Oh my gods. Did that just happen?

[Alan_Pehnereas]

I just wanna know that we're reading the same webcomic. Did that really just happen?

[Albion]

This one truly was kind of special! :smalltongue: Most dramatic death so far?

[Hectonkhyres]

Indeed it did. Tarquin, in a single moment, went from being a deconstruction of the evil overlord archetype to an honestly interesting character in his own right.

[Demolator]

This one truly was kind of special! :smalltongue: Most dramatic death so far?

I still hold Tsukiko's as the most dramatic, but this is up there.

[SowZ]

Miko's was pretty dramatic, too. Wow, this arc has a lot of loose ends being tied up and a lot of major deaths. Not a criticism, btw, I like fast moving plots with lots of turns.

I considered this as a possibility, but didn't actually think it would happen.

[137beth]

Right-eye, Xykon, Miko, Roy, Tsukiko, and Nale. Best deaths ever.

[BlackDragonKing]

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/Tarquin.png: "It's not just about power, it's also about how you go about attaining and keeping that power. I discarded my ego and accomplished most of my finest conquests using a series of puppets to turn a continent into my chessboard. You're strictly little league compared to that. That right there? That's the difference between bonafide Evil Genius and your wannabe revenge-driven Arch-Nemesis crap. One gets to be the butch, and one gets to be the b*tch —B*tch."

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :smallwink:

[SowZ]

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/Tarquin.png: "It's not just about power, it's also about how you go about attaining and keeping that power. I discarded my ego and accomplished most of my finest conquests using a series of puppets to turn a continent into my chessboard. You're strictly little league compared to that. That right there? That's the difference between bonafide Evil Genius and your wannabe revenge-driven Arch-Nemesis crap. One gets to be the butch, and one gets to be the b*tch —B*tch."

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :smallwink:

Well played.

[DaggerPen]

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/Tarquin.png: "It's not just about power, it's also about how you go about attaining and keeping that power. I discarded my ego and accomplished most of my finest conquests using a series of puppets to turn a continent into my chessboard. You're strictly little league compared to that. That right there? That's the difference between bonafide Evil Genius and your wannabe revenge-driven Arch-Nemesis crap. One gets to be the butch, and one gets to be the b*tch —B*tch."

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :smallwink:

*applause*

And yeah, I totally didn't see that coming. I couldn't really see Tarquin killing any of his sons, and had the pet theory that Tarquin had arranged for the whole Gate thing in large part so he could find a way to prevent Malack from killing Nale. This was totally in character, though, and somehow left me on Tarquin's side, which is a side I hate to be on because he is one loathsome, misogynistic, rapist mass-murdering ****.

[LordVader]

"Tarquin doesn't care about Malack!", they said! "Tarquin doesn't really have feelings!", they said!

The last ~15 or so comics have been one heck of a run. OotS is back on top form.

[Nettlekid]

I have to say, this is why The Giant is such a great writer. Because up until this comic, I didn't at all think this is how the whole Malack death confrontation was going to play out. And now that I read the comic, it's obvious there's no other way it could have gone. I was right in the camp of "Tarquin allowed Nale the chance to kill Malack to take his place, in a might-makes-right world." And that wasn't too far off, replacing "kills" with "impresses," but still.

My prediction for what happens next?
Obviously, Sabine watching the TV downstairs is going to flip out. The IFCC probably didn't expect this either, since Nale was one of their key players. But...well, where's Sabine right now? Hell. Where's Nale gonna go? Something tells me that they're bound for a meetup pretty soon, and maybe Vaarsuvius and Nale will have a chat while they're together.

Ooh, what if the IFCC called V down to Hell not because V was trying to stop the Order from destroying the gate, but they knew that Nale/Sabine would be down there as well and wanted the chance for a discussion on Neutral (Evil) ground?

[jere7my]

I just wanna know that we're reading the same webcomic. Did that really just happen?

Nope. Still in the illusion.

CALLED IT.

[Ave]

Killing Malack wasn't Nale's error.
Questioning authority while being vastly outnumbered was.

[Eric Tolle]

I'd say it's more a problem of questioning authority when down to a handful of hit points.

