#they're both such brilliant tacticians in their own way

[tofixtheshadows]

I love Laios for many reasons but my silliest reason is that he is TANK REPRESENTATION. My boy is 100% farm raised beef and while he can obviously handle himself in a fight, I love that he doesn't have any cool weapon skills or special abilities outside of tactical monster knowledge. He just swings his sword. His job in combat is to wear heavy as fuck armor and throw his weight around. Ryoko Kui knows that a real tank isn't afraid to get brain damage (that's what the healer is there for).

Conversely, this is also one reason why I love Kabru, in the opposite direction, because I am a career DPS and I love his pure DPS energy. I love that he's a Dex fighter who looks like a baby deer and keeps a knife in his boot.

He and Laios were destined to team up and be an unstoppable tank/DPS combo, they just weren't in the right story for it.

[monstersdownthepath]

Milestone Monster: Ragathiel, General of Vengeance

CR 26

Lawful Good Huge Outsider

Bestiary 6, pg. 114-115 (image taken from the cover of Chronicle of the Righteous)

There are many things in common between this Empyreal Lord and the last one we looked at on this blog. In most ways, Ragathiel and Vildeis couldn't be more different; Vildeis was born a perfect angel, while Ragathiel was born a devil and fought against his own nature and his very being to become one. Vildeis was so traumatized by the existence of Evil that she tore out her own eyes so she wouldn't have to see it, while Ragathiel's only wound of note was caused by his father, the Archdevil Dispater. Vildeis bears her scars openly and eschews any armor but the miles of bloodstained bandages over her form, while Ragathiel shields himself in gleaming golden armor to give the impression of an impervious, faultless soldier. Vildeis wields a simple dagger with terrifying effectiveness against single foes, while Ragathiel wields a dramatic two-handed, flaming blade.

But at the end of the day, both of them have the same goal: The eradication of Evil. And they both have the same problem: They're worryingly single-minded about it. Other Archons even worry about Ragathiel's bloodlust, something possibly justified considering how unfortunate his Divine Obedience is, demanding a death every time it's invoked. Despite whatever worry they may have for him, though, Ragathiel seems wholly committed to the battle against fiends of all forms, but especially against the devils and their ilk, whom he executes with impunity and without mercy. His mission is tireless, but one he performs without hesitation or regret. So long as Hell continues to reach its greasy little hands beyond its borders, Ragathiel will be there to stab at its fingers until it retreats... and, on occasion, venturing into the infernal lands to strike it directly.

The General of Vengeance is among the fiercest of all the Empyreal Lords, not afraid to lead his armies from the front at every opportunity, but his approach has some key differences from Vildeis'; she tirelessly wanders with no home or lair of her own, striking down Evil as it crosses her, effectively launching spontaneous campaigns which last only as long as they must in order to eradicate immediate foes before moving on to the next target. Ragathiel is more careful and arguably more thorough, retreating to a grand military base in Heaven to carefully plan his every assault to maximize its impact and the length of time it will take Hell to make another move. He's noted to be a brilliant tactician whose plans have rarely failed, but his prowess truly shines on the battlefield. Once he's landed in the fray he's a sight to behold, as though holy fire itself took up a sword to burn away the corruption trying to infect the world.

Let's see just what that looks like...

Let's start with the basics, since I feel like I have to bring it up every time I spot it: as an angel, Ragathiel projects a 20ft Protective Aura which shields everyone inside (himself included) from the forces of Evil, granting a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus to saving throws against them. The aura also hedges out Evil summoned creatures, grants additional saving throws against charms and compulsions, and blocks hostile spell effects if they're 3rd level or less. No Fireball, no Slow, no Magic Missile, no targeted Dispel Magic, Blindness/Deafness, Silence... The list goes on, with both Ragathiel and any of his nearby allies benefiting from the protection.

It goes without saying that his allies aren't restricted by this; they can throw out all the Fireballs they want! In fact, Fireball specifically is encouraged, but we'll get to why in just a moment...

