AG: And for the record, I was going to do this anyway! I was just trying to make him a 8etter player first.
Does she really, honestly think that this was making him a better Player? Is she really that deluded?
Tavros is the only 'passive' troll that Vriska has interacted with, so we haven't seen how she treats Gamzee or Nepeta yet. If she doesn't feel the need to harass them, then her worldview is just a convenient excuse to hurt Tavros.
Finally, everyone was working together.
Tavros has been busy. I sort of assumed he'd only be able to control a few Underlings at once, but I count at least forty. He's not exactly struggling, either, so his upper limit is presumably quite a lot higher - if it exists at all.
Has Tavros ever really tested his limits? I've seen people do some wacky fucking shit with animal communication powers.
We've heard about Sburb's 'puzzles', but this is the first one we've actually seen.
Seems like a simple 'find the pieces' game, like you might see in a 3D platformer. I bet what you're supposed to do is gather the Frog Shards as you explore the dungeon, but Tavros presumably sent his minions out to sweep the place.
This is a very Vriska approach - and I can see her fingerprints on the 'Underling swarm' strategy, too. For better or worse, her training is bearing fruit.
AT: tHEY ARE NECESSARY TO SOLVE, aREN'T THEY,
AT: tO FIND NEW MAGIC ARTIFACTS AND THINGS, aND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LORE OF THIS LAND,
AG: Tavros, let me let you in on a little secret a8out the lore of your land.
AG: It's 8oring!!!!!!!!
Vriska doesn't care about Land-level lore. Land Quests are tailored to their Player, and Vriska has a million better things to do than listen to a fairytale about how cool and important the Page of Breath is.
The trolls, in general, don't give a shit about the game's lore. They'll learn the basics, because they need it to help them win, but they don't really care about the metaphysical implications.
Honestly, I think this is just because of how it's presented. Trolls think fashion is stupid, and they're primed to be dismissive of anything flowery, or poetic - anything that looks too much like art.
Disregarding the game's riddles is, I think, a mistake. The trolls have been thrust into a confusing new world, and they don't know the rules. All information is valuable - especially information that the game has earmarked as important. We don't have to trust the game, but we should be paying attention to what it wants us to believe.
Kanaya, at least, might be more receptive - she doesn't share her society's disregard for aesthetics. Plus, Terezi seems to have been taking notes. I wonder how her Quest went?
AG: The minds of your consorts are very soft and impressiona8le.
AG: As easily manipul8ed as all those imps you've 8een 8ossing around.
AG: I have picked apart their tiny little lizard 8rains and seen through all the smoke and mirrors of their riddles.
You can read non-surface thoughts?
Vriska's psionics just keep getting stronger, and to be honest, I'm fairly confident that both she and Tavros are mutants themselves. Troll psionics can't all be this strong, or Alternian society wouldn't be able to function.
AG: I have gotten to the truth they are guarding. The great 8ig mystery 8ehind this planet. And you know what it is, Tavros?
AT: nO,
AG: It's 8ullshit!
If she's referring to the Ultimate Riddle - and if, as I've theorized, the Ultimate Riddle is the game's hidden objective - then this reaction makes perfect sense.
Vriska would hate that the game's goal has been obfuscated, because that means wasted time. She wants the game to stop screwing around, and get to the goddamn point.
AG: Real gamers cut to the chase. They power through all the nonsense and go for the gold.
AG: They cheat, Tavros.
AG: It is time you learned to start cheating.
What does it say about me, I wonder, that I’d play Sburb the same way Vriska does?
