As genre-savvy as Tarquin is, I half expect the next strip to be him saying "Wait, was that a cutaway panel? What did I just say? ...crap, revenge incoming, everybody back to the empire!".

Also, I still hope Sabine tries to kill Tarquin by tricking him. I don't care if he has a ring of true seeing. I can totally see him not letting her know he's on to her, using a sneak attack to try and kill her, and then have Sabine explain that she somehow managed to kill him anyway using some magnificent trap or whatever. Whether she makes it out alive or not, it would be pretty awesome either way.