[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by fukarming

Spoiler for My thoughts of ep 5:

The honorary and courageous ice general, along with his entire troops, being betrayed by his own kind (Maou) and caught in a trap, between his own kind (the faires) and the humans, got mercilessly massacred despite fighting a courageous battle, despite making good battle judgement (trying to retreat instead of stupidly "fighting to the last man despite futile effort.

While Maou has her reason to do what she does, but she actually unite with her race's enemy to hit her own kind for her personal gain (I think it touch on briefly that the demon world is not an absolute monarchy, and she has no direct control over other powerful demon lords. If the war against human ended the demon lord will fight against each other, so maybe they will fight her tribe too, and her tribe is not known for battle prowness). In history we have Brutus, Benedict Arnold and Wang JingWei, all are considered classic traitors despite all of them have their own reasons. What makes Maou different?

Actually, Ice General could have chosen to retreat with his men. He'd probably have made it. (It's not detailed in the anime, but the crusaders weren't really in shape to fight the demons - they were just there to scare them into abandoning their position, not to actually cut off their escape).

As for you question regarding Maou, two things:
- she's technically the demons' ruler. She wouldn't have to use such indirect means if they'd just listen to her.
- her goals are larger and more altruistic than personal ambition.