The Ironic Failings of the Gates

[ZarDaranth]

So, I just noticed the pattern of gates falling, and it just came to me; the "best way to defend" that each gate-holder had was breached almost ironically:

Lirian's Gate: An unnatural being defeated the power of nature (Xykon).

Dorukan's Gate: An epic spellcaster defeats the mighty epic spellcaster with mastery of a single spell (Xykon again).

Soon's Gate: A fallen paladin destroys an epic defense held together by honorable paladin spirits (Miko).

Girard's Gate: The power of family keeping up illusions is defeated by someone wanting to protect family at all costs (Familicide).

With each of the gates that had their defenses breached being done so almost ironically, how do you think that Kraagor's Gate's defenses are going to be broken?

[TheMac04]

The Monster in the Darkness. Kraagor's gate is defended by the most powerful monsters imaginable. The MitD IS the most powerful monster we've seen.

[Gift Jeraff]

No, the power of family was bested by a villain targeting their victim's family out of spite.

[TheMac04]

[scrubbed]

[sam79]

It would be more ironic for the defences of Kragor's Gate to be defeated by someone physically weak.

But I'm with theMac in thinking that the MitD has a big role to play there too.

[King of Nowhere]

So, I just noticed the pattern of gates falling, and it just came to me; the "best way to defend" that each gate-holder had was breached almost ironically:

Lirian's Gate: An unnatural being defeated the power of nature (Xykon). A natural force (fire) caused the destruction of the gate

Dorukan's Gate: An epic spellcaster defeats the mighty epic spellcaster with mastery of a single spell (Xykon again).

Soon's Gate: A fallen paladin destroys an epic defense held together by honorable paladin spirits (Miko).

Girard's Gate: The power of family keeping up illusions is defeated by someone wanting to protect family at all costs (Familicide).

With each of the gates that had their defenses breached being done so almost ironically, how do you think that Kraagor's Gate's defenses are going to be broken?

Fixed for you

[Sir_Leorik]

So, I just noticed the pattern of gates falling, and it just came to me; the "best way to defend" that each gate-holder had was breached almost ironically:

Lirian's Gate: An unnatural being defeated the power of nature (Xykon).

Dorukan's Gate: An epic spellcaster defeats the mighty epic spellcaster with mastery of a single spell (Xykon again).

Soon's Gate: A fallen paladin destroys an epic defense held together by honorable paladin spirits (Miko).

Girard's Gate: The power of family keeping up illusions is defeated by someone wanting to protect family at all costs (Familicide).

With each of the gates that had their defenses breached being done so almost ironically, how do you think that Kraagor's Gate's defenses are going to be broken?

You're partially correct. Each of the members of the Order of the Scribble had a different view of how best to guard the Gates, and were coming to blows over them (Kraagor's death wasn't helping). Serini's suggestion that they split up and each guard one Gate was the only thing keeping Dorukan and Girard from trying to kill Soon. But you're confusing the defeat of a Gate's guardian with the ironic cause of each Gate's destruction.

Spoiler

Show

Lirian guarded her glade with natural defenses: druidic magic, Werebears, dire wolves, Fey, Unicorns, Treants and the Guardian Virus. She assumed that even if a powerful spellcaster could kill her defenders, the Guardian Virus would strip them of their spellcasting abilities so she could imprison them. But she did not have any clerics assisting her in the defense of her Glade, nor did she consider the possibility that a lich or a vampire (or an Evil Outsider like a Devil or Demon) might threaten the Glade. As a result, once Xykon became a lich he killed her with ease.

But the destruction of Lirian's Gate was caused by a forest fire. Yes the fire as started by Redcloak's Flame Strike spell, but it could also have been caused by Alchemist's Fire or a torch.

Spoiler

Show

Once the Treants were set on fire they panicked and tried to flee, destroying the Gate.

Likewise Dorukan was killed by Xykon, a sorcerer whom he looked down upon.

That is ironic, but the destruction of Dorukan's Gate was because Elan pushed the self-destruct rune. The irony there is that Dorukan, a highly intelligent wizard, did not take into account the possibility of a simple minded adventurer destroying his dungeon and castle by pressing the rune. Dorukan took everything else into account: he warded the Gate with sigils, he researched Cloister to keep enemies from locating the Dungeon, scrying the location of the Gate and Teleporting into the Gate room, he crafted the Talisman and hired guardians to keep it and the outdated monsters safe and he worked together with powerful clerics and with Celestials. All of that couldn't keep Elan from blowing up his castle.

