: I won't respond to whether or not the Deceiver is chummy
: with Alric, or whatever. My opinion is just that it
: really was Balor who captured Alric. The problem with
: Chris's two theories is that, in each case, the
: Deceiver could just have chosen to personally meet
: with Alric and give him false info or, alternatively,
: let him go after capturing him.
Like WW brings up, its incredibly hard to meet with your "enemy" secretly without others knowing. By setting up this "capture" they could meet for not just a few hours (like a secret meeting would restrict them to) but for weeks. In turn, the Deceiver will have his reputation as evil heightened.
But, I'm leaning towards either the Deceiver worked things out with Alric during Alric's captivity, or the Deceiver tricked Alric by impersonating Balor.
Chris says that the
: Deceiver captured Alric on his own initiative, that
: Balor had no idea this was going on. He also responds
: to the idea that the Deceiver could have just met with
: Alric instead of holding him captive: OK...so the
: Deceiver CAN secretly mobilize an army (we're talkin
: two levels' worth of units, from "The Five
: Champions" and "Out of the Barrier") to
: capture and hold an Avatara, without Balor
: knowing...but he CAN'T secretly meet in person with
: Alric to give him false information. See the problem
: here?
No, Balor *knew* the Deceiver captured Alric, I've said this already. But, the Deceiver will claim that Alric was rescued before Balor has a chance to decide what he wants done with Alric (remember, there are no telephones. By the time word reached Balor of Alric's captivity, and Balor sent his reply back, Alric was probably gone by then.) I've never said Balor didn't know Alric was captured, he just didn't know what went on during his captivity.
: Also, the whole problem with the theory is that, if the
: Deceiver wanted the Nine to use his false info, Alric
: would have had to escape alive. Yet we see all the
: enemies in "Five Champs" and "Out of
: the Barrier" trying to kill you and, if your guys
: die, we get a defeat seen showing Alric's dessicated
: corpse.
But, the heroes didn't die. And that's how the story goes.
: First, there is a shade ("Out of the Barrier").
: Second, you fail to address the theory I offer. Balor
: probably expected an attack over the Cloudspine. He
: was probably waiting there with his army the whole
: time, far west of where Alric actually was. By waiting
: on top of the mountain, he gets the ultimate height
: advantage. Why let the Light cross the mountain, their
: greatest obstacle? Military strategy would dictate not
: that you let the enemy get as close to their target as
: is possible, but rather preempt the attack.
I've addressed this. I said that no matter what Balor might have been waiting for, in terms of a military attack, he should have had someone moving Alric farther and farther away. After all, the Legion fought 500,000 (!) Dark soldiers at Balor's fortress, and this is after the Watcher and Deceiver's armies killed each other off. I think he could spare a few thousand to guard Alric. Balor is not dumb, and if he truly had Alric in his grasps, he would have done something more with him.
: Also, Balor just may not have forseen something like
: paratroops...it might be unprecedented, he just may
: not be familiar with Dwarven technology (he's been out
: of the picture for a thousand years)
But back in it for over a hundred years. The start of the Great War does not mark his arrival on the scene.
: Also, you're making lots of assumptions as to what an
: appropriate guard force is. We don't know to what
: extent the resources of the Dark exist
As I've said, there were 500,000 troops waiting for the Legion at Balor's fortress. At the time of Alric's captivity, the Watcher and Deceiver both had full armies. I think Balor could spare a few thousand. Plus, the rescue took place in November, just as the mountains were freezing. It is stressed that the Legion will *not* attempt to cross the mountains during the winter, just hold their position and try to stop the Dark from advancing through the passes.
Balor knows the Legion would never attempt a large troop movement through the snow-filled mountains during the Winter.
...and we do
: know that the makers of Myth had to make it possible
: to win. Isn't it possible to say that the Dark tried
: to prevent your rescue of Alric, but, against all
: odds, you triumphed through trickery? (i.e., sending
: in a couple commandos instead of a full army).
Sure, I originally thought it was an amazing victory, but now I've come to realize that things are not as we originally saw them.
: Let's face it, the entire storyline of Myth is the
: Light triumphing against all odds, in their darkest
: hour—not because the Dark has a death wish, but
: because you're one lucky bastard.
Um, no its not. The *out-right* storyline for the game is you winning, but the actual story behind the Myth world is a totally different beast. Yes, the Legion won the war, but we don't know the motives behind the characters. I've just started reading The Black Company (great book, by the way and I praise this site for getting me into it) and if you're going to say every character who was presumed evil and obedient was in fact evil and obedient then you're fooling yourself. Same applies to Myth. Many things are not as they seem. Bungie is great at writing stories and they didn't intend on making another Good vs. Evil story, they added huge plot twists that don't scream at you, but instead need to be excavated.
"There are obviously many things which we do not understand, and may never be able to."
[Leela, Ship Operations AI, UESC Marathon]
Chris
