Well, it’s fairly clear that that rats aren’t a “natural” transformation. They’re clearly part of Endtown’s initial design to keep a peace of sort at any cost.
That said, Colonel Custard here is once again forgetting something important. No one gets through a war without casualties. As Marksom and Jacob said, “You’ll be at war with Endtown itself.” Well they just declared open hostility right here. Their only option now it to immediately dispose of all opposition. Given Arron doesn’t want to end the comic strip here, looks like we’re going topside again!
Even so, “your kind” is a more then slightly telling angle on the same polarity that struck Unity. I admit being a little.. well, stuck on this problem. Even if we assume an external takeover, it’s back to square one with a very top-heavy structure. Two questions abound.1# How do you teach the people of Endtown to forbade such polarized thinking on their own.2# What do you do to/with those who simply can never be taught? IE, will never change.
That’s where a lot of my more “bloodthirsty” previous comments came from. …I can’t think of anything else, not at this time anyway.
The way I interpret Freeman’s comments, when he says “your kind” he means bureaucrats, elected politicians, political functionaries, constabulary and all the things that give the common riff-raff the illusion of self-determination. The rats are not that “kind.” They have a higher purpose that sets them apart from those below. “Your kind” doesn’t mean the rats were never human, but they certainly seem to have gone the way of the reptile colony in imagining that they are the only ones that matter.
Quis custodiet ipsos muses?The rats used to take orders from Mallard, before Flask was made Chief of Security, but now with the latter dead and the former… on extended hiatus, they are pretty much left without an authority figure, to act as a link between Security and Government.
The rat’s got it right. He’s on point there. Jacob just really wasn’t aware of the true situation. Logically, he should be thankful of Security, and their to-date utter lack of intrusion on Endtown’s inhabitants and society. Their job, first and foremost, is to keep the colony safe and alive, to a point where the surface can once again support life, and they can leave it. Jacob, fortunately, is a realist… and once he gets over his astonishment and unhappiness about the Foxworthy situation, I don’t think he’ll really object. The rats have proven themselves utterly trustworthy thus far, simply by NOT involving themselves. Hats off to them.
The rats have come a long way since 2009 when we first met the rats on Al’s return from topside. Then the rats were a joke—inept and largely powerless. It seems some higher authority has whipped them into shape and given them new ruthless efficiency, power, and purpose.
I was wondering when we’d get around to the “excessive population” bit. Mallard’s primary concern was protecting Endtown from discovery. Flask was obsessed with finding Petey/exacting revenge. Now Security is left to it’s own devices to define their purpose. What he says makes sense from that perspective, but, in the end, the question that must be asked is “Why ensure the existence of Endtown?” There are many possible ways to accomplish this end, but determining the answer to “why” helps narrow down the list of suitable means. Undoubtebly, the rat’s way will ensure continued existence, but why bother if what you end up with is not worth having. ;-)
Notice in panel #4 the sharp MEAT eating teeth that the rat displays.Do the rats get rat-ions from the warehouse? Perhaps they are behind the disappearances.Maintaining the viability of the colony means protecting it from detection and making sure there’s enough food for those involved in security to eat. Anything else is ‘gravy’.
Under Flask, foragers were literally risking their lives to find food. Every forager who perished meant one less mouth to feed. Like Jacob said, 6% of the population gave their lives to provide 6 years worth of food and medicine. Jacob ended that policy, making “mutant by-products” legal. Now the markets have cheese stands, eggs can be scrambled, oatmeal can be served with cream, and cakes have returned to the dessert menus.
All the while, decreasing the need for foragers to risk their lives for canned goods.
In Freeman’s point of view, this is causing a major increase in the population. Endtown is a confined community, buried hundreds of feet underground. No matter how big it is, it is still limited space! Room for a certain amount of people. The more people in a community, the more food required. A forager who returned with food was considered useful, and perhaps appreciated. A forager who died was expendable, one less person taking up space in Endtown.
The pigs are being harassed and tormented until they become suicidal; their bodies become sausages. The wolves feel like they’re being discriminated against and cause riots until they are shot on sight.
Two species so far experiencing a decrease in population. Oh, and let’s not forget Heather Hoss. Her suicide also contributed to the decreasing population. And her lawyer, a wolf, murdered by his own kind. Still, one less mouth to feed.
Who wants to bet which species will be targeted next?
