I personally think Warlock are basically mages. They learn magic from a teacher and both use the rules of arcane magic to cast their spells. The main reason pact mages get a bad name is because wizards are jealous. Why are you a half-baked magic user just because your teacher actually understands magic (Warlock) instead of just being a slightly more experienced diletant (wizard)?
That's not what Warlocks are though. They don't learn and understand their magic, they are *Given* it, and they channel it *from* their patron... they are fundamentally clerics, who receive their powers from sources other than recognised deities. The only thing a Warlock is generally taught is the "end-user" instructions for theoir magic - they don't understnad it, and don't ahve the full picture, and if the Patron pulls the battery out, the magic doens't work, and the Warlock doens't know how to fix it.
Here's the difference: If a Wizard's experiences the utter anihilation and eradication of everyone and everything they ever learned from, and is left with no-one but themselves,
They will still be able to use their magic (provided the weave itself still exists). They had no innate magical ability to begin with, and no sugar-daddy providing them with power directly - they are a self-made caster, and can stand on their own and be that.
If a Warlock experiences the utter anihilation and eradication of their patron, and that entity is simply removed from existence.... the Warlock has NO power, and CANOT cast ANYTHING. Their patron can also simply cut them off (the more likely situation), at which point, agian, the Warlock knows nothing, has nothing and can do
nothing - becuase the magic is NOT THEIRS - it's something that they channel from their patron.
In 5e there is no distinction beteen "Arcane Magic" and "Divine Magic", not in any mechancial sense. All magic comes form the weave, whether it is drawn directly by those with innate connections to it (sorcerers, bards etc.), whether a caster draws power from the weave by way of a divine intermediary or other power acting as a conduit for them (clerics, warlocks), or whether they do it by sheer force of academic understanding of the ways in which the weave can be manipulated, and how (wizards), it all ultimately comes from the same source.
