And letting him go, just like that.

GG ya glowing stump.

I mean, I was hoping for a 'Murder the Gods, Topple their Thrones' scenario.

If he doesn't want her help, what is she supposed to do?

Step 1, Firmly grasp the child. Step 2, Raise child up into the air. Step 3, Yeet the child.

no

*hits child* the tree cares more then you will ever know.

Oy vey Y~Y

Well I guess that explains his current exiled/poverished appearance. Kinda glad Luna stopped Mira from attacking/hurting him, as that probably wouldn't have done any wonders to his already fragile state of mind. Sucks that Luna didn't offer to take him in, though considering all that's happened, I'm sure he wouldn't have accepted, it's unfortunate but it's his choice. Only time will tell how things turn out for him.

Craaaawling iiiiiiin my craaaaaawl! These craaaaaaaawls they will not craaaaaaawl!

I am ded.

You win 12 internetz XD

XD Oh gosh, I'm going to go look that up now!

She should punish his parents

This will totally not come back to bite me in the butt later.

"I hope he finds his way." Because man, you did nothing to help.

O mean, what is she to do? Do you think that of she offered to help him or take him in that he would accept it? Should she drag him with her when he says no against his will? What else could she say or do?

She knew that it was a family tradition, yes. But I doubt that she would have known that his parents would act the way they did. She may be capable of a lot of things, but I doubt shes clairvoyant. She probably thought that he would go back to his parents, tell them the situation, and then he'd go back to his training with them while meditating on what it means to be a Guardian. A good heart like hers would have never assumed that the people who have done so much to help other would change in a way to have this mindset

Maybe at one point in their life they would have understood. But that's not the case anymore, and while we the readers saw it coming, nobody in the comic could. They dont have the pleasure of seeing what he becomes. She would have never wanted this. Thats something that I think a lot of people here are not understanding. And I think she feels just as guilty that she didnt realize it sooner and did more to help, but at the same time making him a guardian while he had that mindset would have just worsened a cycle that was already in the works.

All she can do now is hope that a opportunity will present itself where she can do more to help. Until then, getting more involved will just push him away. The ball is in his court now. It's up to him to see what hes gonna do with it.

I really want to applaud Luna sarcastically. For a goddess supposed to guide and help people she's really bad, in Nigel's case she have failed SPECTACULARLY.

Also, the origin story of Nigel remind me alot Gollum's song from "the Two Towers", apart from the fact that sometimes Gollum refer himself as "we", which is not the case of Nigel, the song is almost perfect match (It's like the song inspired you) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPwZQiYsL4w

I just hope Nigel will have a better fate than Gollum. 😟

Oof

The Tree of Life has made many mistakes with this.

But then again, she herself is not perfect either. It has been stated she isn't perfect, why else require guardians or not be able to know events before they occur? She has flaws, either in her power or herself as a person. And this is well shown in the bit of "But I hope he finds his way soon."
This showcases whilst she has influence, she knows that she cannot always persuade people or make them see her view. Perhaps not a flaw, but most certainly a weakness in a sense.


Now granted, some of the blame is also to be put onto the parents. Especially their handling of the child after finding out the child isn't worthy. But we only ever see Nigel's PoV. Not from their parents. A very important detail many here have seem to gloss over is the following:

Nigel's family have become Guardians for generations... Each one becoming one regardless of their sex, their origin and so forth. They became it, because they were worthy by the Tree herself. And the most crucial aspect they all possessed that Nigel lacks is: "Wanting to protect the Weak and serve the Tree of Life out of their own free will!"

His parents, his grandparents etc... ALL became guardians as they ALL had these traits. A trait that Nigel lacks. ... Now granted, the way the parents behaved after him not getting the status was wrong. But understand this:

Nigel's parents ... get to hear from both the Tree AND their own son. That the reason he failed: "I do not care to protect the weak because I WANT to!" Note that this implies he does the Guardian training for selfish reasons... The adoration of his parents. Putting the duty of protecting the weak... Protecting the Tree of Life, beneath his own self interest. And to his parents who were Guardians and protected the Tree and all others because they sought to protect the Weak. Not because of their vanity.

So imagen you as a parent finding such a thing out that your eldest in a way:

Does not care about the weak: Pride
Is jealous on the life stolen: Envy
Doesn't wish to improve and even ignores the advice given: Sloth
Craving the attention of his parents above all else (And I can understand this one very well!): Lust
Unable to try and reason with the faults his parents did to him and letting it consume him: Anger


Are his parents without blame? No... Is Nigel without fault? No ... Is the Tree herself perfect? No...
Should his parents have helped guide him? Yes ... Could Nigel have tried to be more reasonable? Yes ... Could the Tree have assisted in different ways? Yes

A situation is often times more complex than one can realise if looked upon from different angles. ... Allas, a story like this cannot do that without it becoming too long.
Wonderfully done!

