Watchmen and Ethics

Almost three decades since it's written, Watchmen, by Alan Moore, still manifests itself as one of the best works of fiction ever written. It established graphic novels as a tool to deliver groundbreaking plot and to convey message that still echoes in the modern times. One particular topic that is still debated by the public is its ending. The ambiguity of Watchmen's final moments left a tinge to the minds of its readers, because it presents the conflict between two opposing bodies of ethics: Deontology/Kantian ethics and Utilitarianism. 

In deontology, a person believes that there are certain things that are morally right or wrong based on their nature. In Utilitarianism, a deed being right or wrong depends on the benefit it produces. Since most human beings are not absolute when it comes to detecting right deeds from wrong, no matter how many times we think about who's the person who did the right thing in the end of the novel, our mind is conflicted between Rorschach and Ozymandias. The two characters fully embodies the two ethical concepts, including their strengths and weaknesses. 

Rorschach, also known as Walter Kovacs, being the righteous guy of all the Watchmen, sees the horrid thing inflicted by Ozymandias an unjustifiable act even though it is clearly for the better. He didn't compromise because he has his principles; he will never compromise unjustifiable acts even in the face of armagedon. In deontology, it's someone's conscience that imposes what's right and what's wrong, and killing lots of people by implanting horrid images that tend to make them kill themselves is a huge ripple in one's conscience.The problem with him and deontologists is they don't think about the consequences of their act. They have certain rules that if broken, the act a person did is already a wrong thing. They will continue to do the thing that they think is morally correct even though the results will impose a greater threat. At the end of the book, if Rorschach successfully exposed Ozymandias, he will then make the deaths of millions of people all for nothing, amd yet in a way will avenge their fate.

Ozymandias or Adrian Veidt on the other hand, uses logic to know what to do next; measuring what act will impose more happiness to people. In utilitarianism, one good basis on measuring the benefit of a deed, which in the book Ozymandias uses, is the number of people that will benefit from it. Surely, it is better to have a million deaths than seeing the perish of billions of people. Also, the end of the book tells us that his plan really did work in unifying the world. It's the logical thinking that works when you are utilitarian, and most of the time you should not listen in your conscience. There are certain problems in a utilitarian thinking. One problem is the unpredictability of future. There are certain instances that we thought our deeds would improve a situation, but it does not. What if Ozymandias's plan didn't work out to be as he anticipated? One million people just died for a lost cause. Another problem is the limit on measuring the benefit of the deed. When will we stop measuring the happiness that an act would give? This weakness of utilitarianism is highlighted by Dr. Manhattan. He had a conversation with Ozymandias before he disappeared from their world. Adrian asked whether he did the right thing in the end, but Manhattan just replied that nothing ever ends. 

A lot of other works also utilizes these two concepts in order to make a big impression to the audience or reader. Another work by Moore, The Killing Joke, has an ambiguous ending that tests Batman's morality and also the readers'. The last page presents a possibility that Batman killed the Joker once and for all. Killing the Joker would violate his principles, yet letting him live may impose greater danger to the public. On the game The Last of Us, in order to create a vaccine for the pandemic tha killed almost all human beings, the Fireflies need to extract the substance inside Ellie's brain that would evidently kill her. Joel is unwilling to sacrifice Ellie, that's why he rescued her from the camp and killed the members of the Fireflies. These kinds of endings works because most of the people are not absolute when it comes to their ethical beliefs. We always use both our conscience and logical thinking that causes imternal debacle in our brain. At the same time, it also tests a person's response whenever s/he encounter dilemmas.

Game of Thrones in the Modern Times

There is probably no TV series more popular today than Game of Thrones. The medieval fantasy, based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series, has been a phenomenal success, critically and commercially. The show boasts its unique storytelling, unpredictability of the plot, and bold killings of main and supporting characters.

