The Logan Decision

[Pikpik]

Remember way back when you became king/queen and your very first decision... because I do. It was dealing with what had to be done with Logan, before knowing his reasons, you'd think he was an insane tyrant bent on killing his own people. Then you learned more about why he was doing this and may have felt like he was doing the right thing. For me, this was the hardest decision in the game because both were unfathomable options to me.
Yes, he did do horrible atrocities to his own people and abondoned the Auroans (not yet part of the kingdom) which may have deserved death. Wait, but then again he was doing all of this to stop the crawler and save everyone, that's surely worth a pardon for all of his crimes, right?

Well I didn't feel either of these were justified, I would have like a third option, a rare option for the most important decisions in the game, for Logan to be exiled. Not something to start a kingdom with the death of the previous monarch, but also absurd to put Logan above the law. Am I the only one who was disappointed with this choice by Lionhead?

 

[Bluedrake]

Am I the only one who was disappointed with this choice by Lionhead?

Well, no. Exile would have been an interesting option. Then again, there was no clue whatsoever that Logan was justified in some of his actions. A little more time with him would have been nice.

 

[Pikpik]

Well, no. Exile would have been an interesting option. Then again, there was no clue whatsoever that Logan was justified in some of his actions. A little more time with him would have been nice.

I'm not quite sure more time would've really done anything. It was supposed to be dramatic, he shakes your perception of what's to come, you know the horrors of the crawler, so then you have to decide there. I'm just saying this is how it sounded to me "Kill him or pardon all his crimes." which are two extremes I did not like. Middle ground is often needed.

 

[Bluedrake]

I'm not quite sure more time would've really done anything.

I meant at the start of the game. The first two Fable games had a childhood sequence, so it would have been nice to have that in this one too and interact with Logan before his encounter with the Crawler. It would have been an even greater blow if he had suddenly turned into a monster .

 

[Pikpik]

I meant at the start of the game. The first two Fable games had a childhood sequence, so it would have been nice to have that in this one too and interact with Logan before his encounter with the Crawler. It would have been an even greater blow if he had suddenly turned into a monster .

Saying that, yes. I was actually very confused first playing Fable 3 thinking I may have gotten a glitched version when it didn't start in childhood. Childhood should have been added in Fable 3, usually a big back story and foreshadowing is revealed in the child hood stage. Like when we learn the Hero of Oakvale's village is destroyed by bandits led by Jack and that Thersea's eyes were cut out by him leading to a huge shadowing. In Fable 3... we got dressed, held a girl's hand, then decided whether to kill a few protesters or your girlfriend. We didn't get any real back story besides what a few said before Logan went mad. Fortunatly, maybe Lionhead will learn removing the child stage is a bad move for plot devolpment.

 

[Arseface]

Given that his cruelty was "necessary" in order to save the kingdom, that doesn't explain why he gave you the choice between your girlfriends life and the lives of several innocents.

Poor storytelling from Lionhead's part.

 

[Bluedrake]

Given that his cruelty was "necessary" in order to save the kingdom, that doesn't explain why he gave you the choice between your girlfriends life and the lives of several innocents.

Poor storytelling from Lionhead's part.

I agree. I found character development to be lacking in this game, especially with the antagonists. I mean, it never occured to Logan to tell the population that they were about to be attacked? Heck, if he thought that nobody would believe the truth, he could have made up a story about a foreign nation planning to attack them. Logan should have read Machiavelli's "The Prince".

 

[Kuld von Reyn]

Given that his cruelty was "necessary" in order to save the kingdom, that doesn't explain why he gave you the choice between your girlfriends life and the lives of several innocents.

Poor storytelling from Lionhead's part.

Not that I disagree, but he was going to slaughter the innocent protesters anyway, wasn't he? Heck, you may even have saved a lot of lives regardless of your choice, since his original plan seems to have consisted of "Fire at the protesting mass until it disappears."

