Chapter 21 - "Mark of the Beast" - Part 2

[wh33t]

Something fishy going on with Angel imo. He seemed very aggressive towards Pippin and seemed to want to talk over him and shut him up until Michael stepped in. I think it wont be long before there will be a revelation about Angel and he will get found out. Not saying he is the mole as i am convinced that is Saul, but I do think Angel is hiding something.

You think Saul is the mole? How did you arrive at that conclusion?

[Arkum]

Some thoughts after a few listens:

I think the fingers go on forever comment was more referring to length rather than number. i picture the little ones to look just like the children in Dead Space 2. Short with long lanky arms and claws.

As much as I'd love to see someone from the tower find out about Pippen being a spy and take out some much needed frustration on him, I don't think anyone at the Tower will be doing that with Michael around. Doesn't seem like the type of thin he would allow.

I agree that Angel seems a bit irritable with Pippen. maybe he knows something, maybe he is just suspicious and untrusting now. Can't blame him for that.

Lizzy, Tar and Bricks are definitely left behind by the convoy now, probably assumed dead. With limited resources and possible injuries I think they will create a strong bond in the episodes to come. Probably finding their way back to the tower. Where I gotta think Lizzy makes up a story about what happened in the furniture store so Saul doesn't go ape on Tar. At least not right away. Eventually he will find out though. I look forward to Bricks converting to the good guys. I like his character as a big sweetie. Also he doesn't waste ammo when he can tear off limbs instead.

My other theory is that The Tower sends out a scouting party to check on the Arena, or maybe Bert makes his way over there after hearing the explosion and runs into Lizzie, Tar and Bricks.

How mad are Tar and Bricks after being left behind? Mad enough to defect and reveal the Mallers true plan? Seems like something Bricks would spill in conversation with Lizzie. If given the chance does Lizzie run for her life? Or does she have a friendly bond with Bricks now too? And maybe even with Tar after the next ep? I can't really see anyone forgiving someone who tried to rape them, on any level, for the sake of survival I'm sure anything goes.

Well that's a long winded rant that needs to end. Right about now.

[kdalton]

Okay, interesting episode. The mallers are on the offensive. One thing confused me - did the fire the Tower folks saw happen before the mallers attacked their target or was the narrative just telling what had already happened out of sequence? I need to listen again. At first blush I thought there were two separate targets being hit.

[Arkum]

Same target, each side of the story was on its own timeline, not sequential. That's how I figured it anyway.

[wiffadabiffa]

Same target, each side of the story was on its own timeline, not sequential. That's how I figured it anyway.

I liked this episode because of this...I like it when they alternate between the different stories going on in but sometimes I just want to know whats going on in one of the stories and I just go....GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

[Wicked Sid]

I think that the little ones weren't created but that the tattoo was an identifier for the generation in which they were first seen.

There are most likely no gen 1's (Slow, Scars) left, possibly no gen 2's (Jumpers), Runners are possibly gen 3 and Behemoths are probably Gen 4. TOWTM and/or Ink counts himself as Gen 0.

[HaveCrowBarWillTravel]

A full frontal assault on the arena?!?! Pippen has to be a mole. Even Datu said it's amazing he made it as far as he did smelling like that.

And why did Durai head south? Maybe he took a crew to try and invade the colony.

I told ya.. I told ya.. i told ya! Neh, neh, neh! LOL.
Just having a good time with ya man. I knew Durai was still calling the shots. Yes Sir! Scratch is a field leader not a planner. Durai is the general and assaulting the Arena to clean it out was always in his personality type. He's a proactive dude not defensive minded at all.

The ambush was amazing. Routing them through the trees was pure de..genious! Choke points, single access to egress, cover, concealment, suprise, speed and ground preparation. That was some Sun Tzu type ish right there son!
Our friend in the suit was just chill'n and observing.

I bet Durai went to the Airport

[HaveCrowBarWillTravel]

Wow Riley way to be a bitch. Claire Dodin said that her sexuality would be revealed, well if she was going to be straight, that roof top would have been a great place for her to have kissed Angel, or revealed that they'd hooked up. Also my hookup theory as to why riley wasnt in her room, and why Angel was so eager to go back to bed, was totally wrong and thats totally lame. I wouldnt say this solidifies that she's a lesbian, but it's yet another nail in her coffin. (not that her being gay is a bad thing, I just wanted her and Angel to hook up ) Oh and if she IS gay, then what is she doing all in love with Lizzy? That’s not cool, she’s with saul. Lesbian or not, there is a code here.

