X-O #1 SPOILERS THREAD! Read the book then this thread!

[greg]

Gilad is my favorite character, so I was looking for him my first time reading the issue (FWIW, they said Gilad was going to be in the first issue a few months ago). I couldn't pick him out. If he is the "Yes, my King." guy, there is nothing that makes it clear within the issue itself.

That's true... it's the combination of the "Yes, my King" image and the FCBD.

[Andy]

Could the vine baby be IVAR?

[bobby97801]

Could the vine baby be IVAR?

Then what about his brothers? No it can't be him

[MarrowMan]

I thought it was stated they are 10k + years old?

[greg]

It could be Ivar's baby... all we know is that the family was back at the camp... all the brothers might be in that camp.

[Andy]

In the Timewalker series wasn't Ivar experimented on by a Spider Alien?

[MarrowMan]

In the Timewalker series wasn't Ivar experimented on by a Spider Alien?

in Timewalker #0

[Blood of Heroes]

It could be Ivar's baby... all we know is that the family was back at the camp... all the brothers might be in that camp.

IIRC, in VH1 they all had gone their separate ways long before the Roman empire was around.


It's going to be hard not to constantly compare the new stuff with the old.

[BugsySig]

It could be Ivar's baby... all we know is that the family was back at the camp... all the brothers might be in that camp.

IIRC, in VH1 they all had gone their separate ways long before the Roman empire was around.


It's going to be hard not to constantly compare the new stuff with the old.

Well FVL did confirm they go back to the days of Ur in Sumer, which would make them far older than the Roman Empire and would seem to suggest the brothers have separated long before the events of XO1.

I find the theory of the baby being Gilad's more likely as he is "in" the issue and creates some crazy plot possibilities.

[Dr. Solar]

Gilad is my favorite character, so I was looking for him my first time reading the issue (FWIW, they said Gilad was going to be in the first issue a few months ago). I couldn't pick him out. If he is the "Yes, my King." guy, there is nothing that makes it clear within the issue itself.

That's why it's cool! There was nothing in X-O #4 that made it clear the jazz player was Shadowman... a very "Valiant" thing to do!

[greg]

Ok, weird thought, but still part of X-O #1... the back cover!

Archer & Armstrong image on the back cover has them fighting the (new) Sect.

The Sect now wear masks to completely hide their identity... because they're aliens?

Do they want Armstrong dead because HE INVENTED alcoholic beverages made from plants?

[Blood of Heroes]

The Sect now wear masks to completely hide their identity... because they're aliens?

That's my guess.

Yeah I thought the same thing. I think it looks neat, but the fact that it looks like a video game bothers me. One of the pillars of Valiant for me was the idea of "the world outside your window". This costume just really seems to go against that idea. We will see.

They look like they could almost be.....alien.

[Dr. Solar]

Maybe the sect are the alien baby's that got left on earth, shapeshifted into human babies.

Around the age 12, 13 or so, they notice they are growing tenticles in places there were no tentacles before, and have new, confusing thoughts...

[Blood of Heroes]

Maybe the sect are the alien baby's that got left on earth, shapeshifted into human babies.

Around the age 12, 13 or so, they notice they are growing tenticles in places there were no tentacles before, and have new, confusing thoughts...

She's faking it!

[greg]

Maybe the sect are the alien baby's that got left on earth, shapeshifted into human babies.

Around the age 12, 13 or so, they notice they are growing tenticles in places there were no tentacles before, and have new, confusing thoughts...

I just re-read the book and thought the same thing.

The Sect is "centuries old" and they cover their faces... seems like the offspring of generations of the hybrids/shapeshifters.

Assuming the Sect still hates Armstrong, they'd need a reason... nonstop destruction of crops for the purpose of creating alcohol seems like a good reason if they worship plants...
and Armstrong might stay drunk all the time just to keep them *SQUEE* off... because it amuses him to think they're "offended" by his drinking fermented plant juice.

[etos45]

With the reveal of the Eternal Warrior image in FCBD and the three scars on his face, could we assume that he got those scars from the Vine? It seems that they have three main fingers that are begging to scratch. If that's true, it would explain why Gilad is fighting with the Visgoths and why he might have scarred (alien super-glove technology ).

