What If? If Miko survived the gate explosion [Archive]

MagicalMeat

2014-02-13, 02:13 PM

Now that the Azurites have pretty much left the story completely (and yes, I know that happened at the beginning of this arc), I have started to wonder what Miko would have done if she pulled an O-chul and survived the explosion. I know that it would not make for as good as a story, but I do enjoy hypotheticals.

Would she attempt a suicide run on Xykon and Redcloar? Work with one of the other resistances besides Haley's or started her own? Chase Belkar (and Haley) down to enact vengeance? Leave the city and never appear again? Escape to Hinjo's boat? Work with Trigak!? I honestly don't find it likely that even in this scenario Miko survives the night, but what do you think?

If a prior thread has already discussed this, please post a link to it.

Hopeless

2014-02-13, 02:14 PM

I think most of us expected she would be reanimated as a Death Knight actually...:smalleek:

ImperatorV

2014-02-13, 02:35 PM

First of all, everyone's working for Trigak, whether they no it or not. So that's a moot point.

I think the most likely scenario if Miko survived is she tries to take on the entire hobgoblin army at once and dies. She doesn't seem the type to hide and bide her time.

SavageWombat

2014-02-13, 02:42 PM

I think the most likely scenario if Miko survived is she tries to take on the entire hobgoblin army at once and dies. She doesn't seem the type to hide and bide her time.

Miko doesn't seem quite that stupid - tactically I mean. (Stupid in many other ways.) I think she'd get herself killed trying to take out Xykon, or Redcloak, or some giant monster like the zombie dragon. But if she saw a huge army of hobgoblins she didn't think she could take, I think she would use some sort of evasive tactics to get to the army's leadership and take them out.

xroads

2014-02-13, 03:32 PM

I suspect Miko would find a way to blame OOTS for the destruction of the gate and feverishly track them down to enact vengeance. Maybe she would have found some unlikely allies to support her (Linear Guild?) In the end she would fail, quite possibly at the hands of a Belkar :belkar: who mocks her for not even being worth his time anymore.

Alternatively, maybe her unlikely allies would be Xykon :xykon: and Redcloak :redcloak:! In which case she would presumeably still be defeated, though we won’t know for sure til this story concludes (we won't have any real idea of her possible fate til we know what Xykon's and RC's fate is).

Keltest

2014-02-13, 04:00 PM

Call me an optimist, but I think her conversation with Soon would have had an impact on her and she would have gone into isolation with some southern monks somewhere until she figured out what was really going on.

Either that or she would have bled to death from missing the lower half of her body. :smallwink:

endplanets

2014-02-13, 04:03 PM

If Miko had survived the explosion then future storylines might be really messed up.
Miko was the first of three females to die. I think that Miko, the evil goth necromancer lady, and the half-orc ninja ladywill come back to fight people in hell. Or something. Especially evil goth necromancer lady since she didn't really do anything other than show how awesome Red Cloak is when he killed her.

Anyway: from a logical point of view Miko would escape the city, hunt down the group and then the group would just kill her.
From a dramatic point of view Miko would compromise her morals and form her own team and they would hound the group for a while.

MagicalMeat

2014-02-13, 06:00 PM

I just realized that Soon talking to Miko would likely change the situation dramatically.

Miko, realizing she has no chance of undoing her mistakes in her condition, will retreat and mediate for three months. She would embark on a mission togather allies in the hope of reclaiming Azure city. She would emerge from her exile to return to retake her city around the same time the Order encounters Xykon for the last time.

Leading an assault against Gobbotopia with her ragtag group of allies, she will breach Jirix's inner sanctum alone only to discover that Jirix's has become a Lich. Miko will then dramatically reveal that she has regained her Paladin powers and an epic battle will ensue.

She will defeat Jirix, but will be struck down fatally. In her last moments, Soon will appear to her and say "Well done." A new order of paladins will be formed out of Miko's allies and the remaining paladins of the Saphire Guard known as the "Reborn Guard" symbolizing both the birth of the new order and Miko's return from darkness.

Mrc.

