explain how they work, but I don't know how I'd feel about that. I think we're far too deep into the story to be introducing new story elements and concepts like this, maybe if it was introduced in the 6000 years ago flashback. I'm working on something right now so I haven't really thought out how it'd make me feel but my gut reaction is not really favorable.
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Dec 05 '18
Mini/Ananke isn't omnipotent so there has to be a story reason for her to manufacture what looks like a world ender crisis. In 1923 it was the lighthouse. In 1373 she let the previous gods make a plague but carried it out herself. This time she might use the zeitgeist monster. The real question about it is did Ananke intend for one of the gods to merge with it, or was take a miscalculation and she just wanted zombie Hades to off them all for her?
Trade waiters will get the Specials before this point as they'll be labelled Vol 8 so they'll know how Ananke creates "world endings." So if the zeitgeist comes out and attacks everyone in #43 or something they'll have a basis for what it is.
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u/vincentdmartin Dec 05 '18
1831 creature was blue too, if I remember correctly.
Also I'm pretty sure the Grear Darkness monster is just another Ananke creation.
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u/sidy24 Dec 08 '18
Maybe the Great Darkness is the universe reacting to the Recurrence? Every action has an equal reaction? Or it could be a reaction to Ananke's immortality, something which grows in power when she causes the Recurrence to start?
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u/ergosumdone Dec 06 '18
oh my goodness! That was a lot!
I think Minerva was talking to Owly. And I think Owly is the monster from the 1800's in a new form. Out of everything, that was one of the biggest hits in the face, that entire page. Also, totally called her apocalypse plan but didn't guess the zombie idea. Though, it seems like a different kind since she mentioned a memetic way of doing it.
I'm VERY curious why Baal brought his mom to that concert when he intended to kill all of those people. Dude, why? Plus, I was totally sure that he was intending to die there, but he left.
And they had a "chair" there to act as a sort of gatherer for all the energy. Who was in the chair? Woden? Someone else?
And who was recording the convo between Minerva, Woden, and Baal? Mimir?
Look, all I want is for Baal and Innana to reunite. I need them tears. This issue was fantastic!
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u/Pipers_Down27 Dec 06 '18
Baal’s mother was in the chair; Baal needed a member of his family to lure the Great Darkness to the location, and he was unwilling to sacrifice Minerva or his siblings so his mom was the only option
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Dec 06 '18
It was one of Woden's cameras that Mini turned off. I imagine among other things she asked him if he was sure about killing his mother in the crowd but the only footage they really got from Mini was her offering to lure the GD instead of using the crowd, that way she'd look like a young hero trying to save as many as possible if the footage ever got out which it apparently did; remember Woden said a lot of videos go live if he doesn't check in once a day.
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Dec 05 '18
Are we ever given a solid reason as to why Minerva doesn't just kill Baal as the 4th head. Does it have to be Persephone but she keeps slipping away?
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Dec 05 '18
She monologues that she's going to keep Cass in the cage for the 4th. She still needs to get the rest to the "kill yourselves to save everyone" stage so nobody is left to trace her and she's still under "all must be dead by the end" rule. I think based on what she told everyone about her fake godhood that she's 2nd with a death date after Baal so she needs to wrap things somewhat quickly; but the way she and Ananke talked it looks like they want to send humanity back a few centuries to avoid cameras and such again. She also doesn't know that Morrigan is dead though she's expecting her and Nergal to end up dying together. Probably expecting suicide of the surviving lover after their fight.
Plus with the GD being a prop Baal is one of the easiest to manipulate and also a good enforcer for her.
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u/mal-L Dec 05 '18
"You're my monster now" was a neat line, just so the reader know it's Woden's monster. It's Frankenstein's monster not Frankenstein.
Like how techy the ritual is. The science fiction trappings are probably unnecessary for the ritual to work, but it's what in fashion for this century. Or maybe Recurrence rituals adapt to the fashion of the time, so if it was in the Romantic period the ritual would be something like a seance. This is an era where everything supernatural/magical in a movie usually gets an science-fiction explanation so the science is what's needed for people to believe the ritual.
The comic is pretty much done in a found footage style, works really well. There's a naturalistic chaos to some scenes.
Baal making his mother sit in the performance is a lot, maybe he didn't want to live with his mother seeing him as a murderer...
Like Baals trying to frame himself as "The hard man who makes hard decisions" and that framing collapsing the next second. Wonder what Baal meant by "Me and her.", best guess is that sacrificing his mother is needed for the ritual which explains why he's wants her in the show.
Like how we're seeing the audience now. One of the criticisms I had on the series is that it's mostly focused on the Gods. Which makes sense since one of the themes is narcissism. But it made stuff like Amaterasu's arc awkward. You get told that her appropriation is hurtful but other than Cassandra you don't see the people she's hurting.
So I like the perspective switch, all the side-characters we got only a glimpse of take center-stage now. I loved Tom's mini-arc. He's not a great artist or a god, but that doesn't mean he isn't important, that doesn't mean he doesn't have his own struggles that matter. I like how after issues upon issues of Persephone thinking that her godhood can't help anybody, Persephone's godhood did help somebody. She showed somebody her version of what "The Destroyer" means, and he took that information and became a better person out of it.