Lewq

Not sure why people are trying to reason with SuperOZ, he clearly stated he hasn't even played the SSA Arc, he just "kinda, sorta, maybe, listened, half-watched his BFF play it, maybe...". I'd believe him more if he said his dog ate his homework and oh by the way homework is a tool of repression on young developing minds and how dare they try and force him to do it against his will! >_>

Anyway....

One thing people should keep in mind is that we, the player, have an omniscient viewpoint in this whole arc. We knew that Statesman was going to die, we knew what Wade's plans are, but the PC's in game do not. As far as the heroes knew, someone was attacking the Freedom Phalanx; they find out its Malaise (a known powerful psychic) and some unknown guy called Darrin Wade. Only the villain side has any clue how far Wade was going with his plot and who he was targeting.

Hell, one of the big points of the arc so far has been that Wade was genre savvy enough to do all that he did. He purposely kept a low profile, working slowly to gain the knowledge and magical artifacts he would need for the various rituals and attacks he has done so that no one would see him stockpiling everything so quickly. He uses Malaise (knowing Malaise has a axe to grind with Sister Psyche) so that he can let them focus on Malaise and fracture the heroes team first while he sets up the trap.

As for Statesman 'walking into the trap', this is a guy who, in canon, took a nuclear missile to the face and survived. I'm sure many a villain has tried to trap him in the past and he has shrugged those off with ease. Why would he suspect anything different from some non super powered guy?

Should be interesting to see the fallout from all this.

Honestly, since reading about the "Who will die?" SSA, I always figured it would be Statesman who would be the one to go. Now how and why were certainly up for speculation, but in putting more thought into it, I can see why it would be him:

Statesman is holding the story back.

Allow me to expand on that a bit. Some people seem to be looking at the WWD arc as just a stand alone item, just a simple story within the game, but I see it as just one small part of a bigger picture. And in looking at that picture, taking Statesman out of it would allow a great deal more options and storylines to be developed, especially in light of the current ingame lore.

Its hard to place when the WWD arc is taking place within the current storyline, but I am assuming its taking place at the same time as the current battle against the Praetorians with the Incarnates as the focal point of that conflict. If that is true, then Statesman death could have a great impact on how things would go from here.

We have been told, from various sources such as Prometheus that the Well is not happy with our two big incarnates: Statesman and Recluse. Recluse because he is trying to keep his power, but break the bonds that bind him to the Well; whereas Statesman refuses to not only increase his own power, BUT Statesman also doesn't want others to gain that power, for fear they would fall under the Well's control. To Statesman, every PC Incarnate is just a Tyrant in the making, someone bound to fall under the Well's sway. He seems unable to see how someone could learn to draw that power without going too far.

Someone in a post earlier in the thread said that Statesman reminds them of a classic superhero and that is very true. But unfortunately, like many classic superheros, he is a Black and White character in an ever evolving Gray and Gray world and is finding himself unable to keep up. Worse than that, he is holding others back whose help we could use. Right now, the only reason Primal Earth hasn't fallen to the Praetorian's is that we, the player characters, are striking as hard as possible, with help from Prometheus and our Resistance allies, to keep Tyrant off balance. As the Apex and Tin Mage TF's have shown us, if they do attack, our hero allies cannot stand up against the incarnate boosted Praetorians. Yet Statesman still refuses to let the Phalanx or their allies tap that power, even in the face of such evidence.

In light of this, our hero allies and even enemies have fallen from relevance. At this point, the Phalanx and even Arachnos are nothing more than minor players in events which they instead should have contribution in, even attempting to sway in their favor. But, if Statesman were to fall, this could change. Imagine if we were to have the primal heroes help fight their Praetorian counterparts, how that would allow for development of the characters and the different paths they could take. Or how Statesman death would shift the balance of power on Primal Earth; without Statesman there to stop him, Recluse may decide to make his move while he perceives weakness in the hero's side.

PS - As an afterthought, I find myself wondering if this may not lead to some interesting development for Ms. Liberty. Perhaps, if by some means she is given some of Statesman's power due to the events in WWD, this could be compared/contrasted by her Praetorian counterparts attempts to manipulate the Praetorian hierarchy in her bid for Tyrants power?