For now we'll continue with the basics, and it's hard to get more basic than Ragathiel. You take one look at him, and you can immediately tell what he is and what he's going to do: respectively, he's an angelic Paladin in specialized full-plate (Golden Armor, in fact; +5 full-plate with no downsides to his speed or checks!), and he's going to hit you very, very hard with a very, very big sword. His +5 Evil-Outsider-Bane Flaming Burst Holy Bastard Sword is a paragraph of a weapon created for the express purpose of beating devils back to Hell, dealing 3d8+21 damage at base, +2d6 vs Evil creatures and an extra 2d6+2 against Evil Outsiders specifically, and 1d6 Fire damage (1d10 if the sword critically hits, and it threatens a critical on a 17 or higher) as a ribbon on top. In addition to swinging his sword upwards to four times a round, he's got five Burning Wings that can be used as part of his Full-Attack, each one dealing 1d8+5 plus 1d6 Fire damage per hit and forcing a struck enemy to succeed a DC 39 Reflex save or burst into flames for 1d6 more damage a round.

And of course, he wouldn't be a Paladin if he didn't have Smite Evil. He's got it 7 times a day, in fact, and any of his allies within his Primal Aura can expend 2 uses to give all of his allies within the 30ft aura the benefits of Smite Evil against a single target. That's +9 to AC, +9 to attack rolls, and +20 to the first damage roll a given creature makes each round for a whole battalion against one specific target, +40 to damage if the target is an Evil Outsider (and ONLY Evil Outsiders; Ragathiel doesn't get bonus damage against Dragons and Undead!). If the General of Vengeance is leading a charge against a specific diabolic power, all his allies need to do is invoke his Primal Aura, and suddenly even meager footsoldiers can be hitting the main boss as hard as a Barbarian five levels above them! With health to match, as he can freely use Shield Other to help tank hits his more fragile companions would normally fold to.

Even if he has no reinforcements to invoke this power, he's got Gate 1/day to open a doorway right to Heaven to bring them in, shielding and empowering them with his auras. A quick Time Stop also lets him run around and use his 3/day Blessing of Fervor with no lost time to give two dozen plus Turbo Hastes out with each use, and throw out his 3/day Quickened Blade Barrier between each use to trim the battlefield into something more accommodating and prevent an easy enemy retreat.

Ragathiel fights best when surrounded by allies, for more reasons than just his long list of buffs and auras. His Righteous Mantle directly notes his bloodline relation to a demigoddess of fire, granting him numerous fiery blessings; namely, he absorbs Fire damage, treating all incoming Fire damage as healing instead, AND his Fire damage completely ignores any Fire Resistance and Immunity possessed by devils while dealing double damage to them! This is an INCREDIBLE ability... and would be far more useful in a vacuum if he had more than just token Fire damage on his attacks. Indeed, Ragathiel has only one bit of fire in his kit that isn't attached to his wings or weapon, a 1/day Meteor Swarm he's incentivized to drop directly into his own space once he's in melee with a bunch of devils, damaging them (and everything around them) while restoring a good chunk of his own HP. It also means his allies can freely throw Fireballs, Walls of Fire, Meteor Swarms, and other such effects of their own directly at him, which not only harms enemies, but restores his health!

No, his at-will Fire of Judgment doesn't deal any Fire damage, I checked; it burns an Evil creature for 1d6 (1d10 if they're an Outsider, Dragon, or Undead) damage each round with 'cleansing positive energy.'

At the very least, absorbing Fire damage means a great deal of devils suddenly have portions of their arsenal taken from them... though it, ironically, doesn't aid him against his own father, Dispater, who has no Fire damage in his kit. Rather, his Devil's Bane kicks in; this ability gives him +4 to caster level checks against devils, to his own saving throws when saving against diabolic magic, and to the save DCs of all his spells when a devil is being targeted, and this bonus becomes +8 when against Dispater. Dispater actually cannot affect Ragathiel with any of his spells thanks to this, and the General himself has a small chance of landing his own abilities against his father's otherwise towering saving throws!

