Final Control Room

"Down with the revolution, boys! It was never meant to be."

The Final Control Room was a secret trapped room near L'Manberg built by Eret during the Dream Team SMP vs. L'Manberg War. It is infamously known for Eret's betrayal of L'Manberg during the war. It was also the first place where the phrase "It was never meant to be." was used, a phrase that would become a recurring one throughout L'Manberg's history.

The Final Control Room is iconic, and used in many animatics and fanart. It is usually depicted as a small dark room with chests around the walls and a sign in the entrance from the tunnel.

After its original use on the final day of the war, it fell into disuse and was avoided, with most L'Manberg citizens experiencing PTSD from the events in the room. Later, it was used during Technoblade's execution and the Quackity vs Technoblade Duel on December 16, 2020. The room was confirmed to have survived the Doomsday War when Eret returned to it on January 20, 2021, in order to replicate it in his museum.

Appearance
It was a small room made of blackstone with a couple of soul fire lanterns, a sign in the entrance from the main tunnel and a button in the center of the room. The button was connected to redstone lamps that would give the Dream SMP the go-ahead to attack whoever was in the room. It had chests with the names of the L'Manberg members on them. It was surrounded by a series of secret tunnels for the attackers to come out from. It included a piston door to lock the victims in and a piston wall where the backtrackers could hide. It was also connected to a secret tunnel leading to a room with some chests, where Dream SMP was planning to hold all the L'Manbergians' items hostage after the betrayal. There was also a 1x1 block hole straight through the ceiling to the surface dug by Eret so that the Dream SMP members could come into the room from the surface if necessary.

Currently, the room is in bad shape, but still easily recognizable. It is missing most of its front and back walls and there is an extra chest with Technoblade's name placed by Dream between the chests for Tubbo and Eret. The tunnel leading to the room was widened for Carl's passage, but was littered by blocks during the Duel. A new tunnel was made through the back to the sewer system and a large hole in the wall of the tunnel leads out into the Disruption Hole. Many of the secret tunnels leading to the room as well as some redstone bits were destroyed due to Tommy making the Disruption Hole, narrowly missing the Final Control Room. While the room is still accessible, it can no longer be used for its original function.

Dream Team SMP vs. L'Manberg War
During the final battles of the Dream Team SMP vs. L'Manberg War, Eret said to the L'Manbergians that he had been grinding for a secret weapon that could help them in the war. He said that it would involve the element of surprise, foreshadowing the following events. He led them to a tunnel from L'Manberg to the Final Control Room. Everyone's shock at seeing the room quickly changed to confusion as Wilbur noticed that there was nothing in the chests. Tommy pressed the button in the center of the room, giving the Dream SMP the go-ahead to burst out of holes in the walls of the room and attack L'Manberg while Eret retreated and hid in a tunnel. L'Manberg was cornered and unprepared against the Dream SMP and very quickly fell, each member losing their first canon life. Then, Eret said his infamous lines and celebrated with Dream SMP about the successful betrayal, while L'Manberg were at a loss for words. This betrayal cost L'Manberg a massive amount of resources, meaning they had practically nothing to fight with.

After the trade deal between Tommy and Dream that secured L'Manberg's independence, Dream led Wilbur into the Room. Wilbur started to have PTSD from the room, but Dream led him to a secret room connected to it which contained all the stuff taken from L'Manberg from the betrayal, saying that they were not savages to steal L'Manberg's stuff. Wilbur thanked him and rejoined the L'Manberg group.

It was later revealed that Eret had betrayed them to become the king of Dream SMP, although as he would later realize, it was a figurehead title. Eret also said that he had betrayed L'Manberg because he felt that they were disrupting the peace of the SMP and that by betraying them, he would get the kingship and restore peace at the same time. However, he regretted it deeply in the coming months. Not only had L'Manberg turned out much better than he expected, he was isolated from all his former friends because of the betrayal and from the Dream SMP citizens due to his high position and his former allegiances. The kingship had also turned out to be a harmful position to him, not giving him enough power to change things for the good and also distancing and alienating everyone from him due to his status.

Despite most of the events in the L'Manberg War being scripted, Eret, Wilbur and Tommy have confirmed that the L'Manberg side were not informed about the betrayal and were genuinely shocked by it. Wilbur and Tommy have both called Eret's betrayal one of their favourite moments of the SMP.

The line "It was never meant to be." became an important one in the history of the SMP, being used at very important moments in the server. It was used twice more by Wilbur and Niki during the Manberg vs Pogtopia War and the Doomsday War in nearly the exact same fashion, a massive L'Manberg loyalist losing hope in L'Manberg and saluting one final time while committing a final act of grave treachery against their once-beloved nation. It has been used in other plot-important moments and has been referenced by most of the players on the SMP in some form or the other.

Technoblade's execution
After Technoblade survived his execution using a totem of undying, he escaped the country while L'Manberg was busy fending off Punz. Techno saw Dream leading Carl into a tunnel and ran after him, soon entering the Final Control Room. A new chest had been placed in the room with Technoblade's name on it, containing armor, tools and other equipment for him. He equipped himself and tried to lead Carl out through the tunnel when Quackity showed up.

Quackity vs Technoblade Duel
Quackity, not knowing the history of the room, similar to Technoblade, asked him what it was and how the anvil hadn't killed him. After some monologuing and taunting from the both of them, Quackity began attacking Technoblade. Techno won the duel using potions and a netherite pickaxe, taking one of Quackity's canon lives. He then stole Quackity's near-maxed-out gear and ran out into the sewer system with Carl, successfully escaping the execution.

Aftermath of the Duel
Later, Technoblade and Tommy were walking in the sewers under the server, trying to find a place to make a secret base, when Technoblade showed Tommy the Final Control Room in which the duel took place, not knowing the history of the room. Tommy started getting PTSD and started running away, followed by a confused Technoblade, trying to calm him down and find out about the room. Tommy would not talk about the room and quickly shifted the topic.

Fundy's rediscovery
On April 1, 2021, Fundy was doing an April Fools prank on his viewers by blowing up structures on a copy of the Dream SMP world to freak out his viewers. While roaming near L'Manberg, he noticed a hole in the ground that lead straight to the Final Control Room. He stacked the hole full of TNT and completely exploded it. This confirms that the Room in the real server was not destroyed during the Doomsday War, remaining untouched since the Duel.

Tommy faces his fears
On April 27, 2021, Tommy decided he needed to face his fears head-on instead of hiding away from them. He visited Logstedshire first and then decided to visit the replica of the Final Control Room in Eret's museum. He stayed in there for some time and found an apology book from Eret in a chest saying, "I'm sorry". Tommy forgave Eret for the betrayal saying that "times have changed, and so have people". He kept the book back and came out of the replica room.

Trivia

 * The Final Control Room is the deadliest place on the SMP, with 5 people losing a canon life each in or near the Room: Tubbo, Tommy, Wilbur, Fundy, and Quackity.
 * It also holds the record for the most canon lives taken in a single event (4).
 * The Room is the oldest L'Manberg structure to remain mostly intact. As of December 2021, it is 16 months old (three times as old as L'Manberg itself).

VODS
