It kills me when I think about it but Zubeia is kinda correct in the sense that Aaravos's standpoint can really just be boiled down to "chaos as much chaos and destruction as possible." As a hardcore Aaravos stan, I understand and acknowledge this but also kinda hate the way people represent it when talking about his choices and overall morals.
(splitting this post here because it's pretty damn long)
Because the thing is, Aaravos really doesn't have anything left. His morality is gone, his only goal is to avenge Leola and that means one thing: "making the council hurt." And the only way to do that is to attack the only thing they care about; their own righteousness. Their only concern is being right.
And with that in mind, I'd like to bring up the main point of Leola's trial, that she has disrupted the cosmic order, unleashed chaos on the world, and therefore she must die. They thought that by getting rid of Leola, they'd stopped the supposed chaos that was coming. Aaravos knows this, so what's his solution? Do everything in his power to prove them wrong.
He sees this as the only solution to truly avenge Leola. He doesn't want humans and elves to get along. He gave dark magic to humanity under the guise of it being meant to help them succeed while knowing it would corrupt them. He wants to wreak havoc, not really because he hates Xadia, but because it will hurt the council.
Why does he need Xadia to fall into chaos? Why not just go after the council head-on? Two reasons:
One, evidence from the show strongly points to that being impossible for him. It's basically like fighting himself times 5 and they'd surely overpower him.
Two, that wouldn't really fit into the idea of disorder they had in mind. Just going after them would leave the world in peace. Leola was not the problem and he wants them to see that so he needs all of Xadia to become a chaotic hellscape just like the council thought it would if Leola was kept alive.
So, from Aaravos's pov (keeping all of this in mind), what do you think it says if the world prospers without Leola in it? He'd lost his daughter at the hands of his people who said her actions would lead to a world of chaos. If peace still prevails after Leola's gone, to Aaravos (an unstable grieving parent) that's basically telling him that they were right in their decision to kill his daughter.
He couldn't stop her death, it's implied that he can't bring her back, so really all he has left is revenge. It's tragic and it always would be whether or not Aaravos chose to walk the path of evil after Leola's death. Their story was doomed from the start. It was a lose-lose situation all around. I can't help but sympathize with Aaravos because at least in the current scenario he feels as if he's not just surrending to the enemy. That he's doing Leola justice by proving the council was wrong to kill her. It's literally all he has.
This is all I could think about when reading @thestarswillguide's recent posts (here and here)
This is why I hate it when people say things like "Aaravos is just an asshole" or "he's completely wrong and didn't really love Leola". God, the way those statements really upset me. And people having absolutely no sympathy or nothing for him will never not blow my mind. Like, I understand hating his actions and not rooting for him, but to flat out say you can't sympathize with him? To not care about what he went through. To say he's just a monster when the love he had and the pain of his loss literally backed him into a corner? It honestly just seems heartless.
When talking about his character you can never disregard this without misunderstanding Aaravos completely. You can't ignore his pain and just call him a bad guy. It disregards his status as a complex character. This is what so many people do when they try to oppose his character (which, in itself is completely valid) and it really pisses me off.
Anyways, I'm gonna stop right here. Reblogs and comments are greatly encouraged! I really want to talk about this.
