Karnak #6... It Mercifully Ends

[Blind Wedjat]

He killed that old dude in interrogation for telling him #$%^ he didn't want to hear (He told Karnak that he wasn't really a stoic
he was just a joy fearing coward and he felt sorry for him.).

Then he lied about the murder to SHIELD.

"I thought he had a bomb".

I actually thought he wasn't lying about the "improvised human mine" thing considering Coulson acknowledged it, but he defintely struck the Painter because he was annoying him philosophically and emotionally.

[Blind Wedjat]

That I what i remembered too...


so did Karnak just turn someone into a vegetable because hes depressed?

I mean... yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees h. He could have took teh power away by his own admission but vegetabled the dude for funzies.

He did take Adam's powers away (still unsure how he saw his flaw tho), but then he lobotomised him for selfish reasons:

I am Karnak the Shatterer. With one strike, I have made you safe, so that you can be returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. This second strike is just for me.

I think it's strange that Karnak's story ended with what seems like a metaphor of Karnak destroying all of Terrigen, while IvX has Mutants wanting to destroy the Terrigen cloud.

[Vic Vega]

I actually thought he wasn't lying about the "improvised human mine" thing considering Coulson acknowledged it, but he defintely struck the Painter because he was annoying him philosophically and emotionally.

I read it as there was no bomb.

If there had been a bomb, it ruins everything. It would have been the one
murderously hostile act that the cultists did.

This whole time, SHIELD had sicced Karnak on these dudes believing that Inhuman dude he been kidnapped. But he wasn't kidnapped. So it turned out he was
just invading these guys temple for no reason and they were just defending themselves. HE attacked THEM.

Inhuman dude didn't force anybody in his cult into transforming (even the Spider Guys wanted to become Spiders as it turned out) and was keeping to himself not bothering a soul.

Karnak could have gone back to SHIELD told them they were no threat to the outside world and told Inhuman Dude's Parents that he is ok, he loves them
but he doesn't want to come home.

Karnak does none of that.

Basically these dudes go against everything Karnak believes in, so he has to destroy them.

[MindofShadow]

I read it as there was no bomb.

If there had been a bomb, it ruins everything. It would have been the one
murderously hostile act that the cultists did.

This whole time, SHIELD had sicced Karnak on these dudes believing that Inhuman dude he been kidnapped. But he wasn't kidnapped. So it turned out he was
just invading these guys temple for no reason and they were just defending themselves. HE attacked THEM.

Inhuman dude didn't force anybody in his cult into transforming (even the Spider Guys wanted to become Spiders as it turned out) and was keeping to himself not bothering a soul.

Karnak could have gone back to SHIELD told them they were no threat to the outside world and told Inhuman Dude's Parents that he is ok, he loves them
but he doesn't want to come home.

Karnak does none of that.

Basically these dudes go against everything Karnak believes in, so he has to destroy them.

Ok, at least im not crazy then

this is exactly how i read it (from memory, its been so long since I read the other issues).

[Ciriaco]

This book actually made me dislike Karnak immensely. He's always intrigued me before and I've liked his power set, but now I'm fed up with the mope.

[Agent Z]

What I don't get is how Karnak avoided getting hit by the Terragenis cloud all this time. It's not like we haven't seen it turn older people

[Alecto]

What I don't get is how Karnak avoided getting hit by the Terragenis cloud all this time. It's not like we haven't seen it turn older people

it's pretty easy to track where it is/is heading now and avoid those areas, especially as one person who has a good amount of resources (and when it was newer and people were less sure he was dead). but i imagine he isn't happy about it.

I'm not sure how i feel about the ending to this series but when i read the first 5 issues in one sitting recently i still really liked it and I do like the direction that's been taken with Karnak. he's awful but interesting to read about.

[Doc Sonic]

It seemed clear to me that Karnak is not a big fan of Terrigen... that he sees the T-Cloud as an effrontery to the natural order.
To the same extent that it seems like the younger Cyclops will switch sides in IvX, it seems like an equally good bet Karnak will be switching sides as well.

Karnak is a awful guy and I;'d never want to hang out with him, but he is hugely fun to read and this series (delays not withstanding) was an absolute joy to read.

[marvelprince]

I read it as there was no bomb.

If there had been a bomb, it ruins everything. It would have been the one
murderously hostile act that the cultists did.

This whole time, SHIELD had sicced Karnak on these dudes believing that Inhuman dude he been kidnapped. But he wasn't kidnapped. So it turned out he was
just invading these guys temple for no reason and they were just defending themselves. HE attacked THEM.

Inhuman dude didn't force anybody in his cult into transforming (even the Spider Guys wanted to become Spiders as it turned out) and was keeping to himself not bothering a soul.

Karnak could have gone back to SHIELD told them they were no threat to the outside world and told Inhuman Dude's Parents that he is ok, he loves them
but he doesn't want to come home.

Karnak does none of that.

Basically these dudes go against everything Karnak believes in, so he has to destroy them.

Yup, that's how I got it as well.

[Doc Sonic]

I read it as Karnak and Adam represented two sides of the same coin. In very debased terms, blind religious fidelity versus harsh, nihilistic atheism.
Adam's followers were contend, but were also robbed of their internal conflict and thus their humanity, resulting them to be devolved into near-mindless spider-like creatures. This would have eventually spread and Adam was indeed a threat to mankind.
Karnak and his followers are able resist this, but at the cost of being rather miserable and accepting their meaninglessness in the grander scheme. Leaving the question: would you rather know the truth and be miserable or accept a lie and feel solace. It's all basically a comic book retelling of the central disagreement between Nietzsche and Heidegger... with punching...

[Habis]

Man, Karnak was left without a single redeeming quality here... He is a petty, hypocritical ball of insecurity and resentment who only finds succor convincing other people that they are as worthless as he feels...

I mean, he didn't have to hurt that kid; yes, he was dangerous, and had to be stopped and contained, but he hadn't shown any real malice, he was power drunk, but he didn't show sadistic tendencies, and the indoctrination attempt of the cultists didn't seem to have made a scratch on his mind, quite the opposite...

The only reason Karnak hurt him was because he hated him, and he hated him because he made other people feel special, and Karnak wants other people to feel worthless and miserable. His "philosphy" doesn't help anybody but himself, allowing him to surround himself with people he has made as miserable as he is. His ideology's only purpose is to help him convince himself that his lack of power doesn't matter because eveybody is worthless anyways, regarless of power of the lack thereof. And he doesn't buy his own cool aid, he reacts like a deranged madman every time anybody touches his insecurities... he still cares A LOT about his lack of special powers...

Karnak doesn't teach or help people, he destroys them for his own emotional benefit, to preserve his own ego.

It seemed clear to me that Karnak is not a big fan of Terrigen... that he sees the T-Cloud as an effrontery to the natural order.

Not exactly. Terrigenesis is something he desires, but it was denied to him, and he is jealous of those who had it and resents and hates them...

He has found succor in convincing himself that it doesn't matter because everybody is worthless anyway, and in convincing people who have undergone Terrigenesis that they are worthless. But he is an hypocrite, because at the same time, he desperately clings to what makes him "special", his own gift of destroying stuff. He wants the whole world to see themselves as worthless, but at the same time, he feeds his won ego constantly, telling himself that he is SO special because he can destroy everything...

At this point nothing prevents him from going to the Terrigen Cloud and undergoing Terrigenesis, but he is afraid of leaving his dark corner, that mental place where he feels nothing can hurt him. He is afraid of stopping to see the universe as worthless, of valuing things. He is a coward.

[Doc Sonic]

...Not exactly. Terrigenesis is something he desires, but it was denied to him, and he is jealous of those who had it and resents and hates them...

it's a viable interpretation.
Yet I've a feeling that things are going to go down in future issues that may shed further light on and clarify this matter..