Nigel is a child. He was basically pressured into wanting to become a guardian because his parents expected him to become one. He was practically abandoned by them as soon as it turned out that he wasn't worthy.

Whatever reason the Tree had to reject him, his parents should not have treated him the way they did. For one, the Tree told him that he could try again - the cause for becoming a guardian was not lost. Second, his parents valued their reputation and holding to the tradition of the firstborn being a guardian over the well-being of their child.

To put this much pressure onto a child, and then expect that child to react "reasonably" when his entire life falls apart because he did not live up to his parents' expectations, is the unreasonable part. And I think that the Tree understands that she has played no small part in causing this anger and disdain, indirectly as it may be. In Nigel's eyes, it was her who caused this, less so his parents deciding to abandon him because he did not meet their expectations.

That Nigel presumed it is normal. And it is a flaw of the parents for not having stated this so.

As I had said, nobody in this scenario is without blame.

His parents could have been more supportive or taken the news differently. I am honestly curious how said family line could stay a Guardian and the Tree knowing this behavior of the line.
It'll be interesting to see if the Tree will feel remorse for the actions taken.

And of course the relationship between Nigel and his younger brother down the line.

It's not a family line though. It's two. The behavior may be a result of these parents having been together for some time. A case of the whole being less than the sum of the parts.

Well-spoken and a nice analysis of the situation. A lot of the commentators miss the nuance and layers of the story. Often and just rage at the Tree, and pity Nigel without putting into account the bigger picture. There's plenty of faults to go around between the characters, although ultimately I personally hold Nigel's parents the most accountable because I loathe people like them who treat their children differently with levels of favoritism and practically disown one when they don't meet their expectations. They set up Nigel to fail, and while yes the Tree could intervene more; it sounds like she tried but THEY did not listen. So without going 'raging God' on them and scare them into changing their ways, which goes against her modus operandi; 'allowing others to choose of their own will' I don't see that happen. Now if the youngest goes through the trials and also fails, maybe the Tree will have a more scathing comment about 'them' failing 'both' their children. However only time will tell.

Very well put!

But don't all children have these traits until taught otherwise? Nigel is a child with a still growing brain and emotions. What are we to expect a child out the womb already acting like an adult with a life time worth of knowledge and experience.

I'm kind of impressed by the mental gymnastics you had to go through to make Nigel (A 10-yr-old remember) the bad guy.
His parents are the purest form of scum there is.
All those faults of his? Guess who taught them to him.
Children do not learn in a void. Furthermore need I remind you that they completely neglected Toby until Nigel "failed".
Furthermore Nigel did not give up or rage after his rejection by the tree. He took it in stride and was happy to improve. Until his parent disowned him immediately afterward.

Luna and Nigel carry no blame at all in this.
This is purely on the parents and their shockingly callous parentage.

I will, however, give you one caveat that legitimizes the parents reaction.
Luna does make it clear that in hundreds of generations, Nigel is the only one unworthy in an entire ancient family line. Any parent would see that as a signal from god itself that your child is deeply and inherently broken. But I believe that is Zummeng's fault for poor writing.

The bit about his parents being appalled by his lack of selfishness would work... kept for one crucial detail:

They completly shunned and ignored his little brother before nigel failed to become a guardian and only after that did they embrace his little brother while nigel took his place as the black unloved sheep of the family.

Wich to me means that they are a bunch of hypocritical selfish a-holes who project their own desires so hard onto their children that they see them as vessels for their own ambitions more then their own flesh and blood. Wich makes Lunas "i dont know how, but it has worked so far" even more ridiculus... she should strip the parents of their titles for failing to protect the weak and vulnerable... in this case their OWN CHILDREN from harm...

Also he was neither envious nor was he slothfull, nor did he show pride, He accepted that he was lacking and would try to do better in a year, thats neither pridefull nor sloth. Also he had no reason to envy his brother because at that point his brother was still being treated like dirt. Heck it was even shown that nigel at some level felt sorry for how his parents treated his brother, but did everything he could not to share his fate. He was a hard and dedicated worker... wich is amazing considering how early his training must have started!

Also craving his parents love is lust? Im sorry but no... you are equating a child wanting to be loved by his parents to a deadly sin? Bit harsh there dont you think? Please show me the child that isnt guilty of this sin then XD

Unable to reason after he got emotionally traumatized through abandonment? HES 10 YEARS OLD! He hasnt even hit puberty XD Hes throwing a temper tantrum SPECIFICLY cause his brain child is simply physically not able to work these emotions!

You are being incredibly unfair to nigel here.

This 100%

How is Mira a guardian with no capability to understand or emphasize with someone's plight? But Nigel had something missing that he could have dealt with later in life and was rejected by everyone. And it should be Lunas responsibility to guide him after apologizing severely.

Stellar storytelling by the way. I am at the edge of my seat and invested like an inside trader. I hope any angry or outright rude comments aint getting you down.

