Apparently, Lotus/Suu is a girl...

Heh. I thought this thread died. I wasn't gonig to come back here but my Kavo senses were tingling...

That's right. He's a dude, Orchid's a girl, they both have a "full power" when together. But we can't be so sure about the gender of that form. Phantom's quest says that Lotus was a "MAN" back then, but Orchid was a woman back then.

Just out of curiosity, what level was that quest? I made my Phantom but I didn't start it yet.

This is what i could understand by the quests, and that can be wrong. Lotus is just a spirit, and has a body that is sleeping, he's a young boy now, not a man; on the other side, Orchid was a woman, but it's just a young girl body now. If each one "completes" the other to achieve their full power; it's more likely that they'll remain as two different people in their final form, Lotus would just get his spirit together with his awakened body, and Orchid would get her spirit awakened and applied to her body; transforming them into two different grown up man and woman. :O

Damn. Depending on each other for puberty. That's like twin telepathy up to eleven.

Before doing that quest, i was just thinking about their final form being one, with Lotus being just the spirit, and Orchid being the body, but since Lotus already has one, but is just separated from it, we could think about the other situation, with Orchid being the one missing something, not Lotus.

Do they ever elaborate on how that happened in the first place? Or can we just assume that he literally got the stuffing beaten out of him?

Mercedes never brings up the subject of Orchid's status as a woman or a girl, despite her being the most ethically appropriate member of the heroes to do so. She is a woman, after all - the "guys" wouldn't dare question her age, and nobody in the Black Wings would bring it up for different reasons altogether (age wouldn't matter, only results).

Mercedes DOES mention her being more powerful, but her use of the word is very ambiguous here. Power doesn't have to be seen - it can be felt. I mean, the Black Mage doesn't LOOK intimidating by himself - but he strikes fear into ANYONE he meets (the exception being the heroes, who are exceptional beings in themselves by Maple World standards).

The reason they bring up Cygnus' age is because of the importance of her position. She IS the Empress of Ereve - and by extension, a good amount of the Maple World. Athena even had to "bargain" for the freedoms of the Explorers, since Cygnus could've easily conscripted us all.

Which also helps explains our involvement (and the level of said involvement, if it even exists at all) in the Second Dark War - we're in this war of our own volition. Cygnus conscripting us would've forced us into this conflict, even if we had no desire to do so.

Cygnus being so young and the fact that everyone harps about it is important because she's essentially the figurepoint of the Forces of Good in MapleStory - if she goes, we're all screwed (the proof is in Arkarium's "Dream World Ereve" - that was basically showing us how important Cygnus is to this whole affair).

They don't ask about Orchid's age because she's not the big honcho in charge - in fact, I'd have to say she's probably the Commander with the least amount of influence in the Black Legion - her Black Wings unit is just one fragment of the Black Mage's entire army.

Old Arcs dying may have forced Hilla out of hiding because of the severity of the situation - he was probably the most loyal of the Black Mage's Generals, and one of the closest, if anything (another theory is Hilla being the Black Mage's consort or love interest - think Cleopatra and Marc Antony).

Orchid and Lotus are not mentioned because they're the Team Rocket of the Black Legion - basically they're the "joke unit" of the group. Although it remains to be seen how much more powerful Orchid and Lotus are when together than, say, Arkarium/Hilla/Von Leon/Magnus.

I'd like to think Guwaru's death was due to him being caught off guard by Magnus - though if Guwaru was a Commander then Magnus would've had to have been seriously strong to end him in one shot (unless Phantom weakened him before the deathblow).

All in all though - I still don't think it changes why Cygnus's age gets questioned and Orchid's doesn't.

It's simple really. The younger you appear, the more people care. Orchid and Lotus look more like young teenagers to me. But that's just me.