No shootin’ till I give the ORDER!
on February 12, 2018 at 12:01 amWell, here’s some fun dissonance!
One of the recurring storytelling conceits of It’s Walky! is that the mission is more important than lives. In the very first storyline, Sal’s offin’ brainwashed agents left and right, and a bit later Squad 128 is ready to blow themselves up in order to keep the world-at-large from knowing Aliens exist. This is how SEMME operates. But before, this was directed towards characters the narrative didn’t consider important — or circumstances changed to allow everyone to live. The Science Fiction Club here, though, uh, they’re here visiting. And we as readers probably feel a bit differently with the Walkyverse’s approach (at the time) to Compassion Vs Duty when that gun’s aimed at people the narrative deems important. So, yeah, Walky comes off as a friggin’ heartless monster, even if he’s operating in the rules already established. Read the room! Or, well, read other rooms from which others have traveled, I guess.
pssthey guysi thinki think there’s going to be a fightSome readers were a little disappointed that we ended up doing the traditional crossover clash after all, just on an inverted schedule (team up and then fight, not the other way around). And I took that to heart for a while. Was this forced? But looking back, and knowing what followed for both series, this second-act turning point feels pretty organic.Tony’s intensity is pivotal. Mike is the kind of guy nobody wants to follow, and Joyce, Joe, and Dina would never argue for this. But as obviously as Tony’s letting his trauma do the talking here, his math is not wrong. HA, MM, and even the Cheese are existential threats. If two civilian lives were all that stood between our military leaders and eliminating a rival nation’s entire nuclear arsenal, well, that’s why they coined the term “acceptable losses.”More to the point, though, Joyce glimpses a very Sal-like side of Walky. The line “this is our job” was David’s addition, and it’s very much in keeping with early Sal’s ethos of duty over compassion.
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You can’t kill them, guys, they have names.
Considering it’s the Cheese, and Mist is apparently even more powerful than him, firing that gun might not even stop Mist anyway.
Nice background gradient effect in the last two panels.
Feels like an odd time to call out Meighan for anything less than capital offenses, Will. I can only imagine what your eulogy for her would be like.
I definitely agree with Walky and Tony on this one. I would take the shot, save the world, and face the music later knowing that what I did was the right thing to do, even if others don’t agree with that.
The needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few ? Boy if I had a nickel.
You’d fuck Mike’s mom?
I have my own qualms with this, even though this is a familiar narrative with Semme and some of the characters in It’s walky. But it’s hasn’t really seemed to be Walky’s way of doing things he’s never been willing to sacrifice someone else life just to smite a enemy maybe his own but certainly not someone else’s and certainly not the life of an innocent. It’s what always separated him from Jason, Sal and, Tony. I’m wondering where things changed for Walky because if this change in character had came for him after certain future events it would made more sense but right now I don’t know.
And also speaking about Tony, “If we could save some of your loved ones we Will.” Thanks for the false sense of hope you lying prick. Furthermore I wonder how come no one actually sat down with Tony and some other Semme officials in a room it talked about this mentality because did anything but work for them. He could argue that this is how they always did things but honestly where has this wave thinking gotten him. The tendency to needlessly throw away his life and the life of others has only amounted to driving his ex-lover off the deep end to become a homicidal maniac, put his dad 10 feet under in a grave, and and ended up getting himself killed. Not to mention all of that accomplished nothing. Policies like this is one of the reasons I often wonder if Semme are actually the good guys.
[SPOILER WARNING]
Matter of fact thinking about it Semme and the F.I.B aren’t that different at all with their policies of forced drafts and pointlessly throwing away the lives of their own. With all this going on I’m surprised that’s some of the SEMME agents don’t go Rogue and turn against the agency sooner than they do in the story.
The more I keep thinking about it the more I’m surprised It’s walky didn’t dive in deeper into this subject if their going to have it, Going back to the conversation Rikk and Walky had earlier no wonder they don’t think things out more in order to not get people killed.
It ain’t because of a lack of experience, it’s because they often don’t give a damn about who lives and who dies.
I’d think it’s more like an attempted salve to Walky’s conscience. He’s afraid if he plans things out and someone is killed, that’ll feel more like premeditated murder than a lack of choice.
He’d rather be able to tell himself it was forced on him than that he was willing to accept it from the start.
Also, it’s entirely possible he’s afraid if he thinks about potential casualties too much ahead of time he won’t be able to do what needs to be done.
As someone who doesn’t read Fans and since this is the first time they’re shown in colour: what’s with Aislin’s face being a different colour than her body?
Gothic make up.
As a classic goth, Alisin often wears pancake makeup that makes her skin look chalk-white, especially around her face, but often on any exposed part of her body. But when she was shunted to this universe, she had been trying on clothes.
“Well, Meighan’s innocent enough!” is a great line and yet doesn’t interrupt the drama.
There’s a difference between “heartless monster” and “someone guiltily doing something they don’t want to because they truly believe it’s necessary”. Someone who shuts down their heart because of what they’ve been convinced is their duty. Lymcit Pho in Unicorn Jelly was a great example of the latter. I strongly suspect real soldiers do run into this from time to time.
That said, I find it just as questionable- heck, MORE questionable- what Sal was doing in the beginning than this. When you’re talking about killing people pre-emptively because of the damage they MIGHT do under brainwashing, or much less prioritizing something where it isn’t a direct loss of life issue like keeping SEMME a secret, then that’s not really as justifiable as trying to stop a known killer in a position of power like Head Alien here. Basically, I think the earlier examples mentioned were way overboard and inappropriate, whereas this current argument actually seems worth making and considering.
Why the hell is Rikk appealing to Joyce? She’s not the one in charge and he knows it.
He’s doing it because he KNOWS what she would choose, and he KNOWS it will make the choice harder for Walky. But that’s bringing romantic relationships into what should be a command decision, just to make Walky’s choice – and it IS the right call – more painful.
I really really hate Rikk Oberf.
Damn that Rikk, trying to get emotions involved in the question of whether it’s acceptable to kill random people, which should simply be a matter of maths.
I didn’t say “emotions”. I said “romantic relationships.” And if you think it’s not a dick move to try and sway a field commander’s decision by considerations of “this will really disappoint my girlfriend”, then I sure would hate to serve on a military squad with you.
@hapax You, sir or ma’am, have no understanding of human beings.
Literally everyone here has spoken up here except for quiet scientist Dina, and Joyce, the woman who had offered him help, shook his hand, and prayed with him for a merciful resolution.
Rikk shows no respect for SEMME’s command. But he has shown every indication he respects Joyce. Concluding he would only appeal to her out of romantic manipulation is supposing a lot.
Sure, it’s a fight, but at least it isn’t the cliché “oh hey, let’s fight because of a simple misunderstanding that clears up about 30 seconds later.” Squad 128 has its own motives, the Science Fiction Club has theirs, and they contrast – there’s no mistaken stances around here. And *wow* is this going to be fun to read.