Diablo II

Diablo II is a 2000 action role playing video game.

Dialogue

[opening cinematic - a robed, hooded figure enters an insane asylum, surrounded by the screams of the mad, until entering one cell to find a wretched, emaciated figure lying on the floor. The man scurries away from the hooded figure as it sits down]

The Hooded Man: So, Marius... at last, I find you.

[in Marius' blurry vision, he can see angelic wings on the figure]

Marius: Tyrael. Yes. Yes, now... now I recognize you. I should have known you would travel in disguise. They're... they're always watching.

The Hooded Man: I've been searching for you for a long time, Marius. I was rather beginning to think you didn't want to be found.

Marius: Oh, forgive me, Tyrael, please... [sobbing] It wasn't my fault...

The Hooded Man: Not your fault? Tell me, Marius, how was it "not your fault"?

Marius: The Wanderer! Yes, it was... was the Wanderer!

[flashback to a tavern, and a younger-looking Marius in something of a stupor from his pipe, as a dwarf waiter makes his rounds]

Marius: [voiceover] My days at the Rogue Citadel seemed so long ago. I sought refuge from my memories in the company of other outcasts, high in the mountains past the Eastern Gate.

Waiter: [to the nearly-unconscious Marius] Do you want something? [seeing no response, he sighs, and moves on]

Marius [voiceover] Oh, I fought sleep for days at a time, for when I dreamt... the memories would return. [flashback of Marius in a room of fire, surrounded by skeletons] Memories of the monastery, and the evil that had claimed it. Dreams, memories - I couldn't tell the difference anymore.

[the tavern comes to a hush as the Dark Wanderer enters, dragging a sword at his side]

Marius: [voiceover] Had the evil in my dreams followed me at my heels? How had he found me here? How could this broken shell of a man, barely able to carry the weight of his own sword, be the burning terror which drove me to hide here?

[the Wanderer sits down, and conversation in the tavern resumes; soon, however, the Wanderer's hands begin to shake, and his sword drops to the floor]

Marius: [voiceover] He seemed to have demons of his own, that he struggled to contain. [the Wanderer spasms, grasping his hand, as one of the patrons begins to laugh; a greenish glow flashes over him several times] He was losing.

[the Wanderer collapses to the floor, shaking and convulsing, a human soul ripped screaming from his body, as strange demonic creatures and fiery sprites begin spreading throughout the tavern]

Marius: [voiceover] Oh... as I watched, I... I became convinced that I was truly mad! The terror, the destruction, the... the evil I witnessed! How else could I explain them? Were these demons from my dream, or... were they born within the Wanderer?

[skeletons emerge from the firepit and attack, while beams of magical light tear through others, killing them... finally, the Wanderer collapses, as the human soul returns to his body... the younger Marius stands, and drops the pipe he was holding, as the Wanderer comes to his feet, walking through the flames and the carnage; after a moment, Marius follows him into the snow]

Marius: [voiceover] Why did I follow him? I don't know. Why do things happen as they do in dreams? All I know is that when he beckoned, I had to follow him. From that moment, we travelled together. East... always into the East.

---

[cinematic leading into Act II - Marius following the Wanderer across the deserts of Aranoch]

Marius: [voiceover] We travelled east, over the mountains and into the vast deserts of broken lands. As the days passed, my companion told me of himself, that he had once been a great warrior, and that a dark and secret burden now weighed heavily upon him. [Marius struggles with the packbeast as the narration goes; shortly after, the packbeast collapses and dies] We travelled for an eternity across that barren wasteland. How long... I couldn't say. And always, a dark cloud seemed to follow us, just over the horizon. Finally, the journey ended. We climbed the last ridge, and there below us lay our destination...[Marius and the Wanderer look over a great coastal city] The shining jewel, Lut Gholein, with the Great Sea beyond. We made camp that last night. [at the campfire, the Wanderer stares intently at Marius as he sleeps] Perhaps it was the warm desert wind or the sound of the ocean, but for the first time in many weeks, I slept. However, the dreams returned.

