Poor kid :(

His parents are pricks. The same could also be said about the 'god' who apparently decided that this child needed to have the love of his parents and family taken away from him because of an arbitrary failure outside of his control. She literally just disqualified him from becoming a guardian then told him to think about why he wants to be one for...what reason?

So far he wanted to become one because those said parents pushed it on him and he just accepted it because like any child he wanted the love and attention.
But now with them acting like this, he might begin to think about what he really wants.

It still sounds amazingly harsh to basically force the kid go through such trauma just to teach a lesson. I mean, I'd probably hate BOTH the parents and the Tree at the same time for messing up what could've been a good and happy life for an arbitrary choice.

Well, if he went in for the wrong reasons, and it would have affected ... whatever a Guardian does, then he shouldn't be made a guardian. The standards shouldn't be lowered because the parents might be disappointed.
It's like if a guy has an argument with a girl, and in a rage he screams "see what you made me do?" The fault for the action was 100% on him. The fault is not on the goddess, the rejection of the youngling is 100% on the parents. Not 85%, not 90%, but 100%.

From what I understand based on what's been shown to us so far, becoming a Guardian is a family tradition for Nigels family, and it's very likely they were raised in a similar way. With that said for whatever reason, Nigel seems to just be unique, because despite his upbringing, deep down he doesn't seem to have a personal reason to become Guardian, whereas his parents and likely his ancestors, despite essentially being brainwashed to be made into Guardians, are genuinely dedicated to the cause. It's really weird, cause this would mean that Luna, would have been well aware of this, yet for whatever reason they were still deemed worthy

A bit of a oversimplifaction to be honest.Being raised to a role is not brainwashing and the "goddess" seems extremely interested in free will and knows that becoming a guardian for the wrong reasons would lead the kid to misery and grief in general.In fact though its extremely douchy to do the way the parents are acting might be because theyve seen this happen before and those that arent accepted the first time almost all wind up realising that they in their hearts would rather do something else with their lives.It doesnt make what theyre doing to their kid right at all but it makes it sort of understandable.

But why did the Goddess let Generations of Nigels family get to be Guardians if they did it for the wrong reason as well?
On Page 57 the first panel says 'EVERY' single person of his Family became a Guardian and they only merry into other Guardians aswell.
So why does the Goddess stop now? Im pretty sure that his Father befor him was raised in the same matter as Nigel did, with the asumtion he will be a Guardian. Thats the Family tradition.

Because it is very emotional for him to be rejected, then shunned by his parents.
The author wanted everyone to cry over the cute child crying. It's not that deep, my dude.

It all comes down to intent. Sure, we hear from Nigel that every member of his family for generations has been a Guardian. But who's to say that his grandparents or great-grandparents put the same pressures on their children? It very well could be that, up to now, these parents were simply proud that their children decided to become Guardians like themselves. This could eventually be misconstrued by Nigel's parents into "Guardian = Worthy" mentality, simply out of some over bloated tradition that never really existed in the first place.
Luna may be stopping this now, because it has only now become toxic vicarious living of the parents' expectations onto the child. A family history of Guardians does not mean they were all raised the same way.

They all genuinely wanted to be guardians. He's just doing it because that's what he was raised to do. The Goddess can easily see that and doesn't want to accept him as a guardian based purely on his test scores because being a guardian is about more than that.

That just means the others found reasons of their own long before it became time to be tested and tbh this might be a biased account given how shitty the parents are.For all the kid knows theres possibly dozens just like him in his familys history but they all got unpersoned as soon as they "failed".Its easy to have a flawless family track record when anything thats not "perfect" is mentally erased from existance.

I think the bigger problem here is that the goddess is a bit TOO into allowing free will in her followers.If she valued being a good person more than having free choice she couldve easily nipped this kind of thing in the bud generations ago.

Course given what she is its possible its really hard for her to even think of aggressively forcing peoples wills.The most weve seen her do to try to put people on the right track is to talk to them and leave them with options to decide on their own,Beyond that its all on the mortals.Sometimes free will sucks cause it means we are free to be idiots instead of making the right call every time.

