See Nigel!? It's okay! You just needed to 'WANT' to be a Guardian beyond the pressures of your family or a mere expectation of duty! :D And you could be LOADS of other things! Whether your family will ever stop being twerps is their business though. >.>

I know I shouldn't have but I really just...couldn't stop laughing about this page. I'd have thought that his entire family being guardians with that whole "family tradition" aspect would've resulted in more instances like Nigel...but no! EVERY member of his family had the genuine dedication to make the cut EXCEPT for him. Boy just wanted to make his parents proud and the Tree of Life not only absolutely destroys that but basically affirms that he is, in fact, the only member of his family that truly didn't have what it takes to be a guardian.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm not saying this story is bad. I'm genuinely intrigued and want to know what happens next. I just couldn't get over how hard Nigel's story derailed into tragedy that it just became hilarious to me. Oh that poor, sad child...

Yeah, phrasing is very important, and plenty of times, even simpliest words of encouragement could be taken 180°, and turn into a soul crushing sentence.
I'm pretty sure, in Luna's head her words meant to be enlightening and fulfilling!
Doubt he'd see it same way though..

That's the reason why he wasn't chosen. He wanted to be a guardian to make his parents proud, not because of his own will to protect and serve the weak and needy. For some reason he was the first one in a long family line not to understand that?

I think he's the first in family in his to go on a path for the sake of someone else rather than himself, doesn't having a more or less similar upbringing to his ancestors, he ended up developing a different mindset from everyone else.

Understanding may not be the right word. I would say he is the first one not to feel it.

That's it, I was struggling for the right word to put it.

The Tree just stated his potential is unlimited, so he COULD become a Guardian, but not if he stayed down the set path.

This is the danger of 'generational positions'. After decades if not more of 'towing the line' family members, an outlier may emerge, and without accounting for it; the house of cards can top. It can take time to build up, but even the most deeply indoctrinated person into an ideology can have a glimmer of 'dissent', and we don't know how Nigel's ancestors were raised. Maybe his ancestors weren't as tight-fisted as his parents, maybe they had more freedom to choose, but that freedom got smaller per new generation? Nigel's the result that he was never given a choice and taught from birth 'this is your calling' his own inner wants be damned.

The Tree is trying to give him a chance to choose for himself; sadly for Nigel, his parents are assholes. He's a child, but they put all this pressure on him to succeed, and he feels less for it, and because he is young he isn't able to fully grasp what the Tree's words fully comprehend. He's a child being told he's different and he didn't make the cut. This is why I hate 'grooming' a child for some job/position/status/etc without letting THEM have a say, as you maybe setting them up for failure. History is rife with these things.

I mean, maybe his brother actually wanted it for more reasons than pleasing his parents. Wanting to please his parents isn't bad, as the Tree said, but it definitely can't be your sole motivation. Everything we had seen of Nigel before the Tree made her proclamation was in relation to how happy he was to get the affection of his parents. And frankly without it, his entire world came crashing down.

> "every single person in your family was selfless and had a true motivation to protect the weak..."

Except Nigel 😂

I know she might not mean it that way, but it would would be hard for someone in Nigel's situation not to interpret it like that. It would really, really hurt. I feel like Nigel is the Anakin Skywalker to a future Darth Vader.

I think she means something a tad different - that everyone in his direct line was. There may have been plenty of great aunts and grand uncles who weren't, and because of family tradition, No One Talks About Them. Same way no one is talking to, or about, Nigel atm. Not that Nigel isn't going to take it the way you are putting it...

Yup, just as I suspected, she indeed talked with his parents and they never listened.
Tradition is far more adamant to them than a word of a living Deity.
She can't and does not want to force anyone to do anything, so the whole thing is on Nigel's parents.

As for people being torn on HOW Nigel's parents could've ever become Guardians if He was not fitting - you can be a shitty person, but a good protector, even caring one, but deep down, pretty shitty to your own family, for example.
So, they qualified on being Guardians, but failed at being good parents.

Now it's only for Nigel to decide on his future.
But given his character sheet, he's not gonna take this talk all too well, just like his parents, the pride and anger will take the best out of him, and blind child's pure judgement..

I'm hoping that somewhere, along the way of the comic, he'll finally come to realise, that all he had to do, is look around to find a new way, take someone else's hand that might've helped him back on his feet, when his parents left him to himself.

Not from how he looks as an Adult.

Well, I mean.. AFTER that.
I guess he'll reappear further in the story as a villain of sorts.
Maybe, somehow, the core cast of the story and Nigel's brother will manage to make amends and ease his heart, at least a bit?
I just hope it won't be near his last breath.

Ooohhh!! I forgot about the ref sheet! Dang it! Guess we're just gonna be in for a few years of hobo living and sourness. ;.; Dang.

Yeah, realisation and pre-knowlege is trully sad..
Well, at least we know it already, so it won't be as heartbreaking to discover his future later in the story, as if we didn't knew about it from the ref sheet.

