Any way to save Egil?

  


Not by shouting at Allette. Interested in restarting to see if I can save both of them (then do the rest for real) anyone manage to save them both?

I took them both into battle i believe and they both joined

There are certainly ways to save Egil! A piece of advice: don't fret to much over trying to do everything perfectly. You will find very soon that The Banner Saga is a harsh and unforgiving saga. Also even if Egil survives round 1, keep a keen eye on him because he is prone to death :)

Spoilers obviously I guess....  
  
Don't take him with you when first given the option. I told him to take Alette to the Longhouse and went alone with Iver. I ended up having Tryggvi in that fight also because I preordered which made it a bit easier. I believe Egil joined in on the next fight and both he and Alette are fine so far after that.

Is there a way to save him from the "mutiny" after the first fight with Bellow? And if yes, that is the last time you have to save him, right?

Granted that there is a Steam achievement for Egil surviving until the end of the game, I would assume he can indeed survive all potential scenarios.

Enchantment? ... ENCHANTMENT!   
  
..no?   
  
In my first play through, I lost him immediately. I felt terrible. In this second play through I'm going to try to keep him alive, we'll see how it goes.

Is there a way to save him from the "mutiny" after the first fight with Bellow? And if yes, that is the last time you have to save him, right?  
  
Yeah, I'm unsure of this because that's when he bit it for me as well. That scene was just...out of nowhere. It seemed like half of my team just up and bit it, lol.

does anyone know how to stop he who shall not be named from being a giant prick?  
im losing a third of my team lol and its kinda lame because it does not seem telegraphed...

There is an achievement for keeping Egil alive until the end. so it is possible....just difficult :)

For first encounter - keep him and Alette out of the battle OR take them with You, then choose shoot the dredge line.  
  
As for the "surprise, mothafucka!" moment (seems it cannot be avoided - the person joins in as unconditionally as it does what it does) - my guess is You need to have someone else in Your team by that time, to have him/her die instead of the boy (I'm assuming the Super Thrasher Bros, the married one has a "death note" where You read how his wife mourns him, but he died on me earlier as a result of me "Oversseing" a battle).

For first encounter - keep him and Alette out of the battle OR take them with You, then choose shoot the dredge line.  
  
As for the "surprise, mothafucka!" moment (seems it cannot be avoided - the person joins in as unconditionally as it does what it does) - my guess is You need to have someone else in Your team by that time, to have him/her die instead of the boy (I'm assuming the Super Thrasher Bros, the married one has a "death note" where You read how his wife mourns him, but he died on me earlier as a result of me "Oversseing" a battle).  
  
I don't think so, because I had no fatalities up until that scene.  
  
However, because of what he says, I think the way to prevent that scene from taking place is to kill Ekkill and don't take on too many (or any) strangers after he joins.

I don't think so, because I had no fatalities up until that scene.  
  
However, because of what he says, I think the way to prevent that scene from taking place is to kill Ekkill and don't take on too many (or any) strangers after he joins.  
I took Ekkil as prisoner but killed him shortly after so it is probably not that. I did lose Falost. So I lacked him and Ekkil. It seemed like I had everyone else I could have but who knows for sure?  
Egil still got killed out of nowhere.   
  
Somewhat off topic. It is an incredibly disappointing scene. I had to make a lot of hard choices between renown and food and whether I had enough uninjured people to risk a hard fight or should I run away and get no renown? Felt like real organic choices. As well every death before that you either see coming and/or made sense and I was thinking well done Stoic well done.   
Then this scene is wham! straight out of left field with no build up at all. That is terrible writing. Sorry but it is. The Red Wedding wouldn't work if GRRM had done it like that. It was a natural culmination of Robb's poor choices. Here it is just scripted failure because DARK fantasy right? right?

Yeah I shot Ekkil in the face right away and still lost Egil.

Lol there are soooo many ways for that boy to die  
#stonewallmuch?

I took Ekkil as prisoner but killed him shortly after so it is probably not that. I did lose Falost. So I lacked him and Ekkil. It seemed like I had everyone else I could have but who knows for sure?  
Egil still got killed out of nowhere.   
  
Somewhat off topic. It is an incredibly disappointing scene. I had to make a lot of hard choices between renown and food and whether I had enough uninjured people to risk a hard fight or should I run away and get no renown? Felt like real organic choices. As well every death before that you either see coming and/or made sense and I was thinking well done Stoic well done.   
Then this scene is wham! straight out of left field with no build up at all. That is terrible writing. Sorry but it is. The Red Wedding wouldn't work if GRRM had done it like that. It was a natural culmination of Robb's poor choices. Here it is just scripted failure because DARK fantasy right? right?  
  
