I'm sure the large clawed armature holding a sword isn't impressive now, Brand, but man you can be thick sometimes.
When it was animated by the Puppetmancer, I'm sure it was a whole hell of a bloody lot more threatening.
Despite my abysmally low batting average, I'm down to two theories about the Puppetmancer.
1) The 'getting turned into a tree' thing was temporary, reversed, or never happened. Suzokon-kyo is the Puppetmancer, quietly working on a whole new kind of puppet to try the whole thing again.
2) Suzokon-kyo had a Sauron-Morgoth type of relationship with the Puppetmancer; Suzokon was once his apprentice, but when the Puppetmancer was destroyed, he quietly carried on as his protege, with the same goal as #1. Finish what his sensei started.
But I've been wrong PLENTY so don't take me too seriously. It'll be fun if I turn out to be right, though.