And while we're on the topic of resilience, why not see how sturdy Ragathiel is? Because, as you may have guessed, the man's nearly impossible to harm in a way that matters. His DR 20 can't be pierced unless the weapon is Epic and Evil, while his Regeneration can only be suppressed by the powers of a deific or Mythic being. He's got the Demigod Suite of status immunities (notably NOT immune to disease, fear, paralysis, stun, or sleep, but those will be rendered non-issues soon) as well as immunity to Acid and Cold damage, and though his saves are ALREADY high, just look back upwards at everything he's got to bolster them!

And then. there it is, the penultimate quality listed on his statblock right before it gets into the rest of his abilities: Lay on Freaking Hands. 10 times a day as a swift action, Ragathiel can give himself an encouraging slap on the chest to restore 17d6 health to himself. Except it's not just 17d6! Righteous Mantle grants him +2 HP per healing dice rolled whenever he magically regains any health, which has no effect on his own healing spell (because it's freaking Heal at 3/day), but it means every LoH use grants him 17d6+34 HP. He can also apply ANY Paladin Mercy to his ability without restriction! And... well, here's the best part:

He can use Lay on Hands no matter what. There is NO condition or effect in the game which prevents him from using this ability as a swift action to wipe away whatever is inhibiting his actions. This means even if he's nauseated, stunned, paralyzed, asleep, staggered, or unconscious due to HP damage, he can wipe the condition off with all the difficulty of a particularly stubborn scab. Thanks to his empowered Lay on Hands and his own demigod immunities, there is NO status ailment in the game besides outright death that can inhibit him unless all 10 of his uses for the day are burned through, because he can use his swift action to break himself out of the effect and still have his entire turn afterwards.

It is probably not surprising that most of Ragathiel's enemies view him as an unkillable juggernaut, ridiculously durable even by the standards of demigods. In high level Pathfinder, rocket tag is ever-prevalent; you need to be able to shut down your enemies before they do the same to you. Well, when battling the General of Vengeance, it's likely you can't. He's all but guaranteed to get his round off, especially if he's high in the initiative order. Unless, I suppose, you put him to sleep, then nauseate, stun, and paralyze him in a single round, since as-written he can only wipe off one a round. Good luck with that, especially if you're a devil!

You can read more about him here.

[fallenrocket]

The thing I like best about Izzy's conversation with Ricky in 2x08 isn't actually the speech, even though it's definitely wonderful. No, my favorite part is that the speech is his response to Ricky's flattery.

I've always thought you were underrated. I mean, it's absurd, isn't it? Isn't it? That Blackbeard, he gets all this praise, when you are quite clearly the brains of this operation?

I don't think Izzy wouldn't quite characterized him and Ed that way in season 1. In 1x04, he admits how much he looked up to Ed and called him "the most brilliant sailor he had ever met." Even though he definitely thinks the shine has gone off the apple, it'd be wrong to think he'd say Blackbeard never deserved the credit he got.

But throughout season 1, Izzy definitely thinks of himself as Ed's keeper, or his handler or some other kind of gross, paternalistic role. He's the one who's "managed [Ed's] increasingly erratic moods" and "massaged" the concerned crew to reassure them. In his mind, he's the one holding this whole thing together, and Ed, "an insane, unpleasant shell of a man who's merely posing as Blackbeard," has lost the plot of what they're trying to do. Because this is how he sees himself, he can justify any action as being "for Ed's own good" (ugh.)

This isn't so different than what Ricky's offering him in this scene. Ed is overrated--you and I both know who's really keeping the ship afloat. (btw, side note: of course Ricky looks straight past the brilliant Indigenous tactician and makes the white dude his pirating blorbo.) I like that this is when Izzy makes his speech, because it really shows how he's changed. We can debate whether or not his arc is done well, but the man who was willing to cozy up to the British in season 1 to get Stede executed and Ed "remanded" into his custody (ick) likely would've warmed to this praise. But in season 2, Izzy doesn't bat an eye at Ricky's words. Instead, he stares him down and delivers a speech that just may be the show's thesis. For a man who was scowling in the background of the cozy, gorgeously-lit "Last Supper" tableau scene, this moment shows how thoroughly he's made his way into the fold.

