#s172

It sounds like Scratch's changes weren't really about combat ability at all. Instead, he was more concerned with ensuring the trolls were psychologically prepared to face the game. We don't really know what made the pre-Alternians so bad at Sgrub, but Scratch solved any and all such problems by replacing them with a group of belligerent power-gamers who sought to conquer the universe they made. Thanks, Doc!

Also – this might be a little pedantic, but did the post-Scratch session really count as a victory? I mean, when your frog is terminal, your universe is sealed off, and your species is almost extinct, can you really say you won?

The pre-Alternians might have grounds to sue, is what I’m trying to say.

The young twenty-four would again be scattered in two groups, twelve modern contemporaries, and twelve ancients. But in addition to losing their memories of everything that had happened before the scratch, there was another catch for the failed heroes. In the new reality, they would not serve as the heroes. They would mature to become the ancestors of the twelve they formerly regarded as theirs, and this twelve would be chosen for glory.

...the Ancestors were Alternia's original Players.

I speculated that the kids might change Guardians after the reboot - but for some reason, I never even considered that a Guardian could become a Player. If this is how a Scratch actually works...

This... this changes everything. This is Act 6's hidden twist - the fact that we're not going to be getting our kids at all. Homestuck's new heroes, the next session's champions, are Joan Egbert, Roxy Lalonde, Dale Strider, and...

and...

PEN-PAL IS THE SCRATCHED VERSION OF GRANDPA.

Jesus christ, everything fits. He's a child with Grandpa’s mannerisms because they’re time-duplicates, and it's looking increasingly likely that memories can bleed between the two. He recognizes Jade as his 'grandmother' because in his timeline, Jade arrived before he did, and became the new matriarch of the Harley family. He knows about Earth culture because he grew up on another Earth. His access to the bunny's endgame weapons... is still a little confusing, actually, but this fits literally everything else. I am absolutely, 100% confident that this is the answer to Homestuck's most maddening riddle.

Wait, hang on a second. Is he saying that Alternia spawned a session when it was still peaceful? Like, before Scratch had ever arrived to corrupt the planet?

Wait, no.

No, Scratch specifically stated that these heroes are from a discarded reality, and he's describing this session as though it's only kind of in the universe we're familiar with - almost like this is a doomed version of...

...of....

Wait.

Is Alternia the result of a fucking Scratch?

Fuck, but that would explain why this animation of Alternia features two rings of identical symbols!

I think now would be a good time for another round of reeducation regarding her purpose. A little refresher on the prestigious employment opportunity for which she is being groomed.

So there is still some fight in this girl - probably more than she realizes.

Whoever she is, that's good to know.

It is a tale to remind her of the sacrifice she must make. One serving to remind all of her people of the sacrifice once made by long forgotten heroes in a discarded reality. It is of this sacrifice the Sufferer died to speak the truth, and it is his tale I will tell you now.

God, ok. I’m still heartbroken about possibly-Aradia, but I’ve been waiting for this story for months.

Hand me the fucking popcorn. I am seated.

...and apparently, so is Ms. Paint. Was it her that Fauxradia was trying to contact?

The demon’s face fading into Scratch’s head sure ain’t lost on me.

Once, in this very universe, you could say, Alternia was home to a peaceful race. Trollkind had never known the corrupting influence in their evolution which led them to perpetual war and violence. That is to say, they had never known me.

The rot started with Doc Scratch. From the moment he landed on Alternia, he’s been stamping out every trace of warmth he can find.

TG: none of that really meant anything but ok TG: also you have me confused for somebody else we never talked […] TC: as if i'd forget to do my chucklevoodoos to you too. TC: TO FUCK UP YOUR DREAMS. TC: make your worst fears come alive and get up on their haunts in your naphappy pan. TG: what TG: what fears TC: YOU MOTHER FUCKING KNOW, BROTHER. TC: its the fuckin puppet.

Seriously? You made Dream Cal, too?

...wait! Wait, son of a bitch!

That means you created Doc Scratch!

The architect of Alternia's demise was born directly from Gamzee's rage - twice over, actually, since we already knew he made the HONK code. Scratch's trolling, his malevolence, his disturbing personality... it all makes perfect sense now. Cal may be his father, but Gamzee is his grandfather.

I can finally see it, now. Gamzee really is the most important character in Homestuck - and his Aspect is now the most menacing thing in the entire comic. It caused everything.

TG: did my bro put you up to this […] TC: YOUR BRO'S DEAD BRO. TC: couldn't keep my new friend captive no more. TC: RELEASED YOUR NIGHTMARES RIGHT INTO MY WARM FUCKING EMBRACE. TC: and now i listen at what they whisper through my hear ducts.

Gamzee’s been listening to Cal’s voice - but now that we know the truth behind Cal's origin, it's clear that Gamzee is just being fed his own rage, amplified and reflected. No wonder he's so fucked up.

This might also be why Bro was so... like that. He was exposed to Cal for his entire life, and this awful miasma was probably seeping into his brain the entire time. Dave's lucky he's even alive.

TC: I'M ALL HEARING THESE AMAZING MOTHERFUCKIN THINGS. TC: i think he'll help me refigure out what's the real reality about the miracles. TC: HE'LL HELP ME TO MOTHER FUCKIN DISCOVER THE TRUTH OF WHO THE MESSIAHS ARE. TC: the real messiahs, not the false mess a lies, hahahahaha.

