Gruel's Origin: Diamonds, Toads, and Why He Followed Morgarzera

Gruel's Origin: Diamonds, Toads, and Why He Followed Morgarzera Grimm Fairy Tales #57 finally gives us a reason for Gruel's loyalty to Morgarzera that goes beyond being an apprentice who wants revenge. It also explains his appearance through a version of “Diamonds and Toads,” and the changes to that fairy tale are pretty substantial. The person who receives the reward doesn't get the future you would expect, while the person who receives the curse goes on to become part of the larger conflict in Myst. Spoilers for Gruel's origin in #57, with context from the issues leading into it. His role in the war is still continuing at this point, so this is specifically about his background and the relationship with his teacher. We've already watched Gruel find Morgarzera dying after the fight with Sela and Bolder. His master asks him to take revenge, and Gruel promises to do it. Later, he burns Morgarzera's body on a funeral pyre. There is genuine attachment in the way he treats that loss. Given what we know about Morgarzera's own history of murdering the mage who trained him, that loyalty deserves some explanation. The flashback starts with Gruel as a human boy. His mother marries a peasant who has a son named Arthur. Gruel and his mother are cruel and unwilling to do their share of the work, while Arthur and his father continue trying to be kind. When Arthur's father dies, the household's responsibilities are pushed onto Arthur. Gruel even repeats his mother's insult about the dead man while Arthur is grieving. Arthur still tries to do what is right, although the story lets him admit that being kind is difficult that day. When an old woman asks for water, he helps her drink from his bucket. Gruel tells him not to bother because he'll have to refill it and might be punished for returning without enough. Arthur helps anyway. The woman reveals herself as a fairy who tests the people of the realm. She rewards him with a gift that produces jewels when he speaks. Back at home, Gruel's mother sees the diamonds and immediately wants Arthur to keep talking. The boy recognizes what that would mean for him. He tells her he is leaving and refuses to let her benefit from the gift. Her response is to order Gruel to kill him. Gruel does hesitate. He calls Arthur his stepbrother and says he can't do it. But when his mother presses him, he obeys. The comic shows the killing before she sends him out to get the same reward for himself. That makes the next part much darker than a jealous child simply trying to copy someone else's good fortune. Arthur has been murdered, and now Gruel and his mother want the benefit that came from the kindness they refused to practice themselves. For weeks, Gruel goes to the river and helps women along the path home. Eventually another fairy reveals herself. She says her sister inspired her to test people, and that although his behavior appears noble, she can see the desires behind it. She gives him two curses, one for his heart and another for trying to deceive her. The first is the familiar part of the tale: snakes and toads come out of his mouth. When he returns home, his mother responds with more abuse. Gruel blames her for what he has done and what has happened to him, then kills her. The second curse begins changing his body. The narration explains that each bad deed will make his appearance change to match his actions. That is the supernatural rule this particular story gives him. We don't have to turn it into a claim that someone's appearance tells us anything about their character outside the story. Gruel's wrongdoing has already been shown while he looks human. The curse gives it a visible consequence afterward; it isn't how the reader first learns that he is dangerous. He continues robbing and killing over the years, becoming increasingly transformed. Eventually Morgarzera approaches him and offers help. In exchange for becoming his servant and apprentice, Morgarzera will try to remove the spells. He can't restore Gruel's original appearance, but he does stop the curse from transforming him further. He also teaches Gruel to use the magic already inside him. Gruel is grateful for what he has managed to do and pledges himself to his service. That gives us a specific basis for the relationship we've been seeing. Morgarzera provided relief from something Gruel couldn't stop and then gave him training that made him more powerful. The difference between the teacher's promise and the result matters here. Morgarzera admits he has done all he can. Gruel still considers it more help than anyone else has given him. He doesn't need Morgarzera to have fixed everything in order to feel indebted to him. His grief and desire for revenge make more sense with that history in place, even though they don't justify who he chooses to hurt. It's also worth comparing the comic with Charles Perrault's “The Fairies,” often presented as “Toads and Diamonds.” In that version, the family has two daughters. The younger one kindly gives water to a fairy disguised as a poor woman and receives the gift of flowers and jewels falling from her mouth. Her mother sends the favored older daughter to obtain the same reward. The fairy appears to that daughter in fine clothing, and the girl's rudeness earns her snakes and toads instead. Perrault's rewarded daughter escapes her mother's anger and marries a prince. The rude daughter is eventually driven away and dies alone. The comic replaces the sisters with stepbrothers, kills Arthur instead of giving him a royal marriage, and follows the cursed boy into adulthood. It also adds the second curse and Morgarzera's intervention. Those changes turn a self-contained reward-and-punishment story into the background of someone already involved in the war. The present-day scenes show what Gruel is doing with everything he learned. Orc soldiers mock his appearance and speculate about what he is. He responds with magic, taking a wolf form and killing one of them, before warning the others that his nature is none of their concern. The flashback explains that history to us, but he has no interest in explaining himself to them. Orcus, meanwhile, knows how strongly he wants revenge and encourages him to hold onto the Shadow Dragon Claw he has been given. He tells Gruel to grip it when he feels that hatred. Coming immediately alongside the origin, that is a fairly clear picture of how his grief can be used by someone else. Gruel's loyalty began with a teacher who helped him manage a curse. Now that teacher is dead, and Orcus is offering another source of power while directing him toward the fight Orcus wants. The origin gives that transition much more context than we would have from simply watching an angry apprentice join an army.