@BleakCabaler i enjoy fallout new vegas+dlcs. i hated the fans and the reviews by saying old world blues have to much text... bunch of lazy ass cod player and brain dead players.
Arcanum is a timeless game not only because of it's engaging characters and storyline but because of its premise and realism. The idea that we act first, think later, and feel last of all is very powerful.
In a sense, Arcanum reflects much of modern society - subtle social castes, a technology craze, a fading out of the personal replaced with impersonal means of communication, environmental damage and poachers destroying natural habitats for progress and personal gain. Arcanum nailed it!
lol this speech almost persuaded me when I played the game...I almost agreed with him but I had to know how hard it would be to kill him. My only problem with the game was that it was too easy :( aside from that it was and still is my favorite game. a true masterpiece
Anyone remember Magnus' story? His supposed brother in Cumbria's cemetery, dialogue with Loghaire, and how he finds his home in the lost Iron clan underground? That's an amazingly detailed background for an optional companion. I can't think of a single new game that has companions that feel so real, where their story is told throughout the entire game and map...same with the skeleton at the temple that needs dragon blood, what was his name? He was part of the undead legion.
the news paper guy vanishes along with the book and i cant get to the isle of despair where theres an ogre that seems to know something about all this. anyways, i agree magnus's background is awesome. and i loved how virgil became either evil or good depending on what you did in sen'ang. the guy you mention is torian kel, soldier of the molokian hand ^^ a, ive played this game way too many times :P probably the best rpg ever, followed by nwn. never did play baldurs gate unfortunately
Oh, yes, Torian Kel!!! Man was that guy awesome or what. I thought he was going to be the generic evil 'slaughter all' type of character, but I never expected him to be polite, thoughtful, and to describe his situation with a hint of regret and deep emotion. Btw, do you remember the conversation possibility with Loghaire's son, about the Shape and Stone philosophy of the Dwarves? That took me by surprise like a storm - they really put a higher level of philosophical thought into the game!
yup, the persuasion skill for me was always a MUST in arcanum, as well as intellect potions, unless i was playing a technology char :) it really gave the game ta totally different perspactive. learning about dwarven stone and shape, persuading loghaire to become the king again, helping the orcs that revolted in the factory and making the agreement between tarant and caladon. and ofc being able to persuade kerghan that what he was doing was wrong and that he had misunderstood the pain of souls :)
I remember reading that if you play as an evil dwarf or human you may persuade Loghaire to attack Tarrant. never found out how though, and besides, Tarrant was my default city of refuge. I never felt welcome in Tarrant. At one playthrough I "evicted" Gilbert Bates and bought his mansion...definitely felt the negative change even more after that. Plus, the Boil was always depressing to deal with. Caladon negotiations were always fun, because so much work goes into being able to do them.
raven was really...nice ^^ but i also really liked the evil followers. jeffrey terllond-ash or something like that ^^, volliger the assasin and jan aloren and her visions. all the follwers were really awesome. the only rpg that comes close to arcanum concerning the follwers is neverwinter nights, but especially neverwinter nights 2 :)
wow seriously??? meh i never played a dwarf and as a human i was good...i usually went with the evil elf because then me and min'gorad could well....yea ^^ yea tarant was fun. especially doing quests for madam lil...hehehe good times ^^ come to think of it. that game had alot such references ^^ i always wanted to play an ogre and see maybe as an ogre i could find something out about the ogre conspiracy, but with their intelligence ogres are a bit boring to play :/ a i miss that game
@Homecountry I remember reading that if you play as an evil dwarf or human you may persuade Loghaire to attack Tarrant. never found out how though [...]
That was just a hoax spread by some members of a popular Arcanum fan site. Some versions even went as far to claim that Hervor, the mentally challanged dwarf in Shrouded Hills, was a secret agent of the dwarves.
