That was a fairly strong opening chapter for the Arc. We got to watch Taylor do pest control and rock the benevolent ruler role, had an interesting discussion with Brian about Coil’s acceptance of Taylor’s way of ruling her territory, and then got to the Slaughterhouse developments fairly quickly. It looks like we’re in for a third truce, which I’m absolutely down for.

Seriously, I really should’ve thought of that. I know I’m not that great at predictions most of the time, but this is downright embarrassing.

But yeah, I think we’re in for an interesting Arc.

Next chapter, it’s meeting time! It’s going to be interesting to see how different it’ll be from the one in Hive. Most notably, Hookwolf taking the initiative, suggesting he might take charge rather than Coil. Something tells me the mediation of the meeting will be a little more aggressive this time around.

And then there’s Skidmark, who’s much more powerful in a social sense this time. Last time he was a pathetic whelp, easily dismissed by the big shots, especially Kaiser. This time, he’s a pathetic whelp with a following. Kaiser isn’t here and Skidmark belongs at the table, but Hookwolf, a fellow racist, is in charge and Skidmark just suffered an embarrassing defeat, so he might find himself just as excluded as last time. Though Hookwolf at least seems more inclined to stay professional than Kaiser was, and might not act on his racism.

Skidmark did get set up in this chapter as one to watch, though. That might be a red herring, or just something that made it in because of the Undersiders’ conceptions of him. But it’s possible that the caped Skidmark wouldn’t take getting excluded as well as he did last time, so it might be worth keeping an eye on him either way. That is, if he shows up.

So yeah! I’m looking forward to this. See you next time!