Making it worse – Page 1131

TRANSCRIPT BETHELA: Poor boy …   YANORA: “Poor boy?”     YANORA: That “poor boy” conspired with the Urtts, gleefully embraced treason, attempted to kill the Erogenian princess as well as his own brother - the king of Kivalia!  To say nothing of landing me unjustly in this bloody jail!   YANORA:  He is a traitor, Bethela, and whatever hand Kendrik and I played in warping him, that name belongs to him alone.  And now, after refusing twice my offer to help the ungrateful little moron climb out of the pit he eagerly dug with his own hands, he will surely die a traitor’s death, or worse.   YANORA:  Or perhaps we will, eh,? If our plans fall through, which they very well may: The forces against us are colossal, and my son has helped make absolutely everything worse.   “Poor boy”, indeed. My ... poor boy ...

14 thoughts on “Making it worse – Page 1131

  1. Dang, that’s quite the turnaround. Even when I thought she was being relatively genuine to Maldik, Yanora shows that she was, at the minimum, still holding back a lot of anger towards him.

    1. That doesn’t make her attitude in the previous pages a sham. She’s obviously genuinely worried about him (see last panel here), but of course she isn’t going to show anger while trying to warm him up to the light side of royalty. But yeah, even when sincere about one thing she can conceal another. I mean, she’s a successful queen.

      1. Yep, a successful queen…instead of being a GOOD queen.

  2. Yeah, any punishment he suffers, his mother gets to watch and think about just how much of this is her fault.

    Hell, she even says as much, “landing me in this bloody jail again when for once I’d done nothing to deserve it!”

    Of course he refused her help. Two pages ago she acknowledged how she had conditioned him not to expect help from her.

    I really do feel bad for the guy. He’s in way over his head, always has been. Never had a real friend… or a real family.

    1. With her as a mother? The Manson family would’ve been more supportive…and less dysfunctional.
      Congrats, Yanora, you got the son you wanted…and the son you DESERVE, Too bad you had to make them separate people.

  3. At least Bethela still remembers compassion. I wonder if she’s remembering the little boy playing on the floor.

    1. Well, Maldik still did all of what Yanora just said he did.

      But yes, she probably remembers him from an earlier, happier time.
      And regrets it.

  4. Wow. Just wow Jed…

  5. If you told me CoZ would arrive at this point back when I first started reading, I would have called you a nutter. Oof.

  6. Seriously, man? Linda Ronstadt instead of Warren Zevon? Sheesh.

  7. Yeah. She may despise him for all he’s done, but he’s still her son and she had hoped she might be able to save him *and* the kingdom. Now it seems she’ll settle for saving the kingdom.

    I shall be surprised if Maldik survives this story.

    1. Grim but, alas, likely prospect, indeed.

    2. Actually, he just might provided he flees fast enough, or surrenders to the right persons. It’s not like he is dangerous in and of himself; only his proximity to the throne made his weakness a liability to Kivalia and allies. If he’s removed from the capital city, he will be no threat. So maybe someone will settle for dicreet exile.

  8. Those last two panel tear it. In the film adaptation Yanora *has* to be played by Meryl Streep. Superb acting, JED.

    Also, EmmaC, don’t be surprised if I call you Bethela on occasion.

    Still, Maldik deserves pity because the way he’s taken is doomed whether his side wins (once a royal heir is born, his usefulness is at an end to Macon) or not. Unless, see my answer to Lora above.

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