Jake needs to get his act together. If the colony is stable, the rats will go back to their regular routines. This is NOT a power grab by the rats. Think of them more as the body’s immunity system trying to react to a tumor.
“Your kind” interesting way of putting it. Could indicate the rats aren´t mutants, at least not in the same way, or it could be seen as a “civilian / military” thing. No matter what, they clearly have a different agenda – sort of like the vaults in Fallout …
Clearly the rats have gone completely insane, most likely a combination of PTSD from the war, a soldier’s “mission is absolute” mentality, and social isolation from being separated from the population of the city for so long. Then again the way he talks here seems to feed speculation that its possible the rats never were human in the first place which could also explain why they don’t seem to share any societal values.
Called it last episode. “What we’ve got here is, (a) failure to communicate.” And now the communication has come through, loud and clear. What’s revealed in this (i think pivotal) episode is a) Endtown is little more than a farming operation in the eyes of some higher power (whose only interest is maintaining a minimal breeding population of mindless drones), and b) the civilian leadership was never really in charge – there was always something bigger looming just out of sight, where real decisions were being made. All the other constructs – politics, way of life – are just stage dressing to keep the “excessive population” in line.
For everyone else – yes, we already know that the rats didn’t mutate from humans. Aaron has said as much in comments previously. We don’t know what they were before, but they weren’t humans. As for their purpose – they were established to protect the colony from outside and inside threats. We have a huge inside threat, and no one else trying to get it under control. Don’t blame the scalpel for cutting healthy flesh when you need a cancer removed.
If Flask or Mallard were still running Security, they’d be making the same decisions and giving the same orders, but just maybe a bit more discretely.
Oh, one thing I’d forgotten about. Remember when Linda first arrived in Endtown and had to go through 3 months of indoctrination? (http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2012/10/25) There were two non-anonymous panel members that ok’d her as an Endtown citizen. Then there was the security lizard that helped get her fitted as a civilian (http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2012/10/26). Also, there were the two security interrogators (http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2010/9/13), Mike and Crawford, that almost brainwiped Gustine and Al. At least some of them worked in Security, although the 2 panelists may have been in Admin. We know Flask dusted Mike and Crawford, but what about the others? What happened to them? Do they still have those jobs, meaning that there are still non-rat mutants working in Security? Or did Marx get them purged?
Going back to Flask, and the fact the rats appeared to be in charge of Endtown before the war, one has to wonder if they were deliberately mutated in advance, or considering the tech knowledge available at the time, if they were genetically modified run of the mill rats? If they were never human to begin with, they wouldn’t be susceptible to the mutations and as such, would be perfect for Endtown security (whereas human staffers running amok as Cronenbergs would put the kibosh on Endtown’s viability as a “safe haven”, relatively speaking).
bdgoodfriend over 6 years ago
What ARE these rats anyway? (FIRST!)
RickD Premium Member over 6 years ago
Wow. My guess wasn’t far off. The rats’ job is to keep the lifeboat that is Endtown afloat. Anyone rocking the boat gets tossed overboard.
RDT64 Premium Member over 6 years ago
Oh yeah, Security’s evolving into a threat real nicely. Anybody wanna bet current events are all part of the CCC’s (Cooper’s Concerned Citizens) plan?
salenstormwing over 6 years ago
“Your kind”? Okay, so I’m guessing the Rats didn’t start as humans, or if they did, they VERY quickly went ex-human. Just… yeah…
Who needs Topsiders, when everyone in Endtown is a possible cannibal/murderer/conspirator/polka musician.
luckarusky over 6 years ago
Well, it’s fairly clear that that rats aren’t a “natural” transformation. They’re clearly part of Endtown’s initial design to keep a peace of sort at any cost.
That said, Colonel Custard here is once again forgetting something important. No one gets through a war without casualties. As Marksom and Jacob said, “You’ll be at war with Endtown itself.” Well they just declared open hostility right here. Their only option now it to immediately dispose of all opposition. Given Arron doesn’t want to end the comic strip here, looks like we’re going topside again!
Even so, “your kind” is a more then slightly telling angle on the same polarity that struck Unity. I admit being a little.. well, stuck on this problem. Even if we assume an external takeover, it’s back to square one with a very top-heavy structure. Two questions abound.1# How do you teach the people of Endtown to forbade such polarized thinking on their own.2# What do you do to/with those who simply can never be taught? IE, will never change.
