Two Years
Two Years
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.] Randall's fiancée: Oh god.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.] IV pump: ... Beeep ... Beeep ... Beeep ...
[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.] Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!?
[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.] Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word. Randall's fiancée: But caaaancer. Randall: ...Ok, fine.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée (wearing a knit cap) are listening to a Cueball-like friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads and it obscures the friends talk. The text below, split in three is the only part there can be no doubt about:] Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mounta a and Randall and Randall's fiancée (thinking): "Next year"
[Randall and Randall's fiancée are getting married, with a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back.]
[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water.] Fwoosh
[Randall's wife is sitting at a desk with her laptop standing on top of two books. Her hair has grown back a little more. Randall stands behind her.] Randall: Hey— Randall: you're doing science, Randall: and you're still alive. Randall's wife: Yeah!
[Randall and Randall's wife sit under a tall tree on a hill.] Randall: It's really only been two years? Randall's wife: They were big years.
[Randall and Randall's wife sit at a table in a fancy restaurant. Her hair has grown back even more. The waiter (Hairy) brings them a dish with a cover on it.] Waiter: Happy... Anniversary? Randall's wife: Biopsy-versary! Waiter: ...Eww.
While it is known that Randall's wife has since survived more than two years past the date of the invitation in Panel 6, it is unknown whether the invitation was later accepted. The followup comic Seven Years does not seem to include a visit "up in the mountains" among its various other recreational activities, but the one after it, Ten Years , does. However, since it is possible that the invitation was made up for the comic in order to represent the worry over any invitation envisioning the future at that time, it is possible that it was never proposed as depicted in the comic. Therefore, the real life invitation(s) which inspired the inclusion of Panel 6 in the comic could perhaps have referred in real life to an activity that is actually depicted in Seven Years or Ten Years , or to some other activity, which then may or may not have been realized.

This comic marks the second year of Randall Munroe 's wife's battle with cancer, and appears to depict actual events from those two years. Randall is depicted as Cueball and his wife as Megan , as usual for both.
This comic later became part of a series of comics directly continued in 1928: Seven Years and later continued in 2386: Ten Years . The first eight panels of this comic are included in the next two, although  slightly grayed out.
Explanations of the individual panels:
The title text is referring to a possible side-effect of chemotherapy drugs , the inability to concentrate. It could also just be the fact that the chemo can make you feel just terrible. When whatever effect kicks in, she loses the rest of their Scrabble games for that day. However, as we see in panel 5, there is a reason why she wins all of the first half of their games. But this is not enough, or she even forgets to play on the cancer, when the drugs take effect.
The use of the asterisk in the title text for "*dominated*" might be a reference to the 1999 game Unreal Tournament in which the game announcer voice would from time to time use the words "dominating" or "dominated" in a deep tone when a player is doing really well in the game (for example being on a multi-kill strike). Example sound here .
Knit caps have only been used a few times in xkcd, most prominently on Knit Cap Girl in 1350: Lorenz , see her section for more details.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.] Randall's fiancée: Oh god.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.] IV pump: ... Beeep ... Beeep ... Beeep ...
[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.] Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!?
[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.] Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word. Randall's fiancée: But caaaancer. Randall: ...Ok, fine.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée (wearing a knit cap) are listening to a Cueball-like friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads and it obscures the friends talk. The text below, split in three is the only part there can be no doubt about:] Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mounta a and Randall and Randall's fiancée (thinking): "Next year"
[Randall and Randall's fiancée are getting married, with a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back.]
[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water.] Fwoosh
[Randall's wife is sitting at a desk with her laptop standing on top of two books. Her hair has grown back a little more. Randall stands behind her.] Randall: Hey— Randall: you're doing science, Randall: and you're still alive. Randall's wife: Yeah!
[Randall and Randall's wife sit under a tall tree on a hill.] Randall: It's really only been two years? Randall's wife: They were big years.
[Randall and Randall's wife sit at a table in a fancy restaurant. Her hair has grown back even more. The waiter (Hairy) brings them a dish with a cover on it.] Waiter: Happy... Anniversary? Randall's wife: Biopsy-versary! Waiter: ...Eww.
While it is known that Randall's wife has since survived more than two years past the date of the invitation in Panel 6, it is unknown whether the invitation was later accepted. The followup comic Seven Years does not seem to include a visit "up in the mountains" among its various other recreational activities, but the one after it, Ten Years , does. However, since it is possible that the invitation was made up for the comic in order to represent the worry over any invitation envisioning the future at that time, it is possible that it was never proposed as depicted in the comic. Therefore, the real life invitation(s) which inspired the inclusion of Panel 6 in the comic could perhaps have referred in real life to an activity that is actually depicted in Seven Years or Ten Years , or to some other activity, which then may or may not have been realized.
