Is it so hard to end a story with... anything other than "they died"?
Well, technically speaking, that is the ending everyone's story must come to.
Still, I was thinking of penning a story where Merrill tracks down Hawke at Weisshaupt. It'd be nice to pretend something went right for Hawke, at least.
Well, technically speaking, that is the ending everyone's story must come to.
Still, I was thinking of penning a story where Merrill tracks down Hawke at Weisshaupt. It'd be nice to pretend something went right for Hawke, at least.
I remember a banter between Varric and Cassandra where he says that Merrill (and Hawke's sibling if they are alive) would definitely follow Hawke to Weisshaupt, especially after the letter he sent to her.
Now I remembered that Weisshaupt is where Last Flight took place and
Well, technically speaking, that is the ending everyone's story must come to.
Not quite true when it comes to ficiton.
I remember a banter between Varric and Cassandra where he says that Merrill (and Hawke's sibling if they are alive) would definitely follow Hawke to Weisshaupt, especially after the letter he sent to her.
Now I remembered that Weisshaupt is where Last Flight took place and
Spoiler
Merrill said that she would name her griffin, "Seamus". lol
No. It was Feathers.
I like Merrill a lot, but i dont trust Bioware to bring her back in any way. I want to hear that Hawke was saved, and those two met up and lived together for the rest of their days.
They never just let people have happy endings, thats not what Bioware is about anymore.
Id love to see them treat her, and all the DA2 team, with respect, and do a "One last hurrah" mission to save Hawke. Id love to see some conclusions to each story that dont end with "Lost, and never heard from again."
Is it so hard to end a story with... anything other than "they died"?
Yeah, that would be awesome. Merrill's gone through so much, she and Hawke both deserve a bit of happiness together. Too often, Bioware seems to discard interesting concepts, characters and ideas in favour of short-term shock value, and as a reader of superhero comics, I can tell you honestly that it rarely works out well. There are a lot of great stories you could do with Merrill, stories that embrace her optimism and curiousity and her status as a benevolent blood mage, so let's hope Bioware eventually wises up and does them.
I remember a banter between Varric and Cassandra where he says that Merrill (and Hawke's sibling if they are alive) would definitely follow Hawke to Weisshaupt, especially after the letter he sent to her.
Now I remembered that Weisshaupt is where Last Flight took place and
Spoiler
That's a great idea! How did I not think of that? Maybe she and the Wardens could work out a deal; her alchemical, blood magic and Eluvian knowledge in return for a baby griffin?
I just finished Merrill's companion arc. I kind of hate her, to be totally honest. I mean, I love her, too, because she's so ridiculously adorable. But I hate her.
I went the friendship route with every single character and pulled it off for the most part without too much meta-gaming. But Merrill is the one character on which I really wish I could have a do-over. Her path with that friggin' mirror is so destructive, and it's obvious from the moment you meet her that she's not nearly half as smart as she thinks she is.
At every step, I was thinking, "Please, stop. Just stop." But as Hawke, I kept enabling her, and at the point that I wound up wiping out the entire Dalish camp, I felt culpable as a result of never attempting to take a firmer stance against her behavior. At the end, I don't really want to see her anymore.
You come in here talking **** about Merrill?
No, no, you're OK. 
Merrill is aware that trying to restore the Eluvian is probably going to result in her death or possession; her biggest fault is believing that she can control the consequences of her actions and limit it to herself. That is, to some extent, the result of foolish pride.
That said, I don't excuse Keeper Marethari in this whole mess, who made some pretty serious lapses in judgement. She put Merrill and her own clan at risk because of the possibility that something bad could happen. That's idiotic. I maintained the Friendship path with Merrill and I don't regret it.
Also, you don't have to kill Merrill's clan. I note that if you spare them, there's an elf in Skyhold who mentioned the Dalish finally left Kirkwall, thank the Maker.
Also, you don't have to kill Merrill's clan. I note that if you spare them, there's an elf in Skyhold who mentioned the Dalish finally left Kirkwall, thank the Maker.
I meta-gamed that afterwards by reading the wiki, and to be honest, I went back and re-did it. Two out of the three choices lead to wiping out the entire clan, including the choice I picked at first, which was basically, "We had to kill her, because she was a demon!" The Dalish blamed Merrill for forcing the Keeper into that course of action, and they weren't wrong.
And yeah--that's exactly what bothered me about Merrill's friendship arc: she's so prideful! She thinks she can control who gets hurt and who doesn't when it is proven repeatedly throughout the game that when you mess with blood magic, it always leads to unintended consequences for the people you love.
and they weren't wrong.
