Vengeance Abounds

I’m not sure what prompted this theme other than I kept seeing the heroes I follow in books, comic, games, and tv being motivated in some form by vengeance.

From what I can tell, at least initially, the whole of the Supernatural series is based on vengeance. The Winchester boys are out to hunt down the ‘entity’ that killed their mother and Sam’s fiancé. That sounds like a pretty good reason for vengeance to me but then they also are trying to find their dad which is what leads to many of the episodes.

Darth Maul of course has plenty of vengeance to go around and since he is trained as a Sith, he uses that anger to his advantage as he tries to get even with Darth Sidious.

Finally, I jump back onboard my reading of The Wheel of Time and the first book in that series, The Eye of the World. Even in the prologue, Elan Morin is driven to extract vengeance against Lews Therin but the later turns the table by destroying himself and kicking off a new world age.

So much vengeance abounds that I could easily have included plenty of more comics, tv shows , and books into this post but I’ll hold off on these for now.

Maul Turns the Tide

Escaping from the clutches of Count Dooku last issue, Darth Maul begins to put his own master plan into effect in Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #2. Apparently someone by the name of Mother Talzin revived Maul after his loss to Obi-Wan and she is setting herself up as an alternative to Darth Sidious as the Dark Side’s champion. While not a Sith, she has incredible powers that even Palpatine fears and with an army of Mandaloreans, the Nightbrothers, and Maul, she is looking to rise up to the pinacle of power in the galaxy.

And the battles that are portrayed in this issue are worthy of the monumental powers that are brought to bear. Starships fighting in the sky above Ord Mantell, blaster fire on the ground below, and finally lightsabers are brought out as Dooku, Grievous, and Maul battle onward. In the end, Maul stands triumphant.

With Darth Sidious’ generals captured this story is definitely taking an interesting turn and I’m enjoying it.

Fridging can lead to Vengeance

For the first episode of a new series, “Pilot” sure packs a lot in. While the main feature focuses on a “monster of the week” formula that worked pretty well for the X-Files, the wrapper sets up an interesting tale of vengeance for Dean and his brother, Sam.

Now I’m not sure whether John and Mary Winchester, the brother’s parents, were monster hunters or why the ‘entity’ targeted the family in the first place, but the opening scene pretty much sets the foundation for the show. And it’s the first of a couple of ‘fridging’ incidents in this first episode. (Fringing [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StuffedIntoTheFridge?from=Main.StuffedInTheFridge] is when a character is killed off, typically a woman of importance, to drive other characters into action). This particular case is designed to jump start John Winchester into action as a demon hunter and sends him into a lifelong quest to find whatever did this to his wife. This vengeance leads to Dean showing up over 20 years later to enlist Sam’s help in searching for thier father.

The “monster of the week” story about a woman in white holds the episode together pretty well and provides a foundation to build up the brother’s relationship as well as allows some back story to develop but after the initial death of Mary Winchester, the next big moment isn’t until the end of the episode. While Mary’s death motivated John to dive into his life as a hunter (and Dean’s as well), it’s Jessica’s death that pushes Sam into action.

Just as we’re thinking the episode is over and Sam is gonna let Dean search for thier father alone, the younger brother is presented with his own ‘fridging’ incident. For whatever reason it seems the ‘entity’ that murdered Sam’s mother has targeted, and killed, his fiancé, Jessica. Faced with his own call-to-action, Sam decides to joint his brother in the search for their father and the hunt for the ‘entity’ that killed his girlfriend.

Avoiding Vengeance

Vengeance also plays a big part in the prologue to Eye of the World. While I took a brief look at this beginning a few years ago, as I tend to do, I started something and left it hanging…I’ll try to do better this time.

The vengeance here though is more against our ‘hero’ than his directed those who have done him wrong. Elan Morin Tedronai is seeking vengeance on Lews Therin for turning his back on and daring to challenge the Great Lord of the Dark. The vengeance here is also a bit more complex than a direct desire for killing, there is an intention of inflicting as much pain as possible. And we see this by Elan Morin’s ‘healing’ of Lews so that he can be made to realize that he was the one who killed his family and friends.

In the end though, I wonder if it was Lews who finally took vengeance by denying Elan Morin his victory? By destroying himself, Lews Therin prevented Elan from winning and while he my be favored by the lord of the dark, Lews Therin ensured that the age would pass and there would be another opportunity for the Light to vanquish the Dark.

It’s a Wrap

Vengeance is often used as a motivator in stories and I think it usually works. In just these three examples we see vengeance for murders and vengeance for betrayals, and to me they each seem like good reasons for action.

One interesting thing I realized though is that I’m not so sure vengeance has too much of a place in the normal lives of people (or maybe it’s just me). I guess I don’t watch too many of the ‘Real Housewives’ shows so maybe there’s a lot of vengeance going on there, but in my life I find my energy much better spect on forgiveness or apathy.

Apathy for many things that really aren’t that important and forgiveness for most things that rise to a higher level. I mean sure, I might fantasize about shooting a paint gun at someone who cuts me off on the freeway or calling the cops on someone blaring music at 2am, but the most I might do is gather a fleet of my alliance mates to attack someone who ganked me in Eve Online.

I suppose the bottom line for me is that vengeance takes too much energy and my return on investment just isn’t there. But in these stories, it’s fun to see where it leads.

Ramble 2020.02.07 | Vengeance Abounds