Yep. We can at least hope things do improve for him beyond that point and he doesn't just somehow go full on 'dark side' or worse and just end up dying young whether or not in the midst of a last ditch noble act.

As I've mentioned above, I do hope core cast along with his younger brother, will manage to make amends to years of bitterness and sorrow he lived through, be it from his parent's negligance, Luna's mistake in communicating or his own choice to cling to the dark emotions, and make his life brighter.
Only, long before it'll be too late..

There must be so much going on in his head right now.

I get the feeling Nigel is going to tap into his potential to try and ruin her life and family.

Well somehow I'm not surprised; she HAS talked to his family about this 'tradition' thing being forced on their future generations and tried to dissuade it. Of course the arrogant don't listen.

But their family tradition of treating their children like disaposable pawns for their own ambition works!

Luna just told nigel: Hes the first in the long bloodline of his family to fail the test... everyone else just aced it!

Infact his brother will actually become a guardian... despite being raised under the same traditions... and allready knowing that his parents sudden refound love for him is anything but unconditional... adding even more pressure onto him then was placed on nigel cause his brother allready knows what its like to being ignored and treated as not existing by his parents....

That means these harmfull traditions work a treat! That makes 1 Failure out of god knows how many generations of guardians? Thats quite the successfull system if you ask me.. perhaps everyone should treat their children like that...

Im sorry what?

If i was in nigels shoes.. i would go supervillain... screw this whole guardian business.. im joining chaos :P

Did I hear, JOINING CHAOS?!

Uh, Ohhhhh~

SMASH IT!

ARBITRATOR! DO SOMETHING!

He does do that... he does join evil.

just give Nigel a Mourneblade and everything will be fiiine~ :3

That makes 1 Failure out of god knows how many generations of guardians?

I recall someone from several pages ago suggesting that maybe Nigel's family has such a squeaky clean record because they disown anyone who fails and erase them from family tree...which would be a fucking horrifying and shitty thing of them to do. But given how his parents seem to put reputation and prestigious title of a Guardian above everything else, I wouldn't be surprised if they really do that kind of shit.

How the Bloody Hell are they Still Producing Guardians?!

Now i want to cry.

I wonder if he stays homeless after this considering what he looks like on his ref sheet.

Where can one find these ref sheets?

Look into the Folder this comic is on.

It's one of the pages at the end.

Figured the parents were such hard asses.

8I ….must….resist…urge…to….beat….asses…………-Gets Belle- >8U gonna get it now mother plungers!!!

Totally xD

go team evil go team evil lets go yes yes full kill burn the world do it boy

Im sorry what?

They where all selfless yet have become such failures as parents that treat their children like tools to achieve a goal rather then what they are? Children? How is that selfless? How did any of them ever become guardians? Im claling bullshit here.

Yeah no... that makes no sense in my book. You dont suddenly switch from "selfless defender of the weak" to "using you children like tools and drop them and cut them off if they disapoint you"

I mean i could have bought some disapointment, or feeling sorry for the kid, or indeed changing their focus on their second son from now on.. but not treating nigel with this outright disgust and hatred as somehow having tainted the family honor in an unforgivable way....

Then you've never seen that shit happen irl, man.
I saw that aplenty.
My own family for example.
Far relatieves to be exact.
They cared alot about others, they treated others with kindness and gentle touch, but behind the closed doors, they've harrassed and abused my cousins mentally, for being failures, not being as good as their cousins and neighbors, etc.
The duality of personality is pretty much real and you're actually pretty lucky, that you've never met anyone like that irl.
Or you've never noticed.
The history is full of such examples as well.

So to me, it's pretty believeable that Guardians genuinly served the people, the weak, were true protectors against forces of Chaos, but on a more personal and family level, they're pretty shitty persons.
Probably not all of them, but Nigel's parents for sure.

A closest example in my life's experience:
You may be a good Doctor/Nurse, genuinly care for the weak and ill that's under your treatment, but be a crap parent or manipulative "friend", when it comes to close and personal contact.

IRL actual living gods that you base you entire families reason of existance on and that can also look into your soul and see what truly motivates you dont exist.

So no its not exactly comparable to RL. Also i dont think becomming a guardian is the same as having a prestigious job in RL. No celestial figure looks into your soul when youre 10 year old and decides if youre selfless enough to become a doctorl. People can infact be great doctors and be morally bankrupt... you cant be a guardian and be ruthlessly ambitious from what we know cause that goes directly against being selfless.

I mean where does it state that you have to be selfless EXCEPT when it comes to raising your offspring?

Not to mention that this harmfull family tradition of using children as disaposable pawns for the families ambitions obviously works!

Luna just confirmed it too: Nigel is the first in the long history of his family to fail the test. So she too (even if indirectly) lays the blame on nigel, even thought hes the only innocent party involved!

Im sorry but Luna saying "Well i dunno how the others did it but they did it" is just.. no.. it doesnt work.

And they dont listen to their LIVING GODDESS even when she tells them that "hey the way your raise your kid, they will not become a guardian?"