Game of Thrones is set on the kingdom of Westeros, governed by one ruler that sits on the infamous Iron Throne. Several families want the throne for the taking and the kingdom is separated in conflicting ideologies. While everyone is vying for the highest position, an imminent danger from the north of their lands is brewing that can bring Westeros at its knees and decimate their population.

Though the story is populated with knights, dragons, zombies, and unexplained magic, the reality that they are living is nowhere different from ours. The complicated characterization of the story encapsulates our humanity. This is not the classic case of good versus evil. We are shown with characters that make extreme decisions and experiences the consequences of their activities. Game of Thrones mirrors the different problems we encounter in the modern times and how we struggle to solve each one of them.

Religion

Westeros has multitude of belief systems. Most of their people believe in many gods. The North believes in the “Old gods” that resembles Animism. The South praises the “Faith of the Seven” that resembles Roman and Greek gods. By season 2, a growing monotheistic religion threatens the old beliefs in Westeros. This is the religion of R’hllor or the “Lord of Light.” The religion is like Christianity wherein there is a prophesized savior or a messiah to save all men of Westeros from the danger that lurks beyond the north. This shift from polytheism to monotheism depicts the sudden spread of single god beliefs in the history of the world. All of these religions are important in the fantasy series as they affect the political structure of the kingdom. Wars are also sometimes caused by the conflicting beliefs. Their power is as strong as their government since there are no clear separation between the state and church.

Sexism

The series depicts a clear picture of the ongoing patriarchy of the society. Their world is trying to impose that women are destined of either becoming a whore in a brothel or being a wife of their husband and a mother of their children. A lot of women try to break from these stereotypes. A good example is the mother of dragons, Daenerys Targaryen. Her possession of three fire breathing lizards makes her the most powerful character in the story. Arya Stark is a princess who wants to wield a sword than to wield a needle for clothe knitting. Arya is the ultimate opposite of a highborn lady. She is wild and reckless, and the story seems to head her on becoming an assassin. Brienne is a soldier often underestimated by her male enemies. But she always wins against them, because of her determination to do her duty. Women of the world of ice and fire play equal roles with men on Game of Thrones even though they are given lower status and privileges on their society.

Global Warming

Westeros is a place fueled by ongoing wars and violence. Fire and blood is the foundation of their state, and their first leaders are conquerors that used dragons and swords to unify the seven kingdoms to one Westeros. Although the main premise of Game of Thrones, from the title itself, is the fight to get the Iron Throne, we want for all the Westerosian people to unify for a single cause. The Stark’s famous words, “Winter is coming,” hints the impending danger that awaits the people of Westeros. While everyone is busy on their conquest to become the ruler, The Wall which is the only thing that separates the realm from the danger, is manned by the rotting Night’s Watch. This mirrors the modern world. Every country is fighting for economic supremacy. No one bats an eye on the environmental consequences of capitalism. Everyone in Westeros doesn’t give it any attention until the danger comes rampaging down The South. In our world, the meltdown of ice glaciers on the North and South Pole doesn’t stop companies from massive expulsion of air pollutants to the atmosphere that causes global warming. These glaciers keep the Earth cool and their decline means an imminent demise of humanity.

Economic Inequality

The clash of the few rich families trembles almost all the common people. “They are just spikes in a wheel,” Daenerys said. “This one’s on top, and that one’s on top, and on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground.” While the families play their little games, the common folk is struck with immense poverty. There is an organization who is trying to even out the rich and the poor called the Sparrows. Their leader, the High Sparrow, was given the role as the High Septon of the church and is determined to bring down the few families who are causing the ripples on common people’s lives.

Filipino Politics

Although we live in a democratic country and political dynasty is stated in our constitution as illegal, public position is still, more or less, passed by blood. Families get massive chunk of positions of the local and national government. The whole political aspect of Game of Thrones is basically Filipino politics come alive. Only highborn and rich people can sit on government positions. There are corrupt officials who uses their power to get money from the funds of the government. The throne is in huge debt on the Iron Bank because of the flamboyant lifestyle of the families. The war of kings and queens competing for the throne resembles the upcoming election. Mudslinging plays a major role in the whole game and most of the time there are violence. Personal interest drives the rich people to compete for the position. They want the throne not because they want to lead, but because they want to glorify themselves and be written on history books. In the end, after a leader rises from the war, nothing really changes for the poorest of the poor. They are still below the pyramid, crawling their way to survival.

