Diablo 4 almost had one of the best twists in any game, until it pulled a Star Wars

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is one of the most divisive movies in the series’ history. It left me frustrated and confused the first time I saw it. I thought he was trying to stretch the thin fiction of Star Wars beyond its limits, just so it can be taken seriously enough to warrant criticism of the film. I also hated him for what he did to one of my favorite characters in all of fiction.

But it turns out my initial answer was wrong, and it took the disaster of The Rise of Skywalker for me to realize that and properly appreciate TLJ for what he tried to do. Even if I still don’t quite agree with how he did it.

Diablo 4 final spoilers follow

I hadn’t thought about any of those movies for a while. Not until I finished the Diablo 4 campaign. Diablo 4’s narrative is about a rebel whose methods are questionable, but whose ultimate goal is one that any reasonable person (that’s you, gamer) can agree to. Even if he didn’t empathize with them at first, it’s likely that he found himself agreeing with Lilith as he progressed through the story. The characters’ dialogue reflects that as well on some occasions, when uncertainty about the point of the fight is raised.

Maybe the Blizzard writers thought they were creating a Thanos; a villain who identified a valid problem, but solved it in the most cruel and ruthless way possible. But that’s not what I took from him. You are welcome.

Lilith is not Thanos. For one thing, she exists in a shadowy, satanic world made up of a handful of pseudo-Judeo-Christian beliefs and concepts. The rules of this world are anything but grounded. Diablo’s lore was never a commentary on actual religion, nor was he interested in being. In reality, he only borrowed enough elements to give his tradition some credibility and establish himself with some credibility. He has the devil in him, after all!

In fiction, Lilith is the daughter of Hatred. The way everyone perceives her was decided long before she even existed. Regardless of her actions or intentions, she is the offspring of a Prime Evil, a Demon born in Hell, the evil place filled with definitely bad characters for, well, reasons. Usually, that’s the end of that story. The evil person, born in an evil place, does bad things and must be stopped. No mess, no fuss.

But Lilith is also the Mother of Sanctuary, effectively what we would identify as Earth in Diablo. The normal realm (up to a point, at least). She, along with an Angel of rebellion, grew weary of the Eternal Conflict between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, and gave birth to human progenitors in an act of defiance, hoping to break the cycle and create something of use. for a purpose other than endless war. And this plan succeeded, until she didn’t.

Humanity was born and a third kingdom was created, establishing a new battlefield for war and the influence of both entities. But the angel, Inarius, had a change of heart and became convinced that there is still a place for him in heaven, and that the way to get there was to defeat a demon, Lilith. It didn’t work.

Lilith never wavered. She still sees herself as the guardian of Sanctuary, and the one who truly wants to uplift humanity rather than gather worshippers. The thrust of her plot is that humanity needs to prepare for the coming war with the Prime Evils, effectively working with her offspring against her own kind.

It’s a twisted and harsh view of the world, but one that deserves no opposition, at least by the standards of this fiction. And yet, the heroes fight her at every turn, for the sole reason that she is the Daughter of Hate, and that even if her goal isn’t far-fetched, she must be playing a long game that would eventually make things worse, otherwise. some way.

One of the best/worst moments in the game is when your character gets trapped in a dream where Lilith discusses her thesis one last time with the player. She does not mitigate the severity of what she asks for, and she tries to appeal to the logical side of the protagonist. Though far from any influence from the heroes, the protagonist has radicalized by that point, refusing to even consider what she’s offering, defaulting to the standard ‘rah-rah, you’re evil and you must die, rah-rah’. the rest of the team has been pedaling.

As enlightening as it was, that’s the moment I like to think Blizzard just gave up and stopped pretending. There was never any chance that the hero of the story would side with the villain, or even compromise. So why spend all this time creating a compelling villain and giving him time to make a case (enough to sow doubt in my heart), only to pull out a Star Wars and say that evil is actually evil? because it’s bad and it’s not about that? change.

The first character you meet in Diablo 4 (who doesn’t try to kill you) is Iosef. He saves you from being sacrificed, but you never see him again for the entire game. He returns at the end, however, at the head of a hit squad to kill Lorath, your partner (and the new Diablo’s Deckard Cain). You have no choice but to fight them, and Yosef ends up dead.

I like to think that his death is a subtle comment on the banality of all the evidence. Because even he, a kind and apparently helpful character, turned against you because you did things differently from what the principles of infallible religion and the good that he follows say you should do.

The Church and its followers who obey angels are presented as the good guys in this story. Despite sharing the same goals with our heroes, they oppose how things ended, even if Lilith is dead, anyway, and thus mark us as heretics.

It is a reminder that there is no “right” or “bad” in this world. Everything is relative, and you chose the wrong side. There is room for the narrative to continue in Season 1, so this may not be the end of the story. I would like the heroes to wrestle with their choices and maybe take things into less predictable territory.