Corlagon wrote:Well okay, now that I know what you know I can properly deal with your questions.
Thanks for actually taking the time to respond in a meaningful way and constructive way.
Corlagon wrote:
Sources on Ashan
- Ubisoft personnel (the "world team") - Erwan Le Breton, etc (yes, I know about DeathOfTheAuthor but it simply doesn't apply here)
- Heroes V plus expansions (Hammers of Fate, Tribes of the East)
- Clash of Heroes (the "playstation spinoff")
- Dark Messiah plus port (Elements)
- Heroes VI
Actually it's only
Author Existance Failiure that doesn't apply to Ashan (give them time). Death of the Author is a concept from literary criticism not something that a work has or does not have; it comes in varying strengths. It's something that a person believes about sources and it comes in varying strengths.
1. Strongest- Anything that the author says about his work has no more relavance than anything a fan might say about it. Basically this is a key tenat of postmodernism, the text has no inherant meaning except that created by the fans. Authors cannot rewrite an earlier work.
2. Strong- Anything that the author says about his work has no more relavance than anything a fan might say about it. Basically this is a key tenat of postmodernism, the text has no inherant meaning except that created by the fans. However works can be rewritten by the author.
3. Medium- The author is not a source of canon but their statements explaining the meaning of canonical sources should be favoured over any purely fan-made theories unless those theories are either drastically illogical OR they run against canonical sources in the work.
4. Weak- The author is a secondary source of canon but their statements are overidden by canonical sources establishing the reverse to be the case.
I personally adhere to level 3- Death of the Author. So the opinions of the authors are not a source of canon but instead only a source of theories about canonical information. If I adhered to level 2 I wouldn't be bothering reading interviews because their opinion on the sources is of no greater authority than mine.
Jeff Spock wrote:
Quote:
3. How exactly did Raelag end up with the true Isabel?
It may not have come through in the final cutscene, but Raelag was the only one who realized the switch that Biara had pulled. He stayed in Sheogh to free Isabel, and together they fought their way out of the demon world. Exits from Sheogh are neither stable nor predictable, and getting out and making it to the Griffin Empire was a long and challenging process.
Quote:
...and how come the other three heroes who invaded Sheogh were clueless?
They weren't watching her as closely; they weren't in love.
The theory given by Jeff Spock is rather similar to my own except for the bits that I've italiced. As I understand it, the four heroes leave Sheogh with the false Isabel, the real Isabel is left is Sheogh and then Raelag figures out that this Isabel is not the Isabel he fell in love with based upon her actions as the new ruler of the Griffon Empire.
Since all the other characters (Godric, Finden, Zehir) have been on the recieving end of the real Isabel's tyranny they don't really see anything different about the 'new regime'. Afterall the only obvious difference is that the Biara-Isabel is that she is more 'religious' and is a stronger ruler.
Dialogue 3 of Zehir's Hope (canon) indicates that Zehir opened a portal to the Silver Cities taking them and their (rather diminished) armies back to Ashan, that Zehir casts said portal is indicated by the graphics. So Jeff Spock's opinion (not canon) is what happened next is that instead of getting back to Silver Cities as Zehir intended they found themselves lost in Sheolg with the false Isabel. Zehir failed.
This is somewhat akin to when I said that Ethric had lied to Gem about Sandro not being his student recently. It's a statement that a canonical source is actually innacurate to make other canonical sources make theoretical sense.
But the theory has a huge problems with it. Put simply, Raelag must be alone with Isabel to figure out she's a succubus without the others also working it out; but if he were alone he would have been able to kill Biara-Isabel in Sheolg and she wouldn't have been able to get back to Ashan.
It is fairly obvious that Biara is hiding even Isabel-Biara's 'true' form (what we see) behind some kind of illusion magic, otherwise people in Ashan would have noticed her 'green snake eyes'.
It would be a fairly easy thing for Raelag to expose Isabel-Biara before all the others for he must simply dispel the illusions cast around Isabel-Biara hiding the 'green snake eyes' from view. If it wasn't possible to do this then the demons wouldn't need to conquer the world at all. They would rule the world already.
This is the problem with not adopting Death of the Author. Authors are often so exceedingly sloppy in the theories they put forward. Jeff Spock's sloppyness comes to the fore later on in the interview quite spectacularly.
Jeff Spock wrote:
10. "In search of power" (a HoF single scenario) revolves around Veyer trying to "create" a new Demon Sovereign because the previous one is apparently dead.
First of all, Veyer is not the brightest light on the Infernal Christmas tree and his interpretation of events should always be viewed as unreliable. Secondly, when a demon is 'killed' it enters the demonic cycle of rebirth; it maintains its old memories but is reborn as a lowly imp and must re-ascend the ladder of power (preferably by stepping on all those beneath it). Thirdly, there is, was, and will be only one Demon Sovereign so Veyer's ambition is wildly optimistic. The questions in this case are more like: Why does Veyer believe that the Demon Sovereign is dead? During which of Veyer's "lives" does this take place?
That there is a new demon sovereign is not Veyer's idea, his imp sidekick tells him "you know- the demon sovereign would smile on you if you were to master this discipline"(gating).
Even within the timeline of Ashan this isn't true! Kha-Beleth had already overthrown and presumably killed the earlier demon rulers. There is no timeless Devil figure that leads the demons of Sheolg other than Urgash.
564 YSD.
2nd Eclipse - Rise of the Demon Sovereign
Total lunar eclipse. This time the Blind Brothers had predicted it, and the Alliance, helped by the Dragon Knights, is quick to react. Only a small band of demons manage to escape into the world. The names of the Demon Lords, Urgash’s first children, are heard no more. Instead, the name of Mal-Beleth, the new and only Demon Sovereign, appears.
So the Demon Sovereign wasn't the first demon sovereign. Others had been demon sovereigns before him, he's just the first to claim the title of sole demon sovereign. So why would the throne stand empty just because Kha-Beleth is gone? Did the throne stand empty just because the demon lords of old perished?