A waking nightmare, a confrontation, a grand finale...
Summary[]
Through nightmares, Lillith tries to trick Arthur into revealing the Blackstone. Eventually, Antoine succumbs to his injuries, and Arthur and John realize that the Blackstone is inside him. Kayne arrives to take the Blackstone, kills Lillith and Yorick, and reveals his plan to kill Azathoth and rewrite reality in his image. After Arthur again refuses to give him the Blackstone, Kayne kills Arthur with the intent to send him to the Dark World.
Synopsis[]
Arthur awakes at the edge of the swamp. Antoine is nearby, alive, and Lillith is gone. John suggests checking the chest for the Blackstone. Arthur insists that they check Antoine first, and John notices that he looks somewhat healthier.
They wake Antoine, who recalls having bad nightmares – unlike Alia’s dreams. Like John, he asks about the Blackstone.
Arthur replies that the Blackstone is safe, which confuses Antoine and John. Antoine pleads with Arthur to check on the Blackstone. During the course of the conversation, Arthur asks how Antoine knew that Alia’s dreams were different from Antoine’s nightmares. Antoine’s voice intertwines with Lillith’s. Due to Arthur’s previous experience as Scratch, he saw through her lies.
Antoine grabs Arthur and rolls him deeper into the swamp. Arthur wakes to find themselves on the witch’s table beneath the windmill with Lillith nearby. As John talks, they realize that Lillith cannot hear John’s voice. Arthur urges John to look through his eyes, outside of the dream.
Lillith threatens torture and cruelty, but Arthur refuses to get her the Blackstone. John catches a glimpse outside the dream: embers from the fire.
In the dream, Lillith stabs and guts Arthur repeatedly. John theorizes that Mother Darkness gave them a connection to Lillith, and he calls upon Arthur to look beyond the nightmare. They both see the stars outside.
Next, Arthur sits up and the scene changes: a train heading to Goatswood. Arthur is holding a piece of paper, seemingly a letter from Oscar. John reads it aloud: Oscar was wrong in believing Arthur was his purpose, and that he lost everything by trusting him. This sentiment is echoed by others: Antoine, Lord Evrard, and Detective Noel all accuse Arthur of ruining their lives.
Arthur tears up the letter and moves to leave. The train catches fire. The scene changes to the Dreamlands chasm where they killed the Gug. Lillith appears with a chest behind her, though Arthur refuses to open it. Then, Lillith admits that this was all a ruse to distract Arthur, to give Antoine time to open the chest.
Arthur wakes in the swamp to find Antoine gone. They rush to the carriage, where Antoine has sleepwalked and retrieved the Blackstone. Arthur takes it from him and rushes to put it back in the safe. He unlocks it – then questions how it was locked.
Lillith reveals that they hold an ordinary rock. Antoine is still asleep. She orders Arthur to touch the Blackstone, but the chest is empty. They were all tricked. In a rage, Lillith throws them backward and a piece of her falls off. Lillith departs for Castle Kerringford to search for the Blackstone.
They find a small black nail that came off Lillith. When Arthur touches it, the nail absorbs into Arthur’s skin. Feeling no different, they search outside the carriage for Antoine.
Antoine is awake and near-death. He confirms that Castle Kerringford has been destroyed and Lord Evrard is dead, according to Alia. Comforting Antoine in his last moments, Arthur urges Antoine to rest. He tells Antoine that he knew another version of him: a great man, passionate, loyal, devoted, true to himself, kind, and loved unconditionally.
Antoine dies.
John suggests using the talisman, but Arthur decides against it. They move Antoine’s body. As they do so, they realize that complex tattoos and deep, stapled scars cover his entire torso. They realize that the Blackstone is hidden inside Antoine’s body.
Finally, Yorick speaks to warn them against saying the location of the Blackstone aloud. The others angrily interrogate Yorick as to why he’s been silent, and Yorick laments that it is too late: “He has heard us.”
