Roy talks to his father concerning Xykon.
Cast[]
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Elan ◀ ▶
- Xykon (in life, and also as a frog) ◀ ▶
- Eugene Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Fyron Pucebuckle
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Roy: We're resting just long enough for V to regain spells, then we're headed up to find Durkon.
Elan: Nighty-night!
- Panel 2
Roy: 3...2...1...
- Panel 3
Eugene (off-panel): What, I'm that predictable now?
- Panel 4
The ghost of Eugene Greenhilt appears.
Roy: Thanks for the warning back there, Dad, but I didn't understand it until it was almost too late.
Eugene: Eh, you figured it out at exactly the right time. That's how this stuff usually works.
- Panel 5
Roy: Yeah, but you could have given me more of a hint. Or heck, you could have just showed up then and told me what needed to happen.
Eugene: 'Cause you woulda listened, too. I told you to go to Wizard School as I recall, you didn't listen then, did you?
- Panel 6
Eugene: Besides, there's rules for this sort of thing. I can't just go nipping off from the afterlife to warn that the milk has gone spoiled, y'know.
- Panel 7
Roy: Well, do you have any other pearls of wisdom to dispense? Maybe something to help me fight Xykon?
Eugene: I'm sorry, I can't interfere with that directly.
- Panel 8
Roy: Because of the unfinished business between the two of you?
Eugene: Yeah.
- Panel 9
Flashback to an earlier time where a young Eugene is trapped and looks on as the still-living Xykon slays Fyron Pucebuckle.
Young Eugene: NO!
- Panel 10
Eugene: Whatever scheme he's cooking up, it falls on you to screw it up for me.
Eugene: Eldest child and all that.
- Panel 11
Eugene: Of course, it would be a lot easier if you could, say, turn him into a frog.
Eugene: But I guess sticking him with sharp pieces of metal will have to suffice.
- Panel 12
Eugene begins to fade.
Eugene: No, no, it'll be OK. Maybe he'll catch tetanus from your big metal stick.
Roy: Geez, Dad...
Eugene': Oooh, no, wait—he's a SKELETON now, that's right!
- Panel 13
Eugene disappears.
Eugene (off-panel): Or you could stick him in the eye.
Eugene (off-panel): Oh! Right! SKELETON.
Eugene (off-panel): Or maybe he'll bleed to—
Roy: OK! OK! I GET IT!
D&D Context[]
- Eugene: Of course, it would be a lot easier if you could, say, turn him into a frog. Eugene is likely referring to the spell Baleful Polymorph. It's worth noting that Liches in D&D 3.5e are immune to polymorph, so Eugene's suggestion is actually less effective than Roy's sword.
- Liches (like Xykon) have damage reduction against slashing and piercing weapons, making Roy's sword a less effective weapon against Xykon than some other attack types.
Trivia[]
- This is the only online comic where we see Xykon in human form. Xykon also appears in human form in Start of Darkness.
- This is the only appearance of Eugene's master, Fyron Pucebuckle, in the online comics. He appears three more times in the bonus material.