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What's Wrong With The 'Story So Far' In Volume 7 Of Ragnarok Manhwa?

Saturday, March 29, 2014
norse mythology, freya, goddess of love and beauty, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
What could possibly be wrong with the 'story so far' portion of Volume 7 of Ragnarok: Into The Abyss that appears before the manhwa starts?

For starters, let's just say that said graphic novel really seems to love telling its readers things instead of showing them.

Needless to say, the main problem with the 'story so far' of Volume 7 of the comic is the sheer amount of telling it does.

This happens to be one of the worst telling yet as we are told more about the world of the Ragnarok series as opposed to being shown these important things by way of reading it in the graphic novel.
Ragnarok: Into The Abyss, manhwa
Apparently, according to the 'story so far,' Odin created the world from Ymir, the giant. We're even told that Ragnarok already happened. We even find out that there's a war between the demons, gods and men though this is seriously not that noticeable in the least, so much so that it borders dangerously close to being classified as unbelievable.

Why? This is because things seem pretty much at peace at the moment. The city of Fayon was attacked because Sara Irine wanted revenge against the people that hurt her. Prontera was only attacked because this was where a piece of Ymir's heart happened to be located.

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
When the main characters (Chaos, Iris Irine, Fenris Fenrir, Loki and Lidia) arrived at Geffen, things seemed perfectly fine there, so much so that they're even having some sort of festival and a tournament.

So much for there being a war, huh? Not only does the comic tell us so many things, some of these things don't even seem to go with how the story is shown to us.

Again, we're told that Freya wants Ymir's heart, so she can control Midgard for another thousand years, but we're not told how this is possible or how this is supposed to work.

We don't even know how Freya knows where the shard of heart is located. She obviously does though since she sends Himmelmez and Bijou to Prontera to get it.

The aforementioned points are actually quite surprising. You would have thought that the graphic novel would give us details about these things considering it doesn't seem to have any qualms telling us a whole lot of other plot-related things.

freya, himmelmez, bijou, prontera, ymir, norse mythology, goddess, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
One of the really funny things about the 'story so far' is how the comic tells us the following phrases - "as the fates would have it" and "just happened to be in Prontera".

It's almost like the manhwa is acknowledging that the only reason everyone converges in Prontera is so that a great big fight scene between the good guys and the bad guys can occur.

When you put it that way, this seems like a coincidence that sounds seriously contrived.

Really, of all places for a shard of Ymir's Heart to be located and of all the places our heroes just happened to be at, it just had to be Prontera. How contrived is that? What do you think? What can you say about the 'story so far' in Volume 7 of the Ragnarok manhwa?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by MizuSasori, CC:BY-SA from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent Freya in the graphic novel because we still don't know how she looks since we haven't seen her yet
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

What's Wrong With The Rangers Of Asgard (Ragnarok Manhwa)?

Monday, March 24, 2014
Who are the Rangers of Asgard from Ragnarok: Into The Abyss manhwa? What could possibly be wrong about or with these characters?
asgard, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
The Rangers of Asgard (RoA) are three new characters that are first introduced to the readers in Volume 8 of the comic. Their names are Skadi, Ran and Var. Those that know or are interested in Norse Mythology might recognize one or all of these names.

Yes, there are figures in Norse Mythology with these names though that doesn't really mean much of anything with regards to the graphic novel, as you shall soon see.

Skadi is the goddess of skiers and winter. Ran is a sea goddess who is like the Norse equivalent of the Greek god Poseidon and the Roman god Neptune. She is thought to be cold and cruel. Var is a goddess that is associated or linked with oaths and agreements.

These 3 goddesses aren't really linked to each other in Norse Mythology. They're also not that well-known as compared to the other goddesses out there like Frigg and Freya. Skadi could be said to be more recognizable than both Ran and Var, but that's not really saying much.

skadi, ran, var, asgard, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
As you read the part of the manhwa where the Rangers of Asgard show up, it will become clear that these three characters are nothing like how their equivalents in Norse Mythology are.

You can say that the only thing they share are their names and the fact that they're all portrayed as women.