Soon died of natural causes, but he prepared to become a Ghost Martyr before he died and for all the rest of the Sapphire Guard to become Ghost Martyrs as well. He organized the Sapphire Guard around honor and duty, but he was undone by two betrayals: Lord Shojo's violation of Soon's Oath and Miko Miyazaki's betrayal of the Paladin Code. And those two betrayals resulted in Miko being stripped of her Paladin powers, imprisoned, escaping her cell during the battle for Azure City and deciding to destroy the Gate on her own initiative. Soon's trust in the honor of Paladins wasn't misplaced, he just needed to have a secondary system in place to make sure loose cannons like Miko weren't inducted into the Sapphire Guard and a series of checks and balances to make sure nobles like Lord Shojo were obeying Soon's Oath. Its tragic, but not really ironic.

In terms of Girard Draketooth, he was a paranoid nutjob who only trusted his family. He certainly didn't trust government authorities. While that made sense in the Western Continent, he applied it to all governments equally. Remember that Lirian was allied with the local Elven militias and Dorukan was on friendly terms with clerics and Celestials. Girard only trusted blood relatives, and proceeded to get more of them to guard his pyramid and the Gate. I doubt he could have foreseen an epic spell like Familicide, so I'm willing to cut him some slack there, but the Draketooths worked with no one they were not related to. Even Ian Starshine worked with other rogues and thieves; he may not have trusted them enough to tell them all his secrets, but he learned the hard way he needed someone to help him out. (See the scenes between Ian and Uncle Jeff and Roy in Tarquin's slave pens, where Ian recruits Roy because he can see how competent a Fighter Roy is and he needs help. Girard would have ignored Roy because he wasn't a Draketooth.)

What I think we are meant to take away from all of this (i.e. the author's point) is that the Order of the Scribble made a huge mistake in splitting up to guard the Gates separately. Imagine for a moment if Lirian's Glade had a band of Sapphire Guard Paladins stationed there to deal with undead, or if members of the Draketooth family were appointed special councilors to the court of Azure City for the sole purpose of keeping the Sapphire Guard apprised of treachery. What if Dorukan's response to Xykon showing up had been to call for the Draketooths and the Sapphire Guard to back him up? We can only imagine, because the petty rivalries within the group became bitter acrimony when Kraagor died fighting the Snarl and the group couldn't agree on how to guard the Gates together. Serini's compromise was the only way they could part amicably (or as close to amicably as possible) but that gave Redcloak and Xykon an opening to exploit, gave Elan an opportunity to be Elan, left Miko to her own devices and caused a vacuum when V cast Familicide. The lesson is plain, and I wonder if Roy and the OotS are going to avoid the Order of the Scribble's mistakes before its too late.

[Rakoa]

Sir Leorik. That was very well put.

[Sir_Leorik]

Sir Leorik. That was very well put.

Thanks!

There's definitely a certain amount of irony in how the Order of the Scribble were defeated and had their Gate destroyed, but the ultimate irony (and hopefully the lesson Roy will take away from them) is that they were stronger together than they were on their own. As upset as Roy may be over Durkon's death, he needs to stop lashing out at Elan, Haley and even Belkar, and he needs to avoid wallowing in self-pity. They have a job to do, and they need to do it together!

[nogall]

Very well put indeed, sir Leorik. And it also keeps with the very theme of the Snarl regarding fighting, hatred and the unmaking of the worlds - in this case, the "world" they had built as adventurers / friends or, to cautiously use the D&D metaphor, the world you build when playing with friends.

[Dr.Epic]

Dorukan's Gate: An epic spellcaster defeats the mighty epic spellcaster with mastery of a single spell (Xykon again).

No, it was destroyed by an idiot who pressed a self-destruct button.

Girard's Gate: The power of family keeping up illusions is defeated by someone wanting to protect family at all costs (Familicide).

Except it's still intact so we can't make any statements about it's destruction yet.

The Monster in the Darkness. Kraagor's gate is defended by the most powerful monsters imaginable. The MitD IS the most powerful monster we've seen.

So he's Mr. Popo?

