#falkenar

Synopsis:  At the Khemi Pyramid, Wrath-Amon is approached by Skulkar, who having spent some time searching the bottom of the oceans (his being undead making that possible), was only able to find a small Star-Metal Dagger to present him.  Which is exactly what Wrath-Amon was after, as it contained just enough Star-Metal to complete the seventh and final disc needed to free Set from The Abyss.  

At this time, Mesmira approaches Ram-Amon - who had been freed from captivity in a failed attempt to stop Wrath-Amon some time before - and makes clear that he knows as well as she does that once Wrath-Amon has Set’s Full Power at his disposal, neither of them will be safe from him.  And that she has a plan to keep that particular problem from arising.  

The following day, and with the last disc ready, Conan, along with Zula, Snagg, and Greywolf attack a group of Serpent-Men - who in the wasteland make no effort to conceal themselves - supposedly delivering Star-Metal to Wrath-Amon, and make short work of them.  Realising too late that it was a diversion intended to keep Conan and his companions away long enough for Wrath-Amon to complete his plan, and bring Set back to the Earth.  This is when the first element of Mesmira’s plan comes into action as Ram-Amon confronts Dregs, sealing him in a Ruby and taking his place in order to keep an eye on events.  

Wrath-Amon is rewarded for his work once Set returns with the Black Ring charged to levels he’s never experienced before, resulting in a notable increase in his size, and a constant emission of power from him, pledging to make Conan and his companions the first ones he’ll crush beneath his heel.  

At Shushan(?), Conan’s efforts to warn the King of the impending danger bear no fruit until a Disciple of Mitra - who identifies himself as Darius - alerts him that Set and his army are sighted, the War Drums pounding as they approach.  In an effort to buy time for its citizens to escape, the canyon walls that mark the pathway are brought down before Set and his army can clear it.  The fight with the powered-up Wrath-Amon, while knocking him out for a while - and revealing that even with the extra black magic, he is still at least somewhat susceptible to the effects of Star-Metal - they aren’t able to claim the Black Ring, and once Set enters the fray, the Kari Dragon has to intervene to save Conan and his friends from certain death.  The delay he brought by holding back Set - to which Conan deems his debt to him repaid - barely sufficient for everyone in Shushan to evacuate.  

The following episode opens with Conan meeting with his Grandfather as he rides to meet with Epemitrius the Sage to see if he knows a means of defeating Wrath-Amon and Set now that the latter is free.  While this happens, the others are in Tarantia preparing for when Set and his army attack.  A short wait as Set personally leads the assault.  And this time the Start-Metal is of little use, since with the Gateway to The Abyss open, once struck with it they are simply teleported a short distance away and able to enter the fray again, essentially making Set’s army limitless.  Though able to drive away Set’s army, the cost in life is alluded to being very high, the timely arrival of the Wizards of Xanthus making even that pyrrhic victory possible.  

Before Conan leaves for Tarantia, Epimetrius informs Conan that the Star-Metal Disc set on the Khemi Pyramid must be destroyed in order to close the Gateway to The Abyss, which means facing Wrath-Amon.  

Once Conan is able to rejoin his companions, he forwards the information he was given, at which point Darius returns stating that his help will be needed.  This is when he chooses to reveal that there is no Darius, and she is in fact Mesmira.  Stating that she is the Queen of Stygia, and refuses to be Ruled by Wrath-Amon, Set, or any other Reptile, which will most certainly be her fate should Set succeed.  With little choice in the matter, Conan has Mesmira tell them her plan.  

The plan involves Mesmira entering the Khemi Pyramid bearing Tribute, which is enough to allow her entry with her entourage who carry them on her behalf.  As Wrath-Amon demands that Mesmira speak, the Wizards of Xanthus - having recovered from the previous battle - attack Khemi itself to distract the serpent-men station there, as Mesmira dispels the illusions cast over Conan and companions.  

Despite threatening to direct his black magic at the statues of Conan’s parents - who are in the throne room with Wrath-Amon - his grandfather, Conn, makes clear he’ll protect them, allowing Conan to continue his attack on Wrath-Amon, whose next attack knocks him to the floor, the Amulet of Vathelos absorbing the magical energy and restoring him shortly afterwards to allow him to press on with his fight.  

Shortly after, demonic tentacles are summoned through the floor to ensnare Jezmine, Zula, Greywolf, Falkenar, Snagg, Sasha and Misha to remove them from the fight.  Ram-Amon - who had been revealed to having disguised himself as Dregs by now - forced to flee and Mesmira nowhere in sight.  Forcing Conan to face Wrath-Amon alone before Needle is called by Jezmine to take Wrath-Amon’s Black Ring - to which he notes that he shouldn’t listen to Epemitrius again.  

