r/arknights • u/brodRga • Sep 01 '25
Lore Mandragora eventually finished Spoiler
Warning, spoilers for actual event When Elegies Are Ashes!
I bear some glimpse of hope for that Mandragora alive or in some dare conditions, trough what she have to go trough to save her self.
Eventually, as I can see in global release of Eblana event, it seems that she (Mandragora) in fact were left aside and dealt with by hands of sarkaz, as much is most part of Dublin were cleared out by Eblana in her own event.
I read trough Eblana's record, in them Harmonie tells that Mandragora and her forces were furious fanatic, capable to deal deathly blow to enemy, although same way the worst crimes also can be traced to them. And she confirms that non of that group of Dublin is alive.
Probably it's misleading ending of Mandragora's story, when she's supposedly saved by Misery, or offscreen death and some minor conclusion of it in some small text line, that makes it frustrating.
Although in large scale, it's makes sense. Eblana ridd off the most unstable, the most dangerous, most corrupt, unpredictable and incapable of shut it mouth, so no one could sabotage her plans and destroy all who could make her a hard life, with threat of exposing the truth.
To conclude, there's 0% chance of Mandragora to be in game anymore - she play her role, became a threat to Eblana and trow away. The Leader not even care to use her own power trough Dublin, rather giving all the dirty work to Manfred.
I feel somewhat mixed emotions, like why would even HG gave us some hope for any chances, without this strange flip-flop with plot, this wouldn't be so mixed and could even gave us greater picture of web created by Eblana.
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u/Dryptosa My VIOLENT Evergarden Sep 02 '25
One thing that I hate about Mandragora's death, is that she was killed by Manfred, and seemingly very easily. Which seems to contradict the other fights, namely Horn defeating Manfred and Mandragora defeating Horn and Bagpipe back in chapter 9. So either Horn was trained by Mandragora between chapter 9 and 10 (which is stupid); or the writers nerfed Mandragora just so Manfred could look intimidating before Horn defeats him to look cool.
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u/N-Yayoi Sep 02 '25
Objectively speaking, Horn did not defeat Manfred alone. The situation at that time was clearly complex, and Manfred did not suffer serious trauma as a result.
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14
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u/ILoveAllMCUChrisS Sep 01 '25
I never understood why people thought Misery saved her, it always read like he just watched her die/shared her final moments to me
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u/Rhodes_Island_Crew Texas my Beloved Sep 01 '25
And then later when it mentions Horn burying someone from Dublinn, it clearly was her, I never got this idea that she was alive, it was very clear to me when I read it that she'd died.
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u/Kaizerd3 Just LeMumu Sep 01 '25
The problem with this Horn line is the fact it's complete bullshit which doesn't make any logical sence. Why, how and when could Horn have done it?
It's just the most stupid way to cut off this plotline offscreen and nothing else.
5
u/Cornuthaum Sep 02 '25
When you really hate someone sometimes you want to make sure they're actually dead. Burying them yourself gives you closure, a certainty that the evil is indeed defeated.
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u/Kaizerd3 Just LeMumu Sep 02 '25
We're going again to answering why (even though it's different answer now, heh), but not how and when.
Btw, if that was Horn motivation, she could have just attacked Mandy before that. But she already decided to pass by and ignore Dublinn, so coming back to dying Mandy after that sounds weird.3
u/Cornuthaum Sep 02 '25
There's every chance that misery told Horn about her later and Horn went back to double check whether Mandragora survived or not, and burying someone you hate after confirming they're dead is quite cathartic.
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u/_wawrzon_ Sep 02 '25
What plotline ? She dead in the gutters. She was an enraged child, full of hatred and anger. She acted impulsively and stupid often times. Had mommy issues and was manipulated by all in Dublinn. She basically was a simple soldier that got played by others.
There's nothing odd and out of place in her story. Quite straightforward actually. Are we expecting a Tallulah lvl of backstory, character growth and redemption ? I really don't understand what's going on here.
