Me and a friend of mine have been replaying Morrowind recently and have gotten in a few really intresting discussions about the Tribunal (who would have thought).
Our discussion was about the morality of the Tribunal and of course the murder of Nerevar. I feel like the fandom doesn't give them enough credit. Was his murder inhumane and disgusting? Yes. Was it a huge betrayal? Yes. Was it necessary? Yes. If we look at it historically, how many times have they saved their people from destruction? The Tribunal was needed. When did the deadra do anything? Azura sent the reincarnation of her favorite pawn to solve a problem called Dagoth Ur and to get rid of those in her power. Vivec, Sotha Sil and Almalexia did something terrible, something that absolutely ruined them. The death of Nerevar shattered them in ways that even they had not expected. Vivec and Sotha Sil lost their brother and Almalexia lost her love.
I can already hear people raising their pitchforks but hear me out. Almalexia never loved Nerevar! She married Vivec right after his murder! We don't know how long it took before she married Vivec first of all, of course she did second! Sotha shut himself up in his Clockwork city. Almalexia and Vivec were the only ones who had each other at that moment, they understood what the other had gone through, they had a trauma bond. Vivec immersed himself in his lies trying to escape from reality. Almalexia convinced herself of her moral superiority (because she didn't kill her husband for nothing, right? She's doing it all for a good cause! She's the protector of their people!) Sotha Sil convinced himself that it had to happen, he couldn't do anything about it!
That's why when I look at them in Morrowind I feel terrible sadness for them. Vivec is tired and so terribly alone. Locked away in his palace in his gigantic city built in his name. All he can do at this point is finally admit the end. He tries to fight, but in the end his love for his people wins. And he as an actor disappears from the stage behind the curtain, has already finished his role, and it is time to return to being, simply Vivec, the warrior poet, not the divine king.
Almalexia just can't handle it. Her role as protector, mother of her people, ends. And she can't accept that. She sacrificed too much...and she snaps. She gets rid of everything she sees as a danger to her position, even if it should be one of her closest. But it doesn't work, her people are getting further and further away from her. It was all for naught. The years, the battles, the murder of her husband, everything. She dies in her last battle, she would never be able to come to terms with it. She gave in too much. Her identity lost after years of convincing herself that her role as protector is the only thing that matters, even if it ironically means hurting her people to love and need her again.
My only regret is that we won't get Sotha Sil's thoughts in the final days of the Tribunal. Something tells me he knew and accepted it. I love all three of them terribly and it seems unfair to me how people look at Voryn and everything he did vs the Tribunal, which spent most of its time trying to make a positive change. Did they do good? Not always, but they tried. At the end of the day, they were only mortals.
stormborns
titsay
vaporwave