Both are children. All Mira saw was her mother being attacked. The good person that helps so many. And she reacts like a kid would. Well, one of the possible reactions kids often have.

Guardian children seem to have high standards to be accepted. and Mira knows what is going on I would think. And Mira if she has eyes, should see that this boy is in horrid pain. And even told what Luna's choices has done to him. But yea I give that. Kid seeing parent getting hurt, all reason really goes out of window

My reaction to all the drama llamas that are or will be in the comments

How dare you say that about my mother

awesome story

"Walking blue vegetable" lol, funny.

Poor kid. :(

May his redemption arc be beautiful.

Personally I'm not so surprised she ended up failing at helping or even guiding Nigel. As she said in the first chapter of the intro there's a difference between being the mother of all life and actually experiencing what it is to be a mother (which is why she chose to adopt Miralle, to try to fill this gap).

Here we have the same problem: she understands mortals on an intellectual level but struggles to relate on a deeper level. She understand that Nigel is suffering but doesn't comprehend how to handle his deep emotional turmoil, and doesn't seem to know how to act when her logical and sweet talk fails ("I did the most logical thing, gave him the best guidance too, why isn't it working?").

Same for Tristan: she gave him the best advices but didn't realize that a person stuck in an abusive relationship for a long time will probably not have the mental fortitude to break his chains, and lose what courage the wise talk at gave him when faced with pure emotional manipulation.

Basically she's too divine for her own good. She's so wise she fails at understanding how mortal minds, ruled by emotions and not always rational, operate; and so good she's blind to how nasty the evils that can come up from such psyches (abusive relationships, bitterness...) can be and how strong they can be.

That's why she can't solve everything and needs the Guardians: she needs mortals to deal with what she can't understand herself.

That's a nice analysis of the Tree, thank you.

Change from the "waa, Tree bad, Nigel good" peeps in comments

Fully agreed, the Tree has many flaws. Flaws that cannot be repaired, fixed, or healed in any way shape or form.

And those will make her have failed actions and wrongdoings be at her own decision making.

A very well-thought-out character analysis of the Tree herself. She herself is on her own character journey, to better understand the mortals of the world she looks after upon realizing how much of a disconnect there is between her and them. This is often why mortals and 'Gods' often have conflict, the Gods are often so disconnected by power, immortality, or some mindset, that they may as well be alien species with a vast gulf between them. The Tree is trying to remedy that, which means she will stumble, she will make mistakes, she WILL fail from time to time.

...The Issue is the Impact of her mistakes.

The story summary basically starts off with "Luna has disappeared, these Ragtag guardians have to find out why, and we have this Demon On the Loose and stirring up things".

I have a Strong feeling that said Demon is either a Brother or Lover of Luna... That or I am over thinking things. Point is, The Reason for the Demon maybe connected to Luna herself.

Matter of fact, in Leopold's intro Chapter, didn't that skull in Luna's abode look kinda familar?

Finally, a comment understanding her instead of treating her like litteral Satan like these comments tend to

And you can't help people that don't want help. I would not know what to say that would make him listen.

I don't get the feeling she fails at understanding people. She helps when she can, but she leaves everyone the freedom of choice. Sometimes that does not work out, but no one will be able to say that she forces her will on people.

How about instead of giving a speech she simply listens to what nigel has to say? Instead of moral grandstanding how about a shoulder to cry on? This isnt exactly rocket science. In her whole interaction with Nigel she didnt give nigel any way out for his pent up emotions except this one.

He didnt came to her in this instance to hear her wise words, he was hurt, and all she offered was a lecture about why he was lacking. Something he didnt even ask for to begin with but she simply asumed.

And all that could have been prevented if she had just asked: "What happened nigel?"

However shes literally the divine mother of all live, wise beyond any mortal. So it stands to reason that at some level she does see everything from a vastly different perspective then mere mortals and that this perspective makes it hard for her to understand/relate to said mortals.

Any other explanation would make her out to be naive beyond reason and at worst completly incompetent.

How many times have you had to deal with someone harboring that kind of anger at you? I've been on both sides of confrontations likes this, and it is always a no-win situation.

When I do get myself worked into this kind of froth, the initial confrontation never ends well. Not violently, as I've found ways to redirect anger into something less dangerous... Like punching steel. (In my coping mechanism, the pain from lashing out at something I can't damage or break reminds me how stupid the anger I was experiencing, bringing me back to reality and a calmer state of mind.)

The really important thing about this kind of confrontation is the letting those feelings actually burn brilliantly, instead of the slow embers that keep the discontent lit, like an itch you just can't scratch.

It may not look like it, but I know from experience that Nigel is in a better mental state now than when he started. The rage has broken, and now he sits in the valley of depression, the lowest point in his personal journey, a place only he can pull himself out of.

Again treating nigel like a full blown adult instead of the hurt, confused and angry 10 year old throwing a temper tantrum because his child brain cant work through the emotions in his head right now.

