I was just thinking a little while ago: Alric's plan of throwing Balor's head into the Devoid was to separate the Leveller from the mortal realm, and hence end the cycle. But... what if all Alric did was to separate the B spirit from the mortal realm? When Alric becomes the Leveller in a thousand years' time, Balor would be unable to manifest as a great hero to oppose him, leading to a far more intense Dark age than would have happened had Balor been victorious in the Sword Age.
And before someone adds that the victor is predetermined according to the cycle, and that Alric shattered it... this doesn't seem to be the case. Yes, the cycle shows the crossover of the A and B spirits, taking it in turns as the Great Hero and Leveller alternately, but consider: Before the rise of humanity, the Trow crushed one of Wyrd's races every 1000 years. Presumably, each of these races was led by a Leveller (or concievably a Great Hero, but a Leveller is more likely, given the Trow's distrust of Balor in that he wore "the mantle of the Leveller"). The Trow won every time, suggesting that while the cycle will determine which spirit manifests itself as the Leveller, it will not determine which is victorious.
Opinions?
