Replies to various posts I've seen in the last few pages and extra thoughts:
1. Michael and Alice vs Met and Rina
Don't expect much from this. Rina will take on Alice and will have trouble piercing her passive protections. Met will take on Michael and due to how their powers interact he won't be able to finish the job. Alice and Rina will probably take some heavier damage and that's that. Something will happen to break up the fight. That's all.
And don't expect Alice to do well vs Met. She's good, but she's a level 2. Michael will do well because he can absorb energy. He just has a better power.
2. Valravn right now is probably weaker than a toddler.
He's been beaten so hard these last few months, and due to how his power works he probably is an a really bad spot. Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if Xanthe killed him as he was practically useless, not willing to speak to anyone. Unlikely but really not surprising.
Also I don't expect him to gain back his power by grinding hearts. It's a slow process, and he already tested Xanthe's patience by being tight lipped. So this time around, HERO will hunt to kill, not to capture.
Valravn probably still has a role to play. I don't think Deus would bother with giving him back the heart only for MC to fight him. I'm not sure how he's going to be restored to full strength, but I also don't think that we will see any hide and seek. He will probably find a cave to hide in and pray to his lord.
3. No one seems to be interested in MC.
MC is in SIN base, sedated and personally held by the strongest superhuman there, with Ella Doll in his pocket. And NOONE EVEN GIVES A DAMN. The guy with an Arbiter in his head, one of the rarest individuals with 2 Apostolic traits, the chosen of Ella, and people are like "Eh, we put him in the basement indefinitely, perhaps if Big Sis somehow comes back, she may have a use for him".
I think this thread has been pulled a bit too much. Ella has kept her mouth shut. No one knows what's the big deal with MC aside from her. Not Tanos, not Langdon, not the Chosen, not the kids. I don't know why she does the things she does, but nothing else makes sense at this point.
4. MC has an opportunity to see what's going on with SIN:
With MC and Ella in SIN base, there exists the potential to reach an understanding. There are still a lot of things that haven't been explained yet.
1) Why Ella is secretive about MC.
2) What are these stones Charlie & Jared are looking for.
3) What is MC's potential relationship with the Chosen.
4) What is Ella's endgame.
5) What's going on with the Apostles in general
etc.
Not that I expect answers from Ella, which takes me to my next point
5. I think Deus prophecy is about to start getting relevant.
Deus says that MC's future with Ella is murky. She lacks MC's understanding, and MC should be careful untill he is strong enough to impress.
1) Once MC finishes his training, he will probably be one of the more knowledgable people on the matter of Apostles. (Understanding)
2) In the last update we can choose how Ella's romance will progress. (Murky future)
3) The last one will take some time. But since MC isn't supposed to fight Ella before that point, and the doll doesn't want to leave his side (at least at the moment), perhaps a game will start where depending on what MC says, it will affect the endings.
6. Tanos is not the enemy.
I expect him to:
Do everything in his power to makes sure the Twins come into their own.
Be sincere about helping Deryl with his philosopher stone, and comparing notes with him.
Not give a damn about Langdon and the other SIN heads.
Not give a damn about what the Chosen want.
However when MC wakes up and decides that enough is enough, Tanos will oppose this. He won't just accept losing the Twins as they are intergral to his research. The only question here is how the game will handle this and if we will be given a choice.
But, it's not all bad. In fact I think that Tanos has the potential to be an ally. I have this idea, that there are 3 Twin configurations:
1) Evander & Devana: Twins with different traits.
2) Amber & Liz: Twins with the same trait.
3) MC: Twin traits.
MC holds 2/3 of his research under his influence so I think that a compromise is possible. Past that point the problem is going to be the HERO captains.
7. HERO are in a tough spot and they are their own worst enemies.
Aside from that bit about Deus predicting trouble, it seems that HERO are once again stretched thin. The relationships between the leaders seem a bit strained and Bramon found his perfect opportunity to further his research into monsterkind, only to be met by groans and opposition.
It really feels like we are approaching a singularity. Lucius is paranoid, Bernhardt is angry, Zack is scared, Bramon is pushy, Malik and Nyx don't have anything useful to add and Dexter is probably bleeding money. It's been a fuckup after a fuckup.
These are all their failures:
1) Got nothing out of Valravn.
2) Got nothing out of Ella.
3) Lost 20000 Human soldiers.
4) Failed to create a good training regiment for new recruits.
5) Failed to control public opinion.
6) Failed to protect the twins.
7) Failed to protect MC.
Additionally there have been communication mistakes. Only 3 people knew about Bramon's plan to infiltrate the dimension, Bernhardt didn't know that Eisheth is supposed to be a uniquely strong monster etc.
The worst thing that can happen to HERO is miscommunication. While the leadership is strong enough to carry the organization through any problem, if they end up having a falling out, it's going to be catastrophic.
