Hmm…sticking the Endstone in his pocket can’t possibly backfire on him. Nope, no way at all…
Now, here’s a question that we should see the answer to soon: Gates can wield the power of the overstones…but does he have the skill to do it effectively?
Actually it seems he has made sure he does not come to contact with the Endstone, preventing himself from rocking it or getting affected by it.
Simon being a stoner was more than expected, and so was him immunity to the banestone mind controlling part, since it was his etheral control over the Banestone that was the source of it.
As to experience, i expect him to be by far the stronger stoner around. He may have only discovered his stoner abilities, but he has witnessed from many others the things to avoid or to look for, like running out of energy, by seeing others do it or advise against. Also, he is a modern world scientist, which makes him understand far more complex phenomenon and reproduce them with the proper stones. For one thing, he could instantly wipe out an entire city with the Lightstone by using it to produce microwaves and bath the citizens with them, burning them to death on the spot. Just because Light and Microwaves are based on the same phenomenon, just using a different evergy level (a much lower energy level in the case of microwaves, i might add)
All in all, his current state is similar to how the Avatar State is described in Avatar : The Last Airbender : he is now at his most vulnerable, being now tangible, but he is also at his most powerful. Compared to him now, even Jon as Time-Killer was never very impressive.
Oh, I saw quite well what he did with the Endstone, but Murphy has a way of coming around to unravel even the best laid plans, so I’m not sure it will work perfectly.
As for the rest, that seems to be a very good analysis! The only part I question is how well Gates can use the overstones. He might have seen a lot of what can be done with them, true, but how well will that translate into figuring out how to do it himself?
We don’t even know if rockers of stones are actually any different than one another in “power” or if its simply skill with the stone that differentiates them.
So far, Simon doesn’t seem very skillful with stones since he’s had many opportunities to warn his pawns about someone else’s tactics and yet he missed them. For instance when Kyri wore Collindra down or when Pablo shielded himself from her. Simon may have years of viewing, but he doesn’t totally “get it”.
Great analysis as always, DK. 🙂 I like the microwave bit for the Lightstone!
And great questions, Nemoricus. 🙂 We’ll see how much skill Simon has with the stones very shortly.
jmcnamaera – Good point about Simon. He seems book smart only. Also, Stoners are different in both skill and power. Jon is supposedly the most powerful by reputation (However Kyri seemed to get the better of him a few pages ago). And Elden LeBanc, Cole’s mentor who betrayed her in Issue 1, predicted she eventually might be more powerful than her father. But there is also skill since only Pablo knows how to make laser beams from the Lightstone.
And as for Simon’s sanity, I tried to do it somewhat ambiguously. I wanted him to appear a little crazy in panel two, but it’s no big deal if it doesn’t come across. I wanted to leave open the question as to whether Simon was the source of the insanity of the Banestone or not.
Doesn’t it affect his mind because he was the source of the insanity?
Or because he always was insane? I do think a Raptor once told him he was already insane.
Yes. The Raptor did tell him he was insane. 🙂 But was the insanity experienced by Cole and Jon part of the Banestone’s influence or was crazy Simon pulling their chains? I’ll leave it open. 🙂
Well, there goes the chance of him being a powerless shell of a man with head filled with useless knowledge. Also, I guess it’s kinda hard to show someone going “ever so slightly unbalanced” after they were calling themselves ruler of the world no more than 15 pages ago and had a burst of maniacal, if somewhat forgiveable given the circumstances, laughter less than 10 or so. We don’t really have much of a frame of reference for what is “normal” Simon…
He can still become that powerless shell of a main with head filled with no-so-useless knowledge. All they have to is neutralize him without killing him, then takke all his stones from him, and lock him up. Then they can always come back to him to get some knowledge insight, without letting him becoming a threat again. 🙂
Or, of course, he could become a recurring villain in future story arcs, that’s a possibility.
I suspect GATES is at least a *little* insane after basically being locked out of the physical universe for 1000 years or more. And I suspect he will be very powerful (since he’s basically the source the way the universe works right now), but not very skilled (no real practice) in rocking the stones.
