Roy finally arrives at the truth about "Durkon".
Cast[]
- Roy Greenhilt (also empowered and dominated) ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield (as vampire) ◀ ▶
- "Durkon" ◀ ▶
- Wrecan ◀ ▶
Transcript[]
- Panel 1, Page 1
"Durkon": You should stay out of this, crusader.
"Durkon" smashes a section of the balcony.
"Durkon": The Church of Hel cannot be held liable if a balcony just so happens to collapse under where you've foolishly chosen to stand.
- Panel 2, Page 1
"Durkon": And as for you Roy—I know I probably should just turn to mist and float out of your reach until time's up.
Durkon picks up a large section of the broken stone of the balcony.
"Durkon": But I'm so tired of watching your smug self-righteous face all the time.
- Panel 3, Page 1
Roy drinks a red potion. He looks better.
"Durkon" (off-panel): Do you know how tiresome it gets that it always has to be about you, Roy?
"Durkon" (off-panel): To always have to be the trusty sidekick to you?
- Panel 4, Page 1
Roy: And what do you want? Revenge?
Roy slashes Durkon across one of his boots.
Roy: The Durkon I know wouldn't want to condemn his entire race over that.
- Panel 5, Page 1
"Durkon": Well, I'm a new Durkon now. Or maybe an old one. It's tough to tell, honestly.
"Durkon" breaks the huge chunk of stone on Roy's head, "WUNK!"
Roy: You'll never—nnngh!—figure it out if the... world ends.
- Panel 6, Page 1
Roy staggers, shaking off the blow.
"Durkon": Listen to yourself. I'm beating the tar out of you and you still can't bring yourself to stop trying to reason with me.
"Durkon": Must be that good old fashioned heroic guilt at work.
- Panel 7, Page 1
Roy flees.
"Durkon" (off-panel): Which is not misplaced. I died on your watch, after all.
"Durkon" (off-panel): None of this would be happening if you had kept me safe.
- Panel 8, Page 1
"Durkon": That just seems to keep happening for you, doesn't it?
"Durkon": There's me, and everyone Belkar ever hurt before I threw him off the side of a mountain, and the entire population of Azure City—
- Panel 9, Page 1
"Durkon": —and your brother, of course.
Roy freezes.
- Panel 10, Page 1
Roy: ...Did you just say—
- Panel 11, Page 1
"Durkon" punches Roy in the face, "WHUMP!"
- Panel 1, Page 2
"Durkon"'s grabs Roy. His domination gaze begins to take effect.
"Durkon": I said that you failed to protect your little brother, because you did.
"Durkon": You're a pathetic guardian and you should give up. This is all your fault and everything would be easier if you just gave up.
Roy: Nnnnnh... that's... not true!
- Panel 2, Page 2
"Durkon": It is true. Your mother was distracted, and you knew your father was doing something dangerous.
Roy: I was... ten years old...
"Durkon": Here's one thing I've always wondered since you first told me this story:
- Panel 3, Page 2
"Durkon": When you found his dead body after you failed to warn your mother, how many pieces was it in?
"Durkon": More than five?
- Panel 4, Page 2
Roy: Oh.
- Panel 5, Page 2
Roy: I understand.
- Panel 6, Page 2
Roy: YOU'RE NOT DURKON AT ALL!!
Bathed in green flame, Roy delivers a mighty upward cutting stroke, rending the vampire's chest, "SCHRRRIP"
D&D Context[]
- Durkon continues to be under the effect of the Hel's Might spell, and also uses his vampiric Dominate ability, though Roy shakes it off.
- Crusader is a class introduced in the book Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords. It functions as a sort of counterpart class to Paladin, being a holy warrior dedicated to a god or a cause and possessing healing and supportive abilities to back up melee prowess. Whether Wrecan is actually meant as a Crusader or the term is merely being used to refer to a church-sanctioned soldier in general is uncertain.
Trivia[]
- While the Greenhilt Sword has erupted in green flame as early as #349, having been reforged with Starmetal in #298, this is the first time that the flames have engulfed Roy as well. This strip marks an evolution in Roy's mastery of the capabilities of his ancestral sword.
- In Panel 7, Roy is once again missing his scarf.