There were other hoaxes, the most notable being The Lost Dungeon Of Souls mod disc, which turned out to be true after 8 years =)
If only I could show you the places I've seen, you might understand the things I say. I've been to the desolate lands, wandered by those souls who still see the lands of the living, but wear the cloak of the dead.Blind to their own ends, they cry, passing through one another like shadows, in the dying light of day. I've traveled to where souls rot in torment, pierced with the jagged shards of life and vision, clinging to memory, regrets of the flesh.
I saw that this prison was of their own making, and the key was in unknowing and release.
And still, I traveled on.
And finally, I came to the place where souls go to die, where the mirrored and warm spirits fall into an endless sea of grey mirrored glass. And I lowered myself within, and laid there among them, and I almost did not return. And do you know what I found there? There among the silent and embattered shells of the innumerable? Peace. Enlightenment. Truth.
Only then did I realize this place, this life, is an abomination, a horrible distortion of the natural order. This, life, who mothered pain, and fear, and envy, these twisted children who exist only because we are here to feed them, to nourish them! This, life, this, afterthought! A disturbance, a mere ripple in that grey, dead sea. Not even the cause, but merely an effect, sending these souls upward, screaming for release from the day when they are torn from their waters.
Have you ever spoken with the dead? Called to them from this side? Pulled them from their silent rest? Do you know what it is they feel? Pain. Pain, when torn into this wakefulness, this reminder of the chaos from which they had escaped, pain at having to live. There will be no more pain. There will be no more chaos
This is what part of what made Arcanum so great. The protagonist wasnt truly evil, he actually was trying to do something he felt was good. He wasnt nuts or arbitrarily evil, he felt he was doing something good.
that isnt as rare as you think m8 for example during medieval times, when heretics or non believers were being tortured, it was supposedly to clense them from the 'evil' within them so that their souls would find peace. sure, the higher ups knew it was all crap, but agants of the church that actually did the torturing, believed this and thought what they were doing was right. you'd be supriced the things people do today thinking they are right
Man, surprising how much you can do with an RPG game. I wish some of the modern console games were this thought provoking. I mean, some like Mass Effect try, but even with their spectacular graphics they still fail to deliver the depth and engagement Arcanum managed. I really felt for the characters, for Virgil, for "Dog", and Raven, and all the others I came into contact with (Ranford Tewiliger, Loghaire, etc). They had depth, meaning, and realism that is very rare in games today.
dont forget maximillian :) the whole story of cumbria was so awesome. once i got an ending where war was declared between tarant and cumbria and that cumbria won with the use of technology O_o unfortunately i had no idea how i reached such an ending though :P
Oh, man, Cumbria was amazing! I don't know if you'll agree, but when I was there I felt isolated, as if in another world within Arcanum altogether. Not just because Cumbria was on the far end of the continent. There was so much mystery to the place - the burial place of St. Mannox and the Nasrudin cover-up around it, the main temple of the Panarii, Virgil's home and the place of his brother's death. Even Magnus' brother was there! And Magnus was such a deep character...wow
youre talking about Caladon :) although Caladon was really awesome as well. i ready liked the mysterious murders that ended up being done by a demon ^^ Cumbria was on the other side of the mountains, tha country that had rejected technology and was beaten in a war against tarant. but yea the whole mannox sting was amazing. hmm i think my biggest disappointment was that i never found a way to expose the whole half-ogre truth which starts with the siamese twin skulls...
