Merlin is a forced sociopath

Dilandu wrote:

Kael Posavatz wrote:I have to say that I really don't see this.

Merlin (and Nimue) don't show a lack of remorse or consistent irresponsibility in work or family environments. Very much the opposite in fact, with Cayleb forcing him to take downtime, the various members of the Inner Circle telling him not to take more responsibility than is justly his. Repeatedly, in fact. Merlin's lies and deceptions and physical aggressiveness are by necessity rather than pervasive. Simply put, they don't manifest where they aren't needed. And he has shown anything but a reckless disregard for his personal safety or that of others. When safety has been disregarded (the bit with the krakens in OAR comes to mind, and potentially endangered his whole mission), there has always been at least a moral, if not always rational, basis for it. He isn't impulsive or erratic, and he has held down a steady task for what, 9 safehold years now? And it isn't one that is going to 'end' when the CoGA gets shuffled off.

Now, Clyntahn I would argue has more of the hallmarks of a psychopath than a sociopath. He appears outwardly charming and trustworthy while being stone-cold manipulative. That was how he got the Grand Inquisitor's seat in the first place, and Duchairn eventually realizes (I think it was in MTaT) that Clyntahn had been manipulating the Go4 and CoGA into a jihad from the very beginning. Everything we've seen out of Clyntahn has been to minimize risk to himself, and he's shown no real emotional attachments (cycles women through his bed, and even Rayno is more about pragmatic usefulness to Clyntahn than emotional attachment). The one real problem with that is that he does show some...I'm not sure 'remorse' is the right word just after Merlin has done his 'meet the real Langhorne' bit just before he's hanged. Of course, that could be a manipulative attempt to save his life so...

Clyntahn - charmong and manipulative? Where? He never shown any of this two qualites.

I beg to differ, Sir.

There is Duchairn's realization that Clyntahn manipulated the G04 into a situation where CoGA had no choice but to declare a Jihad. It was also at least strongly implied that he was behind the vote-manipulation that got him the Grand Inquisitor's seat in the first place and firmly put Rayno under his thumb.

And, while rare, Clyntahn has been shown to be...gregarious when things go well. I think the best evidence is in one of Rayno's reflections regarding the women in Clyntahn's bed, how most Vicars wouldn't bring their flavor du jour into the temple, and Clyntahn's are happy to jump into his bed, and generally satisfied when they part so that the Inquisition rarely has to intervene.

That is, I grant, not a particularly good example given the power relationships involved, but for psychopaths 'charming' is usually one facet of manipulation. A tool that is used when necessary. Clyntahn has reached a position where he doesn't need to be charming and so he generally isn't.

XofDallas wrote:You know, I just absolutely love it when people summarize another's conduct over decades with wonderful psychological phrases such as "minimal emotional connections" and similar conclusory statements, and then attempt to use those "conclusions" to justify pejorative and demeaning labels such as "sociopath."

It just does my heart good somehow to realize that someone else in the world has drunk some sort of social kool-aid and is now trying to get us to swallow it too.

Sorry, I get tired of hearing the drivel, especially when I'm looking at a forum discussing science fiction. And if this seems a bit harsh, my apologies. I just get a bit fed up having this kind of stuff crop up wherever I turn my head.

In general, I agree with you, but please note that the original poster said that Merlin was being forced into this position and made it clear that this was not Merlin's natural way of thinking. I think he's gone a little far in the degree to which that might be true or preciosely how Merlin sees the starkness of his options at any given moment, but the point is a good one. In many ways, any soldier in close combat (which sort of describes a lot of what Merlin does) has to "turn off" his natural sense of empathy if he's going to engage and kill total strangers. And, ultimately, it is a damaged or destroyed sense of empathy which creates a sociopath. The perception of others as not "real," as expendable things of no inherent value save for their current utility in achieving one's goals, is what makes sociopathy possible.

Merlin has retained his sense of empathy to the full --- indeed, in some ways he's allowed himself to feel more of it than Nimue Alban ever allowed herself to experience because the people around him now aren't inevitably going to die, so he can let himself admit how much they mean to him without paralyzing himself --- which, by definition (in my book [you should pardon the double entendre], at least), means he isn't a sociopath, forced or otherwise. But WyldFyreDamon does have a point in so far as the fact that Merlin has been forced to commit acts he (i.e., Merlin himself) thinks of as the acts of a sociopath. Magistos is perfectly correct when he says that's one of the consequences (and responsibilities) of exercising military command in wartime (war, after all, being organized mass murder, whatever its justification-de-jour may be). The difference in Merlin's case is that he not only has to order it, he also has to do it --- personally, close enough to look his victim in the eye --- while all the time knowing that they can't possibly kill him. In many ways, even when he faces them openly, he might as well be shooting them in the back from 1,000 meters range for all the chance they have of killing him, and that makes every single person he kills a murder victim rather than an opponent killed in "honorable combat."

And I should also point out that there are times he is just fine with that, depending on who the person on the pointy end of the katana is. Indeed, there are times when he is positively grateful that he finally gets to kill someone who deserves to be killed, which is what Mab is all about, in a lot of ways. I would argue that that is a very human response for someone in his position, but that doesn't mean that actually looking forward to killing someone, however much "they have it coming," is a very healthy attitude.

One of the consequences of combat and command responsibility, however, especially in a genocide-level conflict, is emotional and mental damage. In my opinion, given what first Nimue Alban and then Merlin Athrawes have been through, he's handled that consequence about as well as anyone could have. Badly scarred? Sure. Broken? Not in a thousand --- or I suppose I should say another thousand --- years!

rfc, your points are well taken, and thank you. I will try to do write-and-files on responses like mine in the future.

All the best,

X

Kael Posavatz wrote:It was also at least strongly implied that he was behind the vote-manipulation that got him the Grand Inquisitor's seat in the first place and firmly put Rayno under his thumb.

Actually Rayno was allegedly "under his thumb" before that; since it was he who supposedly "cooked the vote" that got Clyntyn elected in the first place.