Sounds more like a line that was put in here to adress the critisism that was raised last page about luna just letting things go on with that family.

And then his brother, being raised under the exact same circumstances, who has allready wittnessed what happens when he doesnt meet his parents expectations... somehow magically makes it to becomming a guardian?

How does any of that make sense?

You dont go from selfless, self sacrificing champion of the weak and downtrodden to ruthlessly ambitious and stone cold parent who treats their own offspring with disgust and open hostility if they fail once... i mean its not like they are just "crap" parents like in your doctor example.. they are outright monstrous in the way they treat their children... how did they ever become guardians?

Lets say they had turned their hopes and attention to nigels brother and only treated nigel with pity from now on... that would have been much better writing. That way Nigel would still have felt like he was a failure, would still have reason to be angry at luna and his parents, but the onus would be infact on him.. also his parents and luna would have been put in a much better light then abusive parents and a goddess who berates a child for wanting to make his parents proud.

If i was nigel.. i would be joining chaos... screw my abusive parents, and screw the goddess for supporting them and screw the high horse they all rode in on XD

Also sorry for making these so long but this all is somehow really fascinating for me XD

You're jumping from one thing to another awfully quick.
First you say "If that happens in RL, doesn't equal it'll happen in a world where a Living Deity's present", then you tell me "It doesn't makes sense, that they act like that, there's this and that cryteria!"
Well, you're contradicting yourself.
If we can't compare the story to RL events because Luna's excistance makes it so unbelieveable, then you can't use normal human logic with how this universe works.
If you're trying to justify your dissatisfaction with how story goes and that characters has flaws, by applying any form of common sense and logic, then you're failing to back up your arguement.

You seem like you simply wanna went your inner anger and afliction towards anything chaotic and destructive, rather than actually caring for the flow of the story and character development.
But, you do you. It's your Free Will.

Agreed with your points!

People can turn our nasty both in comics and real life. It does happen.

And the tree has been shown not to be omniscient or all powerful, so I people keep forgetting that she is a little god, not the idea of Christian God. She is in charge with the balance and life of the world and can't right all the wrongs of the world or know or constantly interfere with anything. She did her best with talking to Nigel and being nothing but sweet and encouraging and even spoke to his parents before they left. I think the tree is doing s good job as best she can and people are being unnecessarily harsh and angry at the wrong person just because of her title and position.

Yeah, my thoughts exactly!
Even at the start of the story, when she took our beloved green flame kitten as her daughter, she wanted to live as a "normal mother" and normal person at least ONCE in her life, so that people would understand, that behind her title of a Goddess, she's actual person, with her own issues, flaws and mistakes.
Plenty of people in the comment section are just outright ignorant and hateful with their statements, missing the bigger picture of the story, focusing solely on how Nigel got wronged, shunning Luna for no actual reason.
True, it's sad and hurtful for a child so young to loose all they had in a moment's notice, just because of how his parents are, can't lie, Luna might've handled situation a bit better, if she was more persistent and invasive, but that's not in her nature.
Does it make her a bad character, a bad person for not standing up for Nigel?
Nope.
Is it wrong to make a story around such sad case?
No, again.
But some people still try and convince everyone else (and themselves, as it seems), that it shouldn't even happen in fiction, as if, it'll change the fact, that it happens irl to this day.

Unfortunately children rarely possess the insight to understand that their parents might have taught them lessons for the wrong reasons. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think that hearing this will make Nigel feel much better.

Considering how he turns out in his ref, I think it's pretty safe to assume that he doesn't take this talk very well, and things only continue to get worse for him.

Indeed, though I'm trying to separate "future knowledge" from other art in my reading of the actual narrative. <3

I think it's more the fact that he went for his "Road of Enlightenment"... Without a Guide or Advisor, simply because Luna forgot the Highly important detail.

His Narration at the start of the Chapter shows he has been going through a Self-Reflection... And Out of all the Things he had gotten in it? It was that the World was a Horrible Place, His Parents were Complete Shit, and Nigel himself was the Biggest Shitlord of all time.

Hell, the only one he even had a Remotely positive quote to? It was to his Little Brother Toby... The One his Parents Switched their Tracks to. He doesn't Hate Toby, and by the time of his Narration, he doesn't bear Luna any Ill Will.

It's stated by Vikitra that when Nigel Joins the Party, He'll be a complete asshole, lashing out at everyone... And having a Deep Hatred for himself. A Major part of his character arc is to heal himself.

Boy slowly going to dark side
Sweet

The most heartbreaking thing is that Nigel is bearing ALL the consequences here. The pressure of his parents, the abandonment after tree of life rejected him. Boy did not do a single thing wrong but is facing consequences of everyone who did the decisions for him.

