Deer god Nigel, Nigel, Deer god.

x'D

I knew she was expecting him.

Though this does beg the question, why would he want to be a knight when he decided in the past that he wanted nothing to do with her? Was his plan for her to make him a knight and then throw it back in her face?

I think he just always wanted to be a knight or a gardian, but being denied the right to become one at a young age left him so spiteful and hurt that his coping reaction became "I don't even want that in the first place". A bit the same as when you go "bah, that partner was ugly and I didn't liked that about them" when you get broken up with : you don't really think that and it might not be fair or true, but it helps you feel better. Emotions are interesting and complicated like that.

deep down he still wants the love and approval of his family i think, the whole reason Nigel was denied as guardian was only because as a child he wanted to be a guardian to make his parents proud aka a selfish reason according to the Tree-of-Life, she wants people that are able to self sacrifice themself for the greater good and the good of the people.
But Nigels parents and family did drop him ice gold after he did not make it to a guardian. The Tree-of-Life did mentioned she was trying to tell his family since generations that they should change that believe but pride and stubbornness makes them unable to see a different way. Nigel lost everything just because of the pride and zealot believe of his family plus the Tree-of-Live way of choosing a guardian.

Nigel being lost between two unbudging fronts of sorts.

Time to join chaos, i head they threw welcoming parties :D

Well, the parties good, but the hangover the morning after is even gooder! :D:D

I mean lets be honest with ourselves, we knew he was going to get caught in some way shape or form, his plan was bound to get screwed up, especially with how messed up his mindset is.
That said, I am both pleasantly surprised, and happy that Luna was the one to catch him in the act, and not one of the other characters, like Miralle or Chilli.
Considering how their last conversation went, I am curious to see whether or not Luna has thought to change her approach when conversing with Nigel as well as have an enlightening moment, or if she still has a similar mindset to when Nigel confronted her when he was child.
Not to say Nigel's behaviour is okay, but when you think about it, neither Luna or Nigel, are in the right or wrong in regards to how Nigel's life took downward spiral, and his resulting feelings on the matter.

I hope you’re right. She should know by now that if she gives him the same vague talk of his potential to shine and the spark she sees in him, it’s just gonna make him more mad.

Though, I am standing by my guess that she already intended to make him a knight along with the other lost soul, Tristan who’s currently locked up (coincidentally by Nigel’s brother) as far as we know.

And THIS is why you aren't a guardian.

Nah, Nigel is not a guardian because his whole family became zealot believers since all of them became guardians, Nigel was raised by a standard that everyone would be a guardian and he wanted to be a guardian to get the approval of his parents. Sadly the Tree-of-Live criteria for becoming a guarding "self sacrifice" and little Nigel did not understand this concept in a young age, after that his parents tropes him completely and showered his younger brother with all the affection. THIS made Nigel bitter, this was the first step to is road as a live of thievery and spite.

100%

While Nigel's parents definitely did a number on him in regards to his thought process, and him wanting to impress them, as well as all the other factors. I don't think that's the reason he wasn't chosen as a Guardian, otherwise Toby wouldn't have been deemed worthy to become a Guardian, as they raised him in a similar manner to Nigel.

Whatever it may be, Nigel clearly lacks something that Toby has, and thing is, with the way Nigel is now, I'm pretty sure even if he was told what it is he was lacking, I don't think he'd believe it, or he'd claim that he already has whatever he's lacking more than the others, and I'm basing this on what has already been shown to us in the previous pages. For all I know it can be something pretty small which he lacks, or something negative he developed along the way that he has to deal with.

Nigel was lacking something that's what the Tree-of Life herself told him at the choosing ceremony but she also said he would find "it" someday and then could become an guardian, then his parents drop him because of the zealot believe. Instead of working with Nigel they just ignored him, because he was a stain to the family name.
The Tree-of-Life knew what he was lacking, she knew he claim it to become an guardian but she also choose to be cryptic, Nigel as a kid did not understand what he did wrong and his parents left him alone, Nigel did grow up to be a angry and bitter person, yes he is selfish, rude and arrogant but all that came from a life that was forced on him by the actions of his parents and the Tree-of-Life. Im sure in the next page he will lash out at her blaming her for everything that went wrong in his life.

True.

Facts, no excuses, you are your own person, you make your own choices and sleep with them.