[Lord Raziere]

Yea, Nale's error was being stupid enough to brag to Tarquin's face about it. but then again this is kind of important to show: it shows what happens when you completely defy Tarquin, when you don't play his game.

which is why you should never play his game in the first place. You play his game, he wins. thats why he kills anyone who doesn't play his game. his game might be reasonable- but its still his game, the chessboard he set up. because all the pieces are his, and your a fool to think that you can outplay him.

the only winning move, is to change the game.

[Obscure Blade]

Killing Malack wasn't Nale's error.
Questioning authority while being vastly outnumbered was.Not just questioning - outright rejecting it, when that authority is the only thing keeping him alive. Oh, and boasting to Malack's friends about killing him, right in their faces.

[CowardlyPaladin]

Nale was almost admirable in his dedication to be his own man, the problem is that Tarquin doesn't understand the difference between rejection and defiance. Letting nale go his own way would most likely be harmless but it goes against Tarquin method. Notice now Elan's converastion in the first few panels and Nales in the last few is very similar.

[Clertar]

Yes it did! http://www.racocatala.cat/images/smileys/exaltat.gif

[Weiser_Cain]

Letting nale go his own way would most likely be harmless...

Actually he made it clear he was the only thing keeping Malack from hunting Nale down.

[Aedilred]

Well, what did Nale really expect to happen there? Gloating to the most powerful man on the continent that you killed his best friend - in front of another of his friends and while surrounded by his army, well, that's pretty stupid. But then when that man offers you his protection and forgiveness and you turn him down? That's just suicide.

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason Tarquin finally lost patience with him isn't so much the death of Malack as Nale's persistent incompetence and failure to learn from his previous mistakes. It's obvious at this stage that Nale is never going to outgrow his petty "recurring villain" status, whose plans fail through over-ambition or lack of forward thinking. That can be tolerated so long as it doesn't really get in the way of anything else, but when he starts murdering your friends and allies for no good reason, enough is enough.

If Elan had killed Malack in the temple, doubtless Tarquin would have been upset, but he'd have let it go, because killing the evil overlord's henchmen is what the hero does. But killing your own cleric in the middle of a war to save the world or whatever, and not have any real idea how to get away with it, that's what an idiot does.

[Lord Vukodlak]

I just wanna know that we're reading the same webcomic. Did that really just happen?Nope. Still in the illusion.CALLED IT.I'm going to make a note of this to either praise your foresight or laugh at your failure.

[Cronos988]

Indeed it did. Tarquin, in a single moment, went from being a deconstruction of the evil overlord archetype to an honestly interesting character in his own right.

I would say he went to a deconstruction of the "affably evil" archetype.

We are shown, in very clear terms, that there is nothing cool, nice, or indeed "affable" about Tarquin. He is no better than Xykon. He may be less chaotic, but he is even more self-absorbed. Everyone is his plaything. He has exactly the same goal as Xykon: Power over others. While Xykon is brute force, he manipulates everyone to either play his game, or not play at all.

When Nale stopped being his plaything, he just killed him. Tarquin never cared about Nale as a person, as his son. He only cared about Nale as his Legacy, a piece of his plans.

[Chantelune]

Well, what did Nale really expect to happen there? Gloating to the most powerful man on the continent that you killed his best friend - in front of another of his friends and while surrounded by his army, well, that's pretty stupid. But then when that man offers you his protection and forgiveness and you turn him down? That's just suicide.



Given Nale's personality and dellusions, I guess he was expecting his father to be impressed by him overpowering a vampire cleric, realize that he was a real man, pat his back and say something like "You were right, son, you are better than everybody else. And a better leader than me. Do you want to take the lead or should we just get out of your way so you can be the biggest villain the world ever witnessed ?"

And then, reality check took the shape of a dagger. :smallcool:

[Lord Vukodlak]

When Nale stopped being his plaything, he just killed him. Tarquin never cared about Nale as a person, as his son. He only cared about Nale as his Legacy, a piece of his plans.

Or maybe he simply valued a friend and trusted ally over a son who couldn't be trusted at anything.

