Belkar's fate

[Peelee]

Belkar is not going to die.

No.

The Oracle's prophecies regarding him were a misdirect.

No.

There will be a side-quest to Xykon's Astral Fortress of Doom, the Order will succeed in occupying it, and Belkar will decide to stay there with Bloodfeast and Scrufffy

No, no, and no.

No eating or breathing in the Astral plane (which is "not of this world" obvs), plus former lich's astral asteroid castle with alosaurus and feline best friend is a totally metal happy ever after for Belkar.

No

As an added bonus he won't have to deal with that whole domestic cat lifespan ≠ halfling life span disparity that sucketh so much.

As an added bonus, no.

My prediction is that literally every single part of your prediction is wrong.

[runeghost]

It surprises me that so many people seem to assume that Belkar's death will end his role in the comic. Roy's death certainly didn't result in the end of his story! No, I'd don't think Belkar is going to be resurrected, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty for him to do in the afterlife. One idea, since he is probably still headed to the lower planes, is that a certain succubus down there who, along with her bosses, are quite definitely interested in meddling with the Order's story...

[Lexible]

My prediction is that literally every single part of your prediction is wrong.

And it's my NEW prediction that your prediction is (literally) way the heck more boring than mine.

Also: Livin' la vida loca in an Astral fortress of solitude (with an alosaurus buddy!) is indeed more metal than you can even comprehend.

[Lexible]

What about funding his IRA? And why would the Order go to his fortress anyways?

Well *duh*! Can't very well use an IRA when on the Astral plane, right?

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Well *duh*! Can't very well use an IRA when on the Astral plane, right?

And my second objection?

[Peelee]

And it's my NEW prediction that your prediction is (literally) way the heck more boring than mine.

Also: Livin' la vida loca in an Astral fortress of solitude (with an alosaurus buddy!) is indeed more metal than you can even comprehend.

An Astral fortress with no hookers, beings to kill, or food. Sounds like that is the most boring option, actually. Not metal at all. Why would Belkar willingly choose this? Hell, even unwillingly, how would this be better than him actually dying and going to the Abyss? Or any afterlife where he could actually do something?

Edit: Also, how can my prediction be figuratively more boring? There is no way to take that meaning other than literally.

[Synophmn]

My personal idea is that Durkula will kill Belkar long before the final fight, because I'm going to guess the OotS will be in dwarven lands for at least a little while. Possibly until this whole HPoH thing ends (that way Thor stops trying to strike them down).
As for how Belkar dies, I'm guessing he's going to be dead for good. The Oracle's words had an air of finality to them, so Belkar will be permanently dead. That doesn't mean he has to be out of the story. Maybe the HPoH will vamp him. Or maybe Belkar will go to the lower planes and, after some time and help (maybe from Sabine or Thog(since he miiiiight be dead)?), start messing with the IFCC.

[Kish]

An Astral fortress with no hookers, beings to kill, or food. Sounds like that is the most boring option, actually. Not metal at all. Why would Belkar willingly choose this? Hell, even unwillingly, how would this be better than him actually dying and going to the Abyss? Or any afterlife where he could actually do something?

Edit: Also, how can my prediction be figuratively more boring? There is no way to take that meaning other than literally.

More boring.

[Peelee]

More boring.

And it even looks like it's in the Astral plane. Bonus points for that.

[Lexible]

And my second objection?

Side quest.

[Lexible]

more boring.

bwahahahahahhaahahha!

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Side quest.

Why? Why would the Order go there, even on a side quest?

[m4th]

Why? Why would the Order go there, even on a side quest?

Because that's where Xykon's phylactery is. Seem's pretty standard to me, especially since Roy knows what a phylactery is now. It's not even a side quest, just the second stage of the main quest.

Part one: destroy the lich, save the gate.
Part two: destroy the lich's phylactery in his super-mega doom fortress.

That being said, I am torn over Belkar's character arc. The Giant has a great set-up with Miko being told that redemption is special and not for everyone. Having Belkar (Miko's nemesis) be the one to earn redemption would be a satisfying narrative, and one way he could potentially earn redemption is through a heroic sacrifice.

But heroic sacrifices are heavily cliche, especially for anti-heroes. One of The Giant's storytelling goals (I think) is to reverse the idea that the morally conflicted anti-hero is superior to the noble hero who takes on the burden of righteousness. I'm not sure there's an actual quote to support that, but it goes along with what The Giant has said about rejecting nihilism and the falseness of like-able evil villains.

I suspect that when Belkar dies, it will be after a process of atonement, possibly involving the spell Atonement, cast either by a restored Durkon or a cleric of Azure City (potentially overseen by O-Chul). The Astral Fortress might be used as a way of extending Belkar's clock, but I hope not. Deliberately rejecting the safety of the Astral Fortress and asking O-Chul to be his mentor is by far the most noble path to redemption, and would avoid the immoral position of Belkar getting the quick resolution of his crimes while Vaarsuvius is left to struggle for hirs. That prediction assumes Belkar will actually achieve redemption. He might not, but I suspect he will.

