Usually that kind of comment “You don’t want to hurt anyone” is followed by violence
GUNnibal
7 months ago
Not gonna lie, I zoomed waaay in on Ethan’s face on the last panel to see if there is any hint of a color change on ZK’s end (e.g. reflected in Ethan’s eyes), since their back is conveniently turned to the camera. But – nada.
Maybe it has changed, or I am now seeing it in a dark room, but the light on his hair is definitely purplish.
That being said, the panel before also has some purplish tones, including on the back of Zeke. So unless this is subtle foreshadowing, I will agree – nada.
What I’d noticed is that Zeke’s eyes don’t change with passing moods. They change with an overall feeling. They did plenty of laughing, jokes, and actively enjoyed playing video games, but their eyes stayed red because there was still anger under the surface. Their eyes changed to purple and then blue as that anger started dying down, replaced by a new overall emotion – likely a growing calm. Zeke’s listening, but their eyes aren’t going to switch colors right away. Even if they agree with Ethan, anger is still going to be a dominating emotion around Scott.
CaptXpendable
7 months ago
If he sinks to the same barberism as humans, it proves he’s no better than humans.
I gotta be honest, as a German, it makes me snicker a little every time I am reminded that this silly tongue twister story as risen to international memedom.
James Rye
7 months ago
“Want”, eeeeeeeeeeeh, not so sure about that part tbh.
Agreed. Zeke might want to do it so bad, but decides not to. A hallmark of civilisation to many. A show that they might be better than Scott anticipated. It’ll not refute some of Scott’s other claims, like that Zeke’s mere presence is a danger, but he might try to actually try to protect Zeke from those threats after seeing that, together with his promises to Ethan.
I don’t know. Hurting people seems more like a means to an end rather than an end goal of its own for ZK. If alternate means to that goal are available, ZK probably wouldn’t inherently want to hurt anyone.
Gonfrask
7 months ago
That last phrase…can be the right or the absolutely wrong one…
Mnemnosyne
7 months ago
Here’s an important question that hopefully Zeke will be asking: what penalty does Scott deserve? Because so far he’s had absolutely no penalty for trying to commit murder, other than getting griped at by his friends. That’s what happens when you commit some minor faux pas or do something assholish, insensitive, etc, not when you try to kill a person. Especially considering he absolutely has not reformed, and is still an active threat, probably fully willing to try again if he has the opportunity. See, while I don’t think justice should be retributive, in order to move on, the person… Read more »
Given the previous story line revolving around reparations instead of revenge, that may very well be where this is leading.
Scott has shown some remorse, but it was certainly more about how he betrayed Ethan’s trust than what he did to Zeke.
Scott helping to find Zeke by setting up these beacons was his first step towards compensating for his actions, but there’s definitely a long way to go.
Hopefully what’s happening right now will open Scott’s eyes to what Zeke is truly like, and we’ll see some growth from Scott going forward.
Scott has, reasonably, a real concern that has never changed. Zeke is capable of murder, can create minions, and certainly can dish out pain as well. He can also potentially grow to be an even bigger threat to the humans. He’s not going to stop changing what he believes without a lot of proof or a clear behaviour that counters to his view of Zeke. That requires Zeke to decide not to kill Scott or hurt him badly. Ideally, Zeke would walk away, turn the other cheek, and say to Scott ‘I am better than you because you have injured… Read more »
Soeroah
7 months ago
This conversation is balancing on a razor’s edge between the possibility of being my favourite take on this situation and being an immense disappointment
I so rarely see a conversation like this actually defuse tensions before a conflict really kicks off. I know it’s probably more exciting to draw things out, and possibly anticlimactic to do otherwise, but it’d be very refreshing for Zeke to cool it a bit and for them and Scott to work on compromising.
Alternatively, it could end with Zeke walking away to think about things more. An ending for the arc/scene that doesn’t completely resolve the storyline would be a good way to move forward.
The worst resolution (in my opinion) would be a return to status quo…either ZK living in the back room again or ZK returning to performing attack missions like when the Master was assigning them.
Eodyne
7 months ago
Zeke: “I mean…I REALLY do actually!”
Ethan: “Ok, new game plan. Everyone does sometimes but being truly alive means not acting on those impulses.”
He has admitted his former master is still alive- he is keeping him alive to try to create another sentient android.
