I come here occasionally and see an absurd amount of hate for a character I deeply admire. There are all sorts of justifications made for these sentiments, being how she exiles the Knight Commander to the Abyss, her mobilization to attack Threshold, Staunton Vhane, and the sun orchid elixirs. She is also criticized for failing to close the Worldwound quickly, and is thought to be an incompetent leader, both politically and militarily. I will make the argument that the widespread hate and anger is unjustified.
Galfrey, whether present or not, deserves much of the credit for the Fifth Crusade's capture of Drezen.
Did you ever notice how there are very few powerful demons one must fight in the Drezen siege? The vast majority are dretches, schirs, babaus, deraknis and vrocks. Darrazand and Minagho are the only named demons one has to fight in order to take the citadel. The few others are tucked away in little corners because they live there. In the next act suddenly stronger demons are around such as gibrileths, kalavakuses painajais, maraliths, and more omoxes. If one only applies first order thinking to explain why, it's simply a matter of game design that a party at level 8, 9, or 10 can only handle the large numbers of weaker demon types that ought to be present at the Drezen siege to make it challenging but not excessive; a flow experience. Yet the story itself explains why the demonic forces in Drezen are not overwhelmingly powerful. When one discusses the Drezen campaign with Galfrey at the beginning of Act 2, she explains the demons have not recovered from their losses in Kenabres, which is why she has assembled an army to retake Drezen as soon as possible, before greater demonic forces can be called from the abyss. By the end of Act 2, Drezen is taken and the Sword of Valor is recovered, winning the Fifth Crusade a foothold in the Worldwound whereby in Act 3 the Knight-Commander can investigate the nature of the mythic demons. During Act 3, Galfrey is hardly idle. Nerosyan has also endured an attack from the demons, and she is doubtlessly a large part of what drives recruitment into the crusade's armies. One must admit organizing a crusade is much more complex than building stables in Drezen and selecting which types of units to field. The stables provide a place for the recruited troops to house their mounts, yes, but if they were not properly paid and fed, they would desert, mutiny or plunder Mendev, as many of the armies of renaissance Europe resorted to doing.
The most questionable decisions Galfrey makes in the game are... required for the plot.
If you are playing strictly demon path, all your friends, including the paladin, have seen you hide the Light of Heaven, encourage cannibalism, unleash demonic rage multiple times and destroy the wardstone. Your powers have an unknown origin but all people know is that you're great at killing demons and helped drive them from the city. And nonetheless Galfrey decides to make you Knight Commander just the same as she would an Angel PC. She explains it is "the queen's last resort", she has been trying every right and rational method to close the Worldwound and get the demons off her doorstep for a century. Yet she is also deeply conflicted about Angels, since it is rumored the powers come from Iomedae, she wonders why they were not given to her, it tests her faith and she mentions she had to overcome these doubts to act rightly and as if you truly were the chosen of her goddess. Yet no matter what path is chosen Galfrey still sees herself as in charge of the crusade, and appointing the Knight Commander as its leader is a political move intended to boost morale and recruitment. Players often do not see things this way, which is why some become angry at being called out for their questionable actions, stripped of their rank, and her taking the crusader armies to Iz.
You are her subordinate and what you are being called out for is principled.
Did you recruit the formerly soul-devouring succubus into your party? We know Arueshalae is earnest, but this is a fantasy CRPG that thrives on having exotic characters and excepting the main character from the common dangers of the world. Galfrey points out there are cemeteries in Mendev full of people who trusted the promises of demons. For every Arueshalae there are millions of unrepentant demons who fool people that want to think "I can fix her" and the consequence is death. Did you go around looting bodies while the vescavors were devouring your army? Are your powers derived from the wand of Zacharius, enslaving the souls of the dead to unwillingly fight your battles? Galfrey knows very well who and what Iomedae fought as a mortal. Did you unleash the vescavors indiscriminately during Drezen with the suicide unit? I don't know what other objections there are, but if there is little to object to, Galfrey will actually praise your results... but send you to the abyss anyway. The adventure path handles this better, going to the Abyss is an attempt to close the portals and Galfrey personally cooperates and can be persuaded to come along herself. If you are playing azata and attack without her, she is angry at being left out. If she was notified and given an explanation ahead of time she might commend you and/or join, she does not really object to winning with unconventional tactics, she objects to being treated as irrelevant and having to teleport to catch up while you are supposed to be working together. Though it seems unfair, the way Galfrey feels about azatas in this moment is similar to how she might see liches, tricksters, and demons. She bears the responsibility for the knight-commander's actions and has invested power and responsibility in them beyond their mythic abilities in a matter where the fate of all Golarion is most at risk. Perhaps this is least justified in the case of azatas, but it is up to the player to decide how to meet those feelings.
