Hello all. Today I stand before you once again, probably for the final time, to debate this topic. I’ve done this many times, and this time I decided to use all the facts. Instead of telling you to go look, I’m bringing them right to you. Since the trailer for BL was released, there has been a lot of hatred directed at the love of my life. Yes, Variks. I’m here to once again debunk your arguments, and prove you are wrong about Variks. Let’s start with the easy fact that Variks saw the traveler leave his people and he had to deal with complete chaos. None of you would be mentally healthy after seeing your family slaughtered. Can we keep that in mind? I could say a lot more about his past, but let’s keep it short cuz most of you don’t care about his mental health, lets be real. Moving on to HoW. “I was House Judgement scribe. I stood with Skolas for much of Reef Wars. Now, I stand with you in Judgement of Wolf Kell. That feels…right, somehow.” -Variks Variks openly admits he worked with Skolas and that he’s changed sides. Now, when you want someone to believe you’re on their side, wouldnt you want to give a more convincing argument than “it feels right”? That’s because he’s telling the truth and speaking his mind. “Skolas was vicious, even for a Fallen Kell. I could not stomach his hate.” -Variks “New tactics. Detonations. Blasts in civilian areas. Take the fight to them, he said. Cannot abide the hate. Uprising, they called it. Uprising on Cybele.” —Variks, clearly having good heart For those who use Variks being disloyal to Skolas as some flimsy argument, im here to burst your bubble. Variks saw some things none of you would be able to stomach unless you’ve fought in a war. If you realize you’re on the wrong side of the war, what would you do? Loyalty would keep you on the side of murderers? Since people love to say Variks is a proven traitor because of this. So, choosing the right side when you realize your place is morally wrong means you’re a liar and a traitor? I’m sorry, are we living in backwards world? Condemning Variks for making the right choice is totally asinine. I’m sorry that I just feel I shouldn’t even have to argue for that one. Now, what everyone seems to forget. Variks [i]saved[/i] the awoken and possibly Earth itself. “After the Fortuna Plummet, one of Prince Uldren’s crows returned with a message from a fallen, by the name of Variks, of the House of Judgment.” “In desperation, Skolas personally led an all out assault on the military fortress of Cybele. Little did he know that the Queen knew of his plans, thanks to the word of Variks.” “The Reef Wars were effectively over.” —Abstracts from the Maraid If you haven’t read this, I suggest you do because do you have any idea how many people died in this? How close House Wolves came to winning? “As soon as we saw them, it was clear that if the Wolves reached Earth, the City would [i]fall[/i].” -Abstracts from the Maraid The only reason Skolas is dead is because of [i]Variks[/i]. The only reason this war halted is because of [i]Variks[/i]. What thanks have you given him for the lives he saved? No one even [i]remembers[/i] this. What a great reward for his actions. Doubts and insults. If a veteran hero of war was treated this way in real life, it would be considered absolutely repulsive. So, what’s your excuse? Race? Your own ignorance? Hey awoken, you’re welcome. Hey earth, you’re welcome. Oh, and remember Taniks? You’re welcome, because Variks helped you get him too. “She kept them frozen in her prison, the Prison of Elders, and she gave the keys to that prison to my buddy Variks, a Fallen who showed her loyalty.” -Cayde 6, your vanguard, said Variks was loyal and his friend. Now, let’s take a step back for a moment to observe the best lines in this game from our beloved NPCs ! “Filthy fallen” -awoken Corsair “If you’re looking for mindless violence, go talk to that fallen creature over there” -Ives “Variks is about all I can stand right now” -Petra “Variks has his uses, but be careful. He holds to many alliances.” -Petra “If we’re going to talk, you’re going to buy me a drink” -Cayde “Not unless you want to lose your last two real arms. We're done. Get. You're bad luck." -Cayde “You want me to take you to the City? No way, bug.” -Cayde Can’t find where she said it but Eris called him a fool back in D1 Oh and the things you guys say, like about putting a bullet in his head. You’re the guardian, after all. This isn’t everything but it’s plenty enough. So... I wonder what Variks has to say about these people? Must have some nasty things to say in return I bet. Let’s start with the awoken who call him filthy fallen? Oh... He calls them his adopted people. “They do not believe I love the Queen. But I do.” -Variks, about Mara “You are might and justice, my Queen, my Kell.” -Variks, about Mara Variks also advised his brothers to serve Mara as their Kell. “Go to Eris and ask her to listen to the Echoes. She is wise in ways of the Hive. Eris will find [Malok]” —Variks about Eris “Talk to Petra, she could use a smile.” -Variks about Petra “If his anatomy allowed for it, he would have smiled in kind. Hers was a heart always in the right place...” —Variks’s thought on Petra from the book Most Loyal “You are my friend.” “You’re part of our history now.” “Come here, let me thank you.” —Variks’s various quotes about the guardian. “They call me betrayer. They do not think I hear the words. "Bug." "Insect." "Fallen." I hear. House of Judgment always hears. No choice. Has to. To keep Houses together. Had to.” —Variks How long do you all like to pretend you’d last while being harassed in your own “home?” Plenty of humans break under far less pressure than Variks had on his shoulders. Imagine risking your life, risking everything you believe in, for your enemy. And then having open arms to them, helping them, being kind. Only for them to turn around and say this sh*t about you. Stop acting like you’d have done any better than Variks in this situation cuz most of you would have done worse. Most people don’t even have the mental capacity to set aside their pride for this sort of thing. Now for those of you who accuse him as if he [i]wanted to be Kell of Kells, as if he wanted to take this position.[/i] Allow me to present the facts. “Petra: Heh. Maybe you are the Kell of Kells. Variks (distracted by screen): Looks like Skolas returns to Venus. Petra: I'll find the Guardian.” — conversation between Variks and Petra in D1 Variks doesn’t even want to answer or entertain that thought. “Variks keeps a ragged piece of armor in his pod. It's human tech, Golden Age. Shattered in some ancient battle, pre-Collapse, and left to drift. He found it and he brought it to his quarters so he could sit on it. It's nothing like a throne. Variks doesn't want a throne.” More proof for you. “Skolas has been captured, mad Skolas who would have ruined everything. Variks should be happy. He's not. With his little knife and his two arms and his stolen shining thing he feels like a Dreg. He feels ashamed.” Do I enjoy sharing this? No. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t like to reply to people with facts when arguing about this. It’s such a slap in the face that you can’t just go and see the fact that Variks didn’t want to be a Kell. Variks had a good heart. Even though Skolas was mad, he feels bad about the “betrayal.” So once again, those of you who like to harass him about that? Try again. He already feels terrible about this. He doesn’t need you bashing him as well. “He betrayed Skolas twice. At Cybele, and again, now. He will betray Skolas' dream ten times more. Variks will never be strong like Skolas, big like Skolas, a leader like Skolas. Variks will work for the Queen, oversee the Prisons, watch his fellow Fallen (they are Fallen, it's a good name now) fight and die as gladiators who want nothing except a chance to hurt Guardians. Even Skolas.” I don’t even need to explain this. You know why these quotes are here and they prove you wrong about him. “The Fallen interlocked his upper hands. He bowed his head as he allowed himself to really feel the impact of that abomination on the screen. He never would have allowed anyone else to see this, but it hurt. Seeing the horror that was “Sepiks” made anew. His people had fallen. Variks stared at the image of Sepiks. And as he’d done before, he wondered what would have gone differently had he been there, among his people. Could he have stopped this before it happened? Could he have found them a better way?” Now, let us move to the ever sensitive topic of forsaken. I’m not going to beat around the bush here. Here are the facts down below.