Could very well be as someone stated on the last page I think it was, that we are told that EVERY single person in the family has become a guardian because the ones that failed were kicked out of the family and pretty much erased from the family tree

His parents might not originally have done it for the wrong reasons. They could have genuinely believed in the cause, while Nigel is simply out to make them happy and do what they want of him. The parents might be assholes now, but they could be assholes who still fight for a righteous cause. Nigel could turn out to be a genuinely nice boy, but he also could simultaneously have been someone who would have folded under pressure given how he was raised up until that point. Sometimes you can't find out who you really are and what you really want until you face some real adversity. This is almost like a Prince and the Pauper tale, but without the pauper.

Nigel seems genuinely cool, so I don't think he falls into this category, but the real life track record of spoiled rich kids who get everything they want and rarely face hardship is not good. There are endless families that have had wealth that was built by more talented parents, but which was frittered away by the next generation. Again, not saying Nigel was terrible or anything, but just maybe, without facing hardship, without having to make actual choices, he would not have amounted to much. It's quite possible that guardians are faced with tests of will as well that he might have failed. Failed in a way that would have been disastrous for others. Who knows? Not me, I'm not the plot writer. :-D

It way not be quote on quote outright "brainwashing" but the principles are more or less the same. Nigels family effectively told him, he's going to be this and he's to be that, this is what he'll become, and more or less pushed him towards this path, without really giving him a choice in the matter, or a chance to think for himself, Nigel himself even mentions how sick the whole family tradition is, in a earlier page.

Yeah but that happens in most familys.His might be worse than most but im sure growing up you noticed more than a few familys where the parents pushed their kids in certain directions and took it very badly when the kid turned out not to be a good lil robot.And dont get me started about the parents who live vicariously through their children.

Well what IS a guardian? Is it some sort of ceremonial position, in which case, who really cares who the guardian is, just like who really cares who the Queen of England is? Or is it a position of real power, authority, and responsibility? If it's the former, then maybe it doesn't really matter. If it's the latter, it being a family "tradition" shouldn't count one bit as to whether someone is given that mantle.

This right here. The why is the issue, it likely never was the child's desire to be a guardian, just the prestige that the parents wanted. It's like the type of folks that want to make their kids doctors and such so 'they' can say how awesome their child is, but the kid never wanted to be a doctor or had other talents.

The fact they shunned them instantly shows how single minded they were. My next guess is there younger child now will suddenly get the same affections and such because now they can impose on them instead.

Judging by his present-day attitude and his overall appearance in his reference sheet. His life ended up taken a turn for the worse.

Dignity and an empty sack are worth exactly an empty sack. What good is such a lesson or diversion in life if they ended up such a hateful, bitter, ultimately dissatisfied person?

I think people are drastically overestimating the Tree of Life. She's very old and very wise, but she's far from omniscient or infallible. She doesn't know everything, and she's just as capable of making mistakes as anyone else. It seems very likely to me that she just noticed that something was wrong and wasn't aware of the true extent of Nigel's problems. She probably turns dozens of children away every year on the same gut feeling. People seem to be holding her to much higher standards than she's actually capable of meeting.

Given that his adult reference sheet makes me think of someone living on the streets, what he wants is probably less important to him than what he needs to do to survive. Either way, I suspect that he would have a dim view of is parents or the god whose decision led to them no longer loving him.

https://d.furaffinity.net/art/viktr.....l_refsheet.png

i dont know, was that real love they were showing him

To begin with? Yes, in my opinion. They truly loved him until they didn't...

i dont think they actually loved him for him, i think they only loved him for what he would become

Because they only loved him for what he would become, or because people (apparently) never change?

... yes

People never change, eh? So you're the same person you were 10, 20, or more years ago?

no im alot less caring

Then people change over time. And I'm over this 'conversation.' Feel free to have the last word.

the last words

You do remember the stakes here? The 'God' is literally safeguarding the world. Considering Guardians are sacrificing their lifes doing their job I'd assume that whatever they are protecting is about as important. The reason why someone is doing what they are doing can be very important. Someone being a Guardian just because it's something one of their family has always been has a weak spot. Be it that they are vulnerable to manipulation or not completely dedicated to their task.
Nigel can have the right reason, because he is a good person.