While that is the case, that's not really what's wrong with the RoA. It's perfectly fine even if they're nothing like their mythological counterparts, because, after all, the comic is only loosely based on Norse Mythology.

The problem is really with the characters themselves. But what exactly is the problem? What's wrong with the RoA?

Let's start with how these 3 were first introduced to us. To put it mildly, they seemed to have come from out of nowhere because their appearance was so abrupt. It's like they just showed up without rhyme or reason.

Are we really supposed to believe that they've been hiding inside those barrels the entire time? Why would they even do that? Upon seeing these 3 new characters, so many questions are brought forth, but none are satisfactorily answered.

For instance, we want to know who those three are, but all we get are their names and the fact that they're apparently collectively called the Rangers of Asgard. But what does that mean to us? We've never even heard of the term before, so how could we care about these 3?

skadi, ran, var, asgard, freya, goddess of love and beauty, norse mythology, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
We don't even know if they're working for Freya, much less where they came from (Asgard, the realm of the gods maybe?). Moreover, we don't even know exactly why these 3 showed up.

What reason did they have to appear now as opposed to making an entrance some other time?

With the way these 3 are acting, it's really like they're just here for comic relief purposes, which is completely unnecessary since we already have Iris Irine and Lidia for that.

Because of how they're acting, it's difficult to take them seriously or even perceive them as a credible threat. They also seem very clueless and oblivious, which might not be all that bad, but, coupled with their arrogant smugness and overconfident nature, they just ended up coming across as extremely unlikable.

They seemed way too sure of themselves and their powers such as when they thought that their enemies were running away from them, being too impressed with their perceived greatness, and yet they don't even realize that they're actually destroying the air ship they're on.

If even the protagonists themselves are laughing at their supposed opponents, then how can this be relevant or of use to the plot? The introduction of the RoA does not appear to further the story's plot in any way, shape or form.

asgard, ran, skadi, var, chaos, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, norse mythology
It's really like there was absolutely no reason for these characters to even show up. They just ended up throwing the reader in for a loop.

Nothing seems interesting or compelling about these characters and we don't even get to know much about them before we find that they're already leaving.

Seriously, what's the point of introducing these weird characters to us? If they didn't show up, will we have missed anything? Can the story go on even without these three? It certainly seems that way.

After all, Arkana was already there to cause trouble for the heroes. She brought weird creatures with her to attack the main characters. She and those creatures should have been more than enough to destroy the air ship and split up the group, which seemed to be the entire point of the air ship scene.

If the appearance of the RoA was abrupt, then their departure was even more so. It's like they only showed up to cause mayhem and destruction before leaving. This just exacerbates the apparent fact that their introduction was completely pointless and useless. So, what do you think of the Rangers of Asgard? Should they have been introduced now or would it have been better if they made an appearance some other time?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by jm08191998, CC:BY-SA from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent the 3 women that make up the Rangers of Asgard
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Why Does Skurai Kidnap Iris Irine (Ragnarok Manhwa)?

Tuesday, March 18, 2014
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, skurai, iris irine, chaos
What's wrong with having Skurai kidnap Iris Irine in Ragnarok: Into The Abyss manhwa? Why would he want to do that anyway?

In Volume 9 of the graphic novel, Skurai captures Iris Irine, intending to use her as bait in order to fight Chaos.

So that's the entire reason why he decides to kidnap the girl. But the real question is why does Skurai have to do something like that just to fight Chaos?

Why does he need to resort to such a method just to challenge the main character?

Let's start from the beginning in order to understand why this just doesn't make sense and why it comes across as downright unbelievable.
skurai, iris irine, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
First of all, we are initially told that Skurai planned to have Loki and Chaos fight by blaming the destruction of the Assassins' Guild on the latter. When the main character was weakened after his fight with the assassin, the swordsman planned to step in to finish him off. Of course, we know that that's not exactly what happened.

Loki and Chaos did end up fighting, but, for some strange and unknown reason, Skurai decided it was a good idea to step in and join the fight. So much for not wanting to fight the protagonist head-on because the hero was apparently more powerful than him.

