I have a few more comments on Sir Miles but first I'd like to look at the Invisibles good/bad issue here:
The Invisibles are the "good guys" in the sense that they're trying to get the universe to reach it's next stage, to evolve out of it's larvel stage into the next stage, the age of Horus. What makes them "bad" is the method they use to do it: Violence, which is a tool of The Conspiracy. Gradually the Invisibles become aware of this and change their tactics, as seen in volume 3 (or when King Mob gives up guns at the end of volume 2).
Basically, the Invisibles represent change, something the enemy is opposed to. The most important insight into the Invisibles is delivered by Jack Flint towards the end of Volume 3: He says that the Invisibles are an immune program triggered by the Barvelaith buoy when the game crashed and embedded the player. See, The Invisibles are an antibody fighting a virus, and the virus is the archons, which are trying to prevent the universe from evolving. Note the computer language: program. When the Barbelaith is destroyed (a life support system dying so the child, our universe, can be born) it says "Prepare for download". The game is back on course and the player (the universe) is no longer embedded. The Invisible program succeeded.
The Archons are "bad" because they represent dominition, fear, disease, control, whereas the Invisibles are trying to spread self-knowledge, eternal freedom, etc. They're (the archons) the virus Tom O'Bedlam mentions that invaded our world a long time ago, a virus that humans got so used to they forget what it was like before. They forgot Barbelaith, basically, which Jack mentions towards the end of Volume 1. According to Tom, humans have to leave their bodies... That's what the Invisibles were fighting for and which the Archons were trying to stop. Look at when Robin talked to the Blind Chessman who says he imagines a world with the glossalia language, and that lots of people want to stop us from getting there. He's talking about the Outer Church, who fear change (Lord Fanny points this out to Quimper at the end of Black Science 2, using an apt Butterfly imagery). King Mob mentions how he can change towards the end of Volume 2...
Another thing that differeniates the two sides is their view of the future. The future of the outer church is a world of pain and fear, no hope or creativity, with humans being used as fuel for the archons (wonder where the Matrix got their ideas?)  whereas the Invisibles are fighting for a future where everyone gets exactly what they want, even the bad guys. The Archons drain their servants of their energy, castrate them, make them slaves. The Invisibles is a looser organization... no one tries to stop Boy from leaving. Do you think the Outer Church would tolerate someone like Colonel Friday from leaving? I don't think so. I think the Invisibles use of violence is justified at Dulce at least... As Jack points out, a lot of people were killed, but the number of lives that will be saved from AIDS/HIV will justify it (and let's face it most of the Dulce gaurds had to have known that what they were doing wasn't right, guarding the AIDS vaccine, experimenting on people, etc.) Even Bobby the soilder KM killed had to have known that Harmony House was a bad place (and the guy was a wifebeater to boot). In "The Invisibles" there are no characters who are purely innocent. All the characters make the graves they lie in, from Bobby to Jolly Roger.
Of course, there are some comparisons between the two sides. Observe how Mr. Gelt says "We will make you conform, and in the end, you will thank us for it." Later on King Mob mentions they want to show people the exits, and Boy adds "We want them to love us for it". Interesting. Of course as Boy later notes "Everybody's a bad guy".
Anyway, back on Sir Miles:
There are interesting connections between Sir Miles and King Mob. Notice how KM compares himself to James Bond... Then at the very start of Vol.3 Division X calls Miles the original James Bond. Notice how both use violence to further their cause. Notice how both start showing remorse/guilt for their actions. Notice how both get interrogated by the opposite site (Mob with Key 17, Miles with Key 23). Notice how they both shoot a bespectacled servant of the Outer Church between the eyes (Gelt & Rossiter). Notice how both searched for the Invisibles at a young age, and how both ended up on the side that matches their upbringing: Miles, born to a rich family, joins the upperclass majority whereas Gideon, raised by a revolutionary activist mother, ends up with the Invisibles, an anarchonistic minority. H'mmm... Miles even has links to the OLD King Mob. Both say about Beryll "Through her, I met the others", others being the Invisibles. That says a lot about Miles originally being an Invisible.
Anyway, regarding the Miles as Invisibles theory, here's how I read it: Miles searched for The Invisibles. He met Beryll and they were members of the OTO. Through Beryll he was initiated into the Invisibles. He soon met the mysterious Seaton, who said that initiation never ends. The Blind Chessman says the EXACT same words to Dane. I think that Seaton is in fact a version of the Blind Chessman. I think this Seaton was in charge of the anti-masons set up by the Invisibles to steer Miles towards the Outer Church (The Hareliquinade knew that, to bring about the age of Horus, Miles would be needed to join the establishment so he could bring down Rex Mundi to the Moonchild in 1999, letting Jack bind it. At THIS point, Miles became a pawn). Ok, so Seaton tells Miles about the childgod Horus and intoduces Miles to the Elder Gods. Miles sees the Outer Church but he can't see past to the Invisible college. As he tells John A'Dreams towards the end of Volume 3, he saw the Outer Church once and he saw that he had a choice. At this point in time Miles joined the Establishment for real. Still, being an existentalist he still held on to his humanity, his free-will, to some extent, unlike someone like Colonel Friday or Miss Dwyer. Among the outer church agents he was an outsider (who read "The Outsider"). And his paying back the Invisibles for the time Dane saved him shows us he still has some sense of honor. I guess I can sum up my theory by saying that Miles was steered into joining the Outer Church on purpose by the Invisibles so that he could help bring about the age of Horus. At least that's how I read it.
The blurring of the two sides can be further seen when Miles kills the Moonchild and Rossiter (servants of the Outer Church) then Jolly Roger (member of the Invisibles).
Shit, I have a headache now trying to sort all this out. |
) then I think that clearly shows things from the other perspective, generally decent bloke, trying to do the right thing, get's shot by King Mob for his trouble.