Essentially it comes down to this. Do you want to put the fate of something important like lifes, a settlement or the world into the hands of someone who wants to protect it no matter the cost, or someone who does it becasue the money is good or because it's a family tradition?

If they're good enough to do the job, does it matter what their justification is? The end result is the same.

A person who doesn't have a solid reason to do their job and that does it "just cause", won't do their job well.
Sometimes, protecting the World and its people, means literally sacrificing everything you have to do so, not carin for the consequences on yourself, but driving yourself to the limit, to reach the goal.
I'd imagine, Nigel would've bailed and got shaken the moment such situation would've happened.
And as Leonidus from 300 Spartains said: "We're invincible, as long as we stay as one. Single weak spot in our defence and we're all doomed."

So, it's either - have a solid reason to be a Guardian, or do not be a Guardian at all.
He has a potential to become a good Guardian, but doesn't have a reason.
Mother Tree cares for all her children, but she can't live a life and shelter each one from wrong decidions.
She gave him and opportunity to live another life or find a reason to be Guardian.
She might've talked to his parents too, and maybe she did, we haven't been shown that, the end result is - neglectance.
Was it Tree's fault?
Partialy.
Should've she go out of her way to shelter Nigel's young heart from stress and this situation happening to him?
No. Each person should learn and have struggles in their life, to become a better version of themselves.
Having a sheltered life, being protected from each and every problem, failure and stress, won't do any good.
Will Nigel go through this issue as victor or fallie, is up to him, to find a way to his own way of life.

Everything I said doesn't make this situation any less conflicting and sad, though.

Judging by his adult reference sheet it doesn't end well for him. https://d.furaffinity.net/art/viktr.....l_refsheet.png

Just a guess, but he probably did not apply the next year because of how his parent's treated him or couldn't answer the question because of it.
So he grew up a bit bitter.
Especially if his brother became the focus of his parents and became a Guardian.

Welp, that's tough and sad, but Tree can't and shouldn't make sure everyone's succesfull and happy all the time.
She can't live instead of eveyone, securing they're all sheltered and protected from the traumas and issues of all time.
Him ending in thay state is a fault of his parents and his own inability of overcoming this situation.
Is it sad? Does it makes us relate to poor boy in any shape or form?
Hell yes it does.
Should've Tree made sure he wouldn't've gone through all this and became a Guardian just like that?
Nope. Without going through this all, he wouldn't've grown up as a person.
Being forever told he's "destined" to become a Guardian, living a pampered life, only being told what he should do, would make him a poor Guardian.
She let him make a choice for himself, to live for himself.
What he end up doing, is up to him.

Though I have to admire the Tree here. She has to keep the fate of the entire world in mind, but still does all she can to inspire individuals.
Most of the time Gods and other higher beings are shown that they won't or can't consider individuals.
And yet, she allows everyone to make their own decisions.

Exactly.
It wouldn't be fair to others, if she'd go out of her way to ensure Nigel becomes a Guardian without any issues, being forever happy and sheltered from all stress.
Being a Guardian is alot of stress and hard work, so if can't go through this family issue, then what kind of a Guardian may he be in the end?
It's harsh and sad, but even a God can't take care of everyone and everything.
There's a saying: "Put your hopes in the God, but be vigilant yourself."
Which means, you can believe that God will save you, but you'll have to put effort in order to achieve something in your life.
Life can't be lived and appreciated without issues and troubles.
Those who never go through loss of some sort, can't fully appreciate something in their posession.

It's never been shown that she is a god in the sense of knowing everything or being all seeing. Even in the beginning when deciding to adopt a child, she expressed concern she'd be a good parent. It's clear she can't actually foretell the future, just that she had a way of reading people people seeing intent (and she didn't meet the parents and they were guardians before so who would have known they'd act that way later). Her poers are a bit mysterious, but she's not omnipresent.

She couldn't know his parents would end up being that way to him. Instead, she just saw he loved doing all the stuff for the sake of it and just had fun doing it, so she needed him to be introspective and figure out what he wanted to be a guardian for.

