I'm going to break one of my own forum posting rules and repeat myself in full below. The summary is: Elthina's function was restricted by circumstances beyond anyone's control and she was forced into a position of neutrality as a point of practical application of what power remained in her status to maintain a balance that would have spun out of control far more quickly and violently if she hadn't taken the course of action she does, namely remaