Do you think Belos convinced himself he “saved” Caleb by killing him?
Knowing his ideology, probably. From the early 1600s, Philip and his brother were raised in what was inferred to be a strict, Puritanical society with little to no regard for kindness towards those who were different from the optimal image of what was right in their religion’s eyes.
Puritans who had began immigration from Britain and other parts of Europe in that time period initially moved to North America (and what was soon to become the colonies) to pursue a more strict and taut practice of their interpretation of the Bible, since they began to view the churches of England as corrupt. So from there, we can already assume that the people of Gravesfield were already very self-righteous and difficult to subject to change. So putting two, vulnerable orphaned brothers in that society would probably lead them to be heavily indoctrinated and influenced, since it’s the only opportunity for survival and a chance at acceptance.
Since Caleb was revealed to be older, he would be less susceptible to conforming in order to be deemed “fit”, and we can see how he eventually overcame such unsavory discrimination when he befriended witches. Philip, being younger, would not. Children with less developed minds are likely to follow in the path of elders that they look up to… Even if their role models aren’t the most optimal ones. And as they grow older, they plunge deeper into the hatred and warped perception of those around them, with a harder chance to get out. Philip Wittebane is a victim of his time period, which later grows up to be a living example of the foolishness and out-dated standards of his time.
So when Caleb left that hole to find sanctum in the Boiling Isles, where he finally found his true home, Philip saw it as an act of betrayal. Not only towards him, but towards their dreams, their town’s ideals, and their future. My personal take of Philip’s thoughts is that he did not believe that his brother, which he had spent his entire life around, would throw their relationship away like that. He would rather believe that Caleb had spent so much time around witches and forbidden magic, that it had taken over his mind and corrupted him. Hence, came the idea of putting him out of his misery. We can see such parallels in King’s Tide (The scene in which he had captured Luz and was trying to convince her to join him in his return to Gravesfield), when Luz had called him a hypocrite; his exact words were…
“I do pity you. These monsters have warped your sense of reality. Perhaps it'd be merciful to put you out of your misery…”
So it’s either his sadism, or Belos is in so much denial that his way is the incorrect way, that he’d rather believe that Caleb and Luz been swept away by dark magic instead. And since he’s had 400 years to mingle upon those thoughts and convince himself he’s in the right, he would believe it. And it’s so twisted, that even hallucinations of his brother have only fed his delusions. In the episode, For the Future, even near his death bed, he replies:
“I tried to save your soul. It's your fault this all happened!”
Which verbally summarizes what his motivation is behind killing his brother. (Maybe he even believes that making grimwalkers of his brother gives him a certain chance at “redemption”; a chance to prove that he doesn’t have to be seduced by the charm of witches and their realm) (Oh, and also… In this clip, the hand that falls off is his right one, leaving him with only his left hand. Which is not only his predominant hand, but also the kind that Puritans were discouraged from using as it was associated with the Devil’s work. Not related to this question, I just thought it would be something interesting to share!)
So, in summary, yes. I do believe that Philip convinced himself that killing Caleb saved him in the long run. This is PART of what makes him evil compared to his older brother. It is his willful refusal to change, to accept the peace between magic and conformity.
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