2014-02-13, 06:11 PM

-snip-

That would actually be pretty good. Certainly it makes for a decent backstory for a paladin. However, I think that if Miko had lived, she would have mourned the loss of the Sapphire Guard. In WXP bonus content we see her trying to act nicely around a couple of other paladins but in the end they refuse. She is visibly upset when she eats alone.

That's one of the things with Miko; she wasn't heartless, just confused. And entirely confident in herself, something that often has dangerous repercussions. But hunting down the Order would be near the top of that list too. Doubt she'd be too pleased with some of the things they've done since then either.....

Jaxzan Proditor

2014-02-13, 06:20 PM

I think that if Miko survived, she would continue to see "signs" from the Twelve Gods telling her that the people responsible for the fall of Azure City were The Order of the Stick. In this alternate storyline, she would persue the Order by herself, considering all help offered to her as "evil". She would make no attempt at redemption, considering herself always in the right. Eventually, she is killed by one of the many enemies she made on her quest for vengeance.

dps

2014-02-13, 06:35 PM

Miko was the first of three females to die. I think that Miko, the evil goth necromancer lady, and the half-orc ninja ladywill come back to fight people in hell. Or something. Especially evil goth necromancer lady since she didn't really do anything other than show how awesome Red Cloak is when he killed her.

Quite a few more named female characters have died so far in the story, and Miko was by no means the first.

Keltest

2014-02-13, 06:37 PM

Quite a few more named female characters have died so far in the story, and Miko was by no means the first.
Like who? Miko is the first female character of significance to the story who died that I can think of.

Jasdoif

2014-02-13, 06:48 PM

Like who? Miko is the first female character of significance to the story who died that I can think of.I think Samantha had as much "significance to the story" as Tsukiko did.

Keltest

2014-02-13, 06:59 PM

I think Samantha had as much "significance to the story" as Tsukiko did.

I disagree, but I did forget about her, and she was at least more than a named background face.

Warren Dew

2014-02-13, 07:09 PM

Work with one of the other resistances besides Haley's or started her own?
This seems most likely to me.

David Argall

2014-02-13, 07:10 PM

There are a variety of possible lines, depending on what you want to change. Now the one that might change the least, to date at least, is to substitute her for O-Chul. Indeed, she might improve the story that way.
Miko is established as the top fighter [and O-Chul at most 3rd]. So she fits better in the torture scenes. Indeed, we had more than a little trouble explaining how he survived when she didn't.
Now Miko would not be as good at making friends with MITD. However the MITD is well suited to ignore Miko's actual actions ["You are a horrible, disgusting monster." "Really? Thanks."] and produce superior humor. The possibility of their becoming friends, and MITD reforming Miko, is not to be dismissed.
Replacing O-Chul with Miko during V's visit would be quite easy. Nor would the conference scenes require much beyond a few pieces of dialogue. Again, this would likely improve it. O-Chul is frankly dull and too much perfect. Miko provides much more conflict & interest.
Now Miko would be inferior for the MITD rescue since the PCs are less willing to rescue her, but we can work around this. & Miko would provide a future redemption scene of considerable value.

Rosstin

2014-02-13, 07:17 PM

Miko was definitely a total bastard, but she did show some signs that she was not completely incapable of change. I think Miko would have continued Miko-ing on in her sort of goodish sort of jerkholish way, like one of those annoying cops in a detective story who is nominally a good guy but is always making your life difficult.

I don't think she ever would have reclaimed her paladin status but maybe she would have found another way to live her life.

Ridureyu

2014-02-13, 07:35 PM

She would have killed Haley for invading Azure City.

Faramir

2014-02-13, 07:54 PM

It seems most likely that she would have rededicated herself to killing Redcloak and his allies in the Order of the Stick in order to achieve redemption. She would probably have ended up leading the faction of the resistance which believed that "it was the evil influence of the Order of the Stick that corrupted their righteous leader Hinjo".

Whether she would have seen Redcloak or Haley and Belkar (who were working to infiltrate and undermine the resistance) as her first target is a good question.

MagicalMeat

2014-02-13, 08:12 PM

TechnoWarforged

2014-02-13, 08:26 PM

I think having hit bottom (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RockBottom). She'll finally able to reflect upon her actions and see the error of her ways. Took it upon herself to Retake Azure City (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedemptionQuest) by first taking on a leadership role with the resistance.

