Well, both contestants put up entries to be proud of, but we can obviously have only one winner. So here we go.

Claude brought back several familiar faces and gave them all their just part in his rendition of the final round, delivering blow after blow with Pilot's backstory, a MUSICAL battle with the Thralls, Pilot's revenge, Fractal's slow breakdown, Hubb hunting down Lee, Ewan and Jack's interaction and eventual team up, a titanic fight with Plus and Minus, an epic cliffhanger, and several other smaller events strung together into one solid round that continues smoothly from his last matches.

Elli may not have had as many mini climaxes as Claude's story, but the battle between Jack and baron was awesome, the final realization between Jack and Kyan was touching, and the TWEEEEEST toward the end was mind-bending, admirable, a great use of her opponent and setting, and freaking epic. If Claude's story was a rhythmic wave then Elli's was a rising slope.

While Claude's ending didn't feel like it brought as much together as Elli's in terms of an explanation to all the mystery, the story felt like it had a lot more spirit and stronger interaction between the finalist characters. Jack is remarkable, but Ewan has become, well, timeless. Through his run here Claude has practically defined the feeling of the Spire.

Ewan the Immortal is the winner.


Congratulations Claude and Elli, and thank you both again for sharing your stories with us all five rounds. Everyone, please give them a hand.

Expect a conclusion to be posted eventually as we work with Claude and our own time frames to get what he wants out of it.