July 16, 2013: Have to End This

[binarytears]

Well that was... predictably unexpected.

Okay, what the heck was that? Wasn't that a bit random?

I was thinking the same, till I noticed in panel 4, Psymax _throws_ the spikey-max at Goldmax. He basically used another character as a weapon, thus bypassing his own inability to harm Goldmax.

Pretty sharp thinking, for someone who's just suffered two major body wounds.

Edit:
It's been suggested that Goldmax's spear (Gliave?) might still work against Psymax, so perhaps Minmax could use that.
To add to that... there's also Goldmax's body parts. Minmax could bludgeon Psymax to death with a Goldmax leg or something.

But really what's needed is some kind of headshot.
Or surprise attack from a direction Psymax can't see coming. If that's possible - he seems pretty good at splishking opponents attacking from behind, without even glancing at them.

[EatsAbug]

Neither MinMax nor anyone else can use GoldieMax's weapon or body parts to attack PsiMax - they aren't invulnerable to his power.
MinMax is still held, anyone else attacking PsiMax would get Splishk'd.

Something a bit odd - PsiMax suddenly developers a bloody tooth and lip in the last panel. Not sure when that happened.

So far my prediction of the end-game is on target, with GoldieMax defeated indirectly.
Now, on to the machine room via teleport, to pin everyone and for MinMax to say something about the Kins' colors to change his armor to blue, signalling that the end is near.

The kins ought to be smart enough not to attack PsiMax, and PsiMax generally only kills those who attack him, so they live, for the moment.
In the last panel of the next page, or maybe the following if there's a lot of dialogue, PsiMax will be torturing Kin and MinMax reacting. Poor Kin...

MinMax will end up just handing over the sword, likely after Kin tells him to (to the dismay of the Kinship).
Otherwise PsiMax would splishk MinMax when he attacks, and Kin won't let that happen. Besides, MinMax and Forgath have to live through this.
Well, MinMax COULD be splishk'd, but only if the maze is going to reset one more time after PsiMax dies in the explosion that destroys his machine and thereby his godlike immunity. But I don't think we're going to get that happy of an ending... not even close.

I do think we will get to see a dueling negative hit point banjo duel between MinMax and PsiMax, that MinMax will win with Forgath's help. That'll have to suffice.

[Liesmith]

Psimax is bleeding from the mouth because his most of him was punctured.

And I think Minmax could find a way to attack Psimax with Goldie's weapon...he may be a dumb brick most of the time, but he's a clever bastard when it comes to fighting.

[The HellJack]

Alright, howzabout this for a possible twist?

Our Kin still knows the true name of Not-Walter from Reality 38. While PsiMax drags our MinMax back to the psionic gears where he now KNOWS Kin is mucking about, with the help of Opal (who looks like the type who would really, REALLY enjoy summoning a frickin' Demon) summons Not-Walter.

PsiMax shows up, and poops himself being faced with a Demon he can't do diddly against.

And for disturbing his rest from hell, Not-Walter "brands" her with a Demon Marked body part...and thus giving her back a Demon Marked Transparent Tail for her troubles.

[T-RexWithTourettes]

What the hell...you all saw this update yesterday at 3pm, even though I checked? *Shrug* Okay. I've been checking recently but my computer must be screwing up or something.
Okay now WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING D:
It's like a satyr mixed with the slashers from Dead Space and a hefty dosage of WHAT IN THE FUCK.
Awesome though, happy that it seems like the Maze arch isn't going to end with Goldmax lamely stabbing him to death. Nice twist.

[RidcullyJack]

One Jack to another, I like this:

Alright, howzabout this for a possible twist?

Our Kin still knows the true name of Not-Walter from Reality 38. While PsiMax drags our MinMax back to the psionic gears where he now KNOWS Kin is mucking about, with the help of Opal (who looks like the type who would really, REALLY enjoy summoning a frickin' Demon) summons Not-Walter.

PsiMax shows up, and poops himself being faced with a Demon he can't do diddly against.

But this is a bit far-fetched:

And for disturbing his rest from hell, Not-Walter "brands" her with a Demon Marked body part...and thus giving her back a Demon Marked Transparent Tail for her troubles.

[Liesmith]

She could probably convince him to help willingly; after all, he probably won't be truly free until his group completes the maze, which is impossible with Goldie dead. So, if the maze resets, he'll probably wind up enslaved again. If it obliviates, he'll probably be obliviated along with Goldie. Helping everyone defeat Psimax, and making a deal with the Three and a half Kins, would ensure his true freedom from the maze after they tweak the gears again.

Of course, this entire theory is predicated on my wild-ass assumption that Grinnorarcen, and any other summoned entities that are dismissed within the maze, is held within "escrow" until the maze resets or his team wins. This is based on absolutely nothing, so don't blame me if I'm wrong, I'll just deny it and look really silly, and you'll feel bad.

