Steltek

I don't know if the idea of a countdown contradicts the idea of wanting to die -- even someone who has resigned themselves to such a death may not want to suffer through some very long seconds of waiting for the shoe to drop.

As for taking a desk job -- it's important to recognize how important (and symbollic) his desk job was. It continues Prophecy's most basic theme -- that the grizzled and haunted veterans are passing their lessons on to inexperienced new officers who lack the emotional baggage 30 years of war brought all of the previous heroes. Blair's work on the Midway (and his plans to teach at the Academy) mirrors this -- he's using what he paid blood for to prevent the next generation from facing the same cost. He probably recognized that being left alone with the past is a sure way to madness... he saw it at an extreme in Tolwyn and he saw it in himself after the war (when he became an alcoholic).
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
I, personally, didn't want to see Blair die of old age behind a desk. The classic hero doesn't grow old and die in his sleep.
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Just look at how many films/books are there where the hero sacrifices themself to complete the mission. Loads. Besides, I'm sure the Kilrathi would be horrified if Blair did not die as a warrior.
 
So in other words Blair's advice would be: "don't become a hero. You'll die a violent death or become a burnout." There's nothing wrong with dying of old age, particularly when you have lived a full life. Sure directly killing billions of Kilrathi, amongst others, isn't something you'd want to take to your grave, but its not like Blair had a choice. If he hadn't done what he did the Confederation would've been destroyed and all his friends' sacrifices would've been in vain. In the long run, by putting a stop to the Kilrathi's agressive tendencies, he probably saved lives.
 
Isn't that why they call it a tragic hero's death? None of us wanted it (save for Mekt and a few other sympathisers) but in sacrificing himself, he achieves something better (which I can't seem to put in words) than if he just died in an ordinary skirmish or of old age.
 
The concept of the tragic hero is fairly specific... I'm not entirely sure it would apply to Blair.
 
Blair didn't have to die, that's why I don't agree with all this "Dying for a greater cause" business. The shield on the tower was down, casey popped it. The wormhole was going to collapse. It's not like Blair died in the process of getting the shield down. It was done, and he should've booked outta there.

I don't think Blair is the kind of guy that would "want" to die. He wanted some payback, and I think he would be the kind of guy to give em as much as he could until his death. I see him getting the hell out, and going on to waste bugs in Proxima.
 
I think he would be the kind of guy to give em as much as he could until his death. I see him getting the hell out, and going on to waste bugs in Proxima.
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If you’re trying to wear the hat of a literary critic to decide if it’s thumbs up or down for “Prophecy” the game, then you’re certainly entitled to have that sort of opinion. But as players and fans of WC, we must accept that Blair obviously isn’t that “kind of guy” because that’s not what he did. So on that score, if you think you have a better explanation for what he did, now’s the time.
 
I agree with FrostyCOS1, i'd imagine Blair going out in a blaze of glory, eg. hopelessly outnumbered by the bugs, fighting to the end to take as many with him as possible, or being seriously wounded breaching tower 7 and with the last action of his life lowering the shield, knowing that the end was inevitable....(brings a tear to the eye, bottom lip quivers....)
 
I can see that,staggering acroos the floor bleeding,weak and with his last bit of strength lowering the sheild before collapsing to the floor.
 
I just didn't think his behavior was congruent with what i’ve seen in the past
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Ah, yes . . . the agony and ecstasy of life generally.:) I guess we can only choose to deflate or inspire our curiosity on such occasions.
 
Originally posted by Wedge009
Isn't that why they call it a tragic hero's death? None of us wanted it (save for Mekt and a few other sympathisers) but in sacrificing himself, he achieves something better (which I can't seem to put in words) than if he just died in an ordinary skirmish or of old age.
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Hey! I grew quite fond of the Heart of the Tiger and didn't want him to die that way. Same applies to Hawk, even if he was a Kilrathi hating machine.
 
Has this thread started to infringe rule #2 yet?

Anyway, we seem to be forgetting what happened to Blair at the hands of the Nephilim here - all those memories, the loss of near enough everyone he loved, mankind turning against itself, all those he killed. What would that have done to his personality?

And what else could the Nephilim have done whilst they were in there? Who knows how they might have tinkered with his mind. When I first played the game I was convinced that they had altered him and he would turn against the crew of the Midway in some form. Maybe I was just paranoid after Hobbes did that though...
 
I had the same tought (Blair turning into a traitor).
I don´t think that Blair want to die aboard the tower.


edit-grammar
 
I think it is entirely possible that the Nephilim interrogation seriously affected Blair's mind. The man who talked to Casey after he was rescued was not the Heart of the Tiger we all knew before. Granted, it has been a while since I played the game through, but from what I remember, Blair showed signs of a very profound depression. It is quite possible that the bugs drove him insane during the interrogation. I don't mean the ranting, raving insane, but they broke his mind with the pressure they put on it, making him relive everything he had tried to forget for thirty years. Now all that was brought back to the surface, in painful detail. There is only so much the human mind can endure, and I think that that would have been far more than it is possible to take. Remember, the constant theme with Blair has been his humanity. For all his skill in the cockpit, at the base he is an everyman, an ordinary guy trying to make it through terrible circumstances. I think he broke during the interrogation and lost the survival instinct that kept him alive through the Kilrathi War. He still had that sense of duty, which led to his going on the mission in the first place, but he also simply didn't want to live anymore.
 
That is true.

Living all of that stuff over 30 years would be a lot less traumatizing than living it all in the period of a few days.
 
Hmm, actually, I don't think the idea of accepting death after saving the universe is anything new to Blair -- he resigns himself to this twice in WC3/the WC3 novel... when he realizes his Excalibur won't escape and when he's captured by Melek. In both of these cases his mindset was the same -- he'd done his job, made a better universe and so it was okay for him to rest.
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
[B. I submit that he had no intention of coming back -- he went out to end his suffering (he had been trying to get assigned to fly ever since he'd returned from the centrax), and he happened to get a chance to save the universe (and in so doing he achieved the ultimate, more obvious purpose of the game -- passing the torch on to Casey, a clean slate). [/B]
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Or just plain burnout on his part.
 
Originally posted by Mekt-Hakkikt
BTW: Ghost, I read your interested in Dune. I have a small question concerning Dune, would you give me your email-address? I wanted to ask Dralthi but he isn't present as often as he was some time ago.
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Who needs Ghost when I have The DUNE Encyclopedia?
 
blairrr.jpg
 
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