Part 55: The Traitor Recap
Previously on Myth III
Gah, I don't have and can't get the correct win image for this level!
The world of Myth has a cycle of Light and Dark, where every 1000 years, with the arrival of a comet, an entity known as The Leveller comes to the world of Myth. On its last appearance, The Leveller was, or took over the form of Moagim, who then summoned the Myrkridia into the world. The Myrkridia began destroying the human race, ending the Age of Reason, and beginning 1000 years of rule by the Dark.
A thousand years later, the comet returns, and a new Leveller must appear. The most powerful Warlock of Scholomance and Advisor to Empeor Leitrim, Mjarin, takes on the mantle of The Leveller, but this time takes things in a different direction than the previous Levellers. Using subterfuge and working behind the scenes, Mjarin sets his plan in motion to become Emperor of the Cath Bruig and destroy all his enemies. Mjarin secretly ressurrects Moagim, and gives him free reign to build armies of undead and attack the lands of men. Mjarin also slowly begins to exert some kind of magical influence over the mind of the current Emperor.
Every 1000 years The Leveller comes to the world, but also comes his counterpart. In the east, a man named Connacht lives in the nation of Gower, a nation under constant threat of Myrkridian attack. Connacht rallies the men of Gower, and for the first time ever, not only repels the Myrkridia, but goes on the offensive, eradicating a Myrkridian nest. Hearing of these great exploits the Emperor summons Connacht to him, sending a member of his guard, Damas, to bring Connacht to Llancarfan.
Connacht agrees to give his knowledge of battle to train the troops of Llancarfan. Hearing reports of a nearby Myrkridian Pack-Mage, Connacht's troops successfully exterminate it. Connacht presses the attack in hopes of killing Moagim, much to Mjarin's dismay. Not wanting Connacht to succeed, Mjarin gives Moagim and his allies, The Watcher and The Trow Empire, the information needed to lay a trap for Connacht. Connacht barely escapes with his life.
Knowing he'll need an edge in future battles against Moagim, Connacht searches for the resting place of Mazzarin, the most powerful Avatara to ever exist. Joining him in his quest is his new-found friend Damas, a young but powerful Avatara named Myrdred, and some other person, it's not really that important. These four reach Mazzarin, where Connacht gains knowledge from the Total Codex, essentially seeing into the future to know what must be done in the right now.
Connacht helps save the Dwarves of Myrgard from Ghôl attack, who in turn construct for him the Tain - an artifact that can trap enemies inside it. Connacht uses the Tain to exterminate the Myrkridia once and for all.
Moagim is not pleased that his Myrkridia have been destroyed. He begins attacking Llancarfan itself. This turns out to be a huge tactical blunder, as suicide troops destroy the artifact keeping Moagim immortal. Fearful of death, Moagim retreats.
In the meantime Myrdred has discovered a weapon to use against the Trow. By casting a Dream of Release on the Trow's slaves, the Oghre, Myrdred hopes to incite a rebellion against the Trow. The rebellion fails and the Oghre are exterminated, but not before great damage is done to the Trow, above and beyond the loss of their slaves.
Then there's some nonsense about a Spider Cult, a filler mission or two and some truly awful gimmick Trow levels, I don't know.
In the first of the final battles against the armies of the Dark, Myrdred defeats Bahl'al The Watcher in a Dream duel. By this point, Mjarin's mental control over the Emperor is now complete enough to convince the Emperor to go into battle against Moagim himself. After Mjarin betrays the Emperor's position to Moagim, Moagim kills the Emperor. Connacht then corners Moagim, and ends his life for good this time.
With all other opposition to him eliminated, Mjarin begins the final part of his plan. Launching a surprise attack on Connacht, Mjarin hopes to kill him and return to Llancarfan as its savior, being crowned the new Emperor. Connacht instead decapitates Mjarin and becomes Emperor himself. Mjarin's head escapes somehow. You think Connacht would keep that in a box somewhere, but what are you going to do?
Knowing the future, Connacht is aware that in 1000 years he will return as the next Leveller. He orders Damas to hide or destroy all of the artifacts of power so that in 1000 years he cannot use these items against mankind. Damas and Ravanna marry and have a child together. Myrdred is exiled as a pariah named The Deceiver. Connacht gives Damas a quest to hide and destroy all the items of power in the world for reasons Damas doesn't quite understand; Connacht hopes he never will. Sadly, Damas will understand all too well in 1000 years.
The people of Llancarfan, now Muirthemne, build monuments to Connacht. Just as told in the Total Codex, Connacht does return 1000 years later, and razes Muirthemne under the new identity of Balor. The city and the shrines to Connacht are buried under sand and desert. Eventually a Journeyman searching for the lost history of the Cath Bruig unearths one of these Shrines and discovers the story of Connacht.
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Well! I know some of you didn't think we'd get from here to the start of Myth: The Fallen Lords in one mission, but we did it. And really, this last mission is all about the plot, because the gameplay is kind of lacking. The final battle against Mjarin is more of a puzzle and test of patience than anything. There were a couple of interesting fights against Warlocks before that, but not a lot to talk about really. Myth 1 and 2 were a lot better in making you fight "light" units during missions to keep things varied; this mission had basically the same gameplay and tactics you'd employ against dark units. I think Mjarin gets a little too cute when you cut off his head - "Alright, we'll call it a draw', "I'll bite your legs off!' 'Savage!' - That's an oddly misplaced attempt at humor,
Screenshots:
Game film:
As far as I know, there is no way to kill Mjarin without taking at least one casualty. This might be the first level where 'no casualties' is truly impossible. The first Berserk lost during the three-pronged attack was TaskMaster Flex, but his sacrifice let the other Berserks get close enough to disrupt Mjarin's pattern. Xander77 died to enemy archer fire, and ChuckMaster was killed by a Warlock's fireball. I counted the enemy unit deaths under the "friendly" side of the casualties image, since we're all sons of
You knew it was coming, the animated gif of all previous kill images:
Click here (full-size, 2.18MB)
And half size for everyone:
I'm quite pleased I somehow managed to fill all the Thrall in there, and only really screwed up on how many Forgotten I was going to need.
YouTube
I practiced the crap out of this level since the hardest part was right at the end. Lot of good that did me! Mjarin's fire waves have some homing capability, but THAT was cheap as hell.
Mjarin
There's a certain similarity, wouldn't you say? Everything about Mjarin being the Head fits 100%.
Imperial advisor to he Emperor and the High-Master of the Warlocks of Scholomance. This shadowy figure holds both the ear of the Emperor and command over the Warlocks. He has proven to be a valuable asset to the throne, predicting the future with great clarity*. But, many wonder if his desire is truly to aid the Empire and not for more sinister designs...
*I take this as proof that Mjarin has read the Total Codex. My whole theory is shot to hell when Connacht says he knew he would become Emperor. If Mjarin knew that, then my theory falls apart.
"...Having left the Avatara under dark conditions, Mjarin studied the art of Fire Magic. Mjarin soon became the High-Master of the Warlocks of Scholomance, and ruled as such for a century. It is Mjarin who brought the might of the Warlocks to the Cath Bruig army. As said by the soldiers of Llancarfan, 'the Warlocks do not fight for the Emperor; the warlocks fight because Mjarin tells them to.'"
"...Mjarin dabbled into powers that risked the destruction of his soul. But, through the tribulations, he became even more powerful. It is rumored that his unrelenting fervor for the discovery of dark knowledge stemmed from not having a soul to lose..."
Next time on Myth III