[Sir_Leorik]

Very well put indeed, sir Leorik. And it also keeps with the very theme of the Snarl regarding fighting, hatred and the unmaking of the worlds - in this case, the "world" they had built as adventurers / friends or, to cautiously use the D&D metaphor, the world you build when playing with friends.

I've noticed a number of recurring themes in "OotS" over the years, some of them deliberately pointed out by Rich Burlew in commentary in the books, others from rereading the strips. These theme include family conflict (Roy vs. Eugene, Haley vs. Ian, Elan vs. Nale, Elan vs. Tarquin, V vs. Kyrie, Hinjo vs. Lord Shojo, etc.), prophecy and fate vs. free will (the Oracle's prophecies, the cleric of Odin's prophecy about Durkon, O-chul trying to convince the MitD to reject Team Evil), discrimination (the Goblins' role as XP fodder, Therkla's Half-Orc status), what it really means to play a paladin (Miko vs. O-Chul and Hinjo), and an exploration of what makes a good villain ("good" meaning well written, as opposed to of Good alignment).

As I said, I see the Order of the Scribble as a warning to Roy and the others: don't make the same mistakes they did. They were epic heroes, but they were not infallible. The mistakes they made cost them their friendships, and that led to the undoing of almost everything they worked for: Lirian's Glade was burnt to the ground, Dorukan's Dungeon is a smoking ruin, the Sapphire Guard is down to three living members, and the Draketooth family was murdered as they sat down to breakfast.

Spoiler

Show

The only consolation any of them have is that Lirian and Dorukan's souls get to spend eternity together in a gem. Soon Kim will never see his wife again because the Snarl unmade her and Girard will have no descendants able to seek vengeance on Varsuuvius. (He seems like the sort of guy who'd be interested in that.)

Maybe the time spent in Girard's phantasm will lead Roy to better appreciate his relationship to Elan and Haley and strengthen the party's bonds at what is otherwise surely their darkest hour.

[Sir_Leorik]

Except it's still intact so we can't make any statements about it's destruction yet.

Girard's Gate has been standing unguarded for weeks because V's casting of familicide killed every member of the Draketooth family. In his paranoia, Girard Draketooth did not recruit anyone not related to him by blood to help protect the Gate. So in an ironic twist, the very means he hoped to protect the Gate (a family of sorcerers related to him by blood) has left the Gate vulnerable.

[Shadowknight12]

and a series of checks and balances to make sure nobles like Lord Shojo were obeying Soon's Oath. Its tragic, but not really ironic.

It's ironic if you consider Soon's Oath to be a flaw (as I do), not a virtue, as it means he was undone by his own ideals, just like all the others. Lyrian trusted the power of nature, Dorukan trusted the power of arcane magic, Soon trusted the honour of a paladin and Girard trusted the power of family and misdirection. We also know Kraagor trusted might above all else, and that will be the gate's undoing, too.

The lesson we're to take away from all this, I think, is that hubris will be your undoing. If you think you know THE answer to keep the world safe, you are doomed to fail, because there is no one true solution that works for every case.

[theMycon]

You're right, but wildly overthinking it. They've all been *directly* defeated by their own security systems so far, no metaphors necessary.

Lirian's gate was broken by the treants she had set to guard it.

Spoiler

Show

They literally ripped it in half themselves.

Dorukan's gate had a "only good people can touch me" self-destruct mechanism installed. I'm not sure what the point of this was, other than to making sure the first chaotic good person to see the "do not touch" button destroyed it.

Soon's gate was guarded by an order of paladins and destroyed by a member of that very order.


Given that (And the screye-ball we say in the reported location of the gate), there must be at least one remaining member of Girard's family, surviving either by marriage or by death-ward. They'll break it rather than letting a lawful character take hold of it.

(On preview- Sir_Leorik else made these points, except in 7 full, well-reasoned paragraphs instead of 7 brief, flippant sentences.)

[BrotherMirtillo]

Hats off, Sir Leorik. I look away for ten minutes and you only go and differentiate between the humbling defeat of multiple Gates' keepers versus the self-destruction of multiple Gate security mechanisms.

Soon's trust in the honor of Paladins wasn't misplaced, he just needed to have a secondary system in place to make sure loose cannons like Miko weren't inducted into the Sapphire Guard and a series of checks and balances to make sure nobles like Lord Shojo were obeying Soon's Oath. Its tragic, but not really ironic.