After some effort, Needle is able to prise the Ring from Wrath-Amon, who almost immediately begins reverting without its power.  Forgetting Conan for the moment, he chases after Needle to retrieve his Stolen Ring, this proves to be a mistake when Conan himself keeps Wrath-Amon from catching Needle, so he returns his focus to just trying to kill Conan there and then.  

Unfortunately - for Wrath-Amon - since the Amulet of Vathelos has been restored to its full power, it activates again, accelerating his reversion.  Panicking and begging, Wrath-Amon stumbles and backs away while Conan advances on him, the next strike finishing the process of making him a simple lizard once more.  This time, for good.  

Though aware that Set remains to be defeated, Conan insists on finally freeing his parents, as he swore to do at the beginning of the series, though the Black Ring’s close proximity initially blocks his attempts.  Greywolf uses his own Magic, augmented by all the Star-Metal they have to finally destroy it - an act that catches Set’s attention moments later.  

Now destroyed, Conan is able to free his parent from the Spell of Living Stone, but in the momentary celebration, Mesmira is able to take the ruined remnants of the Black Ring.  

Once Conan’s parents are airlifted to be taken to Tarantia, he and his companions direct their Star-Metal and the Amulet’s power at the Disc keeping The Abyss open, the act of closing it costing Set half his serpent-men.  

Their joy at this success is cut short when Ram-Amon returns and uses a purple lotus-laced potion to render them all unconscious.  Despite the loss of the Black Ring, he considers the Amulet of Vathelos and Greywolf’s Star-Metal Staff enough to ensure he is the most powerful Wizard in all the lands.  Calling Set, he informs him that Wrath-Amon failed him for the last time, but that he has done what he could not.  Offering Set the lives of his enemies and a promise to reopen The Abyss, which will enable Set to resume his conquest of the Earth.  Set being rather more pleased with this development states that once Conan and his friends are dead, Ram-Amon will be rewarded with all he desires.  

As Set approaches, Ram-Amon having tied and bound them all, help comes from a rather unlikely source.  Jezmine’s father, the serpent-man Astevus.  While initially only trying to get Jezmine out of the killing zone, her refusal to leave her friends to die compels him to remain and aid his daughter, Astevus himself unwilling to leave her behind.  

Set arrives before they’re all freed, and they attack Ram-Amon to try and get close enough to Conan to break him from his own chains.  But since Ram-Amon currently wields both the Amulet of Vathelos and Greywolf’s Staff, it isn’t long before they’re all either unconscious or pinned down.  

This is when the Kari Dragon arrives - unable to just sit by and do nothing while Set is loose - and attacks Set directly before he can devour Conan.  This allows Jezmine to free herself and attack Ram-Amon again, first striking Greywolf’s staff from him, then kicking the Amulet away so Needle can give it to Conan, forcing Ram-Amon to flee the area shortly before Set kills the Kari Dragon.  

Set’s next attack floors Conan again, and now it’s Needle who expends all his own power to stall for time, burning himself down to ash.  Now with the Amulet charged almost to the point of bursting, Conan, Jezmine, Zula, Greywolf, Snagg, and Falkenar launch an all-or-nothing attack against Set with their Star-Metal Weapons and the Amulet.  

They’re finally successful with Set being forced back into The Abyss, permanently.  Though before Conan gets the chance to mourn for Needle, he reveals that True Phoenix’s always rise from ashes as he returns to the Land of the Living.  

Most likely at Conan’s rebuilt village, they celebrate that night, toasting to their own success.  During this, Zula wonders what Conan will do next, as Greywolf points out that Ram-Amon hadn’t been seen since the battle, and Mesmira - who is the rightful Queen of Stygia - also remained at large.  

Conan’s response was to Eat and be Merry, as Crom alone knew what the next day would bring.  Bringing the series to a close.  

Review:  Easily the longest Synopsis I’ve done, and for good reason.  With three episodes to cover, there’s a lot to talk about.  

First off, the simple fact that Set is free from The Abyss.  This by itself means that things, just got real.  Since at this point Conan and his companions had been having problems with just defeating Wrath-Amon, now that Set is loose and bestowed Wrath-Amon with his full power via the Black Ring, the stakes have just exploded upwards.  Fitting for a series that - as best as I could tell - knew it was approaching its end.  

