Chapter 23
This was a cool battle of attrition between two veteran Rami, though the "blood bag" measures for assisting Udo are unpleasant to say the least.
During my first read, I wasn't sure what the outcome could be. At the time, magnet-man Carl still struck me as the kind who'd linger for some time yet because he's a major Imperial commander and quite strong to boot too.
Rereading it, Carl here wasn't performing as well as he did against Zoe because he doesn't have a stockpile of weapons in reserve this time. But if he came from the direction of the Citadel, surely he could've afforded to drag along reserves from the armoury, or bring along an entourage of soldiers assisting him with such?
On the flipside, Udo using his own blood to defend that last attack was pretty nifty. Also nice to see Miura being more independent, and it's crazy that Lucas entrusted the handmirror to them and had to use one of its portal charges just to get rid of Carl. Still, clever to use the prospect of more resources to bait him into a trap, and extra insult to injury by using the weight-changing power of his former comrade (Sarah) to push him into the portal.
For extra icing, I recognised on first read that this is a battle between one who longs to distinguish themselves on the battlefield and one who found something more precious off of it.
However, after looking into the title of this chapter and knowing what the authors intended with it, I have yet another perspective: Udo and Carl were much like the dreamer in the song, going all in on his dream but afraid to see what's beyond it while still in the middle of its pursuit. And whereas Carl died feeling miserable after losing the battle and his dream, Udo had the opportunity to discover something more near and dear and chose to leave his dream behind, braving a new path beyond it.
To be honest, one of the reasons I think Lucas' crew will survive is precisely because the red flags are so blatant. It's like the author's saying, "watch me subvert all these impending death tropes". By analogy, I'm getting AoT vibes, another story in which much of the main cast survived, including the ones who spent the story talking about how they wanted a peaceful life after the war.
Interesting you made a comparison to AoT. When I first read the story, between the medieval-like setting, the atypical rougher artstyle and unconventional warfare, I had also thought of this series as a Shingeki "case" if you know what I mean. Except, it's almost like a version of Shingeki that never went viral due to the absence of the shocking "death" of its main lead in the early chapters...
Anyway, seeing as the Land of Slaves arc partly functions as an opportunity to develop the members of the Rami Squad, it's no surprise if they all survive his arc. Down the line though, I think there'd be greater chances some will not make it, especially if situations become so dire that Lucas
must make the call to send someone on a suicide mission. Because the authors just
love to challenge Lucas' beliefs, you know...
