Shojo may have decided not to keep the living members of the Sapphire Guard inside the throne room and used them against the invading army. That might have tipped the balance in favor of the Azurites too, since in the actual battle they only managed to hit Xykon once or twice.

Quote Originally Posted by factotum View Post
Is there a reason to think otherwise? I don't think Redcloak had any plans in advance to found a new goblin state in the ruins of Azure City, he decided to do that once the city was taken. If he never takes the city the thought probably never occurs to him, and the Plan requires him to go after the Gates, not set up new goblin nations.
Yeah, but the Azurites owe him a village with thirty years of interests so he probably would have razed the city anyway. And I don't see why it wouldn't occur to him to create Gobbotopia in the same way it occured to him in the comic.