The Order of the Stick

It doesn't. Fucking. Matter.

All that matters is doing what's best for the people living under his cruel and tyrannical rule, and frankly, it's not even clear cut that living under his cruel and tyrannical rule isn't what's best for them out of the possible alternatives.

This is why I made that joke a week or so ago that the perfect way to kill Tarquin would be off screen after the end of the story, reference it happening once in the epilogue, and immediately cut off the line of inquiry with a rules joke. Not because it deny Tarquin is legacy in-story, but because it would do so for the audience.

And a lot of people have pointed out why it does matter, from both intra- and extra-narrative positions. You not caring is not the same as it not mattering.

In the immediate sense of Tarquin's involvement in the Snarl Gates fiasco, I really don't see how the manner of Tarquin's downfall is all that important.

Whether his defeat should be appropriately contradictory to his Dangerously Genre-Savvy expectations of becoming a legend is another matter altogether, isn't it?

And you caring is no the same as it mattering.

Funny story, I don't actually care. Tarquin can vanish into the Claremont Zone of unaddressed plot points next page and I won't blink.

I'd be just as annoyed by someone declaring Tarquin's comeuppance as being vital and absolutely required.

edited 4th Sep '13 11:02:34 PM by Daremo

None of it matters, it's just a story.

Well within the narrative, how can the story end? Simple disintegration of Redcloak won't really resolve anything and the Stickies simply do not have the firepower to do so anyway.

So the only worthwhile ending of the story is that the OOTS pool their collective Wisdom point and talk the MITD into becoming the guardian of the final gate. This not only stops the current team evil, but anybody else who might try the same thing. I suppose that D the Dark Dwarf will remain to keep MITD and his new monster pals company for all time.

This is followed by an implied pivot against T.

What Eagal said. Just because it doesn't matter (on which point, see ) doesn't mean it isn't fun to speculate about. It shouldn't take priority over saving the world, obviously, but all else being equal it would be nice to see the smug smile wiped off of Tarquin's immortal soul.

And yeah, Just Deserts seems like a good shout. The dragon is there, she's always been nothing but comic relief, she's completely off Tarquin's radar as a player, and how many times have we seen him telling her it's not dinner time?

edited 5th Sep '13 1:43:34 AM by johnnye

New Page!

Astounding how long Belkar continues to live. Despite all our predictions.

Makes me think of that line from Les Miserables, that Inspector Javert embodies "All the evil of good." This strip shows that Tarquin really embodies "All the evil of Genre Savvy."

edited 5th Sep '13 11:47:53 AM by vifetoile

Well, now that TV Tropes is no longer borked beyond belief, here's the new page me getting ninja'd.

edited 5th Sep '13 11:46:52 AM by TotemicHero

FINALLY, a good show of Roy's strategic thinking. Oh, he's had plans before, and they've even worked, but coming up with a way for three people and a devil to survive against an entire army? That's pretty awesome.

I'm slightly surprised how willing Roy is to keep Belkar alive.

Hey, he needs all the help he can get. He said it himself—Belkar's being useful creating concealment. They can use that.

Belkar will die the exact moment we least expect him to.

But the time I least expect him to die is after the year's end. Which is to say, I very much expect him to die as according to the prophecy.

It's actually kinda hilarious how Wrong Genre Savvy Tarquin has turned out to be on account of his narcissism. He can't accept that he's a bit player in the story - he's got it in his head that he's the final boss of his own little narrative, and Elan is the hero destined to defeat him.

"Sabine swoops in and kills him" is looking more and more like how this is going to go down. What exactly is the restriction on her being banished, again? I coulda sworn it was 24 hours, but whatever the case, if it's simply a rule and not an ironclad law of the cosmos, she's gonna break it like that HDTV. XD

It is indeed an ironclad rule of the cosmos.

However, a certain elven wizard has only a few more minutes (at most) before he/she gets to come back...

edited 5th Sep '13 7:46:16 PM by TotemicHero

Sabine promises something to V if when she returns she kills Tarquin. That would work. She then replaces Belkar when he dies.

edited 5th Sep '13 7:48:09 PM by soban

Dramatic or no, Tarquin is sill a very high-level character in prime health. Doubtful that any gambit could dispose of him before his army got a round.

Well, that would depend on whether they noticed. They might be a wee bit distracted by the fight in the crater. (The same can't be said of his two main allies, of course.)

I doubt Sabine will kill him.

After all, Tarquin just murdered his own son.

I'd wager that, in a few hundred strips, Tarquin is going to wish Sabine had drug him through all Nine Hells. There's a certain Chaotic Good female out there with some attachment to Nale and Elan. Who is probably going to tear Tarquin to shreds.

A barmaid, to be precise.

Tarquin mispronounced Xykon's name. He's screwed.

Huh. I didn't notice that.

Xykon is, in fact, the sort of character that would come back and wreck shit just because of that slight. He's petty, spiteful, and kind of a dick.

At the risk of bringing this up again, I do feel compelled to point out that I can do absolutely nothing for the people living under Tarquin's tyrannical rule and thus have no problems speculating on ways for Tarquin to get his comeuppance.

Eyup. He's just sliding farther and farther past the point of no return.

edited 5th Sep '13 8:07:52 PM by CorrTerek

Keep in mind that "destructive, unnecessary conflict" is a good description of what will happen if Tarquin and co. are removed from power (which would basically mean killing them at this stage).

Not that there's anyone out there interested in causing that, of course.