Are you going to tell me you never had to deal with an angry kid before? Would you also let said kid wander out into the dark woods at night and say "I hope he finds his way"? Or would you grab the kid and take him somewhere safe instead? YOU are the adult in this situation, YOU are the one responsible if something bad happens to the kid, YOU are the one that has to take actual action. Theres a reason we dont let kids make life changing decisions on their own or allow them to do whatever they want or why parents are responsible for their kids actions!

It doesnt matter that the kid is angry in this case.. hes a kid! Tomorrow the entire world might look different and he will be lone and cold and miserable and hungry... it doesnt matter that hes raging right now. Do something Luna! XD

Poor kid hopefully he does. Wonder what's going to happen to his brother. If she makes him a guardian and doesn't put his parents in there place that's gonna be BS.

I doubt the brother will make the cut either with those parents as his guide. They failed to instill 'choice' into Nigel, the younger brother is as good as screwed, that is unless HE discovers what caused Nigel to fail the test. However given how hands-off they had been before Nigel 'failed' them, he's probably so love-starved he's going to fall into the same pitfall as his brother. Wanting to please his 'loving' parents to the point he negates his own agency.

Yep. Hopefully shes able to handle his brother better than she did with him.

She should have been clear about why he wasn't chosen and to do.

Also told his parents thier why he wasn't chosen to.

From what I've seen and read, Toby becomes a guardian.

Well well well. the vegetable of life. mother of all healthy stews

The Humble Estus Stew... Guarantee to wake up even the dead!

Ill rather have a mug of Siegbräu :P

Hope he does get revenge, I believe she's earned it for just standing aside while a childs entire world just collapsed.

I roll my eyes at everyone wishing this, as it will benefit Nigel nothing. Not to mention you're glossing over so much of the story's themes, and the fact the ultimate 'bad guys' are Nigel's parents for setting him up for failure. Yes, the Tree possibly could do more, but she's not infallible. In fact, the entire Tree of Life story is high-lighting that as her own character arc, yes she could take Nigel in but he blames HER for all his problems. Problems he can't see his parents share most of the burden, nor has he grasped that his own lack of agency is partially why he failed to be chosen. He needs to grow and he's blinded by his loss. If she took him in, it'd be by force, he HATES her, and it would just set him up to get into conflict with Mira who, as we just saw WAS READY TO END HIM!! Powers whipped out and ready to hurt the little bastard who hurt her beloved mother. I doubt he'd accept the offer to go with them as he is now, and taking him in by force would solve nothing.

And the Tree mentioned that she tried talking to his parents. To no avail.

He just a kid that has no home, no family, no friends, and no hope anymore. All she does for him is magic 8 ball "try again later." So yes I hope he does set a new goal to make them look like fools.

One itd be pointless and two there are limits to what she can do.

Shes not a big beard in the sky type of god who can do everything and know everything shes one of the more traditional gods who have a very narrow set of duties and powers and while still having an alien mindset compared to the actual mortals she serves which makes direct interaction very difficult.It could very well be that its impossible for her to directly negate peoples free will or worse yet there could be horrifying consequences for her directly doing so(Off the top of my head I can remember one legend about a dragon making it rain to save an entire areas of humans from incoming famine due to a long drought and because it wasnt among his duties he wound up being made into a river for all eternity-or end of earth,whichevers sooner- thus meaning that for one cup of needed help an entire ocean of help would no longer be given to mortals in exchange).

In short wishing death on someone for allowing freewill is stupid and this might literally be the most shes allowed to even do.Hell the Guardian system might even be a ruleslawyery way of her being able to help mortals more that she came up with over the centuries,Especially since she doesnt feel the need to be followed around by a phalanx of guardians wherever she goes.

Wierd final thought.Say the lil baba got his "revenge" and killed her or something.How porked would everyone be with the divine level consequences that would come after this?

The divine mother of all live... has limits that prevent her from helping a single child... what?

Literally what I just said.Note she was transporting medicine before in the story rather than just waving a hand and healing everyone.She can probably do a fair bit connected to his lifespan,Teach magic related to whats under her aegis and even give advise but she cant effect his or his parents free will.

Soooo... what was the limit to her divine powers that made her decide that, instead of listening to the obviously traumatized child infront of her, the right decision in this case would be to give a grand speech about why he isnt fit to be a guardian?

If i remember correctly that wasnt what he was asking in this instance. Infact.. he wasnt asking anything.. he was accusing her of taking his parents love and home away from him.

That should have set off all alarm bells in any normal thinking adult. Yet she seems to not even understand that nigel ran away from home/has been kicked out of his household and is defacto living on the street (and according to his clothes and ragtag look has allready for some time)

Nothing about this encounter demands the usage of divine powers. Offering a shoulder to cry on, a place to spend the night, a warm meal and a chance to calm down... you dont need to be a goddess to offer that to a hurt, confused and angry child.