Unfortunately she'll no longer be a Paladin but she'll seek to be Restored (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveRedeems) to be a paladin someday so she can once again team up with Windstriker.

She'll probably be the sole survivor when the hobgoblins infiltrated the resistance... having learned a thing or two about humidity (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ALessonInDefeat) and retreating to fight another day as well as delivering the demise of the resistance to the rest of the alliance.

Why? cuz honestly it'll make a better story.

Happy_Tea

2014-02-13, 11:40 PM

Maybe it's just me, but really can't see Miko being evil. She certainly wouldn't join the Linear Guild, seeing as there is a freaking devil on it. I honestly always saw Miko post-Shojo as a highly deluded and unstable individual just barely holding on to Neutral Good. Definitely not a villain willing to work with fiends.

That's pretty much my view as well.

I actually have a lot of sympathy for her - I think she was mentally troubled, and Shojo and Sapphire Guard handled her poorly as she became more unbalanced. She did have a lot to answer for, but she wasn't entirely to blame for what she became and how things ended up.

That said had she lived I don't think she would have remained in that deluded state she was in for the final hours of her life. That kind of anger, blindness to what was going on etc is hard to maintain with nothing to feed it. Free of stewing in her own juices, and given time and with something new to focus on (the plight of conquered Azure City) I think could have helped her realize she'd gone wrong.

What she'd do with that realization I don't know. I could actually see her going a bit like Norrington from PotC:DMC, (though a little less drunk and dirty). Or a more maudlin Vega from ME3 before Shephard got him out of his death-wish mentality.

Happy_Tea

2014-02-13, 11:44 PM

Cavenskull

2014-02-14, 12:23 AM

... having learned a thing or two about humidity (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ALessonInDefeat)...
Ok, I have to ask; how exactly is knowledge about moisture in air going to benefit Miko? :smallwink:

dps

2014-02-14, 01:05 AM

I think Samantha had as much "significance to the story" as Tsukiko did.

Sangwaan also died before Miko, though certainly she was a much less significant character.

Happy_Tea

2014-02-14, 03:56 AM

Ok, I have to ask; how exactly is knowledge about moisture in air going to benefit Miko? :smallwink:

She could start a plantation growing tropical fruit, feed Azure City's refugees :smallbiggrin:

Chantelune

2014-02-14, 06:29 AM

Socksy

2014-02-14, 02:31 PM

She summons an Inevitable to hunt the OotS down. Grabbing a couple of levels of cleric and an Atonement spell, and she's unstable and crazy enough to think she's a paladin again.

Cavenskull

2014-02-15, 05:13 AM

If she did survive the war, I guess she might ever taken charge of one of the resistance, but then throw herself against Haley and her own resistants that shhe would view as traitor, or considered every resistant as traitors who deserted their army and city in its time of need and proceed to execute all of them.

What ? Admiting she might have been wrong at some point in her life ? I thought we were talking about Miko here. :smalltongue:

I know Miko is crazy, but I'd like to think even she would recognize that the only people who never evacuated the city in the first place, and are still actively running raids against the goblinoids might not be traitorous deserters.

Rodin

2014-02-15, 06:47 AM

I know Miko is crazy, but I'd like to think even she would recognize that the only people who never evacuated the city in the first place, and are still actively running raids against the goblinoids might not be traitorous deserters.

I dunno, the other Resistance groups (who were not Miko-level crazy) both blamed Haley for different reasons. I can definitely see Miko joining up with one of those groups and declaring that Haley's insidious Evil had corrupted her group.

Keltest

2014-02-15, 08:11 AM

I dunno, the other Resistance groups (who were not Miko-level crazy) both blamed Haley for different reasons. I can definitely see Miko joining up with one of those groups and declaring that Haley's insidious Evil had corrupted her group.

They all combined into one resistance shortly before the order left Azure City to go get Roy resurrected. Mr Scruffy was the uniting factor.

Chantelune

2014-02-15, 09:59 AM

They all combined into one resistance shortly before the order left Azure City to go get Roy resurrected. Mr Scruffy was the uniting factor.