That would have been far more believable if the swordsman hadn't decided to interfere with the Loki and Chaos fight especially since we saw how capable Skurai was during that fight scene and how the resident hero himself wasn't exactly having an easy time.

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, loki, skurai, assassins' guild, chaos
The aforementioned fight scene shows us that the swordsman has absolutely no qualms in just confronting the main character and challenging him to a fight pretty much whenever he wants to.

As such, exactly what is the point of having to kidnap Iris just to pick a fight with Chaos? Why would Skurai need to do that when he could just go straight to wherever the protagonist is and challenge him to a fight?

Whether the main character will agree or not isn't the point here.

Even if the hero refuses to fight Skurai at first, if the swordsman keeps trying to attack him and hurt him, then obviously Chaos will have no choice but to fight back to defend and protect himself unless he wants to be defeated.

Besides, Chaos should have no problems in accepting Skurai's challenge and fighting with him since the swordsman was the one responsible for killing Peony Irine and many other citizens of Fayon.

chaos, skurai, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
As such, the whole 'kidnap Iris and use her as bait to fight Chaos' scene just comes across as contrived and convoluted.

In other words, it simply doesn't make sense because it shouldn't be necessary to do this at all.

It's like we're just being given false plot or drama or it could even be just another excuse for yet another long fight scene.

Do you think it was necessary for Skurai to have to capture Iris just so he could challenge Chaos to a fight or was this act completely pointless and useless?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by CoDLia (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent Skurai and his sword, Talatsu
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

What's Wrong With The Fenris Fenrir, Iris Irine, And Bijou Fight (Ragnarok Manhwa)?

Saturday, March 15, 2014
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, bijou, troll, fenris fenrir, iris irine
In Ragnarok: Into The Abyss manhwa, we see Fenris Fenrir and Iris Irine battling against Bijou. What could possibly be wrong with this fight scene?

The fight between the aforementioned women starts in Volume 5 and is continued in Volume 6.

Needless to say, the fight is quite long and drawn-out (but let's not focus too much on that as there is already a post that discusses the seemingly never-ending fight scenes in this comic).

Let's take a look at some of the things that make this fight rather frustrating and even aggravating (aside from how long it is).
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, fenris fenrir, bijou, iris irine, fight scene
Fenris Fenrir and Iris Irine are teamed up for this fight, but Bijou isn't outnumbered because she has a troll to help her. Why is it that either Fenris or Iris have the tendency to just stand there, watch and do nothing while the other is busy battling the troll or Bijou?

For instance, in Chapter 49 of Volume 6, we see Fenrir just standing by and watching. But why? Why isn't she doing anything? Why isn't she helping her friend? Why can't the two women work hand-in-hand together in order to defeat Bijou and her troll?

We later on see that Bijou has almost gotten to the Heart of Ymir, but if the 2 main characters had just split up the job between themselves, then this might not have happened.

Why didn't they agree and decide that one of them will take care of the troll while the other battles Bijou? This could have helped ensure the safety of the shard, so that their enemy will have a harder time getting to it.

As it is, with how one of the protagonists is just standing by and doing nothing and with how none of them pay much attention to Bijou, this was practically an invitation for the latter to go and get the heart shard. They might as well have just handed it over to her without a fight if they weren't going to take this seriously.

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, fenris fenrir, bijou, iris irine, troll, witch, fight scene
Besides, doing it the way they did just seemed to prolong and draw out the fight even more when it could have ended far sooner. It was wonderful and about time when the troll was finally defeated.

However, don't you wonder why Iris Irine had to be the one to land the finishing blow with her sword? Why couldn't it have been Fenris instead? What was the reason why she couldn't be the one to kill the troll?

She has an awesome and cool weapon too and we've seen how good she is with her staff and how magical and powerful said staff is, much like Iris' weapon. So, why was it Iris' job to destroy the troll? This is especially baffling considering how it seems that Iris isn't really much of a fighter.

She's pretty good at fighting, but we mostly see her as being the support or the healer of the group. Do you think that the 2 protagonists should have split the job and decided who will fight with who? Who do you think should have destroyed Bijou's troll?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Rusembell (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Image of two fighters is meant to represent Fenris Fenrir and Iris Irine who fought side-by-side against Bijou and her troll
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

What's So Annoying About Some Of The Scenes In Ragnarok Manhwa?

