Talk:Phillip Strenger/@comment-24.138.10.206-20180910040330

Now, not justifying domestic abuse here, that shit is unequivocally wrong. I will admit that I do understand his position here. This guy loved his wife and kid, would have done anything for them, repeatedly put his life on the line for them. And his wife repaid him by cheating on him and leaving him with nothing but a fairly hurtful note. Now that is just a low blow from her. Sure, her husband was a drunk but the whole point of marraige is for the spouses to support one another. If her husband is drinking himself stupid, there's clearly something wrong and she could have at least made an effort to help him resolve it.

Now that said, his reaction of beating her senseless is not cool. But also said, this is a society reminiscent of 15th Century Europe. Back in those days, marriage counsellling didn't exist and wife beating was probably the norm.

What ultimately makes me feel sympathy for him and his plight though is the fact that through it all, he at least shows geniune remorse. He isn't your typical abuser. He doesn't strike me as a controlling narcissist who beat Anna because why not. He beats her because he's a military man who's only ever known violence, and has no parental or spousal instincts whatsoever. Unable to repair his relationship with Anna, he resorts to the one thing that has always worked for him in his career as a soldier: brute force. Again, shitty, not cool, not an excuse, but I see why he treated her the waay he did.

On top of that, you have the fact that through it all, he clearly shows remorse. And not the "please come back, I need my punching bag back" type of remorse that most narcissistc abusers display, but rather actual fucking remorse. To the point that he's willing to hang himself if she dies, and willing to completely abandon his keep and realm to get her help if she survives. And therein lies the genius of the Bloody Baron. He's not a saint, and he's not a monster. He's a human being.