After a long break in comics from Rich Burlew, Elan pauses the action to recap the events of the last several comics.
Cast
- The Order of the Stick
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- Tarquin ◀ ▶ (as Thog ◀ ▶)
- Malack ◀ ▶
- Soul-Muncher ◀
- Rich Burlew (as Sir Thumb the Digit Knight)
- Three Pieces of Glass
- Members of the Draketooth Family
- Flashbacked Scarabs ◀
Transcript
- Panel 1
Haley: I can get that trapped wall open pretty easily, if you want to pursue.
Roy: Waste of time—they could've 'ported anywhere. Let's keep moving. I think I've figured out who the—
Durkon: Remove Deafness.
Elan: Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Guys! It's been like three months since the comic updated! You can't dive right into the tactical stuff like that!
- Panel 2
Elan: We need to remind everyone of what's been going on lately. We need a RECAP COMIC!
- Panel 3
Roy: No. No way. We're right in the middle of a race to find Girard's Gate before the Linear Guild does—
Elan: Good start, Roy! Keep going!
Roy: —and recaps are a waste of time that don't advance the story.
- Panel 4
Elan: Maybe that's true, Roy, but they're also the perfect opportunity for a musical interlude.
Belkar: Quick! Cast "Reinstate Deafness!"
Elan begins to strum his lute, "♪♪♪♪"
- Panel 5
Flashback to the party leaving the palace in Bleedingham on a flying carpet.
Elan (inset):
To the Windy Canyon, we all rode
On a flying carpet swift,
Seeking Draketooth's secret abode
And the Gate that seals a rift!
- Panel 6
Flashback to Vaarsuvius fleeing the carnage in the dining hall at Girard's pyramid.
Elan (inset):
But when we pierced that lair's veil
We found the havoc wreaked.
The scene, so far beyond the pale,
That our wizard totally freaked.
- Panel 7
Flashback to the party engaging in melee with Tarquin at the top of the pyramid.
Elan (inset):
Just then! A foe struck from the fog
That drove us inside farther!
Elan (inset):
Nale and Sabine, but instead of Thog,
A masked man (who's probably my father).
- Panel 8
Cut back to Roy and Haley.
Haley: Wait—what did he just sing???
Roy: That's what I was trying to say!
Elan continues the song. "♪♪♪♪"
Elan (inset):
With magic, snares, and smoke to smother,
Our trap played out in this hall.
- Panel 9
Roy: He implied he was older than Nale, he was too strong for the Holy Word, and he was about the right height, build, and complexion.
Roy: And he's bothering to hide his identity when we already know he's not Thog!
Haley: Ooo! Don't forget the casually sexist anecdote.
Roy: Exactly!
Elan continues the song. "♪♪♪♪"
Elan (inset):
Belkar knocked out my dumb brother
To force the bad guys' withdrawal.
- Panel 10
Haley: Huh. I guess you were wrong—you CAN advance the story in a recap.
Roy: Let's listen to the rest of the song. There might be more clues.
Elan continues the song. "♪♪♪♪"
- Panel 11
Cut to a scene of Rich Burlew's thumb, with sword and shield, doing battle against three evil-looking shards of glass.
Elan (inset):
Then bold Sir Thumb rode out to fight
But 'gainst glass, could not defend.
They struck him down, brave Digit Knight,
'Til he could neither draw nor bend!
- Panel 12
Roy: Never mind. We're done here.
Elan: Yeah, you're right.
Elan: That really deserves a 500-stanza epic poem of its own.
D&D Context
- Durkon reverses the effects that his Holy Word spell had on Belkar in #860 with the 3rd level spell, Remove Blindness/Deafness
Trivia
- This is the only appearance of the author of Order of the Stick within his own comics. "Sir Thumb the Digit Knight" is the thumb of Rich Burlew. He injured his thumb on broken glass during the week of 19 September, 2012, severing some tendons, and causing a delay in new comics. This is the first strip after the hiatus, published on New Years Eve of that year, which is why he drew this recap comic to get the readers back up to speed.
- The gap of 110 days is the longest between updates to the comic during its run.
- The title refers to Rich Burlew's April 2012 Kickstarter project which raised $1,254,120 to reprint the old Order of the Stick books which were out of print. The drive was very successful, so he suggests perhaps that a drive funding Elan's 500-stanza epic poem on Sir Thumb could also do as well.
- The flashbacks are not copies of previous panels, but new renditions. The flashbacks are to: #818, #843, and #850.
- This is the final appearance of Soul-Muncher, Tarquin's intelligent axe. Soul-Muncher first appeared in #50, The Semi-Secret Origin of Elan & Nale. It appeared in 16 strips overall, as well as 4 strips outside of the webcomics.
- This is the final appearance of the four members of the Draketooth family listed above. They all first appeared in #841.
- This is the only other appearance of the Scarabs. Here they appear in the flashback to their first appearance in #841.