BTW, this is one of my favorite comics. Great story, great art, I look forward to new panels every Monday!
Actually, am I the only one having trouble understanding what he does with the endstone? I’m going over the strip over and over again, and I don’t quite understand what’s happening in there. In panel 5 he must have touched it to lift it, in panel 6 he is crumbling something in his hand? At first I thought it was the endstone, but that doesn’t seem to fit.
In the flashback he seemed sane and almost sympathic, but I guess reflecting on his supposed ordeal, as Sparky said, I guess it’s somewhat possible to grasp at his plight. For thousands of years he’s been looking through other people’s eyes (when granted even that), wishing he could somehow undo his error, or at least physically interact with the world again. I guess he would see the overstones as a means to that end.
Oh well, at least he’s still got his classy headgear.
Sorry for the confusion folks: Simon is mixing in dirt and debris to act as a neutral material (along with the fabric of the tie) so he won’t come into contact with the Endstone and hence negate his power.
YES! Still a chance for the mad overlord. And seeing as he was made mad over his time “inside” the Banestone, couldn’t it still be considered to have had that effect over his mind?
I’m glad I checked up on this, I still had it listed as on hiatus. I can’t wait to see where this is going, and I loved the look Jon gave Gates before he jumped off the arc…
Hey cool. Welcome back Oz! You can subscribe to Endstone via RSS (Feedly is my favorite reader) or even subscribe by email, twitter, Googe +, etc so you won’t miss the next hiatus. 🙂
Aaaaaaaand one more before I go to sleep: “Apparently” and the period in the final speech bubble. On the upside, I’m now 93% done with the ArchiveDive™ (no idea why I keep spelling it like that…).
Hmm…sticking the Endstone in his pocket can’t possibly backfire on him. Nope, no way at all…
Now, here’s a question that we should see the answer to soon: Gates can wield the power of the overstones…but does he have the skill to do it effectively?
Actually it seems he has made sure he does not come to contact with the Endstone, preventing himself from rocking it or getting affected by it.
Simon being a stoner was more than expected, and so was him immunity to the banestone mind controlling part, since it was his etheral control over the Banestone that was the source of it.
As to experience, i expect him to be by far the stronger stoner around. He may have only discovered his stoner abilities, but he has witnessed from many others the things to avoid or to look for, like running out of energy, by seeing others do it or advise against. Also, he is a modern world scientist, which makes him understand far more complex phenomenon and reproduce them with the proper stones. For one thing, he could instantly wipe out an entire city with the Lightstone by using it to produce microwaves and bath the citizens with them, burning them to death on the spot. Just because Light and Microwaves are based on the same phenomenon, just using a different evergy level (a much lower energy level in the case of microwaves, i might add)
All in all, his current state is similar to how the Avatar State is described in Avatar : The Last Airbender : he is now at his most vulnerable, being now tangible, but he is also at his most powerful. Compared to him now, even Jon as Time-Killer was never very impressive.
Oh, I saw quite well what he did with the Endstone, but Murphy has a way of coming around to unravel even the best laid plans, so I’m not sure it will work perfectly.
As for the rest, that seems to be a very good analysis! The only part I question is how well Gates can use the overstones. He might have seen a lot of what can be done with them, true, but how well will that translate into figuring out how to do it himself?
We don’t even know if rockers of stones are actually any different than one another in “power” or if its simply skill with the stone that differentiates them.
So far, Simon doesn’t seem very skillful with stones since he’s had many opportunities to warn his pawns about someone else’s tactics and yet he missed them. For instance when Kyri wore Collindra down or when Pablo shielded himself from her. Simon may have years of viewing, but he doesn’t totally “get it”.
Great analysis as always, DK. 🙂 I like the microwave bit for the Lightstone!
And great questions, Nemoricus. 🙂 We’ll see how much skill Simon has with the stones very shortly.
jmcnamaera – Good point about Simon. He seems book smart only. Also, Stoners are different in both skill and power. Jon is supposedly the most powerful by reputation (However Kyri seemed to get the better of him a few pages ago). And Elden LeBanc, Cole’s mentor who betrayed her in Issue 1, predicted she eventually might be more powerful than her father. But there is also skill since only Pablo knows how to make laser beams from the Lightstone.
