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Faith Mitchell
Professor Lewis
English 115
19 September 2014
Why the High Warlock is a Good Person
Sometimes it is necessary to look deeper into a character to see the truth within them.
Many times a character can come off as a bad or uncaring person even though they have the best
intentions. Putting too much pressure and expectations upon a character can cause them to sway
from their true self and although some may go off track for some time, there is always time to try
to change and be a better person. In Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green, the High Warlock is
looked at as a cruel person, but deep down he has many positive characteristics about him that
make him a caring, and loyal person.
A High Warlock is a very powerful and magical person. Their powers can do many
things including time travel, wound healing, shape shifting, and many more. In this novel the
High Warlock is one of the most powerful people and was on his way to becoming a Sorcerer
Supreme. He was learning and growing more powerful and enjoyed being able to use his powers
for good. Unfortunately he had a slight mess up that ultimately damaged a huge portion of his
life. The High Warlock turned to a period of excessive drinking because of his depression from
the mess up. Many people hated him and looked down on him as a coward and bad person for
drinking so heavily, but they did not look into the reasons he decided to pick up the first drink.
Twenty-one years ago, the High Warlock exiled himself because of an incident that
happened with the queen. The Queen, Eleanor, needed his healing power because she was dying,
but unfortunately he was away being drunk and did not get back in time to save the Queen. The

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King and the people were very angry that he was not there to save her. The High Warlock was
devastated that he made this mistake that cannot be reversed. Because of this pain and regret of
letting down the kingdom, he exiled himself to a faraway tower away from all contact with
humans.
The High Warlock and the Queen had a very interesting relationship, they were very
close friends before she had gotten sick. At one point in the relationship, they were together at a
party and the Queen became a bit touchy. The Queen loved the High Warlock as a friend but at
times she may have confused him for more than that. Dance with me sir Warlock. Please.
(Green 381).The High Warlock felt some kind of feeling deep down for the Queen but his
loyalty to the King had stopped him from acting on it. Im not sure that would be proper,
Eleanor. The court(Green 381). The High Warlock could have had an affair with the Queen
because they both had strong feeling towards each other, but the High Warlock is a good person
and chose to do the right thing and ignore his feelings for the Queen. The High Warlock and the
Queens relationship before she had passed away, made it even harder for the High Warlock to
live with the fact that he did not save her when she was sick. This could have had a big effect on
the reason he left and the reason he began to drink so heavily. By drinking he could escape the
pain caused by his mistakes and forget about all the damage that was made. Eventually the High
Warlock preferred the numb feeling from the alcohol over being sober and began to continuously
be drunk everyday.
Many years later, although he exiled himself, there came a time when the Forest Castle
was in need of him. The second son of the King, Rupert, was sent on a quest to receive the High
Warlock and bring him back to the caste in hopes of him using his powers to fight off the
Darkwood. The High Warlock agreed to come back to the castle with Rupert even though

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everyone there had hatred towards him. This shows that the High Warlock is a loyal person and
that he is staying loyal to the castle even though his relationship with the kingdom is bad. From
the time he agreed to come back to the castle, he had to intentions of trying to win back the
Kingdoms faith in him.
Before the High Warlock exiled himself, he was a very helpful attribute to the king. He
devoted many long years protecting the King and the Castle because of the love he had towards
the land. For more than forty-five years I watched over the Forest Kings, keeping the land from
harm. (Green 222). He would have done anything to serve and protect the forest castle and his
King. Even though he exiled himself, it is necessary to acknowledge that beforehand, he spent
much of his time loyal to the King. He still has the need in his heart, all these years later, to
protect the castle because he truly is a good person and struggles within himself to be away from
the castle. If he legitimately was a bad person he would deny the request to come back and
protect the castle. The High Warlock has compassion within him, but sometimes it is not in an
upfront form.
When the High Warlock was still protecting the castle, he was a role model to the
Champion. The Champion is a very strong fighter whose job is to follow the kings orders and
watch over the second son of the King, Rupert, and make sure Rupert does not do anything to
overpower the first son, Harold. The Champion looked up to the High Warlock and learned
much of his skills from him, but after the High Warlock was exiled the Champion was full of
rage. The Champion was disappointed and angry that someone he looked up to could mess up
with, what seemed like, no care at all. The High Warlock was why I came to Forest Castle,
Rupert. He was famous, and I wanted to be part of that fame, that legend.(Green 393). The
Champion has these strong hateful feelings towards the High Warlock because he felt betrayed to