If Ekkill is alive, what is the reason given for the mutiny? Because in my game, it was said it was because I kept Ekkill and let too many strangers join the caravan.

If Ekkill is alive, what is the reason given for the mutiny? Because in my game, it was said it was because I kept Ekkill and let too many strangers join the caravan.  
  
Sounds like it is the same minus complaining about Ekkil. He complains about the Varl/Iver and Eyvind specifically though he seems fine with the Skogr people.

yeah this mutiny is kinda bullshit, feels like it comes out of nowhere  
  
plus the guys reasons are so dumb: dont trust strangers, like me! stab!  
not to mention my egil is much more level than the dofus who somehow kills him even though hes much weaker  
  
very annoying part of an otherwise good game

So you can't avoid the mutiny? I try to keep everyone alive and has been untill the mutiny event (possible spoiler alert for what it's worth:)) And then Onef (Ekkill and Egil are alive too) launches into major hostile foreign immigration speech and then goes on a rampage. Can't i talk him out of it? Or did i miss some event further back (Me and Onef have been buddies during the entire thing)

I must have done something much different than all of ya'll, Onef is the one that betrayed me and Ekkil ended up being a decent person. Nvm, think i just misunderstood some of the posts.

What we need is to find one of the one in a million people (last time I check the global achievement stats .3% had gotten the achievement!) that didnt have Egil die in that scene and figure out the choices they made. I am wondering if maybe the solution isn't doing well but losing so many people that losing Egil then would drop you below a full roster and TBS doesnt let the event do that to you...?  
That or some sort of very obscure decision far in the past must be deciding this.  
  
EDIT: I will be replaying and seeing if Onef can be kept from joining the party. I thought he autojoined but cant really remember so far back.

EDIT: I will be replaying and seeing if Onef can be kept from joining the party. I thought he autojoined but cant really remember so far back.  
You just should tell Onef to shut up when you first met him. But you won't get any supplies from the town this way.

I saved the boy.  
Just stop Onef joining the party as slim suggests it is really that simple.   
I equipped him with an item that restored one willpower per turn which allowed permanent stonewall  
  
Egil the Immortal!!!

I saved the boy.  
Just stop Onef joining the party as slim suggests it is really that simple.   
I equipped him with an item that restored one willpower per turn which allowed permanent stonewall  
  
Egil the Immortal!!!  
  
Confirmed: just stop Onef from joining with you by killing him when he chases your caravan down.   
  
Onef= evil   
  
Ekkil was just his lapdog pretending to be a psychopath who "took da town over, George".

By the gates, in the city where they both join You, I waited for the cart and ambushed it - it was led by Onef and it seems I got rid of him. How did You stop him from joining the party LeCheeba?

I must have done something much different than all of ya'll, Onef is the one that betrayed me and Ekkil ended up being a decent person. Nvm, think i just misunderstood some of the posts.  
  
Same here but Onef kills only Eigil for me (Might have something to do with level, like if Eigil is max level he blocks (mine was lvl 2), The chieftains Wife (Oniesomthing) lives by healing (lvl 4). And yea i get that it's Onef thats been running Frostvellr (Bad guys) and is a WIFE KILLER?!, But they also say that Ekkill tried to point out Onef as a traitor which i did not get as an event. (Only doubt was on Ekkill) so it might be possible to avoid the event by not having Frostvellr join at all?

When I got to the gates Egil suggested another route into the city,  
underneath some water way that way you bypass having to ambush the cart.  
I just went to the gates tried a few options then up popped Egil with some help.  
When inside your confronted with Ekkill and later on by Onef,  
it is here that you can refuse Onef joining the party and enjoy the boy wonder for the rest of the game :)

On my first playtrought, when i reached that point my morale was very low, and i had lost almost all of the caravan because of starvation :/ so i tough that was the cause, but then on the second playtrought my morale was normal and i had not lost a single man yet, i also had all the heroes with me but the mutiny still happened...   
  
Furthermore i went and loaded a checkpoint right before the thing happened and tried almost every dialog line to see if i could talk him out of it, to my surprise it seems you can not, however there might be one single line that can stop it so further testing is required before talking him out of it can be ruled out as a possible solution.

