After being resurrected, Durkon makes an important declaration to Hilgya.
Cast[]
- The Order of the Stick:
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- Hilgya Firehelm ◀ ▶
- Kudzu ◀ ▶
Transcript[]
- Panel 1, Page 1
Hilgya: Resurrection.
- Panel 2, Page 1
White particles in a spiral arms begin to coalesce in front of her.
- Panel 3, Page 1
The particles begin to take a Durkon-like form, and the diamond disappears with a "POOF!"
- Panel 4, Page 1
Durkon falls to the earth, "WHUNK!"
- Panel 5, Page 1
Hilgya: Dur—
Durkon: Wait! B'fore ye say anythin'!
- Panel 6, Page 1
Durkon: I know I mistreat'd ye, Hilgya.
Durkon: I sent ye away after ye'd open'd up ta me, an' I know how much tha must've hurt.
Durkon: I got na excuses. I was wrong.
- Panel 7, Page 1
Durkon: Ye were alone an' in pain, an' lookin' fer a connection, an' instead o' tha, I judged ye. I do tha a lot.
Durkon: I had an opportunity ta reach out an' help ye outta tha darkness, an' I failed ta see it.
- Panel 8, Page 1
Durkon: I wish I could say tha I'd had some specific change o' heart aboot it—some dramatic event tha showed me it was wrong.
Durkon: But tha truth is, all I needed was ta watch it again, witout bein' in tha moment.
- Panel 9, Page 1
Durkon: I shoulda found a way ta help, an' I dinnae.
Durkon: My Ma taught me better'n tha.
- Panel 10, Page 1
Durkon: An' then, at me lowest point, thar ye were.
Durkon: Ye an' tha beautiful li'l boy.
Durkon: An' I knew ev'rythin' was gonna be OK.
- Panel 11, Page 1
Durkon: B'cause tha's me son, aye?
Durkon: Tell me e'[sic] ain't.
- Panel 12, Page 1
beat
- Panel 1, Page 2
Durkon: Me boy. A perfect li'l angel.
Durkon: Och, better, ev'n. Turns out some angels're a bit off.
- Panel 2, Page 2
Durkon: I dinnae know wha's goin' on wit yer husband. I know thar're prob'bly legal things tha need ta be worked out.
Durkon: But I unnerstand yer na happy wit 'im, an' I were wrong ta na respect yer desire ta leave.
Durkon: 'specially considerin' tha alternatives ye were trying.
- Panel 3, Page 2
Durkon: Most o' all, I know tha I need ta be thar fer me boy.
Durkon: Na ev'ryone gets more'n one parent. Na ev'ryone ev'n gets one!
Durkon: If'n I can make it so 'e's one those tha does, I need ta try.
- Panel 4, Page 2
Durkon: 'An I can be thar fer ye, too, Hilgya.
Durkon: I can help ye work thru yer demons, wha'ev'r they be. I know yer a good person an' ye can be happy.
- Panel 5, Page 2
Durkon: So I wanna ask ye, if'n we can get tha details sorted—
Durkon: —fer tha sake o' our son—
Durkon: —Hilgya Firehelm—
- Panel 6, Page 2
Durkon: —will ye marry me?
- Panel 7, Page 2
beat
- Panel 8, Page 2
beat
- Panel 9, Page 2
Hilgya covers Kudzu's eyes.
Hilgya: Flame Strike.
Hilgya's Flame Strike kills Durkon.
- Panel 10, Page 2
beat
- Panel 11, Page 2
Pull out to reveal that Hilgya and Durkon's body are surrounded by the Order of the Stick. Roy is aghast at what Hilgya has done, Vaarsuvius is confused, Elan has a hand to his mouth in shock, and Belkar is furious.
Hilgya: Oh calm down.
Hilgya: I'm rich now, I can just raise him again.
D&D Context[]
- Resurrection is a 7th level spell which restores the dead to life. Unlike Raise Dead, the conditions of the remains do not matter, so Hilgya was able to resurrect Durkon from the ashes of his corpse. Resurrection restores the creature to full hit points. The material component is a 10,000 gp diamond, which was shown to be consumed in the third panel. The title of the strip refers to this material component, and the 5,000 gp diamond Hilgya produced in the last panel as the material component cast Raise Dead after killing Durkon.
- An important effect of Hilgya resurrecting Durkon and raising him again, is that Durkon lost a level as a side effect of the resurrection, and his Raise in the next strip loses him another level. Durkon was presumably level 15 at the time of his death. The loss of two levels leaves him significantly behind other members of the Order, but still able to cast 7th level spells.
- Flame Strike is a 5th level spell which produces a column of flame dealing 1d6 damage per level of the caster. Hilgya is high enough level that she is likely at or near the maximum damage of 15d6. Note that Durkon was at full hit points, but the spell was still able to kill him in one shot.
Trivia[]
- Durkon rejected Hilgya when she told him of how she treated her husband in #84, "Saddest. Comic. Ever."
- This is the first time the entire Order has been together and alive in one strip (albeit briefly), since #842, spanning 6 years of real time, but only about a week of in-story time.
- The title of the comic refers to the diamonds used in resurrecting Durkon and the fact that one usually has a diamond ring when proposing.