I think none of us question that there was something special about Alric soon after we were introduced to him in TFL... that he wasn't *just* a member of The Nine.
I myself was very impressed with how he'd worked out during the years between TFL and SB, as he went form a pretty wussy looking sorceror to a buff dude in armor...
...but jokes aside, Alric was never portrayed as a sympathetic character, you know? He was portrayed distantly, giving me the impression that something was hanging over him, something ominous. Perhaps the inevitable fall from grace and return to the lands as The Leveller.
After all, the jury's still out on whether the cycle was broken, right?
-D