YES!!! It was Caladon, thanks so much, I knew there was something wrong with using Cumbria. Caladon was amazing, so much to do. Cumbria was good though, 1st place I found in the game before going to tarrant. I always felt like a knight helping the old King when he told me about his daughter...Btw, that ogre conspiracy was an incredible plot twist...Oh how I wish they made a sequel where we were given the option to find out the truth. And Stillwater was great too, the priestess was very nice.
cumbria was special, even though you didnt have much to do. there was an old soldier in blackroot that told you about the war between tarant and cumbria in detail. i really liked cumbria because i too personally think that the new ways of warfare simply have no chivalry... the moment guns were introduced all chivalry was lost. in any case, the priestess in stillwater was TOO nice although i cant really complain :P the one place that really made me go 'WOAW' when i first went was qintarra :)
Quintara was a great place, especially solving the magick dwarv's murder investigation. Raven was great too; walking with her at night in Caladon was...well, you know. The Bedokaan Village was, for me, an incredible experience, especially getting one of the Bedokaan as a follower. Makes for a nice ending. Tulla was also one of my favorites, so distant and seculuded, and you can find the cure for lycanthropy for the man's daughter in Caladon. Overall, there's so much good stuff in Arcanum!
yup...way too many good thing to mention...the other awesome one was getting the dead pirates boat ^^ dunno if you heard but troika was working on another game...unfortunately i think the company closed or something before they could finish it...you can see footage from it if you type 'troikes mystery project' or something like that. a shame really, it looked so awesome :/ there will probably never be such an awesome game as arcanum
Indeed. I've just finished the game today, and I gotta say I was totally blown away by the ending. I would've never thought that so many of the choices you make can have an effect on the ending.
I feel like Arcanum is a timeless game. Not many have played it, and since it is no longer being made, it is only available to a small audience. I feel fortunate to have come upon it though, a small gem among all the generic games made today.
The new games on consoles with great graphics are good, but Arcanum, despite its minor flaws and outdated graphics, has a storyline that takes you to a different world, one that is almost tangible, real.
The "fun" part is there's quite a lot of truth in these words. Of course, in different sense, but the core is right.
P.S. It doesn't mean we should go and kill ourselves, lol. This life is a path every1 ought to pass. There's no short roads, only long ones and longer ones.
I Just wanted Kerghan to life, he shouldn't die because I really like him. And I wanted that he allowed my comrades to life. ( Vergil and all the others.)
I think its just hard to label something good without a reference to something evil (or vice versa), but that doesn't mean that a good with no opposite doesn't exist in reality (i.e. beyond a concept made by the human mind). At least in Arcanum, saying good can not exist without evil doesn't work because if you look at the afterlife that Kerghan loved so much - that was an example of pure good. Anyways, he is still wise to note that "happiness" and suffering are two sides of the same coin
Wait I just made a contradictory argument..I meant to say, that there may exist state of pure peace and happiness, but from what we know in reality (and in the "life" in Arcanum) the state of happiness we experience is usually tied to suffering in some way
Arcanum is one of the best RPG of all time, next to diablo and neverwinternights methinks. In fact I've already finished it a couple of times and it never ceases to amaze me, not because of the graphics, hundreds of bugs, and whatnots but rather the engaging storyline, nonlinear questing,etc. The argument between Kerghan and Arronax is my favorite part, makes you wonder what kind of peace kerghan experienced, is it like what people like us been longing to experience every day of our lives?
The final speech surely made player to think again who is afterall good & evil. Obviously Fallout's final boss "Master" has much common with Kerghan. Overall they both only want unification and peace, a final solution to all. From studying Kerghans diary it's obvious that he was severly shocked and traumatised from summoning dead and seeing the pain of life. It's obvious that Kerghan isn't compeletely evil, but then again in his mission he is very selfish and maybe too sure of his solution.
Kerghan is orderly evil, maybe not even evil, but 100% orderly for sure. His point of view is partially right, partially wrong. He thinks life is pointless, but it is not. He thinks he can restore order, but he doesnt even suspect that HE is the one who will bring distortion to the world.
I think you missed what he said... He said in death he found out that life was an unnatural occurance of what always was. A detour,a false reality, a painful torture and removal. He only wanted to end the unnatural suffering. If he was right... then he was the good guy.
Khergan went to the afterlife and found peace, in life we suffer, and when he found the peace, he wanted to make the world a more peaceful place. No more suffering, no more pain.