When your evil the most valuable commodity is someone you can trust. Malack had been Tarquin's friend and ally for decades before Nale was born. If your evil and someone constantly undermines your efforts and obliterates your friend and very valuable ally your going to smoke him. Tarquin didn't offer Nale a reprieve because he thought his son could still be useful. He didn't because Nale was his son.

[thereaper]

I would say he went to a deconstruction of the "affably evil" archetype.

We are shown, in very clear terms, that there is nothing cool, nice, or indeed "affable" about Tarquin. He is no better than Xykon. He may be less chaotic, but he is even more self-absorbed. Everyone is his plaything. He has exactly the same goal as Xykon: Power over others. While Xykon is brute force, he manipulates everyone to either play his game, or not play at all.

When Nale stopped being his plaything, he just killed him. Tarquin never cared about Nale as a person, as his son. He only cared about Nale as his Legacy, a piece of his plans.


I'm not sure I would go that far.

I would argue that in Tarquin's mind, being his plaything and being someone he cares about are not mutually exclusive. He loves his sons, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to control them. But Nale didn't just reject being a plaything, he (like Durkon with Malack) rejected having anything to do with Tarquin.

And so, when Nale severed ties with Tarquin, he did likewise.

And we know how Tarquin treats people he doesn't care about. He is evil, after all.

Edit: Moreover, we have Tarquin talking about how Malack was his friend and offering to help smooth things over with the rest of his party for Nale. But Nale said he wanted nothing from Tarquin, including pity or mercy.

What Nale failed to realize is that those were the only two things keeping him alive.

[The Pilgrim]

"Tarquin doesn't care about Malack!", they said! "Tarquin doesn't really have feelings!", they said!

Well, one of the things that last strip proves about Tarquin, is that he doesn't care for Malack, indeed.

Even after Nale killed him, he is still willing to make Nale part of his group, if only the brat had licked his boot.

[Reaver225]

When Nale stopped being his plaything, he just killed him. Tarquin never cared about Nale as a person, as his son. He only cared about Nale as his Legacy, a piece of his plans.In Tarquin's defense, Nale asked to be treated like everyone else. This wasn't "You've defied me, so DIE!".

If Tarquin only saw Nale as a plaything, Nale would have been dead and buried long ago when he first turned on his father. Nale scheming should have been put down long ago, and it was only because of Tarquin's belief that Nale would come around eventually - either to his point of view, or even being competent that kept him alive.

He's still an evil bastard, but what do you think Tarquin should have done, on having his most trusted ally killed, and no sign of reconciliation or even an escape plan? A good person would have not been judged for striking him down at that point, either. (Ok, they would, but.. eh)


Look at it like this; if Nale had killed Haley, and gloated in front of Elan about it, and then Elan had stabbed Nale to death... would you say that there is nothing silly, amusing, or indeed "loveable" about Elan?

EDIT:

Even after Nale killed him, he is still willing to make Nale part of his group, if only the brat had licked his boot.Forgiveness is now an evil trait?

[Chantelune]

He's a pragmatic one, that's for sure. He lost a friend and a valuable asset, so he's trying to somehow get a profit out of it. Which mean trying not to loose Nale as well, so he can at least try to fill the hole left by Malack. Especially since its his son we're talking about.

Doesn't mean he didn't care for Malack at all, but Tarquin's always been "business first". Nale didn't reach for that last straw, so Tarquin was at liberty to both get rid of a loose canon and avenge Malack.

Still, I see it as a defeat from Tarquin point of view has he gained nothing out of this whole expedition and lost much.

[thereaper]

Well, one of the things that last strip proves about Tarquin, is that he doesn't care for Malack, indeed.

Even after Nale killed him, he is still willing to make Nale part of his group, if only the brat had licked his boot.

Not at all. It simply proves something we already knew about Tarquin and his team:

Business comes first.

It even helps put their evil into context. Their scheme to control the continent takes precedence even over their love for their friends and family. If there is a way to make the two work together, wonderful. But if one is forced to choose between one or the other (as Nale forced Tarquin to do)?

