Tear Jerker / The Adventure Zone: Balance

Tear Jerker Index

The Adventure Zone has been praised by some for its storytelling and likable characters. Naturally, this means that Griffin is perfectly happy with tearing out our hearts here and there. No spoilers are marked.

In General

• Pretty much any mention of Julia is guaranteed to result in tears.
  • One fan made an animatic about Magnus and Julia's life, set to "Honeybee" by Steam Powered Giraffe. That song was sad enough already, but when combined with Magnus' Dark and Troubled Past...
• Taako's backstory makes several events from Petals to the Metal and Rest & Relaxation much Harsher in Hindsight: he states that he likes mongooses because they're immune to poisons, he's particularly upset by being unable to prevent Hurley's death from poison, he, Magnus, and Merle are nearly poisoned by Captain Captain Bane, and afterwards, he buys an item from Fantasy Costco that detects poison in food or drinks. Much later, it's revealed that Taako survived a mass poisoning that he believed himself to be responsible for.
  • Also, his other backstory includes him befriending a family of mongooses, who are eaten by the Hunger.
    • And then later, it's revealed that his own sister died of being poisoned.

"Petals to the Metal" Arc

• The last episode of the arc. Sloane has been completely corrupted by the Gaia Sash, and surrounds herself by poisonous thorns with no known cure. After our three heroes and Hurley fight her for a bit, Hurley sacrifices herself, diving into the thornbush to try and get to Sloane. Sloane manages to get freed from the thrall of the Sash, but Hurley has been poisoned by the thorns and is dying in Sloane's arms. Sloane's final act is to transform them both into the most beautiful tree the three heroes have ever seen, preserving them so that they're together in death.

"The Crystal Kingdom" Arc

• Learning that Noelle and the rest of her family were victims of the destruction of Phandalin, which the boys failed to prevent, before her spirit inhabited a robot body.
• When Magnus asks Kravitz, "Tell Julia I love her." Harsher in Hindsight, but even if you don't know the story, the way Travis says it conveys a lot.
• After they finish the puzzle with Hodgepodge, their Stones of Far Speech re-activate. While Lucretia seems concerned about them, Angus's reaction is a punch to the gut.
• For people who liked Magic Brian and the other villians, seeing them being wiped from existence can be kinda sad, Merle lamshades this
• Taako telling the Red Robe that he got the Umbra Staff off a "super dead guy" in the first arc gets a lot Harsher in Hindsight when we learn the Red Robe was actually Barry Bluejeans, the skeleton was Lup, and the two were together. Barry had to stand there and listen to his old friend say with pride how dead his sister was.
• Lucas coming to and telling Magnus: "I'm not sorry at all. Magnus, if you lost somebody important, to you, what—what wouldn't you do, to get them back?". Harsher in Hindsight when we learn about Julia.

