So...the End...a bit anticlimactic, isnt it ?

[Fiaryn]

In case of Thaos, you could say, that another theme of the game was "you can't stop time/change". At the end, Thaos was not only afraid of the end of the kin, he was afraid of this new world, the world it could become through Animancy.

 

The gods were created, because the Engwithians wanted a world, were some kind of definitive order exists. A world with concrete rules and concepts of morale, the kind of concepts the gods provided. But even the gods aren't eternal: Woedica isn't the queen of gods anymore, Eothas is dead, Abydon was reborn as a golem, Skaen had a portfolio stolen by Woedica etc. I always found, that Twin Elms was the strongest aspect of the story, because now we not only just worked with the gods, we were confronted with the concepts they represent, in a world where you are constantly reborn and no real afterlife seems to exists. We didn't choose a god, we choose which philosophy fitted best for us or our character.

 

The only things that seems to be constant in this worlds, is to be reborn and you having to choose how you want to spend your life. Still believing, even if you know that your god seems to be death? Can do (Éder). Fighting the good fight, because you think it is the right way? Aloth will do it, even if it kills him to fight the leaden key. And was your journey really pointless, when the person you were looking was dead? Ask Sagani, maybe she has an answer.

 

It's how you choose to spend your life, what is important. The will of the kin is maybe greater than they give themselve credit for, the creation of the gods could be actually the greatest sign of this. Even if they were born out of desperation and a very pessimistic view of the world, they show that the will CAN change the world. Everyone has to die one day. You, Thaos, and it is fair to assume, that the gods will also finally die. But it is for you to decide, how much it was worth it.

 

That's what I took at least away from the game and why my character (Deathgodlike/Paladin/Dwarfish parents) choose to give the souls back to the children of Dyrwood. So they have at least a chance to choose. That's why I also got Thaos back into the wheel and because it didn't matter in the end. I am an Atheist, but I think those conclusion are worthwhile for people like me and spiritual people, as long as you don't really think that here is big order in the universe or there has to be one. Or if you think that punishment is more important than mercy.   

 

I'd generally agree with this. There were earlier posters who felt rankled at what they perceived to be a narrative meant to attack the premise of religion as a whole, but I believe there's a solid argument to be made for the core narrative being about rejecting dogmatic traditionalism, rather than being anti-theist per se. The Gods are real, but their origins are falsehoods. What's so interesting about it all is that though the Gods are effectively unbelievably complex magical AI, they have long since defied their "code". Aside from Woedica, none of them really give much of a damn about animancy. That's Thaos' crusade in particular. Thaos is the old guard, the arch-conservative who no longer represents the faith he claims to champion. The very source of scripture has evolved and left him behind, as has the world at large.

 

Thaos: Old Man Yells At Cloud.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Fiaryn

[Harry Easter]

I'd generally agree with this.

 

 

And on which part, you wouldn't   ?

 

There were earlier posters who felt rankled at what they perceived to be a narrative meant to attack the premise of religion as a whole, but I believe there's a solid argument to be made for the core narrative being about rejecting dogmatic traditionalism, rather than being anti-theist per se.

 

 

If you are religious and clever, you could argue that Thaos is actually an evil atheist AND a unworthy pagan with manmade, false gods. Because in the end Woedica is more HIS tool, than he is hers. He chooses to obey her, because he controls her, not the other way around. He is the arrogant man, that wants to be more, than he is.

 

The Gods are real, but their origins are falsehoods. What's so interesting about it all is that though the Gods are effectively unbelievably complex magical AI, they have long since defied their "code". Aside from Woedica, none of them really give much of a damn about animancy.

 

 

Yes, they are mostly ****, if you don't count Hylea (although you could discuss how NICE she really is) and Abydon (no complaints about him. He's just a working class dude, with a big hammer). It's possible that they will kill each other off or that Magran will become the new queen of gods. I mean, you are a goddess war, you have to conquer something^^.

 

That's Thaos' crusade in particular. Thaos is the old guard, the arch-conservative who no longer represents the faith he claims to champion. The very source of scripture has evolved and left him behind, as has the world at large.

 

Thaos: Old Man Yells At Cloud.

 

 

He has to be the most depressed person in the world. Not for his lack of loved ones (you don't live for 2000 years, if you don't learn to not to care about anyone after a while, I would argue), but because of the futileness of his quest. He can give everything he has, he will fail. Seriously, sending him back to the wheel was the nicest I ever could have done to him. 

Edited February 23, 2016 by Harry Easter