[flashback of a man, held by two others, in a deep tomb]

Marius: [voiceover]: But these were clearly not my own. I behold a vision of a great man - the mage, Tal Rasha. You were there, too, Tyrael. I remember seeing you in my dream. His brethren had cornered a great demon - Baal, Lord of Destruction, who had been set loose upon the world. They attempted to imprison the demon within a sacred stone... yet, when their attempts failed, Tal Rasha selflessly volunteered to contain the demon within himself, completing the prison. He instructed his brethren to bind him within a great tomb, buried under the sand, there to wrestle with the demon for all eternity.

[Tal Rasha screams in torment, and Marius suddenly awakens from his dream to find the Wanderer staring at him]

The Wanderer: Now you know what I seek, Marius. This is my brother. Sleep now; we set out with the dawn.

Marius: [voiceover] The next morning, we walked over the hill toward Lut Gholein. I had no idea then of the horrors that were in store for me there.

---

[cinematic leading into Act III - at the Tomb of Tal Rasha]

Marius: [voiceover] My companion drew in the dank, cold air of the tomb. It seemed to... strengthen him. I stood in the doorway between light and dark. What was left of my sanity implored me not to enter. But that voice was just a whisper now. As we worked our way down, deeper and deeper into the crypt, I began to see a change in my companion. He seemed to be gaining strength. I could hardly see in the gloom, but my companion seemed to know the way. We came at last to a great hall.

[bats are heard in the hall, as the Wanderer halts in the middle of the room, Marius at his side with a torch... suddenly, the Wanderer screams in agony, as demonic features begin showing more apparently on his face]

Marius: [voiceover] It was then I realized my companion hadn't been gaining strength. He had been losing what was left of his humanity.

[the Wanderer and Marius enter the tomb chamber, where Tal Rasha - now a withered husk, having grown tentacle-like appendages in his imprisonment - writhes and shrieks; the Wanderer approaches swiftly, hand outstretched to remove the Soulstone shard in his chest]

Marius: [voiceover] He moved with demonic speed, and then... then you appeared!

Tyrael: [wrapping part of his tendril-like wings around the Wanderer's wrist] Stop! The beast contained herein shall not be set free, not even by you!

[the Wanderer leaps at Tyrael and tackles him over the bridge; as the Wanderer tries to climb back onto the bridge, Tyrael's wings grasp him again and throw him across the room, as the angel tries to strike the Wanderer with his sword, El'druin. As they battle, Marius looks up at the possessed Tal Rasha]

Baal: Look what they've done to me! [Tal Rasha's still-living face flashes over the withered one] Release me! Help me!

[Marius makes his way carefully across the bridge as the Wanderer and Tyrael still battle one another]

Baal: Hurry... please hurry!

[Marius grasps the Soulstone shard in Tal Rasha's chest, and begins to pull...]

Tyrael: No! Don't do it! [too late; Marius removes the Soulstone shard from Tal Rasha's chest, as Tyrael picks him up off his feet] Fool! You have just ensured the doom of this world! You cannot even begin to imagine what you've set in motion this day! Go to the Temple of Light, in the eastern city of Kurast. There, you will find the gate to Hell opened before you. You must find the courage to step through that gate, Marius! Take the stone you hold to the Hellforge, where it will be destroyed. Now run! Take the stone and run!

[Tal Rasha's tentacles grasp Tyrael's sword arm and pull El'druin from his hand, sending it tumbling into the fire, as the twisted form breaks free of the prison and attacks; Marius runs out of the door of the tomb]

Marius: [voiceover] What choice did I have? I ran.

---

[cinematic leading into Act IV - in the Temple City of Travincal in Kurast, Marius enters the Durance of Hate, finding three figures standing at the gateway to Hell]

Marius: [voiceover] I did as you told me, Tyrael. I found the temple of the Zakarum. In the deepest recesses of the temple, I found a dark gathering. My companion, the Wanderer; Tal Rasha; and a Great Evil, who could only be the Lord of Hatred himself... Mephisto! [shaking voice] I heard a voice then, like a thousand needles in my heart...

