rewatching all the Fable trailers looking for all the anything I missed or forgot about before, and just some things I've noticed.
Arden appears in Humphry's trailer saying 'I'm a Hero. I should do what I want' which in the trailer serves to emphasise the often self-serving nature of Heroes in Albion, but in the context of her cast announcement description, maybe that dialogue is less about the selfish Hero and more about a woman who just wants to be allowed to choose the life she wants, the life of a cobbler, rather than the one people expect of her because of circumstances beyond her control. Alternatively it could be at a later stage in the story where she begins to embrace her Heroic nature and we see the negative impact that can have on an otherwise good person. I think she's almost guaranteed to occupy the same niche as Whisper, Hammer and Ben as a friend and companion who helps to push the story forward while offering a personal, emotional connection for the Hero to develop over the course of the game.
Humphry's trailer opens up on a torn portrait of Isabel before he even starts to talk about her - looks like her polearm has always been her favoured weapon from what we can see. There's also a lot of emphasis on all the bottles before we even set eyes on the man, to really drive home the fact this dude is a drinker, and then contrasts the open-shirt drinker with the more noble painting to emphasise that he is well past his prime and is spending his time drowning himself in memories of the glory days rather than engaging with the here and now which is then added to further with the cobwebs featuring in his title card as Albion's Greatest Hero* (*retired). And his dialogue about how the 'life and death stuff' 'defines you' and 'stays with you' leads nicely into his talk about Isabel, who he only ever refers to as 'this one Hero' and 'this Girl'. It's evident that Humphry has a lot of emotional baggage tied up in Isabel, and that his current state is a direct consequence of his falling out with her and how she 'made all the wrong choices'.
Humphry's emotional arc ties in heavily with Isabel. He took her in when she was alone, trained her, helped make her who she is, and she became terrifying (his words, not mine). There's regret and loss and perhaps some amount of grief tied up in how he feels about her and what she became, but when she comes back (where was she????) he's immediately out there with his new protege, our Hero of Briar Hill. Are they a replacement for Isabel, a do over, a chance to try and get the mentoring thing right this time? We know he's willing to fight her, as seen in the newest trailer, but he prevents the Hero of Briar Hill from attacking on sight when they first encounter her. Is he hoping that talking with Isabel is an option, or is he just trying to make sure they don't get themselves killed before they even know what she's trying to do?
But then you have Isabel's side of things, and she doesn't spare Humphry any special mention, not even in passing. He's lumped in with those 'other' Heroes. The fake Heroes, the unworthy ones. She's too absorbed in her grief over her sister's death and the fact that Albion is broken to form those attachments. No one else matters to her but her sister, who is dead and is therefore above further harm. Individuals won't (can't) be acknowledged because individuals are real. It's easier to be a monster when people are a faceless abstract incapable of experiencing grief and pain the way Isabel does, because then she doesn't have to feel remorse for the harm she does. Remorse is for the guilty, and she's not guilty, she can't be, because if she is then everything she's done is for nothing.
She's also the first of our interviewees who doesn't seem to have waited to be asked her opinion on Heroes. Instead it seems she's asked the much more personal question of how her powers woke up and she then guesses that the interviewer is there to talk about Heroes. While Dave seems surprised that he's being asked his opinion on Heroes, as in his mind the subject is irrelevant and below his consideration compared to his genius innovations in agriculture, and Humphry is happy to take a chance to reminisce about the glory days (until the nastier stuff floats to the surface), Isabel doesn't wait to be asked for her opinion. She gives it, and she doesn't hold back. And when she's asked about remorse, she's genuinely caught a bit off-guard. She has to think, calculate, find a way to rationalise her actions in a way that doesn't condemn her.
Isabel also has a lot of strong ties to the colour red - she wears a red cloak and her magic is red in colour, with her weapon glowing red in the combat between her and the Hero of Briar Hill. Red is also tied to Jack of Blades and potentially the Void - we see red lightning strike Fairfax Castle's iconic tower, destroying it, Isabel falls into a flash of red light, she looks up at a castle that definitely doesn't look like Fairfax Castle which is illuminated in red light, our final shot of the Hero of Briar Hill is cast in red, and then of course we see Jack walking out from the flames.
Interestingly both Arden and Humphrey also feature red in their designs too. Arden wears a red bodice while Humphry wears a red gambeson beneath his golden armour and his shield's face is red. In Humphry's case, red pairs well with gold and it also signifies his ties to Isabel. Red is her colour, and he feels tied to her in some way (responsible maybe?) while her design lacks any significant amounts of gold which signifies her lack of reciprocation. In Arden's case, the red offers her as a narrative counterpoint to our blue-coded Hero of Briar Hill, who sets out to be a Hero as opposed to Arden who just wants to be a cobbler. It's a nice visual contrast between the two and indicates that they're intended to complement each other, unlike Humphry and Isabel who are at odds and haven't seen eye to eye in a long time.
titsay
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
dededos
2087
andulkaphoto