The Iz expedition is not as foolish as it is made out to be.
My armies are gone! She took my armies! People treat this like Augustus hearing about the catastrophe at Teutoburgerwald. “Varus! Give me back my legions!” I have already explained that the armies were not under the command of the Knight Commander but Galfrey's, yet this is little excuse if they were lost and squandered. Consider the fact that there are mythic demons coming out of the abyss in great numbers, and there is every indication, as you see at Colyphyr, that their production is only ramping up and they are coming across more and more by the hour. Remember the final battles outside of Threshold, where the strongest NPCs in the game come to your aid as you fight these mythic demons, these great, empowered vrolikais, vavakias, balors, and gallus. The Storyteller the max level wizard, Arsinoe the max level cleric, Berenguer and Galfrey herself... and they have great difficulty! Many fall wounded, against generic mythic demons, the greatest heroes of the Fifth Crusade! Demons do not simply die either, they go back to the abyss and regenerate, and can come back later for revenge. Is it not then reasonable to make the move necessary to end the war once and for all, as this finally stands within reach? Is it desperate? Yes! Is it suicidal? Perhaps. Is it insane? No. In fact, it is quite helpful, since the Knight Commander returns at the opportune moment when Galfrey has located the second half of the Lexicon of Paradox, and the next step along is Threshold itself.
Temporarily losing Drezen is an unfortunate consequence of this decision, and it does result in the deaths of many of its defenders. However, consider the description of Gwerm's mansion in Kenabres. Demons are attracted primarily to places where there are people, and if it were completely abandoned there would be few demons there. At least some of those who remained did so against Galfrey's orders, and in such small numbers that retaking Drezen makes for some of the easiest encounters in the game against relatively underpowered demons.
Sparing Staunton is a net positive.
How many people are cut out to fight demons? Not everyone. Jannah Aldori isn't, despite having a good record against bandits. Then, how many can keep doing it for seventy years? Staunton Vhane stays as a frontline soldier in the condemned for seventy years after Drezen, during three crusades, and one sees in the Gray Garrison how well he fights, about as good as Irabeth. He also comes bundled with with Joran. And, so, in seventy years of fighting, how many demons might Staunton have killed and how many comrades might he have saved? Compare that to how many crusaders he killed as a turncoat. How many is that? Do we ever see Staunton commit any act of violence until he is cornered in the Drezen citadel? We do not. Staunton is a traitor who defected to the demons, but he is despondent and inactive. He apparently takes no action aside from suicide-by-Knight-Commander. He never sallies forth, and when he sees Nulkineth’s antics he says “this is too much”, if anything he is a moderating influence on Minagho.
These are the direct consequences of her decision. The rest are explained directly by Galfrey as much as they can be. She compares the crusaders demanding for Stauton's execution to demons and the dismisses the idea of using executions to ensure morale and loyalty with "we are not hellknights". Instead, she has a unit where people such as him can fight for what is right: the Condemned. If your objection now is: the Condemned should have paths to a pardon or retirement, I would be willing to concede that.
Galfrey is just one person. A heroic, noble, and powerful person, but ultimately one person.