Yeah, sadly, but it feels a little too real for me..
Which means, the story is actually great!

aye it's a good story but I wish a powerful wise being like the tree of life wouldn't doom the child like this. But I guess not even deities are immune to mistakes

Nigel was groomed to be a guardian. His parents' decision
Then he was not deemed good enough. Tree's decision
He was cast aside with no support or consolation. Parents' decision and kinda Tree of life's fault. Especially if she knew about the pressuring. You don't do a thing like that to a kid.

Everything was taken from him and none of it was his decision or fault. He was just thrown around by everyone, including the all benevolent tree of life. So if he grows up to hate everything.. Can't really blame him. Not one bit.

Sure some chaos god with a soothing voice will take care if Nigel

this girl is poring water on an oil fire someone get the flour

Wouldn't that cause an Explosion?

Have hope Nigel. You don't have to be what your family expects. You alone control your fate

i feel way too much of myself in that kid...

luna is giving off uncle iroh vibes

...A Rather Bad one in this case. Seriously. Iroh knew when to say it and how. He avoided being Condescending as much as possible, and knew when was the best time for a certain moral and when it wasn't.

Here, Luna may as well be kicking Nigel in the Dick. I mean, His abusive Family gets to be guardians, while Nigel is treated like a Failure.

Luna basically said "Congratulations, you're a Failure" to Nigel with the biggest smile on her face and most motherly tone in her voice.

No wonder Nigel grew up hating himself.

Yeah, how the saying goes?
"A road to Hell's made off Virtues"?
She tries her best to help everyone and be good to many, but somehow, even after so many years, or rather centuries, of being Deity, she still makes such mistakes, she still has flaws.
I guess, that's what makes her a living person - the ability to make a mistake, even after milenia of experience.

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" is the saying you're looking for.

Thanks. ^^

You are the best of them all! But still they all become guardian while you have not.

Yeah, I'm being unfair here, but I'm pretty sure this is how her words sound into Nigel big ears right now...

Such potential, but for both good and evil. In the eternal war, one must choose their side. It seems Nigel did not choose wisely.

Yeah okay, but she's gonna have to do the same thing to his brother right? This reasoning cannot stand if she lets his younger brother become one when it is time.

But we know for a fact that nigels brother will be a guardian.

So the system of using your children as disposable pawns works a treat XD

Nigel is the first and only to fail!

So why would his parents listen to luna if the system has allways worked and infact will work again in the future? The failure here is obviously nigel.. hes the only odd one out...

Because nigel wanted to make his parents proud... something im sure no one else in his family ever wanted to do when training to become a guardian... and luna also does not know why the family traditions where no problem with any other candidate except for nigel...

Im sorry what?

so wtf is going on, is the guardian a liar or something? She sounds like a total douchebag. Signalling out one child out of everyone, if he was to be an example to his parents it certanly did not work accepting the younger brother. This whole logic is flawed and awful!

It's kind of weird to explain, but I'll try to summarise it as best I can, and this is just my take on things. So long story short it would seem that Nigel's family tradition, as questionable as it may be, does lead them to becoming genuine guardians along way, at some point, I guess you could say the personal desire comes in, and over time they begin to fit the status que.
Now Nigel for some reason, despite being raised the same way, adopted a different mindset, and didn't develop in the way that his family did, which of course lead to him being not ready for the role, like the others before him.
The whole time he never had a personal desire or developed one, it was pretty much a clear cut case of, I'm going to become a Guardian, because that's what others expect of me, since this is what they want me to do, I'm going to do it to make them happy. And unfortunately for him, this resulted in his life take a huge turn for the worst, cause he didn't develop in the same way that his family did.

_{Oh yeah, like that speech ever helped a kid.}
Meltdown in 3..

So they adore a goddess whose advice they ignore. Typical

What reason would they have to listen to Luna, when there tradition has effectively worked for countless generations? Plus it's very likely that Toby will end up becoming a Guardian as well. Nigel's the odd one out, or the black sheep of the family, cause his mindset wasn't like theirs's, unfortunately for him, his life took a major turn for the worst because of it

Yep, just as I had thought. But here's hoping she can break through all that resentment...

No offense to Luna but what she's telling Nigel at the end, isn't exactly the right thing to say to someone who's basically lost everything.

Also looks like I was somewhat right with Nigel being different from his questionable family

😧 Luna, you might as well have told Nigel, "Congratulations, you're a failure." In the happiest tone imaginable.

No wonder Nigel hated himself so much as an Adult. Luna basically kicked him in the dick after he lost everything, that is, his home, his right to be part of his Family, and his Chance to get better.

I mean, Toby probably would end up like Nigel, trying to please his family, yet he gets to be a Guardian without much issue? It feels like the Ultimate insult.

It's probably why he looks like a Rake as an Adult. He can't even care to eat.

As she said
They not started with free will
They somewhere got it
You con the other si de kiddo must have cree will from the start kiddo
...
Hold on then why they started and then got the selfless
But kiddo here must have it already?

She didn't ask him to HAVE a reason already, she've let him search for his own reason to become Guardian for a year, then she'd return.
Her mistake was - not telling him the criteria of what he should look for, outright. Only hinted, that he must find his own way in life.
And then the whole thing with parents abandoning him happened.

