just finished the game and i got few Q *spoiler!!*

[scorch]

I don't get it....
1. they all was in the rituel of isabel and no oine saw Biara doing magic?!?! FFS !! whats wrong with them!?!?
2. since when Isabel was in the effect of Sovrigan magic?? and does markal have something to do with that???
3. what a crappy ending!!! I hope that in the exp. they gonna make a better ending ( not 40 sec of outro!)
4. 12 times fought in the last map and thats what i get?!??!?!

I'm really...but really sad!! the last map was so easy ( play on hard ) and i thought it will be really intanse battles such as you only left 10 creatures....not 100!

[juventas]

The thing I didn't get is that the Sovereign said that he already had the child, and yet no one is worried at all! The good guy conversation seems to imply that the child had not been born yet! Which is it? Also, weren't they supposed to keep Isabel in captivity until she was purged? It seemed they just tossed her right back into the action without heeding Findan's word.

[Omega_Destroyer]

The ending was weak... really weak. I wasn't expecting a whole lot, but the plot twists were a bit obvious.

[Bandobras Took]

I don't get it....
1. they all was in the rituel of isabel and no oine saw Biara doing magic?!?! FFS !! whats wrong with them!?!?

I don't know, for some reason they were all staring at the girl in full plate rather than the half-naked dark elf. Weird. As I understood it, though, Biara's magic was to summon the Demon Sovereign, which may have been purely internal.

2. since when Isabel was in the effect of Sovrigan magic?? and does markal have something to do with that???

Not unless he's secretly Isabel's father. But I know it's mentioned somewhere that the Demon Sovereign managed to taint a newborn child the last time he broke out. The child was Isabel.

3. what a crappy ending!!! I hope that in the exp. they gonna make a better ending ( not 40 sec of outro!)

I'd look for further info in Dark Messiah, actually. Looks like they're meshing the story through different games in the same way that Heroes 2-4 did with Might & Magic 6-8.

On the whole, though, I was also confused about whether the child was born or not.

One possibility is that they cleansed the taint from Isabel, but the magic did not affect the embryo, and the child itself is corrupting Isabel from within the womb. It's possible that the Demon Sovereign was referring to conception rather than actual delivery. Or that he was lying about the child being born so that they wouldn't think to check whether Isabel is actually pregnant.

Anyway, that's probably more theory than anybody wants to hear, so I'll be quiet now.

[Sikon]

Does anyone think Isabel will ever be "redeemed"?

[vicheron]

The whole story sucks. It made no sense. The whole Necromantic invasion of the elves was just incredibly stupid. There are a lot of loose plot threads too like the Heart of the Gryphon and the uber artifact Markal created.

[Sikon]

Believe me, it made perfect sense.

[Linky]

The problem for me is that even a 10 year old would see most of the 'cunning plans' the evil characters have miles before they happen, yet the fools fall straight into these traps time and time again.

Take Braveheart for example. There's a great story of conflicts and betrayal that would fit a Heroes type of game like a glove. The Haven campaign could've been a lot more like that.

The campaigns could've been more independent, with only hints about the bigger story arch. For example during the Haven campaign everything could've seemed to be all good and dandy, but then in the very end you could see that Isabel would've formed an alliance with Markal, or that she carries a demon messiah or something.

Here's an example of how the transition from Haven to Necro and then the Necro campaign could've gone:
- In the Haven outro you see that Markal approaches Isabel without Godric seeing and they form a secret alliance.
- Necro Mission 1 Markal has hidden the staff of Necromancy (with which he can create necro cities) which he stole from the Silver Cities ages before in a distant dungeon, forest or some such, but as he returns to claim it, he finds out that some dark elves / humans / elves have moved there, so he has to eradicate them to be able to claim the staff.
- Mission 2 he proceeds to claim the other artifacts without Isabels help. It's just stupid that a Queen would so willingly conquer whole cities and destroy armies to get a few artifacts. It should be Markal's task only.

[Gaidal Cain]

The problem for me is that even a 10 year old would see most of the 'cunning plans' the evil characters have miles before they happen, yet the fools fall straight into these traps time and time again.

Agree. Biara's masquerading as Shadya was pretty obvious after she'd delivered that speech about seduction and assassination and whatnot...