She talked when she should have listened. And then she just stood there when a 10 year old minor walks away into the dark night all on his own.

However shes a goddess, immortal and has been around longer then anyone currently alive. Thats why i also believe that she is unable to understand that theres a huge difference between a 10 year old and a grown adult.. cause what is a couple of years difference that seperate a child from an adult to an immortal divine being? She is so used to mortals comming to her for advice that aparantly she has forgotten how to listen herslelfe! Wich is a much better explanation then the alternative...

What else could she say? Nigel clearly wasn't listening. He listed his grievances, so she DID hear him out, she listened. She gave a response, it wasn't the response he nor a lot of readers apparently wanted. Again, the main problem is Nigel's parents, they basically set the kid up to fail and then turned him away for not being 'perfect'. The Tree pointed out she tried to get them to see the wrongs of the mindset their family had fallen into, but THEY did not listen.

Fuck, look I feel for Nigel, but the Tree is only partly responsible in that she could be more proactive. Yet how proactive can she be without outright abusing her authority to 'command/make' them listen to her? Free will is clearly a big thing for her, so bossing people around to her whims isn't her style. That said I do wish she would have harsh words with them, let them now she is personally disappointed in them, and THEY failed their son. Hell we may STILL see her do this, given the younger brother is now being groomed. Knowing her she may ask them if they've seen Nigel and if they remain cold about him, she may put them in their place by citing 'their' failure to be his pillars like a proper parent should be.

Again, we dunno the future; I'm just tired of everyone going "TREE BAD!!" or just piling all the problems on her. Nigel's a poor kid caught in the crossfire, but again he now has a choice. He can continue to hate the tree and keep the hate close and ruin himself; or he can reflect. Yeah he's young, but trust me this further shows his parents failed to prepare him as a Guardian. He was just a puppet to make them look good and keep the tradition, they didn't raise a child, just a trophy, with a spare 'just in case' it seems. You'd think they would have taught their son being a Guardian means 'this and that' but it seems they've treated it as an appointment family tradition with a complete lack of understanding what being a Guardian fully means.

What else could she have said? How about "What happened nigel?" and then shut up and listen? How about offering him a place to stay the night instead of lecturing him?

He is a 10 year old kid. Stop treating him like an adult.

If you let a 10 year old who clearly has run away from home wander around in the night somewhere in the wild or a bad part of town.. you are responsible if something bad happens to the kid. Dont throw up your arms and say "What possibly could i have done?" when you are the adult in this situation. And yes that also means using a bit of force to get the kid to safety if he throws a temper tantrum! Either you take him in, take him to the authorities or take him back to his parents... but you dont let the kid walk right into his death (even thought WE the readers know he makes it somehow the same cannot be said about the characters at this time, and from what we know this world isnt exactly a gentle one)

The reason why people pile the responsibility on her is because SHE was the one person that could have made a difference. But SHE decided to stand on the sideline and instead of taking ACTION she choose to lecture, berate and judge.

So yes, she screwed up here, wich story wise isnt necesarly a bad thing. Makes her more relatable and shows us who she is. A goddess that tries not to interfere with the free will of mortals. But she also impotently sat there and watched nigels world be destroyed, and when he came for her all she offered was more lectures and judgement. Also as i said before: SHE is the adult here and HE is the minor. Theres a reason why we dont send 10 year olds to jail even if they do something bad, and thats because kids lack the capacity to be responsible for their own actions, unlike adults.

I wish people would stop jumping to Lunas defense in this scenario just because shes a motherly sympathetic character... when this story shows that even she can fuck up.

She DID listen to him, stop insisting she didn't. He vented and spoke his mind, and all Luna did was explain why she failed him, that she did TRY to explain to his parents, but to no avail. Nigel then throws a rock at her. I get it the kid's hurting and wants his life back, but like a lot of kids, he doesn't grasp the situation and just acts on impulse and raw emotion. Again a clear sign of his parent's absolute failure as they treated him as a prize pet expected to bring the blue ribbon from a pet show.

Now I agree, letting him walk off on his own isn't wise; but also consider this. He just attacked her, and Mira, was ready to USE HER POWERS to inflict harm on the boy. Clearly letting him linger will led to conflict, not without restraint or Nigel miraculously cooling off. Between defusing her own child lashing out at another, and letting the other child walk off, as not a perfect call as it is; Luna did what she could, and let's not forget she had another child in her care that could also have gotten hurt if Nigel or Mira escalated.

On the one hand, I do wish Luna would have offered to take Nigel home and sort things out; and absolutely read his parents the riot act and shame them to the point they can feel their ancestors and those yet to come damning their souls. Yet also would it do anything? Nigel's folks come off as people who don't seem to like being contradicted, their Goddess told them Nigel had another chance and did they acknowledge? No, clearly they are in their own bubble of thought and morals who simply see the call to Guardianhood as a badge of honor and prestige for the family. The situation is as we can see it, utterly fucked, and sadly this is in old times before family services were created. It's not like Luna can report the parents or easily put the kid into foster care; and I doubt Nigel would let Luna do him anything aside from basically giving him and by extension his parents, what they perceived was theirs .

