• neuracnu
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    20 hours ago

    It all depends on how you define and categorize morality.

    The Tolkien dilemma reasoned that since orcs could talk and demonstratively discuss the ideas of right and wrong, then they have some sense of morality. If they have reason and morals, could they at some point decide to stop being evil? And if so, is it moral to eradicate them entirely?

    I haven’t read the Frieren manga, but the show referred to its world’s demons as not actually speaking, but having learned to make human-like noises to elicit desired responses. I’m not sure if I buy that explanation (given how the characters behave and converse) but if you do, it’s a functional hedge against feeling bad about our beloved protagonist doing a genocide.

    Again, the manga might get into this more. Also this could be a potential character arc for Frieren; whoop lol maybe I shouldn’t do a genocide after all. I do hope it goes this way, but I doubt it will.

    • remon@ani.social
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      19 hours ago

      I haven’t read the Frieren manga, but the show referred to its world’s demons as not actually speaking, but having learned to make human-like noises to elicit desired responses.

      I have read ahead quite a bit, but it’s actually not relevant, because the show itself (which is pretty much identical to the manga) already debunks that.

      Aura and her executioners are clearly very intellegent and even have an inner monologue. (One of the lines I actually dislike is when one demon asks the other “what is a mother?” And he just replies with “who knows?”. From what we’ve seen from the demons so far, they should be more than capable of having figured out how human reproduction works).