Are the Castithans just very unpleasant?

[Tilarta]

After viewing Season 1 of Defiance, I got a very unpleasant impression of the Castithans.
Datak Tar and his wife Stamha, plus Castithans in general, I started to wonder if they were not very nice people (both individually and as a culture).

I won't recount what they did, but every action they took was either devious, murderous or motivated by greed.

Stahma was harder to read then Datak, given that she seemed to be genuinely compassionate towards Christie.
However, given what she did with the flask in the episode Everything Is Broken left me as to no doubt how ruthless she could be if properly motivated.

Alak Tarr seems to be the only one who is at least honest and decent, which may be attributed to the fact he was raised on Earth amongst humans.

I'm not going to shed any tears if Rafe McCauley decides to shoot Datak and Irisa stabs Stahma.

It's unusual that most of the Votanis Collective made an effort to get along with other species, but the Castithans continue to hold themselves apart.

It's scary when the lawless rebels (Irathient Spirit Riders) are more trustworthy then a proper upstanding civil culture.

[Escyos]

Castithans do tend to hold themselves apart from the other Votans, most of them see themselves as the ultimate race and as so hold most of the important positions in the Votanis Collective. Most of the Castithans who get the most screen time are from the Shanje Liro (the highest caste) and thus feel more important that the others.

However, we have met some Castithans that are a bit nicer such as Alak, who as you said grew up on Earth and doesn't see things the same way as his parents.

Spoiler:

You also have Ara Shondu in the game who unlike other Castithan females was in political power, truly holds all life in the same regard and was shocked at her predessors view on humans, despite what happened at and after the Battle of Defiance.

There is also Ferik in the game who wants to dismantle the caste system as it is used to oppress the lower castes.

And you have Silora Voske, a high ranking politician in the VC who is not like others because her father taught her appreciation of Earth that was.

[CB2001]

I agree, there are a few examples that go against the grain of what we know of Castithans. I know this isn't the best example, but Rahm Tak is one who apparently doesn't hold himself in any higher regards to other species except for humans. If you rewatch his episodes, you'd notice that Volubela is Rahm Tak's wife. As we know with Castithans of the older beliefs, there's a really disdain they have for Irathients. Datak has shown it during the episode "If I Ever Leave This World Alive." When he talks about the Irathients during the meeting, it's not something that seems informative in how it comes off from him. It comes off as a general dislike towards the whole species instead of a "they need to be quarantine for the betterment of the whole town" kind of thing (though we could say the later scene that takes place in the Lawkeeper's office clearly points it out, his anger at that moment could be considered more of his manhood as a Castithan being challenged and it pissing him off more than a dislike for a species). However, Rahm Tak not only has Volubela, an Irathient, as a wife, but he also has children with her. Now before anyone says Volubela was murdered by Rahm Tak, you have to take into account that Rahm Tak had become insane (if the whole looking at the severed heads of his enemies while sleeping with his wife wasn't enough of an example of his insanity, I don't know what else is) and just used the murder to justify his own means (saying she was a spy sent to kill him, using her head as a message for the VC).

Basically, it boils down to those who struggle to continue to hold on to the old ways, which includes people like Datak (prior to the events with him and Stahma almost being executed by Amanda Rosewater), those who have accepted the way things are in the new world (like Ara Shondu) and those who were born into the new world and see it as the only way it is (like Alak, and of course I suspect Baby Luke when he grows up).

[LarsaValeth]

look at the voltan as a hole and if we think about each race carefully we can see them a complete race culture together. the indogens easily appear as the scientists spies and invertors, the vorce? they appear as heavy shock troopers, the Irathients might have played the role of numbers and army bolstering. the Castithans society looking at them carefully I am going say they view themselves as almost nobles or lord. General rahm tak is a example of this, though he appears to have accepted his men he clearly disapproves of Datak and considers him to be lower it my be how he views him a simple crime lord, I wouldn't be surprise that the Castithans weren't the commanders during the pale wars.
based on that and from what I have seen of the Datak household I see that the house has hand maidens which are basically ladies in waiting, this was typical of feudal Europe so I can see that is a cast system (which is in the name of the race), probably why they like knives as well. In Defiance we can see that Datak and is wife are at the top making them I guess the lords. their was a flash back in the first season and we could see Datak was not in the position of power he is now. the saying to attain power one must sacrifice compassion and morale's and we must fight to maintain our power comes to mind with Datak and his wife their may be good Castithans but we see them very little because they are low in power, the new hand maiden is a example of this and we will see her rise and become a very different person.
I don't find them unpleasant we just need to remember that are culturally different driven by power, religion and cast system

[Tilarta]

And look how Datak Tarr treats anyone he dislikes.
If he could, he'd kill them just for the fun of it.
Heck, he shot a harmless human for no apparent reason, framed an Irathient he just murdered for that crime and was going to kill Nolan right after both of them before he changed his mind.

Then we have Alak Tarr's friend, who was shot dead by Nolan after Datak and Stahma manipulated all three of them and Kendra into pawns for their scheme to discredit Amanda by proxy.

Oddly, the Irathients and the Indogenes seem to make the most effort to assimilate into their adopted cultures.
There are often disputes due to their cultural values, but it never appears as though they resent humans or other members of the Votanis Collective for the species they happen to belong to.

The Sensoths and Liberata also appear to have assimilated well, as they are employed for humans quite readily.
I even remember one Sensoth doing a human style fist bump greeting to Alak, indicating he'd learned something of informal greetings.

If I had to guess, it's that Castithans have a severe case of a superiority complex, they believe they can do whatever they like to whoever they like because all others are inferior to them in social standing.
Metaphorically, we are their servants at best.

And cultural beliefs can never be used as a reason to excuse your crimes, if you are an unpleasant person, you aren't going to escape your just punishment by claiming your culture permits it, therefore whatever you did is not against the law.

And from the subtext of Season 1, I gather that there is some kind of historical hatred the Castithans have always had towards the Irathients.
I'm assuming this has led to them despising all Irathients, in their eyes, an Irath is no better then a rabid animal that needs to be put down.
Oddly, it doesn't seem to flow the other way, when an older Irathient describes the last Castithan led massacre of Iraths to Irisa, he is just relating a history lesson for her benefit, he's not being judgemental in any way.