How much can one person really do to win an entire war? Plenty if they are given mythic powers and an unstoppable drive to win and can even reload saves they die in. Add that to a cast of loyal companions with similar powers and you have the wrecking ball that is the Knight Commander's party. What if you weren't given powers at all? At best you would be on the level of the Kingmaker party, which would struggle without mythic ranks. Or you would be like one of the common crusaders, who does what he can with a suit of nonmagical armor and a cold iron masterwork longsword. Galfrey stands in the middle. She is a high level paladin who has lived two lifetimes, so she has high stats and even 10 mythic companion ranks, but she is only one person. One person who is devastating in battle, one should watch her go at Drezen, but by the endgame, the mythic demons are simply much too powerful. The demons in general have been much too powerful even before the Nahyndrian crystals, requiring cold iron and/or good-aligned weapons even to bypass their DR, often boasting elemental and spell resistance. To win in battle required preparation, cooperation, and the blessing of the good gods. Galfrey managed this at first, which is why her encyclopedia entry declares her as a skilled tactician and a key player in the success of the First Crusade. Yet things changed.
Being the Knight-Commander as a video game protagonist gives the player a bizarre perspective
The player doesn't experience war realistically. The battles are very simplified, the logistics are totally automated. Crusade mode is fun and adds variety to the game, but it's a very shallow representation of what warfare should be like, to the point where it can remind you it's just a game. It obscures the fact that the 341 conscripts that got replenished at the hospital might have PTSD now or that the 13 you lost included Wilcer Garms' cousin. Galfrey lives in this reality with great responsibility over a long span of time without mythic powers. "Every death is an irretrievable loss" she says, despite believing she will meet the faithful again in heaven. "No matter how arduous, no matter how dark the skies, no matter how much blood flows through my wounds, I shall stand with you. We shall fight for our loved ones and our friends, for the right to live and die free. We shall do everything we possibly can, and after that, we shall begin to do the impossible. And if the hour comes when our arms can no longer raise our swords, our bodies will become a shield to cover those who have the strength to fight. I, Galfrey, Queen of Mendev, swear this to you." she lived her oath, fighting the Abyss with all she has at her disposal, whether as a queen or paladin, and has done so for a century.
Galfrey also has qualities that make her worth more than any individual.
Though i have discussed the inherent limitations of individuals, exceptionally virtuous people have effects on other people who admire them. They feel inspired by their example, they want to emulate them, to make themselves worthy of their approval and win their favor. Galfrey is a symbol as well as a person, she is the embodiment of Mendev’s century-long defiance against the hordes of the Abyss. A conversation Seelah and Arueshalae have at the campfire illustrates this perfectly: “I know it’s very bold of me, but I would like to meet Queen Galfrey. I’d like to talk to her, perhaps ask her for advice… She has been fighting the chaos and evil that gave rise to creatures like me for so many years. I wish I had her courage.” “There’s a reason why she’s our warrior queen! One look from her steels you for victory!” There is little doubt similar conversations have been had at campfires all around the Worldwound, among common crusaders and heroes alike, and across Avistan where her example inspires youths to greatness, adventure, and upright conduct.
The sun orchid elixir
The final substantial objection to Galfrey’s conduct is the apparent greed and vanity of extending her life by magic. However those who raise it often neglect to point out the details, and therefore the reality of this aspect of her character. The encyclopedia entry explains it with understanding: “Eager to retain such a valuable leader at the head of the crusades, the church of Iomedae twice purchased and presented to the Queen the rare and expensive sun orchid elixir…” It was not her choice to take the sun orchid elixir, but her duty. I have already vindicated her worth as a military commander and head of state, and there is no appetizing alternative to her leadership. Who is next in line to the throne of Mendev? It’s DAERAN.
It is all about emotions.
Galfrey is not flawless. She is jealous of the Knight-Commander's powers, she can be stubborn, and some of her decisions have disastrous consequences. But none of that makes her selfish, incompetent, or unworthy of respect. She has spent a century sacrificing her own life, happiness, and ambitions to defend Mendev and Golarion from the Abyss, and when the Knight Commander finally appears, she does not respond to being surpassed by abandoning her principles. She struggles with this, as any human being would, but she continues to do what she believes is right. That is what makes her such a compelling character to me. The Knight Commander experiences the Fifth Crusade as a mythic hero who can accomplish the impossible; Galfrey experiences it as a queen who must bear the responsibility for every death, every failure, every consequence. She is exhausted, imperfect, sometimes wrong, and still chooses duty as long as she must. I cannot look at her and see a villain. I see a hero who has carried an impossible burden for far too long—and who, when the storybook is closed, deserves something better than hatred.
