Daughter of the Lillies: Critical Analysis
Every now and again I find myself emerged into fantasy, and sometimes an orc kick that I can't seem to grasp, either way of seeing it showing the vitality of an artist's creation of writing and exploration of their own world. Something left to interpretation as well as considered something greater, left in mystery and woe not only into the connection of character but to the source of influence themselves.
Today I wanna look at the comic written by Meg Syv, Daughter of the Lilies, a fantasy adventure about a mage hiding her face and going on jobs with her mercenary team of a fantasy land filled with magic both dark and foreboding.
Please note that there will major spoilers involved with the story and characters, as we explore the style, characters, and story all in this review.
Just to be clear….SPOILER WARNING!!!
The story opens with a group of mercenaries, hunting cave elves in a dark cavern and already noting on the epitome of what makes me love this comic. We see from the start the attitude they share among themselves as well as the notion of the tone of the story was in for. Were open to brent “a 75% human” that acts as the group's frontman in works and fighting. While looking and fighting against a few cave elves, he is taken down and bitten before reinforcements arrive to take them down, and we are given quite a quick intro to our heroes.
Note that here I won't be working on the whole plot due to the ongoing series running roughly 4 years now, and the review will culminate even more than anticipated, is you wish to know what occurs, read along and support the creator.
We are given first Brent, who comes from a lineage of the family that is ordinarily human and appears more quarter orc than anything while holding his grandfather’s looks and rage at once. He, like Orrigg, will be the berserker force of the front-line tanks and works alongside his team despite his gripes with them from time to time. He seems at first to have a hard time trusting mages but grows on Thistle the more he sees her work and grows to be more considerate as time goes on. He's bolstering and upfront about his opinions but keeps himself civil to remain in good graces, with violent assistance from his boss.
Were next given Lyra, the archer of the group and whom I consider drinking under the table any orc that comes her way. Her attitude is brasher than Brent's, but her skill in archery is second to none when it comes to making her shots count. In some regard, she is also quick to judge but quickly changes her tone seeing someone not take shit from other people, namely in thistle, whom I see getting along with in the field working in tandem with one another as mage and archer, or could be that mages are a weakness for her. Given chapter 7’s introduction with her and Margot after the Drath incident of the first day working together.
The final member of the group is Orrigg, or as i call him, the wonderful deconstruction of the orc stereotype i have ever seen in comics yet. The man, while heavily influenced in speaking slow and short with limited vocabulary as well as towering over his team, he is the most understanding and notable member of the guild that works favorably to hard work and dedication. His love for work and family is balanced very well and cares deeply for his comrades despite their shortcomings. Welcoming thistle with no word of needing to know family heritage or where she came from, only seeing a good heart and talent that could be used well with jobs. He gives the others a hard time on their behavior, namely insulting mages, and keeps himself neutral on the matter, professional and studious despite perhaps the wrongdoing being aimed at specific people. Despite this he knows full well that there is value in everyone, the idea of garnering respect with respect is one of the finer connotations of giving Orrigg a base of priority in the story as the leader of the group, being wiser, bigger, stronger, and more levelheaded. This begs the question of style and storytelling which I cannot deny is wondrous!!!
The designs of the characters are manifested very well and crisp as if they’re directly connected to an entire world we see blossom before our eyes. A mix of races is seen diverse and stupendous in each panel and page alike. Were greeted to orcs, elves, humans, all alike and living together, but also in subtle details in between differentiating them from one another.
Connotations of understanding this seem to stem from the concept of cave elves itself, how we see thistle in chapter 7 retaliate in removing and showing us the face mixing present and past storylines together over the span of 2 months. The connection each character carries between one another can be felt even in pages without dialogue and showing that even a 700-year-old man can make mistakes as a wizard.
What I appreciate also is the creator's appeal to showcase fanart of peoples theories and filler that can be perceived as literal canon, especially in corresponding to understanding peoples emotions in conceiving ideas regarding filler. Margot and Lyra for instance, shows the emotional and physical scarring that occurred when Margot got together, showing that there is constant healing before and after, and the representation of strong feelings held between not just of two women, or two different skin colors, or even two separate races, but literally just two souls entwined and caring for one another as time past from a horrid day that affected many.
There is broad emotion from each character, not just as a gruff warrior, but someone willing to learn from mistakes in the past and work towards being a better person. Namely, Thistle who spends her time locked and keeping everything shut in until someone finally opens about a similar experience at the end of chapter 1, to revel in both emotion and detail of dialogue with drastic pauses between them, mixing in subtle comedy and a few fourth wall breaks really manifested the idea well.
In regards to the story itself, the introductions really keep you invested in it as we venture further into noticing even more connotations of discourse among the people, city elves and orcs being in the middle of disagreement and land ownership through battle marking years of strife as well as adding to the social commentary of how many are viewed. Especially at the introduction of chapter 2, using the notoriety of “female armor” as a fakeout to the plot, both showing comedy to the reaction of the cast and mimicking that while there is a fault in seeing trash in showing a stereotype there is those that do simply care for it, finding it boring. That is clever in my opinion working in regards to change the formula and add their own opinion on the matter, since we're on the subject of style, let's talk about that and the setting.
The comic is very much reminiscent of victorian era style, in regards to the regal appearance and bright colors attributed to the buildings, every panel is very well crafted as if magically encased to a visual ascertaining to beauty itself. The dress of each character is so unique and seems to really of been given a nice look through in style and fashion through background research. The natural layouts also remain memorable regardless of where they come from, open fields and even caves are relished in a great atmosphere equitable to the story's integrity. The use of emotion in the eyes extenuates well to show sorrow and happiness when needed, and the shadows use to mentally manipulate the landscape from the concept of past views in flashbacks to the present situation really remark a well suited segway between events.
Overall I hope you all give this comic a read, there's so much love given to its creation and style I can't help but root for Meg Syv.
link to comic
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