The Price of Freedom...from what?

This has probably been brought up before, but Wraiths Freedom 6 promo is extreamly interesting.

Her card is the called "Price of Freedom". But freedom from what? From Who?

Iron Legacy perhaps? Seems reasonable enough. But would that imply that she is free from ILs reach? Doubt it. No one would be safe with him endlessly patroling the globe.

What else would Waith need to be free from? Her socialite duties? She is still part of the Freedom 6, so she has not gone rouge from the other heros. 

Maybe this is not the Waith we know.

The longer hair. The bulkier muscles. The stitching on her pants. The weapons...

This is the Operative. She leaves the Organization, and I bet you can imagine how the Chairman feels about that. Now that she is free, she is being hunted down by the rest of the Organization. We can see the shadows of the thugs/underbosses surrounding her from above. The price of her Freedom? She is on the run. Why she takes up the mantle of Wraith is anyones guess, possibly to atone for for her sins? For being the one to kill Mr. Fixer? (There is a card where she has him basically impaled with her blade)

Her tattoo is covered by the larger gloves we see and possibly the angle. Showing the tat would be too much of a dead giveaway. Did the original Wraith sneak in and steal the Operatives weapons and pants one night? Maybe. Or maybe Freight Train isnt the only villain we see take up a Heros mantle to try and take down IL 

YES.

The weapons I think were the first giveaway. And yeah, IL probably doesn't put up with actually bad guys much more than he does heroes, particularly the Organization, so she's probably being hunted by more than one group.

OR Iron Legacy went really nuts and decided to get the Organization on his side, so when the Operative went "Rogue" she's suddenly an IL target. So she joins the Freedom Six because the enemy of my enemy will probably keep me from being crushed by a rogue superhero.

For me, it was the pants were what really cemented the "Its the Operative" theory for me.

That stitching on the pants is extreamly specific to the Operative. Look at every card with her on it. Why would the artist include that stiching in the first place? You dont see anything similar on anyone elses clothes. And we are talking about super heros and villains here. What they wear has always been an important aspect to a comics characters.

Her incapacitated side, the shoutout to Breaking the Bat comic ark, is probably the ultimate demise of the Operative. Spite "thinks" he has bested the Wraith and taken her out of comision for good. But he is gonna be in for a real shock when the REAL Wraith returns! That would be awesome. Also, It would be hilarious if the girl in the wheelchair on Chrono Rangers whole gang bounty turn out to be the Operative with a broken back and a bone to pick .

Hm, I was under the impression that Legacy and Tachyon are (in the good/ not soul-crushing) time line know Maia's secret identity. If someone else is going around as the Wraith, Maia is probably dead. But, yeah, that would be hella satisfying to have the real Wraith come out to finish off Spite

https://greaterthangames.com/comment/13623#comment-13623

This states someone asked if the Wraith: Price of Freedom is the original Wraith and Christopher responded that is is still Maia. Of course the person who posted this could be making it up, but why would someone go about doing that?

Now of course what the Price of Freedom is still unclear, maybe we will eventually get the answer to the question. I sure hope so.

Oh my God, my mind has just been blown to infinitesimally small pieces. Wow. Just. Wow.

EDIT: Okay, apparently, I didn't see the new post before posting this. Also, NOOOOOOOOO. That would have been a beautiful theory. Oh well. I'm sure her backstory is just as awesome, if not more so.

Hate to burst this, but Christopher already said that Freedom Six Wraith is still Maia Montegomery. I had brought up the idea of her being the Operative based on the weapons, so someone went and asked Christopher after the ensuing discussion, and he confirmed it's not her. But it was a good theory!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

...Okay, fine. If I start believing that Chirstopher is lying to us, I will question everything I know, so I guess I'd rather go with his response and give up this elegant theory.

Sooo Wraith is a pants thief. Interesting. Did her company go into bankrupt? She can't afford her own weapons or pants? What a fall from grace.

It does bring up a previous question then.

What is Wraith gaining her freedom from? 

Yeah, there have been a few conversations on this:

• https://greaterthangames.com/forum/topic/the-future-as-seen-in-shattered-timelines-2553
• https://greaterthangames.com/forum/topic/freedom-six-wraith-2809

But Christopher has clearly stated it’s still Maia: https://greaterthangames.com/comment/13623#comment-13623

The theory of Freedom Six Wraith being the Operative is entertaining, though!

Personally, I think Wraith defeated the Operative, took her weapons, and exposed herself to the Chairman's chemicals that made him and the Operative "perfect specimens"…

(Ninja'd! )

Unless I am missreading this, why is Wreaith gaining her freedom. To compare to The Dark Knight movie. The price of freedom was big brother surveillance. The price is what she has to do to give other people freedom.

