#i want there to be good and bad within both of them

I made a handful of posts that dealt with this subject pre-Hollow Mind and the like, but at this point in time I feel it bears reiterating: I love the idea of Caleb being a bit of an asshole as well. I am not enjoying the “Pure Good and Pure Evil” idea I see tossed around and embraced by some of the fandom regarding the Brothers Wittebane. I feel it gives a much needed-layer of depth to Caleb’s character, which has thus far existed solely as a pure, kind-hearted martyr. Placing him on a pedestal like this makes such an important character who, despite his death hundreds of years before the start of the series, feel extremely flat.

I’m partial to the idea that Caleb was selfish. We don’t know the exact timeline or sequence of events before the fateful fight, but based on Belos’ memories, a good deal of time had passed between Caleb meeting the Clawthorne, Philip arriving on the Isles, and his brother subsequently finding him, enough time to transition from scrappy suspenders-wearing lad to the bearded, knife-wielding menace Philip became.

What if this is indicative of Caleb leaving? He was so enchanted by the Isles, by magic, by this fantastic woman he met, caught up in the whirlwind of the new world he had discovered that he never looked back. He was eager to leave Gravesfield, maybe he felt stifled by the barebones future of a carpenter he saw laid out before him, but he left with her for the Boiling Isles and never looked back. He never looked back at the gray little town he grew up in, and he never looked back for his brother. Caleb, so caught up in his own newfound happiness, never once thought that abandoning the human world would have any unintended consequences. He thought only of himself and the new life he could see laid out before him, where his carvings sprang to life and his bride could do miracles with a wave of her hand.

The Brothers Wittebane were each selfish. And it destroyed both of them.