Ep. 68: Story and Song - Finale, Part Two/Transcript

Episode 68 Story and Song - Finale, Part Two



[THEME MUSIC: "Déjà Vu" by Mort Garson]

Griffin: We see Neverwinter besieged and burning. The citizens of this — the largest city in the world — take shelter in homes, shops, and taverns, as an enemy they cannot see tears their town apart. Flames roar unchecked through the financial district. We see Lord Artemis Sterling, still exhausted from his trip through Wonderland, in his estate overlooking the whole of Neverwinter. Several advisors are barking panicked commands to their young leader. Sterling grits his teeth in disbelief of the day he’s having.

We see Neverwinter’s Blue Lake district, home to Chaos Stadium, where Battle Fest competitors come to spar for fame and riches. But today, Chaos Stadium is a makeshift fortress against the apocalypse. A match had just ended when the Hunger arrived, and now fighter and spectator alike are trapped inside the stadium lobby, where they work frantically to board up the doors and windows inside.

Klarg is there, still in his Moonbeam outfit. And he’s with his entire Bugbear family who he reconnected with after your last encounter. This was their first time in Neverwinter. Klarg was nervous about their first visit. None of them expected this.

Graham, the Juicy Wizard, is there. He’s wearing a recently purchased t-shirt promoting his friend and favorite fighter, Jess the Beheader. And Jess is there too, leading the civilians and barricading the front door, which is rattling furiously as the shadows outside pound against it. And though it’s loud outside, it’s quiet in here. Nobody’s yelling or crying. It’s almost as if everyone thinks they could simply hide from the apocalypse.

But the silence is broken with a chorus of gasps, as a stream of green light, and then a stream of blue, passes through the room. As the green light passes through them, their minds are instantly filled with an impossible story. It’s a story about seven travelers who leave their home and fight bravely for a century against the darkness, against the same menace that is attacking them now. It’s a story about the hardships those seven faced those one hundred years. About the deaths they bravely endured as they worked to understand their foe.

They know everything that Lucretia wrote in her journal, the journal the younger Voidfish consumed and is now broadcasting to the world. Those words, her words, are passing through them now. And through the cracks in the walls, they realize they can finally see the forces assaulting their city. And for a moment, they’re afraid.

And then the blue light touches them. And they all hear a song.

{5:50}

[Voidfish (Plural) starts playing ]

Griffin: And the fear is gone. The people in the room look at one another wordlessly as if to ask, Did you hear...?, Did we all just hear…? And then there’s a pound, and another pound at their door. And their eyes turn as one to the battle waiting for them outside. And they look at one another again, no words, just an acknowledgement.

It’s time to stop hiding.

They move with purpose now, and courage, and conviction, as every single person in this room gathers chairs, torches, broken bottles, and any other makeshift weapons they can get their hands on. In seconds, they arrange themselves into fighting units with tactical precision. The Bugbears step to the front of the pack, Jess nods at Graham, Graham smiles and grips his staff, and the doors smash apart.

And the world starts fighting back.

[Music plays out]

{7:22}

Griffin: Magnus, you’re in the Voidfish’s chambers, only, the Voidfish are both gone. They filled this chamber with that light, that passed through the walls and dispersed through reality. And though you never saw that phenomenon first hand back at The Conservatory, this feeling is familiar. You know that the world knows now. Knows everything that was in Lucretia’s journals. And you’re shaken from that realization by a loud rumble back up on the surface of the Moon Base.

Travis: Wait are— wait are Fisher and Junior okay?

Griffin: They’re just, they’re just gone. After sort of spreading their messages throughout the world, um, they— they are not here anymore.

Travis: [Distressed] Are they okay?!

Griffin: Um, [smiling] maybe we’ll find out later in the finale.

Travis: [smiling] Okay.

Griffin: There’s a loud rumble back on the surface of the base, and you hear, even though like you are sort of deep inside the base, you can hear the sound of a battle happening back upstairs.

Travis: Okay, I use my teleportation magic to get back up there.

Griffin: You use the elevator, did you say? ‘Cause the Skype call broke up.

Travis: [Pause] Yes.

Griffin: Alright you hop back up in the elevator.

