Margaret “Mad Maggie” Kōhere isn’t just Apex Legends‘ next Legend – she’s their next villain.
Or so Octane’s dad would have you believe. The 3-minute trailer takes viewers on a wild ride, giving a glimpse of the upcoming season’s Legend, map changes, and game modes. Read on to see what Salvo’s Finest has in store for you in Apex Season 12: Defiance.
Mad Maggie’s had a rough go of it as of late. After a sloppily-faked death ended with her fighter jet being shot down over Stormpoint, she was sentenced to death by the Syndicate, but pardoned at the 11th hour by none other than Duardo Silva, CEO of Silva Pharmaceuticals and father to Maggie’s fellow Legend, Octane.
After casually ripping a Syndicate security guard’s jugular vein out with her teeth, Rick Grimes style, then throwing him out of the dropship – all while handcuffed, mind you – Maggie is sentenced to death by combat, and is unceremoniously flung out of the dropship by a complex pulley system, presumably because the rest of the guards value their lives and don’t want to die a Stormtrooper’s death trying to get close enough to push her out.
After a bit of a rough landing, Maggie finally comes face-to-face with her new fellow Gladiators, who are none-too-pleased to make her acquaintance after the carnage she attempted to cause on Kings Canyon during the Salvo-Syndicate merger celebration depicted in Season 8’s launch trailer.
She makes her escape using what appears to be a gun that shoots some sort of fiery ordnance that promptly barbecues Crypto and his team mates. But the playing field isn’t even (literally), and she ends up falling down a shaft on Olympus that leads her right to the man behind the curtain.
Duardo Silva, for all his flaws, certainly knows a loose cannon when he sees one, and is fully aware she’s out for his blood just as much as anyone else’s. Maggie appears to glow a fiery orange while running towards her enemies at several points in the trailer, implying she may have a rage-based ultimate or passive ability.
Unfortunately, it’s not enough, and Silva manages to lower a barrier to separate him from his personally-sponsored Apex Legend. He seems thrilled at the drama Maggie’s presence will bring to the Games, but unfortunately, he won’t be seeing it first-hand, as Maggie manages to reach through the bars, tearing off Silva’s signature green glasses and scratching his face in the process. As an elevator takes her back up to the surface, she gleefully flips him the bird.
Once back in the games, Olympus’ phase technology begins to malfunction due to Duardo Silva’s tampering. In the blink of an eye, the entire map phases in and out of existence, nearly crashing to the planet below until the turbine that keeps the city afloat manages to stabilize itself at the very last second.
The other Legends, especially Lifeline (who had to rescue civilians from the destruction Maggie caused on Kings Canyon in Season 8) are, of course, skeptical of her presence, but Octane tosses her a gun, pointing to the banners that show Maggie is their squadmate.
Finally armed, Maggie, Octane, and Lifeline encounter Fuse’s team. Wraith and Pathfinder immediately bail the second they see Maggie (and who could blame them?), leaving Maggie’s former BFF, Fuse, to face her alone. He hits her with his Ring of Fire ability in mid-air, seemingly neutralizing the threat until a giant, Gibby-sized bomb comes flying out of the flames and knocks Fuse right on his caboose.
Injured but alive, Maggie is fixed up by Lifeline, who demands to know Maggie’s “evil plan.” Thankfully, Maggie has irrefutable proof that she’s not the one behind the damage to Olympus, or any of the other instances of orchestrated chaos that have plagued the Games in recent times (y’know, except for the whole bombing Kings Canyon thing).
Even Octane, who is aware, to some extent, of his father’s bad behavior, seems shocked. It’s clear that Duardo Silva is not only behind the appearance of the Icarus Fleet (and its stowaway virus), but also the murder of James “the Forge” McCormick, the Legend Revenant killed and replaced in Season 4. Silva has his eyes on the Syndicate’s throne, and is finally making his play to unseat whoever’s at the top by proving that, due to the many “accidents” that have occurred under current Syndicate leadership, the current leadership isn’t cut out to handle the many challenges currently facing the Apex Games and Syndicate Space itself.
Staying true to the upcoming season’s “madness takes control” tagline, EA’s website indicates firepower isn’t all that Mad Maggie’s bringing to the Apex Games. For the first three weeks of the season, players will have a chance to experience a new LTM, called Control. The mode allows Legends to select their own loadout and drop into a 9v9 firefight with infinite respawns, where they will fight to hold control points until the timer runs out.
With all this news in mind, we only have one question: can we keep Maggie handcuffed? Taking them off kind of seems like an unfair advantage.
Grab your red EVO Shield and buckle up – Apex Legends Season 12: Defiance launches on February 8th, 2022.
Apex Legends is free to play on PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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