The Prophecy

MjavTheGray

Spaceman
Here I am, guys. Have just completed the campaign against bugs. And my WCSO experience seems to be right - there's no real good ship in WC Prophecy. "Gimme old Scim or a Hellcat!" - was my whining all the time. But whining doesn't matterm while lots of questions do.

Firstly, it was given to me for a couple of weeks only - so I hadn't time to examine the game from top to bottom.

And secondly... I'm dumb, maybe, but I couldn't turn cimenatic subtitles on.

So... without subtitles I surely didn't get it right - as I me english is hopelessly too poor. Tell me - why in the hell did Blair go to that damned tower? Couldn't any marine soldier do the same? I am sure that Dekker was asking for reinforcements. And what kind of reinforcements an old staff officer could be?

Is there any real explanation why did old wise Christopher Blair chose that one-way ride? He did want to die, okay. He was old, damn alone, no family, no woman, and Rachel even didn't give him any comfort when he was rescued from the bugs. But why did the HQ let him go?

I can't get it. Just can't....
 
I understand that the game writers sent Blair to the tower so he would go out in a final blaze of glory saving the day, but you're right that they should have included a good rationalization why it would need to be him and not some combat Marine. Maybe something about him being the only available pilot who could fly a docking shuttle through the bedlam outside, or some other reason to get him on the enemy station. Even then, he certainly shouldn't have been all alone. They could have had his team get wiped out and still had the game end exactly the same in the end.
 
Despite our view of Blair as a hero, he has shown us repeatedly he is willing to go out of the way to be that hero. Think of the end of WC2, he has Sparks prep his Sabre for a strike instead of the assigned mission.

During HOTT he does something similar in relation to the t-bomb. He wants to carry it himself, he wants to be the one to drop the bomb to end it all.

So, it's not surprising that he would want to take out the last tower. It fits with his style.
 
True, but the Midway's brass seemed to agree with him this time. Maybe he had overstayed his welcome.
 
Well in the cut scene right before Blair flies in, Maniac says "We need a hero here. Are there any heroes here?"
 
So, it's not surprising that he would want to take out the last tower. It fits with his style.

I disagree with this statement. I don't think his style is "I want to be the Hero". That role belongs to no one better then Tolwyn.

I think Blair's stance is more one of:

"I don't want to be the Hero, but if someone has to be I suppose it's best if it's me."

Because he HAS the talent and the knowledge to DO those things, and do them well. And in the end, I think Blair would rather sacrifice himself then send someone else to their deaths.

This role is the foil for Tolwyn, especially in WC3, when Tolwyn is willing to sacrifice anything and everything to be the one to push the button, while Blair, from the beginning is more accepting of the way things are, and more willing to work to bring people home.
 
So... what was the need for "THE HERO"?
Why it had to be Blair?
Why someone else couldn't fly that coffin?
Why couldn't Blair take anyone with him?
If it was supposed that all the bugs were gone - why couldn't Dekker turn the switch?
And If there **were** supposed to be bugs - why an aging stuff officer was sent where the young and strong marines had failed?
 
I don't think Tolwyn set out to be the hero. He did what he was asked to. I can't think of a time when Tolwyn went out of his way to be the hero. He rushed Behemoth to head off the conspiracy by ending the war before a coup.

Blair has consistently gone out of his way to be the "hero." Hence, Maniac's comments that they need a hero and of course who steps up, none other than Blair. He was determined to also drop the t-bomb and finish off K'thirak Mang.
 
I just played that mission again because i didn't remember the exact scene. I believe that the reason sending Blair is that there was no better pilot than him to fly to that tower. Dekker couldn't get there, so there was a need to get to the tower directly from space.
But the thing that doesn't look good is that Blair is alone. He should have gone with a few marines in that shuttle.
And the whole scene you say "come on, run!!!!!"
 
I don't think Tolwyn set out to be the hero. He did what he was asked to. I can't think of a time when Tolwyn went out of his way to be the hero. He rushed Behemoth to head off the conspiracy by ending the war before a coup.

I have a hard time reconciling that in my hand, since Tolwyn went on to LEAD the same conspiracy, which he was never asked to do. A conspiracy that had some pretty nasty elements to it.