Mephisto: My brothers, at long last, we stand reunited! The Infernal Gate has been prepared, and the time of our final victory is at hand! Let the way to Hell be opened! [Mephisto, the Wanderer, and Tal Rasha begin channelling energy into the portal] And the evil that was once vanquished shall rise anew. Wrapped in the guise of Man shall he walk amongst the innocent, and Terror shall consume they that dwell upon the earth. [a whirlwind of bones begins swirling around the room] The skies shall rain fire, and the seas will become as blood! The righteous shall fall before the wicked, and all Creation shall tremble before the burning standards of Hell!

Marius: [voiceover, sobbing] What I saw then was not meant for mortal eyes!

Mephisto: The Gate stands ready! [the Wanderer screams as his skin begins to split open, and blood rushes from his temples; he collapses to the ground] Now, my young brother, the time has come to assume your true form! [the Wanderer's robe shreds as he transforms into a monstrous, horned creature, with great spines on its back] Arise, Diablo... Lord of Terror! [Diablo tosses aside the ragged remnants of his robe, and marches towards the open gateway] You are the harbinger of our return, Diablo! Send forth your Terror into Hell! [Diablo turns and disappears into the portal; driven utterly mad, Marius collapses against the wall, staring at the shard of Baal's Soulstone he carried...]

---

[closing cinematic, after Diablo is defeated - at the asylum, Marius concludes his story to his visitor]

Marius: I heard later that he was defeated. [flashback to Diablo's defeat, and the destruction of both his and Mephisto's Soulstones] And that the Soulstones were destroyed at the Hellforge... all except one. [breaks down sobbing] I failed, Tyrael. I couldn't do as you asked... I couldn't enter that gate! Forgive me, Tyrael... forgive me...

The Hooded Man: Marius. Give me the stone, and all is forgiven. [Marius reaches under his shirt, pulling out the shard he still carries, and looks up pleadingly at his visitor] Give it to me, Marius.

Marius: Take it! Take it, take it! I'm glad this is finally over, Tyrael! Look what the stone has done to me! [sobbing]

The Hooded Man: [takes the stone from Marius' hand] You haven't failed, old man. You've done exactly as you were meant to do. However... I am not the Archangel Tyrael.

[the hooded man raises the stone to his face - revealing the ravaged visage of Tal Rasha!]

Marius: Baal! No! No, no, no, no! [breaks down sobbing and gibbering]

Baal: [laughing] You have done well, Marius. Now I think you should have your reward!

Marius: [gibbering] Oh, what have I done to deserve this...

[Baal raises a hand, and tentacles reach out from the sleeve of his robe; leaving Marius dead on the floor, he walks out of the cell, fire consuming the asylum around him as he leaves in triumph]

Lord of Destruction (2001) Dialogue

Baal: [from the cinematic trailer] I have walked the earth, always searching for that which will make me whole. High in the mountains of Kae Huron, deep within Mount Arreat lies that thing. I shall have it. My brothers will not have died in vain...and I shall rule...unchallenged!

---

[opening cinematic, at the gates of Sescheron in the Barbarian Highlands, a herald comes out to view a great demonic army carrying banners. As the herald holds his own banner up, the four banners at the front move, two to the side, to make way for a great throne, carried by demon warriors]

Herald: Baal... [behind him the great gates slam shut, and he turns with a despairing look upon the army, before raising his voice] Baal, the gates of Sescheron have stood for eons beyond remembrance, and you shall not breach them now! Remove your foul demons from our lands! We stand on the side of Light! You shall not be allowed to reach Mount Arreat, and that which you seek will not be yours!

Baal: ENOUGH!!!

[the single word echoes throughout the mountainside, as the herald drops his banner and covers his ears; as the sound fades, he removes his hat and stares fearfully at Baal]

Baal: I shall take your position into consideration.

[leaning back, Baal channels power through the Soulstone shard around his neck, causing a great wind to blast the banners on Sescheron's walls skyward... then sends two ethereal tentacles out from his hands, waving across the air and into the back of the herald, exploding him on the spot]

Baal: [chuckling] Well, it seems your terms... are not acceptable! [chuckling rises to maniacal laughter as the banners turn sideways, and his army storms the gates of Sescheron]

External links

• Diablo II official webpage