Talk:Dishonored 2/@comment-1500935-20150916185522/@comment-16533050-20150917171524

I actually can't buy that.

Burrows was the Royal Spymaster, and through careful manipulation, gathered his conspirators to him. One doesn't get that position without being some sort of intelligent person. Plus he was in the perfect position to filter any and all information to the one person who was above him in authority.

That sounds pretty mastermindy to me.

He had set up both the strong-willed Empress' death and the kidnapping of her daughter and then was going to 'rescue' Emily at the appropriate time, and become the hero. That's some far-reaching plotting right there. He also had the Abbey in his pocket, so the Overseers, already feared by the populace, could keep an even tighter rein on the people.

He was able to hire Daud, and then when Corvo showed up and almost thwarted his plans, Burrows brilliantly shifted blame to the noble Protector. The Torturer was under his control, as was Coldridge, so all points of access to Corvo were (nearly) effectively sealed off.

Burrows main problem is his inability to be empathetic to the populace in general. People were not perfectly controlled automatons and thus couldn't be predicted. Once plans went awry, he had difficulty making adjustmenst. He also didn't have full control (nor respect) of the military factions which is where another aspect of his plan fell apart.

Even brilliant fictional masterminds such as Moriarty and Dracula were defeated by small groups.

Moriarty, though brilliant, was overly careful and way too over-confidant. Plus he didn't believe his organization (much less himself) could be defeated by one man.

Dracula on the other hand had his defeat in being a person out of time. Though a great strategist, he was ultimately defeated by his inability to work within the modernity of the age he found himself.

Edit: Both these instances play into Burrows himself: He couldn't believe one man was doing this (though technically the Loyalist Conspiracy was against him, it was still small).

And secondly, like Dracula, he couldn't understand the forces against which he was opposed. He was all technolgy and tactics, and instead he is opposed by a supernatural enemy who uses stealth instead of outright warfare.