Morganthe's Memories: Fact or Fiction? Pt. 2

I have chosen six angles from which I'll be attacking the Khrysalis Part 2 storyline. There's a lot going on, and our journey here begins at the Radiant Alcazar, formally known as the Alcazar of Radiant Judgement, but known by most as Radiance Reborn. You reach this location upon completion of Crescent Beach and the Starfall Sea dungeon. If you've passed this point, you're safe to view spoilers here!

Note: Due to the importance of seeing the plot in an objective sense for theorycrafting, developer quotes and in-game sources are often used and linked to. For this reason, I've also included the dialogue from the memory exactly. This leads to a very large post, and as such, the Morganthe's Memories topic has been divided into three posts, though the topic itself is only one of my six. Before reading, check out Part 1 HERE!

Shaped by Time and Prejudice

There are three Chambers of the Mind. Before entering, the NPC there, Amelia Stardust, warns you that these are memories as Morganthe remembers them. They are "shaped by time and prejudice," "colored by how she remembers them." She also notes that these, like all true visions, can hurt you.

From Avalon to Wizard City

It wasn't long before Merle Ambrose decided to leave Avalon to its own fate and look for new adventures. "Merle Ambrose and his ally Gamma left Avalon to explore the Spiral. It was the next age in Avalon." [Source]  Morganthe was apparently taking on magic she was not prepared to handle, nearly destroying Wizard City. This is confirmed both by the encounter in-game as well as two other sources. "In KR2, the dream you see is set a bit later, after Merle Ambrose has founded Ravenwood and Morganthe has enrolled in the school. Morganthe once again dived into magic she was not ready for, and nearly destroyed Wizard City in the process." [Source A, Source B]

Malistaire, Revisited

We just can't seem to get rid of this guy! First, he shows up in the tutorial. Then, we catch him in Marleybone with Meowiarty. Finally, we meet and defeat him in Dragonspyre. But that's not the end. He shows up yet again in a Pirate101 puppet show in MooShu. Then Morganthe resurrects him in Azteca and we fight him as the final boss there. Apparently, "Morganthe was never as good a straight-up Death Wizard as Malistaire. She needed him to help summon and entrap the Lords of Night, in Azteca. Also, it didn't hurt that he was a pretty good enemy for you." [Source]

You must defeat Malistaire, who has six thousand health as opposed to your two thousand or so. Fortunately, after hitting about half health, Malistaire will end the battle. This can be a tougher one.

Root Cause

Who caused Morganthe's turn to darkness? Clearly she was on the path from the beginning, but can any one person or thing be blamed for her most evil actions? Many believe it's Merle Ambrose. In this set of dialogue, he admits his inability to handle both Malistaire and Morganthe, and they both ironically become the main villains over two arcs. Are there any other evil students and teachers you haven't told us about, Merle?

Following the Exchange

Ultimately, Morganthe is expelled from Ravenwood. After getting things all sorted out with Falmea and Baxby's exchange program in Zafaria, Morganthe obtains her Deck of Shadows from Mirror Lake, fulfilling the first part of her prophecy. Before you head to Azteca, though, she makes a guest appearance. Merle says that she's not welcome in Ravenwood.

Merle himself must have locked away her Deck of Shadows, for he states that he was once in Zafaria [Source]. Did Morganthe have shadow magic before this encounter? She must have, for Ambrose would not be in Zafaria for any other reason. But she hadn't been to Khrysalis yet and been exposed to the shadow. How strange. Zafaria is a distant world where Falmea and Sir Reginald Baxby set up an exchange program that, of course, you were never told about.

But back to the memory - it's not over yet.

Expulsion!

Morganthe is indeed expelled from Ravenwood. Merle hopes that she "finds her true self" in the Spiral. However, when we are at our lowest, we are oftentimes vulnerable to ideas and patterns that we would have previous never considered. This is what happened as Morganthe traveled the Spiral in search of magic, and she found it in her third memory... but that's my next post.

Wizard City's End

One of my big questions with this memory is what Morganthe did that was so terrible that it almost destroyed Wizard City. Was destroying it the intent, or just a side effect of uncontrolled power? This would be a lot of fun to play with in terms of fan-fiction and theorycrafting. With the arc having reached its end, there's a chance that we'll never get an answer.

I DO have to wonder if Morganthe and her spider influences had something to do with Malistaire's wife's death. Sylvia died dye to a disease of some sort, perhaps from a poisonous bite, as some have suggested.

What's the deal with Morganthe? Who caused her darkness? What does is have to do with Malistaire? Thanks for reading and see you in the Spiral!