Quote Originally Posted by Goblin_Priest View Post
It would certainly give purpose to re-introducing her now.
That's certainly a fair point, and I do love it when multiple threads pay off all at once, but they've already given plenty of reasons for her return right now. Her presence--and Kudzu's--was an impetus for Durkon to fight harder, and also to reexamine some of his old choices. She balanced out the fight with Durkula, underscoring how badass an evil, ruthless version of Durkon could be (with the help of a deity): He fought Roy to a stalemate, but when both sides had the opportunity to consider what they knew about each other and plan for their next engagement, Durkula almost neutralized the Order once (when they trapped themselves in the Force Cage), failing because of Hilgya's intervention, and outright beat them despite Hilgya providing an advantage that he couldn't plan for. (Though arguably her weak will and tiny human shield provided advantages he quickly adapted to exploit.) Moreover, her continuing presence provides opportunities for further character development for Durkon, as well as interesting consequences tactically--Loki is clearly working against Hel, but he had to nudge Hilgya into the right spot by offering her something she wanted, and not because she's all that eager to serve her god, and given her past history, it wouldn't be hard for a change in circumstances to make her a much less reliable ally than she seems to be now. Speaking of which, she provides a nearby potential conduit to Loki, whose role in this is pretty interesting.