: I don't the Deceiver has much free will, and was proably
: only able t work in an illusion. Balor wouldn't let
: him just let Alric go.
I'm getting confused, perhaps you can clarify...Balor bound the Deceiver, though probably knew the Deceiver hated him. The Deceiver captures Alric in the Barrier. Was this under orders from Balor? If yes, Balor is pretty damn dumb, knowing the Deceiver would find some way to subvert him (i.e., feeding Alric false info). Besides, why would the Deceiver bother to do all this (and risk getting caught by Balor), all the while believing Alric would be killed anyway (since, according to you, he couldn't just let Alric go) and thus would never act on this false info?
If he wasn't acting on orders from Balor, then you're sayiing the D was able to take an army and capture Alric on his own initiative, but couldn't let him go? Not much sense here...
Also, I think you're misinterpreting the way that Alric got this info. It never says "Balor told Alric they were bound to him." It just says that Alric learned it somehow. My theory is that just as Balor looked into Alric's mind, he inadvertantly let Alric look into his mind (like in Indpendednce Day, The X-files, etc.). Also, if you still think the info he was given wasn't really true (which is debatable), it may just be because Alric was in such a trying situation when he got this info.
