Godslave Chapter 5 recap PART 2 (Patreon)

Chapter 5 was our longest chapter yet (174 pages!) and we established a lot of new characters and plot points! So much so that even the recap needed to be broken up into 2 parts!You can read part one here! 

When we left off, Edith had just woken up from Set's memory/dream sequence. Now, we've got a party to get ready for.And apparently, Alma is coming with?

Alma's getting tired of sitting out on the magical adventures (from her pov anyway). She argues that she's actually SAFER sticking around Edith, since the Blacksmiths already have their address. Edith has a hard time arguing with her, but is still unsure. In the end, Edith agrees and seems happy to have someone she knows with her.

Kai picks up Set and the two girls, and Alma tries to google Hathor on the ride up. The wiki gives them the cursory details: solar deity, associated with Ra, likes to party and strong relationship to Horus.Set expands on this that Hathor is one of the more powerful gods in the pantheon. And that he has his own history with her. I added this because Hathor and Set were considered patron saints of drinking, so it wouldn't be a stretch that they liked to party together. Note that this would have been AFTER the Party Incident.

Edith gets a call from Sobek, and begins to lay into him for going into her apartment without telling her. She also makes clear that if he's only here to 'see what happens', then she's keeping him at arm's length.

Sobek waits for her to calm down before explaining how important this party is. Heru and his people are ready for a fight, and Set will need Hathor as an ally-- and whoever else might be at the party. So make a good impression! 

And then, uh, Sobek has an unexpected guest.

As Kai leads the three up to Hathor's temple suite, they continue to emphasize the importance of this party. This is not just an excuse to celebrate the victory: this is Edith's debut to the pantheon society. Yes, they're here to see Set- but also the girl that inexplicably broke his jar.

When Edith tries to brace herself, Heru and Djehuty's words come to mind. Both are putting her down and meant to make her feel small. When Edith opens her eyes with a defiant look, it's meant to say 'I don't want to be small.'And it's with this feeling that she walks into Hathor's party.

There's a lot of staring and whispers, but Hathor cuts through it to greet them as magnanimously as possible. Hathor notes Alma's presence, and Set explains Alma is a guest. But Edith came in on the defensive.

'Alma is off limits'And with this act, Edith makes the mistake of being rude to a god. And we usually know how that song and dance goes.

So Hathor does as Gods do: exactly what you told her not to.

Everyone is, as foretold, very interested to see what Edith is and can do- so Hathor obliges. Yes, this is to teach Edith a lesson- but Hathor truly also wants to give the other gods a show. They're going to need allies, and they need to see what they're working with.

Hathor invites Set and Alma to watch with her. Alma, in the presence of one of the more powerful deities in creation, falls under an enchantment just by getting close to her (I really like the trope of human bodies not being able to process the proximity of an other worldly entity!)

Edith begrudgingly agrees to an exhibition match with Kai. Though only after they warn refusing could cost her Hathor's help.

We get a priest fight, albeit brief! And we get to see how Kai uses their magic. It quickly becomes pretty clear that Kai is experienced. More experienced than Edith.

Edith loses the exhibition match, and all the gods are suddenly very worried. They're at a party for Heru's greatest enemy-- and it turns out his priest is kind of a wimp? Even Hathor is concerned.

Edith is genuinely surprised-- and again, Heru and Djehuty's words ring in her head. And once again, she looks up defiantly. Edith does not want to feel small anymore. Not with gods or anyone.Edith's face here is also one of my favourite panels of her ever :,)

While Hathor wasn't impressed with Edith's ability, she's interested in this defiance that Edith has when it comes to quitting or being backed into a corner. She allows a repeat match. Kai obliges.

And Kai, again, defeats Edith with their range of magical abilities. So Edith asks for another match. Kai has both up-close and some range with their attacks, so Edith decides to get some distance.

This is my favourite page to date. Not only is Edith trying out a new attack with her khopesh-- it's the attack she saw Set use in the Duat. To avoid feeling small, she mimics him.

Edith wins the match. Hathor, having decidedly seen enough, invites them to chat with her.MEANWHILE!

Heru drops by! Sobek thinks it's to torture him. In truth, Heru is avoiding his mother. But team croc uses this as opportunity to get information.

So Sobek misunderstood! While Heru's people were scrambling and organizing, it wasn't to prepare an attack. And here is where we really get to see Heru the leader, rather than Heru the enemy.Like Sobek said in chapter 4, Heru's true mission is to preserve the cycle. He doesn't want a war, and he absolutely doesn't want humans to get caught in the crossfire. So no more street fights, spell casters will keep track of Edith but no more stalking. They focus on recapturing the Ba.

