Dean_the_Young wrote...
What law is there to respect? It's
pretty apparent that Kirkwall is, at multiple levels, a place where the
law is something that is blind to the rich and powerful and only
applies to the poor or weak. The entire goal of Act 1 is to gain enough
influence to be free of it- Hawke and co. are participants in the naked
corruption of the city.
I would argue that the OP's point of
hypocrisy is misaimed because the Qunari never make any pretext or
pretension that they consider the city (or any other nation) equivalent
or equal to the Qun. They've never pretended to adopt any pretense of
equivalence or reciprocity of extradition. From the start, they've kept a
position that Qunari affairs are separate but absolute.
Sifr1449 wrote...
While I defended Isabela, the Arishok really does have the moral high ground here.
The
Elves committed a crime, seeking revenge against a rapist who had
violated their sister, when the authorities in Kirkwall refused to act.
They are now members of the Qunari and will be punished (or not
punished), according to the Qun.
Keep in mind, should they try to
leave the Qun afterwards, they will be slain on sight as Tal-Vashoth,
so it's not like they're getting off scott free here. The Arishok
expects them to live by the Qun or die by it.
Isabela has
likewise committed a crime, having stolen the Tome of Koslun and is
therefore responsible for every single death, be it human or Qunari in
the years since. As a pirate, criminal and presumably not a full citizen
of Kirkwall, she has absolutely no protection under the law of the
land, so the Arishok is within his rights to ask for extradition into
his custody.
If the Viscount had been asked to grant extradition
and wasn't in the middle of his breakdown, he'd have likely handed her
over in a second to appease the Arishok. The only person really getting
angry over the Elf situation seems to be Aveline.
Dean and Sifr fill in my opinion for me here. Some people in this thread, I believe,
are trying to apply their own logic to the
orange morality that is found within the Qun.
The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...
See, thing is, they
didn't just flee to another nation, they were claiming religious
sanctuary. That sort of changes things up, doesn't it?
calvinien wrote...
That is actually fairly true to life. People often holrd their religion as being above law and standards they set for others.
Ferretinabun wrote...
You're quite right, but it's just an example of religious extremism trumping respect for the law.
The Elves put themselves under the protection of the Qun. Therefore they are 'one of us'. Isabela crossed the Qun. Therefore she is the enemy.
I'm more annoyed I can't actually get Isabela to pay for her theft. If she runs, she runs for good. If she's decent enough to return, then you can hand her over, but she'll escape later anyway. Either way, she off scott free.
Religious? I don't believe that's the right word. Qunari do not believe in deities, they are just philosophical.
Lazy Jer wrote...
Thus the Arishok's doesn't make any
moral justification for his actions. He simply is following the Qun, or
at least his interpretation of it. Therefor it may not be technically
hypocritical. It is arrogant in that he refuses to allow for the laws
of other lands or the ethics of the situation. To assume that the Qun
is an excuse to steamroll over everyone else's beliefs and ethics, is to
my mind, arrogant.
The laws of humans are prone to corruption and applying human morality to a born qunari is in itself, arrogant.
Rotward wrote...
Yea, he really bothered me. One person stole a book from us, better seig the city, and demand that they follow OUR rules.
They should have been executed the second they tried to land.
That is short sighted. He besieged the city because of the lack of order being shown within it.
Coming from the background of the Qun, this is understandable, especially for morality's sake.
As well, this choice was not made lightly- it took the Arishok years to debate on the decision.
Retour en haut
