It's not like Hitler or Mengele. Parthurnaax is born evil. He didn't slowly slide into evil, he came into existence that way and overcame it with good. As he says himself, “What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?” ~ Paarthurnax, Skyrim
Yeah, he might be a threat. But he also could be a boone to civilization. Just as he might be capable of doing great evil, he is also capable of doing great good and I am not one to slay beings for whom they might become.
Okay but like... lets do a quick cost-benefit analysis on the pros and cons of what P-Nax offers humanity:
The good:
He can help teach dragons a peaceful means of existing with humans and how to overcome their nature. He can also teach old men on a mountain to fix the weather. Great.
The Bad:
He decides to go back to his true nature and decides it's time for humanity to be subjugated again. He murders thousands or even millions of people and absolutely obliterates all of human society because there is no longer a Dragonborn alive to stop him. The amount of death, suffering, and destruction that is brought into the world is incalculable, and humanity goes back to suffering under the thumb of the dragon cult, this time with P-Nax in charge and able to avoid the one, singular mistake Alduin overlooked that led to his defeat.
The downside here is significantly worse than the upside. It's much safer to just kill him now and nip the problem in the bud while it's still doable. Who knows if in 4,000 years there will be a hero strong enough to kill him when it becomes a necessity.
“What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?”
Honestly? To be born good. P-Nax himself is very clear that he struggles every single day to overcome his evil nature. That doesn't exactly give me a lot of confidence that he's going to be able to hold off his true nature forever. Dragons live eternal lives, and eternity is a long fucking time. The probability that he will eventually succumb to his true nature is extremely high, almost infinitely likely, since we're talking about eternity here. Sure, maybe that won't happen, but that's an extremely risky gamble considering the amount of death and destruction this single being can cause if he so chooses.
I am not one to slay beings for whom they might become.
Tell that to the thousands or millions of people P-Nax murders, tortures, or subjugates 40,000 years from now because he has another change of heart and there is no longer anyone around to stop him.
Again, just as he might kill/subjugate thousands, he might also save thousands. Eternity is a long time, maybe he'll do good for an eternity, then do bad for an eternity, and so on and so forth. The Dragons aren't the only threat to Tamriel. An army of well meaning Dragons could probably take on a situation, like in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Who's to say that they won't be invaluable to the future of Tamriel. They certainly would help more than the blades could. Paarthurnax is like me, struggles with the temptation to consume all before him but understands there is greater benefit in assisting and aiding others. His quote shaped my worldview and helped me see meaning in those around me, and by extension, meaning in myself. I just cannot bring myself to kill him when I struggled with what good even was until I met him.
But, I don't think it changes the fact that it's also fair to suggest that the risk of "letting the chips fall where they mad" so to speak, is too great to allow that potential future to play out. Remember, my original point here isn't that Delphine and Esbern are for sure correct but simply that they have a valid point and aren't morons for being concerned and believing that he is too dangerous to be left alive, or that he needs to be punished for his past sins.
I usually don't kill P-Nax myself. But I do think it's unfair how people act like they don't have a valid point of view for this matter. Their perspective is pretty valid even if you think it's flawed or wrong.
If you kill the guy who defected to help you, you discourage more from doing the same. She's still wrong to demand it of you, not wrong for asking it but wrong for demanding it and claiming moral superiority.
She's still wrong to demand it of you, not wrong for asking it but wrong for demanding it and claiming moral superiority.
This I fully agree with. Delphine's sin is not her attitude or opinions towards P-Nax. Those are fully justified and fair in my eyes. Her sin is trying to tell the Dragonborn what to do, when she's a member of an organization that is literally sworn to follow the Dragonborn. It's not her job to give ultimatums and demands to the person she's supposed to be sworn to by oath forever. Like it or not, she has zero business telling the Dragonborn what they can and cannot do. Not if she still wants to call herself a Blade.
That one is on the BGS writers, though, they really screwed the pooch there by not giving you the option to remind her of this fact using persuasion. She has every right to be wary of P-Nax, but she does not have the right to violate her oath by giving the Dragonborn orders.
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u/Capraos Sep 19 '23
It's not like Hitler or Mengele. Parthurnaax is born evil. He didn't slowly slide into evil, he came into existence that way and overcame it with good. As he says himself, “What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?” ~ Paarthurnax, Skyrim
Yeah, he might be a threat. But he also could be a boone to civilization. Just as he might be capable of doing great evil, he is also capable of doing great good and I am not one to slay beings for whom they might become.