"The Eleventh Hour" Arc

• It's played partially for laughs, but the boys hold hands as they die in one of the loops. And just the actual dying, repeatedly, in general.
• When the trio finally manages to raise the temple of Istus and meet Istus herself, she asks them to become her emissaries and then gives them each a gift. Once they agree, she tells them that soon they will face the most difficult choice they will ever have to make, and she cannot help them make that choice, but she CAN give them the time they need to make it. She disappears for a few seconds, and then reappears, wiping a tear away, and smiles at the three of them, saying, "You're going to be...amazing."
• Taako trying to get rid of Ren, his biggest fan, while THB are trying to rob a bank. He casts banishment. It fails, but she knows Taako tried to do something to her. She runs away crying. Justin's resigned tone sells it.
• The reveal of what happened to Jack and June and how Roswell came to be. The combination of Griffin's narration and the amazing music is topped off by a single word: Junebug.
• The eighth and second-to-last episode has the Temporal Chalice offering, through June, to help each member of the party correct the worst mistake/failure of their lives. Merle's turns out to be losing his arm, and Taako's disastrous cooking show has been hinted at before, but Magnus's backstory is only now laid out for us: while he was away on an errand, the governor he deposed returned to Ravensroost and obliterated a large chunk of the town out of spite - killing his mentor/father-in-law and his wife, as well as dozens of others, and destroying the shop that they'd built together. By the time Magnus got back, the survivors had all evacuated, leaving nothing but a ghost town behind.
  • While Magnus' revealed backstory is particularly tragic, Merle and Taako don't get off easy either; After growing up with a domineering and hyper-religious father who forced his faith in Pan on his son (thus leading to his blasé attitude regarding his faith despite being a cleric), Merle got press-ganged into an arranged marriage that turned borderline abusive against him. One day he up and abandoned his wife, and even he doesn't know where she is or if she's even alive or dead. The incident where he lost his arm was really just the most poignant in a long line of faith testing moments for him. As for Taako, we finally get a full explanation of what happened in that last "Sizzle It Up With Taako" show; he was preparing his 30 Garlic Clove Chicken recipe and flaring it up with his magic as usual, but when he went to give out samples people started dying right there in the crowd. As soon as that happened Taako fled and closed up shop, believing for years that he had accidentally transmuted elderberries into deadly nightshade and never noticed due to their similarity. What he only realized after the fact that his assistant laced the ingredients with arsenic as revenge for Taako not wanting to include him in the show. While he was relieved to find out that the disaster wasn't his fault, Taako was still quite cut up due to it being his unwillingness to share glory and fame that lead to the deaths of forty people and the ruination of his career and passion.
• When the boys refuse to use the Chalice, either to undo their own personal worst moments (as detailed above) or to undo the destruction of Phandalin, the Chalice shows them what the inhabitants of the town were doing as the gauntlet's fire consumed the town, apparently just to rub in how badly they screwed up.
• During the action climax of the arc:

  Roswell: Tell me I made Refuge safe! Just do it, Tell me that I made Refuge safe!

  Taako: Roswell, you made Refuge safe.

  • To elaborate: in the above scene Roswell tricks Taako into telling them they made Refuge safe to enable them to self-destruct and hold off the Purple Worm for just long enough for the boys' plan to succeed. Travis can be heard sniffling in response to Roswell's death. Thankfully it turns out that the bird that acted as Roswell's voice survived and now unbound from the town and their clay half, Roswell decides to see the world.
• The happy kind occurs after the climax when Istus causes the missing time in Refuge to catch up with the town. Our boys stand outside the bubble seeing all the events of the town go on in fast-motion. However, compared to the inside it seems that the party are actually moving very slowly, and some of the townspeople make signs for them to read and a few kids even make clay statues of them, adjusting them as they seem to move outside the bubble. Once it finally comes down the townsfolk rush out to greet them with gifts, and they even swarm Avi because they don't know who he is and want to meet him.
  • Our boys also go say goodbye to some of the notable characters they met, but Taako visiting Ren the barmaid is especially sweet. Earlier in the adventure he had promised to give her a seminar on magic (which at the time was a ploy to get some diamonds out of her to give Paloma for a prophecy). When he sees her again, he hands her a diploma saying that she graduated from his seminar, and when she asks why she's getting this since she didn't learn anything from him or even go to the class, he replies with "I was watching the whole time." For someone as callous as Taako can be, this gesture of appreciation and recognition was absolutely heart-melting.

"Calm Before The Storm" Interlude

• On their date, Kravitz asks Taako why he's doing his job, considering how extremely dangerous it is.
  Taako: ...'Cause I'm worried no one else will have me.
  • During this conversation, Kravitz mentions that he once wanted to be a conductor, but that life - or rather, death - got in the way. He died before he was ever able to fulfil his life's dreams.
• Merle's chapter in this interlude showcases him going on a special and secret mission, which Angus tags along for. After nearly beating the daylights out of Angus for stalking him, Merle reveals why he keeps this mission secret; he's visiting his kids in secret. His step-daughter Mavis came from his wife's previous marriage, while his son Mookie is his own flesh and blood. The two of them are quite lovely children, but when Merle's marriage turned abusive and he left, he became a Disappeared Dad to them for several years. These little forays are his way of trying to make up for several years of neglect, and he still feels some guilt for abandoning his kids and (to a certain extent) his wife.
• After The Reveal at the end of The Eleventh Hour that Magnus (and by extension, possibly Merle and Taako) were Red Robes at some point in their lives, Magnus goes for a late-night bit of soul searching and decides to pay the Voidfish a visit. After a bit of prompting from the Voidfish, Magnus dives into the tank and communes with it. Magnus is shown flashes of memories from the Voidfish's life before coming to the Bureau; it lived with a colony of Voidfishes that were forced to defend themselves from something that threatened their very existence. Another vision it shows him is it being carried away by a Red Robe under a sky with no stars, providing some ample Foreshadowing and implying that the Red Robes stole it from its home.
  • We later learn that the Red Robes didn't "steal" the Voidfish—rather, Magnus rescued it as the Hunger devoured its home plane, which is not only probably even sadder, but also adds an extra layer of meaning to Magnus' relationship with it throughout the course of the saga.