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have someone he looked up to so much just vanish and never return. The feeling is still fresh
within the Champion when he goes with Rupert the retrieve the High Warlock form exile. As
soon as the High Warlock and the Champion come into contact, the Champion tried to kill him,
but that does not hinder his decision to come back and help the land he is loyal to. The fact that
the High Warlock chooses to be around a person who wants to kill him in order to help someone
else proves his selflessness. The King also has hateful feelings towards the High Warlock, but
the High Warlock chooses to ignore it and is able to find it within him to stay and protect people
who hate him. To the High Warlock, protecting the land could be a form of redemption or
apology. The High Warlock does feel sorry for his actions which proves he does have regret and
anger for leaving the Forest Castle. If the High Warlock did not have sorrowful feelings for
leaving the Kingdom, than he would not feel the need to come back and try to fix his mistakes.
In the first battle the High Warlock is involved in, he does his best to protect the men he
is traveling with. After the battle, he heals the people who need healing without even being asked
to. By doing this he is showing that he cares for others and is not only thinking about himself,
even though most see him in that way. He finds out that the dragon, who is a very powerful
creature, was put under a sleeping spell. The High Warlock uses all his strength to wake him up.
The dragon can be very useful in the battle and he would not have been used if it was not for the
High Warlock waking him, but he sacrifices a lot of his strength and energy in doing so. With all
the power he is using to help the men against the demons, he is harming himself, but that does
not stop him from doing as much he can. Each time he uses his power he grows weaker, and it is
very detrimental to his body. He continues to help people and uses his last bits of strength he has
left to help others. Self-sacrifice is the ultimate way to show loyalty and care and he continues to
sacrifice himself throughout the novel.

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Many argue that it is wrong for the High Warlock to continue to drink alcohol even when
he is supposed to be helping fight off the demons, but it is not completely the High Warlocks
fault because he is an alcoholic and has reason for becoming that way. He has learned to lean on
alcohol in tough situations and that is exactly what is going on all around him. Because the High
Warlock drank his sorrows away for so many years he is physically and mentally incapable of
dealing with critical sand stressful times, and he is not prepared enough to completely abandon
alcohol immediately. The people of the kingdom do not understand that and they are very angry
that he is continuing to drink even right before the final battle. The High Warlock explains why
he started drinking in the first place. The main reason he started was because he had too much
pressure on himself from the king giving him more tasks than he could accomplish. Having the
pressure of trying to solve all the kings problems broke the High Warlock and he resorted to
drinking to help numb his pain. He is very conflicted with himself and wants to improve himself,
but the memories haunt him. The article Understanding the Insanity of Alcoholism: How the
Alcoholic Thinks, by Jim LaPierre, he explains the struggles of being an alcoholic, it consumes
the life of an individual and becomes the only feeling they are familiar with and they crave the
feeling. A person can often give up everything they have going for them to get the alcohol. In
this case the High Warlock is an extreme alcoholic and at times his actions are not completely
his fault because of the fact that alcoholism has taken over his life.
The High Warlock does many acts try to redeem himself including the scene in chapter
seven when he finds the moat monster. The moat monster used to be a man before the High
Warlock had changed him. The High Warlock told the monster he would change him back, but
oddly the monster is much happier being a monster in the moat. The moat monster does ask of
one favor from the High Warlock. Talk to me, sometimes. I do get lonely here, for someone to

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talk to me in the speech of man. (Green 337). The High Warlock agrees which is a big
improvement for himself. When he first was approached to help he was very grumpy about it and
did not want to, but now he is more optimistic and he is not only happy to help but goes out and
tries to find ways to help. The High Warlock initially trying to change back the monster, was his
way of reversing his wrongful actions he did in the past.
The High Warlock believes in Rupert throughout the whole book while many others
doubt him. Many look at Rupert as an underdog and not very important, but the High Warlock
sees something in Rupert. The High Warlock most likely believes in Rupert because he takes the
time to see deeper into a person and look at their true potential. This shows good characteristics
within the High Warlock. Many times, people need to look deeper into the High Warlocks
personality, much like how the High Warlock looks into others. He spends time to figure out a
person and the thoughts and feelings they have. He has a lot of wisdom and is very insightful.
By the end of the final battle, and after the Darkwood had been vanished, the High
Warlock is finally in unity with the other characters. By fighting by their sides and showing his
loyalty, he ultimately redeemed himself. At times throughout life, people can seem to give up or
fade away, but there is always a deeper meaning behind their actions and it is important to give
second chances because not all people who make bad decisions are bad people.

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Works Cited
Green, Simon R. Blue Moon Rising. New York, New York: New American Library, A Division
of Penguin Group, 2005. Print.
LaPierre, Jim. The Insanity of Alcoholism. Choose Help. 02 October 2013. Print. 17
November 2014.