The Golden One - Marcus Follin - Malus Darkblade - Great Books: But How Can I Endorse This Barbarism? Anti-Heroes and Individualism
Aired: 2019-11-28
Duration: 18:29


=== Aesthetic Booms and Fantasy Heroes (03:47) ===

[00:00:02]  Greetings, my esteemed subscribers.
[00:00:04]  I'm checking in from Nagarov, and today I want to talk a bit about Mollus Darkblade, one of my favorite fantasy books.
[00:00:11]  But before I begin to elaborate, I would like to aware you all of the fact that our friends and sponsors at Viking Jewelry have a Black Friday sale.
[00:00:23]  So you can use my code boom and get some nice discounts.
[00:00:29]  So head on over there and check out if you see anything you like.
[00:00:33]  And thank you to Viking Jewelry for sponsoring this video.
[00:00:37]  Now I saw a most joyous update from Total War.
[00:00:44]  And that is that Mollus Darkblade is coming as a playable character.
[00:00:49]  And massive shout out to John who gifted me with the DLC.
[00:00:54]  So I will definitely make Let's Plays on it since I've mentioned Malus so many times before.
[00:00:59]  Especially if you've been with me for a few years, you know I am a fan of Mollus.
[00:01:07]  Also, before I begin, let us admire this stream here in the forest.
[00:01:13]  I thought it would be the most appropriate to make another forest video when talking about Smallest Darkblade.
[00:01:36]  So I will show you a brief clip from the release trailer so you get an idea of how he looks and the overall aesthetics of it.
[00:01:44]  So here it goes.
[00:01:45]  Boom.
[00:03:13]  So the other man is the representation of a demon who have who has possessed Malus.
[00:03:21]  So Tsarkan, which I'll get to in a bit.
[00:03:25]  But first and foremost, a bit of history.
[00:03:28]  I read Mollus Darkblade about 10 years ago and this was actually my first, well one of my first favorite, one of my first fantasy books after Lord of the Rings.
[00:03:43]  And it was basically the same story as when I started reading Horus Erisi.