Business. comes. first.

[Synesthesy]

I don't think that Tarquin didn't care about Nale, or Malack.

I see Tarquin as an italian mafia boss. He cares about family most of everything in the world. And he also cares about friends. Then, he cares about business over anything. He truly loves his family and his friends, but he's evil and he acts as an evil person.

He can care more business then friends, for a little time. But not forever.
He cares about his family. He loves Nale. He loves Elan. He loved Malack too.

And his enemy? There are no enemy, there are only rivals in business. Everyone who can damage his plans must die. Everyone who don't? No care at all. There is no hate.

It's simply. However, there is a thing that can ruin all of this: betrayal. He loves Nale, but he hated when he betraied his trusth, like killing Malack's children. And then when the son killed the best friend? Betrayal shall not rest unpunished. There is family, there are business, there is Vendetta.

[Reaver225]

Not at all. It simply proves something we already knew about Tarquin and his team:

Business comes first.

It even helps put their evil into context. Their scheme to control the continent takes precedence even over their love for their friends and family. If there is a way to make the two work together, wonderful. But if one is forced to choose between one or the other (as Nale forced Tarquin to do)?

Business. comes. first.Actually, in that, he's a hypocrite.

If business came first, he would not have tried to "help" Nale the way he did. He'd have tortured the information from his son and disposed of him like the liability Nale is.

Nale just opened Tarquin's eyes that he's never, ever going to try to try doing anything different but be short-sightedly focused on his own plans.

[faustin]

I actually believe Tarquin did everything in his hand to prevent this outcome, even swallowing his pride and leaving Malack´s loss unpunished, but Nale simply kept pushing the limits to the bitter end.

[maxi]

Well, what did Nale really expect to happen there?
I don't think he was expecting anything. Expectations imply goals and thinking process. In this whole episode, Nale was not thinking and was just emotionally reacting.

[Clertar]

I couldn't help feeling that there was an element of mercy killing (as well as "he's my son, I get to kill him", of course). Maybe Tarquin knows that if he had just lifted his protection from Nale and let him go away, Nale'd have probably ended up getting a far worse dead.

[ghoul-n]

Can Sabine assist in bringing him back as some sort of fiend?

[BlackDragonKing]

For some reason, this whole incident makes me think of Belkar and his relations to the world with what ended up being Nale's downfall.

He wouldn't play the game.

This isn't fun and games for Tarquin's party; it's serious damn business, but nevertheless, they are playing an elaborate game of diplomacy, conquest, and subterfuge to absorb the continent without anyone thinking about what's going on. Tarquin's been playing a very long time, and he's gotten very good at adjusting the rules so the house always wins and he runs the house unopposed.

Nale didn't want to play the game, not even to cheat at it. Tarquin's saved him a seat, but Nale flips the table when he loses, declares the game is stupid, that he doesn't like the rules, and he never wanted to play the stupid game anyway and proceeds to sulk on the couch eating chips and offering bratty commentary to try and disrupt the game.

As Shojo said, when you go THAT far in refusing to play the game, the players kick you out of their house, usually with sharp pointy objects. Nale's fate just represents what would have happened to Belkar eventually if he hadn't realized there are limits to how far you can swim against the current before it washes you away and breaks every bone in your body.

[BRC]

I don't think he was expecting anything. Expectations imply goals and thinking process. In this whole episode, Nale was not thinking and was just emotionally reacting.

Consider, Nale's whole character has always been defined by his ego. His plans may be overly convoluted, but he had access to a team of highly capable people. He could have done all sorts of evil things, however he consistently focused his efforts on trying to bring down his brother.

The appearance of Tarquin kind of sheds new light on Nale's character. Tarquin was able to achieve great power with his schemes, Nale is both trying to emulate Tarquin, and prove himself.

Perhaps Nale's obsession with defeating Elan is about defying the ultimate narrative neccessity. Tarquin is confident that one day he, or maybe his heirs, will be overthrown by some do-gooder hero, because that's the way things go. The good guys always win, it's just that the Bad Guys can have one hell of a good time before they lose if they're smart about it.