The rejection of his parents makes me think he won't end up being a guardian. And if his adult reference sheet is anything to go by it gets a lot worse for him...

https://d.furaffinity.net/art/viktr.....l_refsheet.png

Oh I don't disagree and I think his parents are truly pieces of shit. But my point was just that the Tree isn't being an asshole and knowingly setting him up for failure because she can't see the future. There's no indication she's ever been able to do so, so I wouldn't put the onus on her - put it where it belongs; his selfish parents who you're right only care about him continuing the line.

...She did no such thing? She just said that he needed to figure out why he wanted to be a Guardian for himself, to actually own his own life rather than have it dictated to by others. His parents are withholding their affection from him by their own free will; the Tree has nothing to do with that. Besides, if he lost his parents' "love" as easily as all that, then it wasn't really love in the first place, is it?

Just because they stopped loving him when he failed to become a guardian doesn't mean that their love wasn't genuine. They truly loved him - until they stopped loving him.

...

Wow.

That's says all that needs to be said here folks.

This may be the stupidest thing I'll read all month, and it's barely started.

Oh, I'm sorry. How dare I not see things the same way you do.

I guess I'll be generous and say that they loved who they thought he was going to be, not a genuine love of him.
Actual love would not fade if he had a setback on the path to being a guardian. That's not love of a person.

By that logic anyone who has ever had a family member or friend that they fallout with and stop loving never loved them to begin with. Because people never change, do they?

Dude, a parents job is to raise a kid. That’s it. A child wasn’t born “for” them, but “through” them. If one expectation that wasn’t met was enough to deem a kid a failure, then that means they weren’t seeing him as a child, but as a “project”.

You are arguing in the vein that they are reasonably lovable to him, because they had been before and that outside factor was what drove the wedge. Not succeeding in expectations is the least important thing when it comes to a child, because children are people, and sometimes they end up totally different from what you expect, be it through their own choices or interests. Consider the fact that many families give up on their children due to simple factors such as them revealing to be gay or trans, isn’t that a sign of failure as a parent, to give up on your child’s happiness cause they were different than what you’ve hoped?

This is an example of extremely rigid parenting, one which revealed that if chips were down, they wouldn’t care for him. And if it weren’t now as a child, it could happen later as an adult.


And as for people never changing, they do and don’t. Anyone is able to change. Expecting it by default though is foolish. Habitual creatures rarely change from what’s comfortable, and if they had no problem with neglecting him from day one (WHICH IS MADE CLEAR ON THIS PAGE), that means it was less of circumstantial action and rather something they were ingrained with. Because there were other possible choices they had, even the goddess made clear on that.

Which means what? They are likely shitty to the core.

You say it as though I am blaming the kid. Why?

Cause you are doing everything to pin the blame on the goddess instead of accepting that its the fault of the parents. No, you never said it was the kids fault. But your argument portrays as if it was forced on the parents, and not that they are shitty for giving up on their child. I am arguing that this doesn’t matter, cause they were giving conditional love in the first place. That’s it.

I was playing devils advocate, not defending the parents. But I'm not surprised your fetal alcohol syndrome afflicted brain failed to realize that. Regardless, I'm over this 'conversation.' Feel free to have the last word.

My last word: Next time, find a better excuse for your shitty opinions when you lose and not default to suddenly slinging insults + “Muh Devils Advocate!”

Especially, over something as silly as a page off of a webcomic.

I would say "go look at my other comments on this page" but I have no vested interest in what you think of me. And oh look! Another comment! How about that?

Also, shove a shard of glass up your pisshole and shatter it with a hammer.

If they loved him unconditionally the whole time, then sure, that would be real love.
But if they loved only what they thought he would become, then yes, they never really loved him, just their image of him.

Did the kid change? The only change that happened to him was a minor setback. It's not like they loved him, then the kid murdered someone, and they don't love him any more.

It's baffling how people actually blame the goddess who's trying to hold the world together and doesn't want to enable someone to become a Guardian for the wrong reasons instead of blaming the very much terrible parents who only 'love' their child when said child has the prospect of becoming another trophy in the cabinet for that prestige collection. It's really kinda gross.

And how dare I accept that people can and do change over time.

If love is conditional, then it isn't genuine, especially when it comes to parents loving their children.

