: If Balor knew of his rowdy subordinates, why not do
: something about it? I'm sure the Fallen would have
: taken careful precautions to at least cover up their
: activities(the first activly apparent action being
: Watcher letting loose his army at Myrdred in Seven
: Gates). Balor does not seem to be the forgiving type
: of superior, I'm sure he would have all sorts of nasty
: surprises in store for unloyal servants, none of which
: any of the Fallen would be eager to test.
For all their imperfections, Balor's servants are the greatest warriors in the Known Lands. It's worth a little insubordination to have them fighting on your side. Of course, you gotta make sure they're spending enough time fighting for you and not too much plotting against you and each other--but if that was taken away, Myth wouldn't have much of a storyline. :-)
Remember that The Watcher and The Deceiver turned on each other years before TFL, after the battle for Tyr. And Balor knows something of his lieutenants' earlier history. He can't be unaware of the rivalries.
: I suspect Bungie threw in this fact as the true
: background to the Head, not expecting this type of
: analysis to occur.
Heh. "We're bored with this whole 1st-person narrator-isn't-omniscient-and-can-be-lied-to-or-misinformed deal. Too complicated. Let's just write down the facts in every forty-ninth sentence." ;-)
: Maybe his plans never made it that far. Often old foes
: save the best for last
Perhaps, but he sho' took his time...
: When I say Maogim, I mean Moagim reborn, whether he is
: the reincarnation of the original Moagim doesn't
: matter, just that he would have a vendetta against
: Connacht. The reborn part gets repetitive to type.
But Moagim Reborn was incinerated, with no hint that his head was kept around. And he was killed on the plains before Ilium--wherever that is, it's probably not yet another name for Muirthemne.
: The defeat of Shiver was merely a means to gain the trust
: of the Nine. What better way to weaken his rival and
: earn the trust of useful pawns in his game of revenge?
And he picked Shiver and The Watcher--the two most reliable Fallen Lords, allied to the Dark for millennia now and most likely his former loyal servants, with no prior allegiance to Connacht (unlike Damas and The Deceiver)--to sacrifice first? And then he turned on those useful Light pawns and decimated them, trusting to Alric's tiny band to make it through and finish off Balor single-handed? Woo, he cuts it a bit close...
: I don't think any mind possessed by the Leveler for an
: extended period would be completely untainted. The
: Head could be hopelessly insane, only plotting how
: better to get revenge on his foe. His actions that
: triggered the civil war could also point to his Dark
: past. Perhaps he thought the balance had shifted on
: the Lights side far enough and he decided to even the
: odds to make way for his ascension. The civil war does
: start up around the time when things are looking good
: for the Legion.
Yeah, he could be insane, but then what's the point of giving him *any* particular former identity? "He's the preserved head of Clark Gable, and he helped the Light and then betrayed them because...he's insane!" If his identity is relevant to the plot, then it's probably relevant to his behavior.
Round and round we go...
--SiliconDream
