ZOMBIE FORUMS

The forum has spoken. Duplicate thread deleted.

I'm not entirely convinced the spine has been severed. It's hard to tell from this angle how deep the cut went, though, I suspect from the amount of blood, it's a fairly serious wound either way. Unless she has some fantastic instantaneous healing powers (or has been faking it the whole time, or something), I suspect she's not gonna be able to counterattack.

A blade's gotta be a hell of a lot easier to dodge than a bullet.

Also, maybe Sarine *doesn't* know time magic. At least, not that she's practiced with any seriousness since the half-elf wars.

It is technically possible to get slashes across the back and not have your spine severed. I did think of getting some pics to prove that and then I realised what I'd be looking for *shudders*

Actually, in close combat, a blade is a much more dangerous weapon. we've all heard the saying, "Don't bring a knife to a gun fight." well, in close combat, the saying could easily be reversed to read, "Don't bring a gun to a Knife fight." simply put, it is much easier for a skilled fighter to take a gun from an opponent than it is to take a knife from that opponent. this is due to the simple fact that knives can hurt you in so many, many ways without having to be "activated" or "fired" knives are always "on" I'm not sure about the Durus Flamma, but in this case I'd say it is a hell of a lot easier to dodge a bullet than a blade.

Now if you step back a bit, say ten to fifteen feet, then a gun still has a tactical advantage, however that advantage shrinks terribly quickly as the distance from your opponent shortens. The fact that Sarine is fighting a Time Ninja means that the time needed for them to get into "close" fighting range is so short that even if you had a gun, you'd never get a shot off. I think the only reason Jon managed to shoot warrel is that he dropped his guard and jumped, (a committed movement with no way to change direction in mid fall) and that Jon is the fastest Gun in the West,(east, north, or south)...

Sarine may be screwed here. I don't know for sure, but I'd say that perhaps Warrel's attitude towards elves may have some justification behind it.
I still doubt that Sarine is "Toast" or "Dead Meat" at this point, but unless something happens to stop warrel, he'll have her "guts for garters" in no "time" flat.

Aaaargh! That pun, it burns!

Sarine is forgetting the key point of fighting an opponent that is faster than you--anticipate his moves instead of trying to attack him first.

If Warrel is going to attack her from the front or behind, or the side or top, or from underneath, she needs to be there first. Even feinting could send Warrel going for attack and she's fast enough to get him with a fake-out.

I doubt his time magic makes him omniscient, so he wouldn't see it coming. It's just a matter of "Does she have the strength left?". I'm thinking a 3000 year old elf has more endurance through injury than a mere human.

Of course, Jon could always shoot Warrel where he stands, provided Sara did nothing to stop him. Who knows? We're all focused on Sarine, but maybe Jon's the sacrifice here. If he saves Sarine's life by killing Warrel, only to find himself killed by Sara, at least Sara accomplished her mission and can go back "home". That leaves Sarine alive to do what she must.

A knife is really only a threat to a gun because it can be drawn more quickly (just whip it out and stick the pointy end into somethingy meaty, whereas a gun has to be drawn, aimed, fired, and many have a safety that needs to be disengaged first). And at a distance for melee combat, the knife has an advantage over the gun in terms of deployment against the enemy.

In every other respect, the gun is so superior to the knife that it's not even funny.

I imagine it would be harder to dodge bullets than a sword because, well, bullets tend to break the sound barrier or come close to it, whereas a sword can only be swung as fast as, say, your average baseball bat. Yeah, no comparison. Heck, people can dodge swords and knives in real life. When was the last time you heard of someone actually dodging bullets as they were being fired?

OOoh damnit.

This is turning into a secksay-elven-pinata party

I can't help but notice that we haven't seen any pieces of Jon flying across the screen yet. Almost full seconds have passed since we've seen him yet, so unless Sara killed him silently and efficiently, he may still be alive. (doubtful)

Has anyone thought about the possibility that both Jon and Sarine lose the fight and both get carted to the time-monks village?
Well, maybe not Jon, as his sister is supposed to kill him.

I'm starting to get the feeling that Sarine is playing possum here - She's seen them in action, she saw Warrel snap the bullet that Jon fired out of midair, why would she be screwing around in single combat like this?

I think that the spell she cast was to get a lock on the time ninja magic, knowing that she'd get badly hurt in the attempt. First to bring him in close enough for it to work, second to get an accurate reading. Third to do it herself and show them what an elven asskicking really feels like.

Since she already has the intense focus and concentration required to use the Durus Flamma, her injuries aren't likely to slow her down much.

Not only is she 3000 or so years old, she's lived through 3000 years of combat. 3000 years of fighting errants and other elves and magic users during the war, to the point where she has become very, very, very good at not dying.

... shit.

Sarine's in serious trouble... for once.

Thats possbly where Poe is going with this. He could be showing that Sarine isn't the invincible, super-character we've considered her up till now.

Sarine needs a good area effect spell.

Also, given Sarine has previously been characterised as confident but smart, it's sad to see her going into this bout basically 'stupid'. She had several opportunities before Warrel knew she was there to observe that he flits about in a 'faster than time' kind of way. Since there's little sign that she was treating this as anything like a 'time magic' issue, I'm guessing that she's been blinded by plot convenience.

[Oh - not the first time she's been in serious trouble either. She didn't come through that fight with the elf at the tavern by more than the skin of her teeth.]

You know, the last time Sarine was going one on one with someone, Poe mentioned he planned it for John to just walk up and plug the guy in the back of the head. He decided instead for Sarine to be awsome, but now that she's kinda screwed, maybe its time for Jon to Murder his way back to the top of awsome mountian?

If he's not dead from being glared at by Sara yet.

Is it a bad thing that my only real thought upon viewing this comic was "Dammit, she just GOT that outfit!"?

Cool.

Jon has enough time to gesture to Sara that he's not going to shoot her, lifts the sod-off up and back to show her he's sincere. She starts to explain why she's going to kill him. By the third word, we realize he's eying the reflection of the Sarine-Warrel fight in the windows of the building. It is happening write behind him, so, without turning his head a whit from Sara's speech, Jon blind-triggers the sod-off and blows the top of Warrel's head off.

It would work, but Warrel wouldn't get another round to posture and strut. We couldn't miss that.

I'm still rooting for Ellis to trigger some Hellsinger type emergency power surge and jump down on the fight the size of a grizzly.

my vote goes to Sara stepping in, them killing Jon and capturing Sarine, or something along those lines. but first i see an end chapter, or a flash over to another part of the world.



slightly OT, but does John have both a sawed-off and a revolver? 09-29-06 comic looks like a sawed-off (the particular version he uses i call a pirate hand cannon) then when Warrel gets to the ground it looks like a revolver.