Said stakes showing in the first part of this finale as all their work and effort was simply to buy time for an evacuation, and a chance to regroup and determine a means of defeating Set.  

Another clear detail was yet again the need for unusual alliances, twice before Conan had allied with Ram-Amon in an attempt to defeat Wrath-Amon, and both times Ram-Amon sold out on him when it suited him.  This time it was Mesmira offering to help Conan - and having already done so without their knowledge.  Though wary of her, - they know full well that Mesmira has her own motives, and the obvious one that she makes clear is that she refuses to bow before any reptile - with little choice in the matter they join forces to bring about Wrath-Amon’s defeat.  This being what allowed them to get inside the Khemi Pyramid to face Wrath-Amon.  

This time the temporary alliance worked better as Mesmira, while having her own more selfish reasons, was under no illusion that if Set were to win, she would lose.  Thus it was in her own interest to aid Conan and help him win, even if she stayed out of the fight itself and helped herself to the ruined Black Ring when the others were distracted.  Why she took it isn’t explained, but it is true that while she holds it, it can’t be used against her.  

Indeed, while disguised as Darius, there are a few subtle hints that he’s not who he appears to be.  The first being his immediate recognition of Ram-Amon, the other being the look on his face when trying to take the Black Ring the first time in the first episode of the finale.  

Wrath-Amon’s final defeat is another highlight.  Having sworn to do so since the first episode, Conan finally achieves this in the penultimate episode.  

Since being powered up by the Ring, his arrogance and ego had inflated along with his size.  As had his obsession with killing Conan.  But once Needle was able to prise the Black Ring of Set from him, and he began reverting to his Lizardman form, this to me marks the point when the arrogance melted and he began to panic.  Conan was on the ground, but still conscious, yet Wrath-Amon ignored him and started chasing Needle to take back the Ring.  It was only after Conan ‘reminded’ him that he was still there that Wrath-Amon turned his attention back to him.  To me, this indicates that he wasn’t even trying to think about the situation, and was reacting pretty much wholly on instinct.  

Then when Wrath-Amon learned too late that the Amulet of Vathelos had been restored to its full power - having forced him to resume his Lizardman form - he really was panicking.  Screaming and begging for Conan to stop.  And Conan in no mood to show him any mercy as he forcefully makes Wrath-Amon the lowly lizard he was.  

Rather satisfying for many, for all his arrogant claims, threats, sometimes actually enacting said threats, and schemes.  Wrath-Amon really was very insecure, jumping at shadows, and perhaps even paranoid about his own safety.  All of this made more than clear in the final moments of sentience he had.  And yet sometimes, I pity him.  When first created by Ram-Amon, he made sure to fill him to the brim with the Power of Evil, those were the attributes he was given at the start, and he never did appear to be able to become more than he was.  

Speaking of Ram-Amon, once Wrath-Amon was disposed of, choosing then shortly after that battle and before Conan had a real chance to recover from it was a smart move for him, allowing him to collect the spoils without having to put much effort into it.  Displaying his knowledge of tactics and strategy to get into Set’s favour once more.  This knowing when to attack and retreat, is why he was able to escape the final battle without injury, granting him the opportunity to recover, and strike again when he’s ready.  Not bad for a villain.  

Then there’s Set.  He displays just how little care he holds for anyone other than himself.  Once Wrath-Amon was gone, he pretty much forgot all about him and instead offered his rewards to Ram-Amon.  It may even be possible that he sees the serpent-men as less his children, and more his tools to be used.  

Which could be one reason why Astevus chose again to side with his daughter, and his wife in opposing Set.  Actively aiding Jezmine when she was attacked by Ram-Amon, this act being the proof for her to finally reconcile with him, and accept that he is her father.  The only gripe here is Astevus, was precisely, a token character.  

As for the conclusion itself?  It does well to close the main story.  After all, Set is gone for good.  Wrath-Amon is no longer a concern.  The serpent-men for the most part have been routed, and divided - with half of them permanently trapped with Set in The Abyss.  And things are looking up for Conan and his companions.  

That said, they appear to have deliberately left some pieces unresolved.  What happened next to Wrath-Amon was never shown - though trying to bring him back for an “Oh how the Mighty have Fallen” is at best extremely unlikely to work.  Ram-Amon escaped and is still at large.  Mesmira is still Queen of Stygia - and most likely with a more secure rule now.  While Greywolf’s mission to restore his brother and sister to human form remains unfinished.  All of this would suggest that they left these plots dangling for a possible sequel series where they could finish these arcs.