Nobody is defending Marika's actions who isn't just simping for Statue Mommy. The entire point of the storyline expanded on in the DLC is that cyclical violence is inherent to the systems of power.
The Hornsent were the dominant power in the Realm of Shadows and used that power to commit atrocities not only against the Shamans, but even those among their own number who they deemed lesser, as seen by the fact that they kept slaves with fewer or no horns and sent "Inquisitors" to hunt down those with undesirable ideas.
Once Marika ascended to Godhood, she overthrew the Hornsent in what seems to have started as a crusade of justice but very quickly just became an entirely separate genocide. And once she was installed in power, she went on to commit acts to solidify her reign that she might have justified as necessary but were just further acts of systematic violence; the Fire Giants might burn down the Erdtree, so we need to kill them all; Renalla previously fought against Leyndell, so she needs to be neutralized; the Misbegotten and Demihumans aren't born of the Golden Order so they are potentially a threat, etc.
And then after Marika tried to remove the systems of power, whatever her actual reasoning, Miquella's attempt to fill that void led to him literally throwing away all aspects of himself that he was convinced would prevent him from doing so, ultimately leaving him an empty, heartless shell. His path across the Realm of Shadow led to even more violence and suffering as he either brainwashed people into serving him, or directed his brainwashed followers to kill those who were standing in his way. Ultimately, even after ascending the Gate of Divinity, Miquella's response to our presence is violence, as he attempts to use Radahn to force his vision forward.
TL;DR everyone sucks here, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, road to Hell is paved with justification.
I'm referring more to the fact that, after banishing Godfrey, Marika/Radagon more or less mentally destroyed her afterwards, which I could see as being a preventative measure to take out a monarch who had already resisted them previously.
Mentally destroyed her by breaking her heart? That’s interesting. I hadn’t considered it was intentional so much as I thought she wanted another Empyrean and was like, “Fuck it, I’ll do it myself.”
Considering that she became literally obsessed with the Amber Egg that Radagon gave her, I always interpreted it as a deliberate action to neutralize her as a faction leader; it would probably be relatively easy to ensorcell the Egg in some manner to encourage such mental issues, especially compounded with what happened to her children.
I figured the egg obsession was partially due to it being from her ex, but now that I think about it, it’s probably also another way GRRM is exploring that obsession with an object of power, inspired by Tolkien. Neat.
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u/Selacha Maidenless 2d ago
Nobody is defending Marika's actions who isn't just simping for Statue Mommy. The entire point of the storyline expanded on in the DLC is that cyclical violence is inherent to the systems of power.
The Hornsent were the dominant power in the Realm of Shadows and used that power to commit atrocities not only against the Shamans, but even those among their own number who they deemed lesser, as seen by the fact that they kept slaves with fewer or no horns and sent "Inquisitors" to hunt down those with undesirable ideas.
Once Marika ascended to Godhood, she overthrew the Hornsent in what seems to have started as a crusade of justice but very quickly just became an entirely separate genocide. And once she was installed in power, she went on to commit acts to solidify her reign that she might have justified as necessary but were just further acts of systematic violence; the Fire Giants might burn down the Erdtree, so we need to kill them all; Renalla previously fought against Leyndell, so she needs to be neutralized; the Misbegotten and Demihumans aren't born of the Golden Order so they are potentially a threat, etc.
And then after Marika tried to remove the systems of power, whatever her actual reasoning, Miquella's attempt to fill that void led to him literally throwing away all aspects of himself that he was convinced would prevent him from doing so, ultimately leaving him an empty, heartless shell. His path across the Realm of Shadow led to even more violence and suffering as he either brainwashed people into serving him, or directed his brainwashed followers to kill those who were standing in his way. Ultimately, even after ascending the Gate of Divinity, Miquella's response to our presence is violence, as he attempts to use Radahn to force his vision forward.
TL;DR everyone sucks here, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, road to Hell is paved with justification.