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. That depends on what characteristics of Miko caught the eyes of the Guard. If they inducted her for certain qualities, and those turned out to be the same qualities that sent her falling, busting out, and taking out the Gate, then that's irony. If not, then it wasn't. I can't answer because I don't know what she was like before she became a paladin, and I won't draw on supposition for this.

I don't consider the deaths of Dorukan or Lirian to be ironic because I always figured irony implied an element of active self-defeat, and Xykon wasn't using their plans against them. He would have had a similar approach no matter what their plans had been. He crushed a proud wizard and a hippie chick with all the custom-tailored karma of an NPC redshirt -- fire, lightning, necromancy, wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Granted, his speeches to them were customized, but their defeats were not.

I could discuss their Gates, but honestly, it was a long time ago, and I got such a slim look at them that I don't feel right by reading into them too far. I'll chalk it up to black humor for wood to be destroyed by fire and a magical construct of epic intelligence to be destroyed by an (at the time) utter goofball of a bard.

I'm more interested in Girard's Gate, set in a place where I weep for the loss of being able to see it when it was up and running properly. His pyramid and Dorukan's dungeon could have gotten some seriously complex barriers, but it's too bad that they were all disabled when the Order got there. I agree with Sir Leorik about understanding that Girard couldn't have anticipated Familicide. I may not like or empathize with his insistence on family, but no one deserves that or should have to deal with that.

The phantasm is another matter. There was another thread about it (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=285051), and someone wondered if Girard's insistent value for family caused him to highlight family in his illusions. I think folks replied that family was just one topic among many, although it's certainly one of the more noticeable elements in the happy endings presented. The really ironic kicker was that Girard having setups for healing any family conflicts that might be present, but this very healing chafed Elan's senses of balance. The thread included the fact that Girard might not have guessed that a good person would have such abhorrently evil family that such enticing resolution would immediately ring false.

Tl;dr -- OotScribble = maybe self-defeating, but definitely not all-knowing. Various Gate battles = finding the weak points and hitting them with hammers. Audience =

[BrotherMirtillo]

Dorukan's gate had a "only good people can touch me" self-destruct mechanism installed. I'm not sure what the point of this was, other than to making sure the first chaotic good person to see the "do not touch" button destroyed it.

The point was to leave nothing for any evil conquerors to seize, as stated in http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0278.html.

Also, alignment doesn't enter into whether or not someone would have set off the rune. My understanding is that Chaotic means "self-willed," not "break it because I can." Whether or not people act like that second bit is another matter. That part's not their alignment; it's their personality. Look at Haley -- she's Chaotic Good, but she's also wary of danger, preferring to size up the situation before committing herself. Elsewhere, Elan is Chaotic Good, but he's also fond of adding flourishes and pizazz to life. Unfortunately, he still had much to learn about whether or not anyone else would be put off by the addition of mortal peril.

Now, if you wanted to argue that Dorukan shot himself in the foot by making the glyph big, bright, and shiny enough to invite short-sighted tempters of fate, then you'd have a case. Comic #118 got its name for a reason.

Given that (And the screye-ball we say in the reported location of the gate), there must be at least one remaining member of Girard's family, surviving either by marriage or by death-ward. They'll break it rather than letting a lawful character take hold of it.

I'm fairly sure that was Zz'dtri and the Guild, not a Draketooth. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0801.html)

[veti]

If this theory is correct, what can we predict about Kraagor's gate?

I like the 'protected by might, penetrated by weakness' idea. But who do we know that is weak?

Certainly not anyone on Team Evil. Elan, possibly, but he's already had his turn. Belkar, possibly, if he's drained to low level, but it doesn't seem very plausible.

For a character to make their way through the "Dungeon of Unimaginably Ferocious Monsters With 50+ for Both AC and Spell Resistance", my nomination would be: Celia.

[Belkar<3]

How about this? Kraagor's Gate being breached by a 1st level commoner NPC.
:)

[Dr.Epic]

Girard's Gate has been standing unguarded for weeks because V's casting of familicide killed every member of the Draketooth family. In his paranoia, Girard Draketooth did not recruit anyone not related to him by blood to help protect the Gate. So in an ironic twist, the very means he hoped to protect the Gate (a family of sorcerers related to him by blood) has left the Gate vulnerable.

