More and more, I’m wondering if there’s something actually wrong with Ultima and Sovereign beyond being bigots and lousy parents. It’s not just about them dismissing Tyler as a failure at this point; regardless of how they feel about him, he’s lived with them for, what, eight years? Even if he were just a roommate or something, rather than their son, you’d think they’d remember his name.
I don’t think there’s something wrong with Ultima and Sovereign, but I *do* think that Tyler does have a metahuman ability (besides Common Sense). Basically, people don’t notice him, especially when he doesn’t want them to. It’s a very subtle power, similar in a way to Guardian Angel’s ability to avoid computer monitoring, except that Tyler’s power works on people too. He doesn’t want them to know he’s Moon Shadow? They don’t make the connection (with the exception of Cecil, who has a metahuman detection ability). With Tyler being gone, his power has gone into overdrive making sure no one, not even his parents, remembers him enough to know that he’s gone. Do we really think that Ultima, who is basically a good person despite being a bit of a meta-racist, honestly thinks he has to do a background check on his own son? No, something or someone is influencing him. My chief theory is that it’s Tyler’s power. My secondary theory is that it’s the Headmaster, in preparation to swiping Tyler for Praetorian Academy. Let’s face it… if any place needs Common Sense, it’s Praetorian Academy. I haven’t quite figured out why the power doesn’t affect Toby, but Toby is Tyler’s clone. Maybe his power doesn’t work on himself.
I definitely agree with the part of your theory that implies it’s an outside force. But who, how and why? Probably not Preatorian, they don’t know enough about Moonshadow to link him to Tyler and I doubt the Headmaster would pay any attention to a non-meta.
I’ll agree it seems too over-the-top not to be some sort of influence, rather than just Flanderized parental neglect. However, it can’t be Tyler’s power; if Tyler had a power, Cecil’s aforementioned metahuman-detecting power would have had him mistrusting Tyler along with the other “aliens” long before they could have become friends.
I actually feel a bit sorry for Toby in this one, too: he is trying so hard to be friends with and a good brother to Tyler, but Tyler’s bitterness makes him almost dismissive of Toby’s well-meant actions. It isn’t that Tyler is being cruel, and his own emotional battering from what’s going on is certainly greater, but from a literary perspective it’s kind of nice to see him being imperfect in how he treats others. He’s acting the child he is, missing or ignoring Toby’s earnest efforts and almost dismissing them.
But still, it makes one feel sorry for Toby that his desire to be with his brother and to help him out is met with indifference and a touch of misplaced bitterness. Again, nothing unforgivable, but it still probably stings a bit.
Not trying too hard to take a side in this debate, but do we really know how Cecil’s detection ability works? We know that it works on individuals with powers derived from the meta gene, but aside from that one kid who is a child born between a force of chaos and a force of order (also maybe that one kid who figured out magic), he hasn’t really had a lot of experience with non-meta gene powers. It’s entirely possible that it doesn’t work on people with powers not derived from the meta gene (or genes, if that’s the way this world works). In that case, Tyler could have acquired some sort of “easily overlooked” ability that isn’t from a meta gene.
Again, not really trying to take a side, just trying to expand on theories and produce/eliminate possibilities for my own personal enjoyment.
That’s actually a possibility. Cecil’s power probably only works on a human or at least Earth-based wavelength (best word I could think of). That’s why can feel Humans with powers and Magic Beings cause they’re all either born on or connected to the earth. This theory is mostly based on one major fact from way back to when we first saw Cecil: he couldn’t detect Prospero.
You’re assuming that Tyler’s hypothetical “Notice Me Not” power doesn’t trump Cecil’s “Detect Metahumans” power, which seems slightly risky. We’ve seen that Harold’s ability to deactivate abilities can trump something even as powerful as Ambriel’s Guardian Force, so why couldn’t Tyler’s do the same with Cecil’s?
I believe there is an X-Man character called Forget-Me-Not whose power was that people would forget him. Even Prof. X had to use his telepathy on himself to program himself to occasionally remember Forget-Me-Mot’s existence. When the Professor died or went missing FMN lived a very lonely life in the X-Mansion.
Lots of specialized super talking… but you all kind of forget one thing. The parents wanted a child with powers and now they have one. Also Tyler had went through a LOT of stuff. Time travel, different dimensions, different realities, and even different comics (IF you count nodwick).
