The Last Round (in French Le Dernier Round) is the nineteenth album of the comic book series XIII. It was published in 2007, together with the previous album, The Irish Version.
In Washington DC, the deputy director of the NSA, is murdered by Irina, the day before he was supposed to appear before a commission of inquiry. At the same time, two books, which reveals the truth about the Sheridan case are published.
The Last Round provides examples of:
- Bookends: The epilogue of this episode (which was supposed to be the last one) takes place in the house of Abe and Sally Smith, where the first episode of the series, The Day of the Black Sun, started.
- Buzzing the Deck: Jones (flying Armand's plane) buzzes the beach where Irina and Felicity are standing.
- Career Versus Man: In the epilogue, XIII is going to propose to Jones, but she interrupts him and tells that she does not want to sacrifice her career for a marriage.
- Contrived Coincidence: Irina and Don Rigoberto attack Charlies hotel at the same time.
- Did Not Get the Girl: In the epilogue (which was supposed to be the end of the series), Jones rejects XIII's proposal, because she does not want to sacrifice her career.
- Dirty Cop: Guttierez is a high-ranking police officer and also the advisor of a mafia boss.
- Electrified Bathtub: Irina murders Stanley Floyd by throwing his TV set in his bathtub.
- Evil Versus Evil: Irina's and Don Rigoberto's men arrive at Charlie's hotel at the same time. Irina thinks Don Rigoberto's men are policemen, so she orders to shoot at them. Many men of both factions are killed in the subsequent fight, so XIII and his friends are given a chance to survive.
- Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee: Jessica Martin, Carrington and Giordino appear before a commission of inquiry.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Jessica Martin was initially a villainess who worked for Giordino and Irina. In Release the Hounds, she became allied with XIII after he saved her life twice. In this episode, she meets Irina and decides to team up with her again to hunt down XIII. A bit later, Irina comes to believe that Jessica betrayed her, so she slaps her across the face. Finally, Jessica teams up with XIII again when he comes across her in the desert.
- He Knows Too Much:The president of the US orders Irina to murder Stanley Floyd, Frank Giordino and Jessica Martin, to prevent Floyd and Giordino from appearing before the commission of inquiry and to prevent Jessica from finding XIII and his friends.
- Impersonating an Officer: Don Rigoberto's men disguise themselves as Mexican policemen to attack Charlie's hotel.
- The Last Title: The Last Round was supposed to be the last episode of the series. It has become a Series Fauxnale since the resumption of the series by other authors.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Books very similar to The XIII Mystery: The Investigation and The Irish Version are published In-Universe. The publisher of one of these books is "Moebius", a pseudonym of Jean Giraud, the cartoonist of The Irish Version.
- President Evil: The president of the US orders Irina to murder Stanley Floyd, Frank Giordino and Jessica Martin, because they know too much.
- Rejected Marriage Proposal: In the epilogue, XIII is going to propose to Jones, but she interrupts him and tells that she does not want to sacrifice her career for a marriage.
- Series Fauxnale: This was supposed to be the last album of the series. All the main plot points are resolved (Irina and Giordino are killed, the truth about the Sheridan case comes out, XIII discovers his true identity). The original authors, Van Hamme and Vance, actually stopped the series after this episode, but it was un-canceled 4 years later by other authors.
- South of the Border: The Mexican police is corrupt. A high-ranking officer even advises a mafia boss.
- Tempting Fate: Irina tells Jessica that it will be really easy to kill XIII and his friends. Of course, she does not succeed (all her henchmen are killed in the operation).
- This Is Reality: The TV host asks Danny Finkelstein if his book is fiction or reality. Danny answers that this is not fiction.
- Wealthy Yacht Owner: Don Rigoberto owns a yacht and he uses it to attack Charlie's hotel.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Felicity survives the shipwreck. She is last seen on the beach near Charlie's hotel, but the episode does not tell what happened to her thereafter.
