Am I the only one who wished that Mercer wasn't the traitor to the Guild? I was pretty disappointed when I found out--it was just too predictable. If you want to introduce the villain long before revealing their villainy, you don't make them dislikable from the beginning. I think it would have been much more interesting if it turned out Mercer was good at heart, despite being overtly rude, and he begrudgingly accepted you once you earned his respect. Instead he was a bad character through and through, completely one-dimensional. I wish the traitor had turned out to be Karliah, or another, less conspicuous guild member. What do you lovely fellow malcontents think?
I think the set up was too obvious also. I played the Thief quests first and I knew right away it was going to go like it did. I hoped as I played that it would be something else, that I was being led astray and a surprise was coming, but nope. Frey was an ass right away and so he died that way. If he'd turned out to be one of the good guys I would have loved it. Or at the least if we the player had been given the option to side with him. I mean I could get behind him not agreeing with the whole Nightingale thing. I never liked the forced religious side of the Thief questline. If Frey had turned on Nocturnal and allowed me to join him I would have. Something about the whole sticking it to those in charge, even god like beings like Nocturnal, just fits where a thief is concerned if you ask me.