Avertissement: This thread contains spoilers for The Incredibles.
While imprisoned by the evil Syndrome, Mr. Incredible manages to get hold of the supervillain’s partner in crime and lovely assistant, Mirage.
Mr. Incredible demands to be released. The dialog:
There is more glaring between the hero and villain, each showing their best poker face. Mr. Incredible of course has to finally drop Mirage, revealing his bluff and the fact that Syndrome had correctly deduced that the hero’s moral code would not permit him to follow through on his threat.
Is it as this moment that the outcome of the story is determined. Mirage’s loyalty to Syndrome is fataly damaged due to his apparent lack of respect for human life, and she becomes beholden to Mr. Incredible, eventually letting him out of his restraints so he can save the day.
Syndrome should have been smart enough to have seen this eventuality. What should he have done differently at that moment in the containment unit to keep Mirage’s loyalty and still rule the world (or at least Metroville)?
Syndrome: Which would lead to me turning the electricity up on your handcuffs and giving you a lethal shock–which will happen in the next ten seconds, incidentally, if you don’t let her go now.
Well, as for part 2; he could simply kill Mirage himself.
For both, there’s a couple of things he could try that I can think of.
Feign that he thinks Mirage will be entirely unharmed by Mr. Incredible’s attempts. I imagine she would be pointing out that no, she’ll get horribly encrushed, but depending on his acting skills he might be able to pull it off.
Mirage is actually the one who built the holding device; he himself doesn’t know how to switch it off. Or so he says. Better in that she can see the idea, worse in that they now both have to be convincing.
I believe this also results in the Villain’s downfall. Syndrome apparently wants to keep Incredible in restraints rather than just killing him straight away, so it’s an obvious bluff. Secondly, Mirage would also be killed by the lethal jolt of electricity. In fact she’d be the first to go since she’s not a Super.
Mr Incredible: Release me!
Syndrome: Or what?
Incredible: I’ll crush her!
Syndrome: You’re bluffing. You won’t kill her. So you might as well let her go.
I guess if Syndrome is smart enough to realize this kind of thing’ll happen, he should make the we-don’t-negotiate-for-hostages rule very clear to Mirage–the hazards of helping out a supervillain.