Cal is inspiring Gamzee to seek greater heights – and lest we forget, Gamzee is a bard. He’s inspiring himself, consuming a rage-warped reflection of his own worldview, and it’s clear he’s been reborn as some sort of zealot, determined to seek the truth at the heart of the universe – and potentially, at the heart of the comic.

This is going to be really, really bad. I'm not sure if there’s any of the original Gamzee in there anymore.

TC: hey, before you go TC: HOW ABOUT THAT WE TC: slam a little. ;oD TG: uh They both then proceeded to have one of the best rap-offs in the history of paradox space.

Of course this promise was fulfilled to the letter, as you have seen.

pfft

The trolls have done this all before - and apparently, they fucked it up real bad.

This is a very strange way for their original session to have gone. The Hivebent trolls excelled at the game, and not just because Scratch made them so bloodthirsty. Many of them were gifted with incredibly powerful abilities, which allowed them to absolutely decimate most of Sgrub's challenges. These pre-Scratch trolls are the same people as their successors, and should have the same abilities, just different upbringings.

I suppose growing up in a peaceful world might have blunted their edge a little - but at the very least, trolls like Sollux and Equius should still have been obliterating Underlings. Even if their lives on preboot!Alternia granted them zero combat experience, it shouldn't take much skill to, say, pulverize Imps with gigastrength.

Though they could not recognize it for the bad omen it was, this session was not the one in which they had been spawned.

It doesn’t sound like the original Alternian session even had a Veil sequence. That is a bad omen, because its Players still needed to be created somewhere. If they didn’t find a way to close the loop and clone themselves, it wouldn’t even matter if they won their game; They’d be trapped in a doomed timeline either way.

This explains why they really lost, then. The pre-Alternians were forced to concede defeat and reset the game, even if Sollux could slay every Underling on his own. If they didn't, they wouldn’t have existed in the first place.

Such is the symptom of a subtle glitch affecting certain sessions, an error designed to trigger an unfathomable cascade of misfortune throughout paradox space. This glitch is the calling card of the one I serve. It is the discreet, gentlemanly manner in which he reserves his place in a universe for later visitation.

This sort of forced Scratch is right up English’s alley, of course. The guy is all about inevitable failure – and of course, he’s no stranger to exploiting Sburb’s mechanics to his advantage.

The heroes, understanding their defeat was absolute, sought advice from the mother of all monsters. She offered them a choice. The heroes could either accept their defeat along with the extinction of their race, and put no others at risk. Or, she could show them a path to a second chance, to a reality in which the chosen heroes of their race would be strong enough to succeed with ease, and claim the reward. This reset would come at the cost of wiping the failed heroes from existence. They would live new lives from scratch, playing different roles in the reset reality, with no memory of the game they played or the choice they made.

Once again, a Denizen offers a choice between life and death. I think Kanaya’s analysis was entirely correct - every Choice does involve facing your own mortality.

I wonder, though, if they paid attention to Echidna's exact wording here. If they chose death, they’d put no other beings at risk – but she made no such assurances about the consequences of choosing life. This deal was a disaster for the Alternians’ entire universe, and its original Players couldn’t possibly comprehend the damage it’s already done, let alone what it'll do once English enters the building.

Also... she only promised that they’d get a chance to try again. She never promised them victory.

You already know I’m picturing this philosophy of peace as an endless series of Vantas Rants.

Honestly, this strategically displayed frustration is exactly what I’d expect from an older, wiser Karkat - one who’d finally found a cause worth yelling for. Even though this isn’t actually Karkat, I’m still weirdly proud of him for the person he could have been, had the need arose.

The highbloods were livid over the unprecedented heresy, and soon, a massive sectarian war followed, spreading across the planet and throughout the galaxy.

Hell yeah, Vantas! Scratch may be assured of victory here, but make the motherfucker work for it!

Inevitably, the Signless would be captured, and when he was, it was not a matter of whether he would be put to the irons, but how hot they would be if he failed to recant.

And that’s the story of Karkat’s sign. It symbolizes the shackles of his species – shackles which his ancestor fought to break, right up until his dying breath.

Now that is a metal sign, in every possible sense of the word.

Under the green moon, all hope will rot.

And that’s a color we know all too well.

We know that Zahhak defied the highbloods, and lived in disgrace, so I think this may have been a mercy kill...

This vessel will reach your planet eventually. We can either go home the fast way, or the slow way.

Depending on the timeframe we’re currently in, the slow way might also involve a psychic shockwave of instant death.

Just who might be on their way to Alternia? If this ship has already weathered the Glub, then it’s likely full of corpses – which I guess Aradia might appreciate, on some level.

I think the Empress could conceivably have survived, though, since she should have the greatest psychic resistance of her entire species. Plus, it's been implied that she's Feferi's Ancestor, the same Empress who ruled in ancient times. That's a character with potential, and it'd be a waste to kill her off-panel before she's actually done anything.

Maybe she's the pilot of this ship, then. The lone remaining troll in the galaxy, still ruling an empire of one.

Your express ticket can only be validated with a display of good manners, miss.

Say what you like about Aradia, but she sure ain’t a quitter.

Oh, god!

No. This can't be Aradia Prime. I refuse to believe it. The girl's resolve to continue living is the core of her fucking character, and even Scratch couldn't break her badly enough to renounce it. He couldn't.