My reread of Pandora's Tale comes to an end! Spoilers incoming. Chapter 8: Unbecoming Here it is: the first chapter that was never compiled into a book, along with the first chapter without a cavefish, the first chapter without Veronica, the first chapter without Con, and the second chapter (after 1) with an extended flashback. The cover is really nice. I wonder how many other adaptions of classic art of Pandora we would have gotten if the story had continued. I've never wished wage-theft on any real person, but seeing it happen to the people tasked with brainwashing slaves gives me a weird sort of schadenfreude. I love cute cat-eared Isabelle. Pandora's nightmare feels very relatable, as does the way she smiles while casually dropping the "It's me!" Xan does a great job making the helper with VR trouble look horrified. Ya know, Pandora, I bet you could figure out how to lie to Isabelle, even if it's just to test if you can. But maybe it seems less important than other tasks you have. Going back again, I LOVE Pandora's moment of impact. Along with Adrastea, I really wish we'd gotten to see more of Pandora's friends from training. How are they doing now that they are out in the world and (presumably) owned by some rich asshole? How would Pandora react if she met them again and found they are still completely brainwashed? Pandora's despair hits so hard. No, Pandora, you are not bad. As always, I love the way Pandora's facial expressions echo Adrastea's from last chapter. Noor demonstrates why she's so popular among the readers. I think the ending of this chapter is really sweet, though I am again disappointed that this is the last we see of Pandora's friends from training. Bonus: A Letter from Isabelle I wasn't really sure where in my reread to do this, so I'm doing it here. I wish we knew who the in-universe friends Isabelle was writing to are. On the other hand, the letter seems like it is very much addressed to us real-world readers, as the dark and scary real world gets closer and closer to the world Isabelle lives in. I suspect Isabelle's message will remain relevant for a long time. Also, while I understand the author's decision to make the comic mostly grayscale, I really like occasionally getting to see the characters in full color. Originally there was a gap of over a year between Chapters 8 and 9, but I'm going to dive right into the next one now! Chapter 9: Echo, Part 1 I love the color scheme and the fancy border between the two Helpers on the cover. It feels poetic how this chapter gives us dynamic in different contexts of the lines "this is Echo" and "are you a cop?," like the phrases are echoed. Echo has so much courage when dealing with cops and mob bosses, but so little when dealing with Pandora and Hemmel. Van Tilburg's Helper has fought her programming enough to be afraid of cops: I wonder if she'll eventually escape, or if the resistance will rescue her? Also, I get a laugh out of the whole discussion of The Greatest Temptation. I'm glad the tidbit from Zufolene's cast page entry made it into the main comic. Resistance missions are still happening off-panel, but it's weird realizing that the final four chapters, more than a third of the series, don't have Pandora doing any on-panel aside from planning and recruiting. I love Echo's entrance and introduction to the rest of the main cast. Pandora thinks Echo is confident, and in some ways she is, but in other ways she's even more flustered than the others. Once again, I laugh at the Belgian Vicky jokes. If you consider "All of Humanity" a character, then they were the hardest character to get a clear picture of for the wiki. Echo, you need to hear your own advice. I once again find myself wondering if Lyra will ever join the resistance. She may be naive sometimes, but Pandora seems to be the best judge of character out of the bunch. I'm always impressed by how calm Echo manages to be (or pretend to be) when getting in the car. This feels like the best cliffhanger ending of all the two-part storylines in the series. Onward! Chapter 10: Echo, Part 2 Echo on an abandoned road looks so lonely. It's interesting seeing Isabelle happy and cheerful while Pandora is despondent and sad, considering their usual dynamic. I feel for both these characters. I can understand how sometimes it's scariest to talk to the people most able to help you. At the same time, Echo isn't taking her own advice, and she isn't showing the courage Pandora saw in her yesterday. Land of Legends: Lost lists the "alignment" for a generic member of a species in the rulebook, so I see some things have not improved by the 2060s. Why didn't Natalia insist on a GM-less game? That would be more leftist than L&L's authoritarian GM model. Meanwhile, I love love love how every human in the room is freaked out while Pandora just smiles at Echo. I hope Echo helps Hemmel beef up security after this chapter. The cops' "trust us" flyer raises questions already answered by the flyer. I remember when Xan posted the last panel of page 13 as a preview, I really had no idea whether it would end up meaning "Echo is actually bad and Pandora doesn't suspect her" or whether it would mean the opposite. Cops are certainly experts in gaslighting. Yeah, I'm with Pandora in wanting to hug someone. I like how the Echo storyline ends with an echo of the end of Sisters in Arms, the previous storyline in which a Helper joins the resistance before we cut away to the main villain. I tend to forget that The Helper Corporation is based in (presumably) Las Vegas. Ah yes, Stephen Wolfram also called Matthew Cook a "valued research assistant." I guess that Elodie suspects there is something interesting to learn about studying trans Helpers, and Thorton at least has the sense to listen to her. I wish we'd gotten to see Maple interact with Pandora. That's a series-wrap for her. Pandora's Tarot: I don't know much about tarot cards, so for me these are just nice-looking pictures. Isabelle as the Empress seems like a callback to A Portrait from Space, and with that in mind, the background of Pandora's looks like it could be in a spaceship as well (but it's ambiguous). It feels weird seeing Andromeda and Cassiopeia without Leo. I wanna know if Con can canonically play the trumpet. And now, we are ready for the grand finale. Chapter 11: The Night Shift Here it is: the last chapter of Pandora's Tale. On the cover, Pandora and Isabelle are not sad that it's over: they are happy it happened. Of course, they don't know it's over, since this chapter wasn't written as a series finale. I love how quickly Echo has integrated herself into the main cast, and I appreciate the Bookends getting one last appearance. I love Isabelle and Tal's reaction as Pandora suddenly reveals her knowledge of childcare, while Pandora smiles. Talking through your unconscious biases while gay and blowing up police tanks feels very appropriate for the last chapter of the series. I like that Con does actually make the effort to learn, without needing hundreds of pages to do it. Meanwhile, Isabelle and Pandora both pick the task that is harder for them. I find it amusing that this random department store clerk ended up being the last new character to qualify for a wiki article (unless I later decide to change the standard.) Pandora is making progress, but she still has a long way to go. Pandora's "It's brilliant," and really this entire scene, feel like a continuation of her conversation with Isabelle in chapter 4. Even though Xan didn't intend this chapter to be the series finale, it still feels like she managed to cram a "greatest hits of Pandora's Tale" into 21 pages. We have Pandora struggling to learn to stand up for herself, Isabelle struggling with her own insecurities, and critical infrastructure breaking because the capitalists in charge don't care, while our other gay girls talk about intersectionalism and bigotry while blowing up police cars. All the action climaxes in a calm, serious heart-to-heart conversation between the main duo, ending with childish yet fun and silly mocking of a villain. And as Pandora and Isabelle run away from the MonoMart Clerk, my reread comes to a close. Usually when a comic I like ends early, I say "I hope this comic comes back, but even if it never does, I'm still glad I read it." Somehow, that boilerplate line doesn't feel like it does justice to how I feel about it this time. Even though this comic was quite short, it had a profound effect on me. Words fail to explain how much these characters helped me understand myself and how I view the world. I can't even tell you how much words fail, because we never got to see Chapter 12: Words Fail. Pandora's Tale also pushed me to get seriously into wiki editing, something I am very grateful for. Goodbye, Pandora, you did well. #PandorasTale #Webcomics