Here we have Nale and Elan, the "Evil Twin and Good Twin", one of the most cliche and predictable narratives out there. Tarquin probably knew this, which means Nale probably knew this. When Good Twin faces Evil Twin, Good Twin wins. In this case Nale is intelligent and capable, while Elan is pretty dumb and, before he took Dashing Swordsman, not especially dangerous.

Nale's Ego says that there is no way he can lose this, and if he wins, he defies the narrative and therefore spits in his father's face. So he keeps forcing this confrontation again and again.

And of course he keeps losing. He could have won in Cliffport, kill Elan, destroy the body such that only a True Ressurection can bring him back, and who knows how long it will be before the Order can afford one of those. But he decided to take it a step further, and that was his downfall.

And here we go once again. Nale had the most powerful Linear Guild he had ever assembled, and once again he lost, only to learn that even his chance to spit in his father's face was part of some scheme by his father. '

Nale likes to think of himself as the Chessmaster. In Tarquin's game, he's maybe a Knight.

[Aedilred]

I wonder whether Elan actually has a higher Wisdom score than Nale. Nale's obviously got a lot of intelligence, but he frequently displays terrible judgment, impatience, etc.. Elan can be foolish, but he's also very aware of his own limitations. Even his brief foray into being a wizard was because he knew deep down that bards are a bit silly. Elan's actually shown the capability to learn, whereas Nale keeps intellectually revising his plans to be more superficially successful without fixing the underlying problems (his objectives are pointless, at best).

Further, while Nale has a sort of learned genre-savviness (likely from Tarquin's tuition), Elan's seems to be innate. Obviously, Tarquin's not known Elan all that long, whereas he's had a long time to get frustrated with Nale, but I think it's pretty obvious that, even taking into account their diametrically opposed alignments, he has more in common with Elan, and, really, Elan's the son he wanted. Nale has become something of a "spare".

Which isn't to say he didn't care about him; Tarquin cares about both his sons. In fact, for all those decrying his ruthlessness, he's shown a lot more care towards Nale than has, say, Roy towards Belkar of late. But he's also a pragmatist: he's got Nale's intelligence and Elan's genre-savvy, and sufficient power and selfishness to use those attributes to put himself in the driving seat. Everything he does seems to be geared towards keeping him and his at the top of whatever pile is currently going.

The Shojo-Belkar analogy is a good one. Tarquin is prepared to put a lot of effort into keeping as many balls in the air as possible. He'll happily include his friends and family in his schemes... but if one of them not only wants no part of his schemes (like Elan) but keeps incompetently screwing them up... they've got to go. It's kind of like Evil Utilitarianism.

The McTarquinson family is a pretty good deconstruction not only of various narrative tropes but of character definition by alignment in general, I think, much as Miko was.

[AstralFire]

I would say he went to a deconstruction of the "affably evil" archetype.

We are shown, in very clear terms, that there is nothing cool, nice, or indeed "affable" about Tarquin. He is no better than Xykon. He may be less chaotic, but he is even more self-absorbed. Everyone is his plaything. He has exactly the same goal as Xykon: Power over others. While Xykon is brute force, he manipulates everyone to either play his game, or not play at all.

When Nale stopped being his plaything, he just killed him. Tarquin never cared about Nale as a person, as his son. He only cared about Nale as his Legacy, a piece of his plans.

Affably Evil never stopped being Evil, and frankly, Tarquin's nicer to those close to him than most people with that epithet.

[Rajhiim]

I think we overthought it.

Tarquin was left with no other option. Once Nale declared he was done with dear old dad - Tarquin could no longer "protect his son" from his own sins. Once he tossed the mantle of "son" away, he was just a man who killed Tarquin's best friend... and we know how that plays.

You can look at Tarquin as Nale throws his fit - and see the sadness and then the finality.

How this impacts Tarquin and Elan will be more interesting.

[thereaper]

Actually, in that, he's a hypocrite.

If business came first, he would not have tried to "help" Nale the way he did. He'd have tortured the information from his son and disposed of him like the liability Nale is.

