A hunch about Tarquin

[MightyTim]

Does anyone else get the impression that this arc is going to end without much resolution between Elan and Tarquin? I think strip 762 shows Tarquin speaking in probably the most honest light of any so far, and I would put better than 50/50 odds in Elan and the Order leaving Tarquin's empire without much more meaningful development between Elan and his Father.

That in itself isn't necessarily a problem. It's more or less what happened with Elan and Nale, but the difference is that Nale is more or less guaranteed to show up again. I can see Elan being ok with living ignorance about his father's true nature, but I very much doubt that he'd be satisfied with doing nothing about his father's evil nature. The only problem is that their quest for the gate is far more pressing, and as far as story is concerned, continuing the strip for the sole purpose of giving Elan closure with Tarquin after the gate is destroyed seems well... lame.

So, I'm led to the conclusion that if the Order carries on with their quest without Elan and Tarquin getting resolution, Tarquin is going to show up again, most likely at, or very near, the climax. My guess is that he's going to come to the aid of the Order. As it stands, the deck is pretty stacked against them, and the good guys don't have many allies in a position to help. At which point, he's probably going to die (or given how genre savy Tarquin is, sacrifice himself), allowing the Order to prevail.

Thoughts?

[The Pilgrim]

Roy, Belkar, the Bounty Hunders, Ian and the Arena are still out there. There is plenty room for mayhem to broke out.

Strip #762 could very well be just the Eye of the Hurricane.

[NerfTW]

Does anyone else get the impression that this arc is going to end without much resolution between Elan and Tarquin?....
Thoughts?

That would be anticlimactic and really not very good storytelling. Not to mention Elan would have to convince Roy, V, Durkon, and Haley to not take action against a man who burned escaped slaves alive, and is holding Haley's father hostage.

Something is going to happen. It might not be a straight out fight and toppling of the evil empire, but it certainly won't be "Bye, it's been nice visiting, we'll be back after the story!"

[Scarlet Knight]

But it does leave Tarquin free to re-enter the plot in the future, perhaps at the climax?

[LightsOnNo1Home]

So, I'm led to the conclusion that if the Order carries on with their quest without Elan and Tarquin getting resolution, Tarquin is going to show up again, most likely at, or very near, the climax. My guess is that he's going to come to the aid of the Order. As it stands, the deck is pretty stacked against them, and the good guys don't have many allies in a position to help. At which point, he's probably going to die (or given how genre savy Tarquin is, sacrifice himself), allowing the Order to prevail.

Thoughts?

I've been wondering about this. The Giant has stated that his aim with Miko was to explore whether or not a good aligned character could be an antagonist for the order.

Is Tarquin the inverse of that? Can an evil aligned character be an ally?

The Giant also said in the commentary for DstP that it marks the halfway point in the story, which suggests that there will be another 2 books after this one. I think that this means that there is plenty of time for the issues between Tarquin and Elan (and the rest of the order) to be resolved.

I'm also betting on a final showdown at Kraagors gate, and there is every possibility that Tarquin will be there.

Whose side he will be on (if he is there) remains an open question at this point.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Roy, Belkar, the Bounty Hunders, Ian and the Arena are still out there. There is plenty room for mayhem to broke out.

Strip #762 could very well be just the Eye of the Hurricane.
This.

Remember, folks, that the interaction of Elan and Tarquin does not exist in a vacuum. Stories are all about taking these situations and throwing them utterly HAYWIRE. They become that way because outside forces intervene.

[MightyTim]

That would be anticlimactic and really not very good storytelling. Not to mention Elan would have to convince Roy, V, Durkon, and Haley to not take action against a man who burned escaped slaves alive, and is holding Haley's father hostage.

Something is going to happen. It might not be a straight out fight and toppling of the evil empire, but it certainly won't be "Bye, it's been nice visiting, we'll be back after the story!"

I wouldn't say it's necessarily anticlimactic (but you're right that it could be). Again, I'd just point to the fact that Elan and Nale haven't gotten resolution yet, but that didn't mean the parts with Nale were bad storytelling.

And I agree that there's definitely more to happen, just that I see there to be a real possibility that, when the Order leaves for the gate, there's still some development left to happen. If this is the case, I think the most logical conclusion is that Tarquin will return, in suitably dramatic fashion.

[Heksefatter]

I almost can't imagine Tarquin not continuing growing on me. Honestly, OotS has just kept getting better and better since he showed up. Not developing the story further would be a huge disappointment.

I think that many share a similar view. From the forums Tarquin seems to be an extremely popular character, so I have much faith in the Giant using him well.

[megabyter5]

My thoughts as of 762 are that, as a major part of Elan's prophecised happy ending, he will reach an understanding with his father that whenever he visits, T has to go easy on the Evil. The two will remain on good terms and visit for the holidays, most likely with Haley. Ian probably figures into it somewhere, too.