=== Dark Elf Pursuit (09:34) ===

[00:03:49]  That I just wanted to try something new and have heard, you know, Mollus Darkblade is a good book to read.
[00:03:57]  So that's why I tried it and yeah I was I was hooked, it was a good book.
[00:04:03]  A note here as well the first books of Mollus Darkblade is written by two authors Dan Abnett and Mike Lee.
[00:04:11]  Dan Abnett is also one of the primary authors of The Horror's Heresy.
[00:04:18]  So I credit both to Dan Abnett because he's such a great author.
[00:04:27]  So that is something to keep in mind.
[00:04:29]  Anyway, you might wonder why on earth would I as a radiant paladin endorse a typical anti-hero such as Mollus because that's something you have to keep in mind.
[00:04:42]  If you read Mollus Darkblade and you're a disciple of mine, I like using that term disciple, you might wonder how can I endorse this barbarism?
[00:04:55]  Well I'm not really endorsing Malus but I do believe it's a good book.
[00:05:01]  He is an anti-hero.
[00:05:03]  You're not supposed to like him really but you do it anyway.
[00:05:07]  It is Grimdark.
[00:05:09]  It has some dark humor in it as well.
[00:05:12]  But mostly it's him going around pursuing power completely lacking in morals.
[00:05:22]  The only sin in Nagarov is weakness.
[00:05:27]  One famous quote, another famous quote from Marlus Darkblade and this is something I've said before with enough hate anything is possible.
[00:05:37]  And no YouTube this does not count as hateful content.
[00:05:42]  I'm just quoting a book here, quoting a fantasy book.
[00:05:46]  So basically, I'm not going to spoil anything, but he gets possessed by a demon upon acquiring a sacred relic of power, and the books then revolves around him collecting more artifacts of power to liberate his soul from the demon.
[00:06:05]  And then also in regards to well, perhaps the gameplay you see in Total War is that he can call upon the demon Tsarkan to bolster his combat skills.
[00:06:18]  Basically so, but when he does so, he further strengthens the the demons hold on him.
[00:06:30]  So that is a moral dilemma.
[00:06:34]  He has now also a note on Dark Elf society.
[00:06:39]  They are degenerates.
[00:06:42]  They have cults of excess and they have all manners of debauchery and yeah, degeneracy in its proper sense.
[00:06:51]  So dark Elf society is not an ideal, and his being is not an ideal either.
[00:07:00]  For me personally, if I try to inspire others, I'm doing it from the position of being a valiant paladin, a champion of order and good.
[00:07:15]  That's my ideal at least.
[00:07:17]  Then, of course, no one is perfect.
[00:07:18]  I'm not perfect either.
[00:07:20]  Mollus Darkblade however, is an extreme individualist without any sort of loyalty to family.
[00:07:28]  The only loyalty they have really is if they are out for some common goal, achieving riches or glory together.
[00:07:38]  That's about how loyal they get.
[00:07:41]  It's just how it is, and of course, he's not supposed to be an archetypal hero, he's an anti-hero.
[00:07:52]  So, And I suppose it was a good thing that I read this when I was a bit younger.
[00:07:59]  If I'd read it today, I would probably think it was, I don't know, perhaps not as good as I thought back in the day.
[00:08:06]  But it also reminds a bit about Western society today.
[00:08:10]  The extreme individualism, the extreme egoism that you're only looking out for yourself, that you are willing to do a lot of things to attain personal power.
[00:08:25]  Now, of course, it's also important for someone like me to not be deluded into thinking that I have the support of everyone who is on the same side.
[00:08:41]  There is no such thing.
[00:08:43]  And a good example of this is when I got demonetized by YouTube.
[00:08:48]  Wasn't really all too much support that came.
[00:08:50]  There was some few guys who supported really, really much.
[00:08:55]  And that is similar to the notion of a pirate crew or for that matter a dark elf expeditionary force.
[00:09:07]  You are a few guys who are in it together, but this sort of broad support doesn't exist, it doesn't exist for me.
[00:09:16]  It's not because I am faulty or my subscribers are faulty, it's just how it is.
[00:09:23]  There is no unity or there isn't any movement either.
[00:09:27]  So it can be a good reminder to everyone that you know individualism is still what is up in Europe in the West today.
[00:09:36]  That being said let's admire this tree.
[00:09:56]  Could potentially be a good video if I try to run up there.
[00:10:02]  So anyway, that being said, Mollis Darkblade, do I recommend reading it?
[00:10:06]  Yes, it's a good book.
[00:10:08]  I might reread it.
[00:10:10]  I'm actually writing my second book right now.
[00:10:14]  And in that book, I am discussing culture basically.
[00:10:18]  And Mollis Darkblade will have a chapter dedicated to him, so I will probably reread the books to come with the most sharp of analysis.
[00:10:32]  So that being said, I have discussed how non-good Mollis is.
[00:10:39]  But what he is, at least, he is honest.
[00:10:41]  He's completely honest in his ruthlessness.
[00:10:44]  He's completely honest in his quest for power.
[00:10:50]  It's a little gathering of water behind me.
[00:10:54]  He is completely honest with what he is about.
[00:10:58]  He's not a hypocrite.
[00:10:59]  He does not pretend to be good and does evil.
[00:11:03]  He is out for one thing that is ultimate power, glory, gold, etc.
[00:11:09]  And that's also how dark elf society works.
[00:11:12]  And also in terms of the book itself, it's a quite motivating read if you are just looking for something to, I don't know, hit the gym or push through a hard time despite being down.
[00:11:28]  Because as I've mentioned at some stage, I think I might have actually done a video review of Mollus Darkblade a few years back, but he basically goes around in his pursuit of power and artifacts and glory, being wounded or half dead much of the time.
[00:11:48]  But he still pushes through because he Wants what he wants and he's not afraid to get it.
[00:11:56]  So, if I'm going to point to some something refreshing with the story, it's the honesty of it all that he doesn't pretend to be something that he is not.
[00:12:08]  As you might see from many other wolves in sheepskins, so to speak, stumble upon another aesthetic pool of water.
[00:12:43]  Hopefully it will look as visually pleasing in the YouTube video as it does for me walking around here.
[00:12:52]  Because now I am having a good old time reminiscing about good old Malus in Nagaroth, and the landscape of Nagaroth is basically what I envision this to be.
[00:13:06]  Dreary, somewhat cold forest.
[00:13:08]  It's not really all the cold though, but something along those lines.
[00:13:15]  So, that's basically my book review.
[00:13:18]  I can't really go into many of the details because I don't want to spoil it.