Truly, Game of Thrones is a moving portrait of our society. Westeros is a living hell, and probably the only fantasy world no one wants to settle in. The semblance of our world with theirs is a hint that we have serious problems in our society that need addressing. The first step is to unify and solve them altogether, one by one.

The Killing Joke ending

I rewatched Battle of the Bastards and a thought came to my mind. It concerns the ending of Alan Moore's The Killing Joke. 

At the final moments of the book, we are shown Batman and Joker sharing laughter after the Joker tells a joke about two patients escaping an asylum. And then the laughter of the two abruptly ended. A lot of people suggest that maybe Batman already snapped and ultimately killed his foe by chocking him or breaking his neck.

But it doesn't make any sense if he really killed the Joker. Although there's no questioning that what he did would be for the greater good and Batman had already enough cause to kill him, it still doesn't make any sense. It mirrors Jon Snow's cause in killing Ramsay Bolton. When he saw Sansa, Jon knows that she has the right in deciding Ramsay's fate because she is the one raped repeatedly by him. Gordon has the right in judging the Joker's fate. It's his daughter that was paralyzed and (possibly) raped. It's him that was also sexually assaulted by the Joker and shown pictures of his naked daughter. Yet he still insists in not killing the Joker because like Batman, Gordon has principles and he chooses to uphold them. Before Bats confronted the Joker, Gordon says to Batman that he has to show the Joker that their way works.

That's why Batman killing the Joker doesn't fit his persona and the situation presented by the book. In doing so, he will fail, not only his principles, but also his friendship with Gordon. He should respect Gordon's decision in letting the Joker live, because Gordon has every right in choosing what he will do to the Joker, no matter how bitter that sounds to Batman.

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction

don't like Hawkeye in the Avengers films. No powers and has to rely on his paleolithic weapon, truly he is my least favorite avenger. But this book just turned the reason why we don't like this Avenger to someone we can relate to. Truly he resembles most of us: no super special abilities and not as rich as Bruce Wayne. Matt Fraction turned that bad aspect of the character as the thing that makes Hawkeye special among other supers.

It is ironic that even though the background has a feel of bleakness and melancholy, it has tons of hilarious moments. This is one of the funniest books I've read. Definitely one of my favorites.

A Study in Scarlet Review

Holy sh*t that was amazing.

This is the very first Sherlock Holmes book I've read. And man, I'm hungry for more after finishing this one. The first encounter of Watson and Holmes is fun to read. The affinity between them is well established from the first ten pages of the book. The first half of the book is narrated from the journal accounts of Watson and not Holmes himself. The other half is a fly on a wall point of view of the revenge tale of the prime suspect of the case. Both are well written and are easy to read.

The problem that I always encounter when I'm reading flashbacks is the information overload. You can't follow the story because the author is trying to give lots of plot points in a limited number of pages. This is not the case in A Study in Scarlet. The part where there is a flashback to explain the motives of the suspect is not difficult to read. Even the part where Holmes is already explaining the reason why he had gotten the right conclusion is not a pain in the mind of the readers.

A Study in Scarlet is full of absurd instances and characters but Doyle made everything in it realistic for the enjoyment of everybody.

We Stand on Guard Review

Vaughan is a genius in creating new concepts for a science fiction piece. Sometimes they're too great that they need a lot of issues to give the story more depth for the readers. That's the case with We Stand on Guard. A war involving United States and Canada needs more than 6 issues for the reader to grasp the conflict. This is also the problem with The Private Eye, which is another book by him.  It is still great though. His ideas for new technology and future environmental problems are better and more realistic than most of other sci-fi writers.