Bah! Sorry for creating a thread thats already been resolved 

Maybe it is a reference to her freedom from her socialite life. I kind of imagine that Maia is more of the alter-ego of the Wraith, in a similar way to Bruce being the real alter-ego of Batman. Iron Legacy knows Maia. Knows her company. Knows her life. Wraith probably has no choice in this timeline but to completly abandon her alter-ego and the company and all of the money, just to spare those she loves from being used against her. The price of this new freedom? Well…no more money. Hence she stole Operatives pants. Spite burnt holes in her other costumes

Maybe the whole Operative's pants thing is simliar to Sensei Ping's mask. (I am so hoping people know what I am talking about.)

I'm with Rabit's theory, though I go just a little further.  I think she died (perhaps in the fight where she killed the Operative) and was resurrected by the Chairman's chemicals.  If all she did was kill the Operative, steal her bling, then take a bath in the chemicals, then no price was really paid.  I present the glowing eyes as supporting evidence of my theory.

…That the Operative is a former member of a luchadore gang?

I used to think the Price was waging guerrilla warfare against Iron Legacy. After all, some aspects of society will see them (F6) as terrorists now. They are sowing the seeds of chaos and uncertainty in a world on the brink of achieving absolute justice.

If Legacy does know the Wraith's identity though, then it gets juicier, because IL is crazy intense. I doubt Wraith was able to just "leave" her company and that be that. Perhaps the Price of Freedom was realizing that she'd have to fight against Iron Legacy even though it meant the destruction, imprisonment, and perhaps even death of all those she held dear. After all, her parents and company are now supporting a dangerous terrorist threat to the safety of the world, they can't be allowed to just roam free.

I thought no one really knew her identity... which is why she wore the outfit to the heroes' barbecue.

but if they did, maybe that's why she faked her death (in the back of her regular character card). Maybe the Price of Freedom was leaving it all behind and she picked up The Operative's costume and weapon to make sure no one suspected she was still alive. 

The Operative may have turned good and helped Maia at some point and she died as a result, the Maia switched it up so it would seem like Maia died and The Operative took up the mantle of The Wraith. 

Whatever the story is, I really really hope we get to see it soon. I have been eagerly waiting for this story in particular since the art was first released. 

I like this. I like this a lot. Tieing in the original incap art was fantastic. Really reminds me of the original Dark Knight comic, where Bruce faked his death too in order to end his conflict with the governments newest hound dog, Superman. There are similar threads here, and its obvious where all of Wraiths story and art draws its inspiration from.

I always figured, because she is fighting for freedom, this is the price she has to pay. (Basically she (as well as the rest of the Freedom 6) are a “criminal” rebel group revolting against the lord known as Iron Legacy.)

I guess I never even considered how the rest of the world (heros and villains aside) feel toward Iron Legacy. The idea that the general population still holds Legacy as their great savior and ultimate hero, even with his new "my way or the highway" attitude, is very cool.

I'm guessing the "Price of Freedom" is that Wraith cannot live by the structure of a society assisted by metahumans and capes anymore.  The Chairman and The Operative probably killed Fixer (thus G-Unity wearing his ballcap) in response to Legacy's oppressive rule, so she killed them back and took The Operative's weapons (and pants, apparently).  To be a fully autonomous being in a world where a hero like Legacy goes full murder-mode, she'll have to crack some skulls and compromise some ethics.  The "Batman-esque" hero had to "pull the trigger".

Why would Chairman and Operative kill Fixer if Legacy is oppressing people?  If anything, you'd expect Chairman to work with Fixer against Legacy to get things back to business as usual.

I still hope that Fixer is still alive and just retired and that Unity is wearing the hat because she too became a fan of the Rook City Vandals baseball team. 

... I never thought of saying that Wraith is now the Operative. Not that the Operative is now wraith, but that Maia is now the Operative. We just still have her card say 'The Wraith' because it goes with her deck... but shes actually owrking as the Operative.... OooOoooOOO

No apologies needed - it's a good conversation around "The Price of Freedom".

...I think we should put in a collection for Wraith so she can buy her own darn pants.

Girl's fighitng to save the world from super-powered oppression. She needs her own pants.

... That  is the price of her freedom! i was thinking about what i said!

She joined the Chairman as the new Operative in order to fight Iron Legacy!!!!!!

When the good guys become the bad guys, the bad guys either get worse or have to start fighting for "good"

One thing somebody upthread said got me thinking: What if the Freedom 6 aren't actually saving the world? What if IL has made things great for the average citizen and it's just the left-over heroes who are in any danger at all from him? I mean, the average Joe might have been real sick of constant supervillain fights disrupting his commute. Now, it's all peace all the time. So maybe the Freedom 6 are just fighting to save their own lives and no one else's? Awesome

The pants are like Sensei Ping’s mask, she is honoring a worthy opponent. (I just like bringing up Middleman any time I can.)

IL is like Santa Clause from Futurama. His moral setting is set too high and nobody fits his definition of good.

I'm picking up what you're putting down, Pydro.

Have to admit, every time i play Baron Blade, I try to say "My Plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity" once

Baron Blade reminds me of Megamind.

