Tidbits of Curiosity

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Then again, you do have a point. If he were different, the reasons I started liking him in the first place would be gone. (I like tragic villains, okay?)

Yeah, that's exactly my point (and I like tragic characters too, you're not the only one ). The beauty of tragic heroes and anti-heroes is the tragedy. You want it to not happen that way, but you also like the story because it happens that way. The joy is in the pain?

But it's not just about the tragic ending. The latest alternative history you propose here still maintains Maeglin's death, it just takes away the tragedy and complexity behind it. It isn't anymore the story of an outsider whose lust lead him to terrible moral decisions, a story of passion and motivation. Instead it's a story of a machine doing its job. If Maeglin was pre-programmed to do everything he's done, as you propose, the tragic aspect - the willingness to send the whole world to hell to get what he desires. He's Terminator, he isn't a person, isn't a complex character.