Question Gen2: Goodkind fall from power?

So in the Reinforce story 'Don't Call Me a Pretty' it was outlined that Diamondback's company started a chain reaction that essentially destroyed the Knights of Purity (good riddance) with Sidewinder Holding vacuuming up all the remaining assets for debts unpaid.

My 'huh?' moment for this is because the KoP are run by and more or less owned by the Goodkind family/corporation; AKA the group that has more money, lawyers and connections than God and all hate mutants. So how did Diamondback and co manage to win that case? Because the Goodkinds would have been very invested in ensuring that they didn't win. And even if they did win, GI could easily pay the millions of dollars required.

And it's not like the Goodkinds haven't already done this sort of thing. Back in gen1 it was outright stated that Goodkind lawyers and money ensure that any cases against the illegal "Deadly Force Authorized" labels that get put on various MiDs went nowhere.

That coupled with how I simply haven't seen any mention of Goodkind International in what Gen2 stories I've read, has something happened to them?

My theory without any facts to back it up is the the Goodkind's had a change in leadership. Then the money lawyers and all support got pulled from the Knights of Purity.

sam105 wrote: My theory without any facts to back it up is the the Goodkind's had a change in leadership. Then the money lawyers and all support got pulled from the Knights of Purity.

this works given the presumed heir is Paul whom went to lengths to get Trevor out of the "lab"

OK, this is meta-interpretation without ANY insider info. But...

My guess regarding the Goodkind situation is that the writers are deliberately keeping quiet about it because, well, Goodkind Family internal politics was mostly Diane's bailiwick, and with her burned out of Whateley for the time being, they aren't 100% sure of what she would do -- but are still holding out hope that she returns.

Not to mean that they haven't given us ANY data. They did say that the Goodkinds are still around, but they abandoned their antimutant militancy. They didn't say WHY. There are several possibilities. One is the "change in leadership" sam105 postulated -- possibly with Trevor/Ayla taking over. Another is that they finally finally overstepped their limits and were stepped on HARD by one or more major governments. I mean, yeah, they have a lot of money... but that only gives you power if the government is willing to play along. If you do something stupid enough, you can become politically toxic and the same corrupt politicians who took your bribes for years will happily preside over the seizure of your assets. You know the old saying, "an honest politician is one that stays bought"... and color me cynical, but I don't think that there are that many honest politicians nowadays. If the price to avoid expropriation and imprisonment it is to keep your head down for a couple decades, I think even the Goodkinds would suddenly become invisible.

As for the KoP, yes, they were Goodkind-owned but were organized as a separate company, not a division of GKI. If KoP became a political and PR headache, the expedient thing to do would be to cut one's losses and let it flounder on its own, without contaminating the other companies in the corporation. There would be a lot of spin doctoring to dissociate the KoP from GKI and finding an appropriate scapegoat.

Trantos0_1 wrote: And it's not like the Goodkinds haven't already done this sort of thing. Back in gen1 it was outright stated that Goodkind lawyers and money ensure that any cases against the illegal "Deadly Force Authorized" labels that get put on various MiDs went nowhere.

It was also stated that the MCO completely screwed the pooch on some of the FY2007 MIDs.

Sir Lee wrote: As for the KoP, yes, they were Goodkind-owned but were organized as a separate company, not a division of GKI. If KoP became a political and PR headache, the expedient thing to do would be to cut one's losses and let it flounder on its own, without contaminating the other companies in the corporation. There would be a lot of spin doctoring to dissociate the KoP from GKI and finding an appropriate scapegoat.

Some of the KoP's publicity efforts, financials, and contracts may be on shaky ground, as far as the folks in Cincinnati are concerned.

null0trooper wrote: It was also stated that the MCO completely screwed the pooch on some of the FY2007 MIDs.

While that was apparently a blow considering the mention in Rises the Sun part 1 they're recovering fairly quickly.

Watching as people argued about the mutant menace again, Daniel had to shake his head. Ever since Fullerton, the MCO had been pushing heavily to regain all it’s lost power, and to some extent was successful. But EvoRocks and other organizations were pushing back, and while the MCO seemed to be winning, at least for now, Daniel suspected that once again, they would give others the excuse to bring the hammer down.

Heck from some of the descriptions, they've gotten worse when it comes to trying to put mutant they can six feet under in Gen2. I guess Absinthe and her father didn't mange to 'purge the rot' and all that. Of course that's kind of hard when the rot is the core of the organization as opposed to the 'minority whose activities can be curtailed' that Miles Wylann thinks the problem consists of.

Though I am leaning towards Sir Lee's interpretation of the Goodkind situation. Not that they've truly abandoned anti-mutant attitudes, but that they've pulled out of directly supporting certain organizations because it would draw way too much bad publicity. Heck they've even stopped (publicly at least) funding the MCO. Though Paul has been shown to be willing to at least work with Ayla to some degree so who knows what's happening.

I am interested in seeing if the MCO turns out to be having some....less than squeaky clean backers in Gen2. Because with the Goodkinds out of the game, that's a quarter of the budget just gone. I can't see the resurgent mutant scare from the Fullerton incident being enough to make up for that loss, much less allow them to expand their control/power etc.

DFAs took a major hit. Remember that when Eldritch got her MID, it was tagged with a DFA. Knowing exactly what it meant she went to both Carson, Hartford, and the military. None of which like the MCO.

Amongst those with DFAs is Fey. Fey's father happens to be a personal friend of the current President, circa 2007, and a high ranking government official, that would be very offended at this.

Razorback, and possibly Jimmy T, would be the only legitimate DFAs issued to minors at Whateley. Note that Razorback would not object to it being on his MID. He knows how dangerous he can be.

The WARS story, Wednesday Morning, 5AM starts the death of DFAs on Whateley students.

It's likely that either Eldritch or Razorback was the jaywalker, although it might be Diamondback, but I don't think she had a DFA. Other options are Tennyo and Jimmy T, they compromise four of the most indestructible students in the first generation.

Kristin Darken wrote: The Goodkind fall of power happens within the Gen 1 timeline. Not the nebulous 'neutral zone' between timelines. While there are some things that changed within that period as needed for the Gen 2 authors to work with some of the plotlines they wanted to mess with; the Goodkinds weren't one of them. In fact, it even predate's Diane's stepping in to write Ayla.

I'd bet Nimbus will be at least partially involved in said mess. Afer all ti's been indicated that he was involved with Puppet and Ayla's 'impossible' mutations and per Diane's latest story; is going to be hitting David next.

Kristin Darken wrote: So... hopefully, some day you'll get to see this one play out. It's not impossibly far into the Gen 1 timeline future... though with as fast as that timeline is advancing, it could be another decade before we get there. And I swear... if some day, everyone decides to throw in the towel; we WILL release a series of scenario shorts that will hit the major plot points and character arcs. They wouldn't be stories, but at least anyone who stuck with us to the end would get to see the scope of what was planned and get some resolution for the characters they loved.

Well here's hoping that if that undesirable event occurs, there will be some Tennyo data in said plot points. Because while events with Fey and Carmilla have occurred in the stories of various authors, the reborn Star Stalker hasn't really done/shown up much past her Easter adventure.