Also, and this is a stretch... (PS - I know NOTHING about the Immortal Enemy) I read a post on Twitter from MOTA that said, "when the Immortal Enemy was reborn as Gilad's son...". Is it possible that the captured kid (or, more possibly, the replaced kid) is the Immortal Enemy? From what I've read on the Valiant wiki, the Immortal Enemy "is reborn in different bodies throughout the ages", which could be interpreted through shape shifting to "become" other bodies. Also, he has "one brown eye and one green eye", but in X-O the baby's eyes are shut or completely black through the whole thing. So eye color is impossible to tell. It's my guess that we are also getting the first appearance of the Immortal Enemy.


Please... PLEASE... feel free to debunk.

[MarrowMan]

With a new universe unfolding, anything is possible this time around, so your theory could be right or off base by 60 000 000 000 light years.

[greg]

More random thoughts...

The hive baby (and others like him, assuming the baby-swap occurs all over the planet) establishes the hive into human society around the year 400.

What if the "voodoo legacy" of Shadowman/Shadowmen through the generations is related to the hive bloodline, not "voodoo magic"?
It was established that Jack became Shadowman because he was bitten by a spider-alien... but if it's in the blood from the beginning, that makes it specific to certain "humans".

[greg]

There are at least three (or four) hive aliens who sneak into the Visigoth camp. At least two are carrying "chirr-ip" babies.
Multiple babyswaps occurred in that camp that night. Avagis is just one of them.
It's likely they occurred all over the planet.

What is the meaning of "FORWARD!" in the last panel of the baby swap?

[Dr. Solar]

Also, and this is a stretch... (PS - I know NOTHING about the Immortal Enemy) I read a post on Twitter from MOTA that said, "when the Immortal Enemy was reborn as Gilad's son...". Is it possible that the captured kid (or, more possibly, the replaced kid) is the Immortal Enemy? From what I've read on the Valiant wiki, the Immortal Enemy "is reborn in different bodies throughout the ages", which could be interpreted through shape shifting to "become" other bodies. Also, he has "one brown eye and one green eye", but in X-O the baby's eyes are shut or completely black through the whole thing. So eye color is impossible to tell. It's my guess that we are also getting the first appearance of the Immortal Enemy.

You have to realize that MotA is still obsessing over classic Valiant, which has nothing to do with this

Since I know he is reading this post, hi Mike!

I hope that not everything in the Valiant Universe comes down to "it's part of the Vine plot". That would get pretty old and boring real fast, and would feel just a bit too contrived.

[greg]

There is no planet or moon involved in Aric's capture so far, right? Where all the ships land is still another ship (the vine colony ship) and they appear to be in orbit around Jupiter (but it could be anywhere, I guess).

I read that three times thinking they must be on a moon with some vegetation around Jupiter, but they're on the larger ship, right?
(Seems obvious now, but I did think it was a Jupiter moon base.)

So, anyway, they're on a ship and Shanhara "lives" in/above a tree trunk which is also on the ship. We don't know where Shanhara (or the home tree) is from.
OK, just thinking out loud.

Trying to figure out the "dozen plot lines" that are established in X-O #1 according to Venditti.

[greg]

Is this an oversight or colorist error... or are there some hive aliens with 6 eyes and some with 8 eyes?

[Elveen]

There are at least three (or four) hive aliens who sneak into the Visigoth camp. At least two are carrying "chirr-ip" babies.
Multiple babyswaps occurred in that camp that night. Avagis is just one of them.
It's likely they occurred all over the planet.

What is the meaning of "FORWARD!" in the last panel of the baby swap?

I think the multiple different people in the jail with Aric is proof to this. V Ditty back this up on the OTV podcast.

[greg]

Seems like the multiple abductions all over the planet are going to be the source for some of the "ancient aliens" mythology in the real world.
Lots of isolated cultures have a "they came down from the sky" aspect to their oral and written (or monument) history.

[Dr. Solar]

Whatever the Vine are up to, it seems to be much better thought out and implemented than whatever the old spider aliens were up to.