Also given this is olden times, kids had a LOT more put on their shoulders because life was short and you had to grow up fast. Nobody understood child psychology or mental welfare. If bystanders saw Nigel attack Luna he damn well could wind up in jail, labeled a heretic or even put down depending on the local zealotry. Everyone expected kids to just grow up, follow their parents wishes, work, etc. If a kid acted out nobody considered they were a child, you acted out, you got cuffed, slapped, whatever. Times were rough. I know this is a fantasy setting of the writer but unless such world-building details are released I'm assuming outside of magic, and walking Gods, most other societal things fall in line with our own history. So sadly the modern viewpoint of 'adult and minor' is VERY skewed in old times unless the writer points out this society has modern sensibilities to such things. Far as society is concerned Nigel ran away he's on his own, as cruel as it is. Could Luna do more? Yes but what could she do, who knows, and that's assuming Nigel would let her.

As bad as it is, it fits her character to let him go, and yeah I will allow people to chastise her for that; I just wish people would think a bit more before knee-jerk reacting.

Kid needs some proper introspection and soul-searching.

Oh yeah.. because 10 year olds are absolutely capable and infact known for such feats, especially when they where just traumatized and not only lost their home but their parents love in one fell swoop... yup.. introspection and soul-searching... totaly gonna fix this hot mess XD

Kid won't have much choice. He's all alone.

I mean, the last page he was speaking some pretty big words for such a "little kid" which leads you to believe he is not as dumb as you make him out to be. Kids CAN soul search, they do it a lot.

Thats nigel from the future, aka his adult self. Not kid nigel we see infront of us right now.

So, he doesn't even want revenge cause it would be too bothersome? Wow! He even did the right thing for the wrong reason... I guess the word 'EARN' is still missing in his dictionary thanks to his parents education...

I blame his parents for this.

I blame his parents for all this. Hopefully he'll learn and grow with time.

Who's backstory will be next?

Either Lily, Alexander, or The Demon himself.

That didn't go well at all, but a better then I thought it would have went.

oh nooooes \('S

but my GOSH amazing story thus far Vik!! <3

Considering who Nigel's parents were and how they had treated him in the beginning, it is understandable why he ended up in that state. Not to mention, there's the fact that Luna didn't know how to deal with Nigel, even if she tried to do something about it, she only made things worse for him. Now I'm curious how she's going to follow this story after all this; this comic is very interesting.

To say she doesn't care is a bit harsh. More like her position in life alienates her to some of the mortals suffering. She cares, but she tries to not interfere too much in others affairs to a point that sometimes it backfires to her actual intents.

Case in point, I don't think she realizes that Regile might not even have a home at this point. The last scene of his old home might be taken as the fully disowned him at this point. Things aren't looking to favorable to her hoped outcome.

Another sad thing of this is in a way, his own excepted disinterest in revenge on her rings familiar to how his parents treated Toby at first and how he was treated after the test. Sure, there's spite in there, but he's chosen to be passive aggressive about it from the sound of things. Just as He can't serve his parents interest so they don't care about him, his perceived idea about the world make him not care about the world.

Even if she realizes that he has no home. I doubt she could find one where he would stay. Especially if he finds out she was involved of him having a new home.

This is not really a good solution IMO. Honestly, after hearing how his family started treating Nigel she should have stripped them of their own guardian titles for such abuse.

They're no longer Guardians at this point.
They live peacefuly in their own house, maybe serving as elite guards of the city theynlive in, at most.
Nowadays they've dedicated themselevs to simply train next line of Guardians from their first-born (now second-born) kid.

Also, Luna can't punish anyone.
She can talk, she can try to persuade, she can give aid, if someone's willing to take it, but so far, she never forcefuly intervined, or made someone do or loose something.

A Free Will is really important to her.
I wonder, how people do not understand it to this point into the story?

To say she's never intervened is actually incorrect, because she intervened on Mira's behalf when she was a baby and decided to look after her. She's literally taken on the roll of her mother, grounding her when she doesn't listen, telling her what's right and what's wrong, you get the idea. Mira is a very special case. Luna's has quite a complex way of thinking, and it's only when we know more about her, will we understand why she thinks the way she does.

You've said it yourself - Mira is a special case.
She doesn't really intervene in general, she doesn't force anyone to do anything.
In Mira's case, there was no none esle who'd take better care of her than Luna herself.
As for Nigel, there's plenty of possibilities to solve his problem, but would he take her offer for help in his current state without forcing him to take it, tricking him or otherwise taking away a portion of his free will, even for his own sake?
Luna won't intervene, unless asked directly for help.

My heart... ;_;

Hmmmm,.......now on the path to the Dark Side.....

