Talk:Dettlaff van der Eretein/@comment-91.67.95.240-20160727084255/@comment-193.39.5.10-20190321130131

@Faul and fair a day:

Yes, some people may choose to die. But that's not relevant to our discussion, as there was no reason at all Dettlaff would think that of his victims.

The original poster (who wasn't me, for reference) stated that as an immortal being Dettlaff should be able to behave in a more mature manner. We both agree that he does behave immaturely, our only point of dissention is whether the mindset of a vampire prevents him from acting maturely (and possibly whether Geralt should kill him or not, I'm unclear on your position on that).

My position is that he is capable of recognising human life as having value and therefore if he fails to apply this beyond the handful he personally knows then that is his fault, not something he should be forgiven for just because he's a vampire. Regis is a Higher Vampire and he, while still he may not fully understand humans, he does understand these basic concepts (he kills the Bruxae because they are enemies and indeed might hurt Geralt but does express regret at doing so that doesn't prove he is not a compassionate being). The Unseen Elder has basically abandoned morality; it's not that he doesn't understand, he just doesn't care.

As a vampire can understand their actions then Dettlaff is being immature by vampire standards. Notice massive slaughters by Higher Vampires don't happen every time they get ticked off. Most Higher Vampires have more self control.

Even if they pose no threat to him the soldiers at Dun Tynne are still his enemies, the citizens of Beauclair are not. The soldiers stand between him and his goal (however ineffectively), the citizens do not (killing them gets him no closer to Syanna). You state that he was too obsessed with Syanna to think, that's actually my point; despite being capable of empathy and compassion he abandons both when his feelings get hurt and lashes out at everyone without caring what it cost them or him. Other Higher Vampires do not do this so the vampiric mindset is not to blame, it's just his personality flaws.

There are only two ways to react to Dettlaff's actions from a reasonable legal standpoint. Either he has interacted with human society and is subject to it's laws or he has not. In the former case he is a mass murderer and should be punished under those laws (which, in the grim 'n gritty Witcher world, means execution). In the latter case he has essentially declared war on Toussaint and commited a vile atrocity and one does kill enemy combatants. Either way, his death is the only realistic outcome and any pity I have for his mistreatment has been drowned in a river of innocent blood.