Travis: Doo doo doo. Doo doo doo. [Humming “Girl from Ipanema”]

Griffin: And as this battle is raging, like the walls of the elevator car are shaking a bit making that light and music flicker a little bit, but it reaches back up to the top of the base, and you come out of this dome. And you see Carey, Killian, and NO-3113 putting the finishing touches on a handful of shadows. And they’re making short work of them, they’re just executing these practiced trio attacks flawlessly.

And after finishing them off, Carey runs up to you, Magnus, and says,



Justin: [laughs]



Clint: [laughs]

Griffin: Magnus, somethin’ falls from the sky.

Travis: I catch it!

Griffin: You don’t.

Travis: [sadly] Oh.

Griffin: Because it’s pretty big. It—

Travis: I’m very strong.

Griffin: No, it lands in the center of the grassy quad up here, on the surface. And, uh, just sort of smack dab in the middle of all these domes in the Bureau headquarters. It’s a sphere, and it’s made of the same shimmering black material that the rest of the Hunger is made out of. It’s about ten feet in diameter, which is why you couldn’t catch it.

And it’s now floating in the air. And three figures spring forth from the sphere, and you recognize them quickly. There’s the shape of an enormous owl, a wolf, and a bear. It’s the Royal Beasts from all the way back in the animal planet. Only they’re different now, their forms are entirely comprised of that black material, but they’re still twice your size. And they are moving towards you with ferocity.

And the owl spreads its wings and dives towards Team Sweet Flips, who narrowly avoid being torn apart by the owl’s sharp talons. And then the owl rears back and soars upwards, and Carey, Killian, and NO-3113 prepare themselves to engage this airborne foe. The wolf looks at you, Magnus, and then grins, and then turns invisible. And that leaves just the Power Bear, who is staring you down Magnus and just panting, and raking its razor-sharp claws against the ground. What do you do?

Travis: Uhh, is this one of those circumstances where like there’s a really clever answer, or is it like, fight that bear?

Griffin: Uh, I don’t think there’s a clever answer here, I think you’re gonna end up fightin’ the bear.

Clint: Fight the bear.

Travis: I think I’m gonna fight that bear!

Griffin: Roll an attack roll.

Travis: Well, okay, it’s weird because normally you would make me do initiative and so now I’m scared.

Griffin: Uh, I don’t think I’m gonna make you guys do initiative this episode.

[dice rolls]

Travis: Well, that’s not great.

Griffin: What’d you get?

Travis: Uh, fourteen total.

Griffin: Okay what we see is— and what were you attacking with?

Travis: Uhh, Chance Lance.

Griffin: Okay you charge forward with the lance held out in front of you, as the bear sort of drops to all fours and charges at you. And both of you sort of jump up in the air to strike the other one. And as your attacks hit, the scene changes.

{12:13} [The Meaning of Strength starts playing]

Griffin: And we see a wooden, open-air pavilion. Where you are training, Magnus, as a quiet rainstorm drizzles outside. And standing across from you is the Royal Bear, who despite the fact that it’s your first day of training with him, he looks exasperated already.

Also sitting in this space, just barely under the roof’s coverage from the storm, is a chimpanzee, who is leaning lazily up against one of these four tall logs that are sort of holding the roof up in the pavilion. And you are back in a flashback in the animal kingdom, the first cycle you came to after leaving your homeworld on the Starblaster. And this bear growls at you in a language that you only just learned and says,



Griffin: He kind— he sighs. And he says,



[Laughing]

Griffin: [smiling] Uh, the chimp— the chimpanzee laughs at that from the corner, and the bear sighs again.



Griffin: And the chimpanzee kinda winks at you.

Travis: I wink back.

Griffin: The bear says,



Travis: I stare at him for a second and then I just flex.

Griffin: They both laugh at that, they both laugh at your flexing. Um, and he says,



Griffin: He shakes his head and, uh, he looks even more exasperated than before. Um, and then he charges at you and like, in an instant you are just like— your ass is on the ground. And you also got the— you got the sensation that, like, he was still holding back in a way. And he says,



Griffin: And then back in the present, we see you try to run your spear through the bear, uh, and it just dodges completely out of the way and rakes both claws against your back, and sorta slams you to the ground. [rolls dice]

Griffin: Um, and you take sixteen points of damage.