Second, on the point that the Mallers are dumb. This would be a huge mistake and a huge underestimation of their talents. Not all of these guys are rocket scientists, but do NOT underestimate their leadership. Durai is a genius supervillain, oh and to all the haters who said he was dead and scratch was in charge, SUCK IT! (includes you greg miller!) Durai is way too good a character to be killed off behind the scenes. Obviously the Mallers have had a different set of experiences than the tower, and so they’ve developed different weapons and gained different intelligence on the zombies than the tower. For one thing, these guys know for whatever reason that the zombies will hunt you. That they will FOLLOW you and hunt you down. The tower is not aware of this. They’ve also got their hands on a weapon of sorts from a safe. Bet you that its an explosive, maybe an rpg, maybe grenades, who knows.

Oh and Durai heading south. I think this adds in favor of Nik’s theory from one episode ago. The Mallers have heavy duty radio equipment. The colony has heavy duty radios… Perhaps they have been in contact. Its too soon to say that there is an alliance between the two, or if Durai is down there with a scouting party, readying themselves for an assault on the colony. But I’d say the colony definitely has something to do with why Durai is down south.

Also, Lizzy, DUMBASS! If the Mallers are not aware that you have a method of calling the zombies THEN YOU DON’T GO TELLING THEM! Yes you can have them be afraid, but that only works on STUPID people, Durai will take this into consideration when he attacks the tower next, and we lose our trump card.

On the subject of the small ones. They aren’t children and they aren’t chimpanzees. If it was a monkey, then the arm would have been hairy, scratch says that this one had no hair. The fact that it’s nails were filed into claws, and that it was branded with the number 5 is worrisome. I’m getting the uneasy feeling that this thing is a hybrid creature. Scratch specifically says, it doesn’t look human at all. This thing may never have ever been a normal living human being turned by the virus. Makes you wonder about the zombie queen theory. Makes you wonder what Ink’s role in all this really is. Maybe he really is just a general and commander of the zombie attack squad while there is something else. Maybe the virus mutates in response to certain stimuli. If this thing was engineered, how’d they do it? For now, we have NO evidence on this, so no point jumping to theories, its like trying to hit a target at 100 yards while blindfolded.

Holy Cow Ra1th.. I couldn't have said that better..
People forget how..um,, industrial and inventive prisoners can be. They're creative out of survival needs. Necessity being the mother of invention and all that stuff. I don't think a lot of people have bothered to look at the map. The maller's "territory" is expansive to say the least. It shows a good amount of preparation, aggression, leadership and manpower.

Dude.. Riley's actions had me scared and a bit hopeful at the same time.. I was saying to myself... "She's gonna admit to being the mole.. she's gonna admit it.. no, not riley.. not riley..." And it didn't happen and my blood pressure went back to normal.

The assault on the Arena.. had to happen. They're in Durai's way. I'm thinking the slaves are.. well, slaves in the plantation sense. They'll be used for labor in a more brutal fashion than how the Colony uses it's people.

The "Little One": I don't have a clue on this one other than I think the Bio firm is going to be a factor and these things are genetic tests/experiments. The only thing is that the tattoos and number were fresh........
Sooo, that means the lab is STILL churning them out or they've been in the WAverse the whole time, but newly released???

The "Weapon" from the safe: Wooo wee! What safe? The only safe we know of is Burt's. They cleaned out his shop and safe, they cleaned out the Reserve armory for the most part and cleaned out police stations..

What could it be, this "Weapon?" It sounds big. Originally I thought about a claymore, but that's too small in size and scope.
Could it be a failsafe weapon they got from the Lab? I'm going to assume that the Mallers have looked at that place too.
Could the "Weapon" be a countermeasure? It sounds like it.. a "Break glass in case of Zombie outbreak" kinda thing.

The significance of the numbers 5? Could the "Suit" be the number 2 guy? Ink being number 1? I've always assumed Ink and Suit were the same cat though. What is significant is the fact that the small creature's nails were "Filed." Why do I think that's a big deal? Well, it shows intelligence, cunning and above all it shows PURPOSE.

This one is Ra1th specific.. Angel's attitude this epi. I'm sure you noted how surly he was acting. He was "Trying" to be assertive and didn't think highly of being counted out. Normally he's fine being in the background. Saying his peace and moving on. This time he "wanted" to be heard, he wanted his presence to be felt. "Oh, I can talk now?!"
I thought.. "uh oh!" There may be a "Come to Jesus" meeting soon.

[Arkum]

I think the weapon is an RPG or grenade launcher. Something capable of big damage in a bind.

[mem]

listened last night finally and my heart was trying to beat through my chest. great episode.