1. I guess it's being hinted that Alexandria was on Skitter's side the whole time? I don't buy that she's dead, not yet, but if she is and she was on Skitter's side, that's absolutely retarded. If she wanted her to trigger, Alexandria went about it in a dumb way. First of all, they didn't leave Skitter helpless enough. They should have exterminated the building; fumigated it. Secondly, theys hould have held her in a cell while talking to her, in a sealed room with no ventilation. Maybe Alexandria wanted SKitter to have access to bugs, but causing Taylor to trigger will require much more than some handcuffs and a dead body. Recall, Brian was ruthlessly tortured and he didn't even trigger from that; it was Skitter having brain surgery on top of that nightmare that caused it.

Alexandria could have captured all of the Undersiders at once, and should have done so. That would have killed Taylor's hope and made her feel helpless.

If she really was trying to trigger Taylor, she wasn't doing it very smartly.

2. When Skitter does have her second trigger event, I'm pretty sure it will make her into a full-blown psychic. There were a few hints early on in the story about "psychics" and their inabilities to effect things other than their body? I forget the details, but I don't think Skitter's second trigger event will just make her aware of more bugs; she can already control crustaceans as we saw early on in the story. If she were to have a second trigger event, Skitter would likely be able to control all non-human animals, and possibly individually control humans with her mind (requiring her total focus)? It would kind of make Regent/Rachel's roles in the group defunct, but maybe not.

3. Why was there only a 20% chance of Tagg dying horribly? If there were a plan out to kill him, it would have been much, much higher.

 

I lost a weekend due to starting to read Worm a month ago, due to the recommendation here. Decided to pick up where I stopped reading, yesterday. Another day wasted :wink:
It's definitely addictive, just can't seem to stop reading.

 

The only thing that makes any kind of sense here, is if there was a plot already going with MM/D/D (and maybe Alexandria) and Skitter capitulating threw a wrench into that plan.
They tried to adapt on the fly and it backfired.

If almost everyone was in on it, I have no idea why they didn't just tell Taylor what was up. She could have acted exactly like she did, but just without the fuckup that she inadvertently caused.

I trust Wildbow a lot with his story, but I doubt that the plan will make a lot of sense when it is explained. (Especially since it was made by a thinker. Plans from thinkers should only rarely go wrong and only under extraordinary circumstances.)

 

Still, no more, "Meh, I can take her."

She just killed Superman. She's the Goddamn Skitter now.

 

I love how powers work in this story. There's no childish idea of power levels here-- Tattletale could be defeated by a regular human, but can think up plans to control entire organizations. Skitter could be relatively easily defeated if someone can neutralize bugs with technology, but she can take down Alexandria, who can take down basically everyone else. Its like a huge, ridiculously complicated game of rock-paper-scissors, which is also dependent on context, and a hundred other things.
It makes the conflicts vastly more interesting.

 

Heh, ridiculously complicated game of Rock Paper Scissors, I like that.

 

...I think I'm going to make an anti-bullying comic for the chapter before last. It just feels appropriate.

 

The moral of the story is to not be a bully, otherwise Skitter will shove a swarm down your throat.

 

Nope, the moral is to be the Biggest Bully so you can't be be bullied by anyone else

 

Well, I hope Skitter doesn't become a bully, but to be perfectly honest, I was a little disapppointed Skitter didn't rail into Dragon and Defiant. Something like:

"Don't give me that tone. I came here of my own free will, I wanted to trust you guys, I wanted to deal. I wanted to find a compromise, where we could all win. But because I came willingly, you said I had no clout. I trusted you, but because I left myself vulnerable, you took advantage of me. You betrayed me. So fuck you guys, I'm a villian in the truest sense, now."

But maybe that would have been out-of-character for her? And I can understand that she was probably too stressed to find the right words for what she was feeling, but she didn't blow up enough at the PRT in my opinion. They exploited her and if nothing else, Skitter is completely justified in going "rogue" from now on; the PRT can't be trusted to deal fair, unless of course, it was all a ruse from the beginning.

But for her to become a bully? I hope she would see the ironic sadness in that.

 

She didn't really try to deal. She tried to blackmail them and for some stupid reason put herself in a vulnerable position first.

How the hell do you expect authorities to respond if a terrorist says "I'm willing to make a deal, but if you don't agree to it, my buddies will unleash hell upon you and the whole city!"
I'd say they are perfectly justified to reply with a hearty "Fuck you!"

We've seen everything from Taylor's perspective, so we understand her and the Undersiders. Everyone else on the other hand had the experience of the Undersiders attacking them multiple times and often taking hostages. Why would they want to forgive all that?
Yes, they helped against the Class S threats, but they were just as threatened by them. A cease-fire for the duration of those fights is policy anyway. They can't really expect to be forgiven everything as a reward.
The best thing the Undersiders could reasonably expect now, is a chance of rehabilitation after some form of punishment, because they are still minors. (Instead of the Birdcage)

 

Hmm, that's a more balanced perspective. I agree. Guess I got caught up in her mindset, it is a little much to ask the "police" to leave you alone while you take over a city.

 

It's just a sad problem that the 'police' had given up on the city, was ready to pack up and leave, and then even after didn't try anything to do its own job.

This is a sad state of Skitter being the more legitimate authority, but, well, politics.

 

The problem with that viewpoint is that these are authorities who are varying degrees of complicit in a major doping scandal and an interdimensional kidnapping and experimentation ring, and that this is a terrorist who cleaned up the city after a major natural disaster. I think if I read this from say, Alexandria's perspective, she wouldn't seem any less like somebody in the wrong.

 

It's one thing if the Undersiders were sort of like Batman. Rogues, but always trying to do the right thing and help.
You can get angry if the police is out chasing Batman while the real criminals can relax.

But the Undersiders broke a lot of laws and not just laws that don't count in these kinds of stories. They robbed a bank and took hostages. They seriously threatened those hostages. They attacked a fundraiser full of innocent people.
Breaking traffic rules because you're chasing the Joker with your unregistered vehicle is one thing. What the Undersiders did is quite different.

We also see Bitch in a very tragic light. But just imagine for a moment what she's like for 'normal' people. Accidentally trespass on her territory and she sics giant monster dogs on you.

EDIT: Just wanted to add: you have to also differentiate between the PRT and the Protectorate. They are not one and the same. Unless a lot of the other high positions in the PRT are also secretly held by the civilian identities of Cauldron capes.
"The authorities" are the PRT and not the Protectorate. The PRT is in turn controlled by Congress. (Probably - not sure how much we know about that.)

 

The fact that we can even have this argument is exactly why this story is so much better than any other superhero story. There is no black and white.

 

From what we've seen the "leaders" of the PRT are the Piggots, Taggs, Alexandrias, and Coils of the world. If they're legitimate then I'm with Taylor. Fuck those guys.

 

Update.

Huh. Totally wasn't what I was expecting. Super-Skitter.