Continuity rework or double flashback?

[TMLutas]

This where Q says "I've thought about what happened next for years" does not seem to match up with this where we're taken out of flashback mode and Rillcreek talks about the sword replenishing itself "In hours, not days".

Or are we talking about a double flashback where old man Q is telling the story and in the story he tells stories?

[Axelgear]

It could be Wildcard acting random again. The strange sword has reacted very bizarrely again and again, and later on we see Quentyn trying to tap into it again and again in rapid succession at the Artificer School, so it's obviously random.

[Earl McClaw]

I think TMLutas was talking about the storytelling technique, not Wildcard.

I'd say Ralph was blending tenses. In the first page you linked, elder Quentyn's commentary temporarily "plays" over the story (much as with this strip). In the second, we shift with little warning and basically no gap from a "now" to a retelling of the same event.

[Deckard Canine]

Have we ever gotten an indication of how old the narrating Quentyn is? I can't tell whether he's long retired or still in his prime. I also can't tell how he is these days -- content, bitter?

[Earl McClaw]

I also can't tell how [the narrating Quentyn] is these days -- content, bitter?

Sore, with lots of aches and pains.