The Final, Apocalyptic Battle (Speculation Thread)

[Surfing HalfOrc]

OK, all along I've expected the final battle to take place in Kraagor and Serini's Dungeon, probably after defeating the Tarrasque. But now Xykon has shown that he has a Fortress in the Astral Plane, so it makes more sense that he will face the Heroes on his own turf rather than in a rental.

So, who will be on the OotS team? Belkar will be dead by then, supposedly with no possibility of resurrection.

-Redcloak, after doing a heel/face turn?
-Thog? He's not dead until they find his body under the rubble. He is Schrödinger's Barbarian right now.
-Miko? (Yes, I know people hate her, but she is/was a Paladin, and was about level 14 when she died. Death isn't permanent in OotS, unless Rich wants it to be. She WAS the highest level Paladin amongst the Azurites when she was still alive and crazy. Maybe death has calmed her down a bit.) Could be her chance to atone for the Azure City debacle/persecution of the OotS.
-Tarquin, who wants to continue to control the Western Continent, which he won't be able to if Xykon gets his way?
-Thor? The OotS might be Epic by then, or at least have something (an Artifact) to take down an Epic Lich by then. How tough (how high of a level) do you need to go up against an Epic Lich? The Class and Geekery thread has Xykon at level 27, and I thought you essentially couldn't defeat anything more than 8 levels above you.

Durkon may or may not be dead at this point as well. Odin's prophesy of Durkon bringing death and destruction could be from leading Xykon and Team Evil into the Dwarflands while headed for Kraagor's Tomb. Or it could be the names Hilgya gave Durkon's Love Child Twins...


Will Xykon gate in demons to guard his Fortress and the False Phylactery? Making traps is something Xykon is good at; I played some of the original Tomb of Horrors when I first got into D&D back in 1979-1980ish. I'm sure Xykon took a few lessons from Acererak... But Xykon likes his minions like he likes his coffee cups: disposable. Undead are easy for Xykon, but I don't recall him ever summoning demons like Redcloak just did.

Also, where will Redcloak hide the Real Phylactery? Might not be a good idea to keep it on himself. While Xykon can't sense it magically, Redcloak might have some 'splainin' to do if it falls out of his pocket. Even in RC has a safe deposit box in Gobblitopia Central Bank, he didn't have time to put the original into safe storage.

Finally, what Artifacts do you think the OotS might have by then?

Speculate away! But please, please, PLEASE don't let this become a "Let's Bash Miko while ignoring everything else" thread. Please?

[ThePhantasm]

Why does it make more sense that the final battle will be at Xykon's fortress? I'm not following.

I see no reason why Xykon would retreat there, or why the heroes would go there. I guess if they get duped into thinking the phylactery is there too, then they might go to destroy it. But I don't think it will play out like that. Instead I see it as

1) Xykon is killed at the gate
2) Redcloak has already destroyed his phylactery
3) The End

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Why would Xykon stick around to be killed at Kraagor's Gate? If he has a Contingency Spell, it would pull him to his Fortress/Tomb just before the final blow. Xykon might allow himself to die, knowing he will resurrect back at the F/T, but why would he want to go through that again?

Redcloak, or the MitD could tell the OotS where Xykon's final hideout is located. (Now I'm thinking the MitD will tell O-Chul once the Battle at Kraagor's Gate is over)

[ThePhantasm]

Why would Xykon stick around to be killed at Kraagor's Gate? If he has a Contingency Spell, it would pull him to his Fortress/Tomb just before the final blow. Xykon might allow himself to die, knowing he will resurrect back at the F/T, but why would he want to go through that again?

Yeah, but think on it from the other side. Why would Xykon leave to go to his fortress where the OOTS can defeat him in pretty much one blow (by destroying the phylactery and the lich?). The whole idea is to keep himself separate from his phylactery so he can respawn when destroyed.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Yeah, but think on it from the other side. Why would Xykon leave to go to his fortress where the OOTS can defeat him in pretty much one blow (by destroying the phylactery and the lich?). The whole idea is to keep himself separate from his phylactery so he can respawn when destroyed.

I think Xykon is counting on the many traps and mazelike construction of his fortress to slow down any adventurers. At the point Xykon HAS to retreat, he knows he's in trouble anyways. Either Retreat and Heal, or be forced to Retreat and Respawn. Healing is easier than respawning. It's a little harder without negative energy spells from Tsukiko or Redcloak, but still.

Of course, if Xykon holds his ground to the bitter end, expecting to respawn at the Fortress/Tomb, be may be in for an unpleasant surprise when he reappears in Redcloak's pocket. Especially if RC has fallen into a lava pit...

