WARNING: long post ahead!
Alright, to understand the rational of the Landsmeet decisions, a few things have to be understood about Arcturus Cousland.
First off, as a Cousland, he was raised to admire the ones who fought in the rebellion. Of course the biggest name in the rebellion alongside Maric is Loghain Mac Tir. In fact, I once imagined that if Fergus and Arcturus were playing as kids, Fergus would rp that he is Maric and Arcturus would rp that he is Loghain. Of course as he grew up, the admiration of a child got reduced and it's by no means hero worship. And while it did not play a huge factor, it still influenced his decision.
Second, Arcturus' relation with companions. For him it was clear, he was the leader, they were the followers, no exception. I know not everyone plays it this way and would rather play it as a group of Friends, which is perfectly fine. Arcturus however acted like a commander. This does not mean that he was cold towards them, on the contrary, only 2 were not at max approval (Alistair and Wynne). He did see them as friends, but he acted "professionally" and treated them like subordinates when the time came to be professional.
It's very important to remember. Alistair gave up all his rights to lead voluntarily, due to lack of will and lack of capacity (his own admittance). Arcturus was happy about it and respected Alistair for knowing his limits and thus led. In addition, Arcturus was the commander of the army he is gathering. And no, I don't believe it was his personal army, but it was still under his banner and leadership in its war against the Blight and this was made official at the Landsmeet by either monarch. This is a very important factor to keep in mind.
Thirdly, Arcturus' relationship with Alistair. Like I said before, Alistair's approval was not maxed, I think it would be somewhere in 70-80s. It's still high and Arcturus did consider him a friend, but not a close friend. He respected that Alistair gave up leadership, because in Arcturus' mind he was cleary unsuited for it, for instance due to his inability to get past Duncan's death (while Arcturus suffered something I would consider worse). The turning point of the relationship was Redcliffe. Alistair's reaction was not seen in good light by Arcturus, who thought it was immature and irrational and once again demosntrated why Alistair can't lead in his mind. Of course since the mage option is out of the question for me, there was only these 2 choices. Arcturus cunningly (cunning option) said to Alistair that this was all about him and how Eamon sees him, and not about Arcturus, his decision or the village, which Alistair admitted. This will somewhat set a precedent, as Arcturus now believes that Alistair is too self centered, aka takes everything personally and can't look at it logically and objectively.
Furthermore and this should be noted, Arcturus NEVER promised Alistair that he was going to kill Loghain. Something to keep in mind. All in all, Arcturus was generally polite and nice to Alistair and didn't harden him because he genuinely felt sorry for him and told him the sweet option. Going to Goldanna, a poor desperate mother while we have a bounty on our heads, was risky, but he still did it because he cared about Alistair.
And now, to the Landsmeet.
Let's talk about the general environment first.
The idea of Alistair as king was baffling to Arcturus. And he was not unaware of Eamon's ambitions. But as ridiculous as it soudned to him, he went along with it, thinking that it would be better if he got the power Eamon wanted, to restore his family's position. He thought it was a dangerous precedent to have a king who was useless on his own and had to completely rely on advisors. Furthermore, Alistair absolutely hated the idea and did not have the will necessary to do it.
Then Anora came and hope was restored (I know many will roll their eyes
). This was perfect for Arcturus. A strong queen perfectly capable of handling herself and willing to rule. She had experience, she is smart, cunning and she is ambitious, traits Arcturus admires. So an arrangement was made that she would be Queen and Arcturus would be Prince Consort. Now some might think this is Arcturus being power hungry. Arcturus was always ambitious for his own sake, the sake of his family and the sake of his country, that's his personality. But I argue that if he was truly power hungry, he would have put the weak Alistair on the throne and made himself his chancellor.
Anyways, Arcturus made it perfectly clear to Alistair that he will not be king and he was thanked for it. Before that, since Alistair was being pushed as a canditate for the throne, it would be hard for Arcturus to consider him his subordinate even if he thought he can't lead. However, now that it was made clear that Alistair will not be king, which he agreed with wholeheartedly, he once again assumed the position of follower and subordinate in Arcturus' mind. Important to remember.
The Loghain decision. He was spared for multiple reasons which I will list. They are not in any particular order.
1- Loghain is an experienced general and warrior, which the army Arcturus gathered needed. Riordan's comment was also taken into consideration.
2- As future Prince Consort, Arcturus wanted to have the image of a lenient leader who offers mercy when the opponent
yields and when it's possible.
3- related to that point, Arcturus wanted to be seen as the one who unites Ferelden and is not interested in killing the leader of the opposite faction, especially since the duel was when one party yields. Furthermore, he believed most people would rather not have Loghain die. The last point is not a major factor in and of itself, but for image projection which Arcturus is very adamant about.
4- It is his belief that the true leader is the one who turns enemies into allies. He also wanted to project this image.
5- He never took anything Loghain did personally, aka the bounty, assassinations...etc. He never thought it was personal.
6- He never saw Loghains' retreat from Ostagar as desertion, but as a calculated military retreat from a battle that was probably lost, which saved half the army. Arcturus seeing Cailan's stupidity , general ambience and what he saw during the battle, didn't make him think that the battle could have been won for sure. He didn't have a strong opinion about it and decided to give Ferelden's greatest general the benefit of the doubt, at least until there is more evidence.
7- He did not blame Loghain for the civil war fully. all the time he was wondering what the bannorn were thinking. He strongly believed that Ostagar was the spark, but not the cause of the civil war and that the real reason was "old grudges coming to a boil" as Ignasio said. So while Arcturus thought that Loghain's heavy handedness was a mistake, he did not believe that Loghain *started* it, because in civil wars both sides are usually equally to blame.