Travis: Ooh, Boise.

Griffin: Uh, let’s move over to Taako.

Justin: Yeah.

{15:03}

Griffin: Taako, as you hover slowly to ground, you see Lup and Barry already down there. And Lup’s at the edge of the circle of black glass where Phandalin once stood. And she’s gingerly inspecting the surface of the glass with her spectral hands. She’s actually laying down with her head like laying sideways on the circle, inspecting it close up. And, as you land, she floats over to you and she says,



Griffin: Um, she leans down and tries to grab a clump of grass up out of the ground, but her hand phases right through it. And she sighs and says—



Clint: [laughs]



Griffin: She says,



Griffin: And you have seen this like a hundred times, like, the Hunger shows up and the grass gets less green and the sky gets less blue and um, things start to fade a little bit. She says,



Griffin: She says,



Griffin: And she motions over to the circle of black glass, and she says,



Griffin: She says,



Clint: [laughs]

Griffin: She says,



Griffin: She says,



Griffin: Um, if you have any questions I know it’s been over like a year and a half since we did the Crystal Kingdom. But it, basically, what Lucas was doing was transmuting like circles of stuff into gemstones, uh, specific gemstones would correspond with the different planes. Um and so, Lup is asking you to— to do that. Um, and so, I can run you through the planes, or you can tell me which one you wanna like open up a door to — Lup chimes in and says,



Griffin: Uh, and Lup says,



[Laughing]



Griffin: Um, yeah, you actually remember the, uh, the window that Lucas opened up, the one that like Legion climbed out of at the end, was a sapphire window. [Smiling] You remember that, Taako because of how good your memory is.

Clint: [Laughs]

Justin: Uh, so I’m tryna look for a specific spell that…

Griffin: I don’t think— I don’t think you need to do that. I think like...I think you can just roll arcana, and we’ll call it that. ‘Cause I don’t think there is a spell that is transmute and in— this is— when you transmute things, Taako, it’s like a block of wood or a table that you turn into meat. Like, you’ve never— this is a, I’m pretty sure like a half-mile wide circle of glass. This is a big fucking ask. And so I’m not sure your traditional magic will cover it. So I think just an arcana roll would be sufficient.

Justin: Okay.



Griffin: Uh, they do. Well Lup floats backwards, but they both give you some space.

[dice rolls]

Justin: Twenty-four.

Griffin: Alright. Taako, you place your palms on the cool, smooth surface of the glass where Phandalin once stood. And you start to transmute it. And as you do, a wave of energy travels across the circle like ripples on water. And the glass starts to change. And it feels like it’s draining every ounce of magical energy out of you as it goes, and it extends thirty, forty, fifty, a hundred feet. And then the ripple...slows. And it stops spreading, and you feel yourself just, empty. And the transmutation reverts, and you’re left kneeling in front of the same black circle of glass, which is left unaltered.

Justin: [sighs deeply]

Travis: Shoulda rolled a twenty-five.

Griffin: With a roll that good, I am not going to, uh, I had a system for taking spell slots, but I’m not going to do that with a roll that dope. And Barry and Lup look over at the circle, and Barry looks kinda disappointed, and Lup says,



Griffin: And she’s cut off, as a tendril, and then another, and then a third, come crashing down from the heavens, landing several hundred feet away. And immediately hordes of shadows start pouring out of them and racing towards the three of you. And Barry draws his wand and Lup starts preparing a spell, and Barry says,



Griffin: And, Lup says,



Griffin: And then she and Barry turn back towards the encroaching horde, and start firing volleys of fireballs and arcane bolts in their direction. And Lup yells,



Justin: Uh, I try again.

[rolls dice]

Justin: Seventeen.

Griffin: The same thing happens, you put your hands down on the glass, and this time actually— and this is probably like, this is probably really frustrating— the circle of sapphire doesn’t even extend out as far as it did last time. It makes it about half as far, about fifty feet away from you, and then it reverts and is pulled back into it. And you feel like you just ran a marathon. You feel so drained.