Also, while it was never stated in the game, I think Logan's reason for forcing you to chose was that he wanted you to see what kind of difficult choices he had to make himself on a daily basis. Something along the lines of "what you want to do" and "what has to be done for the greater good." Still falls flat, of course, since Logan seems like an evil tyrant from day one to us. *shrugs*

---

The worst part is that Logan isn't even a very good tyrant. I mean, drinking limit instead of a beer tax? Not seizing the considerably assets of the rich but powerless aristocracy? Spending the majority of the treasury on the fancy uniforms of the Royal Guard? Not exactly very good decisions there Logie.

When I had him executed, I made up an excuse apart from what was given in the game, namely that leaving a claimant to the throne alive and in the kingdom, with a considerably military force loyal only to him, would be suicidal, especially considering that the Royal Guard, despite what the game seems to think, would probably be concentrated in the castle even after Logan is overthrown.

 

[Pikpik]

Given that his cruelty was "necessary" in order to save the kingdom, that doesn't explain why he gave you the choice between your girlfriends life and the lives of several innocents.

Poor storytelling from Lionhead's part.

Actually I thought it made perfect sense. He was trying to seem powerful and wanted justification for his actions, so he gave you the decision to end someone else's life or your girlfriends. Sure, very poorly introduced but still it was giving the Hero a taste of what the king had to do. The Hero also said "I'll never forgive you!" with a sharp retort from Logan saying "Then you'll never forget.".
I'd still like an exile option, but other than that I like Kuld's justification for killing Logan. He left a vital thorn in his side alive which started a revolution.

 

[Arseface]

But that doesn't make sense. Lionhead try to portray him as a good man with no other options. If he truly is a good man, and is only making those cruel choices for the good of the kingdom, then he wouldn't have given you that ultimatum, because it has absolutely no use when it comes to stopping the Crawler. Therefore: he is an evil man, and overthrowing and killing him is the only sane option.

 

[explodingcheesecake]

Given that his cruelty was "necessary" in order to save the kingdom, that doesn't explain why he gave you the choice between your girlfriends life and the lives of several innocents.

Poor storytelling from Lionhead's part.

He said it was to show you the tough choices you had to make as a king.

 

[Bluedrake]

He said it was to show you the tough choices you had to make as a king.

I think that was Arseface's point, actually. His having your girlfriend executed or having you choose did absolutely nothing to benefit the kingdom. It was a sadistic choice given for no reason except that he was annoyed with his little brother for barging in. Lionhead likes its villains to be obvious, apparently.

 

[Vyan]

Forcing you to choose over a love interest that's introduced about ten minutes in and a bunch of no-names didn't exactly make me feel conflicted with my choice of decision.

Lionhead adding a plot twist to Logan's drive near the end of the game didn't quite work for me. There's little else invested in this character other than him intentionally presented as a villain until near the end where he states his reasons during the whole "save or execute" dilemma. I like Logan but that's testament to Fassbender's voice acting skills providing some depth to what's quintessentially another Lucien.

 

[AcireJumi]

Given that his cruelty was "necessary" in order to save the kingdom, that doesn't explain why he gave you the choice between your girlfriends life and the lives of several innocents.

Poor storytelling from Lionhead's part.

Actually, I think it does. It's just not thrown out there.

In the beginning the Prince or Princess tries to stop Logan from killing the rebels. Logan, knowing that the Darkness was coming and that only the Prince or Princess could defeat it, tried to make him/her understand the kind of choices one must make while they are king/queen.

In kinda a similar way, Logan made you make a choice like he had done before; Pick between one person, or save many (or they would both be lost).
~Logan was forced to pick between helping the Auroran's, already damaged and dwindling, and making sure everyone was happy and comfortable, or saving the entire kingdom, even if it made him evil.

He truely believed being ruthless was the only option, and did not want his sibling being soft and sentimental when the time came (cause the Crawler is a creepy jerkwad).



And as a first choice, it did a nice job setting up that your brother as an arse, but also showing that he does love his sibling and is probably thinking along the lines of 'tough love'. He doesn't want his kingdom, or his brother or sister, hurt.

Um... this might have been stated but meh. xD