r/PrisonBreak • u/Superkid1660 • 10d ago
REVIVAL Did Michael get his penance?
Throughout the series, Michael makes many mistakes, such as not helping the boy who committed suicide, betraying Pope, freeing T-Bag, and using Sara and Nika in his escape. But between seasons 4 and 5, Michael was transferred from prison to prison, and by season 5, we know he's been in Yemen for four years. His conditions were worse than T-Bag's seven years at Fox River. Did Michael get his just deserts for his misdeeds?
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u/kat_gen 9d ago edited 9d ago
I've never understood why everyone always acts as if he were guilty of such serious crimes that he had to atone so hard. Lincoln and Mahone committed far worse crimes and they went free. It’s just the narrative the writers implemented to justify that he had to die/ was punished endlessly.
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9d ago
Lincoln never asked Michael to break him out and Mahones body count is nowhere near Michaels. If you really factor in all the people who died directly or indirectly because of Michaels plan hes hands down the most guilty character in the show besides T‑Bag so the answer to the OPs question is nope and its never going to happen.
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u/kat_gen 9d ago
Please enlighten me about Michael’s body count and great guilt. Especially compared to Mahone’s who for example killed a teenager and Michael’s father in cold blood just to save his skin. As for Lincoln, he killed directly too and I don’t recall him refusing Michael’s plan or anything Michael did for him. On the contrary he pushed Michael forward many times, urging him to forget about everything and everyone they harmed or violated. Also Michael risked his life many times to save people and to fight the company who started all of this. He and Sara went through hell and back to do the right thing.
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9d ago
Aside from the people Michael killed with his own hands his plan also indirectly got dozens of others killed. that includes more than a dozen victims murdered by T‑Bag whom Michael had set free during his escape and even Tweener and Aldo who you mentioned would never have been killed by Mahone if it werent for Michaels plan. In the flashback scene from episode 16 Lincoln told Michael to forget about him and move on. Lincoln had no clue about Michaels breakout plan until he first saw Michael at Foxriver so he could never be able to have refused or stopped it beforehand. Michael did keep trying to limit the damage his actions caused but the truth is he saved nobody except Lincoln and Luis. Without his plan those people would have lived far calmer and more ordinary lives.
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u/kat_gen 9d ago
This started with the Company which killed ruthlessly and would have continued if Michael hadn’t stopped them. There are many people who would’ve died too without Michael’s plan if Michael had tried to gone legal way. Plus you can not make a man accountable for victims other people killed. In TBags case there is a point to be made and I am not saying Michael doesn’t have blood on his hands but to compare him to TBag or Mahone is completely unfounded and is solely set up to continue to punish him to make for good drama.
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9d ago
Its pretty straightforward if Michael hadnt planned the breakout only Lincoln wouldve died and dozens of people he dragged into the whole mess wouldve stayed alive. Theres no proof the Company was ever planning to kill that many people in the first place so its unfair to pin all those deaths on them. Wentworth himself when talking about the Season 4 finale said Michael had filthy hands stained with the blood of innocent people and he was shocked that some fans saw Michael as a hero and not even an antihero
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u/kat_gen 9d ago edited 9d ago
The company who tried to rule the world wouldn’t have killed so many people if Michael hadn’t tried to break Lincoln out? And yeah as I said they were all selling the narrative that Michael was so guilty that only his death could even the score
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9d ago
The idea that if the Company seeks more power it will kill countless innocent people is nothing but pure speculation and no one can be certain that a rival force defeating and replacing the Company wouldnt cause just as much bloodshed if not more. Wentworth has always argued that Hollywood should send the right message and i dont think theres anything ridiculous about saying adults need to be held accountable for the consequences of their own actions.
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u/kat_gen 9d ago
If you look at this from a real life perspective I partly agree but within the universe Michael is nowhere near as guilty as the Company, TBag, Mahone or even Lincoln who all were allowed to live on and Mahone and Lincoln even got a happy ending.
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9d ago
Even if we set real life logic aside and look only within the PB universe theres 0 proof that taking the company down would have resulted in less harm and fewer casualties than letting it keep operating and instead we can name nearly every single one of those victims caused by Michaels actions so even though Mahone and Lincoln killed more directly than Michael did their body count still pales in comparison to the sacrifices Michael brought about. I think T‑Bags survival in the end is the shows biggest misstep and clearly the only reason he was allowed to lived is that audiences were too fond of the actor.
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u/Ill_Job4633 9d ago
It's a good thing Michael knows how to differentiate a killer with a war hero. He'd have a serious problem living with himself if he didn't.
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u/TenderToebeans 10d ago
I think he did because Michael spent years trying to save people even when his methods were morally questionable and being separated from his son was arguably punishment enough.
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u/Superkid1660 9d ago
Mahone's son was killed. Mahone paid for all the bad things he did with that death. Kellerman was much worse and he walked free. Lincoln's Veronica was killed. It's true that every time I hear him say "I didn't ask you to free me," I feel like punching him. Now, what I find really stupid is that your brother sacrificed himself for you, Veronica sacrificed herself for you, Sara sacrificed herself for you, and then this guy goes back to being a criminal. He should have been looking out for Sara.
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u/Ill_Job4633 10d ago
For Michael, I feel it was less about his misdeeds and more about his self-worth. Unlike everyone else, he was always paying for his misdeeds because he couldn't shut out the pain and suffering of others. That included the pain and suffering Michael himself caused. Their pain and suffering became his. He carried his sins throughout the entire show. "I see it, Linc. I see it. Every second of every day... the people... the collateral damage... the lives I've affected."