Jon_Lincicum at stream.com wrote: >>If Vlad and Mario meet up that way soon, then my guess is that they will >>both survive the meeting - possibly as allies. > >With the implication here being that if they don't meet up until /The >Final Contract/ that one (or both?) will *not* survive? > > I don't know enough about the ending to speculate on this matter. >Personally, I like the idea of Mario and Vlad as a partnership. Given that >Aliera is apparently friendly with Mario (and also, obviously, with Vlad, >as well), I find this not entirely out of the question--even given Vlad's >current status with the Jhereg. > > > We will see a need for Vlad's skills, and we will see times when the tasks that he needs to accomplish are daunting. This could be a time of growth for him. >>Of course, if we have already met Mario in the present era, then Mario >>probably already has plans for Vlad. > >My belief, based on SKZB's comments, is that Mario has not yet actually >appeared. I'll admit that this could easily be a smokescreen, of course, >but for now I'm going to suspend my paranoia on this point. > >Majikjon > > > > Me too, but such speculations should be more inclusive than my beliefs.