April 12, 2016: How?

[RocketScientist]

Thunt's Twitter was right. I'm scared.

[Shardstorm]

If the staff is the cause of the Axe weakening, I'd think it would relate to the third panel here: http://www.goblinscomic.org/09062015-2/

The Axe looks to be touching the vines that get destroyed by the staff. Possibly weakened by transitive properties. That would feel better than a mirror of the staff destroying it to me. Personally I'm more inclined to think that Jaeum is right, Complains handling it and being part demon had an effect.

[WearsHats]

More recently from Thunt's Twitter:

► Show Spoiler

[Xavier78]

Is names going to get possessed now because of that smoking shard?

[Unlucky-for-Some]

What an interesting turn of events. I wouldn't exactly call it surprising though. While I agree we haven't seen much foreshadowing in recent pages and we don't know exactly how long Saral Caiaaack had it, one thing we can say for sure is that since he claimed it, Big Ears has NOT doused it in selfless good deeds on a near constant basis. To be fair to him, he hasn't had all that many opportunities, but the fact remains. I doubt he had even undone the harm SC had done to it yet.

[Hjerne]

My theory. The group of demons isn't a mirror version of our group. They ARE our group. They wind up transformed into demons by the release of the imprisoned demon. At some point they travel back in time and what they are charging the group for is an attempt to stop BE from taking the action that releases the demon. That is why BEs counterpart stares for a second and then says something. That is him cursing the fact that they just failed to stop the past from happening.

[Ekodus]

In the second panel looks like the mirror version is being 'melted'. It's as if it's being absorbed and oozing towards the axe. (EDIT: nvm it's the surely the mouth. Somehow I forgot that they actually open them. Thanks for letting me know)
Could it be that the Axe could be destroyed from the inside by the merging evil forces? It absorbed evil once, but i think Ears would know of that property.
We can't see the body anywere and it's likely it has been blown away tho.

[mightclark]

Considering the facts displayed before us in accordance to what could be perceived as unpaladin like, (Not helping forgath, hitting MinMax and lying about it) (As these things go against the paladin code) Could it be possible in accordance to this quote:

"It was predicted that if this vital weapon were to lay dormant and unused or even worse be used for evil,
it would take only thirteen passingÔÇÖs of the moon before the power of the axe would weaken to the point
where the dreaded demon would break free and destroy our realm."

Could all the color changes throughout the dungeon be counted as passingÔÇÖs of the moon? Rather than days. Possibly adding up to the 13.

By this point the axe would simply need a basic dispel staff to finish it off.

Also fun thought, Kore comes in a bit later, fights kore demon clone.
Kore takes control of demon clone, 2x Kore Inc.

[Pyrotrap]

The last time the axe was weakening (while in Saral Caine's hand), it was radiating evil so strong that Ears could barely get near it without screaming in pain. I seriously doubt that has been happening again, because there was no hint at all that Ears was feeling that kind of evil from it since then, so the conclusion is that the axe wasn't weakening. It's an arbitrary event happening at an arbitrary time.

But that was his first time coming into contact with the Axe and since then he has been constantly around a weakened axe which very well could have still been leaking some detect evil whatchamacallits. So Ears might be used to it and has learned to ignore the passive detect evil feeling of the axe, but however when he actively uses his Detect Evil ability on the demons he is overwhelmed with the feeling of Evil, WHILE he is holding the axe. I think it's much more likely that this overwhelming evil feeling was coming from the axe being weakened than it would from so random mooks that make up the second dungeon encounter.
Not to mention that right before he tries to use Detect Evil, Ears says "I don't know, they're pretty far awa..." before receiving the overwhelming feeling of evil. Ears should be familiar with the extent of his abilities which means that the Evil of demons was so powerful eh felt it strongly at a distance that is normally outside of his detecting range, or the evil came from a different source, the axe. The former is unlikely because that should mean the evil presence would get stronger as Ears moved closer to the demons, but unlike when he was near the axe, while it was in evil hands, he doesn't seem to be any more affect by the Evil demons being near him.

[askstoomuch]

thunt annoncing the fact that something was gonna happen totally killed this page

[Krulle]

More recently from Thunt's Twitter:

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Thanks for reminding.
I seem to remember a discussion about this topic during Thunt's redesigning the homepage.

Edit: Indeed.
here and following posts in the twitter thread.

[Morgaln]

The last time the axe was weakening (while in Saral Caine's hand), it was radiating evil so strong that Ears could barely get near it without screaming in pain. I seriously doubt that has been happening again, because there was no hint at all that Ears was feeling that kind of evil from it since then, so the conclusion is that the axe wasn't weakening. It's an arbitrary event happening at an arbitrary time.

But that was his first time coming into contact with the Axe and since then he has been constantly around a weakened axe which very well could have still been leaking some detect evil whatchamacallits. So Ears might be used to it and has learned to ignore the passive detect evil feeling of the axe, but however when he actively uses his Detect Evil ability on the demons he is overwhelmed with the feeling of Evil, WHILE he is holding the axe. I think it's much more likely that this overwhelming evil feeling was coming from the axe being weakened than it would from so random mooks that make up the second dungeon encounter.
Not to mention that right before he tries to use Detect Evil, Ears says "I don't know, they're pretty far awa..." before receiving the overwhelming feeling of evil. Ears should be familiar with the extent of his abilities which means that the Evil of demons was so powerful eh felt it strongly at a distance that is normally outside of his detecting range, or the evil came from a different source, the axe. The former is unlikely because that should mean the evil presence would get stronger as Ears moved closer to the demons, but unlike when he was near the axe, while it was in evil hands, he doesn't seem to be any more affect by the Evil demons being near him.

