Betrayal.
It cuts deeper than a blade.
You cannot be betrayed unless you trusted the other person.
You were giving something voluntarily, of yourself. Exposing yourself, in a sense, in hope the other person would not misuse their trust.
But they did.
I know that because I have been cheated on in the past.
I randomly replayed Dishonored after that.
And it showed me something.
If you’re betrayed, you have two choices. Burn everything down in revenge, or walk away with your soul intact.
Avoid the Logical Impulse
And let’s be honest, burning everything down is the logical reaction. And of course, you need to process these emotions, or they will poison you. But Dishonored has a brutal lesson to teach us.
The more you give into the darkness, the more your world reflects it.
But let’s talk about karma, revenge, and why Dishonored is basically a spiritual test in video game form.
In Dishonored, every action has consequences. In the game, you are actually betrayed twice. First, they assassinate the mother of your daughter, Emily, and blame you.
Thus, dishonor you as the Lord Protector of the Empress.
And then, the very same people that helped you get out of there Betray you, poison you, and leave you to die later to take the throne.
How does one forgive something like that?
But how you react to that in game influences the world itself and changes the ending of the game.
The Dark side of Revenge
If you kill everyone in your path, the streets fill with more guards, more plague, more suffering. Rats attack you on the street, and there are so many guards you have to kill them, because you almost can’t sneak past them anymore.
Emily, the future empress, your daughter, becomes cold and ruthless, mirroring your brutality.
And that ending is not pretty. While I started the game just knocking people out and trying to stealth around, towards the end I remember I was just like,
“I am done taking prisoners. You fuckers betrayed me twice. So whatever is coming your way, you deserve it.”
But the world turned a lot darker. Samuel, our good friend, who carried us everywhere in his boat, in the end threw us out because of it.
Emily turned evil:
“The others are all dead, aren’t they? That’s alright, because I was going to have them killed anyway. I am going to be empress.”
And I felt really bad for that ending of the game when I was playing it. It really made me think about my actions.
Because it was all done by me.
Yes, of course, other people cheated on me, but the world I lived in was created by my reactions to the betrayal.
You ARE the Co-Creator of Your Reality
I might not have made that world evil, But I definitely, definitely didn’t make it better.
I was on the same level or worse than the cheaters.
You have to understand, it isn’t God that makes us cheat or kill other people. It is only ourselves, humans,
we do these things to each other, it’s not God or any sort of influence.
It’s just ourselves.
The never ending cycle of killing.
As Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye and the world will be blind.”
Life will throw many curveballs your way, people will cheat you, betray you, try to ruin you, bad things will happen, all of it, we all go through shit, but how you react to them, if your soul is poisoned by them, decides your fate.
They are tests, and most humans are failing.
I noticed that holding a grudge and resentment towards my ex wife doesn’t help me at all, it just poisons my life, not hers.
I could carry this weight around forever, waiting for her to somehow restore justice. Even though I very much knew she can’t restore justice.
You can’t undo something like that, so what was I really waiting for?
Let go of Resentment and Reclaim Your Power
If you’re a feminist mad at all men, that doesn’t hurt the men.
It stops you from having a loving relationship.
If you’re a red pill guy thinking all women are gold digging bitches, that doesn’t hurt them.
It stops you from ever finding a good woman.
You attract what you are.
Being good in this game is extremely hard, and it takes much longer to play through. Much easier to let your wrath unfold and kill everyone. But I urge you to try it.
Play the game as a ghost.
No killings, no alarms, mercy to your enemies.
The experience will be much nicer. The ending will actually be more fun, and it’s also much more of a challenge.
And the weird thing is, life is much more fun this way.
See, Dishonored isn’t just a stealth game with cool powers. It’s a spiritual mirror.
The world you live in, the people around you, are a reflection of who you are. Unforgiveness and holding grudges traps you in suffering. It taints your worldview negative.
You are the creator of your world. Negative thoughts create a negative world.
Dishonored lets you choose.
Take the easy way, rage, revenge, bloodshed, or the hard way, restraint, strategy, control over your emotions. And let’s be honest.
The easy way feels good in the moment, but the right way, that’s how you break the cycle.
Forgiveness is For Kings
Let’s get one thing straight. Forgiveness doesn’t mean weakness.
Just because you forgive people doesn’t mean you have to stick with them or have to keep them around in your life.
I forgave my ex wife, but it doesn’t mean I’m still married to her.
It doesn’t mean you have to stick with toxic people, it just means that their betrayal doesn’t define your life.
You don’t forgive them for them, you forgive them for yourself.
Because carrying their darkness is like letting them rent space in your head for free. If someone betrayed you and you keep waiting for them to set things right, they live in your mind, poisoning it, free of charge.
They probably moved on even, but you’re still sitting there, seething.
Sometimes the strongest move isn’t revenge, it’s walking away with your peace intact. But of course, that’s harder.
It’s easier to burn everything down and to build something better.
And that, that’s why Dishonored is one of the greatest karmic lessons in gaming.
So what are you still holding on to? Who is still popping up in your mind for doing bad things to you?
Or the next time someone stabs you in the back, ask yourself, Are you going to feed the darkness?
Or are you going to forgive, move on, and create something better?
Remember, Jesus was brutally tortured and wrongfully nailed to a cross.
Yet in this moment, he said one of the most profound things ever.
“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
This isn’t weakness, it is unfathomable courage.
Jesus was the strongest man to ever walk the earth.
Because at the end of the day, he knew, you create the world you live in.
Through your actions
or the lack thereof.
Will you choose the easy way or the right way?
It’s not God who’s making you do things, good or bad.
The choice is entirely and only…
yours.
