"And here at last was my brother Turel, who along with Dumah would bear me into the Abyss without questioning Kain's command. So dutiful and righteous, even as a vampire... I guess some habits die hard. The vampire Turel had eluded my vengeance; the Sarafan Turel would not."
When Raziel reached the raised choir of the Sanctuary area of the Stronghold, locked gates and Doors sealed the exits and he was he was confronted by the commander Turel. Unlike other 'boss' battles in the series, the battles with the commanders had no puzzle aspect to them and were treated the same as any regular combat encounter - albeit against incredibly powerful opposition and with Raziel invincible due to the effects of the Reaver.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9]
At a distance all the commanders would walk slowly, while in direct combat Turel had power, speed, health and defensive capabilities far exceeding that of ordinary enemies, and even exceeding the subordinate commanders. Armed with a pike, Turel was a mid-range fighter (broadly comparable to Sarafan warrior pikemen, though with an extended range due to the longer pike weapon), attacking viciously and often with a series of jabbing and sweeping strikes, frequent lunges and relentless blocking, but also being somewhat vulnerable to counters and lunges himself. The first commander to be faced alone, Turel represented a large step up in combat capability over the previously faced commanders. But with Raziel's Health coil sustained by the Reaver, any damage was healed almost immediately, making the defeat of the commanders inevitable. Upon Turel's death his soul was released but quickly rose away, Raziel then headed into the Chapter House and the final confrontation with his former self.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9][Soul Reaver 2 strategy guide (Prima)]
Notes[]
The battles against the warrior commanders in Soul Reaver 2 are arguably not true boss encounters. Unlike battles against major characters in other titles in the series, these battles were confined to a final 'rush' at the climax of the game, contained only regular combat with no puzzle element, conferred no special abilities upon completion and did not mark the end of 'levels' (Turel is something of an exception, with his defeat formally marking the end of chapter 9) - apparently efforts by developers to avoid the artificial nature of levels and boss battles. The final rush arguably begins at the onset of Blade of Vengeance, as after leaving Janos Audron's Retreat Raziel is confronted by increasingly difficult battles against various Demons utilizing Combat barriers (each similarly marked by a cutscene), culminating in the battles with the commanders.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9]
In game files, textures used for Turel are labelled as "turel" and "mrd_tur".[Soul Reaver 2]
The Sarafan Turel mural in the Chapter House in the Pre-Blood Omen era
With Turel's death, the Reaver can be seen drinking his Blood and his soul can be observed departing the body. The souls of the commanders, destined to become lieutenants in Kain's empire, were colored blue unlike other human souls (which were yellow) and quickly rose away, unable to be consumed by Raziel or the Reaver (hinting at later revelations about the nature of the blade).[Soul Reaver 2/9] After his death, Turel's body was taken with the other commanders and interred in the Tomb of the Sarafan, providing the corpses for Kain to revive as a lieutenants a millennium later, keeping them ignorant of their human lives.[Soul Reaver 2/9][Soul Reaver/9]
Using the debug menu it is possible to skip passed the scene where Raziel gains the Reaver and battle the commanders unarmed without the healing effects of the Reaver, presenting a much greater gameplay challenge than the usual fight where Raziel is invincible. This allowed Raziel to enter the Spectral Realm in these locations and recover the Pikes (and swords) of the commanders as weapons, but did not allow Raziel to consume their souls, which were unaffected by attempts to devour them.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/9]
This article is about the battle against Turel in Soul Reaver 2. For the boss battle against Turel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, see Turel (Defiance boss). For the boss battle planned for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, see Turel (Soul Reaver boss). For character details, see Turel.
