There’s only a few more issues left of the whole series (it’s due to end with #20) and while all the various threads are starting come together, a few more loose ends have shown up, even at this late date. Keep reading for a review of Die #18.
Some spoilers below.
The point of the series always seemed to be about the power of collaborative role-playing. But it’s also about the lives of our six main characters and all the things that shaped them, whether it’s being sucked into an alternate dimension, or losing a parent and making rotten choices in relationships.
We got a little more of their backstories this issue, and in the interest of being as vague as possible to avoid spoilers: we learned about Angela and Chuck’s friendship; about something that Ash is ashamed of (well, you can’t throw a stick without hitting something Ash is ashamed of, but this was new); and what Sol was up to all those years after everybody else went home.
Regarding Angela and Chuck, the information was surprising, to me anyway. I was going to say “it wasn’t telegraphed at all” but maybe I forgot something? I’m curious to see if it comes up again in the final two issues, it seems like an odd thing to bring up so late. (Unless of course we were told a dozen issues ago, in which case, ignore me.)
Regarding Ash, the information was framed around the idea of a pause: the pause when you start to say one thing and then change your mind, or the pause when you absolutely know what you should do but for one moment you think “maybe I won’t.”
I think it’s weird that it’s taken me 18 issues to decide this but, you know what? Maybe Ash IS the villain. I know the whole debacle of Glass Town and Angria a few issues back didn’t look so good, but I keep thinking that in the end Ash is still part of the Party, a woman in a group of friends who just wanted to play a game when they were teenagers. I thought Ash was a basically good person who made a few bad decisions. Okay, a lot of bad decisions.
But now that I think about it, Ash has been incredibly selfish right from the beginning. Hooking up with a Joy Knight and binding him to never rest till he sees her again (not realizing how badly this could go until he showed up as a rotting corpse.) Stealing her friend’s vampire boyfriend, accidentally getting pregnant, and putting that same friend in debt with a god to make the pregnancy go away. Coming up with a bunch of good reasons to destroy a town, take over another town, start a war, keep her friends from going home…and the odds are the reasons didn’t matter, she just wanted what she wanted and rolled over everybody in her way.
I assumed Chuck was the selfish one, and he is of course, but there’s no rule that says there can only be one per party. What we’ve just found out about Ash, and how it affected Sol afterwards….it’s one more reason to think Ash isn’t a good person who sometimes makes bad decisions. I think it’s more likely Ash is an awful person who goes after whatever she wants, and when it all falls down around her ears she stands there wide eyed saying “…oh, how awful, what a mess, I didn’t know it would turn out this way.” I mean, she’s either a little evil or a lot stupid. And I’m surprised it took me so long to feel this way. Is it because she’s pretty? It’s probably because she’s pretty. (Stephanie Hans, I’m blaming you for this one.)
After the final (gorgeous) panel, I have no idea how the last two issues will turn out. Matt is sure everything’s pre-destined, but Angela’s still hoping to save her daughter. Do any of their decisions matter anymore? Will they all survive? Will Ash redeem herself by thinking of someone else first? (She thinks of others eventually, but it’s always after she’s eviscerated them.) Or will her survivor’s instinct kick in? (Survivor’s instinct is probably giving her too much credit, her instinct is more “if I can take it, it’s mine.”)
OR will Kieron Gillen unearth a trope of classic literature and RPGs, tie all the threads in a neat little bow, and break our frigging hearts? Very likely. (Hey, I read Wicked + Divine, I’ve seen how this guy works.)
