Look, Chris, Dan is right. It's ridiculous to keep this theory alive while there is no evidence. You make reference to some being there, but the only thing I've read by you is that Soulblighter "did some strange things" elsewhere in the game and "is probably working with the Head." Neither of these provide direct evidence as to why he isn't trying to prevent the destruction of Balor, nor do they refute any of the points I bring up. Especially noteworthy is the second one, which, as Dan explains, is irrefutable--everyone there to see Soulblighter will die soon. He has no one to fool. Besides, let me state the obvious--this is a conventional FANTASY/ADVENTURE game, not the X-files. You're making things out to be way, way too complicated. You say I'm making it too simple, but this is as simple as it gets: objective is to throw head into the devoid. Soulblighter tries to kill you. He wants the head himself, actually asks for it. Unless he has the intent to take it and throw it in himself, seeing as there really is NO reason he would go to all that effort, and which you pose as a theory but cannot give it any plausibility, there is simply only one conclusion: he doesn't want the head to go into the hole.
As for the recuperation idea, this, I admit, is an as yet unproven theory. The two big pieces of evidence that I have are that 1) Alric says the Fallen Lords rely on Balor, and, as I said above, the good people at Bungie try not to confuse us, and 2) Soulblighter flees for sixty years! Why? Well, it says somewhere in Myth II (the manual or a pre-game text, I just can't remember, but it's something written by Bungie) that Soulblighter went back to the dark temple where he originally learned the ways of the Dark to recuperate. From what? Clearly, the loss of Balor was a problem. Also, it isn't farfetched at all--we don't know what kind of powers the Deceiver had before and after the death of Balor, but the very fact that he was defeated in the Cloudspine might point to some sort of weakness (which the battle with The Watcher certainly contributed to but may not have been the sole cause of). Also, Soulblighter, in "The Great Devoid," can be hurt by berserks, something he is essentially immune to all througout Myth II. I wonder if his invincibility isn't some sort of ability he temporarily lost because of Balor's death.
Anyway, the only reason I brought all that up was because I really doubt that the captor of Alric in the Barrier was anyone but Balor. I think Alric could see through any disguise, or, as I postulated before, Alric simply got the information wrong, or the theory posed here is correct (meaning the info wasn't wrong at all).