And as for Simon’s sanity, I tried to do it somewhat ambiguously. I wanted him to appear a little crazy in panel two, but it’s no big deal if it doesn’t come across. I wanted to leave open the question as to whether Simon was the source of the insanity of the Banestone or not.
Doesn’t it affect his mind because he was the source of the insanity?
Or because he always was insane? I do think a Raptor once told him he was already insane.
Yes. The Raptor did tell him he was insane. 🙂 But was the insanity experienced by Cole and Jon part of the Banestone’s influence or was crazy Simon pulling their chains? I’ll leave it open. 🙂
Well, there goes the chance of him being a powerless shell of a man with head filled with useless knowledge. Also, I guess it’s kinda hard to show someone going “ever so slightly unbalanced” after they were calling themselves ruler of the world no more than 15 pages ago and had a burst of maniacal, if somewhat forgiveable given the circumstances, laughter less than 10 or so. We don’t really have much of a frame of reference for what is “normal” Simon…
He can still become that powerless shell of a main with head filled with no-so-useless knowledge. All they have to is neutralize him without killing him, then takke all his stones from him, and lock him up. Then they can always come back to him to get some knowledge insight, without letting him becoming a threat again. 🙂
Or, of course, he could become a recurring villain in future story arcs, that’s a possibility.
Oh sure, I meant in the sense of this happening here and now.
I suspect GATES is at least a *little* insane after basically being locked out of the physical universe for 1000 years or more. And I suspect he will be very powerful (since he’s basically the source the way the universe works right now), but not very skilled (no real practice) in rocking the stones.
BTW, this is one of my favorite comics. Great story, great art, I look forward to new panels every Monday!
Thanks. I’m glad you’re enjoying the comic. 🙂 There are more twists involving Simon so stay tuned. 🙂
Actually, am I the only one having trouble understanding what he does with the endstone? I’m going over the strip over and over again, and I don’t quite understand what’s happening in there. In panel 5 he must have touched it to lift it, in panel 6 he is crumbling something in his hand? At first I thought it was the endstone, but that doesn’t seem to fit.
In the flashback he seemed sane and almost sympathic, but I guess reflecting on his supposed ordeal, as Sparky said, I guess it’s somewhat possible to grasp at his plight. For thousands of years he’s been looking through other people’s eyes (when granted even that), wishing he could somehow undo his error, or at least physically interact with the world again. I guess he would see the overstones as a means to that end.
Oh well, at least he’s still got his classy headgear.
I’m with you in not knowing what’s going on in Panel 6. Just what is he pouring from his hand?
Sorry for the confusion folks: Simon is mixing in dirt and debris to act as a neutral material (along with the fabric of the tie) so he won’t come into contact with the Endstone and hence negate his power.
YES! Still a chance for the mad overlord. And seeing as he was made mad over his time “inside” the Banestone, couldn’t it still be considered to have had that effect over his mind?
Just, you know… He doesn’t realize it seeing as he’s mad.
That is one way to look at it. The time that drove Simon mad inside the Banestone could still be considered to be affecting his mind. 🙂
“Apparently” is misspelled in panel one and the last panel seems to be missing a period at the end of the sentence…
Thanks. I’ll fix that when I get a chance.
I’m glad I checked up on this, I still had it listed as on hiatus. I can’t wait to see where this is going, and I loved the look Jon gave Gates before he jumped off the arc…
Hey cool. Welcome back Oz! You can subscribe to Endstone via RSS (Feedly is my favorite reader) or even subscribe by email, twitter, Googe +, etc so you won’t miss the next hiatus. 🙂
Aaaaaaaand one more before I go to sleep: “Apparently” and the period in the final speech bubble. On the upside, I’m now 93% done with the ArchiveDive™ (no idea why I keep spelling it like that…).
End of Line
Dangit autocorrect, that was supposed to be the misspelling in quotes!
Ahem, “Aparently” in panel 1.
End of Line
Still on my list, just haven’t gotten around to it. Still, thanks for taking the time to catch errors. 🙂