2019/07/01 - Room Service

[CyberDragon]

The family names "ward" and "steward" are derived from words that both derive from a word meaning "guard", but by the time they were professions they were already separate words: Steward was the head of staff of a castle, and the proxy for the castle's owner when absent, and Ward was a city or gate guard.

I'm thinking of meta clues. "Why is this detail left in?" And "Why would rick make that choice?" The connections I'm drawing are what I feel makes sense from an author's perspective, not necessarily an in-universe one. From the meta perspective, making their last names close to each other even if the names are different in meaning seemed to be there to draw a connection between the two.

But hey, that's JUST A THEORY! A COMIC THEORY! Thanks for reading!

[SeanWolf]

Let me throw my observations in and why I think most of these theories are kind of bogus (This took a lot of work):

1. Steward's full name is Herman Steward and Marion's is Marion Ward. No connection other then both of them having 'ward' and there wasn't any hints/clues that Marion's mother was married to Herman nor had a divorce.

2. We only know of the one coin and it's in Herman Steward's clutches and we know what it can do, which is turn people in animals. But there lies a bigger piece of the puzzle: Both Thomas (Camel) and Herman were changed INSTANTLY the second they touched the coin. Marion's happened over night, presumably. How would he have come in contact with the coin? Remember, both Herman and Thomas changed instantly after they came in physical contact with the coin so, unless it was planted in his hands as he slept by someone (which I highly doubt as there would've been some sort of evidence left behind like distressed curtains), Marion's transformation wasn't by the coin. This also cancels out the theory of him being this arcs antagonist as, if Marion's transformation wasn't by the coin, then he's in his room to ask him if he knows how he changed into a squirrel then would tell him how he was changed from a human into a Badger then would help him adjust to being an animal whilst helping him find a way to change back to a human.

3. What about Great Kitsune and the theory of a New Game? This could be a factual theory, except for one thing: Who else in Heaven plays Universes & Unrealities? We know of GK, Pete, and Dragon but that was it as it seemed no one else played it other then the Cosmic Nerds and the only other Celestials Rick introduced were Bahumat and Cerberus. At the same time, from the ending of the first game to now, there didn't seem to be any indication that Kitsune started a new game as he was more focused on Kix and her "kits". So this theory is pbbbt.

So with those three out, here's what I think: Recall way back when the storyline started, Marion brought out the book The Metamorphosis by Kafka as they were studying it. In the book, the MC (Main character) is turned into a huge insect for unknown reasons and, overtime, becomes used to it (Granted he does die at the end but I doubt Rick would do that). What if...this whole arc is just a parody of The Metamorphosis and it ends with Marion turning back into a human for unknown reasons? Why else would Rick make a reference to that book, aside from a throw-away joke?

[fenrirblack]

We only know of the one coin and it's in Herman Steward's clutches and we know what it can do, which is turn people in animals. But there lies a bigger piece of the puzzle: Both Thomas (Camel) and Herman were changed INSTANTLY the second they touched the coin. Marion's happened over night, presumably. How would he have come in contact with the coin? Remember, both Herman and Thomas changed instantly after they came in physical contact with the coin so, unless it was planted in his hands as he slept by someone (which I highly doubt as there would've been some sort of evidence left behind like distressed curtains), Marion's transformation wasn't by the coin. This also cancels out the theory of him being this arcs antagonist as, if Marion's transformation wasn't by the coin, then he's in his room to ask him if he knows how he changed into a squirrel then would tell him how he was changed from a human into a Badger then would help him adjust to being an animal whilst helping him find a way to change back to a human.

Steward not being responsible for the transformation doesn't rule him out as a villain or the antagonist. There can easily be someone else waiting in the wings who was responsible and Steward is simply taking advantage of the situation to do as you said, find a way to change back to human by using Marion for that goal. We still don't know Steward's goal(s) and if I learned anything from Disney cartoons it is how to manipulate people for my own gain (in stories anyway) and Steward could be doing the same here. I would not be surprised if he used Marion for *insert goal here* then dumped him on his tail.

[dr_eirik]

Steward not being responsible for the transformation doesn't rule him out as a villain or the antagonist. There can easily be someone else waiting in the wings who was responsible and Steward is simply taking advantage of the situation to do as you said, find a way to change back to human by using Marion for that goal. We still don't know Steward's goal(s) and if I learned anything from Disney cartoons it is how to manipulate people for my own gain (in stories anyway) and Steward could be doing the same here. I would not be surprised if he used Marion for *insert goal here* then dumped him on his tail.

I'm leaning toward the thinking that Steward started out as a a comic foil, slowly progressed to a "bad guy" with primarily selfish motives and is going to move into being a full blown "Villain" with darker goals by the time we're done with this story. Granted, I suspect with each upcoming page we're going to shed and/or add more theories until the universe collapses under their weight.

None of that means that Steward knows anything about what has happened up to this point. It's very easy to imagine that the first time he's heard about any of this was overhearing Marion and Jessica talking. There were just enough keywords dropped to pique his interest.