Wednesday, March 12, 2014
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, skurai
While many of the scenes in Ragnarok: Into The Abyss are perfectly fine, just what can be so annoying, frustrating, wrong and even pointless about some of the scenes in said manhwa?

In other posts, we've already discussed just what is not to like about the fight scenes that appear in this comic. You can find those articles here (the Chaos, Loki, Skurai fight), here (the Fenris Fenrir, Iris Irine, Bijou fight) and here (fight scenes in general).

We've even touched up on the pointlessness and uselessness of some scenes that introduce us to nameless characters, some of whom seem to exist just to dump information on us before being killed off.

Now, let's take a look at some of the other scenes in the manhwa that can be said to be annoying, aggravating and even confusing. What scenes are these and what's so wrong about them?
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
If you've read the graphic novel, then you might have noticed the many pages wherein we get absolutely no dialogue at all. We just get a drawing of a scenery or some such and that's it. Pages with no dialogue appear to be a complete waste because it just takes up space in the comic, which could have been put to better use by advancing the plot.

Instead, the action appears to have stopped as we pause to take in pages of scenery or pages where pretty much nothing happens since there is no conversation. There are many such scenes in Ragnarok, so let's take a look at some of them to provide examples.

Chapter 23 of Volume 5 starts with a full page of no dialogue. Instead, we just get a drawing of Himmelmez's fortress and some houses, which takes up an entire 2 pages. What do you think is the point of that? Does that entire drawing really need to take 2 pages? Why?

It seems to be such a waste since we could have gotten some dialogue by now. We could have seen some of the characters talking or discussing what to do. We could have seen the plot advancing by now and moving forward instead of being held at a stand still because we have to pause to take a look at a pointless scene.

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
Even the next page of this chapter has pretty minimal dialogue. Why can't we have both scenery and dialogue at the same time?

Sure, the artwork is nice, but there's no reason why we can't admire the artwork even with dialogue to go along with it.

Moreover, scenes with no dialogue just make things harder to understand and it can even get confusing.

A prime example of this is in Volume 10 wherein we finally find out all about Skurai's past.

Such a scene could have been very interesting, but, thanks to pages and pages of no dialogue, readers just end up confused and even miffed as they struggle to understand exactly what happened.

We get a few things such as that the swordsman apparently fell in love with this noble princess. But why was he imprisoned? Could he really be imprisoned just because he fell in love or did something else happen?

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, skurai
Why was the sword, Talatsu, even in the dungeon with Skurai in the first place?

Why would the sword just happen to be exactly where he is? Why was he placed in that particular dungeon? Don't you think it's way too convenient?

It's like they're just asking him to please escape since they're giving him an opportunity to do so by leaving Talatsu with him.

What about the girl that Skurai fell in love with? Why did she have to die? Why did that guy have to kill her?

Thanks to several pages of no dialogue, Skurai's past just became confusing and even annoying instead of coming across as interesting.

What do you think of these aforementioned scenes? Do you find them annoying and confusing and pointless? Do you wish there were less scenes with no dialogue in the manhwa?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by MizuSasori (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent the scenes in the manhwa where there was no dialogue since the 2 figures in said pic appear to be talking
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Chaos, Talk To Fenris Fenrir (Ragnarok Manhwa)

Sunday, March 09, 2014
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, fenris fenrir, chaos
This post is also known as "Chaos, why won't you talk to Fenris Fenrir?" and "What's so wrong with talking and asking questions?".

What are some of the many instances in Ragnarok: Into The Abyss manhwa that can make you say these possible titles? What can be so frustrating and even annoying with the lack of conversation between Chaos and Fenris Fenrir?

From reading the graphic novel, we know that Chaos does not remember his past, that he's missing memories of his past life as the god Balder. We know that Fenris knows about Balder's past since she was also there with him 1000 years ago.

