Mercy To Your Enemy?
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:23 pmPlease consider the following hypothetical:
You are a magic user, charged with the defense of the continent of Europe.
Your order is tasked with protecting several powerful magical artifacts and forbidden from using them.
However, a very gifted witch, Annie Holstadt, goes on a quest to take all of the magical relics for herself. She duels and kills several members of your order to steal them. After acquiring a large number of relics, she absorbs their power and becomes powerful enough to stage a take-over of Europe and outright defy your order.
You assemble the remaining magic users to fight her. However, her raw magical power is too great and she murders almost the whole group sent to kill her. Instead of killing you, you are enslaved to her will through a dark relic.
After being mind-controlled, you are sent all over Europe as a dark commander and made to commit mass murder and destruction in the name of the empire.
In the meantime, Witch Queen Annie consolidates her control over Europe. She uses a large amount of her magic to create and summon a large army of dragons, wraiths, and war goblins; the largest in history. Using this large powerful dark army, she starts burning and invading entire nations. Many towns are incinerated by magical fire and millions are killed.
The remaining nations of Europe form a reluctant alliance with the fairies they have oppressed for years to mount a resistance. This “alliance of heroes” fights valiantly and eventually manages to free you from her mind control by destroying the enslavement relic.
After being awaked from mind control, you are absolutely horrified and shocked at the devastation that has been wrecked by the Witch Queen and what she made you do. Literally millions of civilians are now dead and she has managed to kill almost all of your magic user friends.
After a series of decisive battles, you manage to drive the Witch Queen’s dark armies back. The turning point is marked when your side manages to take down the most powerful dragons under her control. The vast majority of her army is destroyed in combat.
Annie is shocked and dismayed but believes she can simply escape and raise a new dark army. You chase her down into the forest and call her out for a magical duel. Instead of simply escaping, Annie decides to take you down since you have been a major annoyance.
You offer her the chance to surrender. You tell her that she’s used too much of her magical power into creating, sustaining, and channeling her dark armies (that have since been destroyed) and that the powers of the relics is not limitless. You warn her that it won’t be a fair fight because she’s not at full power and that you’ve gotten a lot more powerful since the last time.
Annie rejects your offer of surrender and proceeds to try and kill you in a magical duel. The duel is quite even for a while but then you go on a relentless offensive and break through her defenses. She’s hit with a large number of spells and disarmed.
Now battered by your spells and injured on the forest ground and without her wand, Annie realizes that you might execute her and so she says that she “wants to surrender now.” You coldly remind her that she was offered a chance to do that before the duel.
“WAIT!” she cries out. “I… I don’t want to die! Don’t… don’t kill me PLEASE! I… I REPENT! I SEE THE ERROR OF MY WAYS! Please don’t kill me!”
She seems genuinely terrified and she holds her arms out to partly shield herself from you in an almost “girlish” defensive posture. Assume that without her wand, she’s not able to defend herself.
If you decide to allow her to surrender and take her prisoner, your side has a no execution and no torture policy, which has been honored so far in the war. Assume that it is feasible to keep her prisoner.
What do you do now?
Your options are as follows:
Please keep in mind that Annie’s actions were in part motivated by a desire for revenge against humanity as a result of persecution and personal abuse she suffered in her childhood for being a magic user.
Please justify your decision and discuss in terms of your pragmatic, moral, philosophical, and/or personal reasoning.
You are a magic user, charged with the defense of the continent of Europe.
Your order is tasked with protecting several powerful magical artifacts and forbidden from using them.
However, a very gifted witch, Annie Holstadt, goes on a quest to take all of the magical relics for herself. She duels and kills several members of your order to steal them. After acquiring a large number of relics, she absorbs their power and becomes powerful enough to stage a take-over of Europe and outright defy your order.
You assemble the remaining magic users to fight her. However, her raw magical power is too great and she murders almost the whole group sent to kill her. Instead of killing you, you are enslaved to her will through a dark relic.
After being mind-controlled, you are sent all over Europe as a dark commander and made to commit mass murder and destruction in the name of the empire.
In the meantime, Witch Queen Annie consolidates her control over Europe. She uses a large amount of her magic to create and summon a large army of dragons, wraiths, and war goblins; the largest in history. Using this large powerful dark army, she starts burning and invading entire nations. Many towns are incinerated by magical fire and millions are killed.
The remaining nations of Europe form a reluctant alliance with the fairies they have oppressed for years to mount a resistance. This “alliance of heroes” fights valiantly and eventually manages to free you from her mind control by destroying the enslavement relic.
After being awaked from mind control, you are absolutely horrified and shocked at the devastation that has been wrecked by the Witch Queen and what she made you do. Literally millions of civilians are now dead and she has managed to kill almost all of your magic user friends.
After a series of decisive battles, you manage to drive the Witch Queen’s dark armies back. The turning point is marked when your side manages to take down the most powerful dragons under her control. The vast majority of her army is destroyed in combat.
Annie is shocked and dismayed but believes she can simply escape and raise a new dark army. You chase her down into the forest and call her out for a magical duel. Instead of simply escaping, Annie decides to take you down since you have been a major annoyance.
You offer her the chance to surrender. You tell her that she’s used too much of her magical power into creating, sustaining, and channeling her dark armies (that have since been destroyed) and that the powers of the relics is not limitless. You warn her that it won’t be a fair fight because she’s not at full power and that you’ve gotten a lot more powerful since the last time.
Annie rejects your offer of surrender and proceeds to try and kill you in a magical duel. The duel is quite even for a while but then you go on a relentless offensive and break through her defenses. She’s hit with a large number of spells and disarmed.
Now battered by your spells and injured on the forest ground and without her wand, Annie realizes that you might execute her and so she says that she “wants to surrender now.” You coldly remind her that she was offered a chance to do that before the duel.
“WAIT!” she cries out. “I… I don’t want to die! Don’t… don’t kill me PLEASE! I… I REPENT! I SEE THE ERROR OF MY WAYS! Please don’t kill me!”
She seems genuinely terrified and she holds her arms out to partly shield herself from you in an almost “girlish” defensive posture. Assume that without her wand, she’s not able to defend herself.
If you decide to allow her to surrender and take her prisoner, your side has a no execution and no torture policy, which has been honored so far in the war. Assume that it is feasible to keep her prisoner.
What do you do now?
Your options are as follows:
1. Execute her there. Avenge your friends and the civilians.
2. Use magic to cause her considerable pain, and then execute her.
3. Allow her to surrender. All enemies must be treated with dignity and protocol. She will likely live out her remaining days in some heavily guarded fortress manned by the alliance.
4. Other (please explain)
Please keep in mind that Annie’s actions were in part motivated by a desire for revenge against humanity as a result of persecution and personal abuse she suffered in her childhood for being a magic user.
Please justify your decision and discuss in terms of your pragmatic, moral, philosophical, and/or personal reasoning.
Oh my gooooooodddddd. This is ssssssooooooo accurate I just can’t.