Friday 'Nite: In Defense Of Fortnite's Villain, Doctor Slone

gamespot.com:

Friday 'Nite is a weekly Fortnite column in which GameSpot editor Mark Delaney takes a closer look at current events in the wide world of Fortnite, with a special emphasis on the game's plot, characters, and lore.

Like a lot of the world's most popular stories, Fortnite's saga essentially boils down to «good guys» versus «bad guys.» For years, we've come to understand that the island's shadowy militia, the Imagined Order (IO), acts as the latter. An aggressive, even ruthless group, the IO has never been shown in a positive light, but if you've read my Friday 'Nite column before, you may already know where I'm going with this: I'm not so sure the IO, or at the very least Doctor Slone, is as bad as they seem to be.

I've written before about how I don't think we can trust The Foundation, and how the Imagined Order may derive its power from its own misplaced sense of entitlement. Those theories play into one I want to share today: Slone isn't the bad guy. She's just misunderstood.

Now, I should admit my bias upfront: Slone is my favorite character in the game. She's tough, stylish, cunning, and voiced superbly by Mara Junot. What's not to love? (Okay, there was that betrayal during Operation: Sky Fire.) But that's not to say my bias relies on her being proven right or even good-natured in the end. I'll love Slone as a character even if she winds up the Big Bad of the omniverse. Still, I think she will eventually be seen as, at worst, the tragic villain and not an inherently wicked character.

For evidence, I call attention to her all-important loading screen, which was rewarded as part of the Chapter 2, Season 7 battle pass, the same season in which we finally met Slone. Epic loves to drip-feed lore via battle pass cosmetics,