Forgotten World: Sacrifice Plot Question
Iceblade posted a question in the Ultima Dragons Facebook group the other day, asking about the Sacrifice plot in what used to be Minoc in Ultima 9, and teasing potential changes thereto:
Anyone remember the Sacrifice plot from U9? If so, would you want to see major changes in that plot-line or for it to be left largely the same just with better worldbuilding (ie with Minoc no longer a gyspy camp and the people from Cove basically placed within Minoc)
Iceblade, it should be noted, is actually quite fond of the Sacrifice plot…or, at least, of its themes. To his mind, it’s one of the strongest thematic elements in the game, but is hampered by a lackluster execution and poor worldbuilding. Plus, as Sergorn Dragon points out, the backstory of how Cove and Minoc ended up sort of blended together as they were was really only explained in the manual for the game, and not in any in-game text.
My understanding is that Iceblade wants to fix the worldbuilding in the area somewhat, and also intends to tweak the plot to better highlight the conflict between Laszlo (the mayor) and Raxos (the First Citizen). To do this, however, would probably mean breaking away from the original Sacrifice plot in a number of key ways, which leaves Iceblade with a dilemma: should be try and maintain the canon plot, in spite of the issues therewith, or should he opt to tell a rather more non-canon story in order to better highlight the theme of Sacrifice (and, probably, show off his fixes to this part of Britannia)?
If you’re on Facebook, sound off thereat. Otherwise, speak your piece in the comments below, if you have any thoughts on this matter.
There’s nothing holy about this canon. I say do what you want – give it the Lazarus treatment.
I totally agree with Infinitron. I personally think the Ultima VII – IX canon is in desperate need of a diaper change, so anything you can do to improve it is doubleplusgood.
I’ll step in, unsurprisingly, to defend U9 here…but I think that Iceblade has quite valid reasons for wanting to preserve as much of the canon here as he can. The Sacrifice sequence is poorly executed in the game, but it’s very strong thematically; it’s one of the few occasions where you actually have to convince someone to act with Virtue rather than just cleanse the shrine to make everything good again.
I’m not so much criticizing Ultima IX as the final trilogy’s story arc in general. Despite Garriott’s criticism of traditional RPG’s overuse of the “kill the main bad guy” plot, that’s essentially the plot of the last three games. They do put a twist on it, but I find the twist both bizarre and illogical.
The definition of the Avatar is the human embodiment of the Eight Virtues. I don’t think the Stranger was a “chosen one” necessarily, as he wasn’t the only one from Earth to visit or live in Britannia. So in theory anyone with access could come to Britannia and become an Avatar. That being said, the Guardian was spawned as a result of the Stranger becoming an Avatar. The evil shed to become the embodiment of good became an entity of its own in the form of the Guardian.
If all that’s correct, then why does the Guardian have nearly godlike powers while the Avatar does not? And why would anyone become an Avatar knowing the result would be the creation of hellspawn capable of destroying worlds? If a thousand Britannians studied like monks all their life to become Avatars, would a thousand Guardians be born? If so one could argue that becoming an Avatar is actually evil because the net bad outweighs the net good.
I just wish they’d never written the Guardian into the story, much less using him in three games to end the series. He doesn’t even look like a proper bad guy; more like a bad experiment in POV-Ray.
From the character evolution section of the Guardian’s page: “the inter-dimensional conqueror’s lineage was construed to have originated with the Shadowlords and the Gem of Immortality. In this version of events, the Gem of Immortality resonated with the Stranger at the time of its destruction, thus spawning the Shadowlords out of theof the darkness in the character’s soul. After their defeat in Ultima V, these beings coalesced in the Ethereal Void to take the apparent form of a uniquely gifted wingless gargoyle, who possessed abilities characteristic of his aerial counterparts. Warning of the civilization’s impending demise following its loss of the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom, this individual rose to such prominence among his race that he became known as the “Savior” and spearheaded the Gargish uprising in Ultima VI, before vanishing amidst the Avatar’s pilgrimage to their realm. Prior to his disappearance, the Savior foretold of his triumphant return to lead his brethren through an inevitable period of tribulation; it is this re-emergent entity who was to have been the Guardian as encountered in Ultima VII onward.”
Generally speaking, this is what is implied in U9 except the dialogue and execution of these details were so limited you’d never know it.
This is essentially the background I’m using in Forgotten World, just with some expansion and tweaking.
The only issue I have with the whole Guardian origin and history thing, is the complete incongruity of timeline having him be this gigantic conqueror of dimensions, while the Avatar can’t even maintain the ability to wield a sword, or cast a spell between adventures. Somehow in the time it took the Avatar to rebuild himself three times up to Ultima VII, the Guardian was created, and managed to conquer (supposedly) multiple dimensions including Pagan.
I may get horribly flamed for saying this, but Richard Garriot never intended this whole thing to be a consistent storyline until well after the fourth game. Having the Stranger be the same person as the Avatar actually presented several inconcsistencies presented the way it was.
I would love to see someone actually sit down and start back at Ultima 1, and write a comprehensive and consistent history that blends all the different dimensions in from the beginning.
I would get rid of the whole Earth idea. It was never necessary to have Earth involved. And I always kind of liked the idea that Lord British came about as Mondain’s brother, supposedly killed by Mondain at the same time as he killed his father, but rescued at the last minute by the Time Lord to later lead the defense and prepare the way for the Hero.
Sorry, I ramble…
The only issue with the Guardian’s origin, is that the final game cut out the complete explanation with the tied to Mondain’s Gem and the Shadowlords. When you put it back into it, it makes perfect. (Though I’ll have the say the wingless gargoyle thing for the BWP was dumb :P)
Oh and I wouldn’t change anything about the Sacrifice subplot – it’s one of the best handled in the game, it’s well made, interesting, and the whole Covetous subplot was freaking epic. The only thing I would change would be to refocus Lazlo’s sacrifice as being for the whole of Britannia and not just his people – ie. he don’t just see the future of his people, he sees the future of Britannia, and he does this to save the whole world, not just the Gypsies.