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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:19 pm 
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There *appears* to be an inconsistency in the speech bubbles in the November 16 comic. That, or else there's hidden information in the apparent inconsistency (presumably that the Dr Schlock that's on the space station talking to Roberts isn't actually him, but an inflatable decoy).

Here's how the bubbles are:
panel 3 [Shclock in frame, eye-in-the-sky screen front visible, no one else in frame]; Schlock speech balloon: "We got it! Are the points far enough apart now?"
panel 4 [S only in frame, EITS front]; Schlock 1st speech balloon: "We got it!", Schlock again: "I win!"
panel 5 [Schlock and Roberts in frame, EITS rear visible]; Schlock speech balloon: "Don't you mean 'We win'?", Schlock again: "Kusari, escort Roberts to Airlock-1"

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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:37 pm 
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Ok, so the framing of panels 3 and 4 are very different than the framing in panels 1 and 5. 1 and 5 are, as far as we know, on the space station satellite factory, with Roberts, and the big window that overlooks earth. Panels 3 and 4 also have a window-looking thing in the background behind the screen, so I would suspect that those panels are also in the control room in the factory satellite.

The top-level assumption here is that all four Schlocks pictured are one and the same, the flesh-and-blood Schlock that has been running HC for years. The one that Nash shot in the shoulder. If that's the case; if there's no other Schlock involved, then the speech balloons don't make sense. Panel 5 balloon 1 is clearly a reaction to panel 4 balloon 2, which doesn't make sense if all the Schlocks pictured are the same being.

Possibility 1: there's a mistake in the speech balloons. There's a couple of ways that could be; I think the most likely is: 1a: Panel 5 balloon 1 is actually spoken by Roberts.


Last edited by gevmage on Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:45 pm 
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Possibility 2:
All four panels, 1, 3, 4, and 5 do take place on the space station factory satellite, but the Schlock pictured in all four is one inflatable decoy. All the speech coming from the decoy is as pictured, but somehow it's muddled because someone else is with the real Schlock in the decoy control room (which we've never seen, I don't believe, so I don't know if that's possible). In this case:
panel 4 bubble 2: is someone else's voice being transmitted through the decoy's mouth
panel 5 bubble 1: is Schlock's voice being transmitted through the decoy's mouth.

This is possible, I suppose, although I'd think it would be very weird for the extremely paranoid Schlock to have someone else in his decoy control room.

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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:54 pm 
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Possibility 3:

Panels 1 and 5 show one Schlock, and panels 3 and 4 show a different one. Possibly in the same room, possibly different locations; I don't know if it matters.

Possibility 3a: one (or both) of the Schlocks here is an inflatable decoy. I don't know if we've entirely established if the decoys are programmed and have autonomy, or if they are direct-controlled by Schlock himself. If some of them are semi-autonomous, then it would explain the dialog of Schlock apparently correcting himself. (I think this is possible within Sluggy canon and even fair play for the viewer.)

Possibility 3b: both Schlocks are flesh-and-blood. One of them is the one that's been running HC, another one is another time/dimensionally-shifted one. (I don't think I'd say that's entirely out of canon, but I don't think that's really playing fair with the reader either. Schlock's inflatable decoys are well-established plot element; multiple Schlocks of the same age aren't really, as far as I can tell.)

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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:05 pm 
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Or Schlock could be just correcting himself - the first statement is very "me" oriented, which is the direction that Schlock has been headed once he took over hC. He could be correcting himself to say "we" - that is, this whole thing has been for everyone else's good (ultimate defeat of K'Z'K), and therefore the ends (all the death) justifies the means.

Another oddity in this comic: Kusari has always been very svelte and very fit - the silhouette of Kusari in the last frame does not look very Kusari-like. It reminds me of Crabtree, actually... [Please note that I'm NOT saying that I think it IS Crabtree, only that the silhouette reminds me more of her than the svelte Kusari we've come to know and appreciate...]

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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:14 pm 
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swmartian wrote:
Or Schlock could be just correcting himself - the first statement is very "me" oriented, which is the direction that Schlock has been headed once he took over hC. He could be correcting himself to say "we" - that is, this whole thing has been for everyone else's good (ultimate defeat of K'Z'K), and therefore the ends (all the death) justifies the means.

Poooooooooosibly? But in that case, why wouldn't he just say "No, I mean WE win!". It certainly sounds like he's specifically correcting someone.

Quote:
Another oddity in this comic: Kusari has always been very svelte and very fit - the silhouette of Kusari in the last frame does not look very Kusari-like. It reminds me of Crabtree, actually... [Please note that I'm NOT saying that I think it IS Crabtree, only that the silhouette reminds me more of her than the svelte Kusari we've come to know and appreciate...]

I don't think I agree. Kusari looks quite svelte here, as far as I can tell. You can see hear narrow waist in the middle; her thighs are much wider, which is also characteristic of her.

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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:25 pm 
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swmartian wrote:
Or Schlock could be just correcting himself - the first statement is very "me" oriented, which is the direction that Schlock has been headed once he took over hC. He could be correcting himself to say "we" - that is, this whole thing has been for everyone else's good (ultimate defeat of K'Z'K), and therefore the ends (all the death) justifies the means.


But yes, Possibility #4, that everything setting-wise is as it appears, but Schlock just has a weird speech tic in that he refers to himself in the second person.

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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:50 pm 
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Myself, I think possibility 1 makes the most sense. Though what makes the most sense doesn't always mean what is the most likely in the Sluggyverse!

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 Post Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:48 pm 
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To throw yet another monkey wrench in...

What if there are actually TWO Roberts as well as two Schlocks in two locations . (Regardless of whether they are flesh and blood, balloon, clone, etc.)

I ask/speculate because others have asked about the position of the antenna on his head, which seems to be two different positions...

This would also allow one Roberts to be sent to his room, and another, redundant Roberts to be sent to the airlock as, well, redundant.

It would resolve the speech bubble “issue.””

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 Post Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:53 am 
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I'm pretty sure it's just a mistake on Pete's part. He has made speech bubble errors in the past. What's unusual is that he's normally very quick about fixing mistakes like this.

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 Post Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:46 am 
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It is most definitely a mistake.

I'm pretty sure the last time Pete was on the forum was on Monday. So he most likely hasn't read anything in Reactions, so he doesn't know there's a problem to fix.

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 Post Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:07 am 
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Another possibility: there are several entities inside Schlock's head.

Panel 4:
Entity 1: We got it!
Entity 2: I win!
Panel 5:
Entity 1: Don't you mean "we win"?

I would guess that Entity 1 is Schlock himself. Entity 2, I don't know. A demon, maybe KZK himself. Certainly, that big "I WIN!!!" is an outburst consistent with KZK's personality.

EDIT: and do not forget that KZK has already been seen playing a *very* long game, slightly rewriting history in order to break free thousands of years down the line. So maybe there is yet another fragment of KZK inside Schlock's head that has been waiting even longer, maybe even from the alternate timeline, for the perfect moment to destroy everything.

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 Post Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:52 am 
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OK, I was wrong. Pete did mess up...

The news now shows his mea culpa.

(Part of me wishes that it was purposeful, still, as it would add another mystery, with the accompanying future reveal. Not to be. Still, lots of mysteries still left, even with other confirmations coming almost daily!)

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 Post Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 12:55 pm 
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For future reference, the correct answer was 1a. Pete has fixed the speech balloon tails in the comic.

Thanks Pete!

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