Yes, but I allready knewed that life is not just suffering. And then I sended him to a place where he wont suffer any more. Becides, he maybe has right to do it for himself, but not for other people. Nah... Now I am playing once more, he didnt tricked me not once! I saw "bad ending" here on youtube. That is how much I was discusted by him... I mean, I was on 3 years on a journey accross a continent and he brought so much misery to so much people. I killed him without a one single doubt.
Actually an Absurdist view would be the exact opposite of what Kerghan advocated here. Absurdism is concerned with keeping chaos alive. The absurdist would argue that even if life is pointless and full of suffering, that we should go on living anyway, just to keep the absurd alive. Human life is a great irony in which we feel we cannot go on without meaning and yet meaning exists nowhere objectively.
Thank you so much for posting this! I love this speech. Kerghan is one of the very few characters that take an Absurdist view of things. He's by far my favorite villain.
Good god, that was hardcore badass.
CrankyWizard 4 months ago 5
It's not about good and evil. It's all about truth. Kerghan was right. I chose to die.
Clientchuk 4 months ago
I killed myself after this speech, when i completed the game ( dont ask how im writing this)
coiso231 5 months ago
I'm replaying Arcanum now because I can't stand the modern shit. Arcanum + Planescape + Fallout, that's how I roll, bitches!
BleakCabaler 5 months ago
@BleakCabaler i enjoy fallout new vegas+dlcs. i hated the fans and the reviews by saying old world blues have to much text... bunch of lazy ass cod player and brain dead players.
Psquit 2 months ago
"I do not know nor do I care".
Kerghan just does not give a shit.
eqsaz 11 months ago 4
@eqsaz hes only saying he has no idea why life exists to begin with, when we are born into a world of suffering and then return to peace when we die.
bmarkeen 11 months ago 3
it would seem 2 people did not give Kerghan the chance to speak
bmarkeen 1 year ago
You know a villain is well-written when he actually makes a very persuasive argument for destroying all life.
(Assuming you consider Kerghan a villain, and I'm not so sure myself.)
FourthDerivative 1 year ago 11
Agreed, Kerghan.
PsionicumX 1 year ago
His speech really clouded my mind. He DID speak the truth but I still wasn't so sure...
SerbiaMaNiAC 1 year ago 3
This was, by far, one of the best villain speech I've ever heard. Do you know where I can find more speeches of equal epic awesomeness?
LordZeus100 1 year ago
You know why I love this game? Because with enough charisma you can explain Kerghan that he is wrong and avoid the fight:P
Dagaen 1 year ago 9
@Dagaen Jesus....... I bet you could even turn your enemy against each other
Umimugo 1 year ago
Comment removed
Webes0 1 year ago
THIS and planescape torment.
Atrahasis7 1 year ago
Arcanum is a timeless game not only because of it's engaging characters and storyline but because of its premise and realism. The idea that we act first, think later, and feel last of all is very powerful.
In a sense, Arcanum reflects much of modern society - subtle social castes, a technology craze, a fading out of the personal replaced with impersonal means of communication, environmental damage and poachers destroying natural habitats for progress and personal gain. Arcanum nailed it!
Homecountry 2 years ago 5
this game is a piece of art..
doee990 2 years ago 6
did my mother bring me to this place?
GriefTourist 2 years ago
lol this speech almost persuaded me when I played the game...I almost agreed with him but I had to know how hard it would be to kill him. My only problem with the game was that it was too easy :( aside from that it was and still is my favorite game. a true masterpiece
pwnsusername 2 years ago
Heh... the most epic speech in any game. Ever.
frylord333 2 years ago 9
Anyone remember Magnus' story? His supposed brother in Cumbria's cemetery, dialogue with Loghaire, and how he finds his home in the lost Iron clan underground? That's an amazingly detailed background for an optional companion. I can't think of a single new game that has companions that feel so real, where their story is told throughout the entire game and map...same with the skeleton at the temple that needs dragon blood, what was his name? He was part of the undead legion.
