The Book of Three

Lloyd calls all their advice to Doli "well-meaning", but Eilonwy's line has always struck me as particularly ill-timed. Besides how unhelpful it is to tell someone they are dumb for being upset about something, why would she specifically use a simile about someone's height when dealing with a grumpy dwarf? I think she's being deliberately insulting because she's so done with his drama. Not her best moment, but hey, we all have our arcs.

Oh the last panel is just STUNNING

Ouch, Taran's face in the second frame. I don't think I'd ever thought about it the way you have here, but now I think you're absolutely right. Putting the previous page together with this one, in which we go from Taran trying to reach out to Doli and it almost appears that they might reach some sort of detante — and then to have Eilonwy holler from the background like those two old Muppets in the theater or something — harsh!!

In other words, perfectly put together, as usual.

Oh, and the last frame of the campfire and a silhouetted Doli alone on the hill — GORGEOUS!

I agree with your take, and Miss K's...yeah, E could have been a little more sensitive, and I never thought before about how she burst the little bubble Taran and Doli might have had going. But I'm sure she /meant/ it well. 😬 Love the sepia look of the last panel! It just emphasizes poor Doli's isolation so well. Great page!

Great interpretation of this scene! Thanks again!

And this, from the princess who has invested so much diplomatic skill into dealing with Eiddileg. Be sure for her to kick someone's knee in the least appropriate moment.

This page is gorgeous. The lines of the faces, the lighting, everything. *chef's kiss*

I'll second everyone else's comments.

I'm afraid I thought those were Taran's words in the first panel, until I read your commentary. He's so foregrounded, and the balloon points toward his mouth. On looking again I can see Eilonwy's mouth is open, unlike his.

The last panel, as heretofore commented, is stunning.

For once, Flfewddur is not the most perceptive. Or maybe he is. Or maybe he's tired and lazy.

Whichever, thank you.

Phew! That last frame took my breath away!

I love the look you have Taran give Eilonwy in the second panel.

And, here, I know I’m just amusing myself, but the angry fire of Doli’s hair I almost see as contrasted with the comfortable fire around which the Companions are gathered in the last panel where he’s sitting all alone. Aaaand, the mirroring of Hen Wen looking at E and Doli looking at T. Like the oracular pig sees that Doli’s future and, in a way, Taran almost does too. Not really, but something to that effect. He sees deeper into the dwarf’s character than Eilonwy does, now.

Now I KNOW I’m just amusing myself, here!

Wow...this is really beautiful. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but somehow it feels more...alive? Maybe something to do with the slightly different texture style, I don't know. Especially in the first two panels, it actually looks more like a real painting!

Also, gotta say I really like the look on Taran's face there in the second panel; FINALLY, he has something to be annoyed at Eilonwy for....bit of a role-reversal, eh?

And good old Fflam...never gets old and yeah, never gives up. Love it!

Beautiful work as always, Saeriellyn. I think you've added definition to each of the characters' faces, which makes them look older than they did in previous pages, though perhaps it's just the change in shading technique? Not being an illustrator of any skill myself, particularly in the digital realm, I'm not exactly sure how to describe the changes, I just know that they are there in the recent few pages, partly by design, as you previously noted.

On the subject of Eilonwy's interjection, I think you're right that it was ill-timed and inconsiderate, but I also think she deserves a little slack, especially considering how she's been treated for most of her life. She doesn't know how to be comforting and supportive by her upbringing, she's only had glimpses of it and is still learning in the company of Fflewddur and Taran.

All of them are tired and stressed from the magnitude of the changes in their lives: Taran far from the safe home he knows and trying to lead a rag-tag group on an important mission, Fflewddur caring for two children, Gurgi and now a dwarf when he's used to being on his own most of the time, Gurgi trying to be helpful so he can stay with people who actually treat him well and feed him, Eilwony losing the only home she knows, terrible though her life there may have been, and Doli leaving the safety of home (exiled by his thoughts) to escort children and fools on a mission he doesn't care about. Given all of this, I think it's fair to say that they are all holding up remarkably well.

Thank you again for another wonderful page, your labors help salve a weary soul on a long journey toward a brighter future. The timing of your fan inspired work seems very apropos to the events that we are experiencing and I find it both encouraging and, if you'll pardon my odd sense of humor, somewhat amusing how easily it could be interpreted in a much larger context. ;)

I tend to kind of overlook Doli. Through the Chronicles, he's sort of like a second-string or guest star companion. But you're really giving his arc and his pain a chance to shine (or glow). He genuinely can't wait to get this job over with here. He genuinely BELIEVES, at this point, that the Fair Folk send him on the hardest, most unpleasant tasks because he has what amounts to a learning difference. And if he could just get it right, maybe he could get away from these idiot, blundering humans and the drudgery of escorting them through their pointless task. Or at least hide from them in moments off duty.

Like Taran, at this point, he really doesn't recognize his worth—that King Eiddileg calls him to tasks like this not because they're horrible but because they're hard and unusual, and Doli is incredibly smart and capable. Later, he comes to see how he's valued. His "complaining" becomes a lie: it's covert boasting, and a way to protect himself from the accusation that he's really grown incredibly fond of these three humans and the whatsit, in a way that probably isn't very politic in the Fair Folk realm and he feels might be undignified among the humans themselves.

Right now, though, he's legitimately angry and hurting, and in those feelings, isolates himself from people who are trying to reach out to him (with the exception of Eilonwy, who, as you say, may actually be insulting him here and certainly later is somewhat cold over the way he treats Taran after a certain incident). You do a great job of showing that.

I find it easy to forgive Eilonwy these days, she is still just a kid and they aren't always the best at reading the room so to speak. So yes, not her best moment but definitely still rings true.

A fan comic for The Chronicles of Prydain?! This is one of the best things I've found on comicfury. I love how you have adapted it so far.

You're likely right about this: "Lloyd calls all their advice to Doli "well-meaning", but Eilonwy's line has always struck me as particularly ill-timed. Besides how unhelpful it is to tell someone they are dumb for being upset about something, why would she specifically use a simile about someone's height when dealing with a grumpy dwarf? I think she's being deliberately insulting because she's so done with his drama. Not her best moment, but hey, we all have our arcs." but people tend to and almost always have taken it better from women, at least in the West, and it helps that it's in some part delivered in jest.

I like how Taran gives E the side-eye here. He's doing his best. Thank you for sharing this!

I love how Hen Wen is looking up at Eilonwy when she's talking in the first panel, like she's forming her own opinion of why Eilonwy is saying that.

Hey, just wanted to pop in and say I just binge-read your story Single Wild Ember...or that is to say I read all there was of it, and all but pulled my hair out in frustration over where it ended. Cliffhangers! I hate 'em! ...not really.

Beautiful work, as always...I didn't see anywhere to leave a comment on FanFiction, so just dropped a line here instead.

Also, and I imagine you are probably very busy these days, but if you get a chance to visit my DeviantArt profile again, I have several more chapters of my own posted there, of the novel I'm working on. Would really appreciate your take on them!

Thanks.

I just want to echo everyone's comments that this is a terrific page. I absolutely love the sharp look Taran gives Eilonwy in panel 2, and my hear really goes out to Doli in the last panel, silhouetted alone on the hill while everyone else is gathered around that beautiful fire.

Happy Thanksgiving!