Gnas wrote...
Iliked Anders in Awakenings but I have not had my character romance him in DA 2. I can not reconcile his actions with him as a person let alone a love interest. His behavior was to such a degree that, now, I do not like him in DA2. Is anyone else having this problem?
No problem here. I don't condone his actions, but I approve of his goals and I've devoted quite a bit of time to thinking about what drove him to the Chantry jenga. Throughout DA2 we watch Anders' mental stability deterioriate, but the process was started even before DAA.
Prior to DAA, Anders spent a year in solitary confinement. That's not an experience you walk away from unscathed. He's also witnessed beatings, rapes, and other abuses at the hands of the templars. In DAA, he's saved from that by the Warden...only for his commander to abandon him and another templar step into his place. That's a final straw for Anders, I think. He's come so close to freedom, he's not going to give it up now. So he enters into a pact with Justice and he makes his escape. He heads to Kirkwall with the intention of helping other mages escape, but in those attempts he doesn't really make a lot of progress. The Circle remains intact. No one who has the power to stand up to the Knight-Commander is willing to do it.
Hawke can go to the Chantry on numerous occasions with varying amounts of evidence against the templars, asking Elthina to intercede. She refuses. And then by the time Act 3 rolls around, Ser Karras reveals Meredith's sent for the Right of Annulment. Anders sees all mages at risk now. And he knows something has to be done. He guesses (rightly so, as it turns out) that the First Enchanter won't confront Meredith directly about this, but will instead go to the Chantry. So the Chantry goes boom. In Anders' eyes, this is the only move he can make to ensure the Circle will rebel, the mages will fight the templars. He knows he can't fight Meredith on his own, but if the mages are in open rebellion, they at least stand a chance.
Is what he did a good thing? Well, that depends on how you see the Circle. Killing Elthina and blowing up the Chantry is a very morally questionable move. Whatever your thoughts on Elthina, she'd never directly harmed anyone. She seemed to be a somewhat calming presence on Meredith. But she always, always refused to take a side. She's the one person in Kirkwall who has the power and authority to stop the abuses of the templars, but she won't do it. So to Anders, that makes her a military target.
I don't think anyone was entirely comfortable with Anders' actions the first time through the game, if only for the real-world overtones. And I believe that's intentional. But I still find Anders' goals sympathetic. Even back in Origins, my first character was a mage, and I remember being pretty disgusted by the Circle and the Tranquil. It's not a good system, it doesn't work. Should Anders have tried to change it in this way? I don't think so. But I believe he thought it was the only move that would work, and as I've said, I support that change. Since you can't undo the Chantry jenga, the only thing left to do is move forward and try to build something better in its wake.
And as for Anders as a romance...man oh man is there so much drama in it. I love the tragedy of it, I love the way he reluctantly manipulates Hawke. You can tell it's torturing him to do it, and it drives a bit of wedge between them in the third act. I'm a sucker for drama and angst, and to me seeing two people who genuinely love each other fall apart because they're not confiding in each other, well...that's great story material right there.
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