Cryptonomicon discussion

Does anybody have a theory to explain his appearance at the end of the book?

Ever out for what he considers to be morally correct, and equipped with his Luddite-appeasing bow-and-arrows, he hopes to exact what is essentially revenge (although he might see it as karma) on the protagonists.

Yeah, I was also surprised to see this showdown at the end.
I hadn't Andrew Loeb on my radar at all. He was mentioned two or three times in the middle of the book, but it had not the impression that he will be such a lethal threat, especially in the middle of nowhere in the Philippines.
Still don't really understand it.

He kind of drops out of no where sadly, because everything else in the book is pretty well foreshadowed, and then it feels like they needed someone to die for some reason..

He is Ares.

I like Bruce's theory (or is it based on the prequels?)

It really felt like the author just needed to complete that plot thread and this was the easiest way to do it. Andrew Loeb's character, up until that point, never seemed like the type for direct confrontation. Rather, he be more likely just to continue being a dick at every opportunity until he died of old age.

A fortune in hidden treasure does a great job in raising dick-ishness levels.

And how is it that, for the climax, everyone suddenly knows exactly where the treasure is. The book made a big deal out of the protagonists solving that puzzle but not only did everyone else also figure it out but they did so at the exact same moment so they could converge simultaneously.

The Shayne-Train wrote: "A fortune in hidden treasure does a great job in raising dick-ishness levels."
Shayne-Train, yes, exactly!

J wrote: "And how is it that, for the climax, everyone suddenly knows exactly where the treasure is. The book made a big deal out of the protagonists solving that puzzle but not only did everyone else also f..."
J, I thought, at heart, this story to be a treasure hunt for the kid in all of us. Remember how, at the end of "The Goonies", all the kids watch the ship sail away? Reminded me so much of this book.