The question on my head is whether the Erixons are going to stay in command of AEGIS or not. Although I do remember Shanna being offered Jared’s job during Marc’s funeral, and I’m aware Will just referred to himself as “general Erixon”, I’m yet to see Shanna accepting the offered job, and I also remember Will being somewhat uncomfortable with being the man in charge (has he abandoned any hope of being an actor? It’s because of his age or something? Alan Rickman started his movie career at 42…)
Tough love. I’m not sure that this is necessary, but assuming that it is, Will couldn’t have handled it better. And the Oberfs probably couldn’t have taken it better.
@Mitch, @GregJ: As for Ally, she wasn’t part of Aegis to begin with, so this doesn’t change her employment status. If Rumy and Rikk aren’t facing charges, it’s unlikely that Ally will.
Frankly, I don’t see Rikk’s actions as “usurping command” in the least, so much as “displaying individual initiative in a crisis when there wasn’t time to stop and ask for orders.” Did Rikk have any reason to suspect that Will would have any other plan for that blood, given that it had an extremely short shelf life, and AEGIS had no facilities left with which to make use of it anyway.
If the situation had been reversed, and Will had made a snap call in the field on making use of a resource which was almost certainly going to go to waste otherwise, does anyone actually think that Rikk would view it as a usurpation of his authority? AEGIS agents are not piloted drones; they are trained and expected to be flexible in reaction to developing situations. And if Will had wanted anything special done with the blood, it was up to him to say so when he had the chance.
At the very least, Rikk managed to choose a recipient for the blood that it would be very difficult to turn into negative PR for Aegis ‘choosing who gets to be saved.’ Who’s going to argue in favor in childhood cancer?
Agree fully w/ Ray. I like the tough love from Will & Shanna. But the “commandeering” of the blood is a paper thin complaint. It lasts 45 minutes. It was Rikk’s call or no one was gonna get it.
Considering Soulson’s capabilities being available, he could have stopped for a moment to ask Will for his orders on the blood. Especially since he was already at the right place anyway. Instead he completely ignored him and made his own decision.
Please note that Will does not think Rikk did wrong from his personal point of view. But by military standards, he utterly broke chain of command there. And Will’s just about right that Rikk would do it again, push comes to shove. And even with the amount of liberties that AEGIS agents get, they still need a clear chain of command or will fall apart under pressure.
First of all, this is almost entirely a fake complaint to get these guys to finally have the lives they earned. Second, there was entirely time to ask Will “hey can we do this”. I mean hell, Soulson brought Rikk to Will and then brought the blood to the orphanage. There’s no other possible sequence of events- meaning that Will was right there before they did it. Yeah, Rikk didn’t really do anything wrong, but Will is right in that Rikk is completely circumventing his authority. In military command, that’s not call for a promotion. That’s call for a court martial.
@Ray Radlein– unusually, I disagree with you. The blood was an incredibly important strategic resource at a time when Rikk had no way to know the crisis had fully passed. Jesse was in contact with Will (since he needed to be in order for Rikk and Jesse to know Shanna’s condition in the first place).
As Rikk said up there — he assumed Will would rather be with his wife than make command decisions, so he made one. After his retirement. Which means he wasn’t actually in the command structure in the first place, much less showing initiative in the field. And that command decision helped sick kids, which is a good thing, but didn’t potentially help or save other Aegis operatives or people hurt or maimed as collateral damage in the fight against the Hand.
Instead, it was sent to a place chosen clearly for its emotional resonance with Rikk’s wife. The one who wasn’t an Aegis employee.
I’m with Will. It’s time for Rikk to write his book. And for Rumy to illustrate Batgirl.
It would have been trivial for Rikk to ask Will what to do with the blood. If Will had been unable to make a decision, Rikk could have made one in his place. But by not doing so, Rikk ignored the chain of command.
Will’s using that as an excuse to get Rikk, Ally and Rumy out of AEGIS entirely, for their sake. Yes, it is a paper-thin complaint. And all he needed was something on the right piece of paper so that nobody could undermine their authority.
The Oberfs have a child coming, and Soulson to deal with. They’ve tried to get out of the business once before, but Rikk has proven himself time and again as a staunch “do the right thing”-er. If Will didn’t essentially kick him out and change the locks, I can almost guarantee he’d find his way back in somehow.
Raiser – I think so to. But I hope that’s really it. Because the slight here is imagined. And for those saying Rikk ignored the chain of command, let’s not forget that he was already retired when this all went down. He was a civilian, who was kidnapped while sitting home in his underwear, by Aegis initially, and then had magic blood splashed all over him while fending for his life. Given the circumstances, Will had no claim on the blood in the first place. Will’s gotta be doing this for Rikk’s sake. Cause if he’s not he’s a very petty individual.
I figured Will was leading up to this. I still wonder if Will is assuming Jared’s position or if Shanna is taking it.
Will’s putting his foot down. Yeah!
I bet Shanna likes that and is getting itchy.
Now I want to see what happens when Ally says “Hey, why me? I was good!”
Ally comandeered Excalibur, as I recall.
Come to think of it, will Ally’s hanging on to Excalibur come up?
Guile’s theme goes with today’s strip. Don’t believe me? Will just told Rikk to go home and become a family man.