Busted

Caught like a little kid with their hand in the cookie jar.

just like every other god she blame him for something she started instead of the cryptic bullshit she should have just said hay you grow up to be knight but i don't feel like this is the choice you really want and then with she should have told his parents off for throwing him away and that there was no way anymore family members of this house will join the knights till thy make amends and fix there shity parenting

It would be a good idea to stop recruiting from Nigels family until they stop the zealot behavior but the Tree-of-Life needs the mortals as meat shields against the ongoing war on chaos. So he has to work with the "lesser evil" for now until the threat of the chaos invasion is neutralized. You would normally see at this point that Nigel joins chaos just out of spite and revange to tear everything down that the Tree-of-Life holds dear but i honestly believe that Nigel is so stubborn that he would refuse the gift of chaos just to rub it in the Tree-of Live's face that he is doing it on his own without the help of others.

sounds about right still she did this to her self

Im just waiting to see the viewpoint from the chaos perspective, then the fan wars beginns xD

WASTED!

𝙵𝙸𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙻𝙴𝙳

We can mail fission now?! Awesome!

Yeck heah!

We'll gettem next time.

How does stealing a scarf proves he's far better than her guardians in fighting evil chaos monster thingies and restore order in them troubled world?

Really wondering if the scarves will have actual 'power' to them or just be ceremonial. o.O Would be very surprising if by touching it he really did make himself a Knight with a geas, a magically sealing command or pact, that required him to perform the knights duties.

They are using that table from the intro comic. The one whose gems went dark as the minor deities were eliminated.

They may not be shining like in the intro comic, but they have regained colors, I'm guessing the Knights of Life will take on aspects of the elemental powers embodied by the minor deities from chapter Zero.

Oh that would look awesome. O.O

For a Deity of life, she can scare someone to death like that.

The contrast between his expression of bad joy and her of somewhat silent contempt is striking..

Caught with the hand down the cookie jar, ain't ya?

I wonder if she'll take responsibility for the life she unknowingly forced on him. She may not have wanted his parents to disown him. But her choice caused that.

Let's be fair.
It wasn't "her choice that caused" parents to disown Nigel, it was their own choice to do so, since he didn't fit their criteria.
It was Nigel's choice to reject any wise words and means to help mend what's broken, though he didn't know any better at the time.
ToL's mistake was poor wording and sticking solely to her inner rule of "free choice", but everyone was responsible for their own actions in that situation, not just ToL.
Just like in real life there's always multiple sides to blame in the conflicts, instead of one single person.

Yeah but Nigel was a sad angy Kid and the ToL refused to take strict rule, she try talk to Nigels Family in the past about it but they still kept going the zealot way, honestly she should have stopped recruiting from that family for any change to have happen but by doing nothing she endorse the family tradition. Sure she needs the body's to throw at the chaos invasion, so she looks the other way.

"Stop recruiting from that family", so you're proposing to break Toby's life and chance at being a Guardian instead.
Every action or inaction has consequences.
Stopping recruiting isn't going to become a punishment for the parents, moreso to the kids, as they'll loose all value in their parents' eyes.

Well yes. If ToL would make an official appointment to invite all the elders and family-leaders and then would tell them straight forward "that there will be no recruiting from your family until you change the ways, since your actions are affecting the future generation of guardians" this could set the family straight, it also could have helped Toby and Nigel. The ToL said that Nigel could become a Guardian later if he finds what the ToL is looking for, the same can go for Toby and other Kids.

I've had this conversation afyer it first happened in the comic and I stand by my words back then again:
ToL doesn't want to directly interfere with lives of the people, she doesn't like to force others to do what she wants or needs.
She lives by her own rule of "Giving others free will".
Which means having both good and bad choices.
She's a Tree of Life, not Tree of "Better choices".

And if you'll notice, she suffers as well from giving everyone their "free will" and "free choice".
She asks, she guides, but never enforces.
If her help or wisdom is not wanted, she never pushes them on someone who doesn't appreciate them.
It's not in her nature to force someone to do her bidding.

Is it right, is it wrong?
It's always up to debate and there will never be an unified answer, because - It's Life.
Every living person has its own views on what's right and wrong.

If she were to summon every family and tell them to "change their ways", it wouldn't work that well anyway, given she talked eith Nigel's parents about it, but they chose to neglect their first son and put their "affection" on Toby, instead of "changing their ways".

And if we'll think about it from another point - Toby grew up to be a Guardian afterall!
Which means, there's not much wrong with "ways" of their family of raising a future guardians, they're not very good at being nice parents, as well as Nigel is different from Toby, and from his parents.
Toby found his reason to be Guardian, not for himself, but for the sake of others, while Nigel's desire was and still is - selfish.

Again, is it bad? We're yet too see.