Nale just opened Tarquin's eyes that he's never, ever going to try to try doing anything different but be short-sightedly focused on his own plans.

That qualifies as "trying to combine two objectives". As long as Tarquin believed he could have family and the business, he covered for Nale. But the moment Nale made it clear that it was family or business (but not both), Tarquin chose business.

[Quorothorn]

:nale: Save your pity and your mercy, I have no use for it!

[AstralFire]

That qualifies as "trying to combine two objectives". As long as Tarquin believed he could have family and the business, he covered for Nale. But the moment Nale made it clear that it was family or business (but not both), Tarquin chose business.

No, Nale made it clear that as long as Tarquin tried to have family or both, he would get neither; Nale has made it his mission to topple his father, after all. By killing Malack, Nale established himself as enough of his own man to be a plausible threat to Tarquin, and he wants nothing to do with his father no matter what Tarquin does.

[cybishop]

Well, what did Nale really expect to happen there? Gloating to the most powerful man on the continent that you killed his best friend - in front of another of his friends and while surrounded by his army, well, that's pretty stupid. But then when that man offers you his protection and forgiveness and you turn him down? That's just suicide.

I think Nale thought his father would be shocked into mourning, or just silence. As he put it in this strip, "You don't even have the balls to go big anymore. You're just a scared old man protecting his rut." He's said similar things many times before. If he thought past the next five minutes at all, I would guess that he thought that he could bluff or bully his father and even Laurin into letting him join them, for now, and either escape or take over later.

Yes, sure, it's obvious to the reader that this is very stupid, but this is Nale we're talking about.

[Mike Havran]

I think Nale thought his father would be shocked into mourning, or just silence. As he put it in this strip, "You don't even have the balls to go big anymore. You're just a scared old man protecting his rut." He's said similar things many times before. If he thought past the next five minutes at all, I would guess that he thought that he could bluff or bully his father and even Laurin into letting him join them, for now, and either escape or take over later.

Yes, sure, it's obvious to the reader that this is very stupid, but this is Nale we're talking about.I don't believe Nale was thinking at all.

Just a moments ago, he was on top, the king of the hill. His most feared enemy has fallen to his onslaught and Nale only caught a burn in the face. His hated enemies were about to die at the hands of summoned creatures. If he managed to hire the new vampire, he would be, perhaps, finally strong enough to face his father and defeat him. That was all he ever dreamed about. He was living his dream.

Two rounds later? His most loyal teammate has been mercilessly killed, the vampire joined the enemy and Nale has to run to save his dear life, low on hit points, under the scorching sun, with nowhere to go, only to find his father already anticipated everything, brought support of an entire army. So much for the false hopes. And now he not only doesn't engage the Order, he offers them help and dismisses Nale's own plan. Everything Nale stood for is torn to shreds.

In the end, he wasn't capable of thinking, acting or speaking normally. He lost it, just like Miko did.

[Thousandface]

Nale got exactly what he asked for, so yes. And no, I don't mean that he got what he deserved (I'm not even going to try debating that), he got what he wanted. Tarquin has gone out on a very great limb to help adjust for his sons. Both sons. Elan is outright on the far end of the alignment spectrum from Tarquin, but Tarquin was still willing to make concessions to that end, even avoiding actively killing Elan (granted, there are many reasons for this, but love is definitly one of them). He's literally given his all to be a "good" father for Nale as well. His final exclamation before Nale's rant is a demand to ask what, exactly, Nale wants from him. Tarquin is willing to do anything for family, LE or not, even if Nale did do something stupid. He'd forgive him for even killing his closest friend. But then Nale asks him to be treated as his own man, not as Tarquin's son...

And as soon as he expressed that desire, Tarquin ceased treating Nale like a son, and as his own man. A man who had, incidentally, just killed Tarquin's dearest friend. Therefore, Tarquin responded precisely as he would to any unaffiliated individual who had done that: kill him.

Even at his last moment, Tarquin gave Nale what he wanted...even if fulfilling that desire meant killing him. Nale wanted to be treated like his own man. That's how Tarquin treated him. Unfortunately that involved a dagger to the chest. Ah well.