"The Suffering Game" Arc

• While it's a little more understated than usual, this is the first honest to God time that any of the boys have purposefully hidden things from each other. Magnus has the most to hide, given that he was explicitly a Red Robe at some point, and his actions in seeing Pringles are going to come up eventually given that he knocked out and kidnapped two Bureau employees. As for Merle and Taako it's more understandable given that what they're hiding are, respectively, an old shame and some deeply personal matters, but the fact that they can't trust each other despite all that they've been through is kind of a punch in the gut. It really does remind you that, for all of their camaraderie, they are just three guys who met in a tavern and got swept up in events beyond their ken.
• Once our heroes begin The Suffering Game, they must face a sadistic Roulette wheel which forces them to give up something precious to continue. By the second round, Merle gives up his Battleaxe Proficiency, which he doesn't use at all anyway, then Griffin tells a touching story from Merle's childhood about how he acquired those skills, and then describes how the memory fades away.
  Clint: This arc sucks!
• Magnus having to give up his memory of the man that killed his wife. Turns into a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming when before it happens, he asks Merle and Taako to get revenge for him if the opportunity arises. They immediately accept.
  Magnus: Tell him, "This is for Julia."
• While not seeming as tragic at first, Justin's explanation as to why Taako sacrificing his beauty is so hard for him: he thinks it's his only ticket back to becoming a performer, reclaiming his life, and no longer living in fear of his past. Justin explains that Taako always assumed he could go back to being a famous TV personality when he was emotionally stable enough, but now Taako thinks he can't because he's not conventionally attractive. The fact that Merle and Magnus don't downplay or brush-off Taako's decision as seemingly not being as hard as theirs is particularly touching, Magnus explaining that while he doesn't know the details, he understands it is an equally as difficult decision for Taako.
• The second Prisoner's Dilemma is easily the most devastating of the bunch. Taako is the representative, and though Magnus begs him not to, he chooses "forsake" because he's unlikely to survive another battle. The other group chooses "trust" and has to go into the battle alone. Afterwards, the groups are able to see each other through a glass wall, and, to their horror, the boys see the group they'd befriended in the Felicity Wilds—but now Sterling has aged decades and is bawling in Antonia's lap, Antonia has apparently been blinded, and Rowan is withered and missing patches of hair. To top it off, Rowan recognizes the boys, too, and simply mouths the word "why?" at them. The whole thing absolutely drives home what an utter Sadistic Choice every decision in Wonderland really is; there is no right answer because every option is designed to make the situation worse.
• During the "boss rush," Merle finds that not only can he not heal, but trying to channel his other clerical powers is going poorly too — something presumably not Edward and Lydia's doing. Then he tries to commune with Pan to get an answer as to why this is, and... no one responds. Even if Merle has never taken his faith too seriously, it's still a horrifying realization that Pan has either abandoned him or been taken out of the equation.
• She may be an evil lich who's spent the whole arc putting our heroes through sadistic tortures, but Lydia being so utterly devastated by Edward's death that she doesn't even try to keep fighting is heart-wrenching, especially when you remember that the whole reason the two became liches in the first place was out of grief for their younger brother.
  • Not only that, but she- "in her last, furious act" - completely obliterates Magnus' body as payback for Edward, trapping Magnus in the mannequin he was forced to possess.

