"My former brethren Dumah and Rahab confronted me next – this all seemed so elegantly choreographed. Exhilarated by the Reaver, I was drunk with revelations... I could finally appreciate the delicious irony of Kain's blasphemous, private joke – and I reveled as I colluded with him across the centuries. For it was I who put these bastards in their tomb – thus providing the corpses for Kain to raise as his vampire sons a millennium from now."
When Raziel reached the Sanctuary area of the Stronghold, portcullises (and other locked gates) sealed the exits and he was he was confronted by the second pair of inquisitors - Rahab and Dumah. Unlike other 'boss' battles in the series, the battles with the inquisitors had no puzzle aspect to them and were treated the same as any regular combat encounter - albeit against incredibly powerful opposition and with Raziel invincible due to the effects of the Reaver.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9]
At a distance all the inquisitors would walk slowly, while in direct combat Rahab had power, speed, health and defensive capabilities far exceeding that of ordinary enemies. Armed with a Sarafan sword, Rahab was a close-range fighter (broadly comparable to Sarafan warrior swordsmen), attacking viciously and often with a series of deadly sword strikes, frequent lunges and relentless blocking, but also being somewhat vulnerable to counters and sidesteps himself. Appearing together with Dumah also allowed Rahab to double-team Raziel, preventing any offensive maneuvers on his part. With Raziel's Health coil sustained by the Reaver, any damage was healed almost immediately, making the defeat of the inquisitors inevitable. Upon Rahab's death his soul was released but quickly rose away, and when both inquisitors were defeated Raziel headed into the choir and a confrontation withTurel.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9][Soul Reaver 2 strategy guide (Prima)]
Notes[]
The battles against the warrior inquisitors in Soul Reaver 2 are arguably not true boss encounters. Unlike battles against major characters in other titles in the series, these battles were confined to a final 'rush' at the climax of the game, contained only regular combat with no puzzle element, conferred no special abilities upon completion and did not mark the end of 'levels' - apparently efforts by developers to avoid the artificial nature of levels and boss battles. The final rush arguably begins at the onset of Blade of Vengeance, as after leaving Janos Audron's Retreat Raziel is confronted by increasingly difficult battles against various Demons utilizing Combat barriers (each similarly marked by a cutscene), culminating in the battles with the inquisitors.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9]
In game files, textures used for Rahab are labelled as "rahab".[Soul Reaver 2]
The Sarafan Rahab mural in the Chapter House in the Pre-Blood Omen era
With Rahab's death, the Reaver can be seen drinking his Blood and his soul can be observed departing the body. The souls of the inquisitors, destined to become lieutenants in Kain's empire, were colored blue unlike other human souls (which were yellow) and quickly rose away, unable to be consumed by Raziel or the Reaver (hinting at later revelations about the nature of the blade).[Soul Reaver 2/9] After his death, Rahab's body was taken with the other inquisitors and interred in the Tomb of the Sarafan, providing the corpses for Kain to revive as a lieutenants a millennium later, keeping them ignorant of their human lives.[Soul Reaver 2/9][Soul Reaver/9]
Using the debug menu it is possible to skip passed the scene where Raziel gains the Reaver and battle the inquisitors unarmed without the healing effects of the Reaver, presenting a much greater gameplay challenge than the usual fight where Raziel is invincible. This allowed Raziel to enter the Spectral Realm in these locations and recover the Pikes (and swords) of the inquisitors as weapons, but did not allow Raziel to consume their souls, which were unaffected by attempts to devour them.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9]
The order of the 'boss' encounters in Soul Reaver 2 also closely matches the order of boss encounters (and by extension the revival and ranking order of the VampireCouncil members) in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver,[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver] with Rahab - likely the fourth created and ranked of the lieutenants (third-weakest),[2] the third encountered in each title[Soul Reaver/11][Soul Reaver 2/9] - though here he is fought along with Dumah, whose direct participation in Raziel's execution presumably related to seniority over Rahab.[Soul Reaver/1][2] This ranking is not necessarily related to human age, with Raziel acknowledged as the youngest and Turel the oldest at the time of their human deaths.[1]
This article is about the battle against Rahab in Soul Reaver 2. For the boss battle against Rahab in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, see Rahab (Soul Reaver boss). For character details, see Rahab.
Some questions about SR2 Sarafan at DCabDesign (by Lexy), post #3 (by Daniel Cabuco)
