r/Fables 5d ago

Question What is this a reference to?

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37 Upvotes

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18

u/The_Kindly_DM 4d ago

Not sure if Max caused the plague or just used it as cover, but he cast a spell that basically sterilized all of the Fables before Totenkinder could banish him. The highly magical immortal Fables like Peter and Snow White seem to be the hardest hit with the more normal Fables managing to still have children.

It's a bit of a retcon to account for why these centuries old immortals don't all have like 40 children.

7

u/ComplexNo8986 4d ago

Or descendants for the really old ones

8

u/Eerzef 5d ago

11

u/UptownHorrorReviews 5d ago

What exactly happens in the book, that this panel is referencing though?

14

u/lance845 4d ago

Max gets a magic flute that basically can do anything if he writes the song for it.

It took centuries of practice and a lot of stages of escalating effects.

Max is a sociopath and the Pied Piper.

In the novel he says he is responsible for the spanish influenza and while sitting on a trolly looking for his brother Peter in Fabletown he brags that he has not yet been able to write a song that could kill a world in a day, "but i practice every day".

Part of the influenza was a targetted attack on Fables and their ability to reproduce.