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Why Leona is not a bloodthirsty monster.

pepper buddy·2/27/2016, 8:36:42 PM·10 votes·1,103 views

Peoples reaction to the new Leona and Diana lore seems to be in my opinion very unwarranbted hate for Leona. Well here today I will show you why Leona in fact is not a bloodthirsty murderer and Diana not an innocent victim of zeoletry.

People seems to take offense that Leona.

  • reacted with hostility when Diana explained what she saw on the mountain
  • killed the raiders

"Leona felt her anger build with every word Diana spoke, and when the elders rejected her words and named her a blasphemer, Leona knew it would be her blade that ended the heretic’s life."

This quote seems to bewhat most people feel paints Leona as a ruthless zealot. First of all Leona feels "anger" when Diana speaks, this is only natural. She as well as Diana have under their whole life been tutored and nurtured in a culture based on martial skill and honor. I think most of us also would react with anger when someone threatens or accuse our beliefes to be flawed or wrong. And especially if ur whole life revolved around dedicating urselve to those beliefs. You could say that Leona should know better by keeping a humble and open mind. But as most IRl people actually fail to do that I see no reason why it should be required of Leona, who grew up as a Rakkor.

The second part of the quote is simply an observation. She knows Diana has challanged the whole order by claiming their beliefs to be false. And as commander of the Ra-Horak she will be the one to perform the execution. To Leona Diana is a heretic. She does not know her personally, the anger and the swift excecution is simply standard procedure. I am not saying it is just but I feel that people miss the whole point of showing the Solari and Rakkor. Diana is not challenging Leona personally, she is challenging the whole society. Leonas reaction is of course gruesome but in no way "bloodthirsty" or out of the ordinary.

Dianas reaction to this is extreme. "How could the elders reject what was so patently true? How could they turn their back on revelations brought from the very summit of the holy mountain? Her fury built at their willful blindness, and blazing orbs of silver fire spun in the air around her. With a scream of rage-fueled frustration, Diana’s sword swept out, and where it struck, silver fire burned with killing light. Again and again, Diana lashed out and when her fury ebbed, she saw the carnage she had unleashed." We have no idea how much of this is Diana and how much is the "avatar" but remember this moment because the same fury is very reminicent of Leona.

Now unto the raiders. "Leona let the fire into her blood, feeling the ancient creature merge its essence with hers more completely, becoming one with her senses and gifting her with perceptions not of this world."

"She dropped to one knee and slammed her fist on the ground. And sunfire rained from the sky."

Just how the avatar affected Diana when she killed the Solari. The avatar of Leona is similarly affecting her here. If there is one thing we know of the avatars is that words like "fury" and "rage" is something they commonly are associated with. Both Diana and Leona are not wholly themselves, rather they are partly celestial beings who destroy the things that oppose them, and besides that I think that killing raiders who have murdered and pillaged in the homes of your people really isnt the most morally deplorable thing to do. The people of targon do not live in the 21th centuary and to expect them to behave like it in the face of the primitive worlds harsh reality is a little unfair. Leona and Diana are no saints, however they are certainly not villians.

8 Comments

Mandaari2/27/2016, 11:19:29 PM5 votes

It's not that Leona is bloodthirsty, it's that she readily accepts taking another person's life. There's no mention in her new lore of her huge distaste for bloodshed. It's not just about the scene with the raiders. She readily kills whatever comes down the mountain. She readily duels Atreus to the death. She never takes action against her culture to stop the mindset that constant killing is OK. She doesn't break up fights. The one case where she showed mercy and moral doubts in refusing to kill the kid was an exception, not her norm. Even then she didn't even speak out for it. As far as we know her merciful lapse in judgement only came to light because she got ratted out.

Then after all that we get to the scene with the raiders. Even if she felt remorse or mercy for the raiders (which isn't presented in her story) it's not the same character feeling it. We have no reason to believe Leona is any more non-violent or merciful than anyone else.

The other missing part of her story is that she doesn't show any doubts or guilt. In her oldest story she fought in the League because she wanted to protect people (granted it's a little ambiguous). She was guilty about preventing fights and blamed herself for the weak children dying in the Rite of Kor. She had her mantle of responsibility thrust upon her and her summoner made her doubt what she'd be without the sun. In her new lore there is zero mention whatsoever of her doubts or guilt. She readily accepts her new path.

That's the kind of stuff that makes people pissed off. Just because she's still a protector doesn't mean she's the same character underneath.

Fasmodey2/27/2016, 8:46:19 PM1 votes

As I understood, Diana's slaughter was not related with herself but the Aspect of Moon.

GreenLore2/27/2016, 11:45:55 PM1 votes

I remember that some people would accuse Leona of being a bloodthirsty zealot even before her new lore,so when I read her new lore I knew that everyone would go full "ron the death eater" on her...