So there could be a little bit column A and a bit of splash back from column B. I mean we saw the teleporting bully forget and remember the four square stone in a different dimension. We also have our power detector sporting a flying cape from the different dimension also as a episode backlash.
But I place my bets on the not really caring parents theory.
The argument isn’t whether or not they care. The argument here is how anyone, no matter how apathetic, can not in any way remember someone they conceived and lived with for 8 years.
Put another way, I’m quite sure they think of Tyler as the clone, as Toby is what they always wanted.
I’ve seen mental blocks like this. It often involves children who are disabled, which Tyler is, in his parents’ viewpoint. Hence my continued remarks that he’ll be better off without his parents.
There was an old sci fi first person short story about an evolution step on the human race that gives super intelligence and control over the matter. Also the mutants are far unnoticed, normal people are aware of them only face to face and even witnessing an obvious power demonstration they take it somehow as normal and forget it.
An interesting point is that the main character (the mutant) see it not as much as a self defence as a way to avoid the unpleasent consecuences of him forced to self defence.
In the mutant’s (aproximate) words: “How many sheeps should die for the lion live?”
Anyway I would vote for the “external influence” option.
Tyler went into space as Moon Shadow. The clone protects his secret identity, since people would notice if Moon Shadow and Tyler disappeared at the same time.
The point was making sure people didn’t know Tyler was gone. I think Toby still doesn’t know what secret he’s helping to keep, exactly, but he knows Tyler has secrets. The duplicate may have been screwy, but it was enough to keep people from putting Tyler’s disappearance together with Moon Shadow being offworld.
Someone seriously needs to call child services on the Powers. That nobody has is either a sign of endemic corruption in the supercommunity or an indication that the Powers are powerful enough that the government can’t afford to mess with them and all government power is therefore a sham that persists at the agreement of the powered.
Exactly. I’m in this camp as well. He lost his friends, which at the time were Cecil and Tyler; Cecil’s “bad vibes” about metas got cranked to 11 about him and the parental mistreatment of Tyler was also cranked up, driving a wedge between them.
I hope the extra bitterness was because he just came back from a trip where all he got was bad treatment. And yeah, Tyler is jealous that his parents can’t even tell the difference and/or don’t care. You’d think/hope that a superpowered parent would give a rip. I think Revenant is very much a fosterfather. Tyler wants to help people and can accept the danger much more easily than being forgotten.
Bink in the original Xanth trilogy had one of those subtle powers, much like Ambriel. But that would be breaking the internal rule that he has no powers. He shouldn’t need a power to buy parents’ affection, any more than regular kids who don’t get the affection they need unless they excel (like stage parents in acting or sports). I wish the story had reached a point before ending where he reached a point of value and contentment, but I doubt it, and that tragedy makes for a bitter taste… 🙁
Well, we do know that he will eventually come to some sort of peace with his life–we’ve seen him as an adult Moon Shadow. While it was brief, he didn’t see unhappy, and he did assure young Tyler that things work out. (Whether that assurance was just for young Tyler’s immediate predicament or long-term is arguable, but he didn’t try to offer any other warnings or advice.)
I think the trip with poor treatment is part of the why he is extra bitter this morning. Plus its morning and he might not have gotten enough sleep lately. Plus Tylor does not flash winning smiles like Toby does. I think the main problem between the Toby and Tylor is no longer jealousy but something else. Toby wants his brother to move home and he wants. Tylor has no real malice towards Toby but does not see him as a brother yet and does not want to deal with his legal and genetic parents.
It’s possible part of the problem between Tyler and Toby is that *Tyler* is actually the friend that Toby had to give up. Cecil may not have been an option as a friend, due to the extra-strong meta vibe that Toby gives Cecil.
cheer up tyler. at least your son knows your name. I didn’t bother to learn *my* parents names til i was 16 or so.
just calling them “mom” and “dad” worked so why not.
bit of a surprise honestly. found not only was I named after my father but I was a “the fourth” because he was named for his who was named for his.
This just keeps getting depressing for Tyler, I hope he finds some happiness.
More and more, I’m wondering if there’s something actually wrong with Ultima and Sovereign beyond being bigots and lousy parents. It’s not just about them dismissing Tyler as a failure at this point; regardless of how they feel about him, he’s lived with them for, what, eight years? Even if he were just a roommate or something, rather than their son, you’d think they’d remember his name.