Most people wouldn't consider the kind of love that they gave to him to be "genuine", since it was solely about him becoming a Guardian rather than him being a happy and successful person. Yes, they truly put a lot of care and effort into grooming Nigel to becoming the perfect candidate, they believed it's important to keep the family tradition alive and they didn't do it without reason, even this behavioural change is entirely consistent. But it's definitely not love for him. No parent who claims to love their child would abandon them because they didn't turn out the way they expected to.

You're not looking at this right. Luna isn't teaching Nigel a lesson, he simply wasn't worthy. Luna is punishing his parents by denying them the continuation of their legacy.

Nigel wanted to be a Guardian because that's what his parents wanted, and to make sure he wanted what they did, they showered him with affection and attention by putting him in the spotlight. Meanwhile, his brother is left to the side. Through absolutely no fault of his own, and instead the manipulations and machinations of his parents, Nigel's desire to be chosen was impure because HE did not choose it. He is not following the path of his heart, he's just doing what will make people like him, what will make his parents happy.

Later, it appears that Nigel returns to the tree, but this time with a desire to be a Guardian that is worthy. Something horrible happened, and as a result, his motivation comes from a choice made because he is following his heart.

Punishing his parents, who probably wont change? Punishing his parents who will just pin their hopes on their other child? Sure. That's going to work.

To spare him from a lifetime commitment to something he doesn't really want. It's not his true desire to be a guardian, it's his parents' desire. She knows there's something else that's better for him, he just hasn't had the chance to discover it yet because all he's ever been allowed to focus on is his family's tradition.

Considering that from what we see the role of guardian means putting ones life on the line, accepting someone into that role that does not want to put it all on the line for a role like that is a spectactularly bad idea. The god here is absolutely in the right, if you are working to get protectors you want to make damn sure that they are all completely on board with it and what it entails because in just about any guardian role you want to be exactly sure your guardians are doing it for the right reasons.

Whether or not his parents are assholes about it is rather immaterial given the possible long term consequences for both him and everyone else.

Luna didn't decide to have his parents love taken away, they did that on their own. She didn't disqualify him from being a guardian, she just said he wasn't ready this year. She said she was sure he would be ready by next year and to never give up. She was nothing but supportive.

You know, your whole argument falls apart the moment you assumed that the parents genuinely loved their child, right?

Genuine Parent Love: "We will love our child no matter what they decide to become in life. And no matter what mistakes they make, we will never stop supporting them"

HIS Parents: "He failed to pass this test on the very first try? Disgraceful. He's not our son!"

You know I don't give a fuck, right?

I know this is 3 years ago but my GOD man, as much as I agree in not liking the actions she has done throughout this comic, you cannot fault The Tree for the actions of his parents. THEY chose to neglect and abandon him and replace him because she simply deemed him unworthy of becoming a guardian at that current time, they genuinely could have handled it any other way, any other BETTER, HEALTHIER way, one that doesn't involve any kind of abuse at all. I don't think the tree knew an outcome like that could happen, even from such a family/lineage like that despite their traditions, and sure as hell would have never wanted that if she knew, that was absolutely out of her control.

this furball need a hug!
*hug*

Anyone else get the feeling, that although his parents have this questionable tradition of becoming guardians, where I assume everyone is made to be nurtured into being one, and they eventually adopt that mindset, Nigel just so happens to be the exception?

Ooof. Poor little guy isn't quite broken yet, but the cracks are starting to show.

He needs to answer "why" he wants to become a guardian and must endure this for a year. Up untill now, his worth in becoming a guardian was bassed on his parents desire and not truly his own.

Please tell me those two pricks are gonna die. Preferably slowly and painfully.

High standards... High expectations... They just forgot the real strength isn't never fall, is stand back up when you do.

Welp, that’s sad

That kid was only the means to an end for their parents, nothing else. That's sad.

so lonely :'<

Parents of the year. Reminds me of my own family and how much I disappointed them when I didn't become a lawyer after graduation. Never said it to my face like this, but it was plain through their attitude.

Toxic parents - the worst

Behold! How to ruin a child's life!

Great comic so far!