So basically, the Tree is a guide, but not problem solver. She sees the truth, but she can't outright SAY it, because people can be blind about simple stuff like that. It's like this conversation:

"You should stop drinking, it's bad for your health."
"How about you mind your business!"

Or

"Maybe try be more assertive!"
"I guess I can be more bitchier and demanding, it's how my sibling gets what they want!"

If she were to say something profound and clear, he still wouldn't have listened, just only taking his interpretation of her own words. All in all, a fairly even view of this situation.

Pretty much.
So far, people take what's been said with their own understanding and in their own view.
She might come with best intentions, give best advisesz even force others to do her bidding, but it won't help in the end, since people are their own worst enemy.
Every word might be taken out of context and twisted 360°.
Like people usually like to do.

If any example needed - look at twitter or 4chan.

Honestly I think Luna's biggest mistake or problem, was less her decision, cause she definitely made the right the decision at that time, especially with how Nigel is now, but more her lack of action.

On one hand I get it, considering what she is, and what her standing is, it may be seen as wrong for her to intervene on a mortal's behalf, but on the other hand, it's almost as if she gives them the benefit of the doubt a bit too much, as is kind of a bit too naïve to think that, despite making a decision with the best of intentions, and knowing what Nigel's parents were like, nothing bad would come of it.

Not to say Nigel is any better, his anger isn't unjustified, too bad he's directing all of these negative emotions on the wrong individual, or is kind of taking, let's say, the easy way out and just playing the blame game, and the over the years has allowed himself to become a giant bundle of negativity, jealousy and rage.

She had a chance to take action, when Nigel was willing to listen to her, and instead left him to his own devices, thinking all would be fine, not really considering how his parents would react. It's a weird situation cause, no one's really right here.

Something I find really interesting, is that she did this twice, once with Nigel, and the other time with Tristan.

Indeed, her approach isn't perfect, like people tend to think about deity, being all round right and perfect.
She's above all else - a person, with her own flaws.
And indeed you right - she did the same with Tristan, but Nigel is not Tristan, they're different people, different personalities and souls.
Given similar looking circumstances, they took polar opposite actions and lessons from it.

There is no right person in this situation, everyone makes mistakes, cuz we learn from our mistakes.
Such is a way of Life.

What I find intriguing, and I'm hoping I'm right that this is the case, Tristan still has the same issues that he had when he was a child, but it's significantly worse as he's grown up, and this would be another case of her lack action causing more issues to arise from an individual who she could have helped when she had the chance too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but unless I'm mistaken, Miralle's case is the only time, were she's directly intervened on someone's behalf.

Right now like Nigel, I don't think Tristan's learnt his lessons, of course like you said he's a different individual, with different values, and personal issues, but his prologue did show, that despite being given advice, he ended up willingly returning back to the terrible situation that's done nothing but earn him, pain, torment and abuse.

Honestly I think their both in the same boat, except one seems to hate the world and everyone in it, while everyone for his misfortunes, and the other seems to have just resigned himself to living a life that does nothing but aim to shatter his self worth. I sincerely hope that in the case of Nigel, Luna takes direct action, cause it's been made abundantly clear, that he's on a self destructive path.

Yes, Miralle and Chilli are only ones that she took under her wing.
Yet look what it did as well - Miralle grew to be a snotty and arrogant, quite full of herself.
The only worth she has is her unique ability, and only good friend is Chilli, that is more of a misfortune to herself, than any good aid.

I don't think this story is about ToL doing something or undoing her "wrong deeds", it's more about the new heroes rising from nothing, build up from the dirt and lack of expectations, into a true saviors this world ever needed.
No amount of home tutoring, no amount of wise advises and mentorship is going to build a character more than their own mistakes, their own thoughts and desires, and overcoming the obstacles, learning from each other.

A band of misfits that weren't meant to be true Guardians, let alone - Knights (well, aside from Leo, I suppose) - that will bundle together and build each other from Zeroes into Heroes.

also i just remembered, Toby was being ignored before as Nigel was still a shining star in his parents eyes, they only picked him up for guardian training after Nigel "failed" so they still enforce it on him just like they did with Nigel, the only difference was that Toby was lucky enough to find the ToS secret ingredient to become a guardian.

last panel: "I'm not mad, just... disappointed"

My thoughts exactly!

BUSTED!!

Nigel would actually make a good Knight, especially now in this dire situation.
His spitefulness wont make him a soft target for fighting the demons. Not acting all so sacrificial as the "noble" guardians for the sake of protecting the weak, but more for killing the Evil. Demons take a hostage? Nigel would not sacrifice himself and keeps his eye on the target. an "necessary evil" maybe?

