Prince of Thorns

Jorg is not only willing to risk his life in pursuit of his goal of gaining power, he is also more than happy to risk other people’s lives or outright discard them as he deems fit. Some of Jorg’s willingness to sacrifice anyone and anything comes from his view of political struggle as “the game.” Just as viewing his quest for power as a game allows him to depersonalize the prospect of his violent death, this perspective also allows Jorg to dehumanize those around him. By viewing his followers as mere tools for his use, he excuses himself from feeling any moral compunction about their deaths.

Well before Jorg learns about “the game,” Jorg’s father teaches him hard lessons about “pain and loss and sacrifice” (289). Indeed, Jorg’s father displays a harshly utilitarian attitude towards other people—so much so that, when he is sick after his rescue from the hook-briars, Jorg doesn’t believe Lundist when the tutor says that Olidan will visit him, thinking to himself “my father would not waste time on me when it seemed I would die. I knew he would see me when seeing me served some end” (27). Jorg again references this aspect of his father’s character when he goes to rescue Makin from Olidan’s dungeons. Makin is weak and has difficulty standing, and Jorg ponders what to do. In the end he tells Makin “I’m my father’s son” (322) to warn the knight that he will be abandoned if he cannot keep up.

And, yet, there are certain things that Jorg is loath to sacrifice. Most obviously he refrains from killing Princess Katherine despite having the opportunity. Katherine is cunning and pretty, and her sister is Jorg’s enemy, so he has every reason to remove her as a threat. Moreover, Jorg is attracted to Katherine and considers that attraction a “weakness” (314) since it can be exploited. He refrains from killing her for two reasons. The first is that he is genuinely attracted to her in a way he has never been to another woman. The second is that he realizes that Corion is attempting to manipulate him into killing her so that leaving her alive is an act of resistance against the sorcerer’s control. 

Besides his unquenchable thirst for power, Jorg is largely motivated by a desire for revenge that is at times at odds with his philosophy of sacrifice. Despite leaving the Tall Castle in order to take revenge upon Renar, Jorg quickly desists from trying to get to Renar and spends the next four years pillaging with the brothers. Jorg eventually learns that this is due to the influence of Corion but, while he still believes that it was his decision, he rationalizes it by thinking of his revenge as being “a thing without profit” (49) that he set aside in pursuit of power.

It is only when his desire for revenge is rekindled that he turns aside from the aimless plundering he has been engaged in for years and begins his journey towards real power. His decision to ambush Renar’s men when they return to Norwood makes it necessary for the brothers to take the Lichway in order to avoid retaliation by the Count. By taking the Lichway, Jorg stumbles across Father Gomst, which in turn prompts him to decide to return to the Tall Castle.

Following his father’s attempt to murder him, Jorg would seem to have good reason to seek revenge on Olidan but instead sets out for Corion. When Makin expresses his bewilderment at the decision, Jorg explains that Corion is the true driver of Renar’s actions. If Jorg is to get revenge for his mother and brother, Corion is the true target. Nevertheless, it seems that Jorg is learning when to balance desire for revenge with strategic thinking. No doubt Jorg will attempt to take his revenge and kill his father. For now, though, removing Olidan from “the game” is not the highest priority.

Although Jorg learns to balance vengeance against his other goals, he is clearly unwilling to give it up completely. In his encounter with the angel, Jorg asks her: “I could go with you, Lady. I could take what you offer. But who would I be then? Who would I be if I let go the wrongs that have shaped me?” (300) The injuries done to him and his desire for retribution define him.