John Lindal’s Blog

The Sword of Good?

May 31, 2010 on 3:12 pm | In Miscellaneous | No Comments

Upon finishing Eliezer Yudkowsky’s The Sword of Good, it weighed heavily on my mind. A couple of hours later, I finally connected all the dots. It was wrong, deeply wrong, but it felt like the author agreed with what he wrote. I set out to analyze my initial thoughts…

First, why is it wrong?

The denouement comes when Hirou (surely a play on Hero), the bearer of the Sword of Good, sides with the Lord of Dark, enabling him to complete the Spell of Infinite Doom. Hirou chooses to do this because the Lord of Dark intends to end all the suffering in the world — and there is much, make no mistake! Noble though it seems, it is in fact Evil because it abolishes free will and turns everybody into a puppet:

…the great Balance of Nature will be, not upset, but annihilated utterly; and in it, set in place a single will, the will of the Lord of Dark. And he shall rule, not only the people, but the very fabric of the World itself, until the end of days.

Without free will, everybody might as well be dead. If sentience is lost, then they really are dead. If sentience remains, each person is imprisoned in their own head, unable to do anything but watch while the Lord of Dark imposes his will upon the world.

Second, why do I worry that the author agrees with Hirou’s decision?

In 2004, the author’s brother died, and the author announced this via an email. To me, the author’s rage against the universe in general and death in particular in this email sounds very similar to the Lord of Dark’s rage against Balance and the flood of pain with which the Sword of Good deluges Hirou during the story’s climax. Perhaps reconciliation for the author lies in Hirou’s last words:

“I don’t trust you either,” Hirou whispered, “but I don’t expect there’s anyone better”

but this seems pretty weak to me. What need is there for trust when everybody is for all intents and purposes dead?

Perhaps the story is instead intended as a cautionary tale, exemplifying the maxim, The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. This seems plausible, because after touching the Sword of Good, the Lord of Dark is warned by Hirou that The Sword only tests good intentions. Hirou clearly made his decision under duress: the Sword of Good dumped all the suffering in the world on him in one instant. If we interpret the conclusion as a warning to not press the Big Red Button when you’re in the grip of strong emotions, then it feels right.