Talk:Dettlaff van der Eretein/@comment-91.67.95.240-20160727084255/@comment-27722422-20190328165424

@193.39.5.10 I’m so sorry for such a long absence, I had some unfortunate business IRL.

He wouldn’t think so about his victims as long as own death is such an unbelievable idea for an immortal higher vampire that he cannot imagine anything could for real mortally hurt him (unless another true vampire and it’s quite obvious that he couldn’t think of Regis killing him either).

The OP promoted the notion of anyone who was old as Dettlaff should have been by default more mature, more experienced and restrained, without taking into an account his vampire nature, lack of social ‘bruises’ and connections. Sianna may have even been his first woman ever (likely not), of course, he reacts like a teenager after first (or even fifth - teenagers can be very fragile, you know) broke-up (but considering his formidable might (and Sianna abusing him so hard and in such monstrous way)). I don’t think Dettlaff deserves death even if we think of him like a mad dog. I don’t think, of course, that Geralt shouldn’t fight him, rather me not approving the way CD Project made Regis murder him for good, as long as there were other ways to contain him e.g. in the Haagmar cage or just mutilate him hard enough for him to recover quickly and bury his body (what happened with Regis once) to have the chance to reconsider his misbehaving, but I understand it is a matter of likes and dislikes and my own opinion. Still, Regis case demonstrates us the idea of second chance and unappealing death sentence is not an option according to my book.

Dettlaff can understand the value of a man only if he/she displays their good qualities and kindness to him personally - again, instance of the Brute of Liria - he doesn’t think abstractly that all humans have the rights and freedoms and stuff (because that ability is a product of personal development, which he lacks due to little social experience, moreover historically civilization needed more than millenniums to construct that concept). Regis understands them because he lives in the society and communicates and does everything to assimilate, and he suffered much to achieve that - it is not something got from the sky (as far as I rememberer he kills those bruxaes even before Geralt has the chance to help him (I may be wrong), and they are not his enemies - he broke the vampire law, they are enforcers - do you think of the police as your enemies?). Now the Elder is not, he just never had human morality considered, but applies to the vampire code, e.g. reminds Regis about consequences of kin murder. What vampire can and may don’t make it common. We get the idea that Regis’s compassion is his unique trait, we don’t know of others position themselves that way, it’s more likely and it’s practically a quote that Dettlaff is a more ‘vampire [adj] vampire [n]’. Besides remember the situation of Regis compromising himself to help Dandelion at the beginning of Geralt’s hanse - the witcher is largely surprised how decent the vampire is, and he is for the sake of it Geralt himself, who more than any other understands that some beasts deserve to live and has a vast experience of facing them.

Again why are they his enemies? He just thinks of them so - they didn’t cause him any harm. And what gives them the status in his eyes? The idea of them hurting Sianna. And you justify him - why so? Because they could protect themselves, had weapons? No, they couldn’t - there were two higher vampires against them, an army couldn’t. Beauclair citizens (and there were actually armed knights and guards among them) as well had no chance against hordes of lower vampires. And in the same manner, Dettlaff believed that his actions were justified. ‘Killing them gets him no closer to Syanna’ - but it actually does. My point mentioning Sianna, in that case, was about Geralt having no chance to ask if Dettlaff has any regrets, and us - to know his point of view. About compassion check previous paragraphs.

What makes him subject of human laws? Human-vampire convention of 717?) The fact he lives in human society? He is probably older than the society, frankly speaking, humans could be considered intruders in his world with his laws. In the grim 'n gritty Witcher world, there are courts and lawyers (see ‘Season of Storms’) and very modern understanding of values, so for him being executed or contained behind the bars, there should be a process. Moreover depending on a jury (if he is judged by a jury, of course) he could even be proclaimed innocent, ha. Plus don’t you think that if we value lives so much in a modern manner then we should value his life, too? Or do we xenophobically warhammer-style like treat him ‘lesser than men’? And if we decide to kill him, ain’t that be a crime too to do so without a court hearing?