When I got to the gates Egil suggested another route into the city. Underneath some water way, that way you bypass having to ambush the cart. Just go to the gates try a few options Egil suggests the alternative route.  
When inside your confronted with Ekkill and later on by Onef, it is here that you can refuse Onef joining the party and enjoy the boy wonder for the rest of the game :)  
Next time through I'm letting Ekkill and Onef join and I'm going to try and route out the treacherous Onef, I believe that you have to confront Ekkill after Allette has spoken to him.   
I'll report back. :)  
Sorry for double post

When I got to the gates Egil suggested another route into the city. Underneath some water way, that way you bypass having to ambush the cart. Just go to the gates try a few options Egil suggests the alternative route.  
When inside your confronted with Ekkill and later on by Onef, it is here that you can refuse Onef joining the party and enjoy the boy wonder for the rest of the game :)  
Next time through I'm letting Ekkill and Onef join and I'm going to try and route out the treacherous Onef, I believe that you have to confront Ekkill after Allette has spoken to him.   
I'll report back. :)  
Sorry for double post  
  
Thanks, i'll be waiting for confirmation, as not letting Onef and Ekkil join, means at least 200 clansmen + 100 fighters + 15days of resources that wont be coming your way(not that it matters much apart from the resources)   
  
So i would rather save the refuges and let everybody join and then try to kick Onef out...(if this is possible)

When I got to the gates Egil suggested another route into the city. Underneath some water way, that way you bypass having to ambush the cart. Just go to the gates try a few options Egil suggests the alternative route.  
When inside your confronted with Ekkill and later on by Onef, it is here that you can refuse Onef joining the party and enjoy the boy wonder for the rest of the game :)  
Next time through I'm letting Ekkill and Onef join and I'm going to try and route out the treacherous Onef, I believe that you have to confront Ekkill after Allette has spoken to him.   
I'll report back. :)  
Sorry for double post  
Confronting Ekkil after talking to Alette is when I killed Ekkil my first playthrough. I look forward to seeing how it goes for you.  
  
Thanks, i'll be waiting for confirmation, as not letting Onef and Ekkil join, means at least 200 clansmen + 100 fighters + 15days of resources that wont be coming your way(not that it matters much apart from the resources)   
  
So i would rather save the refuges and let everybody join and then try to kick Onef out...(if this is possible)  
With fewer clansmen and fighters the supply you have will last longer though :). Anyways I do not know if it is a bug but the fights scale to the caravan size anyways. Turns out there is NO purpose to saving the caravan. Let them starve and spend your renown on making your people all rank 5 and actually buying some good items.

SPOILERS AHEAD  
  
So in my playthrough i didn't have egil at the time of mutiny and no one died except the betrayer. Now i wonder what would happen if you haven't killed anyone with the girl.... would she deliver the same outcome?

Solution.. don't bring Ekkil or Onef along.. if they aren't with you, they can't betray you.

With fewer clansmen and fighters the supply you have will last longer though :). Anyways I do not know if it is a bug but the fights scale to the caravan size anyways. Turns out there is NO purpose to saving the caravan. Let them starve and spend your renown on making your people all rank 5 and actually buying some good items.  
  
I know there is no purpose/reward for keeping your caravan alive, but i find it rather satisfactory keeping my band together and in good conditions, it gives me a sense of accomplishment and makes the game a bit harder/more interesting, i would love however if for x number of people alive every x amount of days you would get an x amount of renown as some sort of reward for the investment...

I agree, if they gave 10% of surviving clansmen in renown per godstone visited it would make it worthwhile to do everything you can to keep those clansmen alive. Especially since the "human" side of the trip is much more starved for supplies and renown.  
  
I'm hoping that the modding idea I put up earlier in another thread gets some traction, as a LOT of minor issues with the story, balance, etc could be fixed or redone by the community through mods.

I enjoy how i posted a confirmation, and everybody ignored it and kept pestering LaCheeba(sarcasm).   
  
Oh well, i guess that's just an attempt to make us Polacks look better (glares at Rensei).

Just remember that if you give renown as a reward for having a healthy and happy caravan you're just making it easier to maintain that caravan via markets. The markets have way too much supply for sale for that to be remotely balanced.

Just remember that if you give renown as a reward for having a healthy and happy caravan you're just making it easier to maintain that caravan via markets. The markets have way too much supply for sale for that to be remotely balanced.  
  