Homecountry 2 years ago
the news paper guy vanishes along with the book and i cant get to the isle of despair where theres an ogre that seems to know something about all this. anyways, i agree magnus's background is awesome. and i loved how virgil became either evil or good depending on what you did in sen'ang. the guy you mention is torian kel, soldier of the molokian hand ^^ a, ive played this game way too many times :P probably the best rpg ever, followed by nwn. never did play baldurs gate unfortunately
ghoulliver257 2 years ago
Oh, yes, Torian Kel!!! Man was that guy awesome or what. I thought he was going to be the generic evil 'slaughter all' type of character, but I never expected him to be polite, thoughtful, and to describe his situation with a hint of regret and deep emotion. Btw, do you remember the conversation possibility with Loghaire's son, about the Shape and Stone philosophy of the Dwarves? That took me by surprise like a storm - they really put a higher level of philosophical thought into the game!
Homecountry 2 years ago 4
yup, the persuasion skill for me was always a MUST in arcanum, as well as intellect potions, unless i was playing a technology char :) it really gave the game ta totally different perspactive. learning about dwarven stone and shape, persuading loghaire to become the king again, helping the orcs that revolted in the factory and making the agreement between tarant and caladon. and ofc being able to persuade kerghan that what he was doing was wrong and that he had misunderstood the pain of souls :)
ghoulliver257 2 years ago 2
I remember reading that if you play as an evil dwarf or human you may persuade Loghaire to attack Tarrant. never found out how though, and besides, Tarrant was my default city of refuge. I never felt welcome in Tarrant. At one playthrough I "evicted" Gilbert Bates and bought his mansion...definitely felt the negative change even more after that. Plus, the Boil was always depressing to deal with. Caladon negotiations were always fun, because so much work goes into being able to do them.
Homecountry 2 years ago
raven was really...nice ^^ but i also really liked the evil followers. jeffrey terllond-ash or something like that ^^, volliger the assasin and jan aloren and her visions. all the follwers were really awesome. the only rpg that comes close to arcanum concerning the follwers is neverwinter nights, but especially neverwinter nights 2 :)
ghoulliver257 2 years ago
wow seriously??? meh i never played a dwarf and as a human i was good...i usually went with the evil elf because then me and min'gorad could well....yea ^^ yea tarant was fun. especially doing quests for madam lil...hehehe good times ^^ come to think of it. that game had alot such references ^^ i always wanted to play an ogre and see maybe as an ogre i could find something out about the ogre conspiracy, but with their intelligence ogres are a bit boring to play :/ a i miss that game
ghoulliver257 2 years ago
@Homecountry I remember reading that if you play as an evil dwarf or human you may persuade Loghaire to attack Tarrant. never found out how though [...]
That was just a hoax spread by some members of a popular Arcanum fan site. Some versions even went as far to claim that Hervor, the mentally challanged dwarf in Shrouded Hills, was a secret agent of the dwarves.
There were other hoaxes, the most notable being The Lost Dungeon Of Souls mod disc, which turned out to be true after 8 years =)
FrigoCoder 9 months ago
Kerghan is the essence of everything that is evil....
And THAT I can call villain!!!
NathanRomml 2 years ago
Silver lady in quintara said "man draped in truth,but wearing a mask" she ments kerghan?
Necron214 2 years ago
If only I could show you the places I've seen, you might understand the things I say. I've been to the desolate lands, wandered by those souls who still see the lands of the living, but wear the cloak of the dead.Blind to their own ends, they cry, passing through one another like shadows, in the dying light of day. I've traveled to where souls rot in torment, pierced with the jagged shards of life and vision, clinging to memory, regrets of the flesh.
scott0link 2 years ago 4
I saw that this prison was of their own making, and the key was in unknowing and release.