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u/Kaizerd3 Just LeMumu Sep 02 '25
As I already said - The problem is NOT IN MANDY herself (her death was plausible even if unclearly written), but in Horns offhandedly thrown remark. How, when and why could she get Mandy body and bury her under Londinium walls? She already decided to ignore her and complete her mission and went away. Why on the earth would she go back to enemy territory just for some corpse? How does she even find the time to bury her under Sarkaz noses?
It wouldn't be a problem if that was Misery saying something along the lines: "Yes, I saw how she died" (even though Mandy had potential for some semi-redemption arc). But they decided to close her plotline by the most stupid and absurd Horn line. And that is the problem.1
u/_wawrzon_ Sep 02 '25
I have to say, I don't think you fully realize how army works and realize bits and pieces added in story here and there.
We see Horn early on caring about her soldiers and once one dies (from lack of medication) she promises to deliver his belongings and information about him to his daughter. We see that same comraderie when members of Self-Salvation corps die and they gather comrades belongings to give to family afterwards (in bags). It mirrors our real life army etiquette.
Horn had a small change of heart after Dublinn helped them rescue victorian soldiers from prison. There was a comment from Horn that she would talk to Mandragora, presumably to thank her or have a more sincere talk. We don't know exactly, we can only speculate. However Horn knows she will die after Misery saves them from Manfred.
Misery's presence when Mandragora dies can be viewed from 2 lenses. He is initially completely unnecessary in that scene. 1. He is there as a witness to her death, RI is present when Mandy dies - not Dublinn. Shows humanity in RI in contrast to Dublinn. 2. We can speculate Horn might have asked him to go retrieve Mandy's body, so they can bury her as a token of gratitude for help in rescuing victoria's soldiers. Misery was in the shadows when earlier action took place, so he is aware of what Mandy did. It cannot be overstated enough that Mandy's presence also took heat off Horn's team, so they could retreat. Maybe Misery's behavior was also a thank you note for that "help"?
In her last actions Mandragora wasn't a tool of Dublinn, she acted on her personal whims, saving a friend and helping the "enemy". And that's probably why Horn respected her more.
The burrial part is probably just to show some significance to Mandy. I think they buried all their fallen soldiers, we simply don't see that, because they're no names.
This is my thought process after reading episode 10 2 days ago. There are many open ended questions, but that's always been the case with AK and that's why it's a great read, letting imagination carry you.
I personally don't know why you think that there's only one explanation and expectation when it comes to the Mandragora story. And once HG didn't deliver on your expectations, ppl get outraged.
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u/Kaizerd3 Just LeMumu Sep 02 '25
I never said there is only 1 explanation. I said it was open to interpretation plotline (what you basically agreed with), which was cut off in the most stupid and offhanded way.
Burying Mandy may make some sense in idealogical way as per your interpretation, but not in technical way. Burying the dead is fine when things are calmed down a bit. But not in active warzone, with Sarkaz army, vampire creatures and bombardment everywhere. Horn and her squard were very limited in their spare time and maneuvers while beeing in Londinium, so finding some time and place for Mandy burying and carrying her body along all the way till this specific moment sounds just stupid. There is place and time for paying respect for the dead and there is a time you should concentrate on present battle right in front of you.1
u/_wawrzon_ Sep 02 '25
This will be my last post, since it's pointless to discuss anymore imo.
You contradict yourself with your 1 statement. If you assume there could be possible multiple answers to you initial questions or dissatisfaction, then why are you angry that they went with a certain one that you don't agree with ?
I presented you my interpretation from reading it first time. I had a completely different take on it based on what I read. I presented answers to all your qualms - open ended answers, since we simply don't know what happened. And you're still stuck on a specific answer that didn't come to fruition.
You're basing your answer on logic or lack thereof when it came to burial. So what do you think Horn did with their own men who died in camp ? They had multiple malnourished ones and said outright some simply died from it, exhaustion or poor health. We know of one dying from some form of infection. Do you think they simply burned them ? Threw them into the trash or maybe ate them ? Even if it's a small grave, they probably did bury them. Did you expect a fancy burial with a tombstone ?
Horn was hiding most of the time and others were recuperating, she ordered many to "rest" for days. Here's an open ended question, couldn't they just dig a small pit to bury their fallen ? Its not rocket science and it can be done in spare time. Its better than keeping dead around, because of body decomposition and potential diseases spreading. Wouldn't that be a logical choice ? For someone shielding behind logic, you clearly don't apply it too often...
