Question: When the church is being burned, Tavington tells Wilkins that "the honour is found in the end, not the means." What did he mean by this?
TedStixon
7th Apr 2025
The Patriot (2000)
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Answer: Crucially, he also immediately follows this by saying, "This will be forgotten." You could read it as a sort of variation of the phrase "The ends justify the means," which basically means that bad actions can be excused if the result is a net positive. Tavington is basically just trying to defend and excuse his abhorrent war crimes under the pretext that winning the war will be worth it.
TedStixon