Tear Jerker / NIMONA

• Ballister and Goldenloin's entire relationship. They grew up at the Academy together, with Ballister being the big brother surrogate towards tiny childish Ambrosius. The three-page Christmas special showing their childhoods together is cute in a uniquely tragic way. They even had a romantic relationship. And then, of course, the rivalry started, fueled by the Director, culminating in Goldenloin being given a weaponized lance and the instruction, "She expects you to win."
• Ballister's reaction when Dragon!Nimona's head is cut off.
• "I'm no more fit to rule than the Institution is. I'm a liar and murderer, and I'm done with this."
• Ballister and Nimona's entire confrontation in Chapter 10 is just gutwrenching, given the two's adorable father-daughter relationship in previous chapters. The worst part? As Nimona gets angrier and angrier at the question of "Why should I trust you?" she starts transforming into the red-eyed spikebeast. Ballister reaches for his sword.
  Nimona: Yeah, THERE's a joke.
  • AND THEN SHE LEAVES. At the time this entry is being written, the titular character of Nimona has not been seen in-comic for over two months of updates. And Ballister is a MESS.
    • As of now she's back . . . trapped in the Director's lab after she attempted to rescue Ballister when his execution was announced to the country.
• Goldenloin confesses the truth to an imprisoned Ballister, after being demoted to guard duty. He explains that even if he didn't know what the weaponized lance would do and he was planning to win without it, it was his fault. He cries Tears of Remorse. The flashback proper shows that he tried to run to Ballister's side in My God, What Have I Done? mode, but he was held back by the officiants because it went against joust rules. What is Ballister's response? A Rejected Apology. He says that sure, it's nice that Goldenloin had the guts to finally apologize when it doesn't matter, but that doesn't undo years of damage and how his ex ruined his life. They can't go back to what they had. Goldenloin's expression is hurt, betrayal, and understanding.
• Pretty much the entirety of Nimona's backstory, despite Ballister interrupting every so often. The true one even more so when we learn that her parents weren't killed (at first); they handed her over to the Institute to become their new guinea pig. They and the village was scared of their powers. Nimona was basically abandoned by the people that she had protected and became the Director's potential superweapon. When remembering her first few days in the Institute, she asks if she can see her parents.
• Nimona pulls an I Surrender, Suckers when the Director torture Ballister in exchange for a blood sample from Nimona. After it's entered into the computer and the Director prepares to execute Ballister anyway, Nimona gives a chilling Slasher Smile and an Evil Laugh. She tells them it's not the first time the Institute tried to break or study her, and they didn't learn the first time. Cue the blood sample exploding and turning into her Superpowered Evil Side from before, the black dragon that burned guards alive. Goldenloin can only give a quiet Oh, No... Not Again! and grabs Ballister, who is protesting about leaving his Nimona in her prison.
• The Director's death, in an Alas, Poor Villain sense. She shows no remorse for experimenting on a child, torturing Ballister to lure Nimona out, or causing a monster form of Nimona to lash out. The Director still fights to the bitter end, if for no other reason than Pragmatic Villainy that the other choice is to burn alive. Yet Nimona kills her, and continues going on her rampage. We see the devastation firsthand.
• Goldenloin suffers serious injuries battling Nimona while the latter is on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge. It's implied that he will never be able to fight again. Goldenloin seems to think it's Laser-Guided Karma for serving the Institute blindly and cutting off his boyfriend's hand, and resigns himself to recovering alone. Then...Ballister pulls up a chair by his hospital bed, and says that he's going to help Goldenloin recover.
• The Bittersweet Ending: Ballister is now the new leader of the country, and he vows to enact reforms while dissolving the Institute. To do so, however, he had to kill a child for the greater good. A doctor tells him You Did the Right Thing and that Nimona was a monster. Ballister refutes it; he says that she was a child traumatized and betrayed by all the adults in her life. When the doctor leaves, she shows up again and is confused when Ballister asked her when she comes up so soon. Then he sees that someone drew a shark on her charts. Realizing what this means, he runs outside and catches a glimpse of a smiling Nimona before she vanishes into the crowd. Ballister is left with both hope and confusion, about where Nimona will be going, and if he will see her again.

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