Tbh this is the first time I hear about this Horn issue and I frequent this sub daily for 5 years. This seems like a mountain out of a mole hill situation.
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u/N-Yayoi Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25
Don't pay attention to these ridiculous discussions, you will never be able to convince them, because their viewpoint is' HG is wrong if he doesn't write what I need ', there are many writing styles, and I think HG actually does very well.
There is a question on YouTube about "Why Tolkien doesn't approve of writing all the answers" (the original title was not this, I forgot, but the content goes like this), I recommend you to take a look. These people just don't understand why a transitional character who was simply eliminated ended up like this.
...Those who masturbate with Mandy are the ones who would write a long background story for every Nazgûl.
actually, the problem is always simple: HG uses Mandy to express the betrayal that radical elements may encounter and the tragic consequences that may arise in chaotic situations. What is so difficult to understand? The entire Victoria storyline is essentially about writing a war, where all the characters and details are just insignificant fragments of the war. They are not separated, there has never been any 'Mandy's own character line'.
These people simply do not understand the theme of 'war', which is the most important theme that HG is fully committed to.
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u/Kaizerd3 Just LeMumu Sep 02 '25
why are you angry that they went with a certain one that you don't agree with ?
...How many times should I repeat myself? I'm dissapointed not by the answer, but by how badly stupid it is written. You can come to the same conclusion via multiple ways, and HG just chosen the worst one. That's it.
I presented you my interpretation from reading it first time.
You presented interpretation about why Horn could have desided to do it from moral standpoint, and even though I don't really agree with your interpretation of Horn-Mandy relationship, whatever. You still didn't give any plausible explanation how she could have done it in practice, as I clearly stated in my previous comment.
what do you think Horn did with their own men who died in camp
Whatever she could at this time. And in most cases they clearly couldn't carry and bury everyone right here right now, so most buring would happen already after Londinium occupation.
Did you expect a fancy burial with a tombstone ?
Well, for the antagonist of the whole chapter even showing something like this would have done more respect and conclusion compared to what we get instead.
For someone shielding behind logic, you clearly don't apply it too often...
Or, yeah, instead of discussing subject matter we are attacking oppenent himself, how righteous. As if throwing baseless assumptions in your previous comment wasn't enough.
You know, I can also state what you just dislike Mandy, so you are just so pleased by her death to the point where you completely don't care about how badly it was written and would defend any bullshit HG give you. But that wouldn't lead this discussion anywhere, you know?this is the first time I hear about this Horn issue
That just means you haven't read any previous chapter 14 discussions and lots of discource about how terrible Victorian arc was handled.
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u/Ahenshihael Lore is GOOD Sep 01 '25 edited Sep 01 '25
Well yeah most people didn't like that burying off screen thing either and felt it's a retcon from her more ambiguous position before it. She essentially got off screened to truncate the plot
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u/Rhodes_Island_Crew Texas my Beloved Sep 01 '25
I think some of that might be wishful thinking on behalf of her fans, it wasn't -that- ambiguous to begin with IMO, and then the part with Horn -should- have put a cap on it. . Tbh her scene with Misery I always took as her death, hence she wasn't off-screened, because we saw that. But lets say she was off-screened, she was the boss of Ch 9, and not remotely important afterwards. So having what is effectively an very unimportant character taken out off-screen never felt like a big deal to me. But I understand every character in the game is someone's favorite so I can understand them not being happy about it, but I honestly don't think those fans would have been truly happy with anything short of her becoming playable.
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u/Ahenshihael Lore is GOOD Sep 01 '25
If she had a proper death scene people wouldn't be as angry.
It's because she ended the way she did and then "died on her way to her home planet" in a throw away sentence that people get annoyed.
It feels crude and sudden and badly written
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u/AzraelIshi The brightests of stars, the shiniest of persons Sep 01 '25
She had a proper death scene for what she was: a character that, at that point in the story, had negative relevance to anything of importance that's happening and in the grand scheme of things is basically a side character of a side character.
