Suppose that player A is going for a rescue against player B. A has five cards in hand, one hero in battle, and six good brigades in play. B blocks with a grey EC, gets initiative, and plays Birthing Pains. This would not only discard player A's hero, but his entire hand.
Can A play a negate before the discard happens? In theory, his hand is discarded at the same time as the hero - I'm not sure if special initiative happens first or if it doesn't happen until the discard will go off.
On a related note, what if the hero is protected from discard? Since this doesn't grant special initiative, A shouldn't have a chance to play anything to negate, right? Would they have a chance to play Woes from hand first?