The previous Guardians in his family started just like him - being trained to become Guardians in the future, but along the way, they've probably experienced something that made them feel for others, want to protect others, devote themselves to BE a Guardian, because they WANTED to protect the weak.
Nigel just wanted to please his parents.
It's a huge ball of crap rolling downhill, from his parent's ignorance and Luna's overfaith in others.
Luna trusted that Nigel would find his own reason to be a Guardian or be someone else, she trusted his parents to talk to Nigel and explain things, to stop treating their child as some sort of tool, but it backfired.
Shows that even though she's a few centuries old, she's still a person with her own flaws.

When the eternals onky speak in riddles and your parents took it as a fail
To be guardians they acted very recklessly

I think they aren't Guardians NOW, but they were.
And steady, peaceful life, with only pride and luxury on your side, rots one's soul away.

Also she doesn't really speak in riddles, her speach is pretty clear to me.
But then again, everyone will decipher someone else's words judging from their own expectations and experience.
So Nigel's parents, probably, only heard from Luna - "your son's a failure and he doesn't get to be Guardian." - and nothing else.

Yep
And forma those who dont get the right answer or dont ser from the same angle
A sample texto can become a davinci code
That is what i meant when some eternals just to say things in half or for the already confused ones to try to fill the blank
But as you said
Perhaps they are but they are so high rank they dont step into the frontlines and are city/ palace or important place guards they got unsensitice and follow ThE tradition losing all meaning to the action

Well, judging by how enflamed the comment section is rn, I guess her words ARE a riddle for many.
God, so many hateful comments for Luna.
She've lived for milenias, she must know everything, and has no right to make a mistake, especially towards a CHILD.
Some already getting pitchforks and torches ready.

And yeah, probably just what his parents do rn - living luxurious life, commiting to the family traditing, maybe protecting something in the city, but they're not Guardians anulonger, else they'd be out therr, fighting against Chaos and not home everyday with their kids.

Dude the hate con INE parte is to get into that charácter of "evil whispering to the child" and others simply wanna go bananas forma the jokes
Its not like se dont get it
Its just to follow the mood con some cases

Dunno, some people are genuinly pissed, it seems..
At least, they defend their hate towards Luna, like their life depends on it.

The time of the tree if life nust go to an end XD
For the funny lols or not you hace a point where they get very intense tho
But i bet either unjustified hate most people can exoect ThE usual 2 ways the conflict resolves for inmortal characters

Hunters of Chaos you say? Im sure Stanger's of Paradise's Jack would make a fine Guardian XD

Optimistic Mom! (Optimus Mom)

You are the best of them all! But still they all become guardian while you have not. What do you mean that doesn't make you happy? Can you work towards becoming a guarding while net knowing where your next meal will come from? I see such potential in you! Yeah, I think I can see why he's soo bitter.

Well i think its time for Nigel to say: "I will be a guardian. If not for my family, then for everyone else! Because "I" want to become the best guardian this world has ever seen!"

Because his family just "trained" him to be a guardian, and didnt told him WHY he should become a guardian. They only said "Its tradidion. Do it like everyone did."

Yes you have to travel your own road. Homeless and without any additional support because you are basically out on your own as a child. The conversation is almost a bit like her trying to add sugar on top of something very bitter but it still just comes out bitter.

I'm surprised she didn't say "Nigel, repeat after me: "Do you want fries with that?"

I have a feeling she's just going to create a monster of resentment... 🤔

I don't know if that pep talk is gonna work on him.

In fact, I have a sinking feeling that this kid is gonna be a, if not the, villain.

From what I understand, he's supposed to be part of the main cast of hero's, but he's also not to be someone that your supposed to like

Last panel was wholesome af.

Well then what will she have to say when Nigel tells her his parents abandoned him because of her rejection and that her words meant nothing to them?

Listen to her, Nigel; think, boy, think

Ironically, Omniman realized his mistake at the end XD

Who? o.o; *is clueless*

Oh lol! Don't tell me you used the meme without knowing the story behind it XD .

Look for the animated series called "invincible", or summary videos on YouTube, and you'll know what is going on :3 .

I didn't even know that was a meme - something I literally came up with on the fly xD

Ohh! Well, there is a meme just like that based on the animated series I mentioned before. The funny thing is that when you realize what was going on it matches the situation here so beautifully :D .

His anger is reaching critical mass! Run for cover!

Cool, that really doesn't help a kid that lost everything deer .W.

lol, despite being assholes they just somehow were all 100% genuinely altruistic.

To quote Sheev: Stop asking perfectly logical questions!

Well, they were when they were chosen and when they were Guardians. I have my doubts that they would be chosen today.

Being a Guradian =\= being "altruistic".
Are nurses or doctors being altruistic when they save someone's lives and then go home to be shitty parents?
Just a quick example.
Guardians are people that protect the common and weak people from forces of Chaos.
Which doesn't make them 100% idealistic, all-time right and altruistic.
They're people, but strong and they decided to take that job, because they wanted to Protect.
Somehow everyone misses that simple point..

