I would definitely say Asher, for several reasons. First and foremost, Rodrik letting his younger brother (who just crossed half the world to bring him aid) die in his place as he runs away just didn't sit right with how I played my Rodrik. My Rodrik was his father's son to the bone, taking the fall to ensure the safety of another from his household. In addition to that, I find that Asher's story ends up being far more disappointing if you let him die there, than Rodrik's does if he takes the fall. Rodrik already had his moments to shine. He came back from the dead to lead his house in the time of greatest peril, showed Gryff who the boss really was, slept with the most beautiful woman in the game and finally went out like a hero, taking no less than four men with him, despite being labeled a "cripple", knowing Asher would be there to pick up the torch for him. That's a bitter, but still a somewhat satisfying end to a character.
Meanwhile, if Asher gets killed, his death amounts to next to nothing. When there's so much potential to a "prodigal son returning" plotline, I can't bring myself to cut it short like that. If Asher dies there, he dies without ever seeing his family again. Without ever seeing his lost love Gwyn again. And leaving one heartbroken Beshka. And what use does his death provide? About 5 sellswords, which end up not mattering in the final battle anyway. So I think his character arc gets damaged far more than Rodrik's does. Rodrik gets to contribute to the FORRESTER story one way or another, Asher only gets involved with his family if you choose to spare him.
And last, but not least, I retrospectively won't choose Rodrik, because after watching a playthrough with him, I can't look past a jarring plothole- that is, the Whitehill soldiers being inside Ironrath when you return from raiding the camp. What the hell is up with that? We see their battering ram still hard at work, and while they do show us that it's made a gap big enough for individual soldiers to squeeze through one at a time, Ludd/Gryff and Harys somehow managed to get inside with horses. How? When? Did we leave the postern gate open for them or something? I simply refuse to pick this path so as to avoid this atrocious attempt by Telltale to railroad the stories into the same ending. It either paints the Forresters as the absolute WORST people at defending castles in Westeros or establishes the Whitehills as having teleportation powers, otherwise there's no explanation how that force of soldiers got inside Ironrath without battering either of the gates down first. Meanwhile with Asher, the scene makes sense. I assume as the negotiations went, he and Ludd agreed that Ludd takes with him a token force, roughly to match the numbers of the Forrester garrison, so he feels safe in the feast, while the rest of his army wait outside and the gate remains in Forrester control. That way the battle in the courtyard makes sense as you rush to retake the gate which is presumably being overwhelmed by an attack from both sides.
I was completely for Rodrik from the time he fell from the corpse cart to him leaving on the back of a horse's rump. He had the best impression on me for every line he spoke, and the way he is played makes him everything I've ever loved in a character.
Comments
I would definitely say Asher, for several reasons. First and foremost, Rodrik letting his younger brother (who just crossed half the world to bring him aid) die in his place as he runs away just didn't sit right with how I played my Rodrik. My Rodrik was his father's son to the bone, taking the fall to ensure the safety of another from his household. In addition to that, I find that Asher's story ends up being far more disappointing if you let him die there, than Rodrik's does if he takes the fall. Rodrik already had his moments to shine. He came back from the dead to lead his house in the time of greatest peril, showed Gryff who the boss really was, slept with the most beautiful woman in the game and finally went out like a hero, taking no less than four men with him, despite being labeled a "cripple", knowing Asher would be there to pick up the torch for him. That's a bitter, but still a somewhat satisfying end to a character.
Meanwhile, if Asher gets killed, his death amounts to next to nothing. When there's so much potential to a "prodigal son returning" plotline, I can't bring myself to cut it short like that. If Asher dies there, he dies without ever seeing his family again. Without ever seeing his lost love Gwyn again. And leaving one heartbroken Beshka. And what use does his death provide? About 5 sellswords, which end up not mattering in the final battle anyway. So I think his character arc gets damaged far more than Rodrik's does. Rodrik gets to contribute to the FORRESTER story one way or another, Asher only gets involved with his family if you choose to spare him.
And last, but not least, I retrospectively won't choose Rodrik, because after watching a playthrough with him, I can't look past a jarring plothole- that is, the Whitehill soldiers being inside Ironrath when you return from raiding the camp. What the hell is up with that? We see their battering ram still hard at work, and while they do show us that it's made a gap big enough for individual soldiers to squeeze through one at a time, Ludd/Gryff and Harys somehow managed to get inside with horses. How? When? Did we leave the postern gate open for them or something? I simply refuse to pick this path so as to avoid this atrocious attempt by Telltale to railroad the stories into the same ending. It either paints the Forresters as the absolute WORST people at defending castles in Westeros or establishes the Whitehills as having teleportation powers, otherwise there's no explanation how that force of soldiers got inside Ironrath without battering either of the gates down first. Meanwhile with Asher, the scene makes sense. I assume as the negotiations went, he and Ludd agreed that Ludd takes with him a token force, roughly to match the numbers of the Forrester garrison, so he feels safe in the feast, while the rest of his army wait outside and the gate remains in Forrester control. That way the battle in the courtyard makes sense as you rush to retake the gate which is presumably being overwhelmed by an attack from both sides.
I was completely for Rodrik from the time he fell from the corpse cart to him leaving on the back of a horse's rump. He had the best impression on me for every line he spoke, and the way he is played makes him everything I've ever loved in a character.