[Sir_Leorik]

Yea, Nale's error was being stupid enough to brag to Tarquin's face about it. but then again this is kind of important to show: it shows what happens when you completely defy Tarquin, when you don't play his game.

which is why you should never play his game in the first place. You play his game, he wins. thats why he kills anyone who doesn't play his game. his game might be reasonable- but its still his game, the chessboard he set up. because all the pieces are his, and your a fool to think that you can outplay him.

the only winning move, is to change the game.

Or to not play the game at all. :smallwink:

Nale was trying to show up his father by beating the old man at his own game. That's insanity; Tarquin is a master manipulator who's been honing his game for twenty years. And every time Nale tried and failed to show Tarquin up, Tarquin lost more and more respect for Nale. And this time, Nale didn't just try to mess up one of Tarquin's games of three card monte: he murdered Malack, the member of Tarquin's party that Tarquin considered his best friend. That was so shocking, that we see Laurin show emotion for the first time since she appeared in the flashbacks: she goes from shocked to horrified, to filled with rage. Congratulations Nale: you showed us that you can tick off even the most serene of minds. :smallannoyed:

The question now is what should Roy and Elan do to avoid playing Tarquin's game. Refusing his help is probably not an option; coming so soon after Nale's rant, Tarquin would probably be less than happy with that response, plus they could use Laurin's help catching up to Xykon. On the other hand, they almost certainly don't want another booby-trapped "gift" from Tarquin like the last one.

Here's a thought: maybe if Elan tells Tarquin that he's spoken to Roy and the others, and they would be willing to accept help from Elan's dad... but not from General Tarquin of the Empire of Blood. If he were anyone else, Elan would gladly take his help, but he's proven himself untrustworthy, and he's murdered his own son, Elan's twin! No, they'll wait for dusk, have Durkon regain his spells and cast a Restoration spell on Belkar, while Haley and Roy find Vaarsuvius, and then they'll cast Sending and let Lord Hinjo know about what happened. Once they've done that, Roy will politely ask the Empress of Blood's general, and Queen Shvitzer's Psion, to allow them permission to leave. The OotS would love to have a Psion send them off to fight Xykon, and get whatever other help Tarquin is prepared to offer... but the price for that help is just too high. And if that means Tarquin has to kill them (at this point Elan should kneel, to make it easy for Tarquin to kill him) then he should kill them. (At this point Belkar starts complaining audibly, only to be elbowed by Roy.)

I really don't think that Tarquin can bring himself to murder Elan, especially since Elan hasn't done anything to Tarquin. But we'll have to read the next strip to find out. Who knows, we'll probably cut to Sabine, V and Blackwing next strip.

EDIT: One more thought: one reason why Nale ended this way is that Sabine wasn't around to give him counsel. She was probably asking Qarr to warn Nale not to try murdering Malack, when Qarr hung up on her. And even if she couldn't have stopped that, she might have been able to keep him from antagonizing Tarquin.

Hopefully, Haley will be able to keep Elan's emotions in check; Tarquin may have murdered Elan's twin, but he has an army trained on Roy and Durkula, and he may not be able to beat Tarquin in melee combat. Right now Elan needs to use his ranks in Diplomacy, not his rapier, to get out of Tarquin's trap.

[SowZ]

Or to not play the game at all. :smallwink:

Nale was trying to show up his father by beating the old man at his own game. That's insanity; Tarquin is a master manipulator who's been honing his game for twenty years. And every time Nale tried and failed to show Tarquin up, Tarquin lost more and more respect for Nale. And this time, Nale didn't just try to mess up one of Tarquin's games of three card monte: he murdered Malack, the member of Tarquin's party that Tarquin considered his best friend. That was so shocking, that we see Laurin show emotion for the first time since she appeared in the flashbacks: she goes from shocked to horrified, to filled with rage. Congratulations Nale: you showed us that you can tick off even the most serene of minds. :smallannoyed:

The question now is what should Roy and Elan do to avoid playing Tarquin's game. Refusing his help is probably not an option; coming so soon after Nale's rant, Tarquin would probably be less than happy with that response, plus they could use Laurin's help catching up to Xykon. On the other hand, they almost certainly don't want another booby-trapped "gift" from Tarquin like the last one.