[candied-cae]

Ed's newfound naiveté as a recurrent theme is so special to me actually.

Ed is smart. He's so smart. He is so incredibly intelligent that he's regarded at "History's Greatest Tactician" by Pete minutes into his on-screen appearance. He displays an almost causal competence with being able to plan and plot a course based on his working memory of moon cycles, weather patterns, ocean currents, and known sailing routes.

He is really brilliant and it's exemplified in so many different ways. He should be planning moves that branch from 5 different results in 10 different directions to make sure he can get ahead of anything. Those are the skills he's had to sharpen to survive on the water as long as he has.

But, after meeting Stede, someone without ulterior motives or plans to hurt him, he stops looking for them. He stops suspecting everyone around him is watching to catch him off-guard. And it makes every betrayal hit him harder. The passive aggression of the rich folks at the party, the intentional steps taken by Izzy, Calico Jack's scheme, and even himself disguised as Hornigold from his memories, it all surprises him.

And especially in the cases of his Mate Calico Jack and Captain Benjamin Hornigold - these are people he should know aren't coming to him earnestly. He should know they always have a card up their sleeves and they're always watching out for number 1. He should be able to remain suspicious of them, working out the usual 10 steps ahead of wherever he is to prepare for whatever he could possibly do to make sure he survives.

And yet, he was caught by surprise both times.

And it results in some ridicule. Because "Blackbeard" doesn't make these beginner mistakes. He's better than this.

But Stede turned his whole world upside down, and he's started seeming optimistic. He started believe the best in people and trusting them after a single show of effort. He started thinking maybe his dreams weren't so impossible and maybe there were less people to be scared of than he originally thought.

Even when he was scorned (leaving The Revenge to go off with Jack - being abandoned by Stede in S1) he still hasn't put up all his walls again. He's definitely tried, that's why he "became the Kraken" but he's not as closed off as he thinks he is. He thinks he's hardened himself back up, he thinks he's impenetrable because he's ready to die and "stopped believing in love," he thinks he's back to business and back to who he was before Stede Bonnet ever happened to him...

But we still haven't actually seen it go away.

He's still somewhat expecting people to be genuine and honest with him. At the very least he's expecting the people who hate him to just say so.

And that's so, so, so special to me. His life before Stede Bonnet was full of him expecting the worst and finding whatever scrappy way he had to spin it to his advantage to keep moving forward. But since meeting him... he's started messing up that formula. He's been trusting too much.

That joy and belief hasn't died yet. I'm sure as he wakes up, he's going to act like he's got it all figured out again. He's going to act like his defenses can't be breached, but I believe that he's going to keep trusting too much for his own good. And here's to hoping that trust lands back in Stede's lap soon <3

[alliluyevas]

There is a lot going on in this series of asks so I'm going to take it bit by bit but thanks so much for sharing your perspective.

First of all, thanks for the well-wishes about my job and I wish you the best with your university education! It can definitely be a rough road but I hope you are able to fight through your despair and find a comfortable place in the world for your studies <3

Back to Tywin. For your first point about the real Tywins of the world, I absolutely concur, there are so, so many people who have huge amounts of power because they're rich and vicious and in real life they won't all get their comeuppance for sure. And I definitely think the fact that ultimately it's the poor and innocent and vulnerable who lose out almost every time is definitely a theme in ASOIAF (a theme that I personally feel would be better served if it wasn't for all of our POV characters and most of the prominent non-POV characters with the exception of my beloved Davos being highborn themselves but that's neither here nor there). And I definitely think there's something really cathartic about the way Tywin ultimately dies in light of that, because he 100 percent reaps what he sows and in real life not everyone does. (Paired, of course, with the tragedy that other characters in his family who are a lot more sympathetic are also going to reap what Tywin sowed)

