Obelix, in a flash of uncharacteristic brilliance, says: “If the middle is here, then it’s also the middle of nothing. Because my house is there, the sea is there. But the real middle of my day is between breakfast and second breakfast. And that’s in my stomach.”
Albert Uderzo continued the series alone, but the later albums ( Asterix and the Magic Carpet , Asterix and the Secret Weapon , etc.) lack the sharp dialogue, the layered satire, and the perfect pacing of the middle. Obelix regresses into a one-note strongman; Asterix becomes a lecturing schoolmaster; the puns become forced. asterix and obelix the middle
: Some reviewers found the script weak, noting that while it has humorous moments, it lacks the tight wit of the original René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo comics. Obelix, in a flash of uncharacteristic brilliance, says:
When a Roman centurion suffering from an existential crisis builds a fortified latrine exactly halfway between their village and the sea, Asterix and Obelix must navigate a war of attrition, bureaucratic tedium, and their own short fuses to discover that sometimes, the most dangerous enemy isn't a legion—it’s a compromise. And that’s in my stomach
Why did the middle end? In 1977, René Goscinny died suddenly at the age of 51. He had just finished Asterix and the Great Crossing (album 22) and was working on Asterix in Belgium (album 24). With his death, the heart of the writing vanished.