But Mr Scruffy got tainted by Belkar when he played with him using a stringball, don't you see ? Obviously, Mr Scruffy was an undercover agent of the Order planted by Roy in order to lead the Azurites to their ruins through the corruption of lord Shojo, don't you see ?

As such, the resistance is just as corrupted as well because they allowed themselves to be manipulated by the order in so many way redemption is no longer an option !

That Mr Scruffy left to go on a rampage with Belkar is yet another crushing evidence, of course. That the resistance required that he leave with the order was nothing else that another clever manipulation from the Order.

That such a corrupted resistance was exterminated by the goblins was a well-deserved irony, it's just a shame their death couldn't come from the hand of a true Azurite.

*Miko mode off*

HeeJay

2014-02-15, 10:29 AM

Miko is established as the top fighter [and O-Chul at most 3rd]. So she fits better in the torture scenes. Indeed, we had more than a little trouble explaining how he survived when she didn't.

Your Royal Highness may have trouble explaining that, but I don't.

Miko was "our finest warrior" - the best one at winning fights. Not the best one at taking damage and living. That one was O'Chul, Your Majesty.

Mrc.

2014-02-15, 10:36 AM

Your Royal Highness may have trouble explaining that, but I don't.

Miko was "our finest warrior" - the best one at winning fights. Not the best one at taking damage and living. That one was O'Chul, Your Majesty.

Indeed, I remember in one of the book commentaries Rich stated that O'Chul had a constitution score in the mid 20's.

Ridureyu

2014-02-15, 02:21 PM

I'm telling you, Miko would have killed Haley immediately, and then Belkar, and then Mr. Scruffy (the 'demon-familiar of Shojo"), and then gone after anybody else who protested.

And then she would have united the remaining Azurites into an organized resistance, given them military training, whipped them into awesome, awesome shape... and they all would have died in one big grand assault on the goblins.

LuisDantas

2014-02-16, 09:02 AM

Her behavior since that prayer-in-cell strip up until her death leaves little room for doubt in my mind that she was simply too far gone by that point.

Whatever she did, it would need to allow some excuse to cast herself as a hero protagonist. I say a toss-up between "heroic" suicide-by-other or becoming a Death Knight, a Blackguard or something similar.

MReav

2014-02-16, 09:31 AM

I say a toss-up between "heroic" suicide-by-other or becoming a Death Knight, a Blackguard or something similar.

I've always argued that for all Miko's derangements, she'd never willingly serve the side of evil. Her dogmatic and unyielding attitude might cause her to turn against any potential allies and see them as servants of evil should they compromise if only to regroup, but she'd try to do to anyone who offered to make her a Blackguard what she did to Sabine.

LuisDantas

2014-02-16, 09:49 AM

I've always argued that for all Miko's derangements, she'd never willingly serve the side of evil. Her dogmatic and unyielding attitude might cause her to turn against any potential allies and see them as servants of evil should they compromise if only to regroup, but she'd try to do to anyone who offered to make her a Blackguard what she did to Sabine.

I guess I agree to a point. However, Miko has only the flimsiest of understandings of what evil and good are. She could be easily deluded, and arguably was deeply self-deluded already by the time she entered the throne room.

So in practice she could easily become a champion of evil. It is just a matter of tipping her cognition ever so slightly, if it is not done by herself already.

MReav

2014-02-16, 07:56 PM

I guess I agree to a point. However, Miko has only the flimsiest of understandings of what evil and good are. She could be easily deluded, and arguably was deeply self-deluded already by the time she entered the throne room.

So in practice she could easily become a champion of evil. It is just a matter of tipping her cognition ever so slightly, if it is not done by herself already.

In a world where Evil is real, capable of physically manifesting, can talk to you, and will even give you a business card (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0632.html), Miko is quite capable of understanding that. What she is not capable of is understanding is not-evil. That not everybody who disagrees with her are working for the former. That if a fiend were to whisper sweet nothings into her ear, telling her it's not her fault, that the gods are wrong and obviously not worthy of her devotion, and offering power to crush those who slighted her, she would snap the fiend's neck like she did Sabine.