Though I generally found the Myth II storyline logical and compelling, I find the death of the Deceiver at the hands of Shiver incompatible with Myth lore. Are we to believe that the warlock that demonlished the Watcher, the "second or third most powerful magician in living memory," in direct combat would fall to the first Fallen Lord defeated in Myth 1? Perhaps her magic attacks were powerful, but are we to believe that such a powerful entity as the Deceiver (who also kicked the crap out of Soulblighter when they squared off) could not handle the one spell she casts in her death throes? While I was playing through the solo missions, I repeated the stage over and over, convinced that I did something wrong to get the Deceiver killed. Then, a thought hit me: perhaps it was all a deception (Deceiver, duh). This made sense in my mind for three reasons: 1) The Deceiver hated Soulblighter and would do anything to kill him; 2) the Deceiver was a former Fallen Lord, and was responsible for countless deaths of innocent civilians some 60 years ago; and 3) the Deceiver had already demonstrated that he could bend the wills of others to himself. Therefore, what better technique was there for the D. to employ than to weaken Soulblighter and his army to the brink of defeat, allow Alric and the Light armies to finish him off, and then destroy the meager resistence that was left and establish himself as the new king of the undead? It made sense to me, at least.
For that reason I eagerly awaited the final missions so that I could watch my prediction play itself out. Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed. Frankly, I think that the Deceiver was a great character, one who existed in the grey area between darkness and light. The way his death was handled (if he was truly killed) was unfortunate and didn't give his powers or stature justice. It also raises several questions, such as: what was the power distribution of the Fallen Lords? Are we to guage from Soulblighter's and Shiver's battles w/ D. that Shiver was indeed the better sorcerer of the two (b/w Soul. and her), but that Soul. was a better tactician? Did Shiver just get lucky (would the fact that she killed D. make her more powerful than the Watcher?)? Also, and perhaps more importantly, what was/is the role of Phelot? After his attack on Shiver's army, he left the battlefield neither foe nor ally. He was the agent of the Deceiver, and still lives--could the Deceiver make a comeback (possibly in Myth 3)? Too many unanswered questions. Enlighten me, if you will.