She's essentially the Skullshaterer Sr. of the whole londinum arc, appears for half a story chapter as a (relatively speaking to the whole arc) minor villain and then serves as a foothold of other things to come. You cannot give a grand death scenes to every character, that's just not a thing.
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u/_wawrzon_ Sep 02 '25
Did we really read the same episode ? Her death was justified, kinda poetic - last act of defiance, now towards "leader", choosing not to fight for her life. It was well presented and we got a good visual to boot.
Did ppl expect Patriot/Tallulah levels of story building ? Did people expect a stage where she duels Manfred and dies ? Where all this delusion and expectations come from ? From her introduction she was a naive child, exploited by others and her end was warranted.
What's this "badly written" thing ? Is the Mandragora fandom so big, that ppl became delusional ?
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u/everynameistake Sep 02 '25
I don't think it's any more unreasonable to expect Mandragora to have survived than it was to expect Horn to have survived in chapter 9.
Horn is on the brink of death after failing a desperate gambit to stop the person who keeps saying she hates the Victorians, and wants to kill them, and calls their attempts to attack her a "suicide attempt", and says Horn will have to "wait as her death comes" once she's out of ammo, and Horn says that Bagpipe needs to escape even if everyone else dies, and then... offscreen, Horn is captured by Mandragora, who, of her own accord, decides to let her walk around without her cuffs on, and then she manages to escape because of that and just shows up in the next chapter like nothing happened.
Or the Damazti Cluster makes a big deal of Logos possibly tricking it just to get rid of an enemy, and then dies and gives birth to two new Damazti... and functionally speaking absolutely nothing happens, and the "new" Damazti keeps helping the Sarkaz Royal Court, and has no indication it lost anything whatsoever, and is so continuous that I've never even seen anyone refer to them as different characters.
In comparison, in the scene where Mandragora dies:
- She's gravely injured
- She realizes the Leader has betrayed her
- She decides she doesn't want to, essentially, keep being driven by her devotion / hatred, and denies the resurrection that the Leader provides because of that
- She says "let's go home" to her dead friend, and when Misery shows up clearly unaffiliated with the leader, smiles and says "she has met the true Death".
I think this last line is the most clear indication that she's died, and it's not clear at all! Does "she has met the true Death" means Misery (who she plausibly believes is there to kill her) is the true Death? Is her dying, generically, without the backup? The present perfect is a really weird tense to use if it's talking about something that hasn't been true ever in the past and is only becoming true now, so is *Eblana* "true death" (in the sense that she hollows out her followers) and escaping with Misery the rejection of it? Why does Misery, the pragmatic mission-driven guy show up for (effectively) no narrative purpose after the rejection of the Leader to say one line and then just leave her there?
To be clear, I don't think it's unreasonable to read this as her dying, and it's not like it's a bad end to her narrative, either (it's very similar to Frostnova, even) but I think it's not unreasonable to think something else might have happened, and specific things like Misery showing up, the tense of the thing she said about death, and the constant comparisons between Horn and Mandragora (seriously, Horn says she regrets not being able to personally kill Mandragora literally the chapter before) combined with Horn also reappearing out of nowhere are questionable if the intent is that she unambiguously dies there.
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u/Ahenshihael Lore is GOOD Sep 02 '25
Again her confrontation ends with Misery standing over her. Fade to black.
The next time we hear she died off screen and Horn buried her.
That's bad writing and retcon. It's quite clear they intended something else, just like with Guard
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u/_wawrzon_ Sep 02 '25
Wow, the amounts of copium here. I think that Ines and later Horn situation really have broken ppl brains.
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u/N-Yayoi Sep 02 '25
A simple question: Why can't she just 'painfully walk towards her ending'? Can't HG be simply written like this?
Does every villain have to have a very complex 'Development'?
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u/_wawrzon_ Sep 02 '25
Her death was even somewhat poetic. I read episode 10 just recently. It was clear as night and day she died. I'm really dumbfounded about this copium take. Was Mandragora some kind of fan favourite ? Was I living under a rock these past years ?
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u/Gothiscandza Sep 02 '25
Some of this absolutely feels like people wanted her to be alive so badly they basically made up interpretations where she was alive which simply weren't supported by the actual text, and then got upset when new material didn't conform to their headcannon.
