Lore Question: Izual

Upon entering act 4, we are led to believe Izual was a good guy who became corrupted…

Here’s what confuses me… when you encounter Izual, he shouts “Save yourself!!” As if that good angel is still in there, and he doesn’t want to hurt you…
But then after you slay him, he reveals that it was his plan all along to betray tyrael… he’s a total jackass, and doesn’t redeem himself at all lol.

So what’s with the “Save yourself”?
Like he is good deep down, but can’t control the monster he’s become<——— which doesn’t seem to be the case, the more he talks lol

h ttps://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Izual

Thank you for posting the link.

I’ve already been there. While it is very interesting information, it doesn’t answer my question of why he’s concerned for our safety, and encouraging us to flee.

However, for others who are interested:

He has 2 other lines upon encountering him that were removed.
“You cannot help me!”
“Leave me!”

The only conclusion I can come to on my own, I guess, is that he is not concerned about the hero at all, but says “save yourself” in an attempt to send the hero away from him.
he’s accepted his state and is beyond redemption.

It seemed like a shred of righteousness or compassion was still alive in him and attempting to shine through, but nothing else in his dialogue supports that.

1 Like

diablo says “not even death can save you from me” does that make any sense? sometimes it’s better to leave games as games. lore in games usually doesn’t add up, especially if you think about it too much

2 Likes

what to expect from a corrupted soul , at least he told you too leave or he will take your soul , The site say “Save yourself!”

i guess he mean after he kill you , your soul will go too hell (not heaven )and you will meet him there

4 Likes

i’m not getting into it :stuck_out_tongue: it’s all non sense.

i haven’t even watched d2 cinematics even once. and are probably in the top 1% of play time… lol. i play games for the gameplay. lore means nothing to me…

3 Likes

yea back in 2000 this dont use to be the big focus

but looking d3 and d4 they add a lot of lore also selling lore book

today is all about lore and poor gameplay :frowning: with bad itemlization :roll_eyes:

3 Likes

Yep. He is not sincere.

This character has always piqued my interest, because Tyrael sets him up as someone good (deep down) who needs help.

And then Izual appears to be concerned for you (at first glance, but now that I’m digging into it, his “save yourself” comment is self serving only),
But then in his post-kill dialogue, he’s a wicked bastard with no remorse, and seems quite pleased that hell is going to spill into the world of men.

That’s always been the way I interpret it also

1 Like

yea maybe because he believe humanity is doomed

i dont blame him :rofl: looking d4

1 Like

It’s way simpler than that :
He had secrets.
He was captured.
The Three managed to break him.
He spilled the secrets and helped the Three.
He was punished by being put into this body.
He is still good inside and regrets what he’s done.

1 Like

I like to think so, but the more I look into it, the more I doubt…

I found this in the diablo 2 wiki:

“ The quest is quite straightforward, and upon killing Izual, the player is given a speech revealing that Izual was not corrupted against his will, but actually helped Hell devise their own exile into Sanctuary through the Soulstones.”

^ referring to that speech he gives after you slay him. “Tyrael was a fool to have trusted me”

And from the diablo 3 write up on him:

“It seems we’ve both fallen from grace, Tyrael. Come, embrace your former lieutenant!”

  • Izual

“ Izual showed great amusement about how Tyrael had become a fallen angel like himself. However, history repeated itself and Izual was once again struck down.”

Hes one of the most interesting characters in diablo 2… and a lot of mystery about him. He’s definitely fun to discuss :slight_smile:

2 Likes

That’s probably just an interpretation. Basically, there’s nothing to imply that he intended to help the Three prior to his capture in any of the texts.

As for Diablo 3, it shouldn’t be taken into account in this discussion, as it laughably retcons a lot of stuff, sometimes in pretty absurd ways.

I have the same question to be honest, for years i always wandered if Izual was always in the side of Hell, perhaps because he dislikes humanity or hate the Eternal Conflict and wishes to end it by the side he considers the most capable of win. Some of the contradictions i found were this:

  • Why he was tortured? I mean, if he was at the side of hell from the beggining seems illogical. This maybe is because Prime Evils are sadists and like to torture even their allies, or because they never kept in touch and demons will not just simply trust an angel that seeks to help them.

  • When exactly he tricked Tyrael to use the soulstones? After or before his capture? After his capture, had no sense at all, when did they talked about that?

  • If before, wouldn’t Tyrael had to suspect that Izual would gave away the idea to use the soulstones to imprison the prime evils after his capture? Why he still considered to use the soulstones after Izual’s demise? How Izual knew more specific and important things than Tyrael? I mean Tyrael was really a fool in the most literally way possible.

In the words of Deckard Cain: “Where the actions of hell seem straight forwardly bent on destruction, the motives of heaven are unfathomable.”

Maybe ol Izzy is warning you that good ol boy Tyreal is not at that he claims to be … think about it …

Well well well, seek a TRUE Lore Master and you shall find one. Me.

i’ll tell you the truth about Izual, a truth barely known by so few that play this game, and then maybe, maybe… you will better understand who the real hero is. Izual, the savior.

To say Izual played a small role in Diablo is a to say you know nothing of Diablo lore. If you were to examine the Eternal conflict between the High Heavens and the Darkest Hells, one hero outshines all others. Of all of Heavens heroes to ever exist, Izual, was the greatest. His legendary deeds of the realms beyond, elicit both veneration and insight. Izual was the creator and first bearer of the Angelic Runeblade Azurewrath. Now you understand why the blade shares Izual’s frozen divine light. But that is another branch of the lore tree we will talk about another day.

Izual was once a lieutenant of Tyreal the Fool, though you know him as the archangel of Justice, but Izual knew better. Izual saw what was coming. He literally fought on the front lines more than any other. Who better to understand conflict and where it was headed. He knew how naive Tyreal was, and realized he had to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save this world. Izual in his ingeniousness devised a plan. A plan similar to what you know today as the Trojan horse. While assaulting the Hellforge shortly before Shadowfang was near completion, Izual would allow himself to be captured knowing full well that he would be tortured beyond comprehension.

Izual NEVER broke. He led the prime evil’s to believe they had broken him and he had fallen. He had to stay strong and carry out his plan or all would be lost. You see, Izual had knowledge no others on either side had. An eternity on the front lines of Good vs Evil had taught Izual many things. Izual discovered how soulstones could be corrupted. And between the pain and suffering from torture, Izual knew if he was to save us all, if he were to fool them, he would forever be changed. There was no going back. In fact, he fooled them all so well they all agreed to corrupt the soulstones and use them as a trojan horse to recapture the burning hells from the lesser evils.

When approaching Tyreal about the soulstones, it wasnt difficult at all for Izual to convince him that they would trap the prime evil’s forever. The same Tyreal who thought the civil war between the lesser evil’s was real and not a simple ruse to distract the archangels. Izual knew this. Izual tried to bring this to his general’s attention many times only to be lectured. Izual knew what must be done.

Izual counted on Tyreal’s failure, and he allowed the prime evil’s to carry out their plot that they believed they devised themselves. And in doing so, Izual would be labeled by the archangels as The Betrayer and cast out of the Heavens. It was the only way. You see, Izual tricked the prime evil’s and the soulstones that contained them were destroyed forever.

Without Izual, we’d all be dead.

1 Like