Has it been that long?

[ReleaseTheBees]

Correct me if I’m wrong... but the Council of Clans fight happening right now is the Order’s first full team fight since the slaver beetles in BRitF?

Every fight since then has had them either separated or someone has been out of action.

- Linear Guild ambush at the arena: everyone was split up
- Events at Girard’s Pyramid: V was off dealing with some stuff
- And in every fight since, the real Durkon has been dead

So this is first full team fight featuring every member of the order since... #683?? Over 400 strips!

[understatement]

The first battle in the Dungeon of Dorukan against Team Evil could count.

Other than that --

yes.

[woweedd]

Weirdly enough, the pyramid battle also contains what i'd argue is The Order in general and Roy in particular's greatest show of competence to date, incapacitating half the Linear Guild and forcing the rest into retreat with nothing but a smoke stick and a holy word.

[Quartz]

How about the fight after the explosion of the pyramid? (Despite vampirised Durkon.)

[Kish]

How about the fight after the explosion of the pyramid?

:raises finger:

(Despite vampirised Durkon.)

:puts finger down, looking baffled:

"How about this one fight which clearly and explicitly doesn't fulfill the OP's criteria? Despite the way in which it clearly and explicitly doesn't fulfill the OP's criteria."

- And in every fight since, the real Durkon has been dead

[Fyraltari]

I would count the final battle against Durkon*. That Durkon was dead at the time doesn’t mean he wasn’t fighting that one, especially since he’s the one who won it.

[Lvl45DM!]

I would count the final battle against Durkon*. That Durkon was dead at the time doesn’t mean he wasn’t fighting that one, especially since he’s the one who won it.

Fyraltari has a point there

[Paleomancer]

I would count the final battle against Durkon*. That Durkon was dead at the time doesn’t mean he wasn’t fighting that one, especially since he’s the one who won it.

Eh... I respectfully disagree. Durkon won the battle alone, well after the Vampires had utterly wiped the floor with the Order, Hilgya, and Minrah. Teamwork explicitly requires collaboration, which in turn requires communication; as a prisoner within his own body, Durkon could engage in neither activity with the Order, and as far as they had reason to know, he was simply dead and gone. As such, Durkon cannot reasonably be considered part of the team for that battle, regardless of his pivotal role therein. I'd instead concur with ReleaseThe Bees that this is the first fight in a long time where we have all six members of the Order working together. Frankly, it's been far too long !

[jwhouk]

I'd say that might be an indicator of the final battle: if all of them are together against Xykon, they should be able to win.

However, the IFCC's plans want to make sure that doesn't happen...

[ijuinkun]

Given that the IFCC do not want the world to be destroyed any time soon, they may decide that allowing Xykon's demise is preferable to allowing the destruction of the final Gate.

[Kish]

I'd say that might be an indicator of the final battle: if all of them are together against Xykon, they should be able to win.

However, the IFCC's plans want to make sure that doesn't happen...

Given that the IFCC do not want the world to be destroyed any time soon, they may decide that allowing Xykon's demise is preferable to allowing the destruction of the final Gate.

I note a trend on this forum in general (including both these posts, but not limited to them by any means) to equate "hasn't been revealed" with "doesn't exist" in a way that perforce leaves the IFCC a purely reactive organization trying to derive some vague benefit from the situation, since so little of their actual agenda has been revealed.

[D.One]

Given that the IFCC do not want the world to be destroyed any time soon, they may decide that allowing Xykon's demise is preferable to allowing the destruction of the final Gate.

I see no real indication the IFCC has any desire to protect the world. I'd argue that letting the world be destroyed in circunstances that benefitted them is probably high in their acceptable outcomes.

[Goblin_Priest]

I would count the final battle against Durkon*. That Durkon was dead at the time doesn’t mean he wasn’t fighting that one, especially since he’s the one who won it.

It's unknown whether he could have achieved anything meaningful there without Belkar's stabby stick. Durkon himself admits he feared the effect could possibly just be temporary, iirc. It was certainly no solo victory, in any case.

[Quebbster]

Given that the IFCC do not want the world to be destroyed any time soon, they may decide that allowing Xykon's demise is preferable to allowing the destruction of the final Gate.

The one time the IFCC used one of their timeouts on V, they did so to make sure V didn't stop Roy from destroying Girard's gate. If the safety of the World was on their list of priorities, it would have been a lot simpler to just let V make sure the Gate was left intact.
Granted, just because they wanted Girard's Gate destroyed doesn't mean they also want Kraagor's Gate destroyed. We will see in due time what they come up with.

[Majin]

I think it's possible the IFCC knew Xykon and Redcloak were going to arrive at the pyramid soon, and didn't them succeeding either, so its destruction was beneficial to them. They don't want either side to win after all.