[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Rakshasa

Ok then, Cardinal is one big Deus Ex Machina then.

Seriously, there are, quite literally, deus ex machnias in the story so why is it so hard to accept them doing some deus ex machina type stuff? To keep the game balanced Cardinal could easily decide to un-paralyse Asuna, etc.

Well, in fairness, it's not necessarily hard to accept if that's the explanation that's given (though people may find that to be a bit cheap -- a plot, like any good mystery, should generally provide the reader/viewer with all the clues they need to see things coming in retrospect, even while doing its darnedest to keep things a surprise). But the key problem here is that it wasn't explained, so we're left to grasp at straws. I kind of enjoy that myself... but I can see why some might find that frustrating.

Personally, I find the "Cardinal did it" explanation to conflict with the "surpassing the rules of the game" explanation Kayaba gave, so I can't quite buy that one (though it is also plausible). And you are right, though -- there are "Gods" in this story, so that does need to be kept in mind.


Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, back in Episode 10, there were some novel comparisons for things not explained in the anime that may actually have helped foreshadow this. (Which granted is a problem if this is supposed to be the case.)

Spoiler for Comparison to what I remember someone saying the novel said back in episode 10... ^^; (can someone confirm?):

I remember someone asked about how Asuna arrived in time to save Kirito, because she travelled a great distance in very minimal time. Someone said that Kirito calculated that she had exceeded the movement speed normally possible in the game, but it was excused then as, literally, "the power of love". If that's the case, then Asuna's ability to bypass the normal rules of the game through willpower was already foreshadowed, though they skipped the explanation in the anime.

We already also know that Kirito's speed in the duel exceeded Kayaba's expectations and forced him to use the system assist, so that too could be seen as a case where the normal rules were bent by Kirito's ability. I have no idea if this was expanded in the novels or not.