So this strip serves two purposes: building tension ahead of the revelation of what actually happened on/to Earth with the Lathosplosion…and salvaging the Barbessor’s reputation.

Because his most recent appearance did a bit of a number on his reputation as a supremely cerebral figure being aloof from the slings and arrows of physical existence. An idea that had become harder to maintain, in any case, ever since he regressed in age and switched to a character class that is generally considered to have a quite straightforward and healthy relationship to everything concerning physical existence.

And that issue, character class, also slightly diminishes the effectiveness of this salvage attempt. The Professorian engages in scientific research as earnestly and intensely as he has ever done – or, well, the local equivalent to scientific research, which is pondering the orb.
But even a ponderous amount of pondering doesn’t result in any gain of information, and the Professorian’s conclusions regarding the reason are likely correct: He isn’t a spellcaster and doesn’t have a voluminous grey or white beard. And, unfortunately, these two things are absolute requirements for pondering the orb with useful results. You can’t hand out skills like that all nilly-willy to everyone who comes along and asks – game balance requires that certain capabilities need to be restricted to certain classes, and there’s nothing the Barbessor can do about that in his current form.
Buuut…even without any results, the long time he spent pondering the orb, and his visible focus and dedication, should still be enough to restore his intellectual reputation, even without any results. Sometimes, that you ponder is more important than what you ponder.

More on Monday.