And from behind you, you hear Barry shout as one of the shadows gets the better of him, raking a claw across his chest. And he stumbles backwards, still firing missiles into the crowd. And Lup drops back from her position to give him coverage, but they’re quickly overrun. And suddenly, there’s a shape overhead. And it’s blotting out what little light the sky above is still emitting. And all you can see is just this enormous circular silhouette. And then there’s just a small flash of light from the center of that circle and a whistling that sounds like a bomb falling, and then a crash. And then you see it, where it landed. And where it crushed several shadows beneath its mass.

{23:26} [The Elevator of Tomorrow starts playing]

It’s Upsy, your lifting friend. [Chuckling]

And the battle is still for a moment, as the shadows turn to face this strange and demented monster. And suddenly, large menacing arms and legs sprout out from Upsy, who grabs a shadow and just tears it in half directly in front of its elevator doors. And those doors part, revealing Lucas, who’s riding inside of Upsy in a makeshift mech cockpit.



Griffin: And it’s only been half a year since you last saw Lucas, but he looks older. He’s got a surprisingly impressive beard now and he smiles and he waves, and as he does, Upsy waves too. And then Upsy just starts ferociously tearing into these shadows. And Lup and Barry take that moment of distraction to free themselves and start fighting. And suddenly, the three of them are just fighting back to back to back, providing you with another chance to try and transmute the circle once again.

[Music fades out] And when you turn, to the circle, you feel something small drop and bounce off your foot.

Justin: Uh, I check the pouch, the pouch that was locked.

Griffin: You reach into your bag and retrieve the bag of necessity, that Istus gave you so long ago, and when you look down at the ground you see, indeed, there is a golden— a small golden padlock, the shackle of which just popped open on the ground, and you retrieve the bag of necessity, and it is open.

Justin: Well, I... put my hand in it, I guess.

Griffin: You’re killed instant— no.

Justin: Then that’s going to do it for the Adventure Zone, we hope you’ve enjoyed this rich tapestry we’ve woven. Sorry I boned it there at the end.

Griffin: Um, you reach in— any guesses?

Justin: I could guess, but I’d just look like an idiot.

Griffin: You reach in and retrieve the only item inside. It is a small, old, compact mirror, with an ornate silver design on the outside, and as you pop it open, you see an emerald mirror within. It’s the same compact — I don’t know if you ever saw this — that I think Magnus retrieved from Lucas’ lab that showed him another world — our world — and sure enough, as you look into that emerald mirror, you also see a scene from another world.

And you’re inside of a small metal compartment that, upon further inspection, doesn’t look too dissimilar from the stagecoach you used to use when you were a travelling chef; there’s a small refrigerator and a stove and a sink and a shelf lined with various cooking implements and serving trays. And there’s a long service counter with a cash register, um, and there’s also a laptop open on that counter, not that you’ve ever seen a laptop, Taako. And there’s a colorful looking game open on that laptop that you don’t really understand but that we, the audience, would recognize as just Overwatch.

And there’s a metal door at the far end of this truck that’s padlocked shut and you can hear something behind it, just pounding away, rocking the truck with each attack. And there’s a large window in front of that counter that is covered with a heavy metal shutter, and there’s a young man who is looking out of that shutter. It’s a human that you’d estimate to be maybe eighteen, uh, he’s got braces, and he’s wearing an apron, and he is panicked as he surveys the scene outside.

Through the gaps in that shutter, you can see a city street that’s just swarmed with shadows. There’s fire coming off an overturned car several dozen feet away. And behind that, you can make out what this kid is staring at. There’s a horde of shadows that are just pounding away at the large double doors of a nearby high school. What do you do?

Justin: Can he hear me?

Griffin: You don’t know.



Griffin: Um, the young man falls down from where he’s looking at the shutter, his knees just buckle as he’s startled. And he shuffles backwards away from where you’re looking into this scene. And he’s just screaming.



Griffin: He says,



Griffin: [Laughs loudly]



Griffin: As he says that you realize that sure enough, your perspective in this scene is from a rack of pots and pans that is hanging on the wall of this truck.



Griffin: He says,



Griffin: He— he stands up and he says,



Griffin: He says,



Griffin: And he says,



Griffin: And, this young man stands up, and as he does, you can finally sorta see the front of the apron he’s wearing. It’s emblazoned with a logo that says South Beach Tacos. And the print on this apron is unique. The whole apron is covered in a design that looks like flames.

