So, I have a Question...
I know this has been an endless argument between Duncan & Royland supporters. Who's the better man for the Sentinel Position? What qualifies them to be Sentinel? What are their pros? & What are their cons?
Well, Forums, I have a question for you.
This is no longer a Game.
If you were in a real life situation, where you were threatened by others & you were being watched endlessly, carefully-- Who would you trust? Would you trust the Man who's been shown to be Honest, yet prone to go behind your back & have ulterior motives to his actions? Or Would you trust the Man who is Honest, yet prone to be an Asshole & Brash yet tell you he'll never leave your side or sugarcoat things with you?
If I was to chose one man I'd trust over all others, it would be the Honest yet Asshole. Honestly, I would rather suffer through a rough & bad attitude, rather than have to watch my back for any backfire from deals in dark alleys or feel like I'm going to have to repay a favor I didn't know I had held over my head. So, yes, I would chose Royland-- who is a harsh, sometimes uncouth, self-assertive man; however, in my experience with him as my main Sentinel, he has always been upfront & honest with me. I trust the man with my ( Rodrik's ) life, inexplicably. I like both Characters. Both Duncan & Royland have their merits but neither are perfect in their actions. Both have flaws. I'll admit that Royland, who is among one of my favorite Characters, is quick to anger & prone to violence ( yet he always has a cause when pushed to it ).
Track Records
Use these to gauge who YOU would trust absolutely with your life.
( Hissy fit in Episode One not included, as both do it. Nor is Episode Five, as it is primarily used to solidify the position of Sentinel & Traitor. )
Duncan:
- Episode One, His immediate decision to send Gared away, whilst was to protect him, had several ulterior motives spin into life. They had time to discuss this with Ethan but Duncan ignored this, sending him away regardless of what Ethan would've thought. It was also to prepare Gared to be sent to find the North Grove.
- Episode One, Does not inform Ethan of the North Grove ( even if chosen as Sentinel ), he should have told Ethan of the Grove, shown him Gregor's Journal about it, etcetera. Rodrik knows about this later, so why didn't Ethan get to know? They had weeks to discuss it.
- Episode Three, Duncan went off to the Wall, supposedly to deliver supplies ( Which he did, but it was merely a front for his real reasoning to be there ), to contact Gared, give him the page about the North Grove, & then tell his Nephew to abandon the Watch at the soonest opportunity to hunt for the North Grove.
- Episode Three, He gets that meeting with Gwyn Whitehill. How? To my Knowledge/Memory, he never fully explains how he contacted Gwyn about this secret meeting between them or how they set it up. He mentions talking with her at the Funeral, which we don't see in any background shots, but that still seems like too much time between the two occurrences. Was he talking to her via Raven? or did they have another means of Contact?
- Episode Three, Gives you a Dagger at the meeting, even though he's supposed to be a Man of Peace? Out of Character, a bit, no?
- Episode Four, Suddenly finds a Message from Ludd Whitehill after all of the Ravens were killed.
- Episode Four, Wants you to go Unprotected to Highpoint, even though you're heading into Enemy Territory, where there could have been a 50/50 chance that you never came back from this Truce meeting. Yes, his counterpoint is valid, but we all know by now that the Whitehills don't attack; instead, we get the biggest Gate Crasher to ever exist-- Ramsay Snow.
- Logically, he tries to do what he thinks is best for the House.
- Really Good Diplomat.
- Previously was Castellan, which was already a high-ranking position.
- Doesn't seem like he's truly been in a War before until now.
- Rather Optimistic & Naive, too, at some times, which can obscure his view of the world. Thought they could reason with Ramsay Snow, believed the Truce was a chance to change things.
- Honest. But he sees the world in a Black & White way.
- Seems to take a piss on Royland a lot, which is attributed to their rivalry & might be a nod to his peasantry background, but he really does complain about Royland a whole lot regardless if he's Sentinel or not.
