#join me next month when i inevitably write another caleb or beau version of this post

[disasterhumans]

Fjord and the Nature of “Evil”

Now that we’re getting into more of Fjord’s patron lore, I figure the “Fjord is evil!” theories will begin popping back up, so I wanted to write this to sort out why the “X character is evil” theories/assessments tend to irritate me so much. 

Disclaimer: I’m not at all an expert on how alignment is “meant to work” in Dungeons & Dragons, and am mainly relying on the 5e PHB for this. Mostly this is me thought dumping my observations about Fjord and how they line up with my understanding of “evil.”

So, what is “evil?” Obviously that’s a question with no easy answer and has led to centuries of philosophical argument. But let’s go with a basic definition.

As far as denotative definitions go (outside the scope of D&D) we have: “profoundly immoral and malevolent.” Note the specific use of the word “profound” in that definition.

From his observable behavior, Fjord is not obviously “profoundly immoral” or “malevolent.” He may join in the general chaos that is the Mighty Nein, but generally speaking their actions mostly fall into either “mostly trying to be good” or the not-profound flavor of “immoral.” (Matt said that the Nein “wasn’t a moral group,” not that they were “a profoundly immoral group,” or “an evil group.”) The closest we’ve seen him get to “malevolent” is him threatening Algar. He’s also had a few dispassionate moments (e.g. not feeling moved to save Kiri).

As far as Dungeons and Dragons goes, the Fifth Edition PHB isn’t ultra specific about how it breaks down the “good v. evil” axis and the “law v. chaos” axis, instead providing brief definitions of each individual alignment.

Lawful Evil creatures methodically take what they want within the limits of a code of tradition, loyalty, or order

Neutral Evil is the alignment of those who do whatever they can get away with, without compassion or qualms

Chaotic Evil creatures act with arbitrary violence, spurred by their greed, hatred, or bloodlust

Going through the descriptions of D&D alignments (in reverse order):

Fjord categorically does not act with arbitrary violence, and does not at all seem spurred by greed, hatred, or bloodlust. Again, the only exception to this I can think of is him chopping off Algar’s hand--which was arguably driven by hatred and/or bloodlust, but was also a very impulsive decision. By definition, Chaotic Evil characters would have a difficult time hiding their true alignment.

Fjord is occasionally dispassionate, but wouldn’t describe him as being utterly without compassion. That’s entirely disproven by nearly every interaction he has with Beau and Jester. And he doesn’t seem to have any desire to do “whatever he can get away with.” In fact--impulsivity aside--he is often one of the only members concerned with ramifications (e.g. him threatening Caleb for putting the team at risk by taking the scrolls in “Midnight Espionage.”) While a Neutral Evil character could ostensibly mask their alignment, in Fjord’s case it would also imply that he was fundamentally putting on an entirely different personality.

Of the three Evil alignments, Lawful Evil seems like the most “viable” alignment for Fjord to secretly be, as it would allow for ongoing machinations, whereas the other two evil alignments seem designed to account for descriptions of day-to-day behaviors. But, again, we don’t really have any in-game proof that Fjord has some sort of complicated long-con going on beyond “I want to learn more about where my powers come from.” And that may well lead him down an evil path, but power is not an inherently evil motivation, and it doesn’t mean that’s Fjord’s starting from an evil place. At this point the relative evil v. goodness of said power appears to have more to do with his patron’s alignment than Fjord’s.

At worst, with the information we have to go on--which is Fjord’s in-game actions--he’s Neutral, but easily influenced by the moral standards of those around him. Some parts of this fandom seem to have a tendency to take any sufficiently “not good” action and label it “evil.” Which in my mind robs these incredibly layered characters of their moral complexity while also weakening the strength of what we mean when we say “evil.” Ostensibly, “evil,” is reserved for the most morally repugnant.

And actually, I fully believe Travis that Fjord, before meeting the Mighty Nein would have at least believed himself to be Lawful Good (“counted on to do the right thing as expected by society). Fjord grew up outside of the empire and spent much of his adult life within the micro-society of working on sailing ships. Fjord was accustomed to being a hard-working member of a crew. And a crew has to work together and follow orders for the good of the ship. Furthermore, Fjord (and Jester) made a point of warning the Nein about the seriousness of committing crime on the Menagerie Coast, which in combination with Travis describing Fjord as Lawful Good, I will take to mean that while living in Port Damali he did actually act in a lawful manner. In my view, this is why he takes particular issue with Sabien.