And still, I traveled on.
And finally, I came to the place where souls go to die, where the mirrored and warm spirits fall into an endless sea of grey mirrored glass. And I lowered myself within, and laid there among them, and I almost did not return. And do you know what I found there? There among the silent and embattered shells of the innumerable? Peace. Enlightenment. Truth.
scott0link 2 years ago 3
Only then did I realize this place, this life, is an abomination, a horrible distortion of the natural order. This, life, who mothered pain, and fear, and envy, these twisted children who exist only because we are here to feed them, to nourish them! This, life, this, afterthought! A disturbance, a mere ripple in that grey, dead sea. Not even the cause, but merely an effect, sending these souls upward, screaming for release from the day when they are torn from their waters.
scott0link 2 years ago 3
The effect of what, I do not know, nor do I care.
Have you ever spoken with the dead? Called to them from this side? Pulled them from their silent rest? Do you know what it is they feel? Pain. Pain, when torn into this wakefulness, this reminder of the chaos from which they had escaped, pain at having to live. There will be no more pain. There will be no more chaos
scott0link 2 years ago 5
Can somebody write words he say?
salvor15 2 years ago
lol I played through some of this game,not all the way.But all your teammates die at the end? O_O
gunnutinfl 2 years ago
This is what part of what made Arcanum so great. The protagonist wasnt truly evil, he actually was trying to do something he felt was good. He wasnt nuts or arbitrarily evil, he felt he was doing something good.
Socinus 2 years ago 9
that isnt as rare as you think m8 for example during medieval times, when heretics or non believers were being tortured, it was supposedly to clense them from the 'evil' within them so that their souls would find peace. sure, the higher ups knew it was all crap, but agants of the church that actually did the torturing, believed this and thought what they were doing was right. you'd be supriced the things people do today thinking they are right
ghoulliver257 2 years ago 2
Man, surprising how much you can do with an RPG game. I wish some of the modern console games were this thought provoking. I mean, some like Mass Effect try, but even with their spectacular graphics they still fail to deliver the depth and engagement Arcanum managed. I really felt for the characters, for Virgil, for "Dog", and Raven, and all the others I came into contact with (Ranford Tewiliger, Loghaire, etc). They had depth, meaning, and realism that is very rare in games today.
Homecountry 2 years ago 6
dont forget maximillian :) the whole story of cumbria was so awesome. once i got an ending where war was declared between tarant and cumbria and that cumbria won with the use of technology O_o unfortunately i had no idea how i reached such an ending though :P
ghoulliver257 2 years ago 4
Oh, man, Cumbria was amazing! I don't know if you'll agree, but when I was there I felt isolated, as if in another world within Arcanum altogether. Not just because Cumbria was on the far end of the continent. There was so much mystery to the place - the burial place of St. Mannox and the Nasrudin cover-up around it, the main temple of the Panarii, Virgil's home and the place of his brother's death. Even Magnus' brother was there! And Magnus was such a deep character...wow
Homecountry 2 years ago
youre talking about Caladon :) although Caladon was really awesome as well. i ready liked the mysterious murders that ended up being done by a demon ^^ Cumbria was on the other side of the mountains, tha country that had rejected technology and was beaten in a war against tarant. but yea the whole mannox sting was amazing. hmm i think my biggest disappointment was that i never found a way to expose the whole half-ogre truth which starts with the siamese twin skulls...
ghoulliver257 2 years ago
YES!!! It was Caladon, thanks so much, I knew there was something wrong with using Cumbria. Caladon was amazing, so much to do. Cumbria was good though, 1st place I found in the game before going to tarrant. I always felt like a knight helping the old King when he told me about his daughter...Btw, that ogre conspiracy was an incredible plot twist...Oh how I wish they made a sequel where we were given the option to find out the truth. And Stillwater was great too, the priestess was very nice.