Here's a thought: maybe if Elan tells Tarquin that he's spoken to Roy and the others, and they would be willing to accept help from Elan's dad... but not from General Tarquin of the Empire of Blood. If he were anyone else, Elan would gladly take his help, but he's proven himself untrustworthy, and he's murdered his own son, Elan's twin! No, they'll wait for dusk, have Durkon regain his spells and cast a Restoration spell on Belkar, while Haley and Roy find Vaarsuvius, and then they'll cast Sending and let Lord Hinjo know about what happened. Once they've done that, Roy will politely ask the Empress of Blood's general, and Queen Shvitzer's Psion, to allow them permission to leave. The OotS would love to have a Psion send them off to fight Xykon, and get whatever other help Tarquin is prepared to offer... but the price for that help is just too high. And if that means Tarquin has to kill them (at this point Elan should kneel, to make it easy for Tarquin to kill him) then he should kill them. (At this point Belkar starts complaining audibly, only to be elbowed by Roy.)

I really don't think that Tarquin can bring himself to murder Elan, especially since Elan hasn't done anything to Tarquin. But we'll have to read the next strip to find out. Who knows, we'll probably cut to Sabine, V and Blackwing next strip.

I don't see that happening. Roy recently accepted the fact that no one else is going to stop Xykon. They can't die because they must stop Team E. Also, Roy is willing to accept help from a Vampire who practically admitted to being evil. Why wouldn't he accept help from Tarquin? Every minute they delay is an increased chance the OOTS will lose.

[Sir_Leorik]

I don't see that happening. Roy recently accepted the fact that no one else is going to stop Xykon. They can't die because they must stop Team E. Also, Roy is willing to accept help from a Vampire who practically admitted to being evil. Why wouldn't he accept help from Tarquin? Every minute they delay is an increased chance the OOTS will lose.

Because a gift from Tarquin is a killed albatross to hang around Elan's neck. Tarquin's last gift (the flying carpet) had a tracking rune, and then Tarquin and Malack joined the Linear Guild and followed the OotS. This isn't like Shojo playing tricks to keep the Sapphire Guard unaware of his actions, but acting with pure intent; Tarquin may want them to beat Xykon, but his motives for doing so are not pure, and he may spring several conditions on them as well.

Tarquin specifically tells Nale that he's trying to get Elan to acknowledge Tarquin's authority, before Nale blurts out his "surprise". The Order can't afford to accept Tarquin's help. They also can't afford to reject Tarquin's help. The only solution is not to play the game.

[Mike Havran]

Because a gift from Tarquin is a killed albatross to hang around Elan's neck. Tarquin's last gift (the flying carpet) had a tracking rune, and then Tarquin and Malack joined the Linear Guild and followed the OotS. This isn't like Shojo playing tricks to keep the Sapphire Guard unaware of his actions, but acting with pure intent; Tarquin may want them to beat Xykon, but his motives for doing so are not pure, and he may spring several conditions on them as well.

Tarquin specifically tells Nale that he's trying to get Elan to acknowledge Tarquin's authority, before Nale blurts out his "surprise". The Order can't afford to accept Tarquin's help. They also can't afford to reject Tarquin's help. The only solution is not to play the game.But they don't really know that the carpet had bugs.

For all they know, Tarquin helped them to reunite and reach Windy Canyon fast. Anything else is just a random chill down the spine, I swear :smalltongue:

[SowZ]

Unfortunately, even if accepting Tarquin's help paints a target on all of them, they are in no position to reject it. Saving the whole world is more important than any danger to any of the Order. Besides, if Tarquin is dead set on manipulating Elan, accepting a teleport spell isn't going to change that.

[FlawedParadigm]

Well, it's not like Nale could have held up a larger "PLEASE KILL ME" sign. "I killed your best friend with no compunction or regret based on a paranoid observation, and furthermore I am pretty much disowning myself from you as a son and want nothing from you ev---oh, hey, I thought my intestines were supposed to be on the inside of me."