True, the issue is that right now(specially while playing on hard) you are almost forced to choose between being able to level up your heroes beyond level 3 or keeping your caravan alive, this needs a bit more of tuning by either increasing the renown gained by battles and events and/or by reducing the amount of supply one can buy from each market...   
  
While on the Varl caravan the supply is not at all an issue and you can pretty much level everyone, on Rook's side its impossible to level up your guys without suffering heavy looses due to hunger, and yes we are supposed to have a harder time leading refuges than leading a military convoy but i think we should not get so heavily penalized for trying to do the right thing and saving lifes.  
  
In less words: some minor tweaking is required in order to find a middle ground...

so let me ask something: no matter what happens, inviting Onef to the party results in mutiny and Egil's death and Oddleif being run through (and subsequently saved by the Mender)?   
Also, does Alette killing him count against the achievement?

So, Onef=mutiny, period? That... Seems really off. Everything else in the game so far has been great, and at least reasonable. But Onef flipping and deciding "lolno, I don't like strangers! Except you guys who've saved me so far!" and killing folks is just too out of the blue, especially for there to not be a way to counter it. The entire dialogue tree before it is irrelevant, it just happens? Not to mention, in-game, Onef is next to useless for me; I've never touched him, whereas Egil is Rank 4 and Odd is Rank 3... It just fails to make sense on any level. Even other choices where a character dies, I don't feel that I've been cheated out of it, but this one just leaves a really sour taste in my mouth.  
  
Edit: Also, why do I lose Egil's item? It's not like it was a running battle or anything, the poor kid's corpse is probably still right there..

If you leave Frostvellr without both Ekkill and Onef, the mutiny will not happen.

If you leave Frostvellr without both Ekkill and Onef, the mutiny will not happen.  
  
oh, so Ekkil can be a betrayer as well? shame...  
  
btw, in chapter 1 Tryggvi warns Rook about trusting men wearing helmets (forgot how the first line goes, but when Rook asks him whether he should trust him, mad Tryg replies: come on Rook, am I wearing a HELMET?)... incidentally, the only human fighters wearing a helmet, are Onef and Ekkil!

Is there a way to get Ekkill but not Onef in your party?  
  
I am on my second play and I confronted the cart and defeated Onef.  
  
After the gate battle I selected "We will join you for now" and entered the city with Ekkill.  
  
It seems that once you are on the road after the city Ekkill really only wants to track you down if Onef is with you. Kind of a shame. I really wanted to try him out this time since he was on the bench in my first play. I like the idea of maxing his strength giving him the +3 strength item and letting him do a crazy high damage AOE knockback on a bunch of Dredge.

i confirm if you punch him out and dont take them egil doesnt die

btw, in chapter 1 Tryggvi warns Rook about trusting men wearing helmets (forgot how the first line goes, but when Rook asks him whether he should trust him, mad Tryg replies: come on Rook, am I wearing a HELMET?)... incidentally, the only human fighters wearing a helmet, are Onef and Ekkil!  
  
Good catch!

Somewhat off topic. It is an incredibly disappointing scene. I had to make a lot of hard choices between renown and food and whether I had enough uninjured people to risk a hard fight or should I run away and get no renown? Felt like real organic choices. As well every death before that you either see coming and/or made sense and I was thinking well done Stoic well done.   
Then this scene is wham! straight out of left field with no build up at all. That is terrible writing. Sorry but it is. The Red Wedding wouldn't work if GRRM had done it like that. It was a natural culmination of Robb's poor choices. Here it is just scripted failure because DARK fantasy right? right?  
  
So, Onef=mutiny, period? That... Seems really off. Everything else in the game so far has been great, and at least reasonable. But Onef flipping and deciding "lolno, I don't like strangers! Except you guys who've saved me so far!" and killing folks is just too out of the blue, especially for there to not be a way to counter it. The entire dialogue tree before it is irrelevant, it just happens? Not to mention, in-game, Onef is next to useless for me; I've never touched him, whereas Egil is Rank 4 and Odd is Rank 3... It just fails to make sense on any level. Even other choices where a character dies, I don't feel that I've been cheated out of it, but this one just leaves a really sour taste in my mouth.  
  