If there's anyone who did what he was asked, it's Blair. He accepted a 10 year transfer to a backwater station, because it was the RIGHT thing to do, even if it was because of the WRONG reasons. And those wrong reasons came from Tolwyn - who stubbornly refused to believe the truth, the truth that would have made BLAIR a hero.

Blair has consistently gone out of his way to be the "hero." Hence, Maniac's comments that they need a hero and of course who steps up, none other than Blair. He was determined to also drop the t-bomb and finish off K'thirak Mang.

This I think is what makes Blair a hero. He wants to finish of K'thirak Mang, which was a HUGE blow to the Kilrathi. This was truly a heroic action - it's more demonstrative of his heroic choices then anything else: Even when no one wants him to be a hero, he's willing to do it because it needs to get done.

The T-Bomb is a classic example of taking the best pilot for the job. By WCIII Blair is an ace fighter pilot - top of the line, best in the business. Frankly, it makes alot more sense to send him then say, Maniac, or Flint (was she still alive for the T-Bomb drop?).

It's top secret, so you need someone of a high rank. You need someone who can lead a flight, not just fly the whole thing solo. You need someone who can make the proper judgment call about the realistic chance of getting in and out again.

Blair just makes sense when you consider that the Victory was the only ship in position to make the run, and the other pilots on the Victory don't have the same skills that Blair has.
 
Blair never wanted to bea hero. He just wanted to do the right thing in the end and he didn't like seeing/sending other people off to die and wold rather take the risks himself.

What comes to mind...Space Above and Beyond: The Angryest Angel. After sending Multiple wings after Chiggy von Ritofen (spelling) and them all getting thier butts kicked the Colenel insisted he was the best pilot for the job. Everyone told him he was as good as dead and it was hopeless.
Some people pull "Homer's" he pulled a "Blair." Favorite Episode.
 
Space Above and Beyond: The Angryest Angel. After sending Multiple wings after Chiggy von Ritofen (spelling) and them all getting thier butts kicked the Colenel insisted he was the best pilot for the job. Everyone told him he was as good as dead and it was hopeless.
Some people pull "Homer's" he pulled a "Blair." Favorite Episode.


I remember that episode! Great series. Too bad it ended so soon.
 
In WC2, I got the sense that Blair flying the K'Tithrak Mang strike was less about "wanting to be the hero" and more about "doing something impressive to vindicate himself", and possibly, to win the approval of Tolwyn. Remember Paladin's statement in WC3: "You canna live yuir life farr the approval o' one man, laddie" or soemthing like that. Maybe that was a bit "hero-seeking", but more in the "I want to be respected by Tolwyn, and show him he was wrong" and less in the "I want to be in a parade" sense.

In WC3--of course Blair took the T-bomb. He was the squadron commander, and the flight leader. You're sending four pilots on a do or die mission--a Colonel who is the squadron commander, a Major who has a reputation as a loose cannon who can't handle responsiblity, and two 2nd Lieutenants. Who do you think will carry the special weapon? No hero-seeking about it. It wasn't Blair that picked the Victory's squadron to run the T-bomb raid...but once they were chosen, he was the obvious choice to carry it.

I don't see Blair as being a "heroism seeker". He does have a bit of an ego-complex (which Maniac refers to at times, and which comes out at others---"When I heard your distress call, I knew I was the best pilot to help" "Modest as ever, I see, Christopher")--he thinks he's one of the best pilots ever (probably deservedly), which is why he thinks he should lead the K'Tithrak Mang strike, why he goes alone to the Black Lance Base in WC4, and later flies after Tolwyn alone and confronts him in the senate. And this is why he thinks he can go, alone, to the Tower in Prophecy. His ego even plays in at the end...a more humble man would have run like hell for that shuttle, but Blair is so confident that he can handle things that he delays...to his ruin. It's actually very Greek...his fatal flaw his entire life has been hubris, and it is his ultimate downfall.

But that's different from being a glory seeker.