Lunar Interlude V - Reunion Tour

• While it's somewhat played for laughs, Taako declaring that he no longer trusts anyone is pretty heartbreaking. When Magnus tries to ask if there's a continuum where they're Not Trusted slightly less than others, Taako declares that it's a universal void of no trust.
• Carey and Avi are both beyond heartbroken when Taako and Merle tell them that Magnus is dead. It's a lie, of course, but Carey and Avi don't know that. To make matters worse, Griffin states that Magnus was Carey's best friend.
• The boys discover that Garfield has actually grown a copy of Magnus' body for some unknown purpose. Even though it'd throw a wrench into all their plans, Magnus desperately wants to reclaim his body right away, because:
  Magnus: I can't feel anything. I'm not hungry, I don't breathe, my heart doesn't beat. Do you understand? And that's me! That's me, right there! Those are the arms that have held my wife!
  • the WAY Travis says "those are the arms that have held my wife" is heart wrenching. You even hear his voice shake
  • Anyone who has suffered from a heart condition such as arrhythmia can testify how wrong it feels when one's heart isn't beating properly. The idea of being aware of not having a heartbeat is terrifying.
• Equally tear-jerking is Taako's attempts to dissuade Magnus from reclaiming his body, because they don't fully understand how the magitek-cloning process works. They know for certain that the new clones don't retain all the memories of their previous life, but they don't yet know how much Clone!Magnus would retain. There's a possibility that the person who steps out of that pod won't even be the Magnus we've all come to know and love, and Taako doesn't want that.
• To the above, Magnus has this to say:
  Magnus: I can't fight, I can't protect, I can't do anything in this body! I have worked all my life to be able to fight and protect and do good.
• Also very heartbreaking, despite not knowing the entire story just yet, is the tale of Barry Bluejeans. Their frustration and despair is palpable.
• Griffin also gives us a brief scene from the perspective of Kravitz, and he implies that the poor reaper has been through a lot since we last got a glimpse of him through the rift into the Astral Plane. He manages to struggle his way to the surface of the oily black waters and barricade himself inside the Eternal Stockade, only to find that he’s unable to leave the Astral Plane or contact the Raven Queen, trapped and alone in his deteriorating plane.

  Griffin: Hands attached to long, tenebrous arms materialize in the slime and fly in his direction, but he's too fast now, too aware. They won't catch him off guard again.

• Johann's attack -and subsequent death- by The Hunger. After his death, his spirit has one thing to ask Magnus before Magnus is pulled back to his waiting body:
  Johann:: Magnus...don't let them erase me, Magnus. Don't let them make the world forget...
• Lucretia apologizing to Taako and Barry because she was unable to save Lup, who is revealed to be Taako's sister, Barry's romantic partner, and the seventh Red Robe.
  • The way her voice just breaks when she says
    Lucretia: And you did so well.
• The final scene of the episode, where we see the familiar picture above Lucretia's desk... except all along it's been of her, the Tres Horny Boys, Lup, Barry, and Davenport, all smiling, goofing around, and having a great time. They were so happy.
• How the reveal recontextualized so many past moments. Lucretia had to see her greatest friends every day, except she had to keep the past bottled away from them, leaving them distant. She and Merle spent a relaxing spa visit together so she could open up a bit, but there were so many things she just couldn't say. And Taako took the Umbra Staff from his own sister's dead hands, and he didn't know.
• The first words out of Davenport's mouth after drinking the baby Voidfish's Ichor. Mainly because of the sheer sense of betrayal the single sentence drips with.
  Davenport: Lucretia... what have you done?
• The Lunar Interlude ends with Magnus, Carey, Killian and Noelle barging into the room when the Hunger has infiltrated the BOB headquarters. Other Reclaimers are visible in the hallway behind them engaging in a hopeless fight against the extremely powerful creatures spawned by the Hunger and there is seemingly no way stopping this entity at all. Griffin's last words in the episode sum up the hopelessness that Taako, Merle, Barry, Lucretia and Davenport must be feeling at seeing it all go to hell once more.
  It's the end of the world... Again.

