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"So, vampire – here we are.
You've destroyed my brethren – and now you've come for me? You'll find I am not such easy prey."
―Sarafan Raziel — Listen (file info)[src]
SR2-DC-Renunciation-011

In the final areas of Soul Reaver 2, shortly after retrieving the Reaver, Raziel faced the Sarafan Sarafan commanders in a set of encounters through the Sarafan Stronghold. Defeating his former brethren in turn, Raziel was finally faced by the Sarafan Inquisitor Raziel - his former human self - as the 'final boss' of Soul Reaver 2.

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After witnessing the death of Janos Audron at the hands of the Sarafan commander group and recognizing his former human self was responsible for the act,[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/8][Soul Reaver 2/9] Raziel pursued them as they retreated to the Sarafan Stronghold carrying with them the Heart of Darkness and Reaver blade. Infiltrating the stronghold, Raziel was able to recover the Reaver during a brief confrontation with Malek and Moebius but soon found himself channeled into combat with the commanders themselves. Initially he was confronted with Melchiah and Zephon in the Cloister and then met Rahab and Dumah in the nave of Sanctuary, before defeating Turel in the choir.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9]

When Raziel progressed into the Chapter House, the exits were again sealed and he was faced with a confrontation with his former human self. Unlike other 'boss' battles in the series, the battles with the commanders 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/Epilogue]

At a distance all the commanders would walk slowly, while in direct combat Sarafan Raziel had power, speed, health and defensive capabilities far exceeding that of ordinary enemies, and even exceeding the subordinate commanders. Armed with a sarafan sword, Raziel 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. The second commander to be faced alone, Raziel represented a large step up in combat capability over the previously faced commanders. But with wraith Raziel's Health coil sustained by the Reaver, any damage was healed almost immediately, making the defeat of the commander inevitable. Upon the death of the human Raziel, the final epilogue cutscene revealed Raziel's ultimate fate as the Soul devouring entity trapped within the Soul Reaver and Kain's ignition of the sparing of Raziel by Kain in an attempt to avert it. [Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/Epilogue][Soul Reaver 2 strategy guide (Prima)]

Notes[]

  • The battles against the commanders 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 commanders.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9] Raziel's battle is something of an exception to this, as with Turel's battle marking the end of Chapter 9, Raziel's battle is classed as the only gameplay component to the Epilogue chapter - itself subtitled as Epilogue: the Final Confrontation and made up of the Raziel's battle and ensuing epilogue dealing with the sparing of Raziel by Kain.[Soul Reaver 2 strategy guide (Prima)] The battle is the final act of gameplay in Soul Reaver 2.[Soul Reaver 2]
  • In game files, textures used for the Sarafan Raziel are labelled as "razafan" and "mrd_rzfn" - the label "raziel" instead refers to the textures of wraith Raziel.[Soul Reaver 2]

See also[]

References[]

  1. Legacy of Kain Wiki:Daniel Cabuco portfolio
  2. Icon DCabDesign Some questions about SR2 Sarafan at DCabDesign (by Lexy), post #3 (by Daniel Cabuco)

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