=== Why Fiction Fuels Motivation (05:05) ===

[00:13:23]  But the series is made out of several books, and he basically deals with different cities and different artifacts in the books.
[00:13:38]  And yeah, it's a great adventure novel as well for those of you who like that sort of thing.
[00:13:47]  But a word of warning: if you don't like anti-heroes, if you want a clear good and evil, it's not the book for you.
[00:13:55]  But if you want some good introduction to the Warhammer World fantasy, it's recommended.
[00:14:02]  And I mean, it's a very popular book for a reason.
[00:14:04]  I liked it for a reason as well.
[00:14:07]  But again, he is quite unsympathetic, at least in the beginning of the book, so keep that in mind.
[00:14:14]  And he is in no way, shape, or form a role model.
[00:14:18]  But you know, men are attracted to men who can attain power.
[00:14:25]  Just how it is.
[00:14:26]  Will be a coming video idea.
[00:14:27]  I will talk about Genghis Khan and Napoleon and Great Conquerors, why we admire them.
[00:14:33]  Yes, because it's hard to conquer things, it's hard to do what they did.
[00:14:39]  It's easy to be nice.
[00:14:42]  So yeah, that's another aspect to keep in mind.
[00:14:56]  Now something else I might have mentioned at some stage, it's the question, should you read fantasy?
[00:15:04]  Should you read science fiction?
[00:15:06]  Should you read anything that isn't a facts book or a philosophy book?
[00:15:12]  It depends.
[00:15:14]  It depends on where you are in life.
[00:15:18]  A lot of students are watching this and you have a lot of books to read for your university studies.
[00:15:26]  Then it might not be the best idea perhaps to read another heavy book in terms of intellectual stuff.
[00:15:38]  Then it might be better to read something immersive instead.
[00:15:44]  And it's the same thing if we're talking about gaining motivation as I mentioned earlier in this video that you want motivation to do something hard.
[00:15:55]  Again, gym motivation to push yourself in the gym.
[00:16:00]  It might be better for you to read something, a historical fiction book, science fiction book, fantasy book that makes you eager to pursue your goals.
[00:16:09]  That might be a better idea than to read a book by Julius Evola that you don't really get all too much from.
[00:16:18]  Now, of course, I do like certain parts of Julius Evola, but if I had to choose between having read Mollis Darkblade and a book by Julius Evola, say Ride the Tiger, yeah, I will be completely honest.
[00:16:33]  I gained more motivation and it had a larger impact on me to read Mollest.
[00:16:40]  To read Mollis.
[00:16:42]  Simple as that, I will not pretend to be to enjoy everything Julius Evola writes because he wrote his books a long time ago and they're translated from the original language which is Italian and some of his thoughts aren't really applicable in today's society.
[00:17:01]  Then of course other thoughts such as riding the tiger is something I really really like.
[00:17:08]  Racial materialism is something he talks about a lot.
[00:17:12]  The quality of the soul is something he talks about a lot as well.
[00:17:16]  All concepts I like really much but if we're talking about just pushing through getting that motivation fantasy is an absolutely legitimate way of doing so.
[00:17:28]  So I would encourage everyone to not be pretentious same thing as I talked about Moby Dick.
[00:17:36]  I didn't want to be all oh this is a great classic that I enjoyed so much and everyone has to read it because I would lie if I said that I didn't enjoy reading Moby Dick.
[00:17:47]  So because it's ultimately about the utility of books as well can you get motivation from it or can you not?
[00:17:56]  Is it just something that you don't look forward to?
[00:18:00]  Because you want the book to be immersive, you want to really get into the story, you want to enjoy the story, you want to have a break from your everyday life.
[00:18:10]  So it becomes a bit like meditation.
[00:18:12]  You just immerse yourself completely in something.
[00:18:15]  So anyway now I have rambled on long enough of Molly's Darkblade and yeah I look forward to making the Let's Place later on.
[00:18:27]  So thank you for watching.
[00:18:28]  Execzo.