It can't be that he suddenly feels the axe when actively detecting evil. He recently did detect evil here, and the axe didn't seem to affect him at all. Between then and now, nothing happened that would weaken the axe more. So I think we're safe to say that the axe wasn't giving him a "false positive" on those creatures.
Also, when in Brassmoon the evil emanating from the axe was so strong that it had a debilitating effect on Ears even while he wasn't detecting evil. Just check this and this page. If he had been carrying that around all the time, we should have seen some negative effects, so I assume that the evil ebbed away once Ears claimed the axe. Also, Kore didn't know the Axe was nearby until he actually saw it (see here). If it was still radiating evil, he should have felt it sooner.

[CocoaNutCakery]

The thing that changed between his first encounter with the axe and not being affected by it anymore was that he actually came in contact with it. Remember that the effect is meant to call paladins to it, meaning that it didn't need to affect Big Ears so strongly after he became aware of its purpose. Note that he was completely debilitated here, but once he is touched by the axe, that ends.

As to the "straw that broke the camel's back" issue, keep these words in mind: "You have no idea how close you came to destroying this realm with your crimes." Big Ears knew that the axe was extremely close to breaking. As others have pointed out, Big Ears has not really had the opportunity to have the axe "doused in selfless, good deeds on a near-constant basis." On the contrary, he's done things such as leaving Chief to die, attacking Kore from behind, and not helping Forgath. He also handed the axe over to a partial-demon in order to unleash his rage, took joy in causing pain to another, and then lied about it. Most of the heroism he's displayed since obtaining the axe was correcting for previous mistakes (such as going back for Chief after leaving him). I somehow doubt that that would fly by the axe's standards.

[Krulle]

So, this is the DM playing party pooper?

[JesusCraig]

Is it possible that more time has passed than is obvious? Wasn't the door they walked into marked with an hourglass, a common symbol of time?

Perhaps they are in an accelerated time zone, or pushed into the future. If it has been more than 13 moons, the axe would be greatly weakened.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Ears saved a crowd of people from being killed(via lying and intimidation). He tried to save Kin when she got off the wagon.

Having ears stay behind would have been a death sentence, and kore would have obtained the axe. There was no time to drag chief and he did not know chief was fine. Staying behind would have been stupid and deadly.

Ears refused to leave minmax behind when he could have easily done so, releasing him was a good act. Enjoying the pain minmax had was not good nor evil, and lies are not inherently evil. Names is also choatic good, so him holding it should not have affected it.

[Krulle]

Both "good deeds" you mentioned were done without the help of the Axe of Prissan.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Yes because using the axe to make your mouth glow or using it to open the wagon was without the axe even though he clearly was using it for them.

[Krulle]

Yes, you're right. Sorry.

[Your.Master]

My initial guess was that whatever it is that's preventing Kore from falling, even though he doesn't seem very Good, is the same thing that is making the Axe break, even though it doesn't seem like Big Ears has done anything that even approaches the wickedness of the previous wielder. Eg. maybe Kore radiates a field that inverts alignment for the purposes of magical effects. Or something.

[Guus]

No Arch, BE isn't allowed to lie (as THunt said that the comic besides Fumbles is 3.5 accurate) as it is against the Paladin code. The DM would be an ass for taking away Paladin powers for the lie BE told, but it would warrant a warning. Lying and intimidation doesn't work, because a Paladin has to e LAWFUL good, not just good. There are no "just good" Paladins in 3.5, chaotic good even less so. If BE is chaotic good he couldn't have been a Paladin to begin with, because lawfulness is a different force from deities, and Paladins get their powers from their alignment and not their Gods. 3.5 physics don't allow for chaotic good Paladins.
Enjoying Minmax's pain IS against the Paladin code, because he would be able to lay on hands and ease his suffering. So, even if he hasn't done things bad enough to shift alignment (apparently), he isn't exactly a shining example of a good Paladin either.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Except ears did lieand intimidated a crowd to go away to prevent killing them. And i am not refutting he shouldnt be a paladin, but rather that he did 'evil' acts with the axe.

[Guus]

I agree with you a certain extent, were it not that the axe is made by Paladins, with Divine magic, so the acts he is doing wouldn't be considered good according to the paladin code and therefore wouldn't add to strengthening the prison. If the acts were actively evil is another discussion, but they sure weren't good according to Paladin code. Therefore, the axe would be weakened nonetheless, because the prison needed to be fueled by acts of good.

Although I'm with you that the way BE intimidated the crowd, and the other things he did (except the not minding Minmax getting hurt and lying because he thinks it's funny) shouldn't be considered as actually evil but rather good. It was self sacrifice, although it didn't help the image of Goblins in the grand scheme either. I'm just pointing out that his behaviour wouldn't fit in a 3.5 world (because THunt said it followed these rules, although the comic really doesn't if I look at it more closely). Considering the magic Paladins use, it shouldn't be a stretch that their magic also follows the cosmic laws of alignment. If that is not the case, it would be kind of convoluted. "Yes, paladins use magic and need to follow rules, but their magic doesn't need to follow the rules of the things that grant them that magic" is kind of a weird assumption if you ask me.

[YardMeat]

In the second panel looks like the mirror version is being 'melted'.

I think that's just the way their mouths look when they talk: http://www.goblinscomic.org/03302016-2/

[RocketScientist]

I don't think we can count leaving Chief behind against Ears. Chief ordered Ears to leave him behind. Disobeying your Chief's direct order is probably not the correct paladin thing to do.