Quote Originally Posted by alwaysbebatman View Post
Yeah, I completely disagree. Very early on it would have been conceivable from what we saw that she'd turn out to have a heart of gold hiding under the off-putting exterior, but it was never especially likely.

If course, it's not impossible for her to be relentlessly unkind and yet remain on the side of the angels. Eugene seems to manage it. But that's not the most dramatic option...

Just one example of a sign of where she was headed before she ever killed Shojo-- Belkar trying to provoke her to murder him. It's not just the fact that she would have done it if Shojo hadn't stopped her. But more the fact that Belkar saw that potential in her. As much as he hated her, he wouldn't have chosen that specific revenge except that he perceived that it would work.

I get the impression that some people don't want to see Miko for what she was from the start because some of the people arguing for that back then we're doing so for invalid reasons: ie, hateful misogyny. But even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Belkar's plan to get Miko to Fall has some serious flaws in it. Besides the lack of resurrection capabilities, he also neglected to take into account that he's an evil murderer who escaped justice, continually assaulted her and made it clear he intended to fight to his death.

Furthermore, I think Miko's less attractive qualities were told, not shown, until the Inn Scene, and even then she had a point that the Order was largely responsible for the destruction. If you've ever played a real game of D&D, I'm sure the NPCs in your game felt the same way about your PCs.