In Godfather 2 why did Michael tell Al not to harm Fredo?

Question

In the scene with Michael and Fredo after Fredo admits his betrayal Michael tells Al Neri that he wants no harm to come to Fredo while his mom is alive. Why would he say that? Wouldnt Al or anyone else need direct orders from Michael before harming anyone?

Wouldnt harming him without orders be a betrayal as well? So why does Michael feel he needed to stress to Al that he wants no harm to come to Fredo?

Slave2Christ · Accepted Answer

IDK makes no sense. they cant take action without his orders so maybe he did not control men as much as he should

They Pelted Us With Rocks And Garbage · Answer

"while his mom is alive"

Obviously, his Mom would be upset that he killed his brother.

SW-6 · Answer

I think it was Michael trying to convince himself that he isn't too much of a monster if he has the compassion to assure his mother's happiness in knowing her son is alive while she is on the earth. So if he commands everyone that his brother is off limits till his mother is no longer alive, he will be fine.

Nāga · Answer

Chris Cuomo is an anchor for CNN and does not like to be called Fredo.

ocularnervosa · Answer

Al Neri is a sociopath. He has zero value on human life so killing Fredo wouldn't mean anything to him. He is the Luca Brazi to Michael.

StarShine · Answer

He liked CNN for some reason, and Fredo's show amused him

Anonymous · Answer

Neri was Michael's personal enforcer/killer and nominally second in command to Michael. Michael talked to him to ensure that Neri wouldn't do anything by himself or if told to by Connie. When an attempt was made on Vito's life, his personal killer, Luca Brazi, took it upon himself to avenge Vito and only stopped killing when Vito ordered him to. Tom tells Michael that in Neri, Michael has his own "Luca".

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In Godfather 2 why did Michael tell Al not to harm Fredo?

7 Answers