Daniel
7 months ago
My guess: Zeke kills Ethan and leaves before we understand how it truly effected him. It makes Ethan quite hurted but – twist! – Scott is counterintuitively more open to Zeke’s existness: now that he was forced to relive his trauma, he understands that the existence of evil and maliciousness in a species is not a reason to eliminate them
But…why would Zeke kill Ethan? Zeke didn’t kill Scott when they had the chance in the shop, they didn’t kill Scott when Ethan was wrestling the dummy robot and they didn’t kill Ethan when he stood in front. It doesn’t quite fit the narrative for Zeke to kill Ethan now. Not to mention that proving Scott right, just as Ethan says, would be way too jarring if Scott would be like ‘all right then, all is forgiven’. Especially as no one knows if Ethan will get back. Even if he dies, the act is no different than someone trying to… Read more »
Zeke may just figure he’s fully in control here. Ethan’s only power is respawning, so he’s not a particularly dangerous threat. I believe Zeke said about Lucas “The other one is ACTUALLY dangerous, but at least he will stay dead when you kill him”. Scott is a prone, nearly helpless paraplegic with a cattle prod. The killer death robot probably figures he has it under control. He always did spend a lot of time gloating when he fought A+D.
The thing is that Zeke is already in control. I would argue that they’re more in control without killing Ethan, as his respawning can be very disadvantageous to Zeke. The unpredictability of when and where Ethan will respawn can cause Zeke to lose control of the situation. They could hurt Ethan in a way to merely disable him, but they would not. The reason is simple. Contrary to many comics I’ve seen, the history of the characters matters. No ‘it doesn’t make sense for the character, but it sure will look cool!’ scenarios. And it was a *big* thing for… Read more »
Ocramot
7 months ago
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Ben
7 months ago
I notice that we can’t see ZK’s eyes right now. We have to wait 2 more days to find out whether they’re shifting to green.
Many people are against the death penalty in principle. Some people only allow it in extreme circumstances, like after starting a world war or burning down an orphanage or something. There was an arc about reparation as well, where breaking an eye didn’t mean they could destroy the other person’s eye.
Still no death penalty? Killing the murderer won’t bring back my loved one. Is it a justice system if we are only looking at retribution to satiate only a single emotion? Or reparations and restitution? Death penalty won’t do ANY of that.
I get that, but what will? Putting them in prison won’t bring back your loved one either. If fines were an option in a murder case, they also wouldn’t bring the victim back. Neither would corporal punishment, humiliation or any of the other sentences we don’t use in our culture anymore. Nothing will. Does that mean no punishment is justifiable? The idea that justice should be only about reparations and restitution seems, to me, to lead to the conclusion that if you do something so bad that reparations and restitution are impossible (like murder), you shouldn’t face any consequences at… Read more »
Because you completely missed the point of the justice system. It’s not meant as retribution, but as rehabilitation. You can’t rehabilitate from a death penalty.
Whether the justice system actually succeeds in that is a whole different can of worms that I am not touching, but at its core, rehabilitation is what it’s supposed to be doing.
no, but it will stop an unrepentant murderer, in this case scott, from killing again. look at american prisons if you doubt execution is the only way to stop a murderer from killing again
Brainstorm
7 months ago
Oof. Great sentiments Ethan, and you almost got to the finish line intact, but fumbled on that last sentence… In a sensitive or touchy situation, it is NOT recommended to put words in someone else’s mouth or assume out loud you know what they are going to say, even if you are on their side! I know it isn’t as snappy in dialogue format (and obviously Ethan doesn’t have de-escalation training), but I think he would set himself on a better conversation track if he’d used “I don’t believe you want to hurt anyone.” Then he’s just expressing his own… Read more »
Joe
7 months ago
I really like this Scott (And I liked Scott 1.0, but oh well). I REALLY hope he doesn’t become an antagonist and//or wtitten of by death or anything like that.
Can I just point out that the drawing in the last panel is awesome? I mean, Zeke is drawn blurry! How do you even do that?! Mad skills, Tim!
Smiling Jack
7 months ago
Honestly, feel like he would get more success by doubling down on the “don’t prove him right” angle rather than appealing to Zeke’s desire for non-violence.
Stephen
7 months ago
Weird,
No-else seems to have noticed that Zeke has lowered his right arm from an attack position
TomB
7 months ago
Hmmm… perhaps not a strategic thing to say….
