: The Head, imho, was against the Dark and the Light. Its
: hard to believe the head as Alric's victim... didn't
: he say that the nine should beware of the heard or
: something hwen he was out in the desert?
: maybe he doesnt believe he's evil, but how good can
: someone who practices necromancy and slaughter
: villages of innocent people be?
: Alric was off in the East during the whole Tain eppisode
: in Myth I
: It was a last ditch effort. The pivitol battles at
: Muirthemne changed the tide of the war!
: Okay, so maybe I seem like Alric's little puppet, but he
: seems like a hero. And if he's the leveller, how come
: Blor has the Leveller's armour?
One of the things I really like about this forum is that people are happy to correct me when I say something stupid. I was really just trying to be funny--and failing. Alric is obviously the hero... if Balor didn't realize he was evil, something had to be clouding his mind (maybe... oh, stop me, but maybe Soulblighter was really the brains of the outfit, hence M2, and he was using some kind of confusion dream on Connacht to make him act like that... oh, no, I can't do this...).
I will say three things:
Yes, Alric was betrayed by the head--but only Alric (right? the rest of its advice was good, wasn't it?). Maybe they had a special relationship, or the head knew Alric was up to no good... part of his being blown away by its betrayal might be that he thought he was really the puppetmaster, and the tables got turned on him...
The bit about Alric having nothing to do with the tain--right you are. My bad. And in fact in M2 Alric specifically details the units that kill the Summoner, so a lot of those theories are out the window (including the one elsewhere in this forum that Alric is a myrk-lover).
Lastly: retaking Muirthemne might have turned the tide, but it was still a huge risk, sacrificing (potentially) the entire West--Alric's homeland!--for total power. What if those dwarven paratroopers had landed right inside a dispersal dream? The west would be gone and Alric would have had an expensive and disastrous siege on his hands. Just like when he sacrificed the entire Legion for a shot at Balor. Maybe it's the hallmark of great military leadership to take those kinds of risks, but it is definitely not good statecraft, and I'd hate to be a subject of Emperor Alric. Do you think the President of the United States would choose to disable all airport security in the country, if it gave him a very slim chance of catching terrorists with their pants down? Bad metaphor, maybe, but I hope people see my point. Alric takes big chances based on his belief in us as brilliant strategists. If somebody never won the Balor level in Myth I or "Walls of Muirthemne", where would the people of Madrigal be now?