{29:27} [Parley starts playing]

Griffin: Merle, you are in this black space, standing in front of a black marble table with two high-backed chairs, and on that table is a chess set. The walls and floors and ceiling of this space, it’s just all Hunger. And sitting in a chair on his side of the table is John, who, again, looks… not great. His body is sort of covered in these colorful rifts, kind of like the stuff you see all over.

[music fades out]

Griffin: And John says,



Griffin: He says,



Griffin: And he motions—



Griffin: He laughs and he motions to the chair on the other side of the table from him and says,



Griffin: You sit down. It’s actually surprisingly comfortable for a black marble chair. And he says,



Griffin: He says… um… you know, I don’t actually know the answer to that question. You had that last conversation, we had it on the podcast, where John kind of laid out how he got to be the way he is and then you said “fuck this” and stopped, like, going to meet him. I don’t know if that was close to the end of the century or if it wasn’t. I’ll leave that up to you. Was that closer to the end of your one hundred years, or was there like a break between when you stopped?

Clint: I kind of thought it was like three quarters of the way in.

Griffin: Okay, yeah, I sort of figured that that was the case. So yeah. It’s probably been about thirty years, then, including the decade where you were in this world. And he explains that to you and he says,



Griffin: He kind of senses that you’re being a little coy and his smile fades a little bit and he says,

Griffin: He says,



Griffin: He smiles and he says,



Griffin: And as he says that, bright white eyes appear all over the walls and floor and ceiling, and they’re all, like, staring furiously down at John. And he clams up for a second, and he says,



Griffin: And the chess pieces move into the starting position. He says,



Griffin: He takes a white piece and a black piece in his hand and offers them to you.



Griffin: And he says,



Griffin: He laughs and he says,



Griffin: He’s, like, laughing about that as you take your first couple of moves, and he takes a couple of moves. And really quickly, he’s adopting a really strange strategy. He’s just trying to get his king out of the back line as quickly as possible, and moving it into the fray. And you’ve played chess with him a couple dozen times, and this is not great chess strategy. And you’ve never seen him fuck up this bad before. And he says,



Griffin: He says,



Griffin: And as he says that—



Griffin: As he says that, he moves the king to capture one of your pawns, and as he does, you see these faint threads of light come off of the king and ensnare the pawn, and it pulls it into its mass. It pulls this pawn into the king piece, and as the pawn’s form disappears into the king, those threads remain, um, now just bound around the king piece. And as this peculiar scene unfolds, John is just staring at you intensely, Merle.

{36:52}

Griffin: Magnus, you see, um, you see the Royal Owl swoops down, and— and right as Killian is about to intercept it with a crossbow bolt, the Owl’s eyes flash, and suddenly she’s under its control. And she turns her bow towards you, Magnus, and just as she’s about to fire, NO-3113 wraps her metallic arms around her from behind and restrains her. And Carey just leaps onto the Owl’s back, just stabbing it as it starts to take flight again. And then the Bear is in front of you again Magnus, and it looks like it’s about to charge you.

Travis: Okay. [Dice rolling] Okay...29.

Griffin: Jesus Christ. Okay.

Travis: I rolled a 17 plus 10, and with the bear mask, plus 2.

Griffin: Yeah that’s a good roll. Okay, uh, you— Chance Lance again?

Travis: Uh, no. I am going to grapple.

Griffin: Oh shit, alright. Uh, [crosstalk] alright—

Travis: And I’m gonna attempt, uh, Judo Style to use its momentum against it and throw it.

Griffin: Okay. You, uh— I think the Bear sees you doing this, and although this bear is in like furious, nonsensical monster mode, you see, just faintly, you see it retract its claws, as if to say “Alright, motherfucker, let’s wrestle.” And it charges toward you and I think your shoulders just slam together. And as you collide we see another flashback.

And it’s the same scene, the— the Bear is picking you up off the ground of the pavilion and you dust yourself off and the Chimpanzee’s just kinda laughing in the corner, and the Bear says,



Griffin: He picks— he picks you up, Magnus, and, um, just kinda throws you to the ground, and he says,



Griffin: He says,



Griffin: You see the Bear smirk, and he starts to walk toward the Chimpanzee, uh, with its— with its claws drawn. What do you do?