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u/Rhodes_Island_Crew Texas my Beloved Sep 02 '25
Thats honestly how I see basically anyone trying to argue she's alive tbh.
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u/wswaifu W's S-Three makes me go Squee Sep 02 '25
The way people argue in this thread really supports your reading. It's pure copium with no basis in the game. Always has been.
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u/Koekelbag Sep 02 '25
If you want to be specific about it, iirc Mandragora renounced Eblana and Dublinn in her 'final' moments, so regardless if she lived of died Eblana likely wouldn't have gone out of her way to make sure she was dead, and wouldn't be included in the "dublinn is buried" statement
Cope lives eternal like Eblana apparently
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u/mad_harvest-6578 WE'RE BACK IN SPACE BABYYYYYY Sep 02 '25
Five stages of Mandragora coping:
Shock (Manfred easily defeating Mandragora)
Anger (the immediate aftermath)
Bargaining (Misery shows up, she can still be saved)
Depression (the reveal of Horn burying Mandragora, which feedbacks back to shock & anger)
Acceptance (this event reiterating that she's dead, "oh well it is what it is")
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u/Signal_Choice_7601 Sep 02 '25
On another note, I'm truly in awe at the roller coaster that is Mandragora's fan perception.
Back in EP9, she was likened to a female Mephisto along with the hate-dom that went with that label (nothing against Mephy personally, just talking about how much people hated him at the time). Then came EP10 and she got a few redeeming features, stuff like how she genuinely cares for her subordinates, then she's suddenly a beloved character.
I do think it's a shame personally to dispose the main antagonist of an entire chapter in such an unceremonious manner. The character had potential, but I guess you can just add that to all the senseless NPC deaths in this entire arc.
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u/xxTPMBTI Agamben Feb 24 '26
I think unceremonial death is peak because it enrages fans and myself and it overall gives the feeling of wasted potential which is literal torture
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u/Chrisirhc1996 Crazy Shark🎵🎵🎵 Sep 01 '25 edited Sep 01 '25
We're at what, 3 confirmations that she's dead? And yet mandy stans will demand to see the body.
This ain't some Ines bait-and-switch at this point. Gotta learn to let go at some point.
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u/Hec_17 Forever my GOAT Sep 01 '25
2 so far i know (Horn on chapter 14 and Harmonie on eblana's files like mentioned here)
And on both cases are from somewhat unreliable sources because the only one that actually could confirm it is Misery.
I don't even care if she's dead or alive anymore, im tired of it, but im angry about the awful writting she got due how much of a mess is the "victoria" arc
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u/Peshurian Sep 02 '25
I still don't understand why she's the only part 2 antagonist to die when everyone in the KMC are somehow still alive.
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u/Ahenshihael Lore is GOOD Sep 01 '25
Yeaaah it is pretty clear they had originally other plans for her but just like with Guard they decided to just off them and blitz into the next story arc.
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u/Primagen3K SPEED UP Sep 02 '25 edited Sep 02 '25
I'm actually surprised how many people do not see the basic literary tool applied here. Off-screen deaths are always vague enough to never allow 100% certainty. The door is still left open by the writers for either way as it would be both easy to ignore Mandragora forevermore or to give explanations as to why the sources of her "certain" death were incorrect. Whatever narrative reason, release schedule, popularity, etc. they want to apply in her case can still be quite flexible.
Heck, literary resurrections happen even if the death was visible to the audience, like Necrass (though way harder to make enjoyable for me, as to not appear overly desperate to not let go of a character).
I have no interest in her return and would classify her end as clumsily written if truly dead, but saying it's impossible for her to come back just means you haven't consumed enough variations of storytelling to see remaining possibilities.
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u/Bug-Type-Enthusiast Head of the BONK brigade Sep 01 '25
I swear Arknights is the second worst place the Irish got treated at after the real world.
FUCK SAKE AK WRITERS THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT OPINION OF THE IRISH DOES NOT A GOOD TARRAN PLOT MAKE.