I think my main problem with “Fjord is evil,” theories is that, first and foremost, it requires believing that nearly everything either Travis or Fjord has said about Fjord has been a lie or, at best, disingenuous. And I don’t just mean factual information--it would also likely require believing that Fjord’s entire demeanor, personality and emotional expression was a facade. And while that’s not technically impossible given his deception score, and the fact that Fjord has not been insight-checked very often by most of the party, it still feels like a stretch. And honestly it would be narratively unsatisfying to believe that literally everything we know about his past and motivations are a lie. At present what we know about Fjord is:

He was raised an orphan with no orcs around him (this appears to be true not only based on what Fjord has literally said, but about his demeanor when talking about orcs, and the fact that it made him feel strongly enough to want to help other orphans). Being raised as the only member of his race, with little idea of his lineage (and experiencing a lot of bullying), seems to have made Fjord feeling particularly vulnerable and unsure of himself in a lot of different ways. As others have argued before, Fjord is likely easily won over by people who are openly supportive and friendly toward him, and potentially more susceptible to manipulation (borne out by his low wisdom score). Fjord likely also places a high value on loyalty, in keeping with his original alignment.

Fjord’s captain--Vandren--died after another crew member--Sabien--blew up the ship. There have been some theories that Fjord was actually the person who blew up the ship, but even if that did happen, it seems to me that Fjord genuinely believes it was Sabien. Almost every time Fjord brings up Sabien he is visibly angry, and while they’re in Nicodranus he asks almost everyone he meets if they know Sabien. Maybe Fjord is looking to get rid of the only witness to what was actually his crime, but seeing as most people probably believe there were no survivors of that explosion, putting himself back on Sabien’s radar seems ill advised. (Also, if Fjord blew up the ship, how did Sabien manage to escape? The implication for each of their survival is that Sabien set the explosion into motion but abandoned ship before it triggered, and that Fjord’s patron saved Fjord. Meaning that assuming Fjord is telling the truth, that Sabien would assume Fjord dead as well.) Once again, Fjord valuing loyalty above other moral concerns would seem to be driving his anger toward Sabien, which very much reflects his frustration when Caleb appears to place the team at risk.

After making his pact with his patron (something that Fjord seems to not be entirely aware of) and receiving his warlock abilities, Fjord wanted to learn more about his magic by seeking out Soltryce Academy. As far as I can tell, most Evil!Fjord theories rely on him having an ultimate “evil” goal. But while Fjord may not necessarily be entirely open and honest about his past, and is certainly being guarded about the specificity of his patron, he has actually always been quite vocal about his personal goals. And, yeah, he could be lying or bluffing about just wanting to “learn more.” But if that’s the case, it wouldn’t have meant anything or have made any sense for him to suddenly change the nature of his goals post-Lorenzo. Fjord has never covered up the fact that he’s overwhelmed by his sudden acquisition of powers, or the expectation from the rest of the Nein for him to assume responsibility. And his talk with Beau the other night about how since receiving his powers he’s moved from trying to solve problems through communication to solving them with combat and power seem to imply that he feels uncomfortable with this shift in himself. Again, the specificity of that conversation seems not to jive with an “evil” person trying to assimilate (Fjord could very well just have mirrored Beau’s words without contributing anything of substance).

Above all, I think that Fjord is a vulnerable and easily overwhelmed (and potentially easily manipulated) person who values loyalty and trust in those around him above most other moral concerns, and is thus willing to run with the moral alignments of his companions if it means maintaining cohesion (e.g. when he tells Nott that he won’t try to change her). The only times he truly objects to the decisions the others make is when those decisions appear to put the group in danger. That being said, his recent conversations with Beau suggest that he views himself as being a largely good person, and is currently experiencing some regret over personal moral choices he has made recently. [EDIT: Also, while Fjord definitely seemed excited to meet someone going through the same experience as him, he also seemed uncomfortable with the way Avantika expressed her...devotion to Uk’otoa. (At one point, I believe Travis said ooc “I feel so uncomfortable,” but that may have been in response to all the innuendo.) And despite him finally revealing the falchion to her, he was still distrusting of her by the end. Where we stand right now, it still seems like Fjord is more firmly in “learn what the fuck is going on mode.” And not, “alright I’m gonna be a cultist now,” mode.]

There is certainly a lot of moral contradiction and conflict that Fjord is experiencing right now, but in my mind that internal conflict and confusion--and the strong likelihood that Fjord’s patron is evil--is far more compelling than some eleventh hour plot twist that Fjord has been secretly evil all along.