Cliffhangers

Tales from Cyrodiil, episode 9; immediate continuation of episode 8.

### Synopsis

The battle for Sunder begins inside the Ayleid ruins. Rogelio and Hunter begin fighting, with Hunter throwing out taunts to rile the thief up. Shawn and Osorio face off after Shawn steals Osorio's "freshly-brewed death" line from the previous episode.

Outside, Captain Blue is cowering in fear of Zelos while their other friends ask what he is up to. Zelos explains that he recognized Tyrin and Benji, and that he and Magaion were investigating what they were doing. They all agree to continue cautiously, as a number of suspicious people had been spotted in the area.

Nikolai decides that he has had enough fooling around and prepares to kill Kajidoh. Kajidoh proclaims that he can try, but he has never been defeated...except by Zelos Phoenix...three times. This train of thought drives him into a rage, but Tyrin manages to bring him back to the present. Everyone in the dungeon proceeds to fight. while outside Zelos prepares to ambush them. Kajidoh grabs Sunder and tells Tyrin and Benji that it's time for them to escape. At the entrance, they run into Zelos, who finally recognizes Kajidoh. He taunts them into following him outside, where they mindlessly rush off the side of the cliff while Zelos safely rolls out of the way. He spots Sunder where Kajidoh dropped it; while he is distracted by it, Shivan calls out a warning as Nikolai emerges from the dungeon.

Inside, Shawn and Hunter are continuing their fight against Osorio and Rogelio. The Nefarious Thugs taunt their opponents from the safety of the far side of the traps while the thieves accuse them of cowardice until Osorio finally releases a blast of lightning at them.

Hearing Shivan's warning, Zelos rolls out of Nikolai's way, anticipating an attack. Nikolai claims that he is merely there for the artifact. Ruined-Tail explains Sunder's significance to the confused Zelos, as well as his mission from the Divines to take it to a safe place. Zelos agrees to help Ruin, and Nikolai understands that he will have to continue fighting for it as Nora claims it for herself. Before Nikolai can engage Zelos, however, Hunter and Shawn appear from within the ruins and grab the artifact from Nora. The two of them run away, but are quickly surrounded by Shivan, Allecia, Cleon, and Captain Blue. Allecia takes Sunder while Captain Blue mentions that Hunter looks familiar. Before Hunter can come up with an excuse, a Nuclear Blast goes off nearby and Kajidoh menacingly orders them to give him Sunder.

Benji takes Sunder from Allecia and begins to flee; everyone who had been nearby begins to follow after him. Back at the ruins, Tyrin fights with Nora while Zelos and Nikolai engage. Shawn, Hunter, and Kajidoh--along with a few summons--fight against Zelos' friends...except for Ruined-Tail, who has stolen Magaion's attention to talk about morality.

The fighting continues as Benji thinks he escaped with Sunder, only to be confronted by Shivan. The Orc cowers as the Ice Elf fiercely attacks to claim the artifact. At the ruins, Nora casts a spell of darkness so that she and Nikolai can escape from the fight. They and the other members of the Merc Genesis intercept Shivan before she can rejoin Zelos and the others. Against Nora's wishes, Nikolai decides to capture Shivan, wishing to make her a new member of their company. Allecia sees what happens and, as the fighting dies down with Sunder gone, she reports to Zelos and the others. Zelos, both annoyed and angry, decides to pursue the Merc Genesis to save Shivan.

### Trivia

The title of this episode is rather fitting, as there was a seven month wait before TeamUDF managed to release the next episode.

This is Team's least favorite episode due to the sound quality. He had yet to learn how to set the audio levels properly, so many of the character voices were too quiet versus the music being too loud. Additionally the fighting was incredibly difficult to set up, although it turned out extremely well.

Ironically, this was among the most well-received episodes of the series.