First of all, the only topics I could find about Morinth were in the fan art section of the forum, and most of them I wasn't even allowed to post in (probably locked); so here goes. It will be a long and rambling post about what makes me love Mass Effect, and how one might look at the topic of good versus evil in the Mass Effect-universe, and how it ties in with some of the Paragon and Renegade playstyles one might adopt, so bear with me, but feel free to skip a few paragraphs if you just want to get right into when I start talking about Morinth in particular.
I'm currently wrestling with the guilt and doubt of adding Morinth to my party. The problem stems from the concept of Paragon and Renegade, and then good and evil. I think it's safe to say that paragon and renegade were never meant to represent good and evil, but more a different means to achieve your goals. You're either quite soft-spoken and utterly forgiving about most things, and use charm in order to get results, or you're harsh-spoken and somewhat violent, intimidating the opposition instead. A Renegade character could adopt a more vigilante mindset, taking the law into their own hands, while still serving the side of good. While there are borderline cases, I would go as far to say that you're always a "good" character in the game, only your methods change. If you take the Renegade path to the very extreme, you can be rude and aggressive towards everyone you meet, and being a general jackass even to your fellow squad members, but in the end, it's not exactly "evil." It's pretty much as close as you get, however, and I actually do feel pretty evil if I go bat**** insane like that. It just doesn't feel right.
Now, I choose to play my main character with this in mind - she is a Renegade fighter for good, with a tendency towards vigilantism and generally ruthless behaviour, but only to those who wrong her or her friends, or someone she deems an innocent. While being a badass during many missions, shoving mercenaries out windows, setting a Krogan warlord on fire, or punching some other criminal in the face, she is still very loving to those close to her, and she values her friends on the Normandy above all else. This makes her a character who, in my mind, definitely takes the threat against the galaxy seriously and will do whatever she can to stop it, but she's still an emotional and kind soul when it comes to those she loves. Friendship is what she cares about the most, but unrelenting criminals and other characters who have done wrong, will usually not receive much reprieve from my Shepard.
The reason she gets along so well with everyone on the crew, and consider them her friends - no matter if they're a violent Krogan creation, a convicted, psychotic murderer, or a ruthless mercenary - is that all of these have redeeming qualities. They have characteristics and background, carefully written by the game creators, that allow you to gradually start seeing the whole person, and not just what's at face value. The convicted psychotic murder is who she is because of what had been done to her as a child, and mitigating circumstances start appearing if you explore the dialogue; she even starts thinking about what she's done, and thanks to the love shown from Shepard (especially if you romance her), grounds her somewhat, dragging out that innocent child underneath, who still feels guilt for her actions. The point is that, due to Shepard's interference, these "evil" souls are explained, and develop as you get to know them; they don't remain the same as when you first meet them. That's why I can play what I believe to be a "good" character, who sets her enemies on fire, and offers a loving embrace to her friends at the same time. Thanks to the exquisite writing and characterization of these games, I am allowed to play this character in a way that feels completely natural and acceptant to my wishes - it never feels like I'm doing something that goes against "what Bioware intended," and therefore I'm offered one of the most riveting and wonderful gaming experiences of my life.
But this leads me to my dilemma: Morinth. I was very drawn to her from the start, once you got the chance to find out more about her and even meet her; how she's all about passion, emotion, art and music. I felt a character like that would appeal very much to the Shepard I am playing. Samara is an excellently portrayed character as well, but her unrelenting pursuit of justice, following a strict code, made her feel a little awkward for my Shepard. I did not want to get rid of her, for I still considered her a friend of sorts, but if I wanted Morinth, I would have no choice but to actually outright betray Samara and help Morinth kill her. Already here things started feeling wrong, but what makes it worse is that Morinth has very little in ways of those redeeming qualities I wrote about earlier. Had she been a "good" character, she would have stayed with her sisters in seclusion, I suppose, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to be free instead; I only wish she, in some way at least, showed interest in doing something about her disease. Instead she shows absolutely no remorse to what she's done to all the people she has mated with, and the conversations you can have with her never branch out to something that could evolve into a sort of sub-plot of stilling her hunger or trying to find some kind of cure. This makes it feel like my Shepard bluntly accepts a killer of innocents into her squad, just the way she is, and shows no intention of saying to her that what she's done is wrong.