As such, the question now is why won't the resident main character of this comic talk to the woman who knows about his past? Why can't Chaos ask her to tell him about his past, to help him regain his memories, to explain exactly what happened a thousand years ago?
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, fenris fenrir, chaos
What's so wrong with having Chaos ask these perfectly valid questions? You'd think he would have been interested in knowing the answers to these questions because it's about his past, which he has forgotten.

Doesn't he want to remember any of this? And what about the readers? The readers also need to know about these things and yet the graphic novel doesn't seem to care about that at all because we still haven't gotten a clear explanation.

We don't even know what's wrong with Chaos and why he doesn't want to ask Fenrir questions about all of this. There were so many instances in the manhwa wherein we could have been shown a scene that had Chaos asking Fenris questions and having the latter answer everything in the form of a flashback.

For instance, when the two first met in Volume 2, all the explanations were glossed over instead of being stated clearly. All we got was an annoying summary that didn't even tell us much at all. Rather than demanding answers and asking all sorts of questions, Chaos does nothing of the sort and the scene soon ends in favor of focusing on Sara Irine trying to destroy the city of Fayon.

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, loki, chaos
Another scene in Volume 3 is even more frustrating than the aforementioned one. In this particular scene, we have Chaos and Fenris Fenrir talking alone before Frigg soon shows up.

Why didn't the protagonist take advantage of this opportunity and start asking Fenris all sorts of questions about his past, especially focusing on things that we, the readers, don't know yet?

Instead of getting satisfactory answers, all we got was a mere rehash of things that we already knew such as how Freya was the current ruler of Asgard.

The 2 also talked about Frigg being Balder's mother, but, considering the goddess soon shows up and could have explained all that herself, was it even necessary to talk about her? They could have talked about the many other things that needed to be explained.

Speaking of wasted opportunities, there's another scene like that in Volume 4 of the comic. This scene shows us Chaos in Prontera, currently alone and lost in thought. He was busy thinking about what Frigg had told him when they met as well as wondering about his past as Balder and his destiny.

He was wondering about the gap in his memories, knowing there were still many things that he did not know and could not recall. Instead of showing us this pretty pointless scene, why didn't the main character just go see Fenrir and ask her what she knows about his past because she clearly knows something?

chaos, fenris fenrir, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
If he really wants to remember all his forgotten memories, then why is he just standing there doing nothing?

He keeps wracking his brains for his lost past, but if he really can't remember by himself, then why won't he ask the woman who knows? Why can't he ask her to tell him more about his past as a god and what really happened a thousand years ago?

If you thought that scene was frustrating and even annoying, then you might not have seen this other scene from Volume 4.

With this particular scene, it really seems as if nothing could compare to it in terms of sheer frustration and annoyance. This might really be where you can scream the post title and where you might want to shake the main character just to ask him and get him to talk to Fenris already.

This is the part of the manhwa where Loki confronts Chaos. This is where we find out that the symbol on the back of Chaos' shirt means rain and that it is also a sign of the ancient Dragon Knights.

As expected, the main character himself and even Iris Irine don't know anything about this, but the awesome and cool Fenris Fenrir appears to know a lot about these Dragon Knights.

We are told that Chaos apparently has a connection to these knights just because he's wearing a shirt with their symbol on it. I know this is probably the case, but don't you think that the characters jumped to conclusions about all this way too easily?

Was it logical and believable that they should think that the main character was raised and trained by a Dragon Knight just because he's wearing the shirt he's wearing? Seriously? How would they even know for sure? I mean, where did Chaos even get his clothes anyway? For all anyone knows, he could have just found the shirt or bought it somewhere.

While that's certainly upsetting, what's more aggravating is what happens next. Chaos soon speaks up and says that Loki knows more about his past than anyone else and he wants answers from the assassin. He then keeps asking the guy to tell him more about his past.

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, fenris fenrir, chaos
Hello, Chaos, what could possibly be wrong with you? Do you think he might be blind or deaf or something? Because, really, why couldn't he ask Fenris Fenrir? Why won't he talk to her and ask her about this?

She was the one who was with Balder 1000 years ago and she was the one who just explained all about the Dragon Knights and made all these speculations.