Homecountry 2 years ago
cumbria was special, even though you didnt have much to do. there was an old soldier in blackroot that told you about the war between tarant and cumbria in detail. i really liked cumbria because i too personally think that the new ways of warfare simply have no chivalry... the moment guns were introduced all chivalry was lost. in any case, the priestess in stillwater was TOO nice although i cant really complain :P the one place that really made me go 'WOAW' when i first went was qintarra :)
ghoulliver257 2 years ago
Quintara was a great place, especially solving the magick dwarv's murder investigation. Raven was great too; walking with her at night in Caladon was...well, you know. The Bedokaan Village was, for me, an incredible experience, especially getting one of the Bedokaan as a follower. Makes for a nice ending. Tulla was also one of my favorites, so distant and seculuded, and you can find the cure for lycanthropy for the man's daughter in Caladon. Overall, there's so much good stuff in Arcanum!
Homecountry 2 years ago
yup...way too many good thing to mention...the other awesome one was getting the dead pirates boat ^^ dunno if you heard but troika was working on another game...unfortunately i think the company closed or something before they could finish it...you can see footage from it if you type 'troikes mystery project' or something like that. a shame really, it looked so awesome :/ there will probably never be such an awesome game as arcanum
ghoulliver257 2 years ago
Indeed. I've just finished the game today, and I gotta say I was totally blown away by the ending. I would've never thought that so many of the choices you make can have an effect on the ending.
Skyfel 2 years ago
I feel like Arcanum is a timeless game. Not many have played it, and since it is no longer being made, it is only available to a small audience. I feel fortunate to have come upon it though, a small gem among all the generic games made today.
The new games on consoles with great graphics are good, but Arcanum, despite its minor flaws and outdated graphics, has a storyline that takes you to a different world, one that is almost tangible, real.
Homecountry 2 years ago 8
The "fun" part is there's quite a lot of truth in these words. Of course, in different sense, but the core is right.
P.S. It doesn't mean we should go and kill ourselves, lol. This life is a path every1 ought to pass. There's no short roads, only long ones and longer ones.
Kniazz 3 years ago 5
I Just wanted Kerghan to life, he shouldn't die because I really like him. And I wanted that he allowed my comrades to life. ( Vergil and all the others.)
Evilvillager1989 3 years ago
Is there a text of this speech? I have shit sound, and I'd love to be able to consider it a little more methodically.
MrCrawford8 3 years ago
Kerghan is not evil.
Good and evil can only exist as long as life exists.
Conquer the world and make everyone suffer would be evil (which is the typical dumb CRPG setting).
Kerghan realized that when you say yes to life, you also say yes to good AND evil - to happiness AND suffering.
Good cannot exist without evil. Happiness cannot exist without suffering.
So he sais NO to life.
That's why Kerghan sais NO to life.
foolonfire77 3 years ago 14
I think its just hard to label something good without a reference to something evil (or vice versa), but that doesn't mean that a good with no opposite doesn't exist in reality (i.e. beyond a concept made by the human mind). At least in Arcanum, saying good can not exist without evil doesn't work because if you look at the afterlife that Kerghan loved so much - that was an example of pure good. Anyways, he is still wise to note that "happiness" and suffering are two sides of the same coin
DoctorFist 2 years ago
Wait I just made a contradictory argument..I meant to say, that there may exist state of pure peace and happiness, but from what we know in reality (and in the "life" in Arcanum) the state of happiness we experience is usually tied to suffering in some way
DoctorFist 2 years ago
He's speech real brainwashed me... The first time I played I did choose the bad ending, couse I really believed him and thought it's a good one
TheUnboundReaver 3 years ago 50
you can convince him to suicide himself with high persuasion :D
lillustre1connu 3 years ago 6
This has been flagged as spam show
Hmmm... You should check your brain...
marcus10 3 years ago
Arcanum is one of the best RPG of all time, next to diablo and neverwinternights methinks. In fact I've already finished it a couple of times and it never ceases to amaze me, not because of the graphics, hundreds of bugs, and whatnots but rather the engaging storyline, nonlinear questing,etc. The argument between Kerghan and Arronax is my favorite part, makes you wonder what kind of peace kerghan experienced, is it like what people like us been longing to experience every day of our lives?