Into The woods we go
And let the seed of anger grow feast con resentment

I


Think my guidance to him will be wasted

So I keep seeing people saying how he looks now but I don’t recall him in any other works by Viktria. I should mention I have only have seen Welcome To New Dawn, the one with the snake lady (forgot it’s name), and the one with the genie girl.

Edit:
I have also seen Perfect Fit.

Viktria had set up reference sheets to all of the Cast members of Tree of Life.

Nigel's rather trappish form is among them.

Viktria make a ref-sheet of mains characters
Nigel is here

Thank you for the link and I feel more sad for Nigel after seeing how he looks at present.

She gave him a ref sheet for the first chapter.
He's skinny as a twig and wearing rags. His weapon is just a branch of wood carved into a staff.

It seems to imply he never found any help from this point until the beginning of the story.

I was feeling sympathetic for him... Buuuut not anymore...

Please stop.

Sorry?

Why not?

My reasons are my own.
And I’ve learned giving in-depth answers about them usually leads to arguments.
So that’s about all the “why” I’m prepared to give.

Alright then. Have a good one

"A child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth."

A Sad Truth.

Of course, with the Violent interaction between Nigel and Mira, I wonder how she'd react when she sees his sorry appearance...

I already get the feeling he would be the hardest one to bring into the team... As he feels he was denied by the world, so when The Call is made, he would initially refuse entirely...

Unless he joins just to rub it into Luna's face...

I'm kind of worried that however he is introduced and interacted with will be incredibly forced and disturb the flow of the story.
Nigel is kind of 'primed' now in the community. How Zummeng does this could make or break her comic

It won't. Nigel would likely be like Tristian, encountered late into the trek.

Kinda 5head from Blue Mom to do all that.

he would miss more that he meets someone meets someone susceptible of the trained in the handling of the weapons to make of him a vengeful soul! Someone who too will harbor a hatred against the tree of life

What bothers me about this whole interaction between Nigel and Luna is that Luna somehow completly missed the point and asumed that nigel came to her to demand an explanation as to why he wasnt chosen.

But he never asked for that... he never asked her "Why?" No, what he actually said was "You are at fault that my parents hate me!"

And what is her response? Her response basically is "No nigel, youre to blame, because you are lacking an important part of what it means to be a guardian..." anything after that e.g the whole spiel about him having limitless potential? Empty drivel to nigels ears, infact i would say it makes the whole thing even worse. He allready heard what he had to hear to make up his mind at that point. Remember: Hes a 10 year old child... he hasnt even hit puberty for crying out loud! Reason and logic, especially in his state of mind atm.? Yeah thats not gonna happen.

Honestly it was not her place to lecture nigel. Instead she should have asked him what happened and offer solace instead of judgement.

And thats why i also subscribe to the idea that Luna, as a divine goddess is simply to removed from the viewpoint of a mortal to actually understand what is going on and how to fix the situation.

And this is part of why she chose to finally raise a child herself. Because she KNOWS she's detached from the world.

I'm really glad someone is going to bat for him.
A lot of commentors are treating it like he's already a full blown adult or something and not a scared and confused child.

And yep, sounds like it's too late, or on the verge of being too late

Or, ya know, don't let him go? Maybe actually help people instead of just giving them vague advice? Like, 9/10 times the advice doesn't help, cuz the second they leave they get right back into their ol habits.

For the boy, whom I told wasn't good enough to be a guardian, became abandoned by his parents who obsessively worship me, and is currently homeless and in real danger: philosophical advice and vague assurances of potential despite a lack of potential being the reason for your failure and current misery.

For the girl, who almost killed the sick chief elder when I was just about to get there and take care of it, and then stowed away with my undisciplined guardian in my cart: my total love & acceptance, here, hold my hand and come live with me or something, it's cool lol.

She ONLY took Chili in because Miralle asked her to. What about Tristan?

What about him? Friendless, homeless, familyless.. take your pick.

she didn't even offer him help........just words .W.

I thinl Nigel's gonna screw the world lile what happened in Raya and the Last Dragon.

Oh, so she just let him go to "find his own way back to the light" sure thing ma'am, there's no way for this to backfire oh no no no.

Do these beings has a no interference or intervention rule?

The father...

Well Nigel learn a big lesson that he gonna remember for long time. Life is unfair bitch. Yes, thats the simple and true, many entities that are avatars of the concept of "Life" are really sage of course BUT few of them know what a "Life" is. I think all this could have been avoided if she had given him what he wanted, that simple, if he fails, he fails and well at least he could even live his dream the propuse he try and break his back to reach, but no, and she know his family are a bunch of cold assholes, she could do something about it but no, she could reprimand them for mistreating and ignoring the child but not even that, she didnt offer him an apologize, she just flattering saying "be different is nice" Ok yes it is, but he is literrally living in the garbage, no home no family, she could adopt him or dunno find him a new family, telling him what his damn porpuse has in his life. Entities of life's are always the same thing: Selfish. They think they understand the mortals but they dont know how they live, how hard is their lives, how painful can be a wound in the flesh or in the heart, how fragile can be someone. Hope she prays this boy became something dangerous for her, cause he says he doesnt want revenge but the hate is still there and like love, hate can make someone do unimaginable things.