Travis: I jump on its back.

Griffin: Um, you jump on its back, and, uh, he just effortlessly like reaches up and digs its claws— digs his claws into you and just tosses you away, and then you see the Bear start to swat down at the Chimpanzee and just stops like an inch away from hitting it. Um, and he says,



Griffin: And then we’re back in the real world, and you just hoist this bear up, you definitely get the better of it. What— what do you do with it?

Travis: Uh, I just want to pin it. I want to pin it and hold it.

Griffin: Um, okay! Yeah, you definitely have it pinned down to the ground and you are holding it. And it’s snapping at you, um, with its jaws. But you have it in a position where you can— you can easily finish it off. Um. And if you don’t, it is going to keep coming at you.

Travis: I scream in its ear,



Griffin: Uh, nothing.

Travis: [disappointed] Huh.

Griffin: It doesn’t work. And actually as you lower its head down, it gets a— [dice roll] It— it— its claws— that wasn’t very bad, like I sai— take 6 damage, uh, as it sort of bites the side of your face and leaves you with a— a nasty scratch.

Travis: [frustrated] I don’t wanna hurt it. I don’t wanna kill it! It’s my mentor, it’s my teacher!

Griffin: Um, whatever that was, whatever your mentor and teacher was, is nowhere to be found inside of this bear. This thing is— it’s gone completely feral and is just hell bent on destruction.

Travis: Ugh. I’m sorry, and I— and I stab it.

Griffin: Okay. You stab it, and you know how to stab it pretty good because of the life that you’ve lived. And the Bear starts to fade, and as— as it does, um, as it does its face relaxes just for a moment and you see gratitude in the fading light of his eyes. And then he blows away, turned to ash. And for just a moment, there is quiet. And then you’re back on the ground, with this horrible pain, um, in your shoulder. Um…[dice roll] Uh, take 21 points of damage.

Travis: Hoo boyzee.

Griffin: Um, as you feel the Royal Wolf pounce on top of you, invisible no longer, and he’s got his full weight on your back. It’s like a car is parked on you Magnus, and he’s just tearing into you.

And then you flash back to one of your final training sequences with the Bear. Um, and you— you run at him, and he— he throws you to the ground with a force that let’s you know that despite his warning, he’s been holding back until now. And he’s leaning his full weight until your back, just pinning you to the ground in a similar manner that the Wolf is doing now. And you hear a pop, in this flashback as your shoulder dislocates. And he’s yelling now, he says,



Griffin: He leans in again and you hear another pop, and you don’t even know where that came from, but it hurt like hell.



Griffin: There’s a blur overhead, and the sound of an anguished grunt, and from your perspective, you can see that that corner, and the Chimpanzee is no longer there, he’s standing over you and he’s helping you up and he holds your arm and pops it back into joint and you see the Bear lift himself up several feet away and the Chimpanzee is laughing because the Bear seems to be stretching out a sore arm also, and the Bear speaks and says,



Griffin: Um, and he puts a paw on your shoulder and he says,



Griffin: And then he— he lets you go and he wraps an arm around the Chimpanzee and he says,

[The Meaning of Strength starts playing as the Bear speaks]



Griffin: And you’re back in real time, and this wolf is on you just biting away. What do you do?



Griffin: You hear a sound like the shattering of all the glass in the world as the wall of the Hangar Dome in front of you explodes. And through that enormous hole in the wall, you see a Bureau of Balance transportation sphere fly through the air and collide with the Wolf who flies with a surprised yelp up and off the side of the moonbase. And you see Avi peek out from behind the cannon inside of the hangar, and he quickly runs down the stairs and jumps through the hole in the wall and— and helps you to your feet. Um, he says,



Griffin: Um, the two of you walk over to the edge of the moonbase where the Wolf just flew off and, um, Avi’s seeing to your shoulder, but he takes a beat, and he looks over the edge and he says,



Griffin: He says,



Griffin: Um, and their party, uh, all—



Travis: I walk over to Angus. I reach into my pocket. I pull out my grandfather’s knife. I hand it to him and say,



Griffin: He takes it and just jumps up and gives you a big hug.



