glenboy24 wrote...
Saibh wrote...
froogle345 wrote...
i actually believe that she will become your partner,
*SPOILER*
because that same article says that at the start you travel with your sister bethany, your brother carver, and your mother. it later says you are rescued by flemeth, and by that time, only four of you remain, two people fall, i personally think the templar will fall (he was already injured) and maybe your mother or brother (makes the story dramatic from the get-go),
maybe im giving bioware too much credit with that angle, as i could see the wesley and aveline being killed off for not being family.
Staying alive doesn't mean staying with you. I see no reason why this woman should help you on your rise to power, even if her husband dies. More than anything, I want to see companions with personal reasons for traveling with you, rather then "Eh, just thought I'd tag along."
With respect, I don't think you're looking at the whole picture, rather you're Pigeon Holeling the character based on her class as being, "Just another Tank." With Aveline, what little we know paints an interesting picture. She's Married to a Templar, but what else do we know about that marriage? Is it a Happy Union? If the Templar (Wesley) in question is a bit of Jerk, like most Old School Templars seem to be with a few exceptions, it's likely she is only with him out of sense of Tradition. Remember, if these two hail from a portion of the Free Marches where the Chantry's laws are present, she wouldn't really be able to walk away from her Husband without being Ostrasized or worse, "especially" given that her Husband is a Templar.
As to him "Being" a Templar who's married, the choice may have come afterward, and he may have been given special dispensation which is common in many Religions which do not permit, or at least frown upon, Priests and men, or women, of the Cloth who are married before they take Holy Orders. Aveline may have not been all that thrilled by this choice; however, again, for the sake of tradition, she may have chosen to stick it out. Also, we have to take into account what kind of background Aveline has. The fact that she was named after the patron Saint of Female Orlesian warriors could indicate that she hailed originally from Orlais and later relocated to the Free Marches. We know the Chantry has a dominant presence in Orlais, more so then even in Fereldan given that it's the center of the Religion much like Rome is to Catholics. If she met and married Wesley, who later became a Templar or was a Templar and was relocated by the Chantry to the Free Marches she would have been forced to leave her own family behind. These are just a few of a great list of possibilities for why Aveline may not be all that loving to Wesley; she could just be a woman raised to respect old traditions when it comes to being married, something that was all too common in the Christian dominated Middle Ages from which Dragon Age takes great inspiration.
Now, we know Wesley is injured, and we know several folks who join Hawke at the outset of his journey to Kirkwall fall at the hands of the Darkspawn; now, to me, Wesley has "Red Shirt" written all over him, also, for the sake of Dramatic enforcement, Hawke's mother also seems a likely contender. If Aveline survives, and I think she has a very good chance given her unique place as a Female Warrior, she would likely morn her Husband, recalling perhaps a time when they were somewhat happy, but would desire to reclaim the life she had to sacrifice, i.e. being with her family, wanting to become a Chevalier, and so on. In the moment, traveling with Hawke to Kirkwall would be smarter then traveling on her own. From there, she could catch a ship to Orlais. Now, for the sake of story, it's likely that in the time between Hawke's flight from Lothering to the Free Marches Aveline may decide to help him find his remaining family before setting off on her own.
Now, we don't really know yet what the situation in Kirkwall is, so we don't know exactly what Hawke's tale is all about aside from becoming Champion. You keep using the sentence, "Rise to Power." But we don't know that this is Hawke's intent from the outset. What little we know simply points to him wanting to get his family to safety in the wake of the Blight. When he arrives in Kirkwall, events will transpire that push him towards certain choices depending on the player; for some that might mean beating the villain to become the Tyrant yourself, or (for me) becoming the Savior, not the Ruler. Regardless of what road is chosen, we don't know for sure what reasons Aveline would have to wish to stay with Hawke; it could be, at first, for Noble reasons or a desire to experience the world on her own terms, or it could be because she quickly grows to see in Hawke all the things she wished she'd had in Wesley. Again, these are just a few possibilities. The DA writing team could easily come up with something far superior and complex then any of those.
Frankly, my hope is that not only does Aveline survive, but that she is, in fact, an option for a deep, complex, Romance. The idea of a Strong, Independant woman out to claim her own destiny who doesn't have the dark and or tragic past of DAO characters like Morrigan and Leliana is very captivating to me. We'll have to wait and see. However, when looking at Aveline, you can't just stick her in a catagory and leave it at that. You have to look at all the possible routes the writers could take, especially since, as I've said, we really know nothing about her. Though I have my thoughts based on past experiences with all the BioWare titles and other Fantasy genres, there's no way to tell if I'm on the ball; however, at least I'm attempting to remain open minded. None the less, here's to having Aveline as a long term, and close Companion.
What a truly wonderful analysis of the scenario that might be (and should be in my opinion) the fate of Aveline as a decidedly permanent companion for Hawke in DA II. Your background in ancient history is awesome and I think the writers at Bioware, not pointing fingers, but David Gaider and Lead Designer Laidlaw, should take a closer look upon your comment here. Your explanations for keeping her (Aveline) is logical and sensible. We do need to see women who are not only strong, cunning, lovely, high spirited, but we also want them to show compassion when it is necessary or when it is warranted and above all to have... "an option for a deep, complex, Romance" (Glenboy)... True relationship with another human being (or being in the the game world).
I enjoyed Aveline's story in DAO and how Leliana told it. So, even if this is not the "true" Aveline Leliana spoke of, bearing her name does say much about this "tank warrior" in the upcoming DA II. It means she possesses the qualities of the real Aveline and much much more. So Bioware please be aware... Aveline should be permanent.