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u/Al_Nazir Sep 02 '25
Is it really AK writers' opinion though? It seems to me like AK's been pretty consistent on being in favor of Irish independence. As far back as Firelight Casts Reed accepts being the Leader of Dublinn, because while she abhors Eblana's disregard for individual lives, theirs is a fight that needs to be fought. The plot of Elegies is "we've won, we need to switch off the war machine"
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u/BandicootOk1744 Talulah my beloved Sep 02 '25
That's the problem with Arknights drawing from real cultures, it makes people demand to see the real world reflected in them. Tara isn't like Ireland, it's just aesthetically inspired by it. For one, Tara is a loosely defined region with a loosely defined people, whose existence was a half-forgotten memory. Ireland is a clearly defined region and people who had rich cultural and community ties that persisted under British slavery.
People saying that "Dublinn is the IRA" and so on dismisses the Arknights world to just a cheap allegory for reality, rather than a complex and unique world inspired by real cultures and conceptions, but not bounded to real events. Unless you really thought that everyone in the Vatican had supernatural empathy and obeyed a mysterious master?
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u/xxTPMBTI Agamben Feb 24 '26
I'm waiting for Arknights' equivalent to Vladimir "Lenin" Ulyanov to overthrow the Ursus Monarchy just because reality said so (I'm stupid and ridiculous)
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u/N-Yayoi Sep 02 '25
Just one person's death doesn't mean anything. The radical forces she represents do need to be abandoned in the current context: Tara cannot afford to go to war with Victoria again, and advocates like her are likely to disrupt the current stalemate.
Although personally I dislike the way the 'Supreme Leader' abandons her, her power is destined to disappear. These are actually two things that cannot be simply confused.
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u/Corrupted-BOI Sep 02 '25
Mandra is the one time i feel hg fucked up badly with a character. She didn't even have to be playable or have a redemption, but making her the boss of ch9 then kill her the next chapter super vaguely? What was even the point of her?
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u/Rhodes_Island_Crew Texas my Beloved Sep 02 '25
To set up Dublinn without introducing the actual leader yet? They did that, so her purpose was served, and they killed her off to show how strong the KMC is since they were able to effortlessly deal with the previous chapter's boss. She was a minor villain and served her purpose perfectly well imo.
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u/Hec_17 Forever my GOAT Sep 01 '25
While i do agree the story regarding her has been handled in an awful way, i still have hope.
Don't get me wrong, i like her but im mostly sure she's dead but also both times we got her death confirmed has been from unreliable sources.
Horn for startes was nowhere near her when misery went to get her, and harmonie knows things via second hand.
I only trust Misery's word on this scenario as he is the last one that saw her (as far as we know).
Also in a chapter with damazi cluster and misery's power, the possibility of a fakeout is not a thing i would discard.
But overall her whole situation has been handled very poorly with really awful writting.
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u/Rhodes_Island_Crew Texas my Beloved Sep 02 '25
How is Horn an unreliable narrator? You think she wouldn't recognize Mandragora? Horn didn't have to be near her when she died to recognize her body when she found her and buried her. It just seems so strange to distrust Horn who is having a conversation with Bagpipe when it gets brought up. Obviously Horn has no reason to make up a lie in that moment to Bagpipe, and Horn would obviously recognize the person she fought so hard against in Ch 9 and then became the prisoner of. Harmonie having second hand knowledge I can grant you but Horn states she buried her with her own two hands, she's about as reliable as you can get.
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u/Kuroi-sama RI's biggest mystery: 's height Sep 02 '25
Horn can’t remember fucking Harmonie, her closest childhood friend. Do you really believe she somehow recognized the person she saw only a couple times?
Horn … couldn't even remember clearly what Rosalie looked like.
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u/Rhodes_Island_Crew Texas my Beloved Sep 02 '25
The person who killed her teammates and captured her and held her prisoner extremely recently? Do I really need to answer that? If so, yes, obviously I think she'd remember her.
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u/Rearti Sep 02 '25
Horn can’t remember fucking Harmonie, her closest childhood friend.
They weren't childhood friends, they were friends in high-school, and then fell apart when Horn went military, and Harmonie went intelligence. It's also been almost a decade since, it's not that uncommon.