[Coliumbos]

The Elan + Tarquin development has (almost - I see 10+ strips left) ended, but what about a certain other son of his? (before, y'know considering with so many ex wives, he could easily have at least one other... despite, y'know, the whole 'I tried to make sure I didn't have any due to Nale')

I could see superpowered Linear Guild attacking.

[Nilan8888]

So, I'm led to the conclusion that if the Order carries on with their quest without Elan and Tarquin getting resolution, Tarquin is going to show up again, most likely at, or very near, the climax. My guess is that he's going to come to the aid of the Order. As it stands, the deck is pretty stacked against them, and the good guys don't have many allies in a position to help. At which point, he's probably going to die (or given how genre savy Tarquin is, sacrifice himself), allowing the Order to prevail.

Maybe. It all depends how much time is left. If it were only 1 more book, I'd say no becuase it would run together too much -- it might seem like they'd only just left Tarquin behind by the time things were ready for him to show up again.

Tarquin has his own plans involving Elan and for the needs of the climax they will probably have to be encountered sooner rather than later... Tarquin has said both that the fate of the EoB resides in Elan's hands AND that he's hoping for his son to come back later after his quest is over. The narrative would get twisted around if it turned out if the OOTS were to defeat Xykon with the fate of the entire world haning in the balance, and then take up a whole other book afterward where they defeat Tarquin with just the fate of the Empires of BST hanging in the balance. So whatever role he's thinking for Elan, it's either for sometihng soon, or his plans are going to get changes around for it to happen sooner rather than later (perhaps by Nale's arrival). I've only ever seen something kinda like that done once, in "The Lord of the Rings", and in that case the scouring of the shire was itself brief and sort of the point at how pathetic Saruman had become, and how the very home the hobbits were protecting could be corrupted.

I do think that Tarquin will aid the order, but I think thier conflicts with him are going to have to come up-front, and whatever the issues are with the EoB and it's politics, that they're going to play out in this arc.

[AstralFire]

Girard could potentially bring Tarquin back in. Girard is violently CG or CN, no?

[Onyavar]

I think that many share a similar view. From the forums Tarquin seems to be an extremely popular character, so I have much faith in the Giant using him well.

Wasn't Miko also an extremely popular character?

But I agree with your analysises, Tarquin will most likely be an evil NPC pro-tagonist who wants to help the order but can't help them much because all his actions are evil and Elan as well as Roy will not want to collaborate with him. So in the end, he is as non-helpful as Miko.
Will he mayhaps replace Belkar? Comedic relief, evil character who wants to help but will prove to be utterly counterproductive... Nah, two Elan-Faces will not do the party any good.

[SPoD]

Thoughts?

It all depends on what kind of "resolution" you think is going to happen. Do I think Elan is going to topple his father right now? No. Do I think the Order is going to get the data on Girard, spring Haley's dad, and run like hell before Tarquin finds out? Yes.

Whether Tarquin subsequently returns to the screen once they flee the EOB doesn't really matter much either way to me. I can accept that Elan returns to topple him someday after the main run of the comic ends, possibly in a flash-forward epilogue or something.


Wasn't Miko also an extremely popular character?

No, she was largely despised at the time. People wrote thread after thread wishing her dead. It only seems now like she was popular then because the only people who still talk about her are the people who loved her and haven't let go of the idea that she was just misunderstood.

[TreesOfDeath]

I'm so confused by the constant layers of Tarquin..


Question I have that will also answear the TC.... is what Tarquin has said in 762 true? Is this actually what he feels? Or is it another ploy/part of some plan?

If its actually the truth, and their are no more layers, than yeah I agree this arc will end without much more resolution between Tarquin and Elan. Though intially the order is going to be pissed, especially if Haley finds out who a certain Lord was......

[The Pilgrim]

This.

Remember, folks, that the interaction of Elan and Tarquin does not exist in a vacuum. Stories are all about taking these situations and throwing them utterly HAYWIRE. They become that way because outside forces intervene.

Precisely. And the most pressing matter here is that the Ian Variable remains unresolved.

Elan *knows* that they are in Tyrinaria, and *knows* that Haley's dad is imprisioned here. He will have to tell his girlfriend and Haley isn't gonna leave the place without investigating his father's whereabouts.

If they confront Tarquin directly about the issue, Tarquin is likely to lie them about it, since Ian knows too much and releasing him goes against his better interests. Haley being Haley, she will (correctly) not trust Tarquin and is likely to investigate the issue on her own.

Roy has meet Ian, but Roy doesn't knows he is Haley's father, and also Ian is not likely to be scheluded for combat (so Haley will not see him in the Arena). Nonetheless, Roy being Roy means he is likely to help the oppresed people anyway, he doesn't needs to know Ian is Haley's dad to do it.

And, finally, there are two more sources of conflict:
- The Belkar Variable, which, Belkar being Belkar, means he is totally unpredictable, and can burst into anything.
- The presence of the two bounty hunters, whose "smart" guy is pressing conflict with Roy for personal issues.