Episode 78: Judgement Day
Takes place 25-26 December 2011.
Short version
Paul discovers that the plot to kill him was led by one of the four Angel Kings, who has decided to eliminate free will, and has made an alliance with the demon lord Neron to take over the Silver City; the king is cast down, Neron is killed and Mammon empowered in his place, and all those killed in the campaign against Paul are resurrected.
Longer version
After dying, Paul finds himself in a Fluffy Cloud Heaven, where a voice claims to be the Mind of God. It tells him that his use of the Pomegranate of Good and Evil had horrifying side effects, and that it had him killed and brought there in order to contain the situation. Paul is taken aback, realising that he really doesn't know the full arcane significance of the fruit or his use of it.
The voice invites him to repent and accept judgement, which he is inclined to do, but first he tests it by inviting it to speak his full name. When it cannot, Paul attempts to do so himself, which briefly knocks out anyone connected to his mind, and the world around him vanishes, revealing the voice to be the villainous Boss Smiley. Smiley states that he wants to limit human advancement to reduce the risk of catastrophe, and offers to resurrect Paul in exchange for control over his work. Paul refuses, and Smiley leaves him to think about it.
Paul then notices that his access to the orange light is restricted. Through focusing his avarice, he burns out another layer of illusion and escapes into the Silver City as an orange snake spirit. There, he hijacks another angel to help him investigate the "virtualisation vessels" like the one he was in, finding that some of them have Boss Smiley's mark on them.
To Paul's surprise, Scott Free meets him there, having tracked the Archangel's power to the vessels, which are apparently drawing on the power of human miracle-workers. Scott is able to combine his Freedom divine domain with the Spear of Destiny's universal human connection to break the link. They then head outside, where the forces of Hell are assaulting the Silver City, offended at the earlier intrusion and intending to capitalise on the losses that the Host suffered.
Rather than immediately join the battle, Paul brings an angel engineer to one of the kings of heaven to have the angel's memory restored, learning that the Smiley runes were added at the instruction of another king, Asmodel. The treachery is further revealed when the Archangel of War switches sides and attacks the other angels. Paul strikes a deal to have Mammon (posing as Satanus) recognised as Hell's ruler, and all angelic interference in Hell ended, in exchange for Mammon's help in defeating Asmodel and defending the city. He also negotiates the removal of the golden cage, upon which he is reinforced by several Orange Lantern Corps members and his connection with the Ophidian.
Mammon takes the deal and attacks Neron, Asmodel's primary ally, while Paul and the Lanterns attack Asmodel himself. Zauriel also confronts Asmodel, who easily kills him — but this is the trigger for Zauriel to respawn, no longer fallen. He and a group of theurgists declare that Asmodel has fallen, and Asmodel disappears in golden light.
Paul then gets the Kings' agreement to resurrect everyone killed in their attack, and to consider offering the Fruit of Knowledge to all angels. The episode ends with him being resurrected — in Hell, where he died, and without his rings.
The title refers to Paul being judged, but also king Asmodel.
- All According to Plan: Asmodel literally crushes Zauriel, which results in Zauriel respawning, no longer fallen.
- Alternate Universe: We get to see Common Sense Paul, a version of Paul who has a lot more common sense than most of the other versions. For starters, he admits his real age right after meeting the other members of the Team. This leads to him getting immediate training with Hal Jordan.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Hal decides to get CS Paul motivated enough to fight back by attacking him seriously. We don't see what happens, but at the very least Hal gets a cast that CS Paul can't motivate himself to heal.
- Big Bad: Boss Smiley is apparently the driving force that stops Earth from properly developing all the amazing technologies produced by mad scientists.
- Came Back Strong: By dying for God, Zauriel's fall is revoked, and he respawns at full power.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Paul is quite unhappy about being resurrected in Hell, without his rings.
- Constructive Criticism: Paul responds to a feedback form about his "virtualisation vessel" experience. He has mixed feelings about what he learned there, although his feelings about locking souls in pods until they reform are pretty clear.
- Deader than Dead: Mammon informs Paul that the damned souls destroyed by Karrien Excalibris are completely gone, beyond recovery.
- Deal with the Devil: Downplayed. The Kings of Heaven made a deal with a literal demon, but one whom Paul had altered, and it was a pretty good payoff for Mammon. He probably isn't going to backstab them.
- Evil Overlord List:
- Lampshaded after Paul's spirit form turns out to be a snake.Paul: I can slither. And I have to bite people to brand them. Turns out that turning into a giant snake in itself doesn't help.
- Subverted, though, after he reconnects with the Ophidian, greatly powering up his snake form and enabling him to directly manipulate the orange light without needing a ring.
- Lampshaded after Paul's spirit form turns out to be a snake.
- Failed a Spot Check: Despite Paul's description of what happened, Rrall doesn't pick up on the fact that the virtualisation vessel was actually subverted by Boss Smiley.
- Godzilla Threshold: Paul unlocks the case where he sealed the Spear of Destiny, so they can use it to free Boss Smiley's imprisoned theurgists.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Paul's use of the Pomegranate of Knowledge of Good and Evil could possibly have resulted in a breakdown of the divide between reality and dreams all over the Earth, turning the whole planet into a living nightmare, if he hadn't been killed. On the other hand, the person who told him that turned out to be Boss Smiley, so, maybe not.
- Power-Up: The angels' golden cage blocks planar travel, which separates Paul's soul from the Ophidian. Once it comes down, his spirit's snake form becomes larger, brighter, and gains more orange light abilities, including Flight, communication with the Corps, and spatial warping. It's not on the level of a full merger with the Ophidian, but it makes him much more combat-capable.
- Snakes Are Sinister: Played with. Paul certainly doesn't think of himself as evil, but he did go around the Silver City in snake form biting angels to infect them with orange light and make them obey him. After giving the original Forbidden Fruit to a woman in order to give her greater knowledge and power, then allying with Hell to avoid capture and execution. Hmm...
- This Isn't Heaven: Well, the simulation that Paul first lands in isn't the real heaven. Except it actually is being run by the angels, who are trying a new approach to encouraging repentance.
- Understatement: Paul discusses his distrust of angels with the one he suborned.Paul: I really shouldn't be surprised that you're a nicer person than me, but earlier today an angel sliced me into pieces and set the pieces on fire. It formed a fairly negative impression.
Rrall: That was extremely unlikely to aid in your rehabilitation.