[Peelee]

Because that's where Xykon's phylactery is. Seem's pretty standard to me, especially since Roy knows what a phylactery is now. It's not even a side quest, just the second stage of the main quest.

Part one: destroy the lich, save the gate.
Part two: destroy the lich's phylactery in his super-mega doom fortress.

That being said, I am torn over Belkar's character arc. The Giant has a great set-up with Miko being told that redemption is special and not for everyone. Having Belkar (Miko's nemesis) be the one to earn redemption would be a satisfying narrative, and one way he could potentially earn redemption is through a heroic sacrifice.

But heroic sacrifices are heavily cliche, especially for anti-heroes. One of The Giant's storytelling goals (I think) is to reverse the idea that the morally conflicted anti-hero is superior to the noble hero who takes on the burden of righteousness. I'm not sure there's an actual quote to support that, but it goes along with what The Giant has said about rejecting nihilism and the falseness of like-able evil villains.

I suspect that when Belkar dies, it will be after a process of atonement, possibly involving the spell Atonement, cast either by a restored Durkon or a cleric of Azure City (potentially overseen by O-Chul). The Astral Fortress might be used as a way of extending Belkar's clock, but I hope not. Deliberately rejecting the safety of the Astral Fortress and asking O-Chul to be his mentor is by far the most noble path to redemption, and would avoid the immoral position of Belkar getting the quick resolution of his crimes while Vaarsuvius is left to struggle for hirs. That prediction assumes Belkar will actually achieve redemption. He might not, but I suspect he will.

Except it's not. Only Xykon thinks the phylactery is there. The only reason the Order would go there would be if they thought it was there as well. They don't. As far as they know, Redcloak has it (which happens to still be true). As of right now, there is zero reason for them to go there, as they don't even know of its existene, much less its relevance to Xykon.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Because that's where Xykon's phylactery is. Seem's pretty standard to me, especially since Roy knows what a phylactery is now. It's not even a side quest, just the second stage of the main quest.

Except it's not there.

Part one: destroy the lich, save the gate.
Part two: destroy the lich's phylactery in his super-mega doom fortress.

Part three: discover that phylactery was a fake and that the arc was pointless.

[m4th]

Except it's not. Only Xykon thinks the phylactery is there. The only reason the Order would go there would be if they thought it was there as well. They don't. As far as they know, Redcloak has it (which happens to still be true). As of right now, there is zero reason for them to go there, as they don't even know of its existene, much less its relevance to Xykon.

Oops! I completely forgot that Redcloak made the duplicate, one of my favorite bits of character building so far.

Redcloak could still flee to the fortress while the Order is tied up at the gate. Then it's a race through the fortress to reach Redcloak before Xykon can regenerate. That's not a guarantee that we will see the Astral Doom Fortress again, but it is a possibility.

My larger point about Belkar's fate still stands, I think. Belkar shouldn't use the Astral Fortress to avoid his fate because that's a cheap way out. If Belkar is going to earn his redemption, he can't hide in the fortress. And if he's not going to be redeemed, he may as well die.

[Pampukin]

I agree with Belkar´s "death" to be metaphorical. And he being paranoid because of it, in a "im going to die soon so might as well do X" good or evil. And when it doesnt happen, the oracle just laughing about it. Possibly after he tries to sacrifice himself or something he would never do, hence his past self "dies".
Not that im saying a kick ass death wouldnt be cool. Just as a writer, getting him killed with a loose antyclimatic desintegrate, would be too much temptation, if only to see the forums colapsing on the response.

English, you elusive mistress. (Not a native speaker and way too rusty. Premptive apology for the burned retinas over this post.)

Pampukin.

[Reboot]

Isn't it obvious? In the aftermath of the final Final Battle against Xykon, the Order will all stand low on hit points but victorious. And in the glow of victory, V will pass Belkar a note, in an ornate envelope on scented paper. On which will be written just three words...

... "Explosive Runes. Bye."

[brian 333]

Belkar will be slain by Roy because at a critical time Durkula will be doing something to further his goals which are not the goals of the party, Belkar will attack him, and Roy will retaliate. A smug Durkula will thank Roy for his assistance and an enraged Vaarsuvius will kill Durkula moments after returning from her 3 minutes in the Abyss. S/he will then explain to Roy that Durkula broke something that cannot be easily fixed and that Belkar was all that stood between success and failure of their quest.

[Koo Rehtorb]

Prophecies are a terrible plot device and I wish people would stop using them.

[Peelee]

Prophecies are a terrible plot device and I wish people would stop using them.

Idisagree. While i don't necessarily wish they were done more, i do wish they were done well more.

[Forikroder]

But the afterlife justification has very little meaning anymore now that he knows belkar is within weeks of death. he admitted himself that he is just running out the clock and having say durkula refuse to heal ( or pretend to be out of spells) belkar as an example would not likely effect him much especially if since he is under the assumption that belkar is to die very soon, he could just accept it as the foretold death

i hate when people bring this up, he said that AGES ago and regardless of the prophecy he wont allow belkar to die as long as belkar has some level of use available hes not going to just throw away a powerful asset because of some kobold

unless Belkar does something truly unforgiveable he wont allow him to die if he can help it