"you have to yearn to protect the weak, to fight for those who can not fight for themselves. And you will never be able to stand against the Chaos if your heart is not in the right place."

Yeah, my bad, guess I didn't realize that they're just strong people doing a job.

Don't know if that was supposed to be genuine or sarcastic, but in that quote nothing states that they have to be altruistic or all-round perfect.
"Heart in a right place" means to me - they have to understand why and what they're fighting for, out of their own free will.
So, yeah, just strong people, with super-natural powers, that protect the weak out of their own volition, not because someone told them to.

For a bit I was thinking that Nigel grows up to be that guy from the beginning (Lynus) but then I realized that he was present when Miralle was a baby and was already old so he wouldn’t be able to be young when she was young.

And I am being reminded that this is the type of deity I like the most in stories. One that is not perfect. One that can, despite all their power, can fail. That is also personally involved.

Like the Greek Pantheon. Sometimes they act from Olympus, sometimes they are just there doing whatever interests them. With all their individual interests, power, strengths and flaws.

And sometimes they just turn into a "golden rain" to make semi-deities all around Greece, just cause. XD
Yeah, same.

Yes Nigel take a road that no one has traveled before, become what your are destined do be, become a Oathbreaker Paladin off the Chaosgods and usher in the Endtimes :D

So many potentials tragically lost...

I hope Zummeng at least doesn't cop-out later and make Nigel's journey completely meaningless by making him a guardian down the road.

Perhaps when Zummeng said they want Nigel unlikeable, they meant just from the perspective of the other in-universe characters?

Potential that shall now serve the daaarrrksssidddeee *thunder pew pew* lmao

Nigel: Hey that's nice... but can you talk to my parents like, right now? They pretty much ghosted me and don't care for my existence anymore because of your decision.

Sorry, am I the only one thinking that has to be said and isn't being said?

Wow. What a curse. Seeing the true potential in people and seeing them struggle to find it.

I hope that Nigel is not holding something sharp in one of his pockets or this will probably go from a general warning to a mature one real quick

if anything the fault lies within the parents.
They practically DISOWNED him on first failure.
He's got nothing now. And that's why he's so angry. He doesn't realize the fault lie within his own arrogant parents.

I have the feeling that Nigel will not turn into a bad guy, but he'll also not be a good guy either "at least not with the people that follow or is related to this godness that's for sure...."
He'll probably in the future be kind for those that he see to be worth his trust, while for the others (the main heros of the tree of life) he'll be rude, annoying and distrustful with them.

C'mon, kiddo, listen to her....listen, listen, listen, pleeeaaase listen....

I feel like the Tree tries to do good by him, but to Nigel this might sound hollow because... this is what he's been told many a time by his parents, and in the end it was still not enough.

Oh, so Luna did talk to Nigel's parents about their tradition of being Guardians, which is imposed at all costs on family members knowing what the consequences could be for such action; well, that answered the questions I had about it. However, Nigel has just discovered that if he wants to be a guardian, he must choose such a path by his own will and not others; I'm curious how this is going to play out in the following pages.

Nigel’s family really are good! Not that their treatment of Nigel was fair though.

How is unpersoning your son a good act?

Oh, never mind

This Mary Sue. Will we ever see her at fault?
Damn, she knows how to use of her millennial wisdom.

Practically, we ARE seeing her at fault.
We do see her make a grave mistake right now.
And despite her milenial wisdom too.
What I've gathered about Luna so far from the story - she wants to live and be treated as a normal human being, but instead, because of her immortal life and abilities, she's treated like Deity.
I'm pretty sure, Victria tries to show us that Luna's a person, with her own flaws as well.
But only thing many readers see her - is Deity.
"She's not allowed to do wrongs, cuz she's Deity!"
Is all I see in the comments 80% of the time.

I share your point of view about her statue of divinity.
But precisely, in this page Luna explains us that she knew perfectly the tradition of this family and tried to dissuade them. She knew what would happen and did everything to avoid it before.
Should she have tried harder? Perhaps, but it seems that she preferred to respect the education of Nigel's parents and their free will.

This is what I mean by "Mary Sue": morally she is extremely good, she knows how the world works. But she can't (and won't) force others to adopt her point of view. And in the end it is they who fail despite her warnings.

Well, it ain't Mary Sue in my book.
You see, Mary Sue's whole this is about them being ALWAYS right, no matter what and everyone else agrees with it.
Nobody quesions them, nobody actually angry at Mary Sues in their stories.
And even if people are angry, it somehow "magically" resolves itself.
I get the feeling, in this story, Nigel won't easily forgive Luna for her mistake here, and it will come to bite her in the ass later.

But you've pretty much said exactly what I've been telling in this comment section:
Luna lets everyone live their lives, make their own mistakes and learn from them, be it happy life or sad one.
She tries to level the sad part to a minimum, but it's not her job to keep everyone happy all the time.
You can't make everyonr happy, especially by force.
In Russia there goes saying: "You can't drag a person into Heaven on a leash."