[Amazee Dayzee]

And with his interest now stirred, he is going to attempt to interrogate Marion about how he ended up in this predicament.

In 120 words or less. XD

[fenrirblack]

I'm leaning toward the thinking that Steward started out as a a comic foil, slowly progressed to a "bad guy" with primarily selfish motives and is going to move into being a full blown "Villain" with darker goals by the time we're done with this story. Granted, I suspect with each upcoming page we're going to shed and/or add more theories until the universe collapses under their weight.

None of that means that Steward knows anything about what has happened up to this point. It's very easy to imagine that the first time he's heard about any of this was overhearing Marion and Jessica talking. There were just enough keywords dropped to pique his interest.

I need to get more organized with my thoughts and posts. Since the theories keep adapting and changing as new strips are added. I need a system as well as start taking this more seriously.

Let's start with this template and go from there.

Is Steward the Villain: Yes

Steward's Goal: Revenge

Did He Change Marion: No

Does He Know Marion’s True Identity: Maybe.

Who Changed Marion: Dino-Demon or another new supernatural character that has not been introduced.

Theories
Steward is going to question Marion and bring up the subject of the coin but the coin was not responsible and Steward never intended to use it on anyone yet. Once Steward discovers Marion was changed and wants to use Marion for his own devious purposes.
Steward wants to learn more about Marion and his arrival but does not suspect that Marion was formerly human like him but still plans to use Marion for some type of goal.

[Frank]

I'm leaning toward the thinking that Steward started out as a a comic foil, slowly progressed to a "bad guy" with primarily selfish motives and is going to move into being a full blown "Villain" with darker goals by the time we're done with this story.

Since Steward's first appearance, he's looked kind of bitter about being appointed steward, and I think I said back then that this bitterness would come back to bite us (can't actually prove it since the comments are gone, but you know). He just happened to be so competent at his job, it took really, really long

Everyone's focused on Steward's appearance on the last panel, but here I am, thinking...

It's adorable how Truck put a "mint" on Marion's pillow. Talk about good room service!~

I'm thinking "Wait Karishad actually wants to eat Marion?"

[Elwood Blutarsky]

I'm going to go for subversion and say Stewart will be friendly and helpful, perhaps serving as a mentor. Maybe we can all have a laugh if it's wrong.

[Champion Wallace]

Since his inception, Karishad has had glowing green eyes, the same as Tarot's whenever Dragon possessed her.

The color the eyes change to is relevant. Green means Spirit Dragon's influence, yellow means Pete's influence. I suppose we don't have any instances confirmed to be Great Kitsune affecting a mortal to disprove that his personal color is not also green like Dragon, but the pattern would follow it would be the same as his eye color, ie red.

Also, in the temple, he not only became furious at the tagging on the walls, but also explained all the mystical rituals that would be needed to clean them, something Kitsune would know, not Karishad, about the mystical temple that was a part of the game that he was running for Pete and the Dragon.

That entire sequence was a reference to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. I wouldn't be surprised if he was making up the specifics as he went. That being said, Karishad hung out with Tarot regularly and for a period lived in Pete's temple so he could've picked up on magic(k)al know how without Great Kitsune.

So, when you see Karishad with normal eyes, you know he must not be being possesed at the moment,

Karishad, like all other characters, don't have their eye color visible because of a style change. I guess it's possible his eyes changed to their real color at the same time as the style change, but you can't prove it and it would be quite the coincidence.

and as he's Kitsune's normal avatar, Kitsune must be doing something important to not be using him, as he has since the beginning... Hence, a new game.

The point of having avatars was always because of artificial limitations on a demigod's power designed to make U&U more fun. Assuming you're right that Karishad was GK's avatar but is no longer, that would lead to the opposite conclusion to what you put forth; Great Kitsune was a player in a U&U game, but now isn't.

And I believe one of the players would almost have to be the Norse squirrel messenger God, Ratatoskr,

...I don't have anything to refute that.

who chose Marion as a game piece, but didn't read the character sheet closely enough... ergo, Marion must be a female squirrel.

Even if that was the case, they would just chose an existing female squirrel. The whole reason Pete transformed Joel is because humans' base stats synergize better with the Dark Paladin class than a dog or cat's (the species limitations were specific to the duel and not U&U at large), a class he was relegated to because Spirit Dragon's counter plays meant Pete needed his piece to be powerful the moment it was officially his avatar. Additionally, In D&D a majority of the time the person who writes the information on a character sheet is the person who is playing the character (there are pre-built characters for beginners, but most people skip that). It's a lot harder to not read something closely enough if you were the one who wrote it.

The family names "ward" and "steward" are derived from words that both derive from a word meaning "guard", but by the time they were professions they were already separate words: Steward was the head of staff of a castle, and the proxy for the castle's owner when absent, and Ward was a city or gate guard.

I'm thinking of meta clues. "Why is this detail left in?" And "Why would rick make that choice?" The connections I'm drawing are what I feel makes sense from an author's perspective, not necessarily an in-universe one. From the meta perspective, making their last names close to each other even if the names are different in meaning seemed to be there to draw a connection between the two.