“Let’s tell the potential murderbot what he does nor does not want to think and/or do…’
It’s not Ethan’s place to tell Zeke what he thinks or wants to do.
Jedi
7 months ago
Oh lets see how much of a Troll Tim is 🙂
If he is
Panel 1: Zeke leaves ethan and goes over to Scott
Panel 2: Zeke knees down and offers his hand as help for Scott and an offer for peace saying something like “Peace, Meatstick?”
Panel 3: Scott accepts their hand and lifts himself to a sitting position.
Panel 4: Scott zapps Zeke with his stick.
ThatMageGuy
7 months ago
Yes, because telling Zeke what he does or doesn’t want has never gone badly before.
I keep wondering which day we find out Ethan still has powers, and I think it’s coming very soon.
Crestlinger
6 months ago
‘No not Anyone, just this one here.’
Robert 'CockRoach' Archer
6 months ago
I feel like Analogue is gonna show up at the worst moment and ruin this somehow. I really do HOPE not though too!
Rake
6 months ago
Every time this story pops up, I can’t help but be amazed by how well it’s written. This is the best CAD ever gets, and that’s extremly high praise.
Lincoln
6 months ago
I’m calling it…
Next strip will be a one page of ZK snapping Ethan’s neck. Will he respawn?…
… And now, a week of StarCaster, followed by a week of The Campaign!
Dun dun DUUUUUUNNNN!!!!
Nightdagger
6 months ago
“I don’t believe you want to hurt anyone” probably would have been the better way to go, but I guess now we get to see if Zeke takes the literal words as an excuse for violence, or the meaning behind them and backs down.
Boof
6 months ago
Whoops, made a comment on the wrong page- editing it out and putting it on the new one.
24
I wonder what’s in Zeke’s backpack.
Weirdly, it looks like a skateboard. Rounded at one end. Flat at the other end. It looks like there are wheels poking up near the back end.
They were a skater-bot, he said see ya later bot, he had but a bomb inside their head.
Not bad, not bad. 🙂
Usually that kind of comment “You don’t want to hurt anyone” is followed by violence
Not gonna lie, I zoomed waaay in on Ethan’s face on the last panel to see if there is any hint of a color change on ZK’s end (e.g. reflected in Ethan’s eyes), since their back is conveniently turned to the camera. But – nada.
Maybe it has changed, or I am now seeing it in a dark room, but the light on his hair is definitely purplish.
That being said, the panel before also has some purplish tones, including on the back of Zeke. So unless this is subtle foreshadowing, I will agree – nada.
What I’d noticed is that Zeke’s eyes don’t change with passing moods. They change with an overall feeling. They did plenty of laughing, jokes, and actively enjoyed playing video games, but their eyes stayed red because there was still anger under the surface. Their eyes changed to purple and then blue as that anger started dying down, replaced by a new overall emotion – likely a growing calm. Zeke’s listening, but their eyes aren’t going to switch colors right away. Even if they agree with Ethan, anger is still going to be a dominating emotion around Scott.
If he sinks to the same barberism as humans, it proves he’s no better than humans.
But ZK has no hair, why would they need a barber?
For Barbara’s rhubarb pie, obviously.
I gotta be honest, as a German, it makes me snicker a little every time I am reminded that this silly tongue twister story as risen to international memedom.
“Want”, eeeeeeeeeeeh, not so sure about that part tbh.
IDK. ZK talks a lot of shit, but given how capable they are on acting on it, they haven’t really done so.
Zeke has no reason to hesitate, or even talk to Ethan. The only reason they have to converse about it is to give Ethan the chance to convince them.
Agreed. Zeke might want to do it so bad, but decides not to. A hallmark of civilisation to many. A show that they might be better than Scott anticipated. It’ll not refute some of Scott’s other claims, like that Zeke’s mere presence is a danger, but he might try to actually try to protect Zeke from those threats after seeing that, together with his promises to Ethan.
I don’t know. Hurting people seems more like a means to an end rather than an end goal of its own for ZK. If alternate means to that goal are available, ZK probably wouldn’t inherently want to hurt anyone.
