1)This is NOT a troll, nor a request for a flame war.
2)All opinions in here are offered as my own, and offered for the sake of discussion, not as an attempt
to start another Galactic War.
Now that the preliminaries are out of the way....
Legends of the Galactic Heroes(LoGH) is, without a doubt, the character study of three things-
Yang Wenil, Reinheart von Lommengramen, and the war that exists between the Free Planets Alliance
and the Galactic Empire(and it's effects on people). The scope of this dicussion is Yang and Reinheart,
and nothing else.
If the universe is a pivot, then on one side stands Reinhart Von Lommengramen and his allies
and aides; with the other side being Yang Wenil and his allies and aides. When the two look across
at each other, they see very similar men, in many ways-an unhappy childhood(a drunkard father who
sold off his beloved sister for Reinheart, a father who went bankrupt and committed suicide for Yang),
enemies both in front and in back, and this burning urge to prove themselves.
For Reinheart, he wants just two things-the Imperial Throne and revenge on those who made
his sister Annarose into their pet. To get this, he drives, he suceeds, and he works as hard as possible.
When the series ends, he gets both-he is emperor of the Galactic Empire(and rules over the Free Planets Alliance) and his sister is no longer a royal concubine. But the cost is large-he loses Kirchris, his sister will no longer speak to him, and the blood of millions from needless battles and unnessisary slaughters coat his hands.
Yang, however, is a character study in the "greatness thrusted at him" person, in comparison to
"seize the day" Reinheart. He doesn't want to be a soldier-he became one only to pay off his loans for college. But he becomes a great soldier and a great leader of men. It is Yang who saves the FPA army twice in battle, evacuated El Facil, and took the "untakable" Islerton Fortress. Yet, he doesn't want the role,
and tries to leave it many times until he eventually accepts that he is a soldier and has to fight. And fight he does. Not for the governement of the Free Planets Alliance(which he despises), but because he wants to have him and the people at his command surivive.
When the two face each other, they have advantages. Reinheart has the advantage of being a better politician-he can keep the "meddlers" out of his work and pretty much run the battle the way he wants. In addition, he has a excellent set of fleet commanders and support officers who can back him up whenever he needs help.
What is Yang's advantages? In comparison to Reinheart, he is a genus in battle. While Reinheart can fight and hold his own against all other generals, Yang can beat him forces half the size, starving, and desperate. As well, Yang is very astute-he can see through most plots and Reinheart can very rarely pull the wool over his eyes. By all reasonable expanations, it should have been Yang and the FPA victorious over a defeated Galactic Empire and a beaten Reinheart.
But, for many, having Yang win isn't an option. Phezzenlen, and the Earth Cult, can't use Yang. But Reinheart is useable-and their plans are based on him winning, not Yang.
In a sense, it is Reinhart continually denined victory over Yang-at El Facil, at Islerton Fortress, at Astare, and at a number of other battlefields, Yang finds some way to prevent Reinhart from having a total victory. He can never win against Yang, and this "unbeatable" enemy is a continual, and continuous, source of frustration for him.
For Yang, he can never have victory over Reinhart-his fate has been ordaned by people who want Reinhart to win. In the greatest sense, Reinhart lost his battles with Yang but won the war. Yang won his battles with Reinhart, but lost the war. Not by any fault on either side, but because Yang was destined to lose and Reinhart was destined to win.
Jon Souza
Jon.Souza@Creature.Com
NoDUI@worldnet.att.net