But hey, that's JUST A THEORY! A COMIC THEORY! Thanks for reading!

I would like to mention even if Rick Griffin planed for no significance with her name, he would still have to put down a name for the answering machine joke.

1. Steward's full name is Herman Steward and Marion's is Marion Ward. No connection other then both of them having 'ward' and there wasn't any hints/clues that Marion's mother was married to Herman nor had a divorce.

Marion's mother's last name is Ward. Marion might have his father's name instead,

2. We only know of the one coin and it's in Herman Steward's clutches and we know what it can do, which is turn people in animals. But there lies a bigger piece of the puzzle: Both Thomas (Camel) and Herman were changed INSTANTLY the second they touched the coin.

The transformation is instant, noticing it isn't.

3. What about Great Kitsune and the theory of a New Game? This could be a factual theory, except for one thing: Who else in Heaven plays Universes & Unrealities? We know of GK, Pete, and Dragon but that was it as it seemed no one else played it other then the Cosmic Nerds and the only other Celestials Rick introduced were Bahumat and Cerberus.

The original game that spawned the duel had four members in addition to Pete, so that's still two unaccounted for.

Since Steward's first appearance, he's looked kind of bitter about being appointed steward, and I think I said back then that this bitterness would come back to bite us (can't actually prove it since the comments are gone, but you know)

Go nuts searching.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160615033 ... ompetition
Edit: It's possible I missed what you were talking about, but this was the best I could find (even including comments that for normal means are "gone").

Should have turned Steward into a snake or a rat, since he is basically one as a person.

Aw give the guy a break! If you were forced into a job just so your name could constantly be made fun of, you'd be bitter too.

[D-Rock]

Everyone's focused on Steward's appearance on the last panel, but here I am, thinking...

It's adorable how Truck put a "mint" on Marion's pillow. Talk about good room service!~

I'm thinking "Wait Karishad actually wants to eat Marion?"

Karishad is a fox, Marion is currently a rodent, figured that'd be easy to see.

[NHWestoN]

I'm going to go for subversion and say Stewart will be friendly and helpful, perhaps serving as a mentor. Maybe we can all have a laugh if it's wrong.

Okay, Ed, points for the most RADICAL prognostication offered to date!

[Amazee Dayzee]

It would be a turn for the books if that was to happen but somehow I doubt that it will end up happening.

[Argent]

But there lies a bigger piece of the puzzle: Both Thomas (Camel) and Herman were changed INSTANTLY the second they touched the coin.

Thomas had enough time to fill a bag with the coins and toss it out the door. I think the coin's effect follows the Rule of Funny.



Also, he was wearing gloves.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I guess you can say it depends on the coin that you grabbed.

[Buster]

it could be argued that the gloves are the cause for the delay...

[Amazee Dayzee]

Yeah I guess that could work. Would it make sense though I don't know but we probably are better off going with that.

[NHWestoN]

Well, Sophie got something out of it - heartbreak - poor dear.

[Amazee Dayzee]

But we don't know actually if she got het heart broken. She might not have her feelings reciprocated by Thomas but they STILL could end up beong together in the zoo that Thomas was shipped off to.

[fenrirblack]

But we don't know actually if she got het heart broken. She might not have her feelings reciprocated by Thomas but they STILL could end up beong together in the zoo that Thomas was shipped off to.

Something strange about that. Why would Thomas be the one shipped somewhere but Sophia was still around for Keene’s speech? I wonder if the Milton’s took pity on Thomas and kept him around.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I wouldn't doubt that if they did plus it would be a much worse punishment than a zoo or prison for him. At this point they must not know that Steward was his accomplice then.

[Argent]

I suspect Thomas simply chose not to go to hear Keene's speech because he's still bitter about the whole ferrets inheriting everything schtick.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Yet his relative Celia seemed to get over everything pretty fast. Or maybe she just wanted to get some sort of revenge on Thomas for something and didn't want the money in the end.

[Argent]

Celia was there? Where?

[fenrirblack]

Not there there but back when she was still in the comic.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Before she escaped and let Thomas take the fall for everything, Celia and Thomas teamed up to try to steal the Milton fortune. They failed spectacularly but I always found it strange how Celia was behind the scenes and let Thomas do all the dirty work.

That made me think that maybe Celia wasn't in it for the money but wanted to get back at Thomas for something that happened. Either that or Celia did want the money but found getting revenge on Thomas for whatever he did to her was too good to pass up and wanted that more than the money.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking everything.

[Obbl]

Or maybe she wanted to get in on the money without taking any risk, and when Thomas got caught, she just left him out to dry

[trekkie]

Or maybe she wanted to get in on the money without taking any risk, and when Thomas got caught, she just left him out to dry

That’s kind of my suspicion, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Celia.

[Amazee Dayzee]

You just know that after all of these years, that Celia will eventually end up getting her comeuppance somehow.

[trekkie]

One can certainly hope.

[Amazee Dayzee]

It has been far too long and she deserves to get something since Thomas has been punished multiple times.