[BordeauxRow]

I believe that Goldie lost his Big red killing machine for good, since he literally got 'banished back to hell'.

[RidcullyJack]

She could probably convince him to help willingly; after all, he probably won't be truly free until his group completes the maze, which is impossible with Goldie dead. So, if the maze resets, he'll probably wind up enslaved again. If it obliviates, he'll probably be obliviated along with Goldie. Helping everyone defeat Psimax, and making a deal with the Three and a half Kins, would ensure his true freedom from the maze after they tweak the gears again.

Of course, this entire theory is predicated on my wild-ass assumption that Grinnorarcen, and any other summoned entities that are dismissed within the maze, is held within "escrow" until the maze resets or his team wins. This is based on absolutely nothing, so don't blame me if I'm wrong, I'll just deny it and look really silly, and you'll feel bad.

All this make perfect sense. Holding summoned entities in "escrow" is the only way it could really work because no real-words time passes in the MoM. In a normal run of the MoM, you'd expect Grinnorarcen to restart each unsuccessful run, so being dismissed can only be temporary - he has no time to get back to Hell before being needed back in the MoM. Luckily for Grinnorarcen and any other dismissed demons/whatevers, there's no reason to expect that they'd remember being held in escrow.

[Pneumo]

I believe that Goldie lost his Big red killing machine for good, since he literally got 'banished back to hell'.

Agreed,
By banishing him he got teleported outside the pocket dimension that the MoM is.
It would be the same if they would already have the teapot, and use it.
They get teleported out.

[Marnath]

What the hell...you all saw this update yesterday at 3pm, even though I checked? *Shrug* Okay. I've been checking recently but my computer must be screwing up or something.
Okay now WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING D:

A pile of gore is what that thing is. Any details beyond that are pretty irrelevant now, aye?

[BordeauxRow]

What the hell...you all saw this update yesterday at 3pm, even though I checked? *Shrug* Okay. I've been checking recently but my computer must be screwing up or something.
Okay now WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING D:

A pile of gore is what that thing is. Any details beyond that are pretty irrelevant now, aye?

Nay! I love the background stories (though Blendermax his back ground seems obvious enough, he got randomized by the shield of wonders. And left a path of mindless destruction and mayhem in his wake eversince.)

[RocketScientist]

I believe that Goldie lost his Big red killing machine for good, since he literally got 'banished back to hell'.

Agreed,
By banishing him he got teleported outside the pocket dimension that the MoM is.
It would be the same if they would already have the teapot, and use it.
They get teleported out.

+1 The people who left the teapot in the maze in the first place didn't reappear back inside when it reset.

[WastesTime]

I still think that the "38 ways to kill a guy using only his thumb" will be relevant. I would love to see Psimax being killed by Minmax's thumbs

[Dendr]

Damn, Goldmax! Why didn't you cut his arm? Or you were betrayed by Luck?
It's gonna be a long battle, I guess. Not as long as Brassmoon battle though.

BTW, do you see another Minmax on this page?
What I mean is that the third panel can be seen in two different ways. (sorry for my bad painting skills, but I hope, the idea's clear enough)

[Krulle]

Nope, I didn't see possibility B....

I would find it unlikely though, why would Minmax be lying across Forgath's face?

And your drawing skills are sufficiently for this, I doubt mine would have sufficed....

[nitwit]

I believe that Goldie lost his Big red killing machine for good, since he literally got 'banished back to hell'.

Agreed,
By banishing him he got teleported outside the pocket dimension that the MoM is.
It would be the same if they would already have the teapot, and use it.
They get teleported out.

+1 The people who left the teapot in the maze in the first place didn't reappear back inside when it reset.

This seems an odd assumption to me, that the teapot was left in the maze by people teleporting out, since it is infact, in the treasure room where you would be if you already won and were leaving. The thought that it could not only break out of a pocket dimension, which it likely was never built with the intention of doing, a place that defies time and space, and some how get you to the correct reality... further what about the rest of the treasure? is it all discarded loot from previous adventures?

I have to lean towards the "escrow" mentioned by lies(where did your avatar come from?) wouldn't the demon have been freed just the same when Goldmax died? This doesn't appear to be his first run with psimax predicting his moves(possible i guess). Leaving the conclusion that he somehow failed to win but didn't die every previous run through the maze, or that his demon isn't going anywhere until he does.

[nitwit]

I disagree.

If you look at this page, you'll see battles in the background of adventurers that we don't see in the page you mention. The 11 that are killed are only the ones that are 1) close enough to hear and see Kin's broadcast (the Tower Room is huge), 2) not busy battling for their lives, thus otherwise occupied, and 3) not completely crazy/evil/undead zombies, etc. Plus there will be more parties entering the Tower Room all the time as they finish the first part of their dungeon crawl.

