TWWR Round up 11/17/2025– It’s Real Talk Time

Just in case you missed it, I reviewed The Dragon Slayer last week. Thank you for the comments here and the reblogs on Tumblr! Also, Golden Shrike is out of hiatus, and the chapter cover has been posted. However, I won’t be returning it to my round up until next week when the newest page will be available.

Africa | Page(s): 448 | Patreon

It’s officially the end of Faida’s rule. A few hyenas try to reason with her, but she accepts it’s over and tells her mate to flee. More admirably, she allows her clan to attack first. Naturally, this isn’t going to end well for her, but I respect her having dignity at the end. That said, I’m not sure what Nuru being the new matriarch will mean for the hyenas. Well, other than them feasting on the elephant carcass until it’s all gone. I’ve made my predictions over and over again about how that foul meat might be detrimental to the clan. Now, I just need to see if I was close to or far from the mark.

Anyway, I’m going to miss Faida if this is the end of her. Her end of the world talk was entertaining. Sure some of it was nonsense, but she also had some amazing foresight.

What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 938 – 940 | Patreon

What Lurks Beneath is finally back from hiatus, and taking a break from the present. Based on the cover, it seems like we’ll be getting a Thresher heavy chapter. I’m really eager to know how his plans to do a genocide on the Daisys falls apart. For the moment we get to see some of Hake’s skills in action as he play-fights Krill. Remember that little shit, the one who set Trout’s trauma off by almost successfully assassinating her?

Anyway, we see even as a kitten he’s a sore loser, and seemingly intensely jealous of Hake. Now, I’m not sure if that stems from him being unhappy at losing so many sparring matches, or if he’s deeply insecure. He’s already a rotten cat, but thankfully, he can at least get Hake’s pronouns correct and caught himself. We finally get to see his mother, Lobster. He certainly doesn’t get his bad attitude from her, as she wisely tries to teach him so manners by taking him home the moment he begins to act out.

That said, Hake has the patience of a saint. A lesser cat probably would have told Krill to get lost or something much ruder.

The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 29, Page: 33| Patreon

Oh boy, the camera footage from the moon looks really bad. I nearly forgot the team back at the facility has been watching all of this unfold, sans Julia who’s been locked in a room to prevent her from charging off to the moon. Dr. Njeri and Okpara are rightfully horrified. The doctor at seeing the state of Melissa on the moon, and Okpara at the poison gas attack in the other room. At this point, I thought Jackson was fully in control, but his composure is breaking. I understand everything getting out of hand on the moon because the Black Idol was more cunning than the scientists accounted for. That said, it seemed like Jackson knew exactly what he was doing when he installed those canisters full of poison in the vents of the facility. Was he hoping he wouldn’t have to use them?

Despite the urgency of the situation, I do agree with Okpara calling him out. In the facility how did he know who was an asset and who needed to be eliminated? Your move, Jackson.

Lost Scent | Page(s): 104 | Patreon

It’s actually Piper who comes to save Tulpi from harming herself. Not only has the smaller dog wrapped up her paw, she empathizes and comforts the Akita-mix. All this time I’ve been saying Motte needs to talk to Tulpi (and I still believe that), but right now kind words from an understanding soul is what she needs to hear. We’re not privy to what’s going in Motte’s head, and she might not be in the right headspace to see what’s going on with her traveling companion.

Sometimes you need someone from the outside looking in. Someone who’s not close to you, but is observant enough to say something and intervene. To this point, I’m really happy that Piper directly asked about Tulpi’s self-harming. I hope that with a kind soul to talk to, maybe our anxious girl can find healthy ways to address that anxiety and inner-negativity without harming herself.

Home | Page(s): 943 | Patreon

I’m not really sure why Bhima is by herself at the rebellion, but since Shiverfall Tribe painted the rebellion symbol at their border, it’s probably a good idea to have someone from the tribe there. That said, it was a decision that Bhima made unilaterally. I’m glad someone can think long term, especially given the felines’ strained relationship with Solar Stag Tribe. Someone should at least know what they’re getting into by siding with Ranach of all dogs.

On a more pressing note, we finally get clarification to what happened to Lowglade Tribe. I had thought it was obvious that Solar Stag had something to do with their disappearance, but a check of the reader comments shows me otherwise. Some blamed it on a supernatural being. While that idea would have been cool as SST investigated, the entire scene read like them taking over the territory. Which is exactly what happened. A Bayou who wasn’t part of that tribe came to visit and was turned away by SST, but not before noticing everything was gone. Now why would the capital see fit to disappear a tribe full of dogs? Who knows. The move doesn’t make any sense, except again painting this tribe (or at least some higher ups) as evil. They’re already acting against the Matriarch’s wishes. What’s a few more power grabs if you’re already pushing back against your leader?

Out of story, the real reason why Lowglade Tribe disappeared is similar to the Marduk/Khellir situation. The author had a falling out with another one of his co-writers who was also his romantic partner, and whatever plans were in this works for these dogs was rewritten. (His co-writer/now ex came up with the idea of the Bayou breed and the concept for Lowglade Tribe. Thankfully, she’s still listed under credits on the Wiki.) It probably would have been easier to never revisit the tribe, but I’m sure readers would have eventually asked about the tribe, so Kique had to tie up some loose ends. Having the capital disappear their entire tribe seems extreme though. If we ever learn more about what happened, I’d love to know the capital’s rationale for upending these dogs. Did they not want any competition with the glowing paint, versus their glowing stones? That’s the only reason that comes to my mind.

That said, I’m curious if such an abuse of power will win dogs over to Ranach’s rebellion. Also, will Axi say anything about this since she’s right there?

Quick tangent: The dog that brings up Lowglade Tribe is a cousin of the leader. So Kique CAN remember that family relationships exist beyond parents, children, and siblings. For example, he never brings up the fact that Rhov and Keirr are Ronja’s cousins, or that Jahla and Roamer are cousins. That’s not relevant to this page, but the lack of that familial acknowledgement always bothered me even when I was an active fan of Home.

Off for the week:

In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): | Patreon

On hiatus:

Golden Shrike | Page(s): | Patreon