The faux war nerd-a-thon between Stephen Colbert and the Decemberists came to a conclusion on The Colbert Report last night with a guitar competition dubbed "Rock'n'Awe: Countdown to Guitarmageddon." (Click here for video of the whole episode.)

Colbert brought out an eclectic group of big guns for the night, including Henry Kissinger, New York Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer, Peter Frampton, Morley Safer of 60 Minutes, and Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen. He also broke out some smaller guns, not the least of which were his tattoo-laden biceps after he ripped off the sleeves of his suit jacket prior to the guitar competition.

Safer introduced the episode, breaking out lines like, "Rasputin of riffs" and "Socrates of shred." Spitzer, Rolling Stone scribe Anthony DeCurtis, and Grammy-winning producer/engineer Jim Anderson served as judges for the event.

Apples in Stereo frontman Robert Schneider performed a brief homage to Colbert before Decemberists' multiinstrumentalist Chris Funk represented his band in the competition. The rest of the band stayed home in Portland, Oregon, "probably growing hemp and trying to come up with a pretentious word that rhymes with salamander," according to Colbert.

After Kissinger declared, "Stephen, it is time to rock," it was Colbert's turn, and he appeared holding a five-neck guitar that he borrowed from Nielsen, who composed the theme song for The Colbert Report.

The funnyman immediately "injured" himself, fake blood and all, and Frampton appeared on an adjacent stage, ripping into a furious solo accompanied by his famous talkbox.

Colbert claimed a dubious victory, shouting, "First prize is a copy of The Crane Wife by the Decemberists--I love the Decemberists, they rock--in your face, Chris Funk."

Frampton, Funk, Schneider, Nielsen, and Colbert then performed an "all-star guitar jam" of the show's theme song onstage together, with Colbert playing the talkbox. The entire night was filmed on a green screen, of course, allowing fans to reanimate the festivities if they so desire.

The tongue-in-cheek squabble between Colbert and the Decemberists kicked off late last month over the band's use of a green-screen contest that called for fans to reanimate the band in a variety of settings for the music video of the song "O Valencia!" Colbert dubbed the band copycats, and eventually the parties scheduled last night's guitar competition.