JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders Chapter 29 Discussion
- Thread starter Ketan
- Start date
- #5
Abdul got here first as he was the one most focused on protecting his new comrade and through that, he was the one to die. Kakyoin was a moment too slow. The moment he got shot worked as a narrative slap to the face. As if Araki stated, “you really thought this was a fun stand of the week story where the good guys always won at the last second?!” There was an air of unbelievability to it. No immediate reaction. Pages of lingering as Abdul’s headband flew and he collapsed with subdued reactions and a single word: “what?” I had assumed Abdul and Polnareff would bond and get truly close here, but rather, the great man Abdul lost his life for his new friend. It was a statement that stakes are real and although this seems like fun and games, one slight slip up is the death of a hero in a number of pages. At least if the villain has been built up, not unlike the time Will Zeppelli was sliced clean in half. But in the case of a story this long and a death not so plot relevant, my jaw literally dropped.
Polnareff turned and complained, he deserved it, that asshole was already talking big. Kakyoin got pissed but I think most of us knew what was coming. The tears that he turned to hide. Having him shot right in front of Polnareff, protecting him, and having his life fade out like that is unmistakably powerful. I think we can read into Polnareff and his tendency to fight alone. He’s already lost one of the most important people in his life and in a way that is grotesque and horrible. I can imagine that knowing loss that close to home, he wouldn’t want to risk losing anyone ever again. In a way, by complaining that he never asked for help, you could interpret this as him saying ‘If I died, I wanted to die alone, you asshole…’ It’s powerful stuff. Jean Pierre Polnareff now has a vengeance for two lost lives.
That said, due to meta narrative spoilers, I have definitely seen a few moments I am pretty sure Abdul is in which haven’t happened yet. A moment where Abdul is trying to get Joseph out of a fence and it looks sexual and a moment where Polnareff shares a secret handshake with him, so I have a feeling that he will actually come back to life. Not that it would ruin the masterful moment that was created here, but it would take away all of those beautiful stakes that have just been established by having these notable but not main antagonist level villains take down a hero. I hope I’m wrong because this kind of upping the ante is what this story needs in my opinion. A swift death that no one could expect would go the way it did.
