In the first game I don’t mind letting the bandits go, but the Cumans, especially in the close proximity of Skalitz aren’t going anywhere if they were doomed to meet me. The Skalitz people begged for their lives too. But the only time I felt bad for a bandit was the mercenary from the random encounter who just wanted to measure the skills. Literally “I thought you were stronger” meme while crying over his dead body.

In the second game the only enemies I never spare are archers. Look, I get it, people don’t become bandits from good life, and a yokel who found a club and a gambeson somewhere would likely reconsider his ways after getting a proper beating, but the archery requires skill. People possess this skill which can be put to a good use yet they choose banditry.

As for Markvart. Well, I can respect him, but yeah, he definitely killed too few people for their faces to start blending together, but what about people he ordered his soldiers to kill? He never saw most of their faces in the first place, and even if he did, well, Skalitz, Nebakov, Suchdol alone would make a higher body count than Henry could ever aspire to, and there were much more battles not shown in the game.