8- Him blaming the Wardens and not assisting them was seen as practical. Loghain did not know anything about the Wardens and why they are necessary, in fact even Arcturus didn't know and always wondered why. So Arcturus did not blame him for his ignorance. Many people like to argue in hindesight and judge Loghain that way. I think it's weak. While we can use hindesight to determine whether an action was the correct one or not, judging an individual with that logic on things he can't know about, is, imo, weak.
9- He did not blame him for his refusal to allow Orlesian reinforcements, at least in the beginning. Arcturus believes that the true leader is the one who considers all options and Loghain did not do this. He belived it was a mistake, but it was based on good rational reasons (and not only personal feelings) and he did not believe it was deserving of execution.
10- He did not feel strongly about Loghain's alliance with Howe and what he did during the civil war, including slavery. Arcturus saw all of it as practical methods to deal with enemies and finance a war. He did not blame Loghain for not opening up a third front on Howe, that would have been stupid, Howe was a valuable ally, at least for the short term. He did not feel strongly about the slavery issue, which is a sentiment shared by the Landsmeet as they can still vote for Loghain after they learn of it. He didn't like it, but he wasn't horrified by it and did not feel it warranted execution.
11- Loghain was the one who freed Ferelden and while Arcturus did not feel indebted to him perse, he still felt that if he could allow him to fight for his beloved nation once more, he would do so. It's not really owing him this, but rather as a favor that he earned, in Arcturus' mind. But like I said, this was not a major factor and the other reasons are more important.
So Loghain was spared.
Then comes Alistair's reaction.
Arcturus wasn't completely surprised. Alistair went on to claim the throne, which contradicted what Arcturus made perfectly clear for him and it made him facepalm because he saw it as very immature and bordering idiotic.
So Alistair was overruled, since he did not provide rational arguments to sway Arcturus, and sentamentalist position, while might move him, can not sway him from a course he decided to take. Arcturus did not feel that he owed this to Alistair at all and at the time didn't really care much if he liked him or not. Furthermore, as stated before, this reminded Arcturus of the Redcliffe issue and how self centered he saw it and he cannot be convinced with this kind of attitude.
But, the killing blow so to speak. Alistair decided to leave. This, Arcturus could not tolerate. Remember the second point, for him it was clear Alistair was a subordinate and could not leave on a whim. He had no pact whatsoever saying that if Arcturus did not do X, Alistair can leave. There was no arrangement between the two on this and while Arcturus likes to make things perfectly clear, Alistair didn't and that hurt him.
And so, Arcturus was confronted with a hard choice. There was he was in the front of the Landmseet as commander of the army and future Prince Consort and right in front of everyone, a subodinate of his is deserting his ranks and command. If Arcturus did nothing, he believed this would be seen as a very obvious and clear weakness. And this is something he could not allow.
Now, I said it before and I'll say it again, if I had the option to emprison Alistair, Arcturus would have done it because:
a- what if Loghain dies in the joining
b- Arcturus felt that he should try harder to convince Alistair.
c-. if Alistair continued to refuse, he would either be kept emprisonned or executed later.
But since this was not an option, Arcturus was faced with either letting a deserter go *in front of everyone*, or execute him. This was a non-choice really, his legitimacy and credibility as commander and Prince Consort was more important for Arcturus. And so he allowed the execution, but for different reasons than Anora's. Had Alistair said he would fight under Riordan and not under Arcturus, he would have been fine with it. It's leaving completely, seen as desertion, that in Arcturus' mind, left him with no choice and he didn't like doing it (and I am sure Alistair is feeling the same).
Now, as LD argued, why isn't desertion applied equally. Several reasons:
A- Arcturus doesn't execute deserters on principle, but for practical considerations.
B- Arcturus never thought what Loghain did at Ostagar to be desertion, but as a military retreat. Alistair on the otherhand had no military considerations in him leaving.
C- the Landsmeet doesn't believe the desertion from Ostagar story either so the question of image here is not relevent. Alistair deserting however is clear and in front of everyone.
D- Loghain was not under Arcturus' command and was not his subordinate and the "desertion" was not in progress, thus could not have been stopped by him, so what was done is done. Alistair's desertion was in progress and could be stopped and he was under Arcturus' command.
E- Loghain
yielded, as such recognizing Arcturus' authority and the power of life and death over him as a defeated opponent. Alistair did not, as he was leaving, thus rejecting Arcturus' authority. Allowing him to leave would confirm just that. Mercy for Arcturus is given to those who yield and not otherwise.
As such, in my mind and in Arcturus, the situations were different and "we" do not believe this was an injustice. I really wish we could have imprisonned him, but the choice was not there and well, it was a non-choice for me. I do respect the fact that Alistair doesn't try to fight it and just accepts it.
Some said, well what if it was Morrigan?
Well from the very beginning, it's clear Morrigan wanted something. She is not obliged to help us, she is not Ferelden. But even still, had Morrigan compromised Arcturus' authority in front of everyone, he would have delt with her. But he would have tried much much harder to convince her, granted. But it's hard to imagine what ifs. Morrigan leaves when the thing she wanted in the first place, the DR, was denied to her and since Arcturus wanted to do it, this was a non-issue for him. And it was not infront of the whole landmseet so the implications are lesser.
And that's basically it. Whew
Modifié par KnightofPhoenix, 31 octobre 2010 - 06:11 .
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