[ThePhantasm]

Of course, if Xykon holds his ground to the bitter end, expecting to respawn at the Fortress/Tomb, be may be in for an unpleasant surprise when he reappears in Redcloak's pocket. Especially if RC has fallen into a lava pit...

Yes, this is what I think will happen. I think he'll be dying and he'll be all like "So long, suckas, I'll be back." And then he'll die without reappearing anywhere. Redcloak will have already destroyed the phylactery.

But of course who knows. I'm not saying the final fight couldn't possibly be at Xykon's fortress. The final battle is still far away. Anything can happen.

[Ancalagon]

But I think we are on to Redcloak's Plan: Xykon will be much easier to trick into getting himself killed if he thinks he will regenerate.

Then Redcloak has the chance to end it easily. I doubt Redcloak plans on doing the "Kill Xykon" part of his plan himself. He just plans to set him up and as reckless as Xykon is, that should not be too hard. the problem is more to find an enemy that can defeat Xykon and at the same time preventing Xykon from escaping - without appearing as traiter until it is too late for Xykon to act.

The worst thing that can happen to Redcloak (and this is where I think his plan will fail) is should Xykon get killed before they have achieved their goal. Then Xykon regenerates not in his fortress and the betrayal is busted.

[Gift Jeraff]

The world within the world might be a nice place for a final battle.

[EpilepticWombat]

One thing I feel reasonably confident in is that there won't be any epic final battle at all, not the way lots of people seem to be describing it.

There might be a complicated game of wits.

There might be a desperate race for something.

There might be a dramatically appropriate duel between two characters.

But outright 9-sided battling? Nahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I mean, for one thing, we already had one big battle. For another, a big battle at the climax for a subversion-happy strip like this? Just a big battle?

Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[jidasfire]

I've long suspected that the story of the Order will end as it began, in a dungeon crawl, but that the final showdown will be broken into three parts.

1. Roy and Durkon vs. Xykon and Redcloak
This one seems obvious. Roy has to be the one to defeat Xykon in the end, even if he isn't doing it alone. Both Roy and Xykon have trusty clerics at their sides, except that Durkon is steadfastly devoted to Roy, while Redcloak is just waiting for his chance to shed himself of Xykon. That might make up for the signficant power gap between the two sides, as might various other elements coming into play.

2. Elan and Haley vs. Nale and Sabine
While I suspect the Linear Guild will be dust in the wind by the end of the current arc, Nale and Sabine have a good chance of surviving to the end and becoming wild cards in the battle of epic forces. Perhaps Sabine will even turn on her IFCC masters to side with Nale in the end and aid his bid for ultimate power. Given how personal this showdown is for both sets of opposites, I can't imagine they'd refuse a chance for a final showdown. The only thing about this I'm not sure of is the fact that Nale and Sabine have proven time and again the weaker parties in said battle, so how they'd even the odds is beyond me.

3. Vaarsuvius and Belkar vs. the IFCC
Since Belkar is likely to die in the near future, but will most likely not be written out of the story, it seems probable at least that the vicious halfling will end up fighting in the afterlife against the fiends who seem intent on using the conflict between good and evil as a means of overthrowing the Heavens themselves. Belkar will simply enjoy having the chance to slaughter guilt-free, but V has a truly personal reason to fight here. S/he allowed him/herself to be used by the Fiends and will likely do something either unforgivable or close to it because of that bargain. Since V has been working toward making amends, I suspect part of doing so will involve stopping the evil s/he helped unleash.

After all that, I believe the entirety of the Order will have to face the Snarl, as it was foreshadowed that adventurers of high level would have a better chance of defeating it than even the gods.

The only thing that throws me for a loop in all this is Xykon's new tomb citadel in the Astral Plane. It does seem like a fun place for a grand finale, but I'd been putting my money on Kraagor's Gate as where it all ends. Perhaps there will be some overlap.

[ti'esar]

Xykon's "Fortress of Doom" does look very much like the stereotypical Final Dungeon, but people should keep in mind that Xykon may be more aware of his own status as a fantasy BBEG then even Tarquin is. It makes sense for him to build something like this for his phylactery - doesn't mean that the final showdown will actually be there.

And I'd note that, while I'm not convinced that the final arc will be a dungeon crawl (it seems too small-scale for the issues at stake, book-ends or not), from what we've heard about it Kraagor's Gate seems every bit as likely a setting for one as Xykon's astral plane fortress.

[Xacal]

Hey, what if the Ritual goes terribly wrong and the Snarl gets released from Kraagor's gate? It starts laying waste to the Material plane, while Xykon hightails it back to his (relatively safe) Astral fortress and the OOTS pursue him there?
Xykon gets defeated at his fortress in style (or something), and then OOTS work on the Snarl issue. Maybe the World-Within-the-Gate will be part of the solution.