But this is a fictional story and it's all part of a Narrative and everything has a Point. So now onto these people from reddit! (I haven't looked at ASOIAF reddit but this is making me not want to, lol, I've had enough bad discourse off the Sopranos reddit). I think the people you're describing on reddit are really misreading the series/Tywin's character, honestly. Yes, his death is a massive plot twist and came as a total shock to me when I first read it, but looking back and evaluating both the circumstances and the general themes of the narrative it makes complete and total sense and fits perfectly with the story GRRM is trying to tell. (I also don't get the perspective of being disappointed Tywin died, lol). Because the whole point of Tywin is that Tywin's godlike status is a lie, it's a sham, it's completely full of shit. I don't necessarily feel like speculating on whether Tywin could have talked himself out of this situation if he'd actually believed Tyrion might kill him: personally, I feel like the fact he doesn't believe Tyrion will actually kill him is indicative of how he's undervalued and willfully misunderstood and mistreated Tyrion his whole life and he's basically dug his own grave years earlier and is just blindly continuing to dig it now.

I think C from reddit is also overstating Tywin being a "cunning tactician and skilled politician", it's not that Tyrion killed Tywin because no one else could, because Tywin is FUCKED on multiple levels even aside from this encounter. If he hadn't died, shit would have blown up in his face big time, because the reason House Lannister is collapsing in on itself rn isn't just because Tywin isn't there or because Kevan/Jaime/Cersei aren't as effective/capable as Tywin, it's because a lot of Tywin's tactical and political plans are short-sighted and ultimately self-destructive. Look at the Red Wedding: Tywin who is firmly unaware that he's in a fantasy story couldn't have necessarily forseen that it would lead to the level of supernatural upheaval that it has, but he COULD have seen that it would permanently alienate the North, further tear apart the Riverlands, and lead to massive discontent against his regime from both the nobility and the common populace in multiple regions. Look at what he did to Elia and her kids, which has consequences that have been building in the background for the last 15 years but are about to blow up in a big way with Doran + JonCon + Aegon.

Closer to home, he has raised three kids who are absolutely psychologically shattered and totally unable to perform the roles he wanted for them despite all that nepotism, two of whom pretty much started a war via the dysfunctional incestuous relationship he's been ignoring their whole lives, and his shitty parenting basically kicked off a cycle of generational trauma that not only has woefully fucked up his kids but also his grandkids. Tywin's not a god, he's not brilliant, he's a deeply flawed person who's in denial about virtually every aspect of his life and legacy and has gotten this far mostly due to unearned privilege and being very, very cruel.

Thanks for sending me this, it was very thought-provoking (as well as emotionally compelling!) and also gave me an excuse for another rant about this topic! I hope you have a lovely day.

[i--gnis]

Two pairs of amethyst hues lock onto Robin, and shortly afterwards, hurried whispers are exchanged between the twins. They dart their attention from Robin to themselves frequently, making it quite obvious they're gossiping about him. At some point, they even snicker to themselves. But a moment more, and one of the twins calls out for him. "Are you perchance the one named Robin, sir?"

@inveiglers

     The young strategist cocks a single brow upon noticing a pair of apparently identical children, shooting them a quizzical and nearly suspicious look as he makes his way down a cleared path, tome in hand. Part of the tactician is sure these children are purposely trying to make it look it like they are talking about him–that they are saying something just out of his earshot. But then again, they appear to be quite young–perhaps they do not know, and are just messing around, as most children do. Either way, Robin cannot say he cares all that much. He doubts anyone has much of anything to say about the brilliant tactician that usually keeps to himself and his books, and they look innocent enough. Perhaps they are lost, or just bored?

     With a small frown on his lips, the young man stops his strides once a voice from one of the children registers in his ears, his interest promptly perking at hearing his name called. So they have heard of him, he thinks. If they really have, it makes the young man wonder what they would want with someone such as himself–tactics aren’t something the children are really interested in, after all. At least, children that aren’t his own. 

   “Hm?”

     Partially closing the book in his hands, the cloaked man looks both of the children over again, shocked by how identical they look. They are clearly twins, but who they are or what they want with him is beyond the young man. Still, Robin is not one to be unfriendly towards anyone without good reason to do so, so he offers a small smile before addressing the duo.

   “Ah. My name is Robin, may I ask who you two are? And if you need anything of me? I don’t usually have very many people go out of their way to look for me. But if there’s a problem, I will try to help.”