@justkindareblogthing why friend, thank you for asking, I'm always down for a rant 😅
my take on Artus is that he's a manipulative asshole. not even because of the whole supporting Sith again policy (even though I think Mandalore the Preserver would've had an aneurysm), or because of how sad Torian's story is. but rather on a personal level.
the first thing that didn't sit right with me during my BH playthrough was the blooding ritual on DK. we have just survived a brutal series of manhunts culminating in killing a Jedi. our reward? "please go kill this ancient horror, would ya". tf? the whole Great Hunt is already presented as a way to find the strongest hunter of this generation, why do you need me to kill this thing that lived on DK for ages and doesn't really have any bearing on the current events?
and then he surprises us with the adoption.
well, man, idk. you just risked my life on a ritual I never agreed to, never understood, and maybe never even wanted. what if the BH never aimed to become a Mando in the first place? they should decide whether they want to take that risk for that status. that alone is asshole-y enough in my book, even if we don't question the necessity of it (again. we just won the Great Hunt. killed a Jedi in personal combat. if Lok wants to offer us a place in the clans so badly, isn't that effort already worth it?)
but if we do question the necessity of it... there is an explanation plausible enough, and it comes to the surface when we get to know Torian.
at some point in the course of his personal quests, Torian starts asking "do you. do you even know Resol'nare and stuff. anybody said anything to you during your adoption?". we have an option to say "some shit sure has been said by Mandalore in that language of yours, could've been talking about the weather for all I know" (sic). and that. that points at a serious fucking Problem.
bc that's the fact - no one mentions anything about Mandalorian responsibilities during the whole adoption sequence. we don't yet know about the Cadera schism, why it occurred, what it meant for those who lost. we don't know the language ffs!
we don't know that this sweet tough old guy can and will kill us should we not do what he says. and the rest of our adoptive culture will be very cool with it.
combine that with how 'transparent' the adoption was, and here's what I think: it was never about us. it was about Lok wanting power over us.
fortune being what it is, the Great Hunt winner isn't Mandalorian. isn't bound by their law and custom. letting them stay that way? lol no, Lok wants them to answer to him. preferably in general, not just on contractual terms.
he can't force it - the BH is not a child, traditional Mandalorian force-adopting is out of the question. they have to accept his offer willingly. what he can do, though, is lessen the chance of refusal.
so Lok gets us into a fight we can likely win while not feeling like it's trivial (young clansmen get smaller beasts, you? you're Special, you get the one they're scared of). then, while we're high on victory adrenaline and all that fawning from the boys on-site, he makes a casual offer. of course you can refuse, but hey, you're just so cool, we want you in our big family. don't think about what else it means. let's get a drink instead.
okay, but maybe we get something from it as well? clan support? home base? Mandalore looking out for us?
a giant flip-off is what we get.
when shit hits the fan with Seros framing the BH for everything but the original sin, all Lok does is send a condolence letter. doesn't try to buffer us from the Imps like Tormen, give some sort of shelter from the Pubs, some intel to help with the clearing-our-name business, anything. not even a worthless public statement "hey, this guy is ours, you have beef with them, you will eventually have beef with the Mandalorians".
and that's what solidified my opinion of Artus Lok as a steaming heap of dung.
