Enter Crickets – Chapter 8, Act 3, Strip 25

Mopey looks a little bit worse-for-wear these days, but her mind is still sharp…and/or properly focused, at least. Hers is the central question, indeed.

But, yeah, that’s the other side of the this-is-the-most-shocking-swerve-ever-coin: the protagonists not only need to grow comfortable with the fact that former enemies are their friends now – they also need to accustom themselves to the idea that former friends are enemies now (and really always have been).

And this is exactly the kind of situation where Latho’s absence can be felt most keenly: up to now, Mopey and her team never really needed to think their way out of dead-end on their own. They could just rely on Latho showing up at just the right moment and reveal the way forward. Typically, the way pointed out by Latho made no particular sense, but it was bound to work exactly as advertised – because it was backed up with pure plot-power. And the fact that the solutions to all of their past problems were so illogical and counter-intuitive naturally does little to motivate our heroes to think on their own – they never would have found those solutions by thinking. >_>

The Queen and her twins have had to rely on their own intellectual capacities for a while longer, but are apparently still not entirely used to it. Particularly the twins, who weren’t actually all that smart until their recent eyewear-induced intellectual upgrade. Before that point, they happily let themselves been lead by the Queen…or Latho…or their carnal impulses. Now only the carnal impulses are left to them, and they might not be the best guide in this situation…aside from the fact that they might be momentarily satisfied, right now.

So, Mopey’s question is a quite good and relevant one, but who will step up to answer it?

More on Thursday.