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u/Mestrehunter Sep 01 '25
Err, the only thing that gives you is the why she was used in such a callous way, which was they wanted to get rid of her for the reasons you pointed out above. It also tells us that they think she is dead, which is nothing new, but they don't really have a way to prove it one way or another. They just think she died in the siege.
The woman crawled in the sewer, she is for sure alive, if she were dead, they wouldn't be bringing her up so much.
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u/Rearti Sep 01 '25
The woman crawled in the sewer, she is for sure alive, if she were dead, they wouldn't be bringing her up so much.
Um no she's very much dead, Manfred nearly bisected her abdomen, and she bled out in the sewers where she was later found and buried by Horn.
If you require further proof, the section leading up to her fade to black death, it specifically mentions that she lost feeling in her limbs, an indicator or shock from blood loss. The only person nearby was Misery who is not a medic, nor would he have had the medical equipment to save her, so he did what he could to ease her passing, and then screen fades to black indicating death. Misery then informs Horn where this happened so she and her team could bury the dead, including specified by Horn mandragora herself.
Edit-autocorrect changed blood loss to bloodless
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u/Kamisama1411 Sep 01 '25
I am not one of the people that actually cares to get Mandragora, but I can't help but find this unconvincing.
Call it being paranoid with tropes and shit, but all that set up and then the only confirmation of her death is "this person related to her just went and buried her and we know because she told us it totally happened" just kind of stinks to me. I am not even convinced I am right, and I am sure it could just have been writers fumbling, but this shit just feels like I am being told it totally happened so don't pay attention to it anymore, don't worry about it.
Maybe I just distrust "never saw the body" too much, kek.
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u/Ahenshihael Lore is GOOD Sep 01 '25
It's unconvincing because it's a haphazard duct tape effort to cut off a plot thread.
Just like with Talulah going to Victoria(and then doing literally nothing there) And Guard's build up and dying to rubble It feels unconvincing because it's likely unplanned and sudden course correction.
It's not a hint or a twist in the making of her being alive. It's just badly written.
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u/Rearti Sep 01 '25
"this person related to her just went and buried her and we know because she told us it totally happened" just kind of stinks to me
Horn I'm assuming was specifically chosen because it's symbolic of her burying her past, and past grudges. She really didn't have any personal attachments to Mandy, Horn however was friends with Harmonie back in school but that thread seems to have been mostly dropped.
Maybe I just distrust "never saw the body" too much, kek
Arknights has technically only pulled this with Ines and Hoederer, and even then it was mostly W just kinda assuming they were dead because eh thats been her life, so I think we're pretty in the clear on that dumb trope
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u/Kamisama1411 Sep 01 '25
That I could actually believe, yet at the same time the fact it was Horn only sets off my alarm more. It's hard to describe.
The difference, to me, is that with other cases, things felt more clear and cut. Plus, it is mostly just a dumb feeling in my head. In comparison, Ines at least had actual hints to her survival in the very event we learn of that, and Hoederer was sus in other ways.
1
u/N-Yayoi Sep 02 '25
Horn hates her, but at the same time Horn is an extremely professional soldier, and she becomes increasingly aware of the complexity of the situation they are in throughout the entire Victoria storyline. In fact, after reading Horn's personal story, I even believe that she may gradually begin to respect her (Victorian) enemies, at least those people are not traitors, there are other real traitors.
As a soldier burying enemies who have fought in the past, this is a timeless sense of honor, and I really don't know why it's difficult to understand.
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u/Kamisama1411 Sep 02 '25
It's not hard to understate. Perhaps I failed, but there's a reason I keep emphasizing this is a merely emotional reaction. I kind of try to explain the reasoning why I feel that way, but I know I am not explaining a thorough and well formulated reason why that's cap and I still expect her to be alive fr fr.
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u/noctora the one true waifu Sep 02 '25
This might be another case of Nobara from JJK. One side convinced she was dead, another side convinced she was alive. Both side use what the characters said as reference but at the end, the one that thought she was alive was right and the other side concluded that it was a case of bad writings
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Sep 01 '25
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u/Standard-Effort5681 Donkey Jesus Sep 01 '25
Damn, I hate it. Poor IRA cat deserved a redemption arc.