I agree though, that it was a little daft that Command went along with his ego-driven "I can do it, and I don't need any Marines with me, either" at the end. I always thought it would have made a little more sense if they had indicated, or even implied, that his time being captured by the Bugs had somehow given him some special knowledge or expertise that made his presence essential. Like, maybe Dekker got to the last tower but needed Blair's knowledge of the Bugs to trigger something...
 
Farbourne: The official reason he WAS on the tower was a) they couldn't spare any Marines - all of them were stuck on the other Tower and pinned under fire, and b) he was more knowledgeable about the design (from the inside) than anyone else because he'd been stuck inside such surroundings for some times.

To quote that last mission:

Dekker: We can’t make it to tower seven! We’re pinned down at six. Send in reinforcements!


Drake: Unless we shut down the shields on that last tower…


Wilford: Casey’s wing can’t close the gate.


Maestro: And an entire enemy fleet will jump in our laps.


Maverick: We’ll just have to pick up where the Marines left off: fly a guy into the command centre. He kills the shields, Casey’s wing kills the tower.


Maniac: Ha! Oh, I see this coming a mile away. What we need is a bonafide hero! Excuse me. Any heroes? An– No! Any heroes in the room at all?


Maverick: You’re looking at him.


Drake: Now is not the time.


Maverick: I’ve done hard time on one of their ships.


Drake: And you’re mad as anything and you want to kick some alien butt!


Maverick: I’m the best pilot for the job, and you know it.

Wilford: Patricia. I think we need him. Now.


Drake: All right. But you’re taking two wingmen for back-up.


Maniac: Just like old times.


(And later on)

Dekker: Hey, boss! This place is coming apart at the seams! We’re picking up the last of our boys and buggin’ out. You get to your ship!

In the end, he went because he was all they had who could get around in there, who wasn't critical to the mission.. and because they had to pass the torch to Casey SOMEHOW.
 
I'd love to think that Blair was all-selfless, but such is not the case. He didn't take the transfer because it was the right thing to do- quite frankly he could well have become a merc and continued fighting the kats anyways. No, he took the transfer because he was too stubborn to admit he handled the situation poorly (which is it? The stealth ships are either "mere radar blips" or very dangerous- and since you're calling them dangerous and we're missing the Claw, why didn't you send a radio message to at least be on guard?), or at least play Tolwyn's game.

K'tith'rak Mang, again, shows that he HAS to be right. Clearly, Blair was the best choice for the final strike- but Tolwyn had decided they'd be able to get the base with another pilot, and wanted Blair to keep out any surprises, which they'd had enough of. Blair's decision to disobey orders on the most glorious mission in 10 years WASN'T at all an attempt to be a hero? Fascinating.

As for the T-Bomb scenario- please. You're going to assign blame to him for carrying it? This is the guy who took down a starbase to capture an entire sector, destroyed a planet-ravaging dreadnought, did take Enigma, stopped a mutiny, and took down the Mandarins. There was no one left on the Victory's flight wing that I would trust with the ONE (two?) T-bomb than Blair, and rightly so. I hear that yes, there was another bomb in the novel version, but Blair wanted more cover from his wingman- and who could blame the choice? He has, by now, taken down every series of impossible odds with or without a wingman- it's unlikely whoever's left will succeed on and he'll get shot down.

Your call on the Temblor bomb, but I think he had it right. 'Mang, he clearly had it wrong.

Beyond that? Blair flew. He flew well, and had to do so in extraordinary circumstances... it just finally went wrong in Prophecy. Had to eventually, and naturally, it happened when he stepped out of the cockpit.
 
All I would offer here is: flawed characters are much easier to believe in and empathize with...

Blair is no exception...by the time he gets to WC3, he's been around and around and around the block in the Kilrathi War and that war-weariness/cynicism shows through. You can see the better side of him win through on a number of occasions, but he's definitely hot-blooded, tempermental, and mercurial when aroused.

I just had a mental flash of his speech to the Legislature at the end of WC4...he really looks tired when its done. *shrug*
 
I got the impression that at the end with having had all of those memories of his past resurfaced and examined in intricate detail, he was tired of it all. It was of course not enough for him to want to kill himself, but when he was on that tower, I think he had had enough and didn't much care if he got off the tower alive or not.
 
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