“I left you behind. My last twenty years have been happy.”
“Yes. You escaped me.
…But here we are.”
Keep reading for a review of Die #8.
So we picked up three very big pieces of information this issue, and I promise not to spoil them, but I’m going to hint at some things, so if you’d rather not accidentally read between the lines, you might want to go read the issue first.
First, we find out exactly what the heck is going on with Ash’s son introducing himself a couple issues ago. It adds another layer to Ash’s character, but I think it fits in perfectly with everything we already know about her. And makes me even more curious as to how much Dominic’s wife back in the real world knows.
We don’t actually see the conversation between Ash and her son, we find out about it through her conversation with Matt, and little flashes of memory she has of it. It adds a kind of distance between us and what we’re finding out, which matches up with the distance she feels between herself and her son.
Speaking of Matt, we learn something about him too, or at least I think we do: he’s talking to his sword, which is how he channels his power as a Grief Knight (it tells him absolutely shitty things about himself, and the sadder he is the more powerful he is.) But I can’t tell if the sword was telling him something that’s actually happened in the real world, or something he’s afraid will happen. Or putting the worst possible spin on his life? Sorry, this is annoying to dance around, but I’d rather not give that plot point away. I’m not one hundred percent clear on what happened in the cave. If you read the issue, chime in with your thoughts?
(Tangent: this article has been making the rounds on twitter. It talks about how a lot of people with anxiety will actively resist participating in relaxation exercises. They worry that if they’re relaxed, and something bad happens, the jump in anxiety will be so much worse, so they’d rather keep a constant low-level state of worry going at all times. This is ringing true to a whoooooooole lot of people, and bet it does with Matt, too.)
The third piece of information is what happened on the very last page. This is definitely going to change everything for everyone, and not in a good way. To be honest, it kind of ticked me off. I get how it’s “fair” and “justice” but it’s sure not going to make it easier for anyone to get home.
Stephanie Hans always has a few panels in every issue that blow me away. Some are spectacular like when Angela is showing a projection to the Ruling Party, and some are quietly beautiful, like Ash’s face as she looks at her drink and says “No, I left because I was afraid it was.” Angela’s face on the first page is just amazing, you can see how she’s tired and so, so, hurt, but she’s still trying to act like a human being.
Stephanie’s also painted some lovely backgrounds this issue, like the first page where Angela and Matt are talking, or the page where Matt is riding his horse towards the cave, I love the colors of both.