Except for, you know, the epic level illusions.

[rodneyAnonymous]

We also don't know what all the defenses of this gate are. They haven't failed yet. We don't even know if we've already seen the extent of the illusion trap, it may have other facets that haven't been revealed.

[Obscure Blade]

Girard was also about deception and manipulation, not just illusion. I have a suspicion that the innermost defense is either going to be something totally non-illusionary, to blindside someone prepared for another illusion; or, it'll be something that does something nasty if you pierce the illusion and see the reality underneath.

[Sir_Leorik]

(On preview- Sir_Leorik else made these points, except in 7 full, well-reasoned paragraphs instead of 7 brief, flippant sentences.)

Hats off, Sir Leorik. I look away for ten minutes and you only go and differentiate between the humbling defeat of multiple Gates' keepers versus the self-destruction of multiple Gate security mechanisms.

"I'm participating!"

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. That depends on what characteristics of Miko caught the eyes of the Guard. If they inducted her for certain qualities, and those turned out to be the same qualities that sent her falling, busting out, and taking out the Gate, then that's irony. If not, then it wasn't. I can't answer because I don't know what she was like before she became a paladin, and I won't draw on supposition for this.

The bonus strips in book three War and XPs, gives a lot of background on how Miko views herself and why Lord Shojo chose her to become a member of the Sapphire Guard. In addition The Giant's commentary about Miko in books 2 and 3 build on the bonus strips. The picture is of someone with hubris and delusions of grandeur. She considered herself to have a special destiny, which made her better than the other paladins in the Sapphire Guard. The fact that her character level was higher than any of the others (including Hinjo and O-Chul) and that her abrasive personality led many of the other paladins to shun her, she ended up with a superiority complex regarding her role in in the grand scheme of life. She viewed Lord Shojo as having come for her for special reasons, to have groomed her for special duties and to have placed her in a position to mete out life and death.

When she and Hinjo overheard Shojo's admission that he casually broke Soon's Oath and was working with the OotS behind the Sapphire Guard's back, her entire worldview was shaken. Rather than question her views, she lashed out at Shojo, murdering a defenseless old man she had sworn to serve. The Southern Pantheon didn't appreciate that and stripped her of her powers. At that point Miko's entire worldview collapsed and she retreated into a fully delusional state of mind.

By contrast, O-Chul's defining character traits are perseverance, compassion and a sense of obligation and duty. Those are the character traits that the Sapphire Guard should have been looking for, not for individuals who were good at kung fu. (O-Chul's full backstory hasn't been revealed yet, but one of the Kickstarter rewards is "How the Paladin Got His Scars" about O-Chul's promotion from soldier to member of the Sapphire Guard. Along with the "Dark Sun" parody and the magnets, the promise of O-Chul's story was a major incentive for me to pledge support last year in the Kickstarter drive.)

I don't consider the deaths of Dorukan or Lirian to be ironic because I always figured irony implied an element of active self-defeat, and Xykon wasn't using their plans against them. He would have had a similar approach no matter what their plans had been. He crushed a proud wizard and a hippie chick with all the custom-tailored karma of an NPC redshirt -- fire, lightning, necromancy, wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Granted, his speeches to them were customized, but their defeats were not.

I could discuss their Gates, but honestly, it was a long time ago, and I got such a slim look at them that I don't feel right by reading into them too far. I'll chalk it up to black humor for wood to be destroyed by fire and a magical construct of epic intelligence to be destroyed by an (at the time) utter goofball of a bard.

Did you just compare Xykon to a bone golem? He's a lich! You know, Undead, powered by negative energy, touch paralyzes people permanently. Not a construct.

Spoiler

Show

Lirian's reliance exclusively on Druids, Elves, Fey and magical woodland creatures to defend her Glade opened a few glaring weaknesses. The first was obviously Undead, but also Demons, Devils, Daemons, Slaadi, Unseelie Fey and Elementals; most of them would be immune to the Guardian Virus.