That’s where a lot of my more “bloodthirsty” previous comments came from. …I can’t think of anything else, not at this time anyway.
coffeeturtle over 6 years ago
Now who is behind the Rats? Who is giving them their orders? Who’s calling the shots around here? WHO!!!! I’m a turtle, not an owl.
Ponyhome over 6 years ago
The way I interpret Freeman’s comments, when he says “your kind” he means bureaucrats, elected politicians, political functionaries, constabulary and all the things that give the common riff-raff the illusion of self-determination. The rats are not that “kind.” They have a higher purpose that sets them apart from those below. “Your kind” doesn’t mean the rats were never human, but they certainly seem to have gone the way of the reptile colony in imagining that they are the only ones that matter.
KSClaw over 6 years ago
raises brow So all I can think of now is how the rats, due to their small size, can be anywhere. Specifically rats in the walls.
Methinks Jacob better find some way to put the ratties in their place.
Diat60 over 6 years ago
1. Why do the rats need a viable Endtown run by humans? Why can’t they run it themselves?
2. What do rats eat? This could be a possible answer to the disappearing pigs/humans.
Mr. E. Bullterrier over 6 years ago
Quis custodiet ipsos muses?The rats used to take orders from Mallard, before Flask was made Chief of Security, but now with the latter dead and the former… on extended hiatus, they are pretty much left without an authority figure, to act as a link between Security and Government.
gigagrouch over 6 years ago
“They’ve got the guns, but we’ve got the numbers.”
Wentil over 6 years ago
The rat’s got it right. He’s on point there. Jacob just really wasn’t aware of the true situation. Logically, he should be thankful of Security, and their to-date utter lack of intrusion on Endtown’s inhabitants and society. Their job, first and foremost, is to keep the colony safe and alive, to a point where the surface can once again support life, and they can leave it. Jacob, fortunately, is a realist… and once he gets over his astonishment and unhappiness about the Foxworthy situation, I don’t think he’ll really object. The rats have proven themselves utterly trustworthy thus far, simply by NOT involving themselves. Hats off to them.
Vet Premium Member over 6 years ago
The Rat has spoken. The line has been drawn. Just like my job. I’m here to protect you I don’t have to be nice or fair. So toe the line……
WorldFusionRadio.com over 6 years ago
The rats have come a long way since 2009 when we first met the rats on Al’s return from topside. Then the rats were a joke—inept and largely powerless. It seems some higher authority has whipped them into shape and given them new ruthless efficiency, power, and purpose.
DADOF3 over 6 years ago
I was wondering when we’d get around to the “excessive population” bit. Mallard’s primary concern was protecting Endtown from discovery. Flask was obsessed with finding Petey/exacting revenge. Now Security is left to it’s own devices to define their purpose. What he says makes sense from that perspective, but, in the end, the question that must be asked is “Why ensure the existence of Endtown?” There are many possible ways to accomplish this end, but determining the answer to “why” helps narrow down the list of suitable means. Undoubtebly, the rat’s way will ensure continued existence, but why bother if what you end up with is not worth having. ;-)
backyardcowboy over 6 years ago
Notice in panel #4 the sharp MEAT eating teeth that the rat displays.Do the rats get rat-ions from the warehouse? Perhaps they are behind the disappearances.Maintaining the viability of the colony means protecting it from detection and making sure there’s enough food for those involved in security to eat. Anything else is ‘gravy’.
ViscountNik over 6 years ago
Silly Rabbit! Power is for Rats.
Dragoncat over 6 years ago
Under Flask, foragers were literally risking their lives to find food. Every forager who perished meant one less mouth to feed. Like Jacob said, 6% of the population gave their lives to provide 6 years worth of food and medicine. Jacob ended that policy, making “mutant by-products” legal. Now the markets have cheese stands, eggs can be scrambled, oatmeal can be served with cream, and cakes have returned to the dessert menus.
All the while, decreasing the need for foragers to risk their lives for canned goods.
In Freeman’s point of view, this is causing a major increase in the population. Endtown is a confined community, buried hundreds of feet underground. No matter how big it is, it is still limited space! Room for a certain amount of people. The more people in a community, the more food required. A forager who returned with food was considered useful, and perhaps appreciated. A forager who died was expendable, one less person taking up space in Endtown.