Sorry for my big and probably unnecessary comment xD I just feel a huge empathy for Nigel and make me mad how this lady is like "Smile everything is ok" cause when you're in the shit and suffering thats not want you want to hear xD

I feel like Mira is channeling the fans right now, lol.

I wish Blue took him in, but he probably wouldn't accept it. I hope she sends him help somehow, he really needs support..

Why would the fans want to curbstomp an orphan...?

Where was the outrage when the Tree of Life didn't help Tristan? Because though he was in an abusive situation he wasn't alone? This is all very hypocritical. You can't save everyone anyway. You can only save who you can.

Where in any of my comments did I ever mention Tristan?
Or criticize that aspect of the story? Nothing I've stated has been hypocritical in any regard.

He'll learn. Maybe. It will take too much time.

"I hope he finds his way soon~"

.. ??? Yo take him in, you literally can persuade him if you just tried. All you've done is try to butter him up with motivation speeches, but that's not enough. As a goddess, you can do so much more even if you know he doesn't want help.

She knows it's not his fault but refuses to do anything beyond just talking. This character went from "very good" to F tier real fast. Argue with me if you'd like, but a physical goddess shouldn't fail a child so hard because of her oblivious nature (seriously how long has she been around for to be this bad at her job?)

"Being good" is subjective.
She doesn't intervene with other people's lives, unless directly asked for help, aside from light advice.
It has been shown that Luna values Free Will above all, and "taking him in" at a state when Nigel blames her for his problems, wouldn't solve, but worsen the situation.
It's pretty hard to stomach, how could such a powerfup being leave a child to himself, but she did same with Tristan.
She left him to the abusive friends, and nobody cried or blamed Luna for not dragging poor monkie out by force and giving him a better life.
Why should she drag Nigel to heaven, when he clearly won't accept it?
Nigel wants his old happy life back as it was, not her help.

Chili wanted to go, out of her own volition.
But mostly, the offer to go with Luna, opened cuz Mira first offered Chili to run away.
If it wasn't for Mira, I doubt Luna would've taken the girl away, if she didn't ask for it herself.

gawd you get me crying with this, such a good comic so far and deep

A lot of this he brought onto himself. Yes his parents abandoned him because he wasn't chosen. But he wanted to be a guardian for selfish reasons, because it is what his parents wanted him to be one. People in the comments have said it better than I can. But to sum everything up the best I can here is the situation. Nigel comes from a long line of Guardians, to the point where they will only marry another Guardian. His parents raised him to be a Guardian, but they also ignored his younger brother. Putting everything into Nigel. They taught him to fight, philosophy, everything he needed to become a Guardian. The only thing they didn't give him was a reason to. His motivations were all self motivated, attention, glory and status. Had he become a Guardian, he would only help the people who he felt deserved to be helped. Only those that would grant him better prestige among his peers. He did not want to help people, he wasn't doing it because he cared about anyone else, but only for himself. That is what his parents taught him. You can't put all the blame on the tree, she may be divine, but she is flawed. She may be divine, but she can't force people to act rationally. She can't or won't force people to change, it is something they have to do themselves. In this particular situation she had no choice but to let him walk away. Miralle was looking to attack Nigel and she had Chili with her. Had she forced Nigel to stay, he would have continued to rage against her for not choosing him and Miralle would have attacked him. Or Chili could get hurt in the crossfire. This situation is a no-win situation. It is an event that had been building for years. Nigel called the Tree of Life selfish for not choosing him because it ruined HIS life. Part of which he caused on his own when he began to trash his home. Which caused his parents to kick him out. Not saying it was wise for them to do that, but they have already been shown to care only for the tradition at this point. Nigel was dead weight, a failure to them, even after the Tree of Life said he could try again next time. His parents could not and would not accept failure. In this tragedy everyone INCLUDING Nigel had a part to play and all share in the blame. It does no good picking at one person, god or not and put the entire blame on them. There is a reason why the Tree of Life needs Guardians in the first place, why she chose to adopt Miralle.

Okay quick question? What happen with the little brother?
We saw that he was ignored than suddly got praised. So it's a save bet he will want to be a guardian out of fear of losing her parents new found love. Will history repeat itself?

People in these comments thinking just because she is a God = being absolutely perfect in every situation lol
Most of you missed the whole point of her being the mother of all life, but being a mother to a mortal was one of her hardest flaws to fix ( Which is why she adopted Miralle )

Damn you, bitch boy...

Kelnich, gabidoud, Solus-the-lone-wolf, Freebird, and Waspz are schmucks.
To Waspz: This is not poor writing, you lying hypocrite!