"The Stolen Century" Arc

• The mere fact that The Red Robes weren't a cabal of mad sorcerers. They were astronauts. Their whole mission was one of exploration and science and then when they broke orbit they came face to face with ''The Hunger'' and had to watch as their world was destroyed and their ship was torn from their reality into a new one.
  • For that matter, the fact that we know how this is going to end. The Red Robes will create the Relics to try to hide from the Hunger. The war for said relics will tear apart the world, and then everyone but Lucretia and Barry's Lich Form will forget. Lup will die and in the end it'll be All for Nothing since The Hunger will find them anyway.
• The bar scene. It's the group's last day before the mission so they decide to spend it in a dive bar having fun. Magnus spends it getting in a fight to protect someone being pushed around. Merle spends it keeping Lucretia out of harms way during the bar fight that ensues. Taako and Lup spend it hustling a pair of adventurers at pool. None of them know it's going to be their last day on their world period.
• While it doesn't stick, Magnus going to sleep and never waking up on the Fungus World is a somber and subdued moment. Worse since it comes after a good day where he seemed like he was on the mend. While the crew knows that they will see him again, sooner than later, it's still difficult to see a friend suffer and die and then not see them for months.
• On the Fungus World, Merle tries to give the downtrodden people some modicum of hope by building a church to Pan and teaching them faith. When the Hunger eventually comes, he elects to remain behind to give one last sermon to the frightened people before he's torn from them by the Starblaster. The tears become happy when Griffin confirms that since the Light of Creation was secured that cycle, Merle's congregation and their plane survived.
  • Merle's speech is heartrending as well, as is the people singing a hymn to Pan in response.
    Merle: Brothers and sisters, dearly beloveds, we are gathered here as one. Facing the future as one. whether that future be darkness or light. We do not know, just like we do not know in our lives if we are going to head into darkness or light. But that's what faith is all about. Even though we don't know what we're headed into, we believe that we're headed into something. And so we share that today. And this is the only place I would like to be—is here with you. Pan bless you.
• At the end of the second episode, the guardian robot, all but confirmed to be Troth from TAZ Nights, steeling herself to fight as the Hunger draws ever closer.
  And as this storm intensifies, she is unshaken, because this isn't the first storm that she has lived through. And so she does what she's done countless times before: she thinks of her friends, and she prays for sunrise.
  • Adding to the sadness is the fact that she chose to stay behind. Defending her few remaining people, even when it's hopeless, is more important to her than her own survival.
• As terrifying as it is, John's revelation on the origin of The Hunger is very existentially saddening. Imagine being able to see the totality of infinity, from its infinitely stretching beginning to its infinitely stretching ending, and your significance in comparison to it. Much like the Total Perspective Vortex from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, it completely broke him and his sense of morality, and when he told the residents of his plane it broke them too, convincing them to abandon life itself to become an entire plane of existence dedicated to the destruction of the omniverse because they no longer saw life itself as worth the effort. Madden Into Misanthropy doesn't even begin to cover it.
• On the Voidfish's homeworld the Red Robes triangulate the area where the Light of Creation came down, describe it to the locals and are met with recognition, and spend most of the year working to gain access. Little do they know until nearly the end that that name and description just so happen to match a completely unrelated phenomena on that world. The real Light did come down in that area. With access to the Voidfish tunnels and allies helping their efforts they had a chance of finding it in the last few days. But it's a Foregone Conclusion that this world falls entirely, its fall was in one of the visions the Voidfish shared with Magnus. At the end Merle and Taako just release their students and allies and tell them to go have fun in the time they have left.
  • We get context to the Red Robe Magnus carrying the Voidfish to a spaceship. He didn't kidnap it or hurt it. He saved it. As the world was being destroyed and time was running around, Magnus realized that he could only save baby Fisher, as their family had all descended to the bottom of their pool, unable to be reached. He could only say, "I—I'll protect it. I promise." before grabbing Fisher and running for it.
    Griffin: You would go it from time to time to sing it songs or give it carvings. Your repetoire expanded but it still likes your ducks the best. It delighted in your company, Magnus, and it still does.
  • Magnus' special connection with the Voidfish becomes Harsher in Hindsight. He couldn't remember Fisher or all those years they spent together, how much Fisher loves him and all the fun they had... but Fisher could, and it recognized Magnus.
• The statues delivering their accusations of the Red Robes' future crimes counts as this for sure. While it must've been chilling to the Red Robes, it's much worse for the listeners who know exactly what they're talking about: the destruction of Phandalin, Barry and Lup becoming liches, Taako running away from Glamour Springs, Magnus failing to save Raven's Roost, the Tres Horny Boys killing Barbara, even their cruel treatment of Angus.
  • Even more unnerving is what we don't know.