KerghanTheTerrible 3 years ago 2
Em... Diablo and Neverwinter Nights had nothing to do with RPG other than the character developement. RPG should be complex.
Kruszakus 3 years ago 8
go optimus prime
Euphorium 3 years ago 7
hahah :D good one
martinraiden85 3 years ago
what pisses me off about arcanum is that if u don't go to far out of ur way of the main quest u average abut +25 good
anticomi 3 years ago
anticomi being evil in the game is easy just kill civilians lol
evergreen334 2 years ago
The most magnificent of villains are those who mistake themselves for heroes.
NephilimNexus 4 years ago 14
"Life was an accident"
zppzxoox 4 years ago 12
" ... for the day you eat from the forbidden tree, you shall surely die ... "
ERiiK98 4 years ago
If Kerghan even met the Jigsaw Killer, they would get along like a house on fire. They have completely opposite views of life.
whatevr99 4 years ago 2
The Story of Kerghan and Loghair Tunderstone are really makes me think about the world itself. Rescpect.
ComradeHU 4 years ago 10
The final speech surely made player to think again who is afterall good & evil. Obviously Fallout's final boss "Master" has much common with Kerghan. Overall they both only want unification and peace, a final solution to all. From studying Kerghans diary it's obvious that he was severly shocked and traumatised from summoning dead and seeing the pain of life. It's obvious that Kerghan isn't compeletely evil, but then again in his mission he is very selfish and maybe too sure of his solution.
tuktuktok 4 years ago 44
Kerghan is orderly evil, maybe not even evil, but 100% orderly for sure. His point of view is partially right, partially wrong. He thinks life is pointless, but it is not. He thinks he can restore order, but he doesnt even suspect that HE is the one who will bring distortion to the world.
ArronaxTheProthet 4 years ago
I think you missed what he said... He said in death he found out that life was an unnatural occurance of what always was. A detour,a false reality, a painful torture and removal. He only wanted to end the unnatural suffering. If he was right... then he was the good guy.
jdfox37 4 years ago 11
Khergan went to the afterlife and found peace, in life we suffer, and when he found the peace, he wanted to make the world a more peaceful place. No more suffering, no more pain.
plzplz12232 3 years ago 2
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Yes, but I allready knewed that life is not just suffering. And then I sended him to a place where he wont suffer any more. Becides, he maybe has right to do it for himself, but not for other people. Nah... Now I am playing once more, he didnt tricked me not once! I saw "bad ending" here on youtube. That is how much I was discusted by him... I mean, I was on 3 years on a journey accross a continent and he brought so much misery to so much people. I killed him without a one single doubt.
marcus10 3 years ago
@tuktuktok They were made by the same three key people. Tim Cain, Jason D. Anderson and Leonard Boyarsky.
foomboom2 3 months ago
DEATH IS FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!
WeldoRubin 4 years ago 7
Actually an Absurdist view would be the exact opposite of what Kerghan advocated here. Absurdism is concerned with keeping chaos alive. The absurdist would argue that even if life is pointless and full of suffering, that we should go on living anyway, just to keep the absurd alive. Human life is a great irony in which we feel we cannot go on without meaning and yet meaning exists nowhere objectively.
ArthurPeauty 4 years ago 5
True, I suppose I wasn't really thinking when I made that post. I suppose a nihilistic view would have been more appropriate.
Either way, a very unique view for a video game villain.
L0rdVega 4 years ago 11
Thank you so much for posting this! I love this speech. Kerghan is one of the very few characters that take an Absurdist view of things. He's by far my favorite villain.
L0rdVega 4 years ago 3