Oh shit

Congratulations, you are now a knight. And .EVERYTHING. that it now involves...

Uh oh.......busted...

This is not going to end well...

The Tree of Life looks so disappointed in him. The feels in this panel.

... you little shit.
I know the Tree would never sat such thing, but she should!

“You were already going to get one.” XD

Damn, THAT whould be a plot twist! XD

after him ranting at her for like hours. added to that XD

I would be disappointed too since Nigel hasn't really turned his life around.

Oh boy.

OH BOY YOU ****ED UP

Heh, he didnt expect that he actually can get her off-guard right??? I mean, hello? She's a god!


And do i see right that there are SIX scarves? That means, it should be six Knights right?

I don't know what exactly Nigel was trying to do when he tried to steal that scarve thinking it was going to make him a Knight without knowing what the Tree of Life was going to say first, but what I do know is that he never stopped trying to be a Guardian in the first place, not for a moment. Also, I must say that Luna's level of disappointment after seeing Nigel stealing that scarve is something painful to see indeed; amazing page and amazing work by the way.

Smashing!

I feel so sorry for this little one (((

To be fair, she was the reason along with his parents for Nigel ending up the way he did. After his parents dropped Nigel like a brick, she should had punished the parents for also being selfish in not accepting their child not becoming a guardian.

I don't want to see Nigel get treated poorly and I hope she admits to making some mistakes because otherwise, he's better off joining chaos if i'm being completely honest.

I fully expect him to go through an entire arc of joining the bad guys, realizing (maybe through some persuasion from the other protagonists) that all these years what he needed not revenge or power but closure, and eventually returning to the good guys' side.
Alternatively, he can become the best villain Viktria ever conceived. Who knows at this point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhwqBUCYQO0

Oh boy, you've done it now Nigel. Wouldn't it be ironic if he'd actually BECOME the knight, but his whole smugness and years of resentment will be broken because inside he's a good lad and seeing Luna to be so distraught and sad will just be too much for him to bear.

Busted

In the words of Dan Backslider: "The ceremonial scarves...I'LL STEAL ONE! NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!!!"

*Seconds later*

"DAMMIT, HOW DID YOU KNOW???"

She remember his name...

Heavy "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed" face.

Knight by technicality, the best kind

Still proving your ego is bigger than your brain you poor fool.

And here we go!

That's not how that works Nigel =3=

ruh roh raggy

Oh shit... Busted.

Wow. What bad luck.

She look so very disappointed.

I'm gonna list 2 possibilities.

1. He rip up the scarf then & there just to spite her, though I think the chance of that happening is slim.

2. With scarf in hand, he run/flee. I think that this is the most likely outcome.

She's not mad, she's just very disappointed.

Not surprising even for her

Nigel... everyone knows you need to go through a character development

Very curious to see where this goes. While It’s just a title, I am sure his parents would forgive him out of their petty shallowness if Luna humored him, but would he even be anywhere close to forgiving them? In my experience even after those you despise are vanquished, while you celebrate the bitterness tends to linger long after they are buried, I can’t imagine that makes for a good knight/guardian.

Oh boy. Here comes the "I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed" talk.

"Nigel? Nigel!? NIGEEEELLLLLLLL!!!!" -Metal Gear Solid

Also, you're excommunicated

Busted

She already looks sad. Poor Luna.

Now cue round about!

busted and caught red hanned

Regardless of what was his choice or not. He is in a worse place than where TOL saw him last. And Nigel blames it all on her. Not himself. not his parents. He is wandering off the path she hoped he would take and will continue to do so if things continue as they are.

He is bitter, spiteful and critical of everything around him. BUT. Ironically, now he is free from his need for approval from anyone. He is essentially completely free if not for his own selfish desires.

I think TOL will give Nigel a chance because he will continue to be a problem for himself and others if something does not change or some sort of truth is not revealed to Nigel. Perhaps being faced with a great existential threat will invoke a change of attitude as well.

DAMN YOU!!!!! IF THE CHAOS DOESN'T SMITE THEE, I WILL!!!!!

I don't think that's how it works, Nigel...

Cue emotional rage storm.

Busted

</3

roflanebalo

I worry that if he doesn't clean up his act soon.. he'll join the chaos and then it will REALLY be too late..

Nigel: i stole a scarf, no knight has ever been able too accomplish that

Sigh...poor little Nigel...

She’s not mad, just disappointed