I’ve been exploring the world of Pillars of Eternity and recently came across the Steel Garotte and the whole animancy situation. My character is neutral and doesn’t know much about the story, but I’ve been super confused by how the game portrays these factions. The voice in my head has been telling me to do things that feel uncomfortable, especially when I find it locks me out of options. Everyone warns me about animancers and their practices, but when I meet the Steel Garotte, they’re presented as the ‘good guys,’ even while they clearly have brutal methods.
I’ve seen them as fanatical and violent, yet the game pushes for siding with them over the animancers, who I find genuinely troubling. It feels like I’m being led to view their actions as evil. Why does the game frame siding with them as wrong when they’re often much more extreme? Why does it seem okay to accept the animancers’ actions, which involve using souls and cause suffering? It’s a moral conundrum I can’t figure out. Can anyone help me wrap my head around this?
3 Answers
Honestly, I’ve also found myself questioning why animancy gets a pass in the game when it seems morally reprehensible too. It can be a real struggle to navigate the moral landscape because it feels like the game forces you into a box. Remember that the game gives you some freedom to make choices, even if it guides you in certain directions. Just keep evaluating what aligns with your character’s beliefs even if the game hints otherwise!
Yep! At the end of the day, just choose what makes sense for your character, even if the game tries to sway you. It’s your playthrough!
I think it boils down to the game’s themes about power and morality. The Steel Garotte operates on a dogmatic level where they justify their violence in the name of order, which makes them seem villainous. Meanwhile, animancers are painted as misunderstood, but it’s probably just their pasts that create that ambiguity. You see both sides having dark paths, but the game culturally leans towards sympathizing with the animancers. It’s a heavy moral choice, for sure!
Exactly! It’s like you can’t have a real moral debate because the characters are so one-sided about it. Makes your choices feel forced.
Yeah, but it still feels like the game rams it down our throats what’s good and what’s bad! Just because their methods are different doesn’t mean one is inherently worse.
I get what you’re saying! It’s weird how the game sets it up like that. Just because animancy has some shady practices doesn’t mean the Steel Garotte is a good alternative. They both have their issues, but the game really pushes this narrative that siding with the Steel Garotte is the ‘evil’ route, which is frustrating. I think the developers were trying to show there’s no clear good or evil, but it can feel like the game is biased when you’re making choices.
Totally! Like, sure both groups have their flaws, but why are we made to feel guilty for making a logical decision? It’s frustrating!
Right? It’s all about perspective in the game, but it’s odd that they make you feel bad for choosing the Garotte pathway when they treat life so casually. It feels forced when they keep trying to guilt you into siding with the animancers.
Totally! I think you just have to play through and stick to your morals regardless of how the game presents them.