[vicheron]

Markal was a bad Necromancer. He didn't even raise Cyrus as his eternal servant. It's in the Necromancer's handbook. If you don't raise your slain enemy as your eternal servant then it's not a proper Necromancer's revenge.

[Psychobabble]

On the whole, though, I was also confused about whether the child was born or not.

So were the script writers . Did anyone else notice that the voice over said "has been born" while the text said "will be born" (that may not be exact wording, but there was a definate tense difference there). My reading of it all, from the final cutscene, is that the demon messiah has been "born" as is actually Isabella not another creature. She just had to be "re-born" so to speak as a demon and she is now loose in the world.

[frozd]

It was the worst story ever. Totally predictable but it did something new though, I truely don't care what happens in the expansion.

[Marzhin]

Agree. Biara's masquerading as Shadya was pretty obvious after she'd delivered that speech about seduction and assassination and whatnot...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to guess it for the very moment Shadya appeared...

Markal was a bad Necromancer. He didn't even raise Cyrus as his eternal servant. It's in the Necromancer's handbook. If you don't raise your slain enemy as your eternal servant then it's not a proper Necromancer's revenge.

Yes, even the dumb Von Tarkin from Winds of War did this

I was very disappointed with the ending. When C6M4 started, with the mission objective telling Isabel has gone insane, I thought "hey, it's getting interesting !" (thinking the whole "Nicolaï-resurrected-as-a-vampire" may have been too much for her). Then this crappy, Starcraft-like ending. Man, how lame

I think the Inferno-subplot (with the Dark Messiah, etc) is too much. If the story had been only :
1/Demon invasion (and then we forget about the demons until the next game or the expansion)
2/Death of Nicolaï
3/Alliance between the Empire and Necros
4/Nicolaï vampire, Isabel becomes insane
5/Invasion of Irollan for some reason
6/War against the mad queen Isabel

It would have been so much better IHO...

[DaemianLucifer]

I was very disappointed with the ending. When C6M4 started, with the mission objective telling Isabel has gone insane, I thought "hey, it's getting interesting !" (thinking the whole "Nicolaï-resurrected-as-a-vampire" may have been too much for her). Then this crappy, Starcraft-like ending. Man, how lame

Umm...Starcraft-like ending?Please tell me whats so bad about starcrafts ending before those demons Ive dispatched bur you,along with your house and your city to the ground

[Marzhin]

Umm...Starcraft-like ending?Please tell me whats so bad about starcrafts ending before those demons Ive dispatched bur you,along with your house and your city to the ground

I loved Starcraft ending. I don't like a cheap, unimaginative clone of Starcraft ending. That's all.

[scorch]

Starcraft ending was one of the best (not brood) so sad....so sad.....

So wait a minute....Is tit really possible that Isable is the "dark Mashiah"?????
she was just reborn with magic again???

[Omega_Destroyer]

If I had to guess, the protagonist of Dark Messiah will be some orphan or some random person with a "mysterious past" who discovers the horrible truth that they are the Dark Messiah. It's an example of Occam's razor.

[Marzhin]

If I had to guess, the protagonist of Dark Messiah will be some orphan or some random person with a "mysterious past" who discovers the horrible truth that they are the Dark Messiah. It's an example of Occam's razor.

Sadly, I also guessed that a while back when reading this summary of dark Messiah's plot on Arkane website (http://www.arkane-studios.com/en/dark-messiah.php)

to prevent the prophecy of the Dark Messiah from coming true young Sareth was trained by a powerful magician, who taught him the art of magic and war. But some unexpected revelations about his past could change the course of events and reveal an unexpected destiny for our hero.

[DaemianLucifer]

If I had to guess, the protagonist of Dark Messiah will be some orphan or some random person with a "mysterious past" who discovers the horrible truth that they are the Dark Messiah. It's an example of Occam's razor.

And knowing the original story of HV,it wouldnt be suprising at all if this is true.

[Marzhin]

To get back to H5's plot, something keeps bugging me : did Freyda (or whatever Godric's daughter's name was) was killed by Markal or not in the last Necro mission ? He just says "I'll kill her. Or maybe not." So what ? She is never mentionned again...