Quote:
Originally Posted by Traece
I've said it before, but I maintain the theory (which has been backed up yet more in the most recent episode) that Maou was less driven by evil and more driven by a desire to rule the world and be a good leader to his people. Demons are still people who need to be cared for and guided, although a bit more bloodthirstily. Maou was just being the best darn overlord his people could ask for.  |
Much like with Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, the "demons" here aren't extra-dimensional Eldritch Abominations. They're more like Aliens, in the strict sense. Each side kills each other and there's really little moral difference between the sides. (Remember, they've already shown Emilia standing over a burning field of slaughter. Her hands aren't exactly clean in this either)
So if you think of the other world more in terms of something like Macross or a Star Trek episode, it seems to make a lot more sense. Even most of Maou's thinking/actions here. (He lost and he's in a new world, why does he want to go back and "play again"? There's a different, less deadly form of conquest available on planet Earth)
The only bit that's truly fantasy is a part of Maou's character. Aisel's as well. Power corrupts; Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely. (Lord Acton, talking about Historians, no less) Few really grasp what real power does to a person's thinking. He shows no signs of the process that will take naive, ideological 18 year olds and turn them into wanton murders, without a single hint of empathy left in them. (Few of the Communist dictators were truly of the "thug" variety, as they needed the personal appeal that limits the rise of a Thug.) So, that's the "fantasy" aspect of it all.
Now, you can make an argument that since he's a demon, it doesn't work quite that way, and I think that's a good way to take the story. Especially since Power acts more like an intoxicant or drug than most realize. It's the reason a dictator won't take exile, in most cases, even when angry mobs are attempting to find and slaughter him. (Being one of the richest men on the face of the Earth, just in exile, isn't enough for them. Think about that.)