(I've been working on this for over a week now and finally got it done. Its a shame that we could not get to know Anders more in Dragon Age, but hopefully that will come in the future).
You know I have been playing Dragon Age 2 for some time and I am trying to understand Anders with what limited information we are given about him. I assumed I was looking at his life from all sides, I was mistaken and I realized I was looking at it from only two sides. So I decided to share my thoughts.
I decided to dig around, peel back the veil (so-to-speak) and look at Anders from Awakening to Dragon Age 2. I actually feel sorry for him. Anders was disowned by his father after discovering his son was a mage, turned him over to the Templars and was taken to the Circle. It seems apparent Anders was close to his mother and was ripped away from that. I am going to assume that is where his anger first manifested.
I can see him having a hard time relying on other people since his own father abandoned him. He no longer had his mother’s love comfort anymore, so he sought a means to compensate this feeling in other mages in the Circle, such as Karl. He also knew that while this connection allowed him to feel alive, he needed to feel the real thing-freedom.
His next to last attempt earned him a year of solitary confinement. This no doubt gave him time to think about how much he could only rely on himself, since it seemed that the people constantly around him either abandon him or turned on him. The only amount of companionship he had was with a mouser. For Anders he could express his feelings towards this cat and not have the bad come with it. It was a friendship with all the rewards and none the consequences.
(Please take note that I will be using choices from my game play to explain the rest).
Anders final escape led him to Amaranthine. This is where he met the Warden-Commander. I chose not to hand him over to the Templars because I thought that was not right. I offered him a chance to become a Grey Warden and I could tell he was surprised I stuck my neck out for him by telling the Templars to shove off.
While Anders seems emotionally detached from relying on people, he however is not so cold-hearted and chooses to use his magic to help people. He masks his anger by using humor, but when confronted with a direct question on his feelings such as the Circle, mages etc, it is clear he has a lot of hate inside him. Considering what we know happened to him up to this point, I cannot blame him for feeling this way.
During the quest to find his phylactery, I chose to help him and killed the Templars. You could see once again that Anders was surprised that someone stood up for him. At this point, it seems as though Anders is starting to understand there are people who truly consider him a friend and care about him.
When you give Anders the cat as a gift, I can see it’s an emotional attachment of remembering the year he was all alone expect for the cat that kept him company. As with the mouser in the Tower, Ser Pounce-A lot is his safety net, he can love something and not have his heart broken.
It is during his time with the Wardens that Anders meets Justice, the fade spirit. Justice takes a great interest in Anders suffering, but Anders comes off as not wanting to face his problems head on. However, at the same time too, Anders seems a little happy to have someone see and understand his problems. No doubt something, that has never come across his way before since most people either do not want to hear it or simply do not care about it and find very little sympathy for him.
Down the road, Anders could not stop thinking about why he should not do more for other mages. Why should other mages suffer as he did? At some point Justice offers Anders a chance to merge with each other, work together to bring justice for all mages
I think it goes beyond him choosing to merge with Justice to bring justice to mages. I think it was his way of having a friend with him all the time and not having to lose that friend. Later on, he seems to regret this choice and hates himself for turning his friend into a spirit of vengeance. He wanted to have someone to share his life with, but his own selfishness and hatred turned that against him. Instead of someone abandoning Anders, he in the end abandoned himself.
Anders finally arrives in Kirkwall to help his former lover Karl to escape from the Circle. However, this not doubt is a daunting task for him to accomplish. In my viewpoint, it seems as though fate intervened and my character Hawke, is introduced him. Her goal for meeting Anders was simply to get the maps for her expedition into the Deep Roads, but in order to get the maps, she needed to help Anders with Karl first.
Anders starts to display affection towards Hawke. In a conversation, he says, “We hardly met and I feel like I know you.” I am starting to wonder myself if my Hawke was meant to be with Anders and Anders may start to see it too.
During the relationship, it is clear that Anders really does love Hawke and is highly protective over her. However, at the same time too he displays that disconnection, as if he does not deserve Hawke, afraid to lose her and afraid of hurting her. I do think Justice is the true reason behind this, I think it has to do with the fact he finally has something he has always wanted to have, does not want to lose it and is not exactly sure how to handle it. Thus, it no doubt scares him. Anders however does not lose sight of his goal: mage freedom. I think it is hard for Anders to accept the fact he can have love and mage freedom and not have to choose one over the other, as he had to do in the past.
By the time Act 3 comes around not only has the situation with the mages and Templars reach the breaking point but also the relationship. Anders has love and freedom, something other mages cannot have or struggle to have and he finds that to be unfair. He has to choose either take the opportunity presented before him to strike or let it pass by. He does lie to Hawke, but with good reason. He is trying to protect her and does not want her to be implicated in the action. Anders believes that Hawke will stop him because she loves him and not understand why he must do what he is about to do. I can tell it kills him to do this to Hawke, it kills him to say his goodbyes and it kills him to do the action.
In the end, the Chantry is destroyed and people are forced to choose sides. Anders accepts the fact he is going to die for his actions. This to me shows that after seven years he has managed to retain his humanity. In previous games when it came time to choose Anders fate, I normally reflected back on the events of Dragon Age 2 and used those events to conclude Anders and Hawke should stay together.
But then I started asking myself, what if I took several more steps backwards and tried to look deeper into why is Anders is the way he is, what led him to this point etc. Now when I chose Anders fate, I seem to understand a great deal more who he is and why he did what he did. I could wag my finger in his face and tell him he is wrong like a child, but there is no point. This poor man has suffered so much in his life just for being a mage. It may have been wrong to merge with Justice, but I do not think Anders knew the consequences and on the other side, Justice also made Anders a better person, opening emotional doors that were closed off.
Everyone Anders knows and is around only sees him as a dangerous abomination. They are not aware of the emotional scars he has carried throughout his life. When Hawke comes into Anders life, he is rather amazed that someone is willing to see past the obvious and get to know him as a person. Yes, he can be dangerous, but all people can be labeled as such and yes, he can be selfish at times, but again all people are like that.
I felt Anders made my Hawke a better person. It made her aware of how wrong she was about things. My Hawke said in the final conversation before “The Last Straw”, “You’re wrong, there is nothing more important than love.” However, looking back I realized, Anders was right. Love is important but it should not be above fighting to give other mages the same opportunity they had in the past four years. They may have led different lives but in the end, their paths merged into one.
No matter if my Hawke chose to kill or leave Anders, it would not have changed the fact he was right. He deserves to have happiness in his life. Forgiveness is the hardest thing to give to another. In Anders case, he has been needing forgiveness for a long time and I believe the right thing to do is forgive him, love him and show him there is someone in Thedas that would never abandon him no matter what he does. If you can get through the event with him in “The Last Straw”, you know Anders and your Hawke can get through anything.
Love will push you to the Fade and back in Dragon Age: in Ander’s case, it certainly does that.
(Note: I maybe completely off about what I wrote, but I can only see what I can with what information I have read).
Retour en haut
ANDERS IS GAY, OKAY? DEAL WITH IT. 
