Spoiler

I don't think they can open the prison right away, if it were that easy the Cult would've tried before. Unless you're thinking Panaxeth gave them particular instructions as to how to open the prison.... I doubt this because otherwise why would RR need to optimise the invasion to the degree he perfected it?

 

Spoiler

In my opinion, the Red Robe's action are the exact opposite of what Zorian was afraid to happen to him after all this time in the loops. Instead of getting too risky with his actions because he got used to lack of consequences, the fact that this time counts for all makes him more cautious than he should be in his initial actions.

I won't be surprised if for this reason, getting used to the fact that they can't simply repeat everything if they make a mistake, the time before the invasion is going to be exactly like Zorian and the Red Robe's duel. Instead of going all out from the start, they're going to be just testing each other and prepare for their final fight.

 

Spoiler

It was more of a speculation but I don't think it's completely out of line. I'm not sure how much help Red Robe is, but Silverlake has apparently been studying the prison for a long time. I don't think it'd be easy (and I'm not sure they'll even succeed) but from Silverlake's point of view it's there's no harm trying now.

If other people made it out of the timeloop (which she wouldn't be sure of) then they wouldn't expect her to immediately try to open it. If there are other loopers about they'll be busy checking out her usual haunts like her hut not somewhere totally unexpected. She probably doesn't think she can take the rest of the loopers in a fight so getting a sneaky win like this would be better from her point of view if it worked.

Even if the attempt fails there's not much stopping her from trying again later in the month with the invasion (getting more sacrifices is probably trivially easy). There's nothing else I can think of that would tie up both Silverlake and most of Red Robe's attention. Although I suppose they could just be having a huge argument over the best way to do things.

 

Spoiler

My new pet theory. Zach has been a simulacrum this whole time while Red Robe is actually the real Zach. Red Robe created simuZach and it broke away from him as an independent person. Zach knows this and is afraid to reveal to Zorian that the person he believes is his best friend is also technically his enemy. Or vice versa. Red Robe is a Zach simulacrum that broke away.

 

Spoiler

I maintain my theory that Red Robe is a version of Zorian from earlier in the time loop, who got a temporary mark and somehow broke the limits - meaning there were two versions of him in the time loop.

 

I'm not sure if everything about the Red Robe fits this revelation, but that would be a quite good final twist.

My guess, outside of the usual suspects, remains to be the unseen Headmaster. Assuming a classic trope that "Authority Equals Asskicking" someone in his position would probably be able to break the limits of temporary looping within six months. Not sure what could be his connection to Veyers. Maybe it's something about the reason he was removed from the Academy?

By the way, I was checking some scenes from the earlier chapters and I totally forgot about Z&Z classmates. Especially Akoja who was pretty prominent character in the beginning.

 

I'm hoping now we're back in a real time-line with real consequences the author will be happy to stop leaping ahead. Make this final month count and not summarise things in realtime. I'm sure he won't. Already we can see the difference in decision-making for Zorian. It's crunch time and reading this, I realised, I'm pretty hyped.

 

Spoiler

That's an interesting theory. Again, ZRR (Zorian RR) would have had to have access to magics beyond loop1!Zorian immediately based on the in-universe speculation (ch 89/90?) that the marker has to be modified before the Guardian checks it for the first time.

Spoiler

That's pretty fair. There's absolutely no harm in it as you said. But I'd judge that potential to be remote. I'd imagine they are indeed arguing. Probably, Panaxeth created them both in the same location. Ofc, RR has no reason to trust Silverlake while Silverlake at least knows that RR is on TeamPan. So Silverlake needs RR to at least play backup, while RR is ready to act on his own. I imagine the argument is about how to kill ZnZ and then contact QI etc. Ofc, RR knows how to create simulacrums else this argument would play right into ZnZ's hands.

 

Red Robe Speculation

Spoiler

I've got 2 guesses.
1. Jornak : The obvious choice. Original loop probably had Jornak try to recruit Zach for the Cult of the dragon. That initial fight between Zach and his guardian probably had legal ramifications. He was acting normal when Redrobe was known to have exited. The base jornak already had the fundamentals of mind magic down, which red robe was so proud of during the fight in the mines/dungeon. Soul removing veyers from the loop probably broke the normal interaction Jornak would have with Zach.

2. Zach:
Seemed horrified by Zorian's decision to kill his former self. Did Zach find some type of workaround wherein his original self is inside his head or something? Maybe the only one will be able to return shennanigans refers to pre loop vs looped individual conundrum.

 

Spoiler: Zach

As original looper of the time loop he is the original as far as I remember.

 

This has updated here.

 

I'm enjoying this slower pace now that the story's out of the loop. I'm hoping we get more interactions at school and get some breathing room before whatever the ending will be.

 

Agreed. I would like for Z&Z to have proper scenes with them interacting with pretty much everyone before the final battle and having Red Robe and Silverlake play safe for now, allows it.

Spoiler

Why exactly Z&Z aren't informing the government about the invasion? They should have enough opportunities to figure out which people from it would be the best choice for dealing with it, letting them to focus on whatever RR and Silverlake are planning for themselves.

 

Spoiler

I'm guessing they want to retain some independence and not have everyone know about how disgustingly powerful they are. Like the lich identified in their first sit down meeting - ZnZ are a lot easier to take control of than QI. Of course, they aren't totally selfish. They'll alert the authorities if need be.

 

Honestly one of the best stories on the internet. It's just trucked along and been an amazing ride. I just hope these next six chapters keep up the quality.

 

Definitely agree there, we're reaching the home stretch of a good story, but I feel like there's a lot to do and not a lot of chapters.
Also, updated.

 

I expected way better interactions between Z&Z, which is usually delivered. This chapter was kinda boring, but not the usual 'set up chapters between real action' boring that MoL has.

 

I suppose for the most part everything happens as could be expected. The ending though was quite unexpected.