Having gone back to meet him, I still have not managed to find him in S4. The only black elves I've met are guards. Deity updates: Slangg is useless, Lorag has some interesting commentary (and destroying Khare has some other consequences within S4), and I'm currently playing with Throff.
I found one benefit to having the Sun Serpent Orb. Spoiler If you encounter Flanker in the tower, instead of fighting him, break the orb to free the Sun Serpent. The Sun Serpent will fight Flanker. If you step into the fight and save Flanker right before he is about to be killed, the spell of the Crown over him will be broken. You can then proceed with Flanker to confront the Archmage, and Flanker can kill the Archmage for you. This is all without using the Potion of Dissolution or otherwise countering the Crown. It's as if Flanker is immune.