I don’t think there’s something wrong with Ultima and Sovereign, but I *do* think that Tyler does have a metahuman ability (besides Common Sense). Basically, people don’t notice him, especially when he doesn’t want them to. It’s a very subtle power, similar in a way to Guardian Angel’s ability to avoid computer monitoring, except that Tyler’s power works on people too. He doesn’t want them to know he’s Moon Shadow? They don’t make the connection (with the exception of Cecil, who has a metahuman detection ability). With Tyler being gone, his power has gone into overdrive making sure no one, not even his parents, remembers him enough to know that he’s gone. Do we really think that Ultima, who is basically a good person despite being a bit of a meta-racist, honestly thinks he has to do a background check on his own son? No, something or someone is influencing him. My chief theory is that it’s Tyler’s power. My secondary theory is that it’s the Headmaster, in preparation to swiping Tyler for Praetorian Academy. Let’s face it… if any place needs Common Sense, it’s Praetorian Academy. I haven’t quite figured out why the power doesn’t affect Toby, but Toby is Tyler’s clone. Maybe his power doesn’t work on himself.
I definitely agree with the part of your theory that implies it’s an outside force. But who, how and why? Probably not Preatorian, they don’t know enough about Moonshadow to link him to Tyler and I doubt the Headmaster would pay any attention to a non-meta.
I’ll agree it seems too over-the-top not to be some sort of influence, rather than just Flanderized parental neglect. However, it can’t be Tyler’s power; if Tyler had a power, Cecil’s aforementioned metahuman-detecting power would have had him mistrusting Tyler along with the other “aliens” long before they could have become friends.
I actually feel a bit sorry for Toby in this one, too: he is trying so hard to be friends with and a good brother to Tyler, but Tyler’s bitterness makes him almost dismissive of Toby’s well-meant actions. It isn’t that Tyler is being cruel, and his own emotional battering from what’s going on is certainly greater, but from a literary perspective it’s kind of nice to see him being imperfect in how he treats others. He’s acting the child he is, missing or ignoring Toby’s earnest efforts and almost dismissing them.
But still, it makes one feel sorry for Toby that his desire to be with his brother and to help him out is met with indifference and a touch of misplaced bitterness. Again, nothing unforgivable, but it still probably stings a bit.
Not trying too hard to take a side in this debate, but do we really know how Cecil’s detection ability works? We know that it works on individuals with powers derived from the meta gene, but aside from that one kid who is a child born between a force of chaos and a force of order (also maybe that one kid who figured out magic), he hasn’t really had a lot of experience with non-meta gene powers. It’s entirely possible that it doesn’t work on people with powers not derived from the meta gene (or genes, if that’s the way this world works). In that case, Tyler could have acquired some sort of “easily overlooked” ability that isn’t from a meta gene.
Again, not really trying to take a side, just trying to expand on theories and produce/eliminate possibilities for my own personal enjoyment.
That’s actually a possibility. Cecil’s power probably only works on a human or at least Earth-based wavelength (best word I could think of). That’s why can feel Humans with powers and Magic Beings cause they’re all either born on or connected to the earth. This theory is mostly based on one major fact from way back to when we first saw Cecil: he couldn’t detect Prospero.
You’re assuming that Tyler’s hypothetical “Notice Me Not” power doesn’t trump Cecil’s “Detect Metahumans” power, which seems slightly risky. We’ve seen that Harold’s ability to deactivate abilities can trump something even as powerful as Ambriel’s Guardian Force, so why couldn’t Tyler’s do the same with Cecil’s?
I believe there is an X-Man character called Forget-Me-Not whose power was that people would forget him. Even Prof. X had to use his telepathy on himself to program himself to occasionally remember Forget-Me-Mot’s existence. When the Professor died or went missing FMN lived a very lonely life in the X-Mansion.
Lots of specialized super talking… but you all kind of forget one thing. The parents wanted a child with powers and now they have one. Also Tyler had went through a LOT of stuff. Time travel, different dimensions, different realities, and even different comics (IF you count nodwick).
So there could be a little bit column A and a bit of splash back from column B. I mean we saw the teleporting bully forget and remember the four square stone in a different dimension. We also have our power detector sporting a flying cape from the different dimension also as a episode backlash.