They were completely wrong. No one forced that old hag to do much of anything. She didn't have a knife held to her kidneys.
Saying Marethari was forced to do what she did essentially tries to say that people aren't responsible for their own actions. Much as I hate Marethari, I'll not use any rhetoric that tries to infantilize her, because that's the kind of **** she did to Merrill all her life.
She thinks she can control who gets hurt and who doesn't when it is proven repeatedly throughout the game that when you mess with blood magic, it always leads to unintended consequences for the people you love.
And how much of that is simply due to the stigma itself, creating a self-perpetuating cycle?
"I fear blood magic, therefore I will do this thing that will result in my death! Thereby showing that blood magic is evil!"
It's circular logic at its best.
Saying Marethari was forced to do what she did essentially tries to say that people aren't responsible for their own actions.
We don't even know Marethari that much. Considering how Merrill spent most of her childhood around her, it's safe say that Marethari would go through great lengths to protect Merrill.
We don't even know Marethari that much. Considering how Merrill spent most of her childhood around her, it's safe say that Marethari would go through great lengths to protect Merrill.
Very true. It's also entirely possible that Marethari was the demon's true target all along. After all, if you were a powerful and conceited eldritch abomination from the fathomless depths of a nightmare dimension, which would you prefer as a host? A younger mage, who's still in the process of coming into her own as a sorceress and rejected by those around her, or a more powerful and experienced one who commands the respect and obedience of an entire Dalish clan?
They were completely wrong. No one forced that old hag to do much of anything. She didn't have a knife held to her kidneys.
Saying Marethari was forced to do what she did essentially tries to say that people aren't responsible for their own actions. Much as I hate Marethari, I'll not use any rhetoric that tries to infantilize her, because that's the kind of **** she did to Merrill all her life.
And how much of that is simply due to the stigma itself, creating a self-perpetuating cycle?
"I fear blood magic, therefore I will do this thing that will result in my death! Thereby showing that blood magic is evil!"
It's circular logic at its best.
Absolutely true. At the very least, Merrill was forward-thinking enough to bring Hawke along as insurance should she become possessed, while Marethari was arrogant enough to assume she could contain Audacity within her, no problem.
Here, this is worth re-animating this thread:
http://actualanders....mage-inquisitor
Damn, that's definitely worth a thread necro (though Merrill alone is worth any number of such necros). Thanks for sharing!
You know what's funny?
During the Dalish Origin quest, Marethari is actually upset at Duncan for destroying the eluvian since she'd planned to study it and find a cure for the Taint.
Upset isn't quite the word I'd use. Disappointed strikes me as more appropriate.
It's also funny that Merrill actually managed to cleanse the shard she took of its corruption, by using the healing magic Marethari taught her (as the origin states) and amplifying it with her own blood. Since lyrium would've sufficed and Merrill's first choice was for her and the Keeper to pool their magic together, Marethari's outclassed.
Also
I remember writing a bit of dialogue, somewhere in this thread in fact IIRC, about Merrill meeting Marill.
Upset isn't quite the word I'd use. Disappointed strikes me as more appropriate.
It's also funny that Merrill actually managed to cleanse the shard she took of its corruption, by using the healing magic Marethari taught her (as the origin states) and amplifying it with her own blood. Since lyrium would've sufficed and Merrill's first choice was for her and the Keeper to pool their magic together, Marethari's outclassed.
Merrill simply surpassed Marethari in regards to magic.
Upset isn't quite the word I'd use. Disappointed strikes me as more appropriate.
It's also funny that Merrill actually managed to cleanse the shard she took of its corruption, by using the healing magic Marethari taught her (as the origin states) and amplifying it with her own blood. Since lyrium would've sufficed and Merrill's first choice was for her and the Keeper to pool their magic together, Marethari's outclassed.
Considering that we don't know whether Marethari would've succeeded had she actually tried, this is little more than speculation.
If Marethari had tried, she wouldn't have had enough oomph to do it, and would've needed lyrium or blood magic or working in concert with Merrill. Or some combination of the three.
Anyhow, while Merril is right about the mirror she still is wrong in understimating demons and blood magic
No, not really. BM is a tool like any other type of magic, so long as it's not abused or used as a crutch, and she's not wrong about Demons. They can be outsmarted if you're careful.
I take it though that you disagree with Solas as well?
If Marethari had tried, she wouldn't have had enough oomph to do it, and would've needed lyrium or blood magic or working in concert with Merrill. Or some combination of the three.
No, not really. BM is a tool like any other type of magic, so long as it's not abused or used as a crutch, and she's not wrong about Demons. They can be outsmarted if you're careful.
I take it though that you disagree with Solas as well?
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