Episode Eighteen

http://www.ndbag.com/story/comic/18.html

So the unnamed beastie at last has a name... or does he?

We've already learned that ZK -- let's call him that for now -- tried unsuccessfully to convince us that he had the qualities of a star; now we find that his name is Zerakiel Kwintosz. But it sounds suspiciously like an attempt at subliminally suggesting that he is the long-awaited Kwisatz Haderach. Can it be? Is ZK truly the Shortening of the Way? Much as we'd like to think so, it seems unlikely for several reasons.

The most obvious -- and most damning -- reason for thinking that ZK is not what he appears is the simple fact that he's a dryer goblin. I'm sure we all remember when last humanity relied on a goblin, and none of us wants to revisit those traumatic times. Indeed, if we look closely at Ndbag, we see that he shares those fears. His right hand is kept carefully out of frame; does he wield Orcrist? We can only hope so.

The more perceptive reader will at this stage be wondering why we're looking at ZK; by doing so are we not falling into his trap? Surely we should be focussing on what Ndbag has to say? As we wonder this, we realise that that was Ndbag's plan all along.

By letting ZK take centre-stage in the left-hand panel, and by appearing in the background thence, Ndbag is telling us that we shouldn't rely on his words alone; he echoes the great prophet who told us "You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anyone". In many ways, though, the argument seems specious in that we're never going to consider ZK's words to be a valid alternative. Is Ndbag really trying to pull the lint over our eyes?

No, of course he isn't. In an elaborate double-bluff, Ndbag is telling us something that makes us doubt in order to highlight the fact that we should doubt. We should question everything, however authoritative the source. Of course, some are easier to dismiss than others, and ZK himself represents a panoply of charlatans, quacks and others whom we should ignore. By telling us that ZK is an attention seeker, Ndbag is warning us to beware; if a scientist issues a press release before the research has been peer-reviewed, they're no more worthy of consideration than those who assure us that the world will end in 2012 or that we're going to meet a tall dark stranger when Uranus is rising. Be sceptical, he tells us.

At least, this author thinks he does. You've no more reason to find these words canonical than those of anyone else.