Roy seems unduly optimistic....

[Larkspur]

...given that the Order of the Stick have never managed to actually beat Xykon. In Dorukan's dungeon Xykon was defeated by a combination of Dorukan's charm on the gate and the fact that the fight occurred pre-Cerebus, when he was relatively underpowered compared his current degree of evil brilliance. If they'd had to smash Xykon's body themselves, they'd probably all be dead right now.

Xykon pwned Roy during their duel, not to mention decisively winning a war with a city that had been preparing to fight off someone like him since the creation of Soon's gate, and he just wiped the floor with Super-V. It's true that Soon would have defeated him, but a) that was because Xykon went into that battle completely ignorant of what he would be facing and sans Redcloak, which will probably not happen again given the near-disaster last time, and b) Dorukan wasn't able to defend his gate, so Roy can't just rely on the Order of the Scribble to do the hard work for him. If Girard's gate is defended by puzzles and illusions rather than force, that seems like a defense Xykon and Redcloak would be particularly capable of penetrating, given how clever they are.

What about this situation is making Roy so confident that they can beat Xykon ever, much less in seven weeks? Belkar could just as easily die in a battle they lose.

[Scarlet Knight]

Well, if coming back from the dead doesn't make one optimistic, I don't know what would.

[Skeppio]

Well, if coming back from the dead doesn't make one optimistic, I don't know what would.

Agreed. I'd be in a pretty good mood too if I had just been raised from death.

[theinsulabot]

roy has always had a really wide streak of optimism buried under all that cynicism, combined with a healthy mix of pride. its been a character feature since day one. somewhere in the back of roy's mind is a 9 year old happily saying if you just try your absolute hardest, things are going to work out ok. thats the kind of fellow he is. that's why he charges into a room filled to the brim with so many mobs merely a quarter of there number has sent the order into flight. that's why he heads deep into the woods after someone he doesn't even know tells him he needs star metal to reforge the sword, despite the extreme likelihood of some adventure snapping it up years ago. that is the kind of man who puts on a ring of jumping and jumps onto a freaking DRAGON to attempt to solo the epic lich who is riding it.

i once made this point before and i will say it again, roy didn't jump onto the dragon because he "had to" or because it was his only shot, he jumped because in his heart of hearts, behind all his vaunted intellect and strategic ability, he really believed that if he tried hard enough, he was going to win alone against xykon

[Elfin]

Agreed. I'd be in a pretty good mood too if I had just been raised from death.

Yea, call it a "Resurrection High"

[Cleverdan22]

You know, the exact same thread is just a little further down the first page. It probably wouldn't kill you to look down the page.

However, as I stated there, and as many are stating here, he's feeling good because he's seeing his friends and girlfriend again, and is finally alive.

[Souhiro]

Ad not that only.

The bane of all fighters are enchantments. Kinda breaking his sword, or paralizing him, draining some levels, or aura spells.

But now, Roy will pull his Disrupting feat. If roy has three attacks per turn which, (and he, being a Lv>10 Fighter, has it) the battle can be kinda like

<Xykon> ¡Meteor Swarn!
<Roy> Disrupting Slash
<RedCloack> Energy Drain!
<Roy> Disrupting Slash
<Tsukiko> Cheap Spell from a non core source!
<Roy> Disrupting Slash and STFU, -you munchink b ¡ txh-
<Monster in the Darkness> ¡Go! ¡Go! ¡Mr Scruffy little friends! ¡Go!

[warrl]

Yea, call it a "Resurrection High"

I am SO glad I didn't attend that school.

[dehro]

he might have had time to come up with a plan, whilst reminishing on cloud nine..couldn't he?

[Rotipher]

There's also Elan's prophecy of a happy ending, FWIW. Even if that's just for himself, Roy knows the bard would be unhappy if the Order got creamed or the Snarl busted loose.

Granted, there are loopholes in that. But Roy's track-record for anticipating devious interpretations of the Oracle's prophecies is not so good.

[Scarlet Knight]

I am SO glad I didn't attend that school.

Resurrection High. The alumnae keep coming back....and then there are the reunions...:smallsmile:

[Bibliomancer]

There's also Elan's prophecy of a happy ending, FWIW. Even if that's just for himself, Roy knows the bard would be unhappy if the Order got creamed or the Snarl busted loose.