La la la totally not sitting here reliving my own past parental trauma la la la.

Really though, very evocative and painfully close to home in some regards.

And this two were made guardians at some point? What was Luna thinking?

At some point they probably had the right reason to be a Guardian. People change.

Pretty much this.

They see him as a trophy...Not their child.

His success would have validated their own sense of self importance.

His failure destroys any value he had in their eyes.

This is a surprisingly common, and tragic attitude.

-Badger-

Yeah thats the problem with people.You can do good things but still in the end be a crap person

*Takes deep breath in and out* God, they're getting on my nerves. Well done because I want to coddle to poor kid.

Aaww poor lad 🙁

This is hard to read T-T

why is it that the kids in this story have horrible parental figures?

The parents better not do what I think is going to happen next

Future villain detector, all lights are in the red!!!

Sure, like they have NEVER done ANYTHING wrong in their lives. >8(

This is bad parenting. Conditional love should be banned from existing.

I am not giving these two any credit but I will acknowledge that they are not neglecting or mistreating him at this moment but we still have the rest of the chapter to look at.

Ah Vik. The militants have decided to stand on a hill and announce that they're missing the point. Just want to let you know that some of us aren't missing the point.

I can relate to that unfortunately, I hope the kid has a better future as the pages continue.

Hey kid, I think at this point your better off running away from home to find a new family.....because I think your birth parents are starting to suck/don't want you anymore.

-picks up Nigel and gives him a big hug, carries him off to give him cookies and love-

I really hope he doesn't get bad ....... this part makes me sad because that's how ..... a child turns into a future monster 😭

Assholes.

Damn. Poor kid. :(

I would actually be very interested in the kid actually taking a turn for the worst and becoming a brigand, a mercenary, a criminal ringleader or something just as sinister (even maybe resorting to fratricide out of jealousy if his parents start spoiling the younger one), and not just a sad hobo. It would give a very dramatic and ironic spin to the goddess' attempt at giving life lessons; proving that even with godlike intellect and the best of intentions your plans can go completely off the rails and give horrific results.
And it would be cool to see him actually oppose the heroes' group.
Or maybe even meet Tristan and make him his mook (along with the three other idiots).

Because, frankly, a kid with elite education and trained at weapons since childhood, to end up on his own with resentment towards the goddess and order of things? That sounds like a recipe for a future elite villain.

Someone once said something like: Some people have a family, some people don't have a family, and some people are better if they don't have a family.

The fact his parents were accepted as guardians yet act like this makes me think the tree might be flawed in her choices >> Hopefully he can find a strong resolve.

You know you've made an exceptional storyline when you have that ENORMOUS of a discussion in your comment section about the plotline and what lies beneath it untold aside from current contexts of the pages released.

Well done indeed!

tree should have talked to the parents...NOT The child

You do have a very valid point here, that is why when something happen in schools about a kid, the staff call the parents/tutors to discuss the situation.

i can already sense heart break on the horizon and it eats me :<

That will sadly be the case, for what it seems :(

I also fear for his lil brother

I can see why, with those parents thinking the first one was a failure, then let's try with the other one... but they will likely be harsher with him >:(

yeah .W.

but jealousy/envy can make people do ugly awful things

Obviously the parents will do nothing about that and will likely end-up kicking the kid out of the house.

How... How did they became guardians with that attitude?.. Nah, I understand, people change, but if they were honored in their time, they should also know how everything works. It is strange to be titled with an important task and be clueless about the criteria you've been chosen by. Even if choice happens in this little age when surrounding world is blurry, understanding of reasons should have come with growing up. Elsewise... if I correctly see lore rules by now, they shouldn't had become guardians from the beginning. Quite ironic.

Well what the fuck da they know!?!?!

He didn't become a guardian on the first try...
But at least he tried, unlike them, that they didn't become guardians at all, they have no rights to treat him like crap ;_;

These parents are in need of something blunt applied to their heads.

I mean if the parents want to carve the path of their child becoming a villain, this is how you do it.

Nigel: *excels at everything at young age*

Parents: Nah, he's a waste

I hope Nigel isn't the Villian of the story :(

there better be repercussions to the parents for this
like they lose their title of guardians