End Game Thoughts

[DreadPirateDB]

I'm wondering now if the Mechane will be prevented from arriving in time.

There are plenty of threads that might be best resolved if it doesn't.

We know that what is behind the Rifts isn't what the Order has been told. Resolving this probably requires getting a gate to open and not destroying it.

Further, we know that there is high tension between Red Cloak and Xykon that needs to be resolved by the ritual being completed. Xykon will be betrayed by Red Cloak once that happens. And we know from Start of Darkness that if Xykon is betrayed--

Spoiler for Start of Darkness
The Monster In the Dark has orders from Xykon to eat Red Cloak and spit out the gold amulet he wears.

So we'll see the ritual completed, RC dispatched by his own team, and Xykon cheerfully dying thinking that he's got a painful version of Word of Recall to his astral plane fortress. It's too bad that he's actually in his phylactary just a few feet from his killer and his teammates who can identify it on sight.

I suppose we could get extra bonus points if V would cast a nuke sized explosive runes on the amulet so the first and last thing Xykon reads as he re-emerges is "Guess what I cast on your phylactary?"

[NerdyKris]

We do know meta-wise, that there are two books left following this current one. Rich said so. So we know they can't just pop over and wrap things up.

And a week is a long time to screw things up, especially with trips through both elven lands and Dwarven lands, where Durkon is prophesied to return to. I can almost guarantee they're going to get sidetracked. I simply do not see them heading straight to the next gate, either because of an unintended stop or a deliberate side trip to get information.

[Jay R]

The Mechane will arrive just in the nick of time, but that's not a well-defined moment. In the scenario you describe, if they arrive in time to break the phylactery, that's "just in time".

The only way to not arrive "just in time" is for the snarl to escape, or for the Dark One to convince the other gods to destroy this world and build a new one.

[DreadPirateDB]

The Mechane will arrive just in the nick of time, but that's not a well-defined moment. In the scenario you describe, if they arrive in time to break the phylactery, that's "just in time".

The only way to not arrive "just in time" is for the snarl to escape, or for the Dark One to convince the other gods to destroy this world and build a new one.

That thinking always make me wonder if the Dark One and the Snarl are actually one and the same. They both are predominantly purple after all. Conclusive Proof!

Also if there is some connection between Ben and Glory.

ETA: Come to think of it, that would explain why the Snarl hasn't been seen behind the gate, and why the Dark One is so interested in the Gates. Perhaps the Snarl didn't destroy the world in the rift after all and the Dark One wants to be able to portal the goblinoid races to the rift world, removing them from being cheap XP for this one.

[dps]

We do know meta-wise, that there are two books left following this current one. Rich said so. So we know they can't just pop over and wrap things up.

And a week is a long time to screw things up, especially with trips through both elven lands and Dwarven lands, where Durkon is prophesied to return to. I can almost guarantee they're going to get sidetracked. I simply do not see them heading straight to the next gate, either because of an unintended stop or a deliberate side trip to get information.

And a week in-comic might be skipped over in between two panels, or be a whole book's length of strips )for example, in the current arc, I think everything from strip 775 through 939 all happens in the same day). Depends on exactly what story telling the Giant wants to do.

[cheesecake]

We could start the next book with them standing outside the gate.

[Ridureyu]

We could start the next book with them standing outside the gate.

"Wow, we had quite a few adventures. I wonder if they'll be compiled in the next book."

"Elan, stop wearing that eyepatch again."

[WindStruck]

That thinking always make me wonder if the Dark One and the Snarl are actually one and the same. They both are predominantly purple after all. Conclusive Proof!

I was really thinking of this idea. Some sort of plot, like the dark one was really the avatar of the Snarl or simply a goblin infused with the snarl's energy and/or will. That could have also contributed to him rising to godhood when he died...