My biggest gripe is that I have to keep her a secret from everyone else on the ship, including my close friends (and even lovers), making me feel like I didn't just betray Samara, but all of my friends as well. Add to that the non-existent writing for Morinth past recruitment, and how almost the whole game seems to ignore her past this point. Morinth adopts the appearance, voice, and combat- and conversational dialogue from Samara, adding no special flavour whatsoever to either missions or inter-party banter; and throughout most of the game, she is still referred to as Samara by Shepard and the game in general. All of this prevents Morinth from ever feeling like she's part of the crew, or a new addition to your squad. It's just Samara but with a different in-combat power. This can obviously be entirely intentional by Bioware, consciously adding her as an option for those who play an actually evil Shepard, but part of my suspects (and hopes) that she's just unfinished. If Morinth is really supposed to be an actual, convincing character; a truly valid choice for a Renegade Shepard, there is a lot of potential to be found.
The recruitment could've been handled very differently, having events during Samara's recruitment lead to the outcome of either Samara or Morinth surviving the confrontation and joining Shepard's crew. This would make the choice appear before Shepard befriends Samara, possibly having Shepard becoming swayed by either side of the conflict. Depending on the character you play: A Renegade Shepard might feel opted to side with Morinth if her plea is that of a victim of circumstance, now being hunter by her own mother who wants to kill her simply for being who she is, while a Paragon Shepard might feel that Samara is a servant of good who simply wants to stop an extremely dangerous and "evil" criminal. If it had been like this, you would never have to wrestle with the intense guilt you feel now, being forced to betray Samara after already getting to know her better, if you want Morinth on your crew. Also, this would make room for more conversation and dialogue with her, ideally leading to her showing some sort of remorse for what she does, and maybe attempting to control it better. As it is now, it stands as the one inarguably evil act you can perform during the main plot. which is only made more certain by the things you say as Shepard when you make the choice: "Morinth will be more useful to me."
Personally, I think it's a shame that Morinth feels as tacked-on as she does. While the initial character introduction is intriguing, you are never allowed to go any deeper and get to know her real self. The little dialogue you get with her past the recruitment, only helps cement the fact that she's remorseless and cruel, and has no intention of stopping her rampage through the minds of innocent people. Choosing Morinth is an evil act that has Shepard betray Samara personally, as well as the rest of the crew of Normandy, without a second thought, and it carries none of the morally grey undertones you can find in every other character in the game. She does mention feeling lonely due to killing anyone she chooses to love, but the writing never takes this anywhere. It never feels like she's actually supposed to be a part of the crew, or to be a friend of yours, unless you yourself are an evil bastard who condones the murder of countless innocents. After seeing how poorly realized the character is, and then how she lacks any hint of redeeming qualities, I am now feeling more and more convinced that my Shepard cannot choose to save her during the confrontation in her apartment. She wouldn't betray Samara, not after all this time they've spent together.
Morinth has the premise of an absolutely brilliant character, and could be a valid optional squad member for mainly Renegade Shepards, but since not even Bioware themselves seem to think of this as anything but a purely evil option, I have no choice but to reload my save and decide to kill her instead. It feels wrong to have her along in Mass Effect 2, no matter how much I love the idea of her character, and I cannot blindly hope that something will be done in Mass Effect 3 that will redeem both the character and my betrayal of Samara. The bottom line is that I don't think Morinth was ever intended to be more than a novelty, unfortunately, and I know that I'm not the only one hurting over this fact.
Modifié par Kindo, 27 novembre 2010 - 02:12 .
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Morinth is pure evil. She deceives, manipulates, degrades, and then kills people for a sexual thrill and power trip. She does not need to kill to survive, so she is not compelled to do any of these things. She kills because she wants to, because she likes it, and because she views other thinking beings as food and playthings. She is a monster, and killing her was absolutely the right thing to do and a service to the rest of the galaxy.