She clearly knows about these things, so why isn't Chaos asking her? Huge sigh. How aggravating and frustrating, no? Let's just move on to Volume 8 before that particular scene irritates us further.

In Volume 8, the protagonists get separated from each other and it just so happens that Chaos and Fenris end up together while Iris, Lidia and Loki are somewhere else. The 2 could have taken that opportunity to talk to each other. Chaos should have asked Fenrir about his past and maybe we could have even gotten a flashback or two.

Instead all we get is a disappointing and pointless scene between the 2 as all the focus is placed on Lidia, Iris and Loki. That wouldn't have been so bad if we got some more plot out of it, but, regrettably, all we get is yet another pointless scene.

Sure, it's pretty funny, but it would still have been so much better if we got all our questions answered instead. Do you think Chaos should have spoken to Fenris Fenrir and asked her to tell him about his past? Do you think we should have gotten a flashback about what happened a thousand years ago?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by lilie-morhiril, CC:BY-SA from deviantArt
- The 2 figures in the image that look as if they're talking or are about to have a conversation are meant to represent Chaos and Fenris Fenrir
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

What's To Dislike About The Nameless Characters Of Ragnarok Manhwa?

Thursday, March 06, 2014
There are a number of nameless characters in Ragnarok: Into The Abyss. What's wrong and what is there to dislike about some of these characters that appear in the manhwa?
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
There is actually nothing wrong with having minor, nameless and extra characters. These people add to the plot of the story and help to enhance it. There are a lot of times when it's necessary to have these characters show up to do a number of things that are essential to the plot (for example, they can be the owners of the inn that our resident protagonists will be staying at for a short while).

However, there are times when the appearance of these extras can be said to be pointless and useless and where these minor characters end up being unlikable. But why is that? What are some of the instances in the Ragnarok manhwa wherein we can see minor characters that aren't exactly likable?

For starters, let's take a look at one of the times when the comic introduced some nameless characters to us, seemingly for the sole purpose of dumping information on its readers.

This incident happens in Volume 2 wherein we meet some nameless soldiers whose sole purpose appears to be to talk with each other just to be able to dump some information on us, the readers. We get this one soldier who apparently doesn't know anything (so he has an excuse to ask questions or so it seems) and one of his superior officers tells him about the story of Surt.

We even get a mini flashback of sorts. This flashback itself makes this particular scene even more annoying and frustrating. Why? Because it shows that the comic is quite capable of giving us a flashback to tell us about what happened in the past.

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
And yet, for some unknown reason, the graphic novel refuses to give us a flashback about what happened a thousand years ago regarding Fenris Fenrir and Chaos.

Information about those 2 would certainly have been more preferable than getting information about Tanat and Surt because, seriously, who cares about the latter two?

We've never met them and it's hard to see what's so important about them that they even get a flashback when this is the only time they're ever mentioned.

After this, we hear no more about these 2 and it's like they never even existed. The same can be said for the two soldiers that were talking about this as, pretty much right after they dump all this information on us, they die.

This really strengthens the suspicion that their sole purpose (the reason why they were even introduced to us) was to tell us stuff (that we don't know, but that they should know) while also questioning the point and validity of this scene. After all, what will we have missed if this scene didn't exist and we just got straight to Loki's group, so we could get the plot moving?

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, chaos, fenris fenrir
Another example of being introduced to yet another nameless character as well as a pointless scene in the graphic novel is in Chapter 42 of Volume 5.

This is where we see some guy we don't know as he goes looking for Prontera's general.

He's shown asking and running around for a few pages until he finally comes across the general so he can tell the latter about the strange thing he could see in the sky (Himmelmez's fortress).

But, seriously, exactly what is the point of that scene? Why did we have to see all that? Why couldn't we skip straight to the guy reporting to the general? In fact, why was the focus even on this extra character in the first place? We don't know anything about him and he's not even one of the protagonists.

ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, loki, assassins
These guys are just minor characters that aren't really relevant to the story. Instead of focusing on these extras, the graphic novel should have been focusing on the plot and the main characters.

Chaos and the others are the ones that readers would like to know more about since they're the story's heroes. So, what do you think about all this? Do you think that these scenes could have been omitted from the manhwa?

