Glissando365

(ep.139 and ep.134 - episodes or ep# refer to the webcomic. chapters or ch# refer to the webnovel.)

Mini Essay #4 - Lloyd’s Archenemy and The Queen's Poisoning

Yes I’m starting off with a mini essay this time because it’s the easiest way to talk about the two original plot threads the webcomic wove into this arc:

Lloyd’s Warlock Archenemy — is introduced and set up to return

The Queen’s Poisoning Redux — peaks and concludes this arc

Feel free to skip if you’re already familiar with the webcomic. It’s a lot of summarizing but the completionist in me insists on documenting it all.

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Lloyd’s Archenemy

In the webcomic, this arc is when the warlock Worthroad Thanas launches his first attacks against Lloyd: first in a dark alley only to be stopped by Javier (ep.133-134) and then sneaking into the construction site to stab Lloyd and send the Heart of Winter into a frenzy (ep.136). He escapes capital punishment using his signature blood magic (ep.139), and coordinates with the King of Hell to return and eventually catalyze the climax of the webcomic.

In the book, this character is named Cesare Di Bergamo (ch.280). While both characters are horrible human beings who are gifted at magic and were exposed by Lloyd for leading the bullying at the Royal Academy—their story similarities end there. Cesare’s family was not stripped of their noble titles and assets, as Worthroad's is in the webcomic (ep.134) and thus the Bergamo's did not try to kill their son over his dishonor; they in fact begged the Queen for forgiveness on his behalf (ch.280). This secured him a position as a low-ranking royal magician, ultimately leading him to work on Lloyd’s palace construction site. Still bitter that Lloyd took away the better opportunities he felt he’d been owed (and even more pissed that Lloyd doesn't even know who he is lmao), Cesare impulsively sends the Heart of Winter into a frenzy, leading to his own death in the process (ch.280).

Unlike his Webtoon counterpart, I don’t see Cesare coming back in the book, but if he does, please disregard the next paragraph.

THANK FUCK this loser is a one-and-done adversary in the book, I HATE his ass SO MUCH in the webtoon. Sure, that’s definitely the point and narratively speaking, Lloyd having an archenemy tracks pretty well, and the webcomic even foreshadows Lloyd getting an archenemy as early as when they changed Lupellan’s Knight of Blood and Iron death into becoming the recurring archenemy of Javier (ep.16). That doesn’t change how I wanted to put Worthroad's face through a paper shredder every time he showed up on my screen though, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the book more now that I have hope that he’s not in it. BYE BYE YOU BLOODY LOSER! 👋🏼

(OK so Webtoon Lloyd does guess that he was an expelled student, but Novel Lloyd being all 'have a good day pal!' is so funny.)

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The Queen’s Poisoning Redux

In the book, Spoiler Alicia is shown to have her arm inexplicably paralyzed one day, mirroring her original fate of losing that arm (ch.251). Novel Lloyd feels so bad for her because losing an arm is just so so sad for a sword master, and it’s like…dude, everyone else dies. I think your Queen gets one of the better fate reversals here. (Though it does look like Novel Queen Alicia has...issues later on, but that's so far ahead I can't tell why except that it's not the same as the webcomic.)

In the webcomic, Queen Alicia has been suffering from a new poison, contracted during her attack on Targa (ep.103), which is leading her back to the path of the Butchering Tyrant. We get a few scenes of her struggling against the poison in earlier arcs, including going briefly crazy (ep.111) and gathering the poison to her left arm to cut off (ep.127). During this arc, Worthroad stabs Lloyd with the same poison that is plaguing the Queen, and we learn that this "curse of all-consuming darkness" corrupts the mind by amplifying the worst of your inner self (ep.137).

For Lloyd, his darkness tells him to exploit others at any cost to save his Frontera family, lest he re-experience the trauma of losing his parents. Suho recognizes that that voice is coming from a place of fear, and he reassures the voice that they don't need to resort to exploitation and violence because they “are really freaking capable!" (ep.137).

(ep.137)

After the site accident, Queen Alicia reveals to Lloyd that she's been suffering from the same curse (ep.139). Her inner darkness takes the form of her inner child, who was forced to kill her three older brothers after they murdered their parents for the throne (ep.140), leading to her "You must kill before you are killed" mindset. But through taking Lloyd’s advice, Alicia reminds her inner child that she can be sad and scared and it will still be okay to be weak. After this, her poison is cured.

(ep.140)

Now, I can't yet speak to the narrative impact, if any, that this curse had on adapting the original story, but I did really enjoy it while reading the webcomic. I think that's because they took what was basically a character exploration and wove it pretty seamlessly into the narrative, and once it's done, it doesn't come back up again.

For Lloyd, when confronted with a good reason to exploit others the same way he used to be exploited, it was pretty awesome to see Suho say, 'No way, I'm better than that,’ thus verbalizing that internal mindset he holds in the book.

For Webtoon Alicia, I liked how her more extensive battle against the curse was used to explore her insecurities, her (much darker in the webcomic) backstory, and her relationship to Lloyd. The curse helped externalize for the reader more of her struggle to fully rely on others, specifically Lloyd, which she kept mostly internal in the book. It was heartwarming seeing them overcome that hurdle together.

Now back to the normal lists!

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Negotiation to Renovate the Palace

(ep.132)

Ep.132 / Ch.273 - Special shoutout to the webcomic's iconic scene where Alicia daydreams about running to Lloyd because IT'S ALL SO PEAK. He's her light at the end of the tunnel! He's shocked by her hug even in her own imagination! Javier looks like his entire conception of reality has dissolved before his eyes! I think I reread that scene like ten times when it first came out. Their reunion in the book is cute too, if not the dramatic turning point it is in the adaptation: Alicia snips at Lloyd for visiting Count Cremo before her, he expresses great apologies and great gratitude, she trusts his word even though she’s really sick of his gratitude—it’s all very comfortable and bantery hehe

(ep.132)

Ch.273 - The Queen thinks eating raw eggs after her training sessions is refreshing. She is such a gym bro.

Ch.273 / Ep.132 - Novel Alicia isn’t worried about her domestic political status, but Webtoon Alicia thinks if her international struggles continue then her domestic politics will turn on her too.

Ch.275 - I’m guessing Lloyd didn’t give the orcs a heads up about sending his pet bone dragon to their territory because the orcs won’t stop giving Draggy massages with axes, spears, and hammers.

Ch.275 - Novel Draggy wears a full tuxedo for the party! Webtoon Draggy has a nice little bowtie. Novel Draggy also brings giant poster signs that say, "[I won't hurt you.] [I won't bite you.] [I won't hit you.] [The Bone Dragon, Yong Yong, is your friend. ♡ ]"

Ch.276 - After showing off Draggy, Queen Alicia declares her intent to lend the bone dragon to the Frontera Estate to help the with refugee rebuilding efforts. This was planned in advance with Lloyd, so that everyone would think the bone dragon belongs to the Queen, but now Lloyd can openly use Draggy as construction equipment.

Ch.276 - By declaring Lloyd "the kingdom’s most meritorious subject," a title that hadn’t been conferred to anyone in decades, the Queen has confirmed that Lloyd is the second most powerful person in the kingdom politically and can do whatever he wants because only she has the authority to punish him. I thought Webtoon Alicia was just telling everyone she really liked him!

(ch.274 and ep.133)

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Tauranga Retrieval from the Palace Foundation

Ch.277 / Ep.133 - Novel Lloyd did not know the tauranga blocks were in the foundation of the palace, and he is soooo pissed to find them there, like it’s literally last place he surveys. Webtoon Lloyd saw them get placed there in the Jewel’s little hologram show.

Ep.134 - Webtoon Lloyd goes to visit Julian and instead gets a view of his little brother’s sickeningly sweet marriage with Scheherazade, so he silently slinks away all single and determined to protect their happiness. Worthroad then tries to stab him, but thankfully Lloyd's a little more on his game than when OG Frontera beat him up—that is until Worthroad summons some giant blood monster. That's when Javier, who was sword training with the Queen (and not-subtly suggesting she consider dating his bro), senses danger and leaps across town to save Lloyd. But the best part is still the Queen's response to the assassination attempt:

(ep.135 - The way that Javier is also squished in there for some reason 💀)

Ep.135 - The webcomic's DP counter dips to -1, meaning an extra person *cough* Javier *cough* dies compared to the book. (What would even be left of this world at that point? Nuclear wasteland of a universe istg...)

Ch.278 - When the Tyrant Queen Alicia uses the Heart of Winter (for the third time in the kingdom's history) she uses it to freeze an "opposing army" in the webcomic. However, in the book, she used it against a civil war riot within the kingdom and consequently "destroyed five fiefdoms and caused famine and calamity across the western region."

Ep.135 / Ch.280 - Siluria Namaran is back in the webcomic! She's one of the 20 powerful mages keeping the Heart of Winter under control during construction, and of course, she and Javier make Meaningful Eye Contact (TM). In the book, there's only two Royal mages watching over the Heart, one of them being the guy who hates Lloyd.

(ep.135 - Both Lloyds say the most ironically stupid things in their approach to romance. I love the character consistency.)

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Absorbing the Heart of Winter

Ep.136 / Ch.281 - When the Heart loses control in the webcomic, Javier is there to assist the mages and guards in the Heart's control room (not that he manages to do much...), and Lloyd beelines for the workers in the deeper part of the tunnels. In the book, Javier is training with the Queen and doesn't get to the scene until much later, so Lloyd first carries out that first group in the Heart of Winter room. Novel Lloyd then hesitates about going back for the people deep inside the tunnels, until he realizes he's being just like the irresponsible supervisors of his past, and he goes charging back.

Ch.282 - While sparring with the Queen, Javier notes that she is past the level of any regular sword master. Though the book doesn't explicitly call her a grandmaster, it's basically saying the Queen has achieved her own unique next level of swordsmanship. "She was like himself. Beyond the evaluation and consciousness of the public."

Ch.281 - Here's some expanded background story on Suho’s friendly construction site acquaintance who was brutally disabled on site:

The man's story went like this: He was a manager in a well-todo corporation. Financially sound, he sent his daughter to the United States to study along with his wife as he was nervous about sending the former alone. He lived as a goose father for a few years. But one day, he got laid off. Unable to break the news to his family because he feared worrying them and affecting the child's studies, he endured the pain of his abrupt retirement alone. That was when he switched gears to construction sites. ... How the man laughed while saying that doing physical labor suited him better than being at a desk all day. He was a good-tempered man despite his pitiful circumstances. His humor involved a lot of dad jokes, to Lloyd's discomfort. However, he was a good man with a bright smile. (ch.281 - And then he got paralyzed ☹️)

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I’m just gonna separately summarize the Heart of Winter Frenzy:

Novel Lloyd's Approach: Ch.282-284 - After going back into the tunnels, Novel Lloyd carries out the workers one by one until he finally runs out of mana. He uses his Supercharge skill as a hail mary to stop from freezing to death. Novel Javier then arrives at the scene when is Lloyd in Supercharge stupor, so he connects his own manaheart circles to Lloyd's manaheart to create a NINE-STRAND MEGA-MANAHEART-ULTRA!!! This enhanced manaheart prevents Lloyd from freezing over in his efforts to absorb the Heart of Winter’s insane amount of mana. After the Heart willingly enters him, Lloyd kinda sleepwalks himself into saving the last worker. Javier follows and listens to Lloyd sleeptalk about rotten supervisors and how he won't be like them. It’s Javier’s first glimpse into Suho’s old life.

Webtoon Lloyd's Approach: Ep.138 - After leaving Worthroad to freeze, Webtoon Lloyd runs into the deep parts of the tunnel for the workers. The Queen soon arrives to drag Lloyd's frostbitten ass out of the tunnels and save the rest of the deep-end workers. Similar to Lloyd, she refuses to stop saving anyone under her rule. The Heart of Winter then blows out into an ice tornado that threatens to wipe out the city. Lloyd, who is recovering from near frostbite, realizes Javier is still down there! And when everyone else is fleeing, he activates his Supercharge skill on the Heart of Winter to save his friend. This decision turns him into a living popsicle.

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After the Heart of Winter Disaster

(ep.139 - This is like, the third time (?) Webtoon Javier has seen Lloyd apparently die post-battle, and I appreciate how absolutely freaked he still gets every time. I hope one day Novel Javier also gets to experience finding his master looking like a corpse but not really being dead <3)

Ch.284 - Lloyd has hated the cold ever since he was young.

Ch.283-284 - In the book, the Heart of Winter shows itself to be, how should I put it, less noble. It's bored and unhappy from being locked up for hundreds of years, and even considers forcibly taking over Lloyd's body once its released from the construction box. However, it still ends up admiring Lloyd's tenacity and deems him worthy of joining hearts. In the webcomic, we just see the cordial exchange when the Heart of Winter enters Lloyd.

(ep.139 - Webtoon Lloyd tries to run away way less than Novel Lloyd, but then as soon as the former wakes up to the Queen he's like 'we gotta leave NOW.' Novel Lloyd greets his Majesty like a not-stupid person.)

Ep.139 / Ch.285 - Webtoon Javier and Queen Alicia are both watching over Webtoon Lloyd as he defrosts. It's implied Javier had melted Lloyd with his mana. In the book, only Javier is there when Lloyd awakens, but Queen Alicia comes to him shortly after to tell him he's going to trial over the loss of the Heart of Winter. (Not quite as touching as Webtoon Queen grasping his frozen hand, but trust me, it's still good grounding for their book relationship.)

"Are you asking why I am siding with you?" "Yes, Your Majesty," affirmed Lloyd. "I like you." "Your Majesty?" Lloyd raised his head, taken aback by her response. She was smiling. He even caught some playfulness in her eyes. "To me, I find you are much more useful than a divine item I can only use twice or thrice in a span of a few centuries. Whereas you will be of use to me for several decades. Don't you agree?" "Um, that is a very direct way to say you're going to make me work..." "This is my investment in you as a talent. Don't you think so?" "Not at all, Your Majesty," denied Lloyd. (ch.285 - talk about OTP material amiright?)

Ch.286 / Ep.140 - Novel Javier is bewildered by Lloyd’s chill attitude toward the trial. Webtoon Javier trusts his master.

(ep.140 - JK Webtoon Javier gets worried too, but I headcanon that if they ever met, Webtoon Javier would always call Novel Javier’s silver hair gray.)

Ep.136 - In the webcomic, the leader of the House of Peers Duke Toscano helps Worthroad sabotage the foundation project. Lloyd finds the bloody bottle Toscano's guard used to sneak Worthroad into the construction site, and he shows off the bottle in the middle of the trial to blackmail the duke into flipping face on him. In the book, Duke Toscano is the father-in-law of Marquess Bergamo, the father of Cesare Di Bergamo AKA the magician who sabotaged the construction. He left his palm skin on the Heart of Winter's containment box when he broke it open. Lloyd discovered this sabotage and used it to blackmail Toscano ahead of the trial, lest Lloyd drag their whole family down in court. It's a bit more political, but Novel Lloyd is quite good at politicking like that.

Ch.288 - The Heart of Winter has a consciousness by accident because the Ice Dragon Tyrannus put a little too much oomph into its power when creating it.

Ch.288 - In the book, Tyrannus notices when the Heart of Winter gets sucked up into a human. In the webcomic, he isn't shown until Lloyd freezes time later. However, Novel Tyrannus just goes back to sleep anyways!

(ch.288 and ep.120)

Ch.288 - The book shows the whole conversation of Alicia needling Lloyd for losing her divine item, leading him to promise to come to her aid if she ever has an emergency. The webcomic briefly mentions Lloyd owing her a construction project but implies it was his punishment from the trial (ep.141).

Ep.141 / Ch.288 - Webtoon Lloyd and Queen Alicia clearly like-like each other by the end of this arc (blush-blush, hearts racing, amiright?). Of course, Webtoon Lloyd has not thought about marriage even once, so he's super oblivious to his own romance arc, even as she's giving him a pretty flirty sendoff. In the book, these two aren't experiencing those same ~flowery~ feelings, but they do hit it up another notch up of commitment to one another. Lloyd really realizes how much the Queen has backed him year after year, and for once his overwhelming gratitude seems legit. And she…well she likes him! She said it herself, and she's not allowed to take that back!

(ch.272, 276, 278, 285)

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End of Comparison Part 11 - The Tauranga from the Royal Palace

Whoa people weren't kidding about the webcomic adding more Alicia/Lloyd ship material. Going through parallel acceptance of your inner darkness to cure a real and metaphorical inner poison is a big step in a relationship! Of course, this still reads as a big arc for them in the original book, and I'm enjoying their politically sharp dynamic as much as ever.

The other foundational differences with Worthroad/Cesare though...I have no idea where that's going. Leave it to Webtoon to start changing course in the last *checks notes* 30% of the story. Phew, buckle it up people! I feel some swerves coming up!

Up next: The Centaurs, the Taupo, and Tyrannus’ Pillows

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Best part of the novel that I wish was in the webcomic: Draggy's little party notecards, hehe

Best addition to the webcomic that wasn’t in the novel: Some workers come up to thank Webtoon Lloyd for all he's done for the kingdom, so he's like, 'you can thank me by giving me money,' and then they actually give him money! It's so random lmao

(ep.136)

Favorite novel scene to see illustrated: Queen Alicia declaring Lloyd the kingdom's most meritorious subject