This is something I've always wanted to do. Understand the character that I presume everyone hates (and rightfully so). At first, I only looked at him as a villain who was not supposed to be complex or identifiable. Just someone to hate to drive a Cousland forward (without him, the Origin would have been boring). But after thinking about it some more, I think there is more to it than that.
This is not an attempt by me to justify Howe and his actions. Just a pointless excercize in trying to understand him.
I personally believe that Howe was motivated by three things:
1) personal power and greed
2) Family honor
3) Ferelden interests
I think that the first two are more important to Howe, than Ferelden perse (unlike Loghain).
So I want to attempt to explain the family bit. What could Howe want for his family?
We know that the Howes are one of the oldest families in Ferelden and one of the first to support Calenhad:
The Howes of Amaranthine are one of the oldest noble families in Ferelden. Their lineage traces to the time of Calenhad, when Elias Howe was one of the first freeholders to follow Calenhad.
The family has also had several heroes. So as we can see, the Howe family is a proud family. Rendon Howe does display family pride and duty on several occasions.When discussing possible marriage of his daugher in the HN origin, he says with some pride that he'll consider the issue as "befitting a family of our stature".
Also, as Nathaniel Howe tells us, Rendon thought that the Howe who joined the Wardens as a traitor to his family, because he dedicated his life to a foreign order instead of his family.
The Howe family was disgraced when they sided with Orlais, but Rendon sided with Maric:
Rendon brought the Howe family over to the side of Maric Theirin and Loghain Mac Tir's rebellion. Rendon's bravery at the battle of White River, fighting alongside Bryce Cousland, earned back his family's honour. When King Maric took the throne in free Ferelden, Rendon Howe was decorated for his service.
Now it can be argued that he shifted allegiances to the winning side, but I would argue that it's not clear who the winning side was at the time. The battle of the White River resulted in a huge defeat, and only 50 rebels survived. And it's in that battle that Rendon displayed bravery and dedication. So if if the battle was lost on such a scale, then it's not really clear who was winning.
I don't deny Rendon's potential opportunism. But in a battle where only 50 people survived, Rendon displayed bravery and courage that might not be characteristic of a complete opportunist.
Also, keep in mind that he actually speaks very fondly of Maric and pities the fact that Cailan isn't half that. He could be acting, but I saw something genuine there.
Also, he was apparently very strict with his children, which can be attributed to a desire to strengthen the family. I think he had high expectations for them, and while they might have been slightly exagerrated, it might still stem from a sense of duty towards family, especially a family whose influence and power diminished (or was cheated, as he might believe).
So in understanding his devotion to his family, we can seek to understand why he hated the Couslands or at least wanted them dead.
Now if I understand correctly, the Howes became vassals to the Couslands from before (or is it after the rebellion?). Highever was once a vassal of Amaranthine and the Howes. The Couslands fought a war of independence and defeated them. So there might be an element of revisionism / very old grudge at play here.
But there might also be a recent "grudge" vis a vis Bryce. Both Bryce and he fought in the battle of the White River and both were decorated by Maric for their service. And yet, Bryce is loved (enough to be considered a possible succesor of Maric) and Howe is hated (add the fact that the Couslands took Harper's ford).
Now this might be very hurtful to Howe. He might not understand that he is an annoying person. He might feel that he is unjustly treated, that Bryce did nothing better than him. So why is it he is hated while Bryce is loved?
In situations like this, especially when someone is very prideful, percieved injustice might turn to hatred or at the very least extreme jealousy and we see this in Howe. He tells us that the Couslands have held him back.
IIRC correctly, I remember Nathaniel saying that Howe married a woman of higher station and that Howe always strived to feel accepted by her parents. That he wanted to prove himself. Add this, plus Bryce overshadowing him, plus his father almost ruining the family, then you can have a very bitter man who wants to prove his worth and his family's.
Also, Howe does seem convinced that the Couslands were doing something with Orlais. Because I don't see the point of him using forged rethoric to a Cousland, he wouldn't care if you think he is justified or not. Yet he brings up the Orlesian connection anyhow. I don't think it was to convince us of anything, I think this is something he genuinely believes or perhaps something he made himself believe.
Now there is clearly an element of greed in Howe. We know that he stole from the royal treasury to give gifts to his mistress and has his own silver bars storage (see Slim Couldry quest). He also kidnapped a noble's kid for ransom. Kylon says that Howe's men are sometimes criminals themselves.
So it seems that Howe put in place some sort of a mafia ring and so his loyalty to Ferelden is very questionable.
Hence I don't think I need to delve too much into personal ambition and greed, his very last words are "I deserved more" and I think that's clear enough. I just wanted to give a more nuanced interpretation.
He also displays sadism in the Denerim estate and loves to toy with the feelings of a Cousland. He shows no remorse for doing what he did, and while him taunting us might be a tactic to enrage us, I think part of him enjoyed it still. He pales in comparision to Commander Raleigh though.
At the same time however, he does display what I interpretted it to be some kind of relunctance, if only for a few seconds. In the HN, you can wish him luck or something to that effect in a warm fashion and he says: "I...thank you, that is...quite unnecessary". And I detected some sadness in that statement.
Now when I first played and I didn't know what was going to happen, I thought he was just anxious about going to fight darkspawn and possibly dying and he didn't need someone to remind him of it. But now I see it as relunctance. Could it be that Howe experienced relunctance when the person he was planing to kill displays some affection or concern for him? I really think this is possible.
Also, in the Toolset, the VO notes for Howe's reply when you persuade / intimidate is something like this (paraphrasing):
"He sees that you've made something of yourself. He thinks Bryce would have been proud of you and in different circumstances, he would have been too".
Now I hesitate to use the toolset as evidence, lots of things could have changed or got cut. But if this particular VO is true, then Howe, despite his hatred and resentment, can still feel some sort of a friendship with Bryce, so much so that he would feel proud of what Bryce's offspring has accomplished.
Those two examples, I bring forward to argue that Howe is not emotionless. Not compeltely.
I think there is a certain element of tragedy in Howe. I think all his life he aspired to be true to the Howe name and that despite everything he's done (or so he might believe), the Couslands overshadowed him still and his family and they were once their vassals. The tragedy is that in seeking to bring power and honor to his family, he ends up virtually destroying it and rendering it pariah (if it isn't for Nathaniel, and even that isn't certain as anything could have happened, the damage could have been permanent).
I believe that deep down inside, Howe is a very bitter man because he feels he and his family were unjustly treated and cheated. Bitterness and resentment, especially one that is concealed and kept within, can be much more dangerous. I think they ended up overpowering whatever positive feelings he might have had towards Bryce, his comrade in arms and friend, and the Cousland family that, in different circumstances, he might have considered his own.
PS: Please. PLEASE. Try to keep Loghain out of this as late as possible (like several pages at least without Loghain showing up, if it does come to several pages). This is not to debate whether Howe knew what Loghain was planing, or if Loghain knew what Howe was planing. Or if they mutually knew what they were planing.
Modifié par KnightofPhoenix, 07 décembre 2010 - 02:21 .
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