The rain stops, and Kayne has arrived sitting at a grand piano. He plays a tune that he calls “The Wager”. Arthur recalls the wager they made when Kayne gave him the dagger, but Kayne notes that he’s made a new wager. Before he reveals the details, Lillith approaches.
Kayne takes the Hand of Malevolence and traps Lillith in a sphere of silence. During the interaction, it is also revealed that Yorick has been Kayne’s spy the entire time. The Hand was created on Kayne’s orders, even if Yorick tried to remain silent to prevent this from happening. Kayne and Yorick both admit that Yorick had no choice in helping Kayne.
Kayne also reveals that Lillith was aiding Arthur, and that she doesn’t want the Blackstone – she only wanted to talk to Kayne. Thus, Kayne silenced her with the Hand of Malevolence.
Having gotten his use from Yorick, Kayne stomps on the skull and breaks it.
Kayne orders Arthur to retrieve the stone from Antoine’s body. Arthur initially refuses, which inspires Kayne to bring Antoine back to life. He commands Arthur to cut it out of Antoine’s living body, and that if he doesn’t, he’ll bring out everyone Arthur’s ever cared about – Faroe first.
Panicking, Arthur agrees and begs that Kayne let Antoine die first. Kayne complies. As Arthur cuts the Blackstone out of Antoine, he despondently wishes that he’d never opened John’s book. John notes that this means they never would have met, and Arthur ponders if that would have been a good thing.
They retrieve the Blackstone. Kayne promises to restore everything Arthur wanted if he hands it over: Faroe and all his dead friends back from the dead, Oscar’s arm re-attached, Detective Noel’s location revealed. On the last item, Kayne suggests that Noel is close to home and standing at the threshold.
The conversation shifts to Lillith, who has been watching Arthur and the Blackstone the whole time. Kayne ponders whether Lillith does want the stone after all. He asks who Arthur will give the stone to: Kayne or Lillith.
Before Arthur answers, Kayne sets to reveal why Arthur is Lillith’s favorite. He suggests it has something to do with the warped glass around Arthur’s childhood home and his long-running distaste for cultists.
Kayne transports them to Arthur’s childhood home. They are brought to Arthur’s parents’ room, who are dead. Another figure, Lillith, stands over a sleeping child Arthur and tells him that he is her favorite. According to Kayne, Arthur’s parents worshipped Lillith.
Even with this information, Arthur says he will give the stone to Lillith. Kayne is outraged and says he will not allow this. Since Arthur would not honor his part of the deal, Kayne refuses to honor his.
Kayne summons an orchestra, with every player being another version of Arthur. They begin to play “The Wager”. Arthur continually interrupts, wanting reassurances that Kayne won’t let Azathoth out of his cage. Kayne corrects him: Azathoth isn’t in a cage but sleeping. All of reality is his dream; when he wakes, it will all stop.
He does not want to wake Azathoth, but to kill him. Kayne has killed every other version of himself, and he’s wagering that if he kills Azathoth, he can remake reality in his own fashion. Kayne counters with his own vision of a world without limitations, limitless piles of sinew, consuming forevermore, in a sate of pure pleasure of the soul, from beginning to the end of time.
Kayne continues, stating that Lillith wanted to stop his vision of the world. Kayne kills her.
While Arthur and John try to convince Kayne not to do this, Kayne brings up John’s time in the Dark World. He reveals that John ruled for a time there, with a throne made of bones. Arthur forgives John for his actions, but this does not move Kayne. Kayne says that it is time for Arthur to die and visit the Dark World himself.
Kayne dismembers Arthur, removing his hands, legs, and eyes. As John pleads with Kayne, Kayne finally kills Arthur entirely. He turns to the orchestra afterwards, remarking on their performance.
Votes[]
- Chapter 256: Take the piece [326] / Leave it be [32]
- Chapter 257: Use the Talisman [138] / Don't Use the Talisman [206]
- Chapter 258: Do It Yourself [156] / Don't Do It Yourself [216]
- Chapter 259: Kayne [212] / Lilith [218]
- Chapter 260: No vote.
