Order of the Stick: Tarquin Fall (or, The Best Ending)

[Lys]

It seems that the Elan's family arc of the comic has finally and definitively come to an end.

I liked Tarquin, I really did, but I also like watching people self-destruct, and Tarquin's complete breakdown was magnificent and satisfying. I wasn't expecting to enjoy Elan's plot to defeat his father without doing what he wanted, but Rich Burlew managed to surprise me. In the end, Tarquin's own arrogance and need to be in control were his undoing more than anything Elan or his group did. It was pretty much perfect, and with this conclusion I can safely say that this is my favourite arc of the entire comic, and Tarquin my favourite villain. I'm quite happy if this is the last we ever see of him, in the middle of the desert and so thoroughly destroyed that he's reduced to impotently yelling that it's a terrible ending when it's, in fact, the best ending.



Also from /tg/:

"Wouldn't it be funny if he just stopped OotS right there?"
"My God, it would be the greatest dadaist author ploy of the 21st century."
"Agreed. It would not only immediately redeem OoTS for me, but make it the best work of art produced in the 21st century so far."

[General Havoc]

That was pretty epic, although I would be stunned if this was the last we ever saw of Tarquin.

[LadyTevar]

Over at SDnet, they think the last we see of Tarquin should be RedCloak paralyzing him, stabbing him, and walking past without more than a "Damn random encounter chart"

[frigidmagi]

I'm pretty happy to leave Tarquin right there. We do have the main story to get back to anymore.

Also Elan's comment? That told me barrels about the man (he ain't a boy anymore, sad to say, he'll never be a boy again) he could forgive the brother he never knew he had for trying to kill him, but he couldn't forgive his father for killing his brother. It's also interesting how Elan has grown and changed, from recogizing how what he wants (his family to get back together) could never happen, to refusing to be used by his father and how much he hasn't in mourning the brother who only wanted to violently murder him.

[LadyTevar]

It may have been a long-ass arc, but it did have a LOT of character growth for I think everyone but Roy.

Belkar becomes more of a team player, and his animal empathy improves.
V discovers the depths of the damage the Soul Splice caused, and is paying for it.
Haley found her dad... and it was not the reunion we'd expected. At least she can keep the gold for herself now.
Durkan got Vamped, thus fulfilling the prophesy that he'd return home post-humously.
And Elan got the most growth of all. Over the course of the arc, Elan showed he could think on his feet in battle, make good use of his magic, and craft backup plans that actually work.

[frigidmagi]

Roy got all his character growth in earlier, so everyone else needed to catch up and they certainly did that. I found the whole bit with Haley's father to be heartbreaking myself. Of course there are still secrets floating around in her backstory.

[Lys]

And Elan got the most growth of all. Over the course of the arc, Elan showed he could think on his feet in battle, make good use of his magic, and craft backup plans that actually work.

Somewhere along the line Elan stopped being a clueless ditz and became a seasoned adventurer. There's no specific event you can point to as the moment when this happened, because it's been happening slowly and since long before this arc, but it's now that we can see it in full bloom. Elan is still Elan, he retains all his essential character traits, I fully expect him to still be a bit goofy, but he's an Elan who has grown up. Tarquin, didn't see it though, and he never was going to because for all his impressive competence and genre savvyness, when it came to his sons he just couldn't get past the superficial details. He never really saw either of them for the people they were and could be, which coupled with his control freak tendencies explains why Nale was such a psychopathic, maladjusted fuck-up.

The ironic thing here is that Tarquin was going to get everything he wanted right up until the moment he decided to force Elan's character growth over a couple of unimportant details. Neither Elan's performance in the pyramid fight nor Roy being his team leader are at all relevant to the story Tarquin is trying to tell. That story ends in a climatic duel between him and Elan, and there are plenty of ways to make that happen without forcing Elan to replace Roy. We know Elan is actually a fairly competent duelist, as does Tarquin thanks to their duel on the roof of the palace, so he doesn't have to worry about his son's skill either. Elan even told his father that once they dealt with Xykon they were going to take him down hard.

All this time Elan has been growing into a real hero, but Tarquin's own flaws blinded him to it. He didn't see it, and he still didn't see even as he stood injured and defeated on the desert sands, shouting impotently at people who can't hear him and don't care to.

[Hotfoot]

The glory of it that Tarquin can't see is that Elan did precisely what he wanted him to. He defeated his father in one on one combat, he destroyed Tarquin's Empire, it just hasn't set in just yet.

See, as genre-savvy and trope-educated as Tarquin is, Elan is just as well versed, if not more so because he's a Bard. He shares his father's sense of fourth-wall breaking "story elements", and ultimately, Elan beat him there handily, the knockout blow being "And you're not the real villain." "Don't worry, you'll live" is adding insult to injury because now Tarquin is going to be driven mad by his defeat. While he rigidly adheres to literary rules (Lawful Evil to the end, even in this), Elan forges his own story, telling it his way, defying conventions when needed to tell the tale his way.

Even if it wasn't intended in such a fashion, it's a nice bit of subtext worked into the whole story.

As for Tarquin, it's clear he's let this affect him more than it should have, and the connections holding his empire together are beginning to fragment even now. He's moved from the major power player in his group to now owing favors. His actions have cost them dearly and have resulted in a large mess and expenditure of resources for no net positive gain. His failure here will likely have further consequences down the road for him, driving him to further desperation. I doubt we've seen the last of him, but I suspect when next we see him, he'll have lost quite a bit, either in his power base or his sanity.

[frigidmagi]

All I'm quaified to talk about.

I thought this conservation was handled real well and Roy did well grappling with a really hard subject. I mean, how do you wrap your head around what V did? Who do you go to for this? On the practical side, is now really the time to hash this out?

Edit -And Holy Christ I am stupid. This conservation just whapped with what I should have already guessed. Why isn't Roy a wizard? Why does he act the way he does? Why does he keep throwing himself up front and taking charge? For most of it I was looking at his Dad, but I was looking at the wrong member of his family.

[Lys]

Eh, it's pretty subtle. I wouldn't have realized it myself if you hadn't pointed it out. As for what V did, I think Roy handled it about as well as could be expected, really.

I think the last few comics mean we are most definitely not done with Tarquin. He's probably headed for a pretty ignominous end. Also, lots of good humour these last few comics, they've been fun. I love the one where Belkar and Roy talk about Durkon, the punchline was the best the comic has had in a long while. Also it's always fun to watch Elan and Scoundrel sticking with dramatic conventions while also turning them on their head a little, they're great for that.

[Lys]

So, this is the last page until April and *gasp* Plot Twist!