Without seeing bad in life, how could anyone appreciate the good?

To be different is the most terrible thing to be at that age. And even the intellectual knowledge doesn't help you, that "some day" you will appreciate just how unique and precious your way is. Because at that age? "Some day" is still an eternity away. At that age you just want to be like everyone else and belong. And all good words (while well intended and coming from the heart) offer no help, no relief in that moment. Still... there is hope for happyness... in the long run. It comes with age. It is the journey of a life.

The funny thing is the goddess did say Nigel's family might not started their journey on their own free will either, but they got accepted anyways! I wonder if it was too hard to just accept Nigel, teach him some things and then let him go to find his own path if there were so many fantastic things in him? Instead of rejecting him, risking him become a thief or something even though she knew how proudful and traditionalist that family is? For a wise entity, she does lack some basic life experience most of us does notice growing up.

She didn't say that they got accepted despite not being worthy.
She said that his family members started just as him - being brainwashed for the purpose of being a Guardian, but before they've got to be tested by Luna, they somehow found their own will and desire to BE a Guardian, because THEY wanted it, not because they were told so.
And she can't, nor will take someone do something they're not cut for, against their will, or even if it is their will, but it'd be their death sentence in the long run.

I don't know, how people in the comment section read her words and fail to understand the meaning.
She's not speaking in riddles, she says it clearly.
"You need to have your heart in the right place."
Which means - you have to put your heart into what you're doing or about to do, in order to fullfil it!
Nigel wanted to be Guardian because he was told to, his heart wasn't at BEING a Guardian, it was at Pleasing his Parents.

Also, life of free will, isn't always about "living a happy life, sheltered life", it's about living up to your choices, good or bad. Pushing through all wrongs, being a Person.
If she'd just take his hand and "show him the Way", he'd never learn to live his own Life.
As cruel as it sounds, that's the beauty and ugly part of everyone's life.

The way his parents found their own will to become Guardians is a big "if" because that was not stated (as far as I remember though), but what are bothering me now are:
- Wouldn't Nigel's parents know about that important requirement that is the free will? Because they never do that during Nigel's training and education, because it is either they forgot or they neglected that.
- And also, why would the Tree of Life forget to mention that important requirement to every parent and to every candidate over and over again? I mean she mentioned talking to Nigel's parents. If free will is so important to choose your own path in life, and if to fight chaos is so important, I would NOT forget about the requirements because it would eventually lead to this kind of situations, and who knows to how many others has happened aswell without any need.

People are arrogant, selfcentered and forgetful. They're people, afterall.
And as Luna said herself on page 5 - she's almost forgotten by those who once worshiped and feared her.
So many people in the comments point at her, saying "She's a Deity! How could people not listen to her?! How could she make mistakes, she lived for milenias!"
Well, simple.
Overtime, people tend to forget and even if a living Deity, that lives and acts pretty much like a normal human being, would tell them how to live and what to do, it's not likely they'd listen all that much, even if she has a final word on deciding, who's fit or not to be a Guardian.
It may sound unbelieveable, but if anyone would just look around themselves irl and think for a bit, tracing what's happening in the comic, to their daily life (given they're not sheltered and protected from all wrongs in the world), they'd see, how much alike this situation to some that happens in our own world.

How many preachers told people around the globe how to live and how many listened?

Besides, as it's been written in the comic already, Luna's pretty much gives people to live their lives, as they please, she's never invasive with her teachings.
She cares for all and everyone, but that means, if she cares of all, she can't single someone out of the many.
She took Mira and Chili under her care, which already put these two out, like a pair of blazing flames.
Mira, cuz her parents died and she wanted to feel like a real mother for once.
And Chili, because Mira wanted a friend and partner in crime.

But that's beside the point.
My point is - Luna makes mistakes, she's not allmighty, allseeing and allknowing.
As far as I've understood from what we already have so far in the comic, she's as much a person and human being, as others, just with super-long life span and Life controlling powers.
And I like her that way. She's not perfect, she has flaws, she's more interesting than any other character that could predict every outcome and do everything right, no matter what.

For that is that I am interested to see how this continues, to see the outcome because I have seen and known some people that would rather just have the answers immediately, and that is not what storytelling is about.

I suppose we will have to wait and see how this all turns out ;)

I just hope that, by the end, the kid will not sacrifice himself and say "Luna was right" :P

Indeed, we'll have to wait and see, how it all spins out.
I have my own predictions and I'm very much eager to see if I'm right or not.

I really hope Guardians and Co will help Nigel make amends and feel better in the end, just hopefully, not right before he dies for the right cause..

That is the good thing about stories... well, those that hook you up, hehehe.
Good luck then! :3 . My FA account is one I made to vent-out and allow myself to draw evil stuff, but I do have stories in development and I like to see other stories to enrich myself in how to tell a story.

