courtneystriker

[actuallyvady]

Guess what time it is!

Time for me to babble about an obscure, definitely not on the side of the good guys, probably not interesting to anyone else, character!

Meet Ge’els:

... a little background. The bad guys in this game are elves. Aen Elle, to be specific. Are all of them evil? Probably not. Are we supposed to love them the way I do? Definitely not. But! The Wild Hunt, from which this game in the series takes its name, are Aen Elle. And they are led by the king of the Aen Elle, Eredin. Your primary antagonist. 

But Eredin is a warrior. He doesn’t like the fussy administrative bits of being king. So he has Ge’els. Viceroy Ge’els basically runs the kingdom while Eredin is off playing hero. Villain. Whatever. Ge’els does the boring stuff so Eredin can keep having fun with the Wild Hunt. Why Ge’els? Well...

“Ge’els is an excellent administrator and an even better plotter. He’s the most dangerous individual amongst the Aen Elle.”

You have Eredin, your primary antagonist, who people in your world literally regard as a herald of the apocalypse, and Ge’els is more dangerous? Well, yeah. Because he’s got the power of the throne and the brains to use it. And what does Avallac’h think his weakness is? 

“He’s righteous.”

Ge’els is not just a scheming, Machiavellian type politician. He has principles. That makes him more dangerous, really-- it’s only a weakness because Avallac’h uses it to get him on our side. 

So, Ge’els:

Ge’els does several things when you arrive that amuse me. He doesn’t bat an eye at your appearing here in his palace. Like oh, look. That traitor Avallac’h is here, and he brought a thug. Does he look startled? No. He calmly dismisses the naked girl he was using as a model... which brings me to the second thing he does: tries to get under Avallac’h’s skin. 

Avallac’h is well known to have a particular emotional weakness-- Lara Dorren. Long story. Ge’els is not so stupid as to insult her directly, but he does remark on his model resembling her. It’s a calculated, careful remark; casually delivered, but absolutely intended to provoke Avallac’h. Avallac’h’s dismissive reply does not sound perturbed, but Ge’els comments about having touched a nerve anyway. 

The whole exchange means nothing to Geralt, of course, but to Avallac’h, Ge’els just said I know you. I know your weaknesses, I know what matters to you and I am not fooled. It’s delightful. 

“Ah, I see I’ve touched a tender spot. So let’s change the subject, shall we? Care for a drink?”

(It amuses me that Geralt has an option to ask for vodka, which prompts Ge’els to give this disgusted little head shake. It’s kind of adorable.)

The third thing he does is very pointedly not summon guards. We see him glance at them. There are plenty of reasons to do so-- not only is Geralt the sort of person who is very likely to do violence (and acting particularly hostile already), but Avallac’h is most certainly a traitor. Why would Ge’els not want him brought to justice? 

Ge’els is intrigued, curious to see how this will play out. And he is utterly confident that he’s perfectly safe. He does not believe for one moment that Avallac’h will harm him. He also does not believe that anything Avallac’h can say will sway him-- he is dismissive of the idea, but goes along with them anyway, because why wouldn’t he? He is in the right. Avallac’h is not. 

Besides, he might do some good, here. Like half the other characters in the game, he takes a moment to try to sew mistrust of Avallac’h:

“Incidentally, interesting choice of allies. Do you think Avallac’h is honest with you? Just curious...”

Rather than call the guards, he’s decided to use his weapons: wit and manipulation. He clearly feels that Avallac’h is dangerous; sunder him from his human allies, and they will pose no threat. (It is unlikely that he feels it goes the other way; most of the Aen Elle are utterly dismissive of humans and he probably doubts they would be able to do much without Avallac’h’s help. So, undermine their trust in him and they won’t be a problem anymore.)

He does the same thing when they arrive and he sees Ciri:

“Avallac’h blackmailed you-- do you not remember? Tried to force you to warm our king’s bed?”

Ciri shuts him down, quickly and confidently. He recognizes that there is nothing to be accomplished that way and changes the subject.

“I didn’t come here to argue. The proof you promised. Where is it?”

Ge’els does not believe that this proof will sway him-- though the fact that Avallac’h has an oneiromancer gives him pause. He takes one more shot at undermining Avallac’h:

“What then? Am I to incite the Aen Elle against Eredin? Call for revolution and proclaim Avallac’h our new king?”

I love this one. He said before that Avallac’h was not being honest with Geralt. He reminded Ciri of Avallac’h’s past actions to undermine him with her. This? This says Avallac’h hasn’t told you what he wants. He says it dismissively-- as if the thought that he would do this is ludicrous-- but the point is to again place doubt in Geralt’s mind. He’s using you for his own ends.

It’s a good thing Avallac’h was right about him; this is a dangerous man to bring to your allies and allow to speak. 

But Avallac’h was right. Ge’els sees that Eredin killed the previous king (Avallac’h’s word choice is very deliberate, he insists that Eredin killed “our king”) and he is disturbed by it. He spends a long while simply thinking on it, and when he does speak, he does not turn around:

“You must face him on your terms, in this world, in a place of your choosing. It’s your only chance.”

No apology, no concession, not even a “you were right.” Ge’els is not a man who wastes words; telling them how to beat Eredin says everything anyway. I feel for him. The revelation of Eredin’s regicide matters deeply to Ge’els. Not only was it wrong-- and if Avallac’h is right and Ge’els is “righteous” then the wrongness of it matters a lot-- but Ge’els was deceived. Pretend for a moment that he doesn’t care one whit for regicide (and it’s possible he doesn’t); this is a man whose mind is his greatest weapon, and it had been compromised. 

Why doesn’t he turn around? Because he doesn’t want to show Avallac’h weakness. He won’t admit he was fooled, he won’t apologize. And he won’t let them see how upset he is. He’s hurt, he feels betrayed, he’s perhaps feeling regret (though that seems unlikely) and most of all, he’s pissed. 

So he does what he does best: he plans. 

“Sail to Skellige and find the Sunstone. With is, you will summon the Naglfar. Eredin will come, too.”

I love that this isn’t a suggestion. “You will” is how he phrases it. He’s right, it’s the best plan, and he knows it. Avallac’h doesn’t argue-- he knows it, too. Ge’els also almost certainly going to go home and make sure that Eredin will answer this summons. 

And then he does turn around, and he says this:

“Should he call for reinforcements, no Aen Elle will answer.”

Does Eredin always call Ge’els, when looking for reinforcements? Not bloody likely. Ge’els is going to go home and destroy Eredin in the eyes of his people. “No Aen Elle will answer.” I will make them hate him so much they wouldn’t lift a finger, let alone a sword. Maybe it’s not the whole population. Maybe he just intends to sew discord in the ranks of the military, or the riders that Eredin doesn’t always take with him. Those who might conceivably be called in as backup. 

Ge’els doesn’t just accept that Avallac’h was right and stop supporting Eredin; he immediately aids his former opponents in bringing Eredin down. 

I love him.