What does "mortal vindication" mean?
I was watching the TV series "Revenge", the beginning of Season 1. Here're the lines that came out at the beginning: "For the truly wronged, real satisfaction can only be found in one of two places, absolute forgiveness or mortal vindication.This is not a story about forgiveness." I think that I have totally understood vindication here, which means the wronged would be proved innocent to the public at last, and people would no longer hate them, accuse them, etc. and so they would find real peace inside. But why is there a "mortal"? What does it mean here? Or is there something like a phrase called "mortal vindication" that means something different? Thank you for your kindly help!~

Question

What does "mortal vindication" mean?
I was watching the TV series "Revenge", the beginning of Season 1. Here're the lines that came out at the beginning: "For the truly wronged, real satisfaction can only be found in one of two places, absolute forgiveness or mortal vindication.This is not a story about forgiveness."  I think that I have totally understood vindication here, which means the wronged would be proved innocent to the public at last, and people would no longer hate them, accuse them, etc. and so they would find real peace inside.  But why is there a "mortal"? What does it mean here? Or is there something like a phrase called "mortal vindication" that means something different?  Thank you for your kindly help!~

Answer

“Mort” is Latin for “death,” related to the Germanic root of the English “murder.” Vindication here means “revenge / vengeance” as in “a vindictive person.” I would guess the story is about deadly revenge — murdering those who have wronged someone. The phrasing is deliberately a bit overly polite -- as if they were trying to spare the viewers' sensibilities.