This has a very nice, subtle echo of 537. You can just imagine the thoughts going through Celia's head as things start to go downhill ... "Uh-oh. How can we talk our way through this now?!" But Belkar's an adventurer, and knows exactly what to do. As Celia said last episode ... "It's really only adventurers who think, 'Hmm, how can I solve this problem? Oh, right, bloodshed!'"
Of course, for Belkar, sometimes the problem he's trying to solve is 'not enough bloodshed'.
I love the fact that the goblin with the clipboard's expressions during the last 5 of 6 panels are the same....until he gets the promotion...what a good smile!
I think that last panel would look good on a t-shirt too...