Second, Lirian's attempt to be merciful and not execute her prisoners, while laudable, was a major error for one reason: there was no one keeping an eye on Redcloak, Right-Eye and Xykon. She had a few options, such as summoning Xorn (a being native to the Elemental Plane of Earth) to check in on her prisoners every few days, or asking Dorukan to scry on her prisoners. Either way would reveal what Redcloak had been up to (and Dorukan might have realized what Redcloak was making and why and warned Lirian.) While the Order of the Scribble's deal was to part company, Lirian and Dorukan were um, shall we say intimate acquaintances. She was confident her druidic powers were enough to guard the Gate, and those powers completely failed to stop Xykon once he became a Lich.

Given that (And the screye-ball we say in the reported location of the gate), there must be at least one remaining member of Girard's family, surviving either by marriage or by death-ward. They'll break it rather than letting a lawful character take hold of it.

The scrying eyeball in the desert didn't come from Girard; it came from Zz'dtri.

[Lord Torath]

Just to clear things up for everyone, the Scrying Eye in the desert was Zz'dtri.

Yes, the scrying beacon was Zz'dtri, checking up on Elan at Nale's request. It was primarily a bit of foreshadowing that Zz'dtri was coming back, since at that point no one expected him to ever show up again. You'll note that Nale confirms that he's been keeping tabs on Elan right after Z reveals himself (both to V and the reader).

Elan has been instrumental in breaching the defenses of two gates. He almost removed the sigils protecting Dorukon's gate, and did press the Self Destruct. And he was the one who broke out of Girard's master illusion. Evidently their plans were All But Foolproof.

[Phantom Thief]

I like Sir Leorik's explanation. I think there are two ways each gate gets destroyed, 1. being how the intended defence of the gate is defeated, and the other how the gate itself is destroyed.

The defence of the gate is usually undermined by the antithesis of whatever the Order of the Scribble's defining character philosophy was, i.e.
-Unnatural monster vs druidic Lirian,
-Simpleminded brute force vs detailed planner Dorukan,
-Selfish ambition vs sacrifice for the greater good Soon(by this I mean Soon had intended for the whole of Azure city to defend the gate, with the Paladins guiding them. The aristocracy families refusing to fight so they could take over when Hinjo failed crippled Azure city's ability to defend itself),
-A self-absorbed demonstration of power vs. family is everything/trickery over power Girard(Yes V was protecting his/her family, but in retrospect admits s/he was reveling in omnipotence mostly)

Meanwhile, the gates themselves are destroyed by the thing the guardians take pride in backfiring on them,
-Lirian's undisciplined forrest creatures dropped her gate
-Dorukan's overkill sigil blew up his
-Soon's shortsighted paladin smashed his
-We don't know about Girard's yet

While the defense of Kraagor's gate will follow this, likely having a pacifist means of getting past its defences, but rather than having Kraagor's ideals backfire, it will be Serini's, since she actually built this gate. Serini seemed to value the friendship of her teammates immensely, her compromise was mostly aimed at trying to avoid a full out fight between her friends.

So how I think this will play out is this, Durkon will likely have a big part to play in overcoming Kraagor's gate, because he was always the most hesitant to go straight to a fight, and more importantly this combined with his vamp status will give him a long overdue character arc, since I think he's the only one as of yet to not have much of one. Probably he will be released from Malack's thrall and need to deal with trying to be good when he knows he is evil, trying to overcome his inflexible stubbornness which has never really been a huge problem for him before, trying to resist his vampiric predisposition towards violence.

Meanwhile, MITD will do a lot in plowing through the monsters from TE perspective, because the other monsters will know what he is and refuse to fight or something. The point is, he will follow his usual routine, being ready to finally step out of the light, only for something to stop the fight preemptively and deny him his chance. I don't know how Tarquin or the Linear guild will play into this.

Finally, there will come a fight at the gate, it will look like the collateral damage from the big showdown will break it, but no, nothing will happen. Roy will gain the upper hand, it will look like good has finally won...

Then the IFCC will step in. They will recall their deal, simultaneously revealing to OotS the depths of V's sin, and claim their few minutes of control. They will use this, along with a nice fireball, to destroy the gate, and presumably release the Snarl, fulfilling their plan and causing untold havoc, exactly what they claim to want. In the process, they will destroy all good aligned dragons and undermine the gods of good, like they promised to Tiamat.