I think the book is still open for continuation for a lot of members of the rebel group are still alive and they didn't technically won over the Yankees. I hope Image Comics will pass this project to other writers because we know how busy Vaughan currently is for other series.

Jon Snow and the Prince that was Promised

The season finale of the medieval fantasy TV series, Game of Thrones, just dropped an epic twist that fans have speculated since the publication of "A Game of Thrones" by George R R Martin. The show just confirmed the theory that Jon Snow is indeed the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. The reveal not only changes Jon's legitimacy to the throne, but also the fate of the realm. What does this confirmation have to do with everything that's going on and how will it affect the "great game"? 


Winter has finally come to the Seven Kingdoms, and the the long night is brewing beyond the wall as the Night's King assembles his army of the dead. A prophecy tells that a prince will be born to fight the Night's King and save Westeros. The signs of his\her coming are:

1. S/he was born beneath a bleeding star,
2. S/he was born amidst salt,
3. S/he was born amidst smoke,
4. S/he* has the blood of the dragon.


*The prophecy is told in High Valyrian which is genderless when it comes to common nouns.

Also note that the prophecy of Azor Ahai is different from the prophecy of The Prince that was Promised. Although, many believe (example: Melisandre) that the two are same person.


The first contender for being the Prince that was Promised was Daenerys Targaryen. At the season one finale of Game of Thrones, we have seen her rebirth after she had hatched her dragons. A red comet streaked above the sky was shown, signifying that she was born under a bleeding star. The whole burning ceremony was done at the shore, signifying that she was born amidst salt and smoke. She is also a Targaryen, which means dragon's blood flows through her veins. Dany is a good contender that she was The One that was Promised.


The Tower of Joy sequence shown at the season 6 gave another contender to be the One that was Promised, which is none other than the bastard king of the North, Jon Snow.


(It is important to note that these are just my interpretations of the scene.)


1. Born under a bleeding star


The third episode of the sixth season, entitled "Oathbreaker," showed that while Jon is being born, he is UNDER the protection of Ser Arthur Dayne. Arthur was killed by Ned using his own sword Dawn. House Dayne has a shooting star as they're sigil. There you go, Jon was born under a bleeding star.


Another interpretation would be that Ned put Dawn at the foot of the bed in a position that makes the womb of Lyanna and the newly born Jon under the sword. We know that Dawn is a sword made from a shooting star, and the sword is well bloodied by Arthur Dayne. Born under a bleeding star.


2. Born amidst salt


While Lyanna says her final wish to Ned that she want safety for her son, we see her crying a lot. Maybe it's her impending death, or she is crying because of the fate of Rhaegar. One way or another, Lyanna's tears signifies that Jon is born amidst salt.


3. Born amidst smoke


This is the trickiest part. The way I figured this one is I remembered the scene with Dany being reborn in a backdrop of smoke after all the fire was extinguished. Targaryens are known to have dragon's blood, which means they signfy fire. Smoke is the only thing left when a fire has been put out. I think the smoke part of the prophecy symbolizes the death of Rhaegar or the end of the Targaryen Dynasty. Jon is born amidst smoke.


4. Has the blood of the dragon


Jon is confirmed to be the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, which means, like Dany, he has the blood of the dragon.


There you go; Jon also fits the qualification to be the prince that was promised. There is a possibility that Jon is would fight off Dany and the left survivor would be the one to save Westeros from the dead. Or maybe there are two people, not just one, who will save Westeros. Or there is also a possibility that there would be three, for there are three dragons, to fight the Night's King. Nobody really knows what will happen. That's the good thing about the show; everything is so unpredictable and no one of the audience knows how the show will end.


But one thing is sure to happen. The whole right to the throne doesn't matter anymore. Game of Thrones is now in a place where politics will not dictate who will be the knew king or queen of the realm. Because now that winter has finally come, the person who will save Westeros from the long knight are entitled to sit on the Iron Throne and win the great game.



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