Saturday, May 12, 2012

Beware Macduff

Be bloody, bold,
And resolute: laugh to scorn the power of man,
For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. 

   But, of course, "Macduff was from his mother's womb/ Untimely ripp'd." Bizarrely specific loopholes in prophecies are a common trope (with this particular example as this trope's trope namer), and some of these are really good.

   But, that's not my point.

   What if it's not, "no man of woman born can kill you," but, "no man of woman born will kill you?" It's the same thing, since you can only get killed once, so if you won't get killed by something, that is the exact same thing as not being able to be killed by something. If it will kill you, it will kill you, which means that it can kill you, but if it won't kill you it won't, which means it can't. If that makes any sense. I mean, it still can kill you, but since it won't (because it won't) that means it actually can't kill you because that's not how you'll die.

   You may let your mind be blown... now.

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