Do you think that information shouldn't have been dumped on the readers by using nameless characters? Do you think that the focus of the comic's scenes should have been on the main characters and to the advancement of the story's plot?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by hayashinomura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent the many nameless characters in the graphic novel
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Instances Of Deus Ex Machina In Ragnarok Manhwa

Monday, March 03, 2014
chaos, loki, skurai, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
This post is also known as 'does Ragnarok: Into The Abyss love deus ex machina?'. What are some of the instances in the manhwa where we can see examples of possible deus ex machina?

Chapter 2 of Volume 1 is where we can find the first instance of a deus ex machina in said comic. In this particular chapter, we have Chaos and Iris Irine searching for a face mask.

How convenient is it that the face mask they're looking for suddenly shows up right where they are? Is this contrived or a mere coincidence?

It seems like deus ex machina actually. After all, we don't even know exactly where those 2 are, so how believable is it that the very thing they're looking for suddenly shows up right where they are? It's like the face mask just showed up, so they wouldn't have to go through the trouble of locating it or it just showed up because they had no idea where to find one.
ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa, deus ex machina
Chapter 13 of Volume 2 has an even worse example. In this chapter, the battle in Fayon is still taking place and our heroes are apparently no match for Sara Irine and even Skurai.

The Valkyrie and the swordsman are winning or would have won the fight when, all of a sudden and seemingly coming from out of nowhere, Chaos suddenly remembers that he's Balder and is thus able to summon Nidhogg.

Seriously, is that really supposed to be believable? How can he just suddenly remember that he's really a god when he didn't even believe Fenris Fenrir when the latter was telling him about all of this earlier?

In this instance, it appears that the resident main character is the deus ex machina. It's like he just had to remember his past identity and that he has all this power because if this didn't happen, then the heroes would have lost.

Another example can be found in Chapter 38 of Volume 5. This is the part where Chaos, Loki and Skurai were engaged in a very long battle, which lasted for several chapters.

skurai, fayon, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
The swordsman had just left and now the protagonist and the assassin are about to resume their fight.

However, before anything more can transpire between those 2, guards of Prontera suddenly and conveniently show up to attempt to arrest the fighting duo.

It's like the guards just had to show up now in order to prevent the men from fighting anew. After all, if they were going to show up anyway, why is it that they're only appearing now?

This fight between the 3 men has been going on for a long while already and so many people had already gotten injured because of this. Furthermore, the trio weren't exactly being quiet during the battle. It didn't even seem like they cared how much noise they made or how much damage and destruction they caused to Prontera.

As such, are we really supposed to believe that the guards only found out about this fight just now? Couldn't they hear it from where they were? Didn't they see the hurt and panicked people? Wasn't there a single guard near where this fight was taking place?

Why is it that these soldiers showed up only now when so much has happened already? Why didn't they show up before the fight could really start? More than that though, another question that warrants being asked is exactly what is the point of this little interlude?

Why did the guards have to act as the deus ex machina and show up to prevent our resident main characters from continuing their fight? Is it that this is necessary because, if the guards don't show up, then Chaos will end up losing to Loki and there is no other way to prevent this other than to introduce a deus ex machina?

loki, skurai, chaos, ragnarok: into the abyss, manhwa
If that's not the reason, then what is? Why couldn't the 2 of them finish their fight and maybe clear up the misunderstanding between them?

This could have been a good opportunity for Loki to tell Chaos exactly why he wants to kill the latter. The hero could then tell the assassin that he's not the one responsible for what had happened to the Assassins' Guild.

We could have seen how Chaos would try to prove his innocence and whether or not Loki would believe him.

Then, perhaps, we could have even seen the assassin explain to the main character what he knows about the Dragon Knights. After all, the protagonist wants to know more about this and it appears to be relevant to the plot. Unfortunately, none of that happens.

What do you think of these scenes in the manhwa wherein we got what appeared to be deus ex machina? Do you think that these scenes could have and should have been done differently?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by CoDLia (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent Chaos who has the same messy and spiky hair as the figure in said image
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget