Good thing the Linear Guild finally threw off the "evil opposites" theme

[littlebum2002]

After all, since Elan has gotten much more competent over the course of the strip, that would mean Nale's competence would be fading fast, right?

[Muenster Man]

Not necessarily. The whole "evil opposites" theme is kind of silly. This comic deconstructed it and pointed out that you only need about one or two major differences to be considered an evil opposite (#795 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0795.html)). I think those differences between Elan and Nale are largely intelligence (not competence), alignment, and complexity of plans.

To truly be an evil opposite, characters can't have a lot of depth, so Rich wisely eschewed that theme once he started developing his villains as individuals rather than alignment reflections of the party. They have their own motivations that aren't the same or the opposite of the party, just different. Sure, Nale and Elan will always be tied together by being examples of the opposite twin trope, but I don't think he's tying his character development down to that.