I don't understand… how could you have done this? You weren't meant to be so important… and now you think to destroy me? How dare you, insect?

　　The first leg of this odyssey is finally over. The preliminary skirmish has ended. The first chapter of this tale has drawn to a close. The chips have fallen where they…did.

　　And on an entirely unrelated note, round 1B of GameSpot's All-Time Greatest Villain has ended, and now the battle has been well and truly joined by eight more finalists.

　　Behold, the victors of round 1B:

　　Kefka Palazzo Sweet Tooth Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde Sarah Kerrigan The Shredder Bowser Heihachi Mishima The Master Captain Qwark General RAAM Jon Irenicus Shao Kahn Team Rocket Dr. Breen Wario Akuma Are you ready for the next round of voting? This time, the stakes are higher. Yes, the hopes and dreams of many have already been dashed, but that means even richer prizes await those who pick the best brackets. Behold, the next round of competition!

　　Albert Wesker vs. Mother Brain - The treacherous rogue S.T.A.R.S. operative is bringing the Killer 7 with him to do battle with the brains behind the planet Zebes' criminal operations. Ares vs. Ganondorf - The original god of war squares off against the legendary bandit lord of Hyrule. Can the Triforce of Power prevail against godhood itself? Donkey Kong vs. The Joker - Rest assured, Donkey Kong has a whole mess of barrels ready for his epic encounter with the Clown Prince of Crime. Hey there, monkey! Why so serious? Psycho Mantis vs. Arthas Menethil - The evil psychic of the Metal Gear Solid series can read minds…but can he prevail against the Lich King when Frostmourne is brought to bear? Darth Malak vs. M. Bison - One has no lower jaw. One wears a vaguely bus driver-like hat. Both are masters of mystic evil powers. Dr. Wily vs. Diablo - Dr. Wily! The guy's a friggin' genius! But can he conquer the lord of all left clicks, Diablo himself? Andrew Ryan vs. Kane - Both men are fanatics. Both men truly believe they have a vision for a better world. In a sense, both men are winners. But to put it another, more accurate, way, only one of these megalomaniacs will be the winner. GLaDOS vs. Darth Vader - The manipulative artificial intelligence GLaDOS stole all of our hearts just by lying to us about pastries. Yet she faces the dark lord of the Sith, Force choker of those who lack faith, and utterer of "Noooo's," Darth Vader himself. Kefka Palazzo vs. Sweet Tooth - Admit it. You knew this match was coming. Evil clown squares off against evil clown in this epic (but brightly colored) matchup. Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde vs. Sarah Kerrigan - Whether or not you gobble them up, these four ghosts from Pac-Man keep coming at you. Will the Queen of Blades' psychic powers and dominion over the Zerg swarm prevail against these iconic video game villains? The Shredder vs. Bowser - The leader of the Foot Clan has trained his martial arts skills for years for this fight…against the scourge of the Mushroom Kingdom himself, Bowser. Heihachi Mishima vs. The Master - The toughest 70-year-old man in video games brings his spiky hair and thunderous fists into battle against The Master, a nightmarish creature whose perfect vision of the future involved nothing less than total extermination of the human race. Captain Qwark vs. General RAAM - The glorious Captain Qwark is overjoyed at winning round 1 and ready to rumble with the biggest, baddest soldier in the Locust army. Jon Irenicus vs. Shao Kahn - See how weak you are. See how you fall to their muscle and skill. Jon Irenicus takes on the undisputed lord and master of Outworld. Shao Kahn will accept the gifts offered to him! Team Rocket vs. Dr. Wallace Breen - Team Rocket has Meowf loaded up in a Pokeball and they're ready to take on the scientist and bureaucrat who surrendered the Earth to the mysterious Combine. Wario vs. Akuma - In this corner, a villain with a big mouth, sticky fingers, and a totally sweet mustache. And in this corner, the raging demon of the Street Fighter series. Round 2. Fight!

　　Get ready for a whole new round of competition and cast your votes for the next battle. Prizes and new achievements await! iPhone users can head over to iphone.gamespot.com to vote remotely by clicking on the banner.