...without the happy ending.

The Middleman has been brought up a couple of times here and at the risk of asking a stupid question...what is that?

The guy you always want to cut out to get big, big savings?

A very short lived comic and then an even shorter lived TV show on ABC family of all places. It was aired too early, I think it would be a hit today. Basically one guy is the only hero/superhero in the world, even though mad scientists are CONSTANTLY trying to take over the world. So he's busy. Hilarious, rife with popculture references, possibly my favorite superhero

The Middleman: Saving the World, so You don't have to!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Middleman

Well it could be that in the alternate timeline Maia began as the Operative I suppose…

One theory I came up with while reading this thread, goes along with the idea that Wraith is getting a bit colder.  As a lot of the Freedom Six's art shows, things have gotten pretty rough for the F6.  So, maybe in order to fight a super tough villian, the heroes lose a bit of their moraility in the constant and grinding fight.  Even the best superheroes still get wary after doing the same thing day in and day out. It could be that the Freedom in the Price of Freedom doesn't refer to the idea of freedom, but the Freedom Six.  It's the price of fighting the good fight, and it eventually will wear down anyone, especially a younger hero like Maia. 

I could see it being a petty revenge thing, but it may not be in response to Legacy's shift now that I think about it.  It may very well have been an event prior to the climactic battle with Baron Blade that results in a Legacy being killed.  Fixer may not be dead, but I dunno why else G-Unity would have his ballcap, and I'd be somewhat disappointed if it was due to Citizen Tears bawling him to death.

I would be quite surprised if Fixer would ever work with The Operative and The Chairman, regardless of how dire the situation.  I'd think The Organization would call in favors with local Rook City villains before they'd turn to any of the native Rook City capes.

The theory is cool, and I am sad each and every time it gets re-Jossed.

As for the name, though, the Price of Freedom is that dudes hunt you forever.  Your friends and allies are dead or imprisoned.  And if Legacy sees you, he'll rip you in half.  I thought that was obvious.

I just skimmed through this one, and I'm sure this has been said, but I want to type it anyway.

Wraith was practically reluctant to join the Freedom Four, preferring to work on her own. However, as the team grew into the Five & Friends we love today, she too grew to love and respect the team as her family. Having such a...well, romantic change of heart puts the Freedom Five on a pretty pedestal for Wraith. If that is shattered, then she would be left with her necessary but false life (Maia Montgomery) and patrolling the streets of her crime-ridden city, just like old times, without the togetherness and all that. Thus, after the whole Death of Legacy run (Young, leading to Iron Legacy), Iron Legacy, the father figure in this super family, is breaking apart the very thing Wraith has learned to hold very dear and very sacred. So, the Price of Freedom isn't for freedom in the sense of no limits, but Freedom as in the Freedom Five -- the family. The price she has to pay to keep that together is brutality, and potentially murdering her 'father' to keep the family going, which also happens to be the exact opposite of what that Freedom meant before. But, all is necessary, just for the glimmer of that same Freedom.

And here is where we'd have some triumphant national anthem, or something.

I always thought that the name devired from the (mis)quote "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance", part of Maia Montegomery's ongoing "rise from the grave" stchick.

So I had a new thought about Price of Freedom Wraith.

We know she is Mia. We also know she is weilding the Operatives weapons.

Maybe the "price of freedom" for Wraith in this timeline is becoming something she had always fought against? 

In this new interpretation, Wraith has taken over Rook City as the new Operative. Instead of working aginst the corruption and crime of the organization, she has had to take the whole operation over herself in order to continue to protect Rook City and her friends from the ever present watch of Iron Legacy. That is why she has the Operatives weapons, as a symbol that she is the boss. The shadowy figures around her on the card are not enemies out to get her (as I had originally thought), but they are the army she now commands.

That is distressingly plausible.  I actually think that she makes a better cantidate for the chairman position- lurking in the shadows and behind the scenes.  Maybe even using the drugs to stay young and at peak form.  

I wonder if Spite is her Operative?  If she is ruling through fear, it would certainly work, and it would set him up to betray her later.

My interpretation comes from the Dark Knight Returns comic really (since the image on the front seems to call in that direction). If you recall, an elderly Bruce finds himself up against Superman who is the US governments attack dog. The story finds him rallying up a huge underground following of thugs and criminals in response (one of the greatest comics ever written). In a way I am seeing this Wraith in a similar light now, but she is doing this in a much different context. She is kinda becoming the leader of a criminal gang ring out of nessesity and she can only really rule through brute force, which is why she took up the weapons of the Operative as a symbol of that. Price of Freedom in that sense is pretty high for her, giving up a cause she has fought her whole life over, just to stay free from IL's oppression.

Spite as her Operative? I kinda like that! That would certainly explain the shock on Mia's face as Spite betrays her and breaks her as shown on the incap side.

That would also fit in with Spite's MO of "get them to trust you, then murder them and enjoy it all the more"...