The Bloodguard's Doubt

[Haruchai]

From the Spoiled Plains, Bannor says:

The deepest wish of the Bloodguard was to fight the Despiser in his home, pure service against Corruption. This desire misled.

OK, I have always thought that the Haruchai failed because their service was not pure, because they had learnt doubt. The reason that the Illearth Stone corrupted Korik and co. was because they had learnt doubt. This was their weakness, the crack in their armour.
Is this right, or am I totally out of the loop?

[Krilly]

From the Spoiled Plains, Bannor says:

The deepest wish of the Bloodguard was to fight the Despiser in his home, pure service against Corruption. This desire misled.

OK, I have always thought that the Haruchai failed because their service was not pure, because they had learnt doubt. The reason that the Illearth Stone corrupted Korik and co. was because they had learnt doubt. This was their weakness, the crack in their armour.
Is this right, or am I totally out of the loop?

I agree with you there. It was a combination of things that led to the downfall of the Bloodguard. Covenant himself exposed the fidelity of the BG to Corruption by forcing Bannor to relenquish the name of the Seventh Ward. And as seen in that quote, the pride of the BG to fulfill that wish clouded their judgement... so they underestimated the power of Foul and the Stone. When they beheld that BG were corrupted, they knew Doubt.

Of course Bannor himself explains it better in TPTP.

[Fist and Faith]

First of all, I'm pleased and proud that you were reading The Spoiled Plains!!!!

Well, let me try to give my chronology of the end of the Bloodguard. ("BG" makes me think Bene Gesserit. )

The first thing to go wrong was Kevin ordering them away so that he could invoke the Ritual of Desecration. They failed their Vow. Yes, they were tricked into failure, but they shouldn't have allowed themselves to be tricked. They should have said, "No, we're staying with you. We Vowed to protect you, and we can't do that if we leave you alone."

Next, because they revealed the name of the 7th Ward, Elena died. They didn't just fail to protect a Lord, a Lord died because of something they did!

Finally, they fought on the side of Corruption. No matter how it happened, no matter the strength of the Illearth Stone, three of them went against the Vow, killing many people, intending to kill more - even Lords! They saw that their Vow was not absolute, that they could act against it. So they abandoned it.

With the Haruchai, it's all or nothing. If they can't do something totally, absolutely, they don't do it at all.

[Haruchai]

Thank you for your excellent posts, Krilly and Fist.
I have another question. Do you think that if the Bloodguard had not learnt doubt, Korik may not have been Corrupted?

[Fist and Faith]

Good question. I think the Illearth Stone was strong enough to have done the job regardless. It took over three Giants too, eh? But yeah, it probably had an easier time with the Bloodguard because of their past problems.

Ah, the Haruchai are, in their way, such simple people. Believing that anyone, even themselves, is capable of such extravagant things as the Vow is just a little naive. But then, I guess that describes all of humanity. Making important decisions in the throws of awe, or passion, or some other highly charged emotional state. It's foolhardy and glorious! Entirely human!

[Worm of Despite]

They should have said, "No, we're staying with you. We Vowed to protect you, and we can't do that if we leave you alone."

I don't think they should have; had they stayed with Mr. Desecration, they would have all died, and Bannor would have never saved Covenant’s life the 42 times he did. And though the Bloodguard would disagree with me (they're sort of biased on this one, though), I personally think their individual lives were more important than the Vow, and I think Kevin always felt that. He didn't want them to make the Vow in the first place, as said in Gilden.

[Krilly]

Hence the problem with something, such as the Vow, that is absolute... something that must be one way or no way. Covenant speaks of obtaining the central paradox between two extremes. The Bloodguard could not do that, thus they fell to Despite.

[JD]

I have to agree to some extent, but to me the main problem of the Bloodguard was that the people they were serving were not worthy of such Pure Service. Going without sleep for thousands of years, losing your family to serve someone was too much to ask. No one could have been worthy enough for such devotion.

[Nathan Brazil]

Indeed, the Vow itself was likely the downfall of the BG. Static in its nature, inviolate in its very existence. The Haruchai could not maintain it forever. It rendered them impotent in the end.

[Revelstone]

Perhaps it was the White Gold that led to the ultimate failure of the Vow. Without its presence, the Bloodguard were able to maintain it through 2 millennia. But Covenant, on Rivenrock, cast a Final Doubt in the minds of the Bloodguard by pushing them to reveal the name of the Seventh Ward.
He would never have been chosen to accompany Elena on the quest had he not had the White Gold.
Yet another pivot point of Fate that is the nature of the Destroyer of Peace.

~Brian

[danlo]

Besides all the great points offered-what about the Oath of Peace factor? Did that, in and of itself, make the Bloodguard question the Vow that much more? Surely coming back to Revelstone after sooo many post-desecration years only to find the new Lords limiting themselves must have raised some staid eyebrows...

[Fist and Faith]

Yes, good thinking Rev. Maybe they could have gone on a good while longer if Covenant hadn't come along. And only he would have pushed them so hard for an answer.

[alanm]

at revelstone at the end of White Gold Wielder the Harauchi express a desire to make another vow. In light of the trials they have gone through and the fact that they overcame to power of the bane fire would they now be able to provide a pure service.

[Variol Farseer]

at revelstone at the end of White Gold Wielder the Harauchi express a desire to make another vow. In light of the trials they have gone through and the fact that they overcame to power of the bane fire would they now be able to provide a pure service.

Maybe those particular Haruchai could, but their descendants wouldn't have those advantages. That's a recipe for disaster. After all, it was the descendants of the New Lords who became the Clave, and without ever losing their image of themselves as dedicated idealists.

The power of unexamined assumptions is a terrible thing.

[alanm]

maybe, but Cail had survived the dancers of the sea and then helped to break the domination of the sunbane. this knowledge then passed to other harauchi. I am sure that the harauchi would not let future generations forget, after all they remembered TC through 3500 years.