I hope that we didn’t just see the happy ending that the Oracle promised for Elan. That prophesy is ominous all of a sudden.
Interesting. Durkon comes back in the fantasy, but Belkar stays dead. In fact, I don’t think there’s even one of his fantasies in the panels (there would have to be one where he throws Windstrider into a big vat of glue, at least :p). Seems like Brain Hinjo’s pep talk and Belkar’s subsequent shift in attitude hasn’t registered yet - they still don’t think of him as part of the team. It could be even said that his death is part of the fantasy in the first place. That’s not very nice.
Not only that but Roy (and V) are walking away from Belkar’s grave with Roy giving an obvious “See ya” wave while Elan and Haley grieve.
Well, no, but then, Belkar isn’t very nice, either. He’s an evil psychopathic monster, justified only by the fact that he’s fighting even worse monsters. He still needs to be dealt with eventually.
I initially thought that was just another view of Roy waving to his dad but I think you’re right.
You know what would be really bad? If this was the end of the book and Rich went on hiatus for 6 months.
Interesting problem with this last installment is that we don’t know how much time is passing while the Order is living out these illusions/fantasies in their heads.
AD&D used to have a spell called “Permanency”, or something like that.
Did it survive the transition to 3.5+ ?
I’m sure that Burlew will jerk the readers around with that interpretation for a while. I’m also sure that he’s not going to spend however many years of storytelling to end with “and then the Snarl breaks loose and eats the multiverse. The end.”
Here’s the spell you’re thinking of:
It looks as if you can cast it upon objects and it would probably be trivially easy for someone like Draketooth to do so.
But I can’t yet find any spell or item that to which you’d cast permanency that’s doing what’s being described in this comic.
In fact, comparing the list of spells that can be made permanent to what’s shown in #886 and #887, this particular one looks extremely complex. As in, I’d guess the caster would have to be well above level 17 to try it. So either the attached list is incomplete, or Rich is taking liberties (perhaps by making up a high level spell).
That may indicate that scene is from Elan’s fantasy rather than Haley’s. He wants her to be happy so he’s imagining her in a room full of treasure.
I think all of these are Roy’s fantasies. The swirl looks like a close-up of a single eye. And if it was meant to represent the fantasies of different group members, surely there would be a panel for Belkar.
I think so. That explains why Belkar’s dead in the fantasy: Roy knows the prophecy.
I don’t know. Most of the images could be Roy’s. But the images of Nale and Tarquin reconciling with Elan? Elan riding a dinosaur or having a lollipop? And most implausibly, Banjo getting a girlfriend? I have a hard time believing Roy would imagine these things.
One thing I was wondering–did Durkon cast a protection spell on Belkar, like protection from evil or something? The protection from alignment spells render the subject immune to certain mind control effects. Belkar’s absence from the fantasies could be due to a temporary immunity to the effect, and that immunity might enable him to rescue the others.
Total wild shot theory here with plenty of holes I can anticipate in it (can’t open the SRD here, but I’d be mildly surprised if it covered phantasms; also I can’t quite remember which protection went on Belkar), but if it’s right or something like it is right, I wanna say I called it! 
Hmmm. Maybe. I do notice that Belkar’s eyes are swirly in the previous strip, though, just like everybody else’s. Hard for me to conclude immunity from that.
What’s confusing me is, how does anyone in the OOTS know that a happy ending would involve O-Chul reuniting with the MitD?
Presumably O-Chul told them about how he escaped. He certainly shared plenty of other intelligence; I doubt he would have left that part out.
Does O-chul know what the MiTD is?
Probably not…he never saw it any better than we did (it’s hidden in what’s pretty much a perpetual Darkness spell) and I never got the impression that the MITD knows what it is itself, so it couldn’t have told him.
That would fit with it (at least that part) being Roy’s fantasy (“I knew the little SOB was lying!”)
A well-meaning but naive creature being exploited by Xykon and Redcloak. That would be sufficient knowledge (which O-Chul presumably communicated after his escape) to support this part of the fantasy.