Angels: Kayle and Morgana
// I see a lot of people are upset by Kayle’s changes. Whether it be her attire or her lore, everyone has something to say. And while I can agree to some extent on her base appearance, I might be one of the few who really doesn’t have too much of an issue with the changes. So, what’s the deal with all this? I think it’s because Kayle and Morgana both represent different types of angels.
Now, I’m not a religious sort. I don’t subscribe to any religion, really, but from what, admittedly little, I know of Biblical accounts of angels and the divine, Kayle is VERY “Old Testament” while Morgana is very “New Testament”. Kayle is like the angel Michael who kicked out Adam and Eve from Eden with a flaming sword of divine judgement for disobeying God’s wishes to not eat the magical smart fruit. She’s also like Old Testament God who, for the most part, was kind of a tremendous asshat in various ways. Meanwhile, Morgana is a lot more like New Testament depictions of Jesus, living among mortals, trying to get them to right their wrongs, and giving them chances of redemption.
That said, Kayle isn’t evil or bad, despite her extremism. She honestly wants what is best, and to bring peace to the land. She is, effectively, the epitome of “Lawful Good” pushed to the logical extremes of that alignment. She follows the absolute letter of the law, and those that break the law are to be punished. Sounds kinda like some Old Testament fire and brimstone to me. Let’s not forget that Hell exists for people who break the sacred commandments in the Old Testament etc. But Kayle, ultimately, loves the people, and she does what she does out of love for them, and for bringing the guilty to justice.
Meanwhile, Morgana isn’t evil or bad either, despite being “dark”. She has embraced her humanity and largely forsaken the divine nature that they both share in equal measure. She’s “dark” BECAUSE she’s turned her back on the divine “light”. Morgana sought to become more human, while Kayle sought to become more divine, each one becoming half of a whole, in a way. Morgana is about second chances, redemption, forgiveness, which is a large part of the New Testament. Let’s also not forget that Lucifer, aka The Devil, was cast out for second-guessing God in the Bible and got his ass handed to him by Michael. So, again, some parallels. Morgana is still the fallen angel she was before, perhaps even moreso now than ever.
In their lore, Kayle sees only that her follower was killed, not the reasoning or situation behind it. As a result, Morgana is guilty in her eyes. Morgana also uses this absolute logic to press Kayle on the death of their father, which ultimately causes Kayle to exile herself to purge her humanity. This is not the same story that existed before between the two, but I still find it to be a very good dichotomy and reflection of two different types of divine beings and their views. Could Kayle’s visual design be a little better? Sure. But honestly, I like both of these characters and where they’ve gone.
