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11 thoughts on “539 – A Knife In The Dark (END OF EPISODE 22)”

  1. Keith

    Why am I not surprised.

  2. Scarsdale

    Typical, it’s always someone else’s fault. Revenge is not just best served cold, but by stupid too. “This is all your fault!” Which is wrong, but in his head, it’s right.

    1. steelraven

      It’s also been heavily hinted he has already been brain washed by the zombie worshiping cult.

      1. Scarsdale

        Which, no doubt, made easier because of that under-lying feeling. People are always looking for a scape-goat…

    2. Clint

      I don’t know if you got my callback by intent or not, but it’s great to see almost the same words echoed! https://www.zombieranchcomic.com/comic/203-breaking-worst/

  3. RC

    Honestly, probably the first time he’s ever taken control of and done ever in his life. There’s a reason why they kept him. Give a dog that’s been beat all its life a whiff of conference and control, you got a problem.

  4. Crazyman

    Imagine his surprise when he stabs a pillow. 😜

  5. Zombatar

    He isn’t in control, RC – he’s probably drugged to the very dilated eyeballs, probably with Datura. Back on p.443, Eustace is shown holding a Mojave Rattlesnake on a stick while the Brujefe milks it into a glass. Mojave venom A is a paralytic neurotoxin, like tetrodotoxin. Tetrodotoxin was thought to be part of the legendary Haitian “zombie powder”. The other part was Datura, which contains scopalamine, which messes with memory and concentration, and is supposed to render victims docile and suggestible.
    The question is, where did he get his current dose, and did a little drone whisper in his ear?

    1. TKG

      Except Datura doesn’t do that. You’re thinking of the compound Scoplolmine (AKA the devil’s breath) which generally comes from a specific plant, Borrochero (Brugmansia arbora) that is native to Columbia that the gang in question probably would have had access to. It’s active compound obliterates free will, your conscious, you can function as normal but you are totally open to suggestion which is what happened to McCarty here. Datura just makes you trip mad balls and maybe die, but it does not make you a puppet.

  6. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    Me lleva la chingada !

  7. TKG

    I’m betting money there’s no one in that bed and it’s a ruse to get him caught.

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539 – A Knife In The Dark (END OF EPISODE 22)
Posted on December 25, 2024 by Dawn

Happy Holidays, all! That's a wrap (heh) for Episode 22 just in time for a Christmas cliffhanger! Hope we don't twist the knife too much...

See y'all in 2025 when Zombie Ranch continues!

Mystery through (semi-)ancient history

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Clint
Ancient history is a relative exaggeration when you’re talking ten years ago, but then again as a webcomic goes it could arguably qualify. Does anyone besides yours truly remember this page, one panel of which has come back around again at last in this week’s comic? If not, then by default I have preserved the secrecy of what was going to happen better than any Marvel Studios set. But then again, if no one remembered, then does anyone care? That’s the trick. Who are these people and why are we spending time on them? Well, I believe the answer is pretty obvious but I have the luxury of “inside baseball” as it were, where it’s literally part of my job to keep track of things and manage such writerly ingredients such as foreshadowing and exposition. I know there are at least a few of you out there who have read through the archives multiple times but it’s hardly comparable to the legions of superfans crawling over every inch of a piece of a mega-property like Star Wars or Star Trek where many times they have a better grasp on the minutiae than the creators themselves. Putting aside the modern attitude of giant game publishing companies knowingly pushing out bug-riddled messes to the public, you can also hearken to Linus’s Law: “given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” The common complaint of “how did they miss this?” can sometimes be answered by incompetence or malfeasance, but I believe most often boils down to that even a QA team of dozens or a Beta test of thousands pales in comparison to the millions of players that a popular game will have upon release, a portion of whom will immediately set out poking their noses into every nook and cranny and finding every possible exploit and then reporting upon them more or less politely. But people have limited memory space and this comic has been shambling along slowly, so can I expect them to remember? Moreover, can I expect them to care? Well, all I can do is connect the dots I’ve always meant to. If you don’t remember I ain’t gonna get mad. And like I tell Dawn every time she points out that, say, some “new” youtube video I comment upon admiringly has been there for years and, in fact, she showed it to me back then: “every day is a surprise!”