Granted, there are loopholes in that. But Roy's track-record for anticipating devious interpretations of the Oracle's prophecies is not so good.

On the other hand, Elan could be quite happy if he was one of the founders of a new world created by the gods to re-imprison the Snarl (assuming Banjo lifted him out of danger to the Outer Planes). Imagine being the world's first bard, or even being a minstrel for the gods themselves.

[Larkspur]

You know, the exact same thread is just a little further down the first page. It probably wouldn't kill you to look down the page.

So there is. Oops. I did look, but I totally missed that one. Sorry, everyone.


There's difference between "We'll triumph in the end because of Elan's prophecy/pluckiness/narrativium" and "We'll have this wrapped up in five more panels," though.

It's perfectly in character for Roy to be optimistic about their ultimate prospects, but even he must be genre savy enough to realize that they're going to have to fight for both gates, not just one. (And if not he really needs to be chatting with Elan, not Haley). There's no way that's happening in seven weeks. And the resurrection was a total fiasco- they couldn't even manage to accomplish that in seven weeks, and that was a project that should have taken ten minutes; if anything, thinking about that should make him depressed.

I get that he's happy to be breathing again, but he's out ten gp.

[fangthane]

Heheh... Here's a happy ending for Elan... of sorts.
They lose, most of them die (Roy, Durkon, Xykon, Belkar, Tsukiko, Jervix, O-Chul and V*; Hinjo and Lien stay behind to shepherd the Azurites), Redcloak's Plan succeeds and to balance the cosmos Banjo and Banjulhu are also made gods in the new pantheon which includes the Dark One. Happy ending for Elan, happy ending for the orcs on the island, happy ending for the goblins, and after being resurrected by their deity, Right-eye kills Left-eye, takes the cloak. Done deal. ;)

*V doesn't die until after having the fiends take control in order to force him to enable the control portion of Redcloak's agenda, but before they're able to bollix the Plan to ransom reality for the Goblins' sake.

[theinsulabot]

Heheh... Here's a happy ending for Elan... of sorts.
They lose, most of them die (Roy, Durkon, Xykon, Belkar, Tsukiko, Jervix, O-Chul and V*; Hinjo and Lien stay behind to shepherd the Azurites), Redcloak's Plan succeeds and to balance the cosmos Banjo and Banjulhu are also made gods in the new pantheon which includes the Dark One. Happy ending for Elan, happy ending for the orcs on the island, happy ending for the goblins, and after being resurrected by their deity, Right-eye kills Left-eye, takes the cloak. Done deal. ;)

*V doesn't die until after having the fiends take control in order to force him to enable the control portion of Redcloak's agenda, but before they're able to bollix the Plan to ransom reality for the Goblins' sake.


you fail happy endings forever

[Kobold-Bard]

...given that the Order of the Stick have never managed to actually beat Xykon. In Dorukan's dungeon Xykon was defeated by a combination of Dorukan's charm on the gate and the fact that the fight occurred pre-Cerebus, when he was relatively underpowered compared his current degree of evil brilliance. If they'd had to smash Xykon's body themselves, they'd probably all be dead right now.

Xykon pwned Roy during their duel, not to mention decisively winning a war with a city that had been preparing to fight off someone like him since the creation of Soon's gate, and he just wiped the floor with Super-V. It's true that Soon would have defeated him, but a) that was because Xykon went into that battle completely ignorant of what he would be facing and sans Redcloak, which will probably not happen again given the near-disaster last time, and b) Dorukan wasn't able to defend his gate, so Roy can't just rely on the Order of the Scribble to do the hard work for him. If Girard's gate is defended by puzzles and illusions rather than force, that seems like a defense Xykon and Redcloak would be particularly capable of penetrating, given how clever they are.

What about this situation is making Roy so confident that they can beat Xykon ever, much less in seven weeks? Belkar could just as easily die in a battle they lose.

I don't know about you, but coming back from the dead (not to mention the first thing that happens when you come back is getting a snog from a blonde with wings) would leave me in an upbeat mood.

Add in the fact that he's spend weeks/months watching his team/friends getting their arses handed to them in various respects, I'd say the fact that they're all still alive and in one place was a positive step.

And finally he's the Lawful-Good leader, believable optimism before the dark moments is an oft overlooked ability he has.

Edit: This is what I get for posting before reading the other replies. Apologies for everything essentially being a re-post of stuff that's already been said.