Thunderfall's Gambit by @Thorvald (El Thorvaldo)

My 62nd submission to DYOS X. [link]

First off, I apologize wholeheartedly for the awful textual framing. I think I still have a master copy lying about that has the dialogue in separate layers so I can improve legibility at a later date.

This recap is the first instance of me trying to assemble the various tangential arcs under a cohesive umbrella; not unlike the Gem escapade, it was primarily to bring lord_joakim into relevance to the main plot. It's a retcon for sure: when Bjørn first received that purple box, I had no clue what was inside it.

The central question that Grievous tries and ultimately fails to extract has, by Part II, basically been dismissed as no longer important. But in true Eastern philosophical fashion, the answer to the riddle is the riddle itself. As much as Toyoda's final quip is a tease, he's not simply being obtuse: as Dr. Breen says in a later comic, the answer is staring Grievous in the face, but the prejudices of his thinking are preventing him from seeing it.

Even compared to the state of my drawing now, I like how this turned out. Grievous looks menacing in just about every panel. Too bad it couldn't make up for his appearances in the rest of the thread... :p

All characters © their respective creators.

[Originally submitted to DeviantArt January 2014.]