I think it’s been pretty clearly shown that, despite having noble intentions, Redcloak is fundamentally an evil guy. A couple examples: It’s All Too Easy and It’s Battlicious!
He does have some “good” points-- he cares for his family, and he’s concerned about goblins as a group. But one doesn’t have to be unrelievedly evil to be Evil, just as one doesn’t have to be unrelievedly good to be Good.
The really tragic thing about Redcloak is just how close he came to being good. Had he seen a peaceful way to put his people on an equal footing with the PC races, he would have much preferred that, and in fact, for a while he was almost managing to pull it off.
Really, you need to get Start of Darkness. It provides tremendous insight into the characters of Redcloak and Xykon (and to a lesser extent the Monster in the Dark), and to the world they live in. Plus also tremendous insight into several characters who don’t even appear in the online strip.
I really need to stop being cheap and get SoD and Origin of the PCs. I’m missing so much backstory, despite having read this damn strip since about the middle of Book 2.
It also changes the way you look at the Sapphire Guard.
Seriously, anyone who reads the webcomic needs to read The Start of Darkness. It’s like another whole half of the story. (The Origin of PC’s is optional. It’s a good book but you’re not going to get any major revelations in it at this point.)
On the other hand, the order’s first fight as a team is one of the funniest moments in the entire strip.
I hear the Oracle’s hiring.
Origin of PCs is much more in line with the strip’s gag-a-day, joking origins, so while it is funny, you’re not really missing much if you don’t read it, but Start of Darkness is absolutely a serious story. There’s still some humor in it, but it’s incidental, not the reason for the story’s existence.
Incidentally… Am I the only one who, when reading Redcloak’s speech, at the point where he says "We stand on the precipice of a new Golden Age of goblin civilization", expected him to follow with "…and we are taking a big step forward!"? 
I think Burlew intended his ‘standing on a precipe’ line as foreshadowing. Because the other half of my prediction was that Xykon is going to make an appearance.
One of my favorite strips is Redcloak’s “conversion”, when he stops seeing the hobgoblins as cannon fodder. It happened after one saved his life:
Love that next-to-last line. That’s some good war speechin’ right there.
So, what, they found the phylactery?
I’m confused about the last panel. Why did cleaning up the spill keep Hobgoblin Cleric #2 from power and glory? Also, they went for long names in his family, didn’t they?
It’s not cleaning up the spill that did it, it’s her failure to give him a proper name. Only people with actual names get to be important in OOTSverse.
At least his brother survived.
And yes, I immediately went to strip 433 and looked at panel 3.
Ah! Thanks, that makes sense!
Well, no. Look at his sad saga, from strip 433 panel 3 to strip 433 panel 6. An epic if extremely abbreviated tale.
Really? Gosh, not me. clears throat self-consciously
Is there any chance that there is someone out there who didn’t?
Hmmm…I don’t have any of the web-based books. Do they keep the strip numbers intact, or is Burlew going to have to edit that dialog to change “Strip” to “Page” when the next book comes along?
I considered it but laziness got the better of me.
They keep the strip numbers (and titles) intact; in fact, there are no page numbers, just strip numbers, in my books. (The Prequel books were different, having no strip numbers; I can’t remember if they had page numbers or not, but I don’t recall there being any.)