Mulefoot put effort into Uthalla as a recurring character. Uncle has pointed out several times that Mulefoot doesn't waste ink and I agree with him. The fact that many of us are still following this story leads me to believe that Mulefoot doesn't waste the opportunity to tell spin an engrossing tale, either. Everything has a reason, each character has a story, nothing is without purpose. Each encounter and exchange may mimic what happens in real life but it isn't real life because it is a story and Mulefoot is a writer who knows that every character and every characterization is meant to drive the story closer to its conclusion. Maybe for a real life serial rapist a happenstance encounter turns into a year-long B&D special but I think that sells Mulefoot's craft short.
Every cause has an affect, every effect has its cause. We've already seen a glimpse of Tony's "long game" with the Robinson family. One daughter dead apparently from the "slop killer" and the other encouraged to put ever more trust and faith into the very bogeyman she's been training to fight. There is some relation of the vepr to Captain Robinson that the Company knows about. Again, time and effort has meaning. The hitchhiker, Heather, was a random subject of Tony's frustration. No time or effort, her demise happened between comics, and her broken corpse (which received far more ink than her breathing self) was merely a prop for Tony's monologue.
Uthy is a mystery because of her status as a victim. That she was a victim was revealed early, but the circumstances are slowly being doled out. Would Mulefoot really be calling attention to Uthalla's link to Tony if the circumstances were mundane? Maybe. But I vote "maybe not."
_________________ "Y'know, if nothing else, living here has incredibly sharpened my 'Hey, there's someone coming for my dick!' defense skills." -
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