A very old post of mine from 3.0 with screenshots of Garlean titles from the Great Gubal Library has gained quite a lot of notes recently. The information in that post has now been outdated for some time, and also contained some errors. It’s a bit annoying that the way Tumblr works means I can’t really edit the original post in a meaningful way so I thought I’d make a new and more comprehensive one instead, with the relevant page from the lore book.  

Hero: “I realize that.”

Villain: “Doesn’t that trouble you?”

Hero: “Sure there is. I’m stopping me.”

Villain: “But in your heart you crave—”

Hero: “Sometimes when I’m in a crowded building I get the sudden urge to just boop a stranger right on the nose. But I don’t do it, because that would be super rude and weird. Does having that compulsion in the first place make me just as much of a weirdo as if I had acted on it? Maybe it does in your eyes, but to the would-be boopee, it makes all the difference in the world.”

Villain: “We’re not talking about booping noses, we’re talking about killing peop—”

Hero: “That’s the difference, isn’t it? Between you and I. One tiny difference. That’s all it takes. That’s the line between good and evil.”

Villain: “What?”

Hero: “You saw your own darkness and let it destroy you. You surrendered to it the moment you realized it was there. You threw open the door for it and welcomed it inside and let it rob you of your humanity without even a word of protest because you just couldn’t imagine it was something you could fight.”

Villain: “And you, oh-so-sanctimonious one?”

Hero: “I said ‘no thanks’. That’s it. That’s the difference.”

Villain: “Did you just—did you just—”