    A choice no one should have to make. It should not be theirs to make.

• After initially acting flippant, Taako delivers a near-furiously bitter rant when pressed on Barry to explain why he was so accepting of the damage the relics caused. The whole thing demonstrates just how cynical Taako has become and how its possible he doesn't even know how to open himself up anymore.
  Taako: Everyone I've ever met, aside from the six of you, were just dust. Just talking dust. Okay? So I started worrying a lot more about me because what was the fucking point.
• As Awesome as it is heartbreaking, the idea of Lucretia spending a year completely on her own, on the run from the government of the plane, learning to fly and repair the ship and fight, tugs at the heartstrings. She didn't sign up for any of this. She was just supposed to be the ship's Chronicler. It must've been unimaginably lonely. And when she succeeds in surviving the loop, the only thing she can do is express disbelief that she made it.
• The sheer brutality and denial of closure of the following line, which comes on the heels of Taako cheering up a guilt-ridden Lup with the Thong Song, and her thanking him.
  Griffin: And that was the last conversation you ever had with your sister.
• Everyone knew it was coming, but nothing could've prepared anyone for the erasure of everyone's memories. In the middle of a cheerful game of cards, Davenport and Merle forget each other, Davenport breaking down into sobs as everything but his name is taken from him. In their search for Lup, Taako forgets who she is and Barry realizes what's happening and begs Taako to kill him so he'll take lich form and keep his memories. Finally, Magnus stumbles upon Lucretia feeding the Voidfish her journals and the last thing he hears before passing out is Lucretia begging for forgiveness and that what she's doing is only temporary. There was no good ending to The Stolen Century.
  • Even worse are everyone's final words for the arc.
    Lup: *written* Back soon.
    Merle: *panicked* Wait, Who are you?
    Davenport: *sobbing* I'm Davenport! I'm Davenport! I'm Davenport! Davenport!
    Taako: ''...who?''
    Barry: Taako! K-Kill me, right now! I-I'll remember if I'm a lich, I can't... Please, Taako! Just kill me, I'll be okay! I can't forget, I'm begging you, Taako! Please! Please!
    Magnus: Who are you?
    Lucretia: I can do this Magnus, please. Please just lie down, I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself. I love you Magnus, I love all of you, I'm sorry. It'll be over soon.
  • Barry and Taako's scene is a particular gut-punch because while the others' memories slipped away relatively quietly, Barry and Taako forget Lup in the middle of a conversation about her and become increasingly frantic as they forget more and more. The horror in Barry's voice as he cries, "I can't remember her face!" is chilling, particularly when you remember Barry is talking to her identical twin. And then, when Taako fulfills Barry's request to kill him so he'll become a lich:
  Griffin: And as he falls, further and further down, you realize...you don't know who that is.
• The collateral damage of both plans to hide from the Hunger is heartbreaking. The creation of the Grand Relics, while technically successful, wreaks such massive destruction on the world that it proves to be untenable, and Lucretia's plan requires her to betray her closest friends and condemn herself to unimaginable loneliness. Taako was absolutely right when he said that sometimes there are no good decisions.
• The description of Lucretia's actions after wiping everyone's memories invites equal amounts of happy and sad tears. Believing that she would be able to restore everyone's memories soon, she set Magnus, Merle, and Taako up in the best homes she could find for them and secretly checked in on them regularly, all the while protecting Davenport, searching for Lup, and worrying about what became of Barry. However, those wonderful lives she set up for THB ended up falling apart, Davenport was a shell of his former self, Lup was never found, and the years of loneliness and hardship that all seven endure prove to be all for naught, because the Hunger is attacking anyways.
  • Just to twist the knife further after all these revelations the listener gets to hear audio of Lucretia interacting with Tres Horny Boys from older episodes. She was so close to three of the people who were practically her family and she couldn't say anything.

