I give this a resounding "meh"

 

That was my initial reaction too.

After a bit of digestive musing however I think that chrnno has the right of things. Eidolon, as a person, would be absolutely crushed to discover how truly flawed he seems to be. He could've stopped the Endbringers. He could've saved millions of lives. He could've been the greatest hero in the world. Instead he was a man comprised almost solely of self-loathing and disenchantment. The fact that he might've been responsible for creating the very monsters that robbed him of his identity? Well that's just grand.

That guilt, I think, is the primary reason why he stopped fighting.

It's still stupid, and he's an idiot to let something like that get to him - but I think it's in-character at the end of the day.

 

Have been reading worm for a while now, am currently in the plague arc and it's holding up fantastically. I love pretty much everything about it, but if there is one thing that I didn't like very much is that it really doesn't have any happy notes, or fun ones. There are scenes of utter badassery and ruthlessness that you enjoy and are a sight to behold but very little stuff that made the protag or me as a reader genuinely happy have been totally absent.



Now, I am not complaining about this not being a Disney story, but the main character feeling happy once is really not that much to ask. So, while it never got depressing or something, its heavy atmosphere accumulated over the reading and had me take a two week break from it. Even Game of Thrones had humour and light-heartedness at times, and while it might seem unfair to compare this to that, am just saying that a bit of occasional joy wouldn't hurt the story or the tone.



Still a 5/5 for me, as far as I have read and I am definitely continuing this, and I do love the grittiness of this work because I do genuinely agree that a world with superpowers would not be a better place and I really appreciate actions having consequences, but I do believe this might not be for every one.



Great writing, good action, great world-building, solid characters, very likeable and relatable main char, interesting plot progression, and very nifty and original powers and usage of them.



Will post a full review once I am completely up to date.

 

The plague arc is the one with the Slaughter house 9 correct? If so then don't worry they'll be a few chapters where she'll be happy.

 

Someone on the wordpress page rightly points out that Wildbow could have easily made the chapter much more impactful, and clearer besides, if he had just used more words:

"You needed worthy opponents, so you created them."

There. Perfectly clear, and it implies that the Endbringers were created by Eidolon's powers feeding his subconscious desire for there to be conflict (i.e. parahumans so powerful and dangerous) that absolutely necessitated him.

 

That's not what I got from the words at all.

I got that he had the power to kill the Endbringers at pretty much any time he wanted, but subconsciously avoided doing so because he'd lose his reason for being afterwards.

 

The timing of the first endbringer attack has always struck me as being very convenient for Cauldron and their plan to start the Protectorate.

 

But then why would Eidolon be shocked if he created them to go along with Cauldron's plan?

 

I think those who support the "Eidolon created the Endbringers" theory believe that he creates them subconsciously. It's his passenger interpreting Eidolon's will, rather than a conscious choice. Eidolon didn't know about it and that's why he was shocked.

During Eidolon's interlude we see that he doesn't choose precisely which powers he gets. His passenger does that for him. That's where the "passenger interprets Eidolon's will" bit comes from.

Also, when Doctor Mother asked Tattletale to confirm that the Endbringer's creator was not in the room, Eidolon was not present.

And for a meta argument: the mystery of the Endbringers and their creator has been dogging Worm for a long time and seeing as the story is nearly at the end we should get our answers to that plot thread soon. If it's not now, then there's not much time left to wrap it up.

I'm not a fan of any theory I've read so far, but the Endbringer creator one does have some thought behind it.

 

I still prefer the idea that the Endbringers are Entity 3's creations- it's version of the cycle that's different from entity 1&2's. I don't think Eidolon projected them.

 

Agreed. The Endbringers just seem too alien for them to be Eidolon's creation, subconscious or not. It also helps that they basically resemble Shards that are acting on their own (or hell, maybe they're actual aliens that the Third Entity has picked up somewhere).

 

Weird chapter. Despite the fact that things in the wormverse seem to be worse than they have ever been, this was the most lighthearted chapter in months.

 

Maybe because Wildbow had more time to write given last chapter was only four words. He's said that his mood definitely affects the feeling of his writing.

 

Didn't like this most recent chapter. Everyone felt so lackadaisical, carefree. The tone felt completely off.

Thoughts:
-Eidolon isn't dead. If he is, his death was in the worst and most underwhelming way possible. I think him and Glaistig will come back later on in the endgame. He seems too important to get killed so easily.
-Tattletale talking about multiverses has to be wrong. Part of the metaphysics of the series is that there's a limited number of alternate realities.

 

Our very first Worm fanfic on DLP: https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=24747

I don't have time to read it tonight.

edit: Oh. It's a self-insert... Maybe it won't be horrible. Maybe.

 

No, part of the metaphysics is that while there's a truly massive number of alternate realities, larger than the number of particles in our universe, the worms eventually grew into all of them and consumed all the resources in all possible variations of their planet. Then they blew off their planet. If there were an infinite number of realities, there's never be a shortage of resources.

 

Tattletale is working under a hypothesis about alternate realities; she doesn't have the rulebook in front of her.

 

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised at how quickly Taylor's recovery is glossed over. Also a bit disappointed we didn't get to see Amy really at all. I'm sure she'll show up sooner rather than later, though.

I'm very excited at the implications of this chapter. This is what Taylor is very good at, dealing with other parahumans, one way or another. The killing invincible kaiju or godlike beings? Not so much.

Anticipating much more good ol' fashioned cape on cape curbstomping.

 

I guess that's a legit concern, but I can see Taylor at least feeling laid back here. For the past ever, she's had a series of big things hanging over her head ruining her life, forcing her to make choices she didn't want to make and hurting her friends. Now that the world has basically already ended, there's no more pressure, and Taylor is pretty much free to do what she likes with whoever she likes.

Sure, it's a horrible situation and a bunch of people are dead and Scion's a giant dick, but at least Taylor's hands aren't tied anymore. Nobody and nothing is forcing her to be Skitter, or Weaver, or whatever false face of the month she's had to wear.