But I place my bets on the not really caring parents theory.
The argument isn’t whether or not they care. The argument here is how anyone, no matter how apathetic, can not in any way remember someone they conceived and lived with for 8 years.
They do remember that person. His name is Toby.
Put another way, I’m quite sure they think of Tyler as the clone, as Toby is what they always wanted.
I’ve seen mental blocks like this. It often involves children who are disabled, which Tyler is, in his parents’ viewpoint. Hence my continued remarks that he’ll be better off without his parents.
Clever. Both of them.
There was an old sci fi first person short story about an evolution step on the human race that gives super intelligence and control over the matter. Also the mutants are far unnoticed, normal people are aware of them only face to face and even witnessing an obvious power demonstration they take it somehow as normal and forget it.
An interesting point is that the main character (the mutant) see it not as much as a self defence as a way to avoid the unpleasent consecuences of him forced to self defence.
In the mutant’s (aproximate) words: “How many sheeps should die for the lion live?”
Anyway I would vote for the “external influence” option.
And the point of creating this duplicate was what now?
Tyler went into space as Moon Shadow. The clone protects his secret identity, since people would notice if Moon Shadow and Tyler disappeared at the same time.
The point was making sure people didn’t know Tyler was gone. I think Toby still doesn’t know what secret he’s helping to keep, exactly, but he knows Tyler has secrets. The duplicate may have been screwy, but it was enough to keep people from putting Tyler’s disappearance together with Moon Shadow being offworld.
Someone seriously needs to call child services on the Powers. That nobody has is either a sign of endemic corruption in the supercommunity or an indication that the Powers are powerful enough that the government can’t afford to mess with them and all government power is therefore a sham that persists at the agreement of the powered.
Wonder if one of the Revenant’s identity could take custody of Tyler.
Remember what Toby had to give up when he fixed Cranston’s brains? This feels a little like one of the repurcussions of that. Not just Cecil.
Exactly. I’m in this camp as well. He lost his friends, which at the time were Cecil and Tyler; Cecil’s “bad vibes” about metas got cranked to 11 about him and the parental mistreatment of Tyler was also cranked up, driving a wedge between them.
I hope the extra bitterness was because he just came back from a trip where all he got was bad treatment. And yeah, Tyler is jealous that his parents can’t even tell the difference and/or don’t care. You’d think/hope that a superpowered parent would give a rip. I think Revenant is very much a fosterfather. Tyler wants to help people and can accept the danger much more easily than being forgotten.
Bink in the original Xanth trilogy had one of those subtle powers, much like Ambriel. But that would be breaking the internal rule that he has no powers. He shouldn’t need a power to buy parents’ affection, any more than regular kids who don’t get the affection they need unless they excel (like stage parents in acting or sports). I wish the story had reached a point before ending where he reached a point of value and contentment, but I doubt it, and that tragedy makes for a bitter taste… 🙁
Well, we do know that he will eventually come to some sort of peace with his life–we’ve seen him as an adult Moon Shadow. While it was brief, he didn’t see unhappy, and he did assure young Tyler that things work out. (Whether that assurance was just for young Tyler’s immediate predicament or long-term is arguable, but he didn’t try to offer any other warnings or advice.)
I think the trip with poor treatment is part of the why he is extra bitter this morning. Plus its morning and he might not have gotten enough sleep lately. Plus Tylor does not flash winning smiles like Toby does. I think the main problem between the Toby and Tylor is no longer jealousy but something else. Toby wants his brother to move home and he wants. Tylor has no real malice towards Toby but does not see him as a brother yet and does not want to deal with his legal and genetic parents.
It’s possible part of the problem between Tyler and Toby is that *Tyler* is actually the friend that Toby had to give up. Cecil may not have been an option as a friend, due to the extra-strong meta vibe that Toby gives Cecil.
at least your son knows your name. I didn’t bother to learn *my* parents names til i was 16 or so.
cheer up tyler. at least your son knows your name. I didn’t bother to learn *my* parents names til i was 16 or so.
just calling them “mom” and “dad” worked so why not.
bit of a surprise honestly. found not only was I named after my father but I was a “the fourth” because he was named for his who was named for his.
Man, Tyler in that last panel is the very picture of “Eff my Life”.
At least Toby actually cares for him.
It’s true. He really seems to be trying.