"Story and Song" Finale

• Taako's reaction to regaining his memories from The Stolen Century.
  Taako: You fucking took everything from me!
  • It's acually worse than that. After recovering his memories from The Stolen Century, Taako aims the Umbra Staff at Lucretia and starts counting backwards from ten.
    • And even worse is the fact that Magnus, the kind All-Loving Hero Magnus, joins in that death threat by pointing the Raging Flaming Poisoning Sword of Doom at Lucretia as well. He reconciles with her later, but in that moment Lucretia had basically lost her entire family's trust sans Merle.
• Taako is utterly crushed by the loss of Lup. After he gives up on trying to kill Lucretia, his voice becomes almost monotone as he delivers one of the most heartrending lines in the show.
  Taako: (flatly, after Magnus delivers a rousing speech) I appreciate what you're trying to do. And I'm on board for whatever the plan is. But understand this; I have nothing, and I don't give a shit. The world is ending, and I. Don't. Care.
• Davenport insists they take the Starblaster and try again in another cycle. Angus asks them not to abandon all their friends.
• Some Tear Jerker of the Fridge Horror variety when you realize that Lup, Taako's sister, was killed by poison.
  • Even worse on both when you take into account the Death Is Not Permanent aspect of her story: Being trapped inside the umbrastaff, not only does she end up missing a lot of the good things that happen. She also is unable to be there for her brother and friends when they go through the worst moments as well (there's even a mention that she felt Taako's pain in Wonderland, which she desperately tries to escape the umbrastaff to help him. Unfortunately, she's unable to escape and can't get any relief).
• The whole scene in which Magnus, the person who the Voidfish loved the most, returns after regaining his memories of their relationship. This includes keeping his promise to bring Fisher's baby back, making a new promise to make sure everyone remembers Johann (which he risks and keeps), and refusing to agree to killing Fisher and the baby if necessary.
  • To say nothing of the state Fisher was in by the time Magnus returned. It's badly injured, a few of its tentacles having been torn or ripped from its body among other injuries. It can barely hum or move, and it's in such bad shape that its baby recoils from it. Magnus himself is incredibly upset to see it in such terrible shape, and it's implied that Fisher might not survive. Anyone with a soft spot for animals will be utterly devastated.
  • It's brief, but Griffin comments that Fisher might not realize that Johann's... gone. And Fisher's got a tendril on Johann's body. Was it trying to protect him?
  • Travis (as himself) has a brief moment as he asks about the ultimate fate of Fisher and Junior after broadcasting the knowledge about The Hunger, and Johann's song, to every sentient being in the multiverse. After fighting to protect them for so long, you can hear how emotionally invested he's become:
  Travis: Are the Voidfish 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: [voice audibly cracking] Are they okay?!
• John and Merle's final parlay session is Alas, Poor Villain to the nth degree, where John confesses that he's lost control of the Hunger, and is now being tortured and slowly killed by it. He admits he wanted to see Merle again just because he wanted to be able to say goodbye to somebody, and Merle is the only person he's spoken to in centuries. And when John drops a hint about how to defeat the Hunger, it forcibly drags him back — and Merle immediately grabs him and tries to hold on and keep him in the parlay space. But, of course, it doesn't work, and John is dragged away screaming.
• Noelle's sacrifice against one of the Hunger-possessed Judges from Cycle 65. Seeing it marching towards Rockport, she says her farewells to Team Sweet Flips and Magnus, and has her spirit depart her robot body to take over Lucas's lab, which is floating on autopilot near the Judge. She then smashes it into the judge and explodes the lab, destroying both of them, and the body of the Judge dissolves in the Stillwater Sea as a heartrending reprise of A Far Friendlier Robot from the Crystal Kingdom plays.
  Noelle: It's hero time.
• In spite of everything, John's death is a quiet, sad moment. After the final battle, Merle finds himself on a beautiful beach at sunset, and sees John sitting in the sand, watching the waves. John asks him to sit with him in his final moments; not to talk, just to keep him company. Merle says, "You got it, buddy," and stays with him 'til the end.
  Griffin: And the light is gone. And so is John.
• Magnus names his dog Johann.
• "How does Magnus die?"
  • Magnus' death and reunion with Julia decades after the end of the campaign is a tearjerker of the happy variety. Given that Magnus dies surrounded by his loved ones and is reunited with his beloved wife in the afterlife after living a long, full life. After everything he went through during the campaign, Magnus finally got his heart's desire granted.