Griffin: Um, and he says,



Clint: And then Merle walks over to Barry and says,



Griffin: He shrugs and he says,



Griffin: He gives you a thumbs up and he says,



Justin: And Taako walks over to Angus.



Griffin: Um, he runs over and he just grabs on to you, um, and also gives you a big, weepy hug.

Travis: And then Magnus goes over to Carey.

[Laughter]



Travis: And it’s one of those hearts. And half of it says “Best” — It says “Best Friends Forever”, but split with BE and ST on one side, FRI and you know that thing? And I give her half and I say,



Justin: And then I walk back over to Angus and I flip him my plastic sheriff’s badge and I say,



Griffin: Anybody else got one?

Clint: And then Merle walks over to Angus and says,



Travis: And Angus walks over to Merle and he says, “Here, sir. I think you wanted this.”



Griffin: And he hands you the badge.



Griffin: And you hear Davenport say,



Travis: Magnus walks over to Lup and says,



Clint: And then Merle…

Justin: Oh, the end.

Clint: ...gets on the ship. [The last section of Reunion Tour starts playing as Griffin talks]

Griffin: And everyone else does, too, and you see the rest of your party as they walk away walk into the hangar and start mounting up. And the five of you head on to the ship. And Lucretia and Davenport go into the helm that is sort of up on that main deck and they seal the doors. And you see Lucretia start channelling her spell again. Um, and from inside you, Taako, Merle, and Magnus, you hear Davenport say,



Clint: [laughs]



{1:53:26} [Besieged plays]

Griffin: We see three empty spheres from the Bureau of Balance’s transit cannons laying in a field outside Neverwinter. And then the camera pans up and we see this world’s final protectors amassed at the city’s gates. Lup, Barry, Carey, Killian, Angus, and Lucas stand at the forefront of this army, and they’re surveying this fighting force’s unconventional makeup. The survivors of Neverwinter stand armed and at the ready with Klarg and his family and the whole Battlefest crew preparing for the attack.

At the center of the crowd is the wagon housing the citizens of Refuge. Ren and Cassidy are perched on top of the wagon, the former armed with her rod, the latter with a crate of industrial-strength blasting caps. A dust storm rages in from the west, and emerging from it is a fleet of battlewagon racers, with Hurley and Sloane’s car leading the pack. They brake-slide in perfect unison to the flanks of the army and start revving their engines. Near the back of the crowd, a squad of Tom Bodetts from Rockport are in the rear battalion, carrying chains and hammers and wrenches and any number of other industrial tools.

Weaving through that crowd are the Hogsbottom Three: Tanzer, Lucian, and Scales, who are carousing and leading the Toms in a battle hymn, getting the whole unit psyched up for the battle at hand.

And Lup takes a hard look at this army and then walks toward them, pacing over to the right side of the crowd. And she goes up to a young woman holding a broomstick handle that she’s crafted into a spear. And she borrows it, and she jabs it into the ground and begins walking across the front line of this army. And she starts to speak, and as she does, the crowd falls silent.

[Voidfish (Plural) by Rachel Rose Mitchell plays]



Griffin: And she motions to the army of shadows approaching them.



Griffin: And she finishes drawing her line in the ground in front of the gates of Neverwinter, and she tosses the spear back to the young woman, and she points downward and says,



Griffin: And immediately the crowd is cheering, and there are murmurs of people talking about their story, about what Lup and Barry and the rest of you did during your century-long journey. And Lup steps back to the front of the crowd and faces the Hunger as it descends upon them. And she turns to Barry and she says,



Griffin: And her hands catch fire, and she says,



Griffin: And high above, we see the Starblaster streaking through the sky, up and away from the moon base, flying for the first time into, not away from, the storm. And as its occupants brace themselves for the final battle ahead, they are surrounded by the Voidfish’s light, and their hearts are stirred by the familiar music they suddenly hear. See, there’s magic in a bard’s song. They call it inspiration, and it tells the listener what they need to hear right when they need to hear it. And right now, you hear it too. The message in the music heard round the world. You hear Johann’s voice, telling you,



[music swells, then quiets]



[music ends] [end of episode]