I strongly agree with these two posts. I just finished the game, and this event was by far the worst gameplay/narrative misstep in the game. Not only are the conversation choices with Onef in that scene irrelevant, every other choice in the game other than choosing to accept Onef into your party or not is irrelevant. That is pretty bad design. And from a story standpoint, it's pretty bizarre. When my Gunnalf died early in the game, I was surprised but I accepted it, I had stubbornly tried to save the caravan full of gold instead of telling him to let go, and it cost me. Here, it's just "Onef is actually the most evil son of a bitch in your party and he's gonna stab you in the gut and try to rape your daughter." Whatever.

I strongly agree with these two posts. I just finished the game, and this event was by far the worst gameplay/narrative misstep in the game. Not only are the conversation choices with Onef in that scene irrelevant, every other choice in the game other than choosing to accept Onef into your party or not is irrelevant. That is pretty bad design. And from a story standpoint, it's pretty bizarre. When my Gunnalf died early in the game, I was surprised but I accepted it, I had stubbornly tried to save the caravan full of gold instead of telling him to let go, and it cost me. Here, it's just "Onef is actually the most evil son of a bitch in your party and he's gonna stab you in the gut and try to rape your daughter." Whatever.  
  
The conversation is not about getting Onef back on your side; nor is it about how many other people you've had join the caravan. Onef was the real evil bastard in Frostvellr and he joined your caravan solely for the purpose of seizing power. The conversation before was to give Rook and the player a sense of doubt and dread (Things have gotten crazy, I've positioned my men to replace you, and now I'm tired of pretending to follow you")  
  
The point of the event is to highlight how some people are really evil, even in the face of a great common threat they'll seek out what benefits them, AND they don't always look like crazy serial killers or have scary names (looking at you Ek-kill). The denoument with Alette asking "can you trust again" is extremely powerful.

Personally, I found Ekkill to be the least feasible character in the game simply because of his Onef story line.  
  
Onef killed his sister and Ekkill vows brutal murderous revenge, but over time just let it it go?! Completely at odds with his ability and personality...

Personally, I found Ekkill to be the least feasible character in the game simply because of his Onef story line. Onef killed his sister and Ekkill vows brutal murderous revenge, but over time just let it it go?! Completely at odds with his ability and personality...  
  
I agree. Ekkill's back-story could have been better "framed", especially his lenient relationship with Onef. For instance, it could be so that Onef knew some deadly secret (e.g. Ekkill had raped/murdered somebody, and Onef had helped him hide it), and that's how he "held" Ekkill.

I agree. Ekkill's back-story could have been better "framed", especially his lenient relationship with Onef. For instance, it could be so that Onef knew some deadly secret (e.g. Ekkill had raped/murdered somebody, and Onef had helped him hide it), and that's how he "held" Ekkill.  
  
Ekkill said he couldn't bring himself to kill Onef partly because the bounds of kin, and partly because, after being a complicit minion so long trying to get the chance to kill him, he became the mask.

I agree. Ekkill's back-story could have been better "framed", especially his lenient relationship with Onef. For instance, it could be so that Onef knew some deadly secret (e.g. Ekkill had raped/murdered somebody, and Onef had helped him hide it), and that's how he "held" Ekkill.  
Yeah, anything like that would at least make it more likely that the devious & cruel Onef would even keep Ekkill around.  
  
Ekkill said he couldn't bring himself to kill Onef partly because the bounds of kin, and partly because, after being a complicit minion so long trying to get the chance to kill him, he became the mask.  
Pretty weak sauce IMO! It's just not likely given his portrayed character...

Pretty weak sauce IMO! It's just not likely given his portrayed character...  
  
That's exactly what made the story so powerful! I'll agree that I would have preferred more build-up for Onef, more conversations, maybe having him working his way into Rook's confidence and establishing himself within the caravan leading up to his betrayal, but the resolution of that betrayal was beautiful.  
  
Here is Ekkil: the mad dog, the wild-man, the brutal killer with a hair trigger, and he was tamed into a lapdog by Onef. He tried to get close to the man for revenge, and by degrees was slowly changed. Who knows what Ekkil was like before Onef changed him? Maybe his madness was an outward expression of his internal rage, his fury at the impotence of his revenge. He both hated and needed Onef, and that cognitive dissonance broke his sanity. It could have taken years, maybe a decade or more, but it happened. It speaks both to Onef's incredible powers of persuasion and control, and Ekkil's weakness and tragedy.  
  
The last talk with Ekkil was one of my favorite conversations in the game.

Hello I tried with your Idea it had worked. Thank you for your advise.

I experimented a bit with the Onef-Ekkil-Egil dilemma.   
  
I believe I have tried out most possible combinations and by now I am 99% certain that there is no loophole:  
  
If you take Onef into your caravan there will be a mutiny. It is impossible to prevent it.  
The conversation options with Onef prior to him starting his killing spree are completely irrelevant. The conversation progresses exactly the same way regardless of what you say.  
The trigger for Onef's rebellion is solely his presence in your caravan. It isn't influenced by earlier acts towards Ekkil. Neither is it dependant on morale of the caravan, food supply, a random factor or any other element I can think of.  
Therefore it is a very simple matter: if you take Onef in, you should also take Ekkil (his special ability is pretty good!). But in doing so you will lose Egil for the final fights of the game. This is most likely a bad trade: Egil is with you from the start and will likely have gotten some kills allowing him to level up. Moreover his special ability makes him the best damage soaker in the entire game. A rank 5 Egil can laugh off the attacks of a 22 strength Dredge!

...if you take Onef in, you should also take Ekkil (his special ability is pretty good!). But in doing so you will lose Egil for the final fights of the game. This is most likely a bad trade...  
  
I agree.   
  
The main thing that makes Onef's deal a little sweeter is the extra supplies he gives you access to (storehouse in Frostvelr). Those supplies are almost indispensable if you wanna keep your caravan starvation-free and high-morale...

I must have done something much different than all of ya'll, Onef is the one that betrayed me and Ekkil ended up being a decent person. Nvm, think i just misunderstood some of the posts.  
  
It does get confusing the way some people are explaining it. Onef is the only traitor, but you can only get Ekkil if you also take Onef, so if you have Ekkil in your party then the mutiny will definitely happen (even though he isn't the one who does it himself).

I hear all these complaints about "not being warned in advance" and the mutiny happening "completely out of nowhere".  
Now, leaving aside the fact that plot twists are best when surprising, and not when everybody can see them coming from miles away...  
  
You guys DID talk to Tryggvi at the beginning of the game, didn't you?  
He told you not to trust men just because they have faces and voices (or something along those lines)... and that a man will stare at you through his helmet and lie to you / betray you... and when you ask him if he's gonna betray you, he mocks you because you can't seem to realize he's not wearing any helmet, so he's OBVIOUSLY not going to betray you, you doofus!  
There's your warning and foreshadowing, RIGHT THERE! ;)  
You just ignored his warning 'cause you thought he was crazy...   
Poor Tryggvi, nobody takes him seriously. :P  
  
But no, seriously... I'm fine with not getting CRAZY HELMET GUY (the backbiter) to join my caravan, but is there a way to get only CRAZY EYE GUY (the grudgewielder)?

I hear all these complaints about "not being warned in advance" and the mutiny happening "completely out of nowhere".  
Now, leaving aside the fact that plot twists are best when surprising, and not when everybody can see them coming from miles away...  
  
You guys DID talk to Tryggvi at the beginning of the game, didn't you?  
He told you not to trust men just because they have faces and voices (or something along those lines)... and that a man will stare at you through his helmet and lie to you / betray you... and when you ask him if he's gonna betray you, he mocks you because you can't seem to realize he's not wearing any helmet, so he's OBVIOUSLY not going to betray you, you doofus!  
There's your warning and foreshadowing, RIGHT THERE! ;)  
You just ignored his warning 'cause you thought he was crazy...   
Poor Tryggvi, nobody takes him seriously. :P  
  
But no, seriously... I'm fine with not getting CRAZY HELMET GUY (the backbiter) to join my caravan, but is there a way to get only CRAZY EYE GUY (the grudgewielder)?  
  
Yeah, I noticed that too. However, both Onef and Ekkill wear helmets so... Perhaps Tryg's advice is to be rid with both of those guys :D

I hear all these complaints about "not being warned in advance" and the mutiny happening "completely out of nowhere".  
Now, leaving aside the fact that plot twists are best when surprising, and not when everybody can see them coming from miles away...  
  
You guys DID talk to Tryggvi at the beginning of the game, didn't you?  
He told you not to trust men just because they have faces and voices (or something along those lines)... and that a man will stare at you through his helmet and lie to you / betray you... and when you ask him if he's gonna betray you, he mocks you because you can't seem to realize he's not wearing any helmet, so he's OBVIOUSLY not going to betray you, you doofus!  
There's your warning and foreshadowing, RIGHT THERE! ;)  
You just ignored his warning 'cause you thought he was crazy...   
Poor Tryggvi, nobody takes him seriously. :P  
  
But no, seriously... I'm fine with not getting CRAZY HELMET GUY (the backbiter) to join my caravan, but is there a way to get only CRAZY EYE GUY (the grudgewielder)?  
  
