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Re: Celebrity Deathmatch!
Posted By: AnaphielDate: 7/30/01 2:39 p.m.

In Response To: Celebrity Deathmatch! (Greg Downing)

Interesting question, but there is a flaw in your reasoning: Shodan is not destroyed at the end of either game, just checkmated.

Shodan survives the events of SS1 aboard the jettisoned Groves and pops up on Tau Ceti at the beginning of SS2. You spend all of SS2 helping Shodan to defeat the Many, the evolved descendants of her creations from the first game, and trying to prevent her from using the FTL drives on board the Von Braun to rebuild reality to her own specifications. In the ending cinematic of SS2 we find that Shodan has survived by (apparently) infecting or downloading her core consciousness into one of the escaped crewmembers of the Von Braun, and there is no real barrier to her returning to the ship and starting the whole nightmare over again.

My gut feeling is that Shodan would mop the floor with Durandal, mainly because Shodan is just plain evil and bent on destruction and subjugation, while Durandal seems more concerned with his own survival and enhancement. Durandal takes a rather limited and surgical approach to his quest, using the cyborg and the captured Pfhor scoutship as weapons when conflict is unavoidable. His ultimate goal is "merely" to personally survive the closure of the universe, and while he deals harshly with obstacles to that goal, he doesn't seem particularly interested in dominating or exterminating the planets he encounters. Shodan on the other hand goes from a plan to sterilize Earth of all life and rebuild it into more perfect cybernetic beings to actually reshaping all of space and time.

Durandal may have no human-regulated ethical restraints, but he has a wee bit too much of a conscience for his own good. Put Shodan in Durandal's place and the plot of Infinity would have the character travelling various timelines trying to find a way to capture the W'rkncactner and establish a captive breeding program.

Both do seem to have to do most of their work through human or humanoid proxies, though, so maybe the true outcome of the battle would be fought by the Marines from both games. And while the player from System Shock is a much more versatile tool, what with his hacking and other skills, I think I'll place my bets on the Mjolnir there.

: Here's a question for you: who would win in a battle of Durandal Vs. SHODAN?
: (the AI from the System Shock games).

: Personally, I'd say Durandal for two reasons: 1) The Marine never actually
: *defeated* Durandal...the whole time, the Marine did as Durandal asked and
: never rebelled. Where as SHODAN was destroyed twice by the pawns she
: sought to control.

: 2) Durandal has a sense of humor, which might be enough to turn the tide in a
: battle of subterfuge and wits. ;)

: Been a while since I've been back to the old story page...hope there'll be
: more plot to dissect soon.... ;)

: -Greg

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Replies:

Celebrity Deathmatch!Greg Downing 7/30/01 1:01 p.m.
     Re: Celebrity Deathmatch!Anaphiel 7/30/01 2:39 p.m.
           Re: Celebrity Deathmatch!Greg Downing 7/31/01 11:12 a.m.
                 Re: Celebrity Deathmatch!Anaphiel 7/31/01 2:33 p.m.



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