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Loss and Return  He's baaaaaack. Perhaps it was due to the impending deaths of Maxim and Selan that Dekar was not allowed to retain his honorable demise (too many main characters dying = not a good thing?). But whatever the reason, bringing a character back after they made a sacrifice sort of cheapens said sacrifice. It reduces it to a mere misunderstanding, and that takes the edge off the emotional impact that such an event was crafted to bring. The best comparison I can make is the scene with Tia and Dekar in Parcelyte. Imagine Maxim suddenly abandoning Selan, running to Tia and telling her he changed his mind. Suddenly Tia's angsty outpouring isn't quite so touching — ultimately, it wasn't even necessary! Too, when bright, cheery characters like Dekar take the fall so their friends can live, the sacrifice is all the more poignant. It reminds us in a very shocking way that death comes to everyone, even those who don't think about it — and conversely, it that it doesn't always come to the darker characters or to those who court it obsessively. I also argue that Dekar would have wanted to join his friends in the final battles against the Sinistrals. He's a real big showdown kind of guy, and those monsters in Portravia were dealt with very quickly. His rivalry with Idura factors in here as well: It's fitting that the two of them meet their ends in the same place, still stubbornly facing off. And despite Ruins of Lore, it's really difficult to see an old Dekar. It's almost out of character! Guys like him don't grow old; they die as heroes. Or at least they should. |