I was always a defender of Elthina neutrality, because that way she could manage the conflict between Mages and Templars in an effective way, this is really evident when she says …
“The Chantry is not a domineering father with the whip always in hand. She is a gentle mother, who knows that her children learn best when allowed to learn themselves.”
So basically she rarely steps in, and hopes that Mages and Templars alike could learn to co-exist, making mistakes and in the process learning from them.
Also quotes like “Death is never justice” and “I cannot take sides. We are all the Maker’s creatures, but magic allows abuses beyond the scope of mortals” makes me think that she is the embodiment of the Chantry morals and neutrality. Petrice death shows Elthina neutrality in action, even if she thinks death is not the answer, she allows that type of justice happening in her presence and on supposedly sacred ground.
So in a way the teachings of the Chantry come second to her neutrality. She is almost like an embodiment of the Maker sometimes, a God or Goddess does not intervene in the lives of mortals. A thing that the Qun seem to despise, they impose order so they are never neutral, it is an eye for an eye. Grand Cleric Elthine represent how the Chantry morals fail to translate into actual human behavior and how the societies controlled by the Chantry were doom from the beginning.
I said that I was a defender of her neutrality, so she could better manage the conflict of interests between Mages and Templars but I am not a defender of her inability to intervene off stage, when it is deem necessary.
Elthina should had maintain her neutral image but at the same time, doing everything in her power to prevent the escalation of a conflict. The problem is that she acts as a Godness but lacks the power and alliances in the Circle of Magi.
Grand Cleric Elthina did not need to fear the Templar Order nor did she needed alliances with other raking officers, since it quite clear that Knight-Commander Meredith is extreme loyal. Also Templars are a religious military order, they have discipline and clear ranks, which generates order (we should not forgot they have lyrium addictions too, which is controlled by the Chantry).
The same cannot be said about the First Enchanter Orsino, not because he lacks loyalty but because he is a Mage. Even if that could be seen as bigotry, it should not. Mages are the ones in an oppressive system, so it is only natural that he will have less control over his peers and even sympathy with their peril.
They lack discipline and clear ranks and even their various fraternities had extremist that could be very dangerous(like we see in act 3). This should had been taken has a signal that spys and alliances with fraternities were a crucial way to maintain the flow of information and balance in the Circle.
And even without all of this Elthina still had other warnings like the lack of a Viscount, blood magic being rampant on the city, horrific crimes being committed by Mages and so on.
Still the most telling was from an alliance between Templars and Mages on Act 3. At this point she had to assume that Miredith command was under some serious crisis. This along side with the warning from Divine Justinia V about a possibility of an Exalted March on the city, should had been more than enough to act.
Since Elthina is a mortal, in theory true neutrally is impossible to achieve without deadly consequences for her and others under her leadership, she had a responsibility to do everything in her power to protect them. The problem is that the Chantry is not about that…
"There is no greater devotion that to lay one’s life at the Maker’s feet. There is no better death than to take the blow for another."
So in the end Grand Cleric Elthina and many others died for the transgressions committed by Templars and Mages alike. The stupidity of self-sacrifice and high morals saved no one.
Retour en haut