That last phrase…can be the right or the absolutely wrong one…
Here’s an important question that hopefully Zeke will be asking: what penalty does Scott deserve? Because so far he’s had absolutely no penalty for trying to commit murder, other than getting griped at by his friends. That’s what happens when you commit some minor faux pas or do something assholish, insensitive, etc, not when you try to kill a person. Especially considering he absolutely has not reformed, and is still an active threat, probably fully willing to try again if he has the opportunity. See, while I don’t think justice should be retributive, in order to move on, the person… Read more »
Given the previous story line revolving around reparations instead of revenge, that may very well be where this is leading.
Scott has shown some remorse, but it was certainly more about how he betrayed Ethan’s trust than what he did to Zeke.
Scott helping to find Zeke by setting up these beacons was his first step towards compensating for his actions, but there’s definitely a long way to go.
Hopefully what’s happening right now will open Scott’s eyes to what Zeke is truly like, and we’ll see some growth from Scott going forward.
Up until now, Scott has seen Zeke as a machine (a dangerous one at that) and not as a person. Bomb in head would be deactivating, not killing.
Scott has, reasonably, a real concern that has never changed. Zeke is capable of murder, can create minions, and certainly can dish out pain as well. He can also potentially grow to be an even bigger threat to the humans. He’s not going to stop changing what he believes without a lot of proof or a clear behaviour that counters to his view of Zeke. That requires Zeke to decide not to kill Scott or hurt him badly. Ideally, Zeke would walk away, turn the other cheek, and say to Scott ‘I am better than you because you have injured… Read more »
This conversation is balancing on a razor’s edge between the possibility of being my favourite take on this situation and being an immense disappointment
*Prays*
One might even call it a tipping point.
What is the favourite take for you?
I so rarely see a conversation like this actually defuse tensions before a conflict really kicks off. I know it’s probably more exciting to draw things out, and possibly anticlimactic to do otherwise, but it’d be very refreshing for Zeke to cool it a bit and for them and Scott to work on compromising.
Alternatively, it could end with Zeke walking away to think about things more. An ending for the arc/scene that doesn’t completely resolve the storyline would be a good way to move forward.
The worst resolution (in my opinion) would be a return to status quo…either ZK living in the back room again or ZK returning to performing attack missions like when the Master was assigning them.
Zeke: “I mean…I REALLY do actually!”
Ethan: “Ok, new game plan. Everyone does sometimes but being truly alive means not acting on those impulses.”
Or…
Zeke: “I already have. My former master is dead. And I liked it.”
Zeke has ready said that they haven’t killed Eugene.
But they likely tortured him. And they liked that.
Both of those are interesting assumptions.
He has admitted his former master is still alive- he is keeping him alive to try to create another sentient android.
My guess: Zeke kills Ethan and leaves before we understand how it truly effected him. It makes Ethan quite hurted but – twist! – Scott is counterintuitively more open to Zeke’s existness: now that he was forced to relive his trauma, he understands that the existence of evil and maliciousness in a species is not a reason to eliminate them
But…why would Zeke kill Ethan? Zeke didn’t kill Scott when they had the chance in the shop, they didn’t kill Scott when Ethan was wrestling the dummy robot and they didn’t kill Ethan when he stood in front. It doesn’t quite fit the narrative for Zeke to kill Ethan now. Not to mention that proving Scott right, just as Ethan says, would be way too jarring if Scott would be like ‘all right then, all is forgiven’. Especially as no one knows if Ethan will get back. Even if he dies, the act is no different than someone trying to… Read more »
Zeke may just figure he’s fully in control here. Ethan’s only power is respawning, so he’s not a particularly dangerous threat. I believe Zeke said about Lucas “The other one is ACTUALLY dangerous, but at least he will stay dead when you kill him”. Scott is a prone, nearly helpless paraplegic with a cattle prod. The killer death robot probably figures he has it under control. He always did spend a lot of time gloating when he fought A+D.
Right, but what does any of that have to do with Zeke killing Ethan? That’s just more reasons why it wouldn’t make sense for that to happen.
The thing is that Zeke is already in control. I would argue that they’re more in control without killing Ethan, as his respawning can be very disadvantageous to Zeke. The unpredictability of when and where Ethan will respawn can cause Zeke to lose control of the situation. They could hurt Ethan in a way to merely disable him, but they would not. The reason is simple. Contrary to many comics I’ve seen, the history of the characters matters. No ‘it doesn’t make sense for the character, but it sure will look cool!’ scenarios. And it was a *big* thing for… Read more »
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
I notice that we can’t see ZK’s eyes right now. We have to wait 2 more days to find out whether they’re shifting to green.