The pigs are being harassed and tormented until they become suicidal; their bodies become sausages. The wolves feel like they’re being discriminated against and cause riots until they are shot on sight.
Two species so far experiencing a decrease in population. Oh, and let’s not forget Heather Hoss. Her suicide also contributed to the decreasing population. And her lawyer, a wolf, murdered by his own kind. Still, one less mouth to feed.
Who wants to bet which species will be targeted next?
zorro456 over 6 years ago
Welcome To Hotel California. You can checkout anytime you like but you can never leave.
Ida No over 6 years ago
Jake needs to get his act together. If the colony is stable, the rats will go back to their regular routines. This is NOT a power grab by the rats. Think of them more as the body’s immunity system trying to react to a tumor.
ganhammer64 over 6 years ago
And NOW ladies and gentlemen we have our real villains, may these rats suffer more than anyone else has.
Ida No over 6 years ago
The rats are like a grenade. Just remember. Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.
WTFrank over 6 years ago
Marx may have foreshadowed the rats situation while ending the Holly story. http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2016/12/12?ct=v&cti=2084726
Robert Nowall Premium Member over 6 years ago
“The people are revolting.” “Yeah, they stink on ice.”
Tue Elung-Jensen over 6 years ago
“Your kind” interesting way of putting it. Could indicate the rats aren´t mutants, at least not in the same way, or it could be seen as a “civilian / military” thing. No matter what, they clearly have a different agenda – sort of like the vaults in Fallout …
yangeldf over 6 years ago
Clearly the rats have gone completely insane, most likely a combination of PTSD from the war, a soldier’s “mission is absolute” mentality, and social isolation from being separated from the population of the city for so long. Then again the way he talks here seems to feed speculation that its possible the rats never were human in the first place which could also explain why they don’t seem to share any societal values.
InquireWithin over 6 years ago
Called it last episode. “What we’ve got here is, (a) failure to communicate.” And now the communication has come through, loud and clear. What’s revealed in this (i think pivotal) episode is a) Endtown is little more than a farming operation in the eyes of some higher power (whose only interest is maintaining a minimal breeding population of mindless drones), and b) the civilian leadership was never really in charge – there was always something bigger looming just out of sight, where real decisions were being made. All the other constructs – politics, way of life – are just stage dressing to keep the “excessive population” in line.
Ida No over 6 years ago
For everyone else – yes, we already know that the rats didn’t mutate from humans. Aaron has said as much in comments previously. We don’t know what they were before, but they weren’t humans. As for their purpose – they were established to protect the colony from outside and inside threats. We have a huge inside threat, and no one else trying to get it under control. Don’t blame the scalpel for cutting healthy flesh when you need a cancer removed.
If Flask or Mallard were still running Security, they’d be making the same decisions and giving the same orders, but just maybe a bit more discretely.
Ida No over 6 years ago
Oh, one thing I’d forgotten about. Remember when Linda first arrived in Endtown and had to go through 3 months of indoctrination? (http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2012/10/25) There were two non-anonymous panel members that ok’d her as an Endtown citizen. Then there was the security lizard that helped get her fitted as a civilian (http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2012/10/26). Also, there were the two security interrogators (http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2010/9/13), Mike and Crawford, that almost brainwiped Gustine and Al. At least some of them worked in Security, although the 2 panelists may have been in Admin. We know Flask dusted Mike and Crawford, but what about the others? What happened to them? Do they still have those jobs, meaning that there are still non-rat mutants working in Security? Or did Marx get them purged?
gigagrouch over 6 years ago
Where’s Mallard when we need him?
http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2010/09/27
gigagrouch over 6 years ago
Not the first run-in Jake’s had with Security…
http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2010/10/13
Kyneris Premium Member over 6 years ago
… and not the first time the mayor has been summoned [subject to the authority of] Security… http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2010/10/21
NeuroManson over 6 years ago
Going back to Flask, and the fact the rats appeared to be in charge of Endtown before the war, one has to wonder if they were deliberately mutated in advance, or considering the tech knowledge available at the time, if they were genetically modified run of the mill rats? If they were never human to begin with, they wouldn’t be susceptible to the mutations and as such, would be perfect for Endtown security (whereas human staffers running amok as Cronenbergs would put the kibosh on Endtown’s viability as a “safe haven”, relatively speaking).