I would rather him not to die, but instead for him to finally be able to find his happiness, because in his reference he still looks quite young.

Agreed.
He's young, emotional and just in the right age to be that edgy teen, especially after all what happened to him.

But that is also a good age to be able to find the answers he'd been looking for and be able to get his life going as it was intended to be... at least I hope so! ^_^'

Good thing Luna is a deity because she's a terrible person.

Also, she's literally saying all this in front of an essentially kidnapped child that almost killed the village chief, but will now get to live with an accepted guardian & the deity...? Why don't you offer a place for Nigel to live, too...? Y'know... since he just got disowned from his family because you want to add some special conditions for him being a guardian for no apparent reason?

No? Just tell him some philosophical fluff that's going to go over his head because he's a child? Well done, deity.

I couldn't agree more. At first I liked the goddess for her design and being legit interesting- but as time passes it just really irritates me to see her now, due to how she handles situations. For a goddess, she is more than flawed- she is dangerously misguided which will impact the many following her, hence how her actions now are going to ruin a kid's life because "words be the way of truth and beauty~" which doesn't do jack for the kid's situation at all.

This is soundling like familiar childhood events. This is a -very- worthy story to tell.

The tragedy of the situation is that both Luna and Nigel may have the best intentions of their respective situations, but thats was not enough. It also show that Luna, as powerful of a god as she may be, is still flawed person, she come as a lil to naive or trusting with letting people do the right thing on their own, like the case of Nigel parents.

I like the Rhibun's feet.

This is how villians are born. *grabs popcorn*

You know those demons that the cat girls uses her green flame to fight? Right now my biggest fear for Nigel is that due to this moment and "his" way of interpreting Luna's words, Nigel falls into a turmoil of rage, bitterness, and vengefulness that leads to him possibly turning into one of those monsters forcing the other guardians to decide whether or not they should save him and still believe they can help him despite how much of an asshole he's been or just kill him and end his misery and suffering as a demon!

Intriguing wisdom put into characters with so much depth.

What is the wisdom you provide Zummeng?

THE ORIGINS OF DARTH NIGEL

For a goddess, she is quite oblivious to how she is worsening the situation. I get it, you're trying to motivate but the poor choice of words is going to utterly ruin the kid's life, and you're acting like he should be old enough to understand the meaning behind your words.

Ngl I kind of want to see the consequences of the goddess's actions and kind of get a taste of it through this kid. Even if she did talk to the parents, she didn't lift a finger beyond that and now look where his life is heading. Poor kid.

An unfortunate reality of the "conditional love" parenting style - when you create an exchange of "success" for "love" in an attempt to create a intrinsic craving for success in that child, there is such a fine line between them buying into it full-on and continuing to succeed for themselves or deciding (even subconsciously) that the love of their parents is utmost (and often not being able to love themselves enough to go beyond that need - trust me, I write from experience). Seems that all Nigel ever wanted was unconditional love, even if he never figured out the associations or methodology of his parents - in his heart of hearts, he probably thought that achieving Guardian status would afford him that from his parents.

And now, as the Tree reveals the "impurity" of his desires, she is (in essence) tearing down any of Nigel's hopes for love from his family, his fatalist mindset seeing not opportunity for other greater things but instead the downfall of any opportunity for love from his parents, even as he so vehemently rejects them and despises them. The Tree wants him to see that he doesn't need the approval of his parents and/or being a Guardian at all to do great things - if anything, given how the prospective of being a Guardian has injured Nigel so much, it is best he travel and find a new motivation, break his nigh-addictive cycle of tormentive desire for love by learning to make his own.

In other words, it's all a matter of perspective. The Tree is trying to be constructive here, and Nigel is hearing her as destructive - and as we see on the next page, he doesn't take too kindly to his emotional dependency being challenged.

Unless the point was that the "goddess" was wrong the whole time, this is very badly written. It's just some sophistry about "free will" when that wasn't lacking in the first place and quibbling over technicalities.

Honestly, if he goes "full Kratos" and kills her one day, it will be extremely satisfying. Or maybe like that other stupid tree in DOS 2, which can also be put down. Not that I think that will happen here.

So despite all of his "fantastic and enormous potentials", the Tree says that Nigel is not worthy of being a guardian, but she immediately makes Leopold a guardian while this lion seems to despise the weak and only wants to be a guardian to take revenge …

That's totally BULLSHIT! It seems that not all are equal in the eyes of this goddess and that some have a free pass if they have the right connections.

TO DOOMTHEDEMONKING, deltasearcher, Waspz, Freebird, DeadSpaceBro, Nopersons, and gabidoud: You guys are schmucks.
Waspz: The potentials are still there.
Freebird and DeadSpaceBro: Luna is NOT a terrible person!
Nopersons: What do you know about badly written stories? Because THIS IS NOT one of them.
gabidoud: Give it time. It will be clear soon.

so from what I see, his family at first were kind but then got so caught up in the guardian career they just became egotisticals