Or a few months, like a troll, Tim may do that, xD
“i dont believe his mistakes warrant a death penalty either”
why? because he failed? what if he hadn’t?
Many people are against the death penalty in principle. Some people only allow it in extreme circumstances, like after starting a world war or burning down an orphanage or something. There was an arc about reparation as well, where breaking an eye didn’t mean they could destroy the other person’s eye.
Still no death penalty? Killing the murderer won’t bring back my loved one. Is it a justice system if we are only looking at retribution to satiate only a single emotion? Or reparations and restitution? Death penalty won’t do ANY of that.
I get that, but what will? Putting them in prison won’t bring back your loved one either. If fines were an option in a murder case, they also wouldn’t bring the victim back. Neither would corporal punishment, humiliation or any of the other sentences we don’t use in our culture anymore. Nothing will. Does that mean no punishment is justifiable? The idea that justice should be only about reparations and restitution seems, to me, to lead to the conclusion that if you do something so bad that reparations and restitution are impossible (like murder), you shouldn’t face any consequences at… Read more »
You seem to be under the assumption that there must be punishment as death, or no punishment at all.
Nobody said that.
No, you can repair the murder. But maybe you can still repair the murderer. That’s what you’re trying to restitute
Because you completely missed the point of the justice system. It’s not meant as retribution, but as rehabilitation. You can’t rehabilitate from a death penalty.
Whether the justice system actually succeeds in that is a whole different can of worms that I am not touching, but at its core, rehabilitation is what it’s supposed to be doing.
no, but it will stop an unrepentant murderer, in this case scott, from killing again. look at american prisons if you doubt execution is the only way to stop a murderer from killing again
Oof. Great sentiments Ethan, and you almost got to the finish line intact, but fumbled on that last sentence… In a sensitive or touchy situation, it is NOT recommended to put words in someone else’s mouth or assume out loud you know what they are going to say, even if you are on their side! I know it isn’t as snappy in dialogue format (and obviously Ethan doesn’t have de-escalation training), but I think he would set himself on a better conversation track if he’d used “I don’t believe you want to hurt anyone.” Then he’s just expressing his own… Read more »
I really like this Scott (And I liked Scott 1.0, but oh well). I REALLY hope he doesn’t become an antagonist and//or wtitten of by death or anything like that.
Too bad a penguin wouldn’t fit this universe.
Can I just point out that the drawing in the last panel is awesome? I mean, Zeke is drawn blurry! How do you even do that?! Mad skills, Tim!
Honestly, feel like he would get more success by doubling down on the “don’t prove him right” angle rather than appealing to Zeke’s desire for non-violence.
Weird,
No-else seems to have noticed that Zeke has lowered his right arm from an attack position
Hmmm… perhaps not a strategic thing to say….
“Let’s tell the potential murderbot what he does nor does not want to think and/or do…’
It’s not Ethan’s place to tell Zeke what he thinks or wants to do.
Oh lets see how much of a Troll Tim is 🙂
If he is
Panel 1: Zeke leaves ethan and goes over to Scott
Panel 2: Zeke knees down and offers his hand as help for Scott and an offer for peace saying something like “Peace, Meatstick?”
Panel 3: Scott accepts their hand and lifts himself to a sitting position.
Panel 4: Scott zapps Zeke with his stick.
Yes, because telling Zeke what he does or doesn’t want has never gone badly before.
I keep wondering which day we find out Ethan still has powers, and I think it’s coming very soon.
‘No not Anyone, just this one here.’
I feel like Analogue is gonna show up at the worst moment and ruin this somehow. I really do HOPE not though too!
Every time this story pops up, I can’t help but be amazed by how well it’s written. This is the best CAD ever gets, and that’s extremly high praise.
I’m calling it…
Next strip will be a one page of ZK snapping Ethan’s neck. Will he respawn?…
… And now, a week of StarCaster, followed by a week of The Campaign!
Dun dun DUUUUUUNNNN!!!!
“I don’t believe you want to hurt anyone” probably would have been the better way to go, but I guess now we get to see if Zeke takes the literal words as an excuse for violence, or the meaning behind them and backs down.
Whoops, made a comment on the wrong page- editing it out and putting it on the new one.