Serini's quality of the power of friendship will break as the rest of the Order turns on Vaarsuvius(temporarily at least) and places the blame for the destruction of the omniverse on his/her shoulders, setting up the climax, wherein the team must regroup and put this aside in order to deal with the threat facing them and save the world(Whether or not the Snarl actually exists/actually is still a threat is irrelevant, it's the idea of the threat that is what causes the fight). This will also fulfill a reoccurring theme of a specific member of the Order undermining the gate by their character issue. Elan messed up the first gate by being foolish and not thinking ahead, Belkar messed up Miko worse than she already was by being a general sociopath, and if I had to guess, I'd predict Haley will somehow cause the final defense of Girard's to fail by being too in synch with his way of thinking and outsmarting his own traps somehow.

So yeah. That's my two sense. Cents? Scents. Whatever.


Edit:

Elan has been instrumental in breaching the defenses of two gates. He almost removed the sigils protecting Dorukon's gate, and did press the Self Destruct. And he was the one who broke out of Girard's master illusion. Evidently their plans were All But Foolproof.

Yes, well, each gate was guarded by an epic level adventurer of huge renown.
I guess you could say going after the gates is somewhat of a...

...fool's errand.
YEEEAAAAAAAAH!

[Sir_Leorik]

Then the IFCC will step in. They will recall their deal, simultaneously revealing to OotS the depths of V's sin, and claim their few minutes of control. They will use this, along with a nice fireball, to destroy the gate, and presumably release the Snarl, fulfilling their plan and causing untold havoc, exactly what they claim to want. In the process, they will destroy all good aligned dragons and undermine the gods of good, like they promised to Tiamat.

I think the IFCC will call in part of V's debt long before the OotS gets to Kraagor's Tomb. If V gets anywhere near Girard's Gate they will invoke the debt and either possess V's body directly (whichever Director is cashing in some time) or implant a demon/devil/daemon or damned soul to control V's body. While the IFCC is playing a long game, they've invested too many resources in getting the Linear Guild to Girard's Pyramid and on making sure V survives to get there too. The directors of the IFCC don't really care about V's sins, they only want V to serve as a means to control the Gate (and thus the Snarl), so they're not going to launch into a monologue about V's deal (after they have very limited time in which to control V's soul).

[Phantom Thief]

Oh yeah, they're not going to mess around explaining the whole thing. I just meant that their presence and possession of V will lead to the Order finding out about Familicide one way or the other. The main thing about them is that they were satisfied just having like 20 minutes of soul, so likely their intention with V is only going to take at most a few minutes, leaving plenty of buffer room to deal with unexpected complications. That's what leads me to thing they are just going to use their control for 1 swift decisive action, like blowing up a gate.

I agree that theres a good chance they will try to utilize either the Linear guild or V more directly with Girards gate, but I feel they won't need both, so they'll save one for Kraagors. I'm just making an assumption that the Linear guild will be used first because it will be more dramatic to use V later on, after he/she has had time to cope with his/her breakdown, only for it to open up again.

[Amphiox]

How's this for the ironic end for Girard's Gate:

There is one last epic level illusion left protecting the gate, and that illusion is of a fake gate in the supposed gate room, while the real gate is disguised as a piece of masonry on the wall.

There will be a major firefight in front of the gate between Team Evil, Team Tarquin, the Order, and whatever diverse others who might get involved.

During the fight, the gate gets blasted accidentally by someone who didn't see it because of the illusion.

Possible ironic breaching of Kraagor's Gate's defences:

Someone weak but skilled in negotiation (say Celia) somehow manages to negotiate the monsters defending the gate into surrendering.

Possible ironic destruction of Kraagor's Gate:

A powerful monster, perhaps the MitD, deliberately destroys it. (This assumes a twist ending that requires all five gates to be destroyed, ie for whatever reason everyone is mistaken about the need to keep at least one gate intact)

[Bulldog Psion]

Is "irony" a synonym for "weak point" now?

[Kish]

Is "irony" a synonym for "weak point" now?

No. It wouldn't be ironic if Dorukan's Gate was vulnerable to being pulled apart by treants, or to a forest fire, since Dorukan has no particular relationship to nature. It wouldn't be ironic if Soon's gate was immune to anything fallen paladins could do but was vulnerable to being blown up by a rune. And it wouldn't be particularly ironic if the weakness of Lirian's gate had been that a fallen paladin could smash it with a katana.