#whether it was RIGHT or not for caterina to let her children and grandchildren die is irrelevant; lucanis definitely would not

[casino-lights]

it really feels like Illario sees the Crows as his job while Lucanis sees the Crows as his entire purpose. we don't get any solid look into Illario's personal life, but we can see that Lucanis seems to take the job home with him. he doesn't sleep in a normal room because it's safer to be in the pantry where it's dark and has only one choke point. he keeps a log with his entire schedule almost down to the minute and he spends hours maintaining his equipment weekly, if not daily. he doesn't have many hobbies or contacts outside the Crows themselves and the job he's on at the moment. even prior to his imprisonment, he's shown to pretty much be "on" all the time, whether he's planning his jobs, making connections to help him with those jobs, or just honing his skills, like his sensitivity to magic or his listening abilities.

meanwhile (also from the wigmaker job since veilguard didn't give us much of anything about Illario except for a mustache-twirling villain arc) we know Illario is easily distracted by the idea of a good time and thinks about things outside of work, but he also likes his contracts straightforward, without unnecessary risks and witnesses. he just wants to get the job done, celebrate, and go home. maybe not in that order. I don't tend to take datamined info as canon but according to that, he likes dueling and gambling, which he would need to be at least somewhat sociable to participate in since I doubt Thedas has invented fantasy sports betting yet. he seems to have more of an interest in activities outside the Crows, where Lucanis dedicates almost all of his free time to either working or preparing for work.

veilguard seems to be one of the first times Lucanis actually has new people to coax him out of his shell. it sounds like when he was younger, he spent more time with Illario and did more fun things with him like sailing and adventuring, but they seem to have grown apart somewhat since then. I can't help but wonder if it's due to Caterina's increasing age and the growing awareness Illario has of her favoritism toward Lucanis. maybe Illario always wanted to make a bid for the seat of First Talon and was trying to distance himself from Lucanis by spending less time with him, or maybe Lucanis was too focused on his work or away on too many jobs thanks to his new reputation as the Demon of Vyrantium. whatever the case, I can't help but wonder if the difference in their lifestyles is what cost Illario Caterina's favor. Lucanis was more willing to give up everything for the Crows, and Illario seemingly wasn't.

I wonder if Caterina would ever find it in herself to be proud of Illario, even a little bit, once she's faced with the fact that he can be cunning and ruthless and determined to lead, where Lucanis has always been content to just follow her. I wonder if she could ever admit that she played favorites and consistently underestimated and undermined Illario, or if she's too deep in her own bias to notice how like her Illario could be.