Remember that Tarquin doesn't realise Elan isn't the leader of TOotS

[Antacid]

...And that's what will enrage him enough that the party have no option but to jump through the rift.

We're near the end of book 4. The rift is right there. It won't make sense for the book to end with the party meekly accepting the Tarquin's "help", that's not dramatic enough. Tarquin is pressuring Elan by making it clear that not accepting the help will mean Haley's father being hunted, but ultimately Elan isn't the one who gets to make the decision about what the party does, it's Roy.

So that's what will happen. Elan and Halley will both defer to Roy. Tarquin will realize that his son is not the leader of a band of adventurers: he's the ditzy comic relief. He's totally genre-savvy, but he's misread one element of the story he's in and it relates directly to him.

Think of how completely that will hurt his ego and sense of his own infallibility. The obvious solution is to kill Roy at the very least, and that's would inevitably lead to things going south and the order having to escape through the rift.

[Tryfan]

He already knows:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0911.html

Asking Mr Greenhilt to send Elan up means that Nale has told him.

[Sunken Valley]

Knowing Elan isn't the tactical leader who makes all the clever decisions isn't the same as knowing he isn't the protagonist. Sometimes the ditzy heart of the team is the protagonist (although in this case, all 6 of The Order are the protagonist, even if the humans get more screen time and backstory).

What Tarquin doesn't know is that he's not the main villain. He thinks Xykon is just some minor villain who will be defeated, allowing Tarquin to assume big bad duties. It was the same mistake he made in Haleo and Juelan, where he believed the story was about the feuding families. And it is why he will be out of the picture by book 5/book 6

[F.Harr]

Piglet was the protagonist of HIS books.

[Roland Itiative]

He already knows:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0911.html

Asking Mr Greenhilt to send Elan up means that Nale has told him.

That's not even the first time he acknowledges Roy as the leader of the Order. He's been making comments about Roy's leadership before. One of which, but not the first, can be seen here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0863.html).

[Morquard]

Don't make the mistake of taking everything that Tarquin says IC as 100% truth with word-of-god status. It's not. Tarquin lies and twists words.

Just because he says he does X because of Y, does not mean that's true. Or that there is not an additional Z involved.

[Verditude]

Well, near-prophetic, I suppose. Although it remains to be seen whether the Order (at least Roy, Durkon, and Belkar) goes through the rift after all. I don't see another way out of this for them.

Edit: other than V possibly returning. S/He might be able to help.

[Hogwarts9876]

Wow, good guess!

[B. Dandelion]

*clap clap clap*

Very impressive!

[Arrowstorm122]

Knowing Elan isn't the tactical leader who makes all the clever decisions isn't the same as knowing he isn't the protagonist. Sometimes the ditzy heart of the team is the protagonist (although in this case, all 6 of The Order are the protagonist, even if the humans get more screen time and backstory).

What Tarquin doesn't know is that he's not the main villain. He thinks Xykon is just some minor villain who will be defeated, allowing Tarquin to assume big bad duties. It was the same mistake he made in Haleo and Juelan, where he believed the story was about the feuding families. And it is why he will be out of the picture by book 5/book 6

I doubt that. Tarquin is an awesome character, and THIS is Book 5. I doubt he will die within the next few comics.

[Obscure Blade]

So that's what will happen. Elan and Halley will both defer to Roy. Tarquin will realize that his son is not the leader of a band of adventurers: he's the ditzy comic relief. He's totally genre-savvy, but he's misread one element of the story he's in and it relates directly to him.

Think of how completely that will hurt his ego and sense of his own infallibility. The obvious solution is to kill Roy at the very least, and that's would inevitably lead to things going south and the order having to escape through the rift.Looks like you were close, except instead of "rage", it's more like "denial of the possibility" that Elan isn't and never was the leader.

[Sunken Valley]

I doubt that. Tarquin is an awesome character, and THIS is Book 5. I doubt he will die within the next few comics.

Maybe not. But he'll be dead by 1000

[Antacid]

Mandatory "I called it" post. (well more or less)

[ben-zayb]

Props for guessing correctly! Now let's see if you're "prophecy" will be finally, completely fulfilled on the following strip(s). :smallwink:

[littlebum2002]

You should have bet on this! You could have gotten good odds from the demon roaches I'll bet.

[SavageWombat]

More like "if Elan isn't the leader, well, he should be, so I'll fix that."