Or What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic?
I'm having a hard time coming up with consistent themes or overriding morals to the story. On one hand, we have promotional material referring to the game as "dark heroic fantasy." There are various references within the game that state the Grey Wardens do anything it takes to stop the Blight. Duncan kills Jory, a man attempting a retreat. All of these together tend to agree in a vague sense. They're relatively dark, they imply hard decisions of killing one to save many or similar, sacrifices.
But does that show up in the rest of the game?
Do we need to sacrifice anyone to save Redcliffe? Not really, we can potentially save everyone, though it's hard. There's definitely no overt sacrifice, just people dying in battle. I still can't save that stupid Mayor. That's hardly dark. There's no hard decisions, you don't have to kill anyone to save anyone else, no sacrifices to be made. Heck, the only person you're even allowed to kill, the Smith, leads to a less than ideal setup for the battle.
Moral of Redcliffe? It seems to be a simple one of being helpful saves the day.
How about Redcliffe Castle? We must have to sacrifice in order to save Conner? You don't HAVE to, but you can. You can kill the possessed child to save Redcliffe, kill the mother to save the child and Redcliffe, or kill absolutely nobody and save everyone. It hardly seems a moral dilemma when your options are to kill one of two people or kill nobody and get the almost the exact same outcome. Pretty much the only ultimate difference between the three options I can find is whether or not Alistair gets angry at you.
Moral of Redcliffe Castle? Killing people is okay for a good cause but totally unnecessary, you lazy git. That's kind of dark, I guess.
Moral of Mage's Tower? A popular early visit. This one has to be dark. The Mages basically live in a state of necessary incarceration to protect the world. They, early on, must be forced to a challenge that could lead to their death. And if its believed they won't pass it, they may just get lobotomized early to save their life. Whoah, that's like SUPER-DARK. Heck, when you arrive people are suggesting that you just kill them all to save the world, even the innocents, just to be safe. And that is ultimately a choice presented to you. Maybe it's time for that hard decision! Kill everyone to save the world or let them live and potentially doom it. Does the necessity of this decision play itself out in the consequences to choice we make? Does saving the Mages doom the world to abomination terror? No. Saving lives ends as it often does in these things, with a happy ending.
Moral of the Mage Tower? At times in life, you will be confronted with hard decisions. Such as whether or not you want to have guys with swords or Mages join your army. Deep.
Holy crap this is getting long.
Welcome to Brecilian Forest. Where the Elves are tormented by Werewolves. However, things are not always as they seem. You see, the Elvish leader created the Werewolves as an act of vengeance. And the Werewolves attacked the Elves seeking some of their own vengeance. An ages long hatred between peoples with no end in sight. You, however, must end it now by any means necessary. DUM DUM DUUUUUUM! The obvious solution is to kill these tormented Werewolves to save the Elves. And to enhance the tragedy, you are constantly confronted by a fairly peaceful, if incredibly wary, Werewolf. So, this choice could indeed be hard. Two peoples, who themselves desire peace and an end to their conflict and pains. But, hey, why choose? Why not save them both? It's easy! Either way you fight a boss fight of similar difficulty. And the only casualties end up being two people who have already lived way too long, they choose this fate and meet it gladly. But ultimately more people are saved.
Moral of Brecillian Forest? Vengeance creates a terrible cycle, but peace can eventually be found when people talk with each other. Unless you're really persuasive and think Wolfmen are awesome. Hint: They are.
Orzammar, home of the Dwarves. I think I'll end my post with them. Fitting, since I view them as being the most interesting decisions faced in the game. It's a feud between successors to the throne. A son of the King and the man the King chose to succede him. One's a terrible man who murdered and framed family for power, the other is a double dealing liar. And to gain either one's favor, you must find a cherished citizen, a Paragon. Your quest leads you to the revelation that this Paragon is ****g nuts. It also leads you to the truth of Golems and a difficult choice. Gain the Golems to your forces, but enslave a people. Or end this slavery and do without them. Wait a sec. That's a dilemma! Either way you still get your Paragon and the Dwarves, but you can also get Golems, if you choose the less ideal path. And at the end, you can choose the King. Double dealing, but seemingly nice Harrowmont. Or murdering and framing tyrant Bhelen. At the end you find the consequence of this, nice Harrowmont is a terrible king, tyrant Bhelen is terrific.
Moral of the Dwarves? Sometimes the less ideal choice leads to a better outcome for you and extra help you need. Also, politicians suck.
I said I'd end this with the Dwarves, but like Harrowmont, I'm a liar. I'm going to end this with Morrigan. A cold hearted witch. A person who, through friendship or love, you can melt the ice that flows through her veins to show her the little girl that still hides inside. Only to get kicked right in the cherrypicker by being abandoned at the end regardless.
What is the moral of Morrigan? *bleep* you, that's what.
There's more to discuss, but I hope my question is clear. What connects these? Redcliffe, Mage's Tower, and Brecillian Forest all can end with ideal solutions without any additional effort, no negative consequences at all to the shiny happy path. But the Dwarves can end with you choosing a less "ideal" solution on the Golems for greater reward. And choosing the greater evil choice for King that leads to a better outcome for Dwarves. Then there's Morrigan, where you get kicked in the junk whether you invest or not.
What are we supposed to take away at the end of it all?
The moral of the story, broken aesops or mixed messages. Spoilers for entire game.
Débuté par
Taleroth
, nov. 18 2009 06:22
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