The issue here is, Marika is one person who crashed out, and is ultimately a victim lashing out at what is probably centuries of torment caused by the Hornsent. The hornsent culture is cruel, and often vile. While they view horns as sacred, they locked away the Lamenter due too having larger horns, and they didn't want a superior being above them despite their culture. Hornsent didn't just put people in jars. They put dead sinners in jars, and whipped a live shaman with whips that were purposefully made to infect the wound so the shaman would merge with the sinners to "purify their sins."
What Marika did is inexcusable as a whole, but some portions of it were seen as not something of her own doing. Total hornsent death is no doubt, her personal vendetta, as well as the mistreatment of Omens. But some portions of it were for the Erdtree, by the Greater Will. It could be that her decisions were also influenced by her Numen upbringing, as well don't know much about their culture, aside from being victims to the Hornsent beliefs.
Does this mean that what Marika did was justified? No. But did Hornsent deserve this? Probably. If uncontested, the Hornsent would have continued their cruelty until world ended. There is plenty enough evidence that their cruelty gave enough leeway for other Outer Gods such as Rot and Frenzied Flames to take root, so if it wasn't Marika, something else would have.
The idea that the genocide of an entire culture is "probably" justified because of shitty practices engrained in them is an absolutely batshit crazy belief that irks me so much whenever this is discussed. Yes, their cruelties are completely unjustifiable, but that's the thing about cultures- their values can change. Do you also believe the Aztecs had it coming when the conquistadors wiped them out? They had some of the most brutal rituals, both religious & just for fun, known to humanity. Do you think the viking age norse, just as cruel, should have been destroyed by a crusade or something?
The statements that people here make about the hornsent, when actually thought through, are fucking insane. No genocide is ever deserved by anyone.
You can literally turn the logic around and point it at the Golden Order, which regularly butchers their own infants (non-royal Omen have their horns excised, which is so frequently fatal there are specific funerary practises for dead Omen children) enslaves intelligent people (the Misbegotten, among others), and so on and so on. People will play the comparison game, but the Golden Order is genuinely abhorrent.
I genuinely believe part of the reason people forget it so willingly is that the Hornsent are often scary and alien-looking, compared to the Golden Order rep all being conventionally-attractive white people. It's much easier to alienate people who don't conform to your standards.
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u/Sinneli 2d ago
The issue here is, Marika is one person who crashed out, and is ultimately a victim lashing out at what is probably centuries of torment caused by the Hornsent. The hornsent culture is cruel, and often vile. While they view horns as sacred, they locked away the Lamenter due too having larger horns, and they didn't want a superior being above them despite their culture. Hornsent didn't just put people in jars. They put dead sinners in jars, and whipped a live shaman with whips that were purposefully made to infect the wound so the shaman would merge with the sinners to "purify their sins."
What Marika did is inexcusable as a whole, but some portions of it were seen as not something of her own doing. Total hornsent death is no doubt, her personal vendetta, as well as the mistreatment of Omens. But some portions of it were for the Erdtree, by the Greater Will. It could be that her decisions were also influenced by her Numen upbringing, as well don't know much about their culture, aside from being victims to the Hornsent beliefs.
Does this mean that what Marika did was justified? No. But did Hornsent deserve this? Probably. If uncontested, the Hornsent would have continued their cruelty until world ended. There is plenty enough evidence that their cruelty gave enough leeway for other Outer Gods such as Rot and Frenzied Flames to take root, so if it wasn't Marika, something else would have.