That's fine for the people who got Tryggvi - but he's only available in the special edition. Anybody who bought only the normal edition didn't get him, and so didn't get his extremely vague, not at all obvious hint. Myself, I didn't notice that part of his wild ramblings until my second playthrough.   
  
And sadly no, you cannot get Ekkil without Onef. Sucks. I really like the wild-eyed madman, but also really like the sweet-hearted raidmaster. Yet it is impossible to end the game with both Ekkil and Egil. Which, perhaps, makes it easier on the caravan leaders in terms of not mixing up people's names. ;)

both Onef and Ekkill wear helmets so...  
Oh, but only one of them can stare at you THROUGH his helmet, can he?  
  
his extremely vague, not at all obvious hint.  
Haven't we covered this already?  
  
plot twists are best when surprising, and not when everybody can see them coming from miles away...  
Yup, I believe we have.  
  
Besides, special edition or not, Tryggvi's advice is not even needed.  
You are the leader of a caravan that carries hundreds of people, the situation is grim, everybody lost their homes and relatives and are starving, and many of them carry weapons.  
It's not a matter of "if", but a matter of "when" somebody will mutiny.  
  
And yeah, once you get the traitor in your team, there is no way to save Egil anymore... but then again, it's the same with the first scene... you could shout at your daughter, or you could rush, or you could shoot at the monster... either way there is no guarantee that everybody is getting out of it alive. That's the BEAUTY of this game.  
And seeing how many times Egil can die, and seeing how there's an achievement to keep him alive, he's just a guy who's MEANT to die, unless you're extremely lucky.

Haven't we covered this already?  
  
Yup, I believe we have.  
  
Whoa there, buddy. Careful with the attitude. I wasn't trying to put you down or insult you - I just read a post containing a paragraph full of underlines, bolds, and ALL CAPSes that came off as a little condescending and negative toward anybody who didn't see what you saw. I was just pointing out why so few people would likely ever make that connection.   
  
And you specifically asked about a way to get Ekkil without Onef in a thread devoted to how to keep Egil alive. That's why I assumed Egil's survival would matter in answering you. You didn't have to come back with such snark, man. It was totally unwarranted.

Well, I guess you must be able to avoid the mutiny if you don't allow the blighter into your caravan, but as I had my Rook tell Oddleif 'We're not like him' Did anyone lose people apart from Egil in that? I almost lost Oddleif, but Eyvind managed to save her. I think that I had pretty much everyone else that you could have in that particular caravan, minus Fasolt.

Well, I guess you must be able to avoid the mutiny if you don't allow the blighter into your caravan, but as I had my Rook tell Oddleif 'We're not like him' Did anyone lose people apart from Egil in that? I almost lost Oddleif, but Eyvind managed to save her. I think that I had pretty much everyone else that you could have in that particular caravan, minus Fasolt.  
  
I think it's scripted like that, Wordplay. I mean, only Egil perma-dies (if he's still around). Else, Oddleif is at fist assumed dead, but you later find out that Eyvind has saved her. I am not sure what happens if you lose the battle against Onef's "supporters"... Anyone tried that?

I mean Onef is called a backbiter for a reason. :P

you know what iritating? i just promoted onef and oddlief in sigrholm and now they are dead

backbiter/backstabber, i bet.

So, Onef=mutiny, period? That... Seems really off. Everything else in the game so far has been great, and at least reasonable. But Onef flipping and deciding "lolno, I don't like strangers! Except you guys who've saved me so far!" and killing folks is just too out of the blue, especially for there to not be a way to counter it. The entire dialogue tree before it is irrelevant, it just happens? Not to mention, in-game, Onef is next to useless for me; I've never touched him, whereas Egil is Rank 4 and Odd is Rank 3... It just fails to make sense on any level. Even other choices where a character dies, I don't feel that I've been cheated out of it, but this one just leaves a really sour taste in my mouth.  
  
Edit: Also, why do I lose Egil's item? It's not like it was a running battle or anything, the poor kid's corpse is probably still right there..  
  
it happend to me with maimed iver too.