I'm inclined to think Belkar will actually die, and die in the very fundamental sense that the character is no longer active in the plot in any way, shape, or form. No resurrections, no undead walking the earth, no spirit presence, no soul trapped in a crystal, no cyborg body, etc. I think when the Oracle says he's gonna die, full stop, no breathing - it means he's dead dead, not "technically" dead. There are a million ways to revive a dead body/mind/soul in a fantasy world, but I think Belkar will be just dead.

And whoever mentioned their theory that Roy will be the one to kill Belkar - WOW, that is dark.

But it also actually makes a lot of sense. Roy more or less views himself as Belkar's jailer, and Belkar's death represents the lifting of that burden. He wardens Belkar around because he feels obligated as a Good-aligned hero and the leader of the party. The death of Belkar represents the technical fulfillment of his responsibility for Belkar.

But he feels no obligation to try to connect with Belkar, to provide guidance to him, and ultimately redeem him - in either his role as a Good hero or his role as Belkar's commander. The Deva decides to categorize his relationship with Belkar as "an attempt to redeem an evildoer", but Roy honestly doesn't make any efforts to that goal. His goal is to direct the situation towards the lesser of two evils, and how it all works out with Belkar afterwards isn't really his concern. It's an attitude which does crop up in Roy's personality every now and then - the "I don't really care, it's not my problem" approach - which is why I think the Deva was considering kicking him over to Neutral Good instead.

In any case, Roy looks forward to that point - when Belkar is no longer his concern. The death of Belkar marks kind of a positive milestone in his book.

Which would make the end result of Roy killing Belkar ... make a lot of sense. Belkar is setting himself up as an antagonist from Roy's perspective - continually attacking Roy's "best friend" (as Roy thinks of Durkula) can't be helping Belkar earn points in his favor. If a situation arose where it was Belkar vs. Durkula in a fight to the death, there is no question which side Roy would step in to assist. And then the question becomes how willing Roy would be to deliver the killing blow.

If Belkar discovers the real identity of Hel's Priest ... this just might end with Roy fulfilling the prophecy. In fact, knowledge of the prophecy (that Belkar would die soon) might even pre-dispose Roy to making that prophecy come true ("Y'know what - I don't even care at this point, Belkar, you're a dead man walking anyway"). Which means Durkula walking away hand-in-hand with his buddy Roy, who has no knowledge of what he's really done.

Which ... would be rather a fittingly ironic end for Belkar as well. A lifetime of evil deeds, but when he actually tries to do good, he reaps the reward of no one there to trust him and support him.

Yeesh ... This is getting Greek-levels of tragic here.