And we have some foreshadowing as well.

And here is where I get to dump my EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY HEAD CANONS. As much as Aset is venerated and worshipped as this pure and lovely deity, a symbol of motherhood and a mourning widow-- to me she also represents what is most terrifying about gods. They're unpredictable, they have a wicked temper, and to offend them can either mean death to you or your family. Between the story of her poisoning Ra and the whole Byblos saga, I find her to be way scarier than someone like say, Sakhmet.Anyways! We establish here that not only is everyone terrified of Aset, she's also the main reason Heru doesn't want a war. He doesn't want her involved.

Back to our heroes! Edith finally meets with Hathor. Set asks why all the theatrics, and Hathor imparts Edith with a lesson when it comes to gods.

But all is forgiven! Hathor enjoyed the show and so did her guests, and she's ready to join with Set and Edith.But after Edith's talk with Sobek, she knows this help doesn't come for free.

When Hathor tries to argue that actually it kind of is, Set asks Edith to go enjoy the party. Edith, understandably, is frustrated and tries to argue. But Set gently explains that it'll be easier to negotiate with just the two of them, and that he'll tell her everything afterwards. And Hathor pays close attention to this entire exchange.

With that: Kai, Alma and Edith go down to make introductions with the gods! And we get a montage!

The choice of Gods shown here aren't of particular importance. I mainly chose Gods out of a book that had some form of physical description- and DIDN'T have a close relationship to the Ausirian family.

As the party starts to wind down, some gods ask Edith about her confrontation with Heru. When they talk more and more about him, Edith's nose starts to bleed again.

The nose bleed happens a few times. Here, fresh after seeing Heru and getting upset, here and here when Heru is present.

Again, I'm a big fan of coming up with ways humans are affected by gods. The curse thing is 100% a thing I invented and not a real thing from mythology.

Speaking of interactions...

Edith has this run in with Mystery Girl, and before she can find out why- the girl storms off in a teary-eyed huff. We have not met her before.MEANWHILE

Back with Heru and the gang, Sobek's motivations here aren't clear. Is he trying to get Heru to sympathize with Edith? Is he still trying to confuse him and throw Heru off his scent? Either way, my intention was to reaffirm that Heru is not purely the villain of this story. He's just trying to do what he thinks is right.

And it looks like it left him with a mark. Yes, Edith has now absorbed enough Ba that she can leave a curse of her own. More than likely Set's magic is extremely potent against Heru with All Their History.

And then Mom comes to visit.

I'll make it clear here that Aset is not just snakes. She has a human form, but if she needs to find someone she can manifest snakes whereever she wants. I also wanted to use them as a motif for Aset.  Because of the poisoning of Ra, and also because the grand daddy of all bad guys in Egyptian Mythology is Apep the Snake.

Here we establish two things. One, we already kind of knew: Heru does not want war- and is willing to stand up to his mother about it. But two: Aset is absolutely THIRSTY for it. She wants Set and anyone associated dead. And here we see the clear difference between Heru and his mother.

And it's clear Aset has her own plans.

Our heroes are on their way home, and everyone's exhausted. When asked, Edith admits that she didn't hate the party altogether. Obviously, getting separated from Alma wasn't great, but getting to meet gods and learn more about the pantheon felt empowering.

Set notes this, and asks if that's something she'd like more of. I tried to show here that Set is still thinking about their dream conversations and wants Edith to feel more welcome and like she has a place here.It is also very, very strange that Hathor wouldn't recognize a god at her party. But stranger even that Set may.

Before Edith can question him, they arrive home and everyone is eager to rest. Kai stops Edith and, in an extremely round-a-bout way, asks if she wants to hang out more. Kai might be a more experienced priest, but is still a little younger than Edith. And social anxiety is one thing Edith doesn't have.

When Edith enters, Set delivers on his promise to tell Edith about his meeting with Hathor. The first thing he admits is that he had to tell Hathor why Edith could break the jar. Though Edith had assumed this, it still sucks to hear. It's just another reminder that she is still not in control of her life.She begins to get upset, and as much as Set understand her anger, he gets frustrated as well. It leads to him blurting out this bombshell.

And that's Chapter 5!Thanks for reading along, and for checking out this recap. This was actually a very helpful reminder for myself as well! I'm so excited for what we'll get to cover in chapter 6 and how these two will move forward.