The question on my head is whether the Erixons are going to stay in command of AEGIS or not. Although I do remember Shanna being offered Jared’s job during Marc’s funeral, and I’m aware Will just referred to himself as “general Erixon”, I’m yet to see Shanna accepting the offered job, and I also remember Will being somewhat uncomfortable with being the man in charge (has he abandoned any hope of being an actor? It’s because of his age or something? Alan Rickman started his movie career at 42…)
heh nicely done i’m impressed.
Yeah, good luck making Rikk stay at home next time the world needs saving. Well played by Will all the same.
Tough love. I’m not sure that this is necessary, but assuming that it is, Will couldn’t have handled it better. And the Oberfs probably couldn’t have taken it better.
@Mitch, @GregJ: As for Ally, she wasn’t part of Aegis to begin with, so this doesn’t change her employment status. If Rumy and Rikk aren’t facing charges, it’s unlikely that Ally will.
Frankly, I don’t see Rikk’s actions as “usurping command” in the least, so much as “displaying individual initiative in a crisis when there wasn’t time to stop and ask for orders.” Did Rikk have any reason to suspect that Will would have any other plan for that blood, given that it had an extremely short shelf life, and AEGIS had no facilities left with which to make use of it anyway.
If the situation had been reversed, and Will had made a snap call in the field on making use of a resource which was almost certainly going to go to waste otherwise, does anyone actually think that Rikk would view it as a usurpation of his authority? AEGIS agents are not piloted drones; they are trained and expected to be flexible in reaction to developing situations. And if Will had wanted anything special done with the blood, it was up to him to say so when he had the chance.
Usurpation of command, my ass.
At the very least, Rikk managed to choose a recipient for the blood that it would be very difficult to turn into negative PR for Aegis ‘choosing who gets to be saved.’ Who’s going to argue in favor in childhood cancer?
Agree fully w/ Ray. I like the tough love from Will & Shanna. But the “commandeering” of the blood is a paper thin complaint. It lasts 45 minutes. It was Rikk’s call or no one was gonna get it.
Considering Soulson’s capabilities being available, he could have stopped for a moment to ask Will for his orders on the blood. Especially since he was already at the right place anyway. Instead he completely ignored him and made his own decision.
Please note that Will does not think Rikk did wrong from his personal point of view. But by military standards, he utterly broke chain of command there. And Will’s just about right that Rikk would do it again, push comes to shove. And even with the amount of liberties that AEGIS agents get, they still need a clear chain of command or will fall apart under pressure.
Yeah, Rikk didn’t really have to make that call.
@Reikenbach- You mean besides the republican party?
Agree with Ray. And if I’m not mistaken, in military command, that’s called initiative and gets you promoted.
Also, what is Wil going to do the next time when the aliens go to Rikk, again, without going to him. This is just simple.
First of all, this is almost entirely a fake complaint to get these guys to finally have the lives they earned. Second, there was entirely time to ask Will “hey can we do this”. I mean hell, Soulson brought Rikk to Will and then brought the blood to the orphanage. There’s no other possible sequence of events- meaning that Will was right there before they did it. Yeah, Rikk didn’t really do anything wrong, but Will is right in that Rikk is completely circumventing his authority. In military command, that’s not call for a promotion. That’s call for a court martial.
@Ray Radlein– unusually, I disagree with you. The blood was an incredibly important strategic resource at a time when Rikk had no way to know the crisis had fully passed. Jesse was in contact with Will (since he needed to be in order for Rikk and Jesse to know Shanna’s condition in the first place).
As Rikk said up there — he assumed Will would rather be with his wife than make command decisions, so he made one. After his retirement. Which means he wasn’t actually in the command structure in the first place, much less showing initiative in the field. And that command decision helped sick kids, which is a good thing, but didn’t potentially help or save other Aegis operatives or people hurt or maimed as collateral damage in the fight against the Hand.
Instead, it was sent to a place chosen clearly for its emotional resonance with Rikk’s wife. The one who wasn’t an Aegis employee.
I’m with Will. It’s time for Rikk to write his book. And for Rumy to illustrate Batgirl.
Rikk, Solson, and Will were all in the same room right before teleporting to the hospital: http://www.faans.com/beginnings-23-of-33/
It would have been trivial for Rikk to ask Will what to do with the blood. If Will had been unable to make a decision, Rikk could have made one in his place. But by not doing so, Rikk ignored the chain of command.
This is also not the first time Rikk has ignored Will’s leadership: http://www.faans.com/igod-5-of-18/
Re: “Usurpation of Command”
Will’s using that as an excuse to get Rikk, Ally and Rumy out of AEGIS entirely, for their sake. Yes, it is a paper-thin complaint. And all he needed was something on the right piece of paper so that nobody could undermine their authority.
The Oberfs have a child coming, and Soulson to deal with. They’ve tried to get out of the business once before, but Rikk has proven himself time and again as a staunch “do the right thing”-er. If Will didn’t essentially kick him out and change the locks, I can almost guarantee he’d find his way back in somehow.
Raiser – I think so to. But I hope that’s really it. Because the slight here is imagined. And for those saying Rikk ignored the chain of command, let’s not forget that he was already retired when this all went down. He was a civilian, who was kidnapped while sitting home in his underwear, by Aegis initially, and then had magic blood splashed all over him while fending for his life. Given the circumstances, Will had no claim on the blood in the first place. Will’s gotta be doing this for Rikk’s sake. Cause if he’s not he’s a very petty individual.