TWWR Round up 02/16/2026– They Did Not See That Coming

 

There’s not much happening on this front, as I’ve been able to keep a pretty regular schedule. It feels nice. Don’t be surprised, if I take a random break one of these days, though.

If you missed it, Sysi just posted another Jumalanpelko mini comic today. It’s about Mesi and Viima.

Africa | Page(s): 461 | Patreon

This is it for Faida. Kauket’s bite dropped her quickly. The perspective on the fourth panel is amazing as we have a shot from the hyena’s point of view under the water, between the lioness’s paws. I imagine that angle must have been difficult for Arven to pull off, but she nailed it. I also like how Faida sees that two hyenas have shown up, but they’re obscured by the murky water.

It’s touching that Nuru came back to help Faida. That said, it is too late to help the former matriarch, but at least they could stop Kauket before she took them by surprise at the elephant carcass. Better yet, having Badru go off alone to warn the clan wasn’t a waste of time. His words got through to them. The old matriarch’s last duty to her clan is fulfilled, and if this is the end for her (I don’t see how it’s not), then I hope she can go in peace.

What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 978 – 980 | Patreon

As clever as Auklet is, he simply can’t talk Thesher out of eating that bird. To be fair, why wait for a meager meal from Sturgeon when there’s a large bird right there? The king is barely holding back his annoyance, and his brother has certainly picked up on it. I find myself in awe at how Hake and Trout are almost completely sheltered from his worse tendencies while everyone else must tip-toe around the king. I guess his queen had so much influence over Thresher, that he carries that favoritism over to their kittens.

A shame the king is out and about so quickly. I was hoping that Petrel’s bite did some lasting damage, but alas, he’s a hearty bastard. At least we were treated to a cute moment between Hake and Mollymawk balancing butterflies on flowers. That had to be interrupted by a bird being chased by a Daisy who nearly crashes into Mollymawk by accident. Despite the apology, Thresher still goes on the attack because his bigotry knows no rest.

There could be some possible symbolism on page 979. I feel like the butterflies could represent innocence here, and them flying away represents of a loss of said innocence. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that either Hake or Mollymawk will lose their innocence in regard to how they see the king, or the more unjust nature of the Family. Either because Thresher tries to slaughter a Daisy in front of their eyes, or the Daisy gets away, but the king’s killing intent is impossible for the young adults to miss. This may be the moment that have both of them seeing the Daisys as cats worthy of respect, and opens their eyes to how the rest of the Family treats them. In other words, this was their first step on leaving the cult, not just the moment where Tusk was driven away. It’s a little speculation and theory on my end.

In the immediate future, let’s just hope the Daisy can escape Thresher’s unjust wrath.

In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): 79-80 | Patreon

The old guard noble wasn’t flayed alive. His fate was actually much darker, and mildly amusing. Good ol’ Maximus flung him completely out of the stadium, Team Rocket style. At this point, the guy who just got eaten probably had a quick, less horrifying death if he had no idea what struck him. The former noble is completely aware of what’s happening to him as he plummets back to the ground. Needless to say he won’t be landing on his feet despite being a feline. (And if he does and survives, that’s incredible plot armor.)

This scene actually reminds me of the therian in book 1 of In the Lion’s Den, where it would kick Critters it didn’t intend to eat. Sometimes to death, other times to mock them. The message was clear. “You’re not worth the effort to chew on, swallow, and crap out.” The same goes with this noble. He wasn’t worth Maximus’s time.

However, Kay seems to be very much worth the therian and his noble supporter’s time. The one noble with the diamond forehead marking is extremely interested in her, and is likely instructing the guards to bring her out next. I’m sure our feline will be fine, but I’m curious as to how their interaction will go.

Golden Shrike | Page(s): 346 | Patreon

As I said last week, I’m actually surprised that it is Eve who made the suggestion to carry Oudia and Antaras’s fawn, and not the stag himself. This page and overall scene illustrates that everything he did was for the sake of bringing his wife back. Yet all the mass murder, binding of the gods of life and death, and the traumatizing of Usma was not enough. As I suspected, Eve can only birth new souls, and making sure the fawn lives is well within her abilities– especially since it doesn’t have a Halv yet.

So the agreement is that Eve will carry their child, and Antaras will accompany her. I don’t fully understand what the god of life wants to get out of this arrangement. She knows that by staying within Oudia, she’s effectively making sure no other children will be born alive. Not only that, but having Loss trapped also means that no older deer will die.

So is her suggestion ultimately a punishment for the god thief? Basically, he can’t have the one thing he wants the most, he has to settle for what’s left of his wife via their unborn child, and in birthing that child other deer will suffer the horrors of stillbirth.

If I had to wager a theory, I believe Eve may be taking the route of breaking Antaras’s spirit or mind with these atrocities. All his efforts couldn’t revive Oudia, he’s making all deerkind suffer, and it’ll ultimately drive a wedge between him and everyone he loves. Once their child is born, will that child knowing the truth about how they were born feel animosity toward their father? This is the only reason I can think of for Eve’s deal. She means to make the former god caller suffer for messing with life and death in order to see his mate live again.

I’m also not surprised that his only concern is bringing back Oudia, and even Usma’s feelings have been pushed aside. He loves his mate dearly, and none of this family business is worth it if she can’t be by his side. But by his actions, he’s pushed away the remaining family he has, i.e., Usma.

Home | Page(s): 957 | Patreon

I do find it cool that Kargo is making good on his promise to Ronja to train her girls how to fight. His lesson is fairly comprehensive, and we get a touch of world building. I thought only Serrandr provided weapons and armor to the dogs, as mentioned by Fjordor on page 218. Serrandr is the warrior spirit after all, so that makes sense by this world’s logic. That said, it turns out that Jägaren, the spirit of the hunt, also provides the dogs with weapons.

Uh, okay.

Seems like a lot of unnecessary overlap, but whatever. To me, it would make more sense if Serrandr provided armor while Jägaren doled out weapons. Otherwise, I’d like to know what the difference is. Does one spirit provide weapons of war, while the others one provides tools better fit for hunting? I’m not seeing the difference on this page. It also seems like in this “warrior lesson” Serrandr would be the better spirit to name. After all, it did gift the very swords they have to Fjordor, who in turn gifted them to Nordgarde Tribe. Doubly so since Kargo also mentions their arm braces.

This strikes me as another case where a lot of ideas were incorporated into Home, but their actual execution was poorly thought out. This is a minor example of that, and maybe it gets into nitpicking territory. On a more positive note, Home needs more world building, so I do welcome that.

As for Kargo’s treatment of the girls, he looks bored out of his mind. A sharp contrast from when he was training Diarko earlier. There he was excited and chatty with the cub. Here, he’s all business and almost mean at times. He strikes me as wanting to get through these lessons as quickly and efficiently as possible, and he can’t even muster a smile for the girls. Instead of being concerned at Elvind dropping the sword, he’s annoyed. Considering how he was more motivated to spar with Roamer, and again Diarko’s training, this feels out of character for him. Almost like the author’s own dislike of these three pups, or having female characters do anything interesting beyond his favorites is leaking through.

Can you really blame for Naeva for hanging back? If this was my teacher, I wouldn’t be terribly enthusiastic either.

Off for the week:

Lost Scent | Page(s): | Patreon

On hiatus:

The Order of the Black Dog | Issue Page: | Patreon