Stone
Explanation
The Joke
The comic retells the legend of the Sword in the Stone — where King Arthur proves his right to rule by pulling a sword from a stone — but with a logical twist. A character pulls the sword and is told they are the rightful king, but another character objects: "I thought you had to pull the sword from the stone. He bought the stone." This doesn't make sense either, and the characters debate the absurd logistics. Eventually someone points out that "the current king is trapped inside the stone," and the final panel reveals a person stuck in the rock crying for help.
The Humor
The comic deconstructs the Arthurian legend by taking its magical premise literally and following it to absurd conclusions. The Sword in the Stone myth is meant to be a metaphor for divine right and legitimate authority, but when examined with any logical rigor, the mechanism for determining kingship — pulling a weapon out of a rock — is completely arbitrary. The comic highlights this by introducing increasingly absurd complications: What if someone just bought the stone? What if the king is somehow inside it?
The joke ultimately suggests that systems of political legitimacy based on mythical or arbitrary criteria (like hereditary monarchy) don't hold up to scrutiny. The trapped king inside the stone is a darkly comic image — the rightful ruler is literally imprisoned by the very symbol meant to legitimize his rule.
Broader Context
This comic echoes the famous Monty Python bit about the "strange women lying in ponds distributing swords" as a basis for government. SMBC frequently takes mythological, religious, or historical premises and subjects them to rigorous logical analysis, revealing the absurdity underneath. Political legitimacy and the arbitrary nature of power structures are recurring themes in the strip.