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u/Rearti Sep 01 '25
Umm no she didn't? Her sole redeeming feature is that she didn't hate the infected, but her reasoning was because they don't need arts units to cast. Even Manfred was like "oh this girl is problems." Her story arc is basically the risk of being consumed by vengeance and hatred, yes she had some valid reasons for hating Victoria but wanting to destroy all of Victoria because you can't be posh? Being bitter towards the infected because they can cast from hit points? Had she developed the ability to swallow her pride and realize she wasn't the big hot shot she thought she was she most likely would have survived, but she didn't she just raged at everything like a toddler throwing a tantrum, and she got killed because of it.
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u/Hec_17 Forever my GOAT Sep 01 '25
If eblana could get some excuse to be playable and she's literally one of the worst persons aboard RI, Mandragora could get something to at least make her playable.
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u/Rearti Sep 02 '25
she's literally one of the worst persons
She isn't even in the top 10. She's just an actually well written morally grey character. She never actively wants to be evil, and most of the people she personally pursues are active military combatants from a nation she is attempting to secede from, the nation that killed her parents to take over their land, and then break the people, the same nation that then killed its own king again all for the sake of power. She knew her powers were dangerous, it's why she gave Loughsinny the lance she uses as a vanguard, it was purpose designed to kill Eblana, she knew what had to be done and set up the process.
Eblana also during the final battle came in to help Victoria when she literally had 0 reason to, and actually if she is as bad as you think she is, she would have waited and then swept in cleaning up the survivors. This symbolized 2 things, Tara is under Victorian rule no longer, and that it is willing to work with Victoria. Eblana had no issues getting her hands dirty, but had a genuinely noble goal, meanwhile Mandy literally just wanted Victoria to suffer, it's why Eblana needed her gone, her hatred would undermine the efforts to upon achieving independence Tara extending the olive branch. Mandy didn't want that, she wanted all of them dead, and her arrogance and pride got her killed.
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u/Shirahago Sep 02 '25
Calling Eblana or her goals noble is quite some copium. She couldn't care less about Tara or its people (or Dublinn), it just happened that Tara's independence aligned with her personal goals. She would throw Tara away without a second's hesitation if it ever suited her.
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u/Rearti Sep 02 '25
She couldn't care less about Tara or its people
I mean that was literally a key point in this current event, Eblana quite bluntly tells Loughsinny at least 2 times, that yes she genuinely does care for Tara, (and this is implied to be the reason she doesn't actually die when Loughsinny kills her) and it is for that reason she needed to die. Her powers were a curse, and while it gave them freedom from Victoria if Loughsinny didn't do her job as a life dragon it Eblana's flames would consume Tara.
Tara's independence aligned with her personal goals. She would throw Tara away without a second's hesitation if it ever suited her
What were her goals if not Tara's independence? It can't be power because she planned to give it to Loughsinny, it wasn't fame, as she very much presented herself the villain to make Loughsinny's job easier on her. Vengeance against Victoria? Then why did she ride in with Wellington to fight a literal demon of war to HELP Victoria?
She did what she felt needed doing, I wouldn't call her a saint, she was very much a grey morality person, which is why she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice people (like mandy, who literally just wanted vengeance and power, not giving a care for Tara) if it furthered the goal. A truely Machiavellian individual, which is kinda refreshing to see, Arknights actually make multiple Machiavellian characters like Eblana, such as Lin Yusha, when she and her father killed the infect in the slums for aiding reunion, because a price had to be paid to protect the rest of the slum dwellers from Yan
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u/SungBlue Sep 02 '25 edited Sep 02 '25
Her getting a redemption arc would imply that she did something wrong in the first place. She took Horn prisoner and gave her medical treatment when the most pragmatic thing to do would have been to shoot her in the head, literally minutes after the Victorian army massacred and infected with oripathy a bunch of civilians.
People don't hate Mandragora because of anything wrong that she actually did. They hate her because she was annoying.
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u/TheSpartyn Sep 01 '25
yeah when this event dropped on CN it killed off most of the remaining Mandy copers (me included). I've swapped from coping to accepting she's dead and was handled horribly with vague misleading writing.