Your link occurs before he makes the statement, i just assumed the others had already died in fighting or the continuing destruction of the tower room, since no signs of them or anyone else occur in the background after he says it, atleast that i've seen(could've overlooked someone).we're shown goldmax hiding and no one is coming after him. It would have been nice to see atleast one side fight after this.

http://www.goblinscomic.org/06172013/
The scene where minmax and psimax are both looking up suggests to me that kins head is towering above the maze, that everyone should have heard her. I'll give you monsters, but even evil leans towards self preservation.

I personally like to think the stage is larger than just what is shown. But if we're to nitpick on the quote and how you felt there were only 11: Psymax said "ATLEAST eleven minor variables". So he's saying that's the lowest number possible, not to mention some major variables.

I'm pretty sure you're in the minorty when it came to picking it up like that, but even so there's a lot of room for interpretation if you're going to take it so literaly.

Plenty of room for interpretation, but to me the most obvious conclusion is the one i drew, anything else requires rationalization. Its not fair to call it nitpicking, these are the immediate conclusions i drew from reading these pages and why. Fair enough though, if you drew completely different conclusions, the joke/scene still works for you, these conclusions however, strike me as unnatural. That all the angles shown, another fight never is. that kins head towering above them isn't heard and seen by all. That most of the other creatures lack any sense of self preservation. that you can remove 11 people from a fight and yet not upset every remaining variable... etc. Even conceding that, this blendermax situation still feels completely out place for all the other reasons i pointed to.

[BordeauxRow]

IMHO Blendermax (and other deranged baddies) simply are not sane/rational enough to worry about a silly thing like "existing". And if you are getting attacked by a spikey,bladed, animal you would fight with all your might to avoid getting mauled.

[spiderwrangler]

Panel 2: the beltbuckle misses the "I am great".
Rather untypical for THunt to miss that...

It's not the final version of the page, small things are quite commonly left out or missing in the first pass.

That you can rationalize his presence doesn't negate what that comment seemed to imply, or its impact here.

I think the error lies in your inference.

i just assumed the others had already died in fighting or the continuing destruction of the tower room, since no signs of them or anyone else occur in the background

So it's more logical to assume that in the few moments since we did see them that they all spontaneously dropped dead than it is to see the 11 approaching/attacking Psimax as a subset of those in the room?


Also, I don't think I've seen Psimax referred to as Godmax more than in this thread. I kept thinking they were referencing Goldmax.

[bcas77]

Plenty of room for interpretation, but to me the most obvious conclusion is the one i drew, anything else requires rationalization.

Of course that conclusion is the most obvious one to you, because you drew it.

[Morrack]

Nay! I love the background stories (though Blendermax his back ground seems obvious enough, he got randomized by the shield of wonders. And left a path of mindless destruction and mayhem in his wake eversince.)

Yeah I'm also thinking BlenderMax is the result of MinMax getting in contact with the Shield of Wonders, him likely being a fusion of the two.
My guess is that MinMax achieved the Shield of Wonders in the Goblin camp (possibly by killing Complains), took it along with him, then further ahead he accidentally activated it to become that horrible spikey thing. Also I doubt there's a Forgath or Kin in his group, this MinMax doesn't seem like the type who can hang around with others. At least not without ultimately blendering them .

[Elvors]

Looks like one to the chest and the other to the upper abdomen - both potentially fatal injuries - should be on the ground, writhing in agony and -8 by now.

Guess Goldmax wasn't so lucky after all...

Goldmax got an arm and a leg ripped off.
No dismemberment rules in D&D, it's at the discretion of the DM what Goldmax can and cannot do.
If Goldmax is still in the positives, he might be able to hop on that remaining leg and swing that polearm at Psimax.
Since Psimax could simply outrun or out-teleport Goldmax, that would require an attack of opportunity.
Which is hard when hopping on one leg, but then #38 IS Psimax' weakness.

What I don't understand is what Psimax is about to do. Realize that Kin has altered reality, but then calling out to Psimax - what is he up to?
He'd have to go after Kin right away because she might alter the gears more, putting him into unforeseeable and uncontrollable difficulties again. The best course of action, for him, would probably to teleport back, kill the intruder(s) in the gear room, undo any changes, then deal with Minmax again.
I'm wondering what considerations are holding Psimax back.

[Wolfie]

PsiMax is irritated and pissed off now. He wants our MinMax to produce Oblivious so he can correct his errors so he can disappear/obliviate/never have existed. Now, he's not thinking rationally. He just wants this over with and the quickest way is to get Minmax to pull his sword out.

[stevedj]

Quick question: Did the Forgath that BlenderMax was going to ... blend... survive? It looks like BlenderMax got yanked away before completing that attack? Maybe that Forgath could pick up GoldMax's weapon and inflict some new/surprise damage? (Nah, probably get splishked first, but it was a thought...)