User blog comment:D2r/Was Veil ultimately Redeemed?/@comment-1427879-20111223164420/@comment-1427879-20111223214305

Maybe not abused physically but no one treated him well. True, being abused does not excuse murder. But maybe it was just his rebellious nature going extreme. But had the other Abbey-members not treated him so poorly, not misjudged him, actually trusted him instead he might not have turned the way he did. If Bryony had taught him better and enforced discipline more, like Scotty mentioned, he might also have turned out better. Lots of what-ifs and maybe that's what BJ intended. Veil was more a victim of his circumstances. People who do bad things in the world today, often it's because of their upbringing. Surrounded by mistrust and vague rememberances of being abandoned and/in violence can't make for a happy upbringing. Yes he never showed any remorse for his actions but in the heat of the moment, after doing something wrong, do you always feel sorry? Sometimes, maybe often you feel guilty, but you still feel mad and since most of his childhood dealt with rebelling he wasn't about to show it. He wasn't about to apologize if he didn't quite mean it and/or they all expected it of him. He jumped in front of the spear, possibly by accident but he still did it, possibly because he realized that even through her weak attempts at discipline, she loved him. And if she was the only one in the whole world who loved him, not even his father did, and he had come to see what that meant, then maybe he decided to spare her to spear. And of course there's the small theory that because of his horrible existence he just wanted to end his life and if it could save Bryony sure, but we shan't get into that. Had he not died, would he have gone back into evil? Possibly. But still as a result of his childhood. And remember, nobody, or should I say nobeast, is perfect. If he had taken the spear and healed from it, maybe. Maybe he would realize the extent of the bond between him and Bryony (no, I'm not hinting at a romantic relationship). Maybe he would have realized that his own father didn't love him but Bryony did. Maybe he would have understood more and given the Abbey a second chance...if they had given him one that is. There are tons of things to consider and you can't judge right off that Veil was a bad guy because he was a vermin and did a few evil things. Or that he's a good guy because he died for somebeast else in the end.

And thanks Blue and Starpetal!