[Mr. Snuggles]

There's no reason for anyone to ever go to Xykon's astral fortress. It has the false phylactery in it. Strip 833 is the first and last time the fortress will appear in the comic.

[Sith_Happens]

There's no reason for anyone to ever go to Xykon's astral fortress. It has the false phylactery in it. Strip 833 is the first and last time the fortress will appear in the comic.

I'm just going to assume you're being facetious. There's exactly one person who knows that the phylactery in the fortress is a fake, which means that everyone else has plenty of reason to go there. Not to mention how little sense it would make to show the fortress in exactly one panel ever.

[dps]

I'm just going to assume you're being facetious. There's exactly one person who knows that the phylactery in the fortress is a fake, which means that everyone else has plenty of reason to go there. Not to mention how little sense it would make to show the fortress in exactly one panel ever.

There are 4 characters (maybe 5 if you count demon roaches) who know of the existance of the fortress: Xykon, Redcloak, the MitD, and Jirix. Xykon, after he hides what he thinks is his phylactery there, has no reason to ever go there again unless he's destroyed and has to regenerate there, because keeping his body and the phylactery in different places is part of the survival strategy of a lich. (Of course, being that the phylactery he's going to hide there is a fake, he won't regenerate there, but he doesn't know that.) Redcloak knows the phylactery is a fake, of course, and therefore knows that Xykon won't regenerate in the fortress---Xkyon will either not regenerate at all (if Redcloak destroys the phylactery) or at a place of Redcloaks choosing (if Redcloak can't outright destroy the phylactery and is instead planning on putting it somewhere that will allow him to nullify Xykon's advantages), so Redcloak has no real reason to go there. True, he might appropriate the fortress for his own use if Xykon is destroyed--but story-wise, if Xykon has been finally destroyed, then the final battle has almost certainly been fought and the stroy's over. The MitD can't keep track of the existance of the Gates; do you think he's able to keep track of the existance and location of the fortress? That leaves Jirix, and while I can't think of any particular reason that he'd avoid the fortress, I can't think of any reason that he'd go there either.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

I can think of two reasons Xykon would head back to his Fortress:

1. Respawn from his Phylactery (which won't work, because Redcloak has it.)
2. Heal after being almost killed. Almost dead isn't the same as all the way dead.

It's the second one that I'm expecting. Xykon comes out worse for wear after battling Roy and Co, and decides that healing is tactically smarter than respawning. He Gates/Contingencies back to his Fortress, bathes in a Symbol of Harm Shower, and towels off just as the OotS reaches his front door. He pauses for a moment to make sure the fauxlactery is safe, then charges in for round two. This time Xykon comes in second, and instead of respawning in another part of his Fortress, he respawns directly over a volcano or some other trapped location where Redcloak, with his dying breath, abandoned Xykon's real phylactery.

[King of Nowhere]

I think belkar will still be alive, they have still some week.
and i think durkon will be dead and resurrected; maybe they will bring his corpse home for the high priest of thor to resurrect him.

And I don't expect more than three sides to be involved in the final showdown; would be a great mess otherwise.
And I too am under the impression we'll never see Xykon's fortress.

[t209]

I think belkar will still be alive, they have still some week.
and i think durkon will be dead and resurrected; maybe they will bring his corpse home for the high priest of thor to resurrect him.
Or discover the note that Durkon should return homefrom Monster in the Darkness (Autospy or Implosion) thus fulfilling Post humous part..
Or Belkar
soul will merge with Shojo like Alcatraz and Prophet in Crysis.
Sending Hinjo (Sending) : Belkar? Is that you
Belkar :belkar: (with Shojo): They call me, SHOJO!

[theNater]

I can think of two reasons Xykon would head back to his Fortress:

1. Respawn from his Phylactery (which won't work, because Redcloak has it.)
2. Heal after being almost killed. Almost dead isn't the same as all the way dead.

It's the second one that I'm expecting. Xykon comes out worse for wear after battling Roy and Co, and decides that healing is tactically smarter than respawning. He Gates/Contingencies back to his Fortress, bathes in a Symbol of Harm Shower, and towels off just as the OotS reaches his front door. He pauses for a moment to make sure the fauxlactery is safe, then charges in for round two. This time Xykon comes in second, and instead of respawning in another part of his Fortress, he respawns directly over a volcano or some other trapped location where Redcloak, with his dying breath, abandoned Xykon's real phylactery.
Xykon can go anywhere in the multiverse to heal up. Why go to the one place he's most vulnerable?

Better to go to the Negative Energy Plane. He'll heal just by being there, pursuing foes will most likely take damage just by being there, and he still has a fallback in case things go wrong a second time.