- Predict him to lead a more Subtle, evasive attack on Highpoint in the next episode.
Royland:
- Episode One, quickly steps up to defend Gared. Royland defends Gared's right for fighting back against the two Whitehills & the Bolton. Mentions he would have done the same if he had been in that position, which he did during the Greyjoy Rebellion.
- Episode One, finds Erik, the thief, trying to sneak away with stolen weapons & brings him straight to Ethan for the Lord's input instead of belting out justice he saw fit to give.
- Episode One, tells you the very sacred line: "You've got to project power. Especially when you're weakened."
- Episode Two, First to react to the corpse that fell off the corpse cart-- Finds Rodrik.
- Episode Three, Says he'll scrounge up more men for the Forrester Army, the forty to fifty+ men, he can find to help their chances before sauntering off to continue training the men.
- Episode Three, will fight the whole Garrison & Gryff for Rodrik & Talia, but sadly, Harys-- Gryff's Big Babysitter-- exists.
- Episode Four, literally the first thing we see of him: He is helping Rodrik learn how to fight & to protect himself again.
- Episode Four, Says to go protected to the Truce meeting, as you are going to Highpoint & it is enemy territory, it could have easily been a trap. Would also ( Logically ) have saved the Glenmores ( & Arthur ) from the backlash of Ramsay Snow or your men from getting injured seriously or killed when trying to fend off the Boltons. 50/50, really, it's all kind of tossed up into the air at the end to be honest.
- Has experience as a Lord over his House or he has the required training; on that note, also a Military Genius & extremely experienced Warrior, if his scars say anything about him.
- Yes, he's prone to & quick to Anger.
- & Royland is prone to Violence.
- He is trying to do what he feels is best for the House.
- Extremely perceptive, but is sometimes clouded by his Pessimistic thoughts, knew that it was impossible to Bargain with Ramsay Snow, was aware that Ludd's offer of a Truce could easily be a trap, first to notice what happened at Ironrath while away ( If taken to Highpoint ) & points it out.
- Honest & Straightforward with you. Bluntly will state his own honest opinions & doesn't really care who's feelings he hurts in the process, but does mean well by it.
- Still grudgingly respectful towards Duncan, regardless of whether he's Sentinel or not, except when things get heated between them.
- Predict him to lead an Assault on Highpoint in the next episode.
I'd like honest opinions, really! It's something I'm curious about. Why you'd chose one Man over the Other in your decisions. & I do apologize if at some points this seems Bias or like Character Bashing, this is not my intent. I will be unintentionally bias as I do prefer Royland over Duncan, but I did try my best to make this as Neutral as possible, as I have spent weeks analyzing both of these Characters to an extreme extent. So, in a Similar Situation in your life, would you chose the man who's like Duncan Tuttle or the man who's like Royland Degore?
Now, Discuss! & please, try to keep it as friendly as possible...
Comments
In real life I would probably choose Duncan as I would want Royland to focus on training the men to fight.
Hello Guys,
I am interested to buy this game but I have some questions: I don't if this is the correct discussion if it isn't I'm sorry.
If I buy this game on steam I'll have all episodes when they will exit or I have just the one episode?I remember the cost of it on steam is 23 euros.
Thank you
I think in Real life, I would honestly choose Royland as well. The position of the Sentinel is meant for someone that the Lord trust above all others. It is hard to give such a position to someone as Duncan, who while loyal, is capable of doing a lot of shady stuff and behind the lord's back. I know that Duncan has a lot of good sides to him, as he clearly cares about the Forresters with his sage advices and kind words, but in a time of war and unrest, I need a strong and honest second in command who tell me how things are and never sugarcoat it. Royland's blunt and honest advice and statement, keeps me on my guard and it keeps me grounded and aware of the situation. His aggressive attitude prevents me from being too reckless. Also, I hope that having him as my sentinel solidify his loyalty to me and my family and keeping him in line as well.
With the war against the Whitehills clearly sparked, Rodrik and Royland feels like a dream team to me. Rodrik being an experienced leader and veteran of War of the Five Kings. Royland being veteran battle commander who can keep the soldiers in line (Especially Asher's pit fighters). Both of them knows about more and arguably more than Asher and Duncan.
Anyway, as I said, I like an honest adviser and second in command that I can trust.
Even in Real Life I would have gone with Royland. He rubbed me the wrong way with his aggressive personality, and calling me a "milksop", as if he didn't respect me. But he did bring up a good point, Duncan went behind my back and sent Gared away, making me look weak and indecisive, like I'm not in control of my own men. I decided to give Royland a chance to see me grow and respect me, and I in turn would see another side of him and learn he isn't just an all-bark-and-no-bite knight commander person.
It's the option that makes Ethan look more mature, it would be a wise move in real life as well. That is how I see it, at any rate.
And Royland does see Ethan grow and learn to respect him.
Royland. I'm already somebody who will vie for peace and diplomacy when possible. I don't need somebody to echo my own thoughts. I want a man at my side who tells me what he thinks uncensored and to advocate for aggression when necessary.
Royland, no question. I tend to play thinking what I would actually do in the situation (isn't that kinda the point?) and I found it very easy to choose him. Sure Duncan and Royland both speak up if they think you're wrong about something which you definitely need in an advisor, but at least Royland is mostly frustrated with you for disagreeing whereas Duncan comes off as really condescending. I was already wary of and not too pleased with Duncan for unilaterally sending his own freaking nephew away after killing the people who killed his brother and niece (which Duncan seemed to get over pretty quickly, and it bothered me so much that as Gared we couldn't go hold on just one second, let's see what our lord wants to do, but plot I guess) and then not saying anything about the North Grove to Ethan. It scored Royland a lot of points with me because he stuck up for Gared and at least he hadn't lied by omission or gone behind my back. Plus you have to realize that talking to or trying to placate Ramsay (or Gryff to be honest) is pointless and every time Duncan suggested something along those lines I was beyond exasperated. You may not have many resources but it's better to at least go out fighting than completely wasting your time trying to be "diplomatic" with a sociopath. We've seen Ramsay's methods and he's going to wreck you if you try to be accommodating or if you don't, and Gryff just enjoys his little power trip and trying to embarrass you so he's going to try to make you suffer no matter what. To a certain extent I can see choosing Duncan from a standpoint of needing to bide your time and not anger anyone, but that only gets you so far and zero respect in the process. Also I played the game totally not counting on Mira or Asher or the Glenmores to be able to help us. Not that I really expected every single one of them to fall through but I'm a punk I guess and still defied everyone I could because a) if our house is going to fall I wanted to have the satisfaction of knowing we put up a fight instead of just letting it happen and b) I wanted to give anyone who messed with us pause before they tried anything else. We may be at a disadvantage but pluck counts for a lot, at least in my book, and I think Royland is more likely to agree with me on that than Mr. Man of Peace Knows Better Than Everyone.
So overall I'm glad I stabbed Duncan and it's Royland with me in the end. We're gonna go fook up some Whitehills and have a pretty damned good time doing it, too. >:D
You will have all episodes. $30 for one episode would be a ripoff.
In real life I crack under pressure. When faced with this hostage situation, I would take Royland and head straight to war. I know I'd probably be wiped out but I would feel pressured into just doing anything to take out the Whitehills.
I choose Duncan because I get to be the aggressive, fighting, non-diplomatic one lol
In real life, I'd choose Royland as he has different opinions from mine own and in the game I seem to think of the same things and always agree with Duncan. Having an advisor who always agrees with you is like having a mirror, so not particularly useful.
I initially chose Duncan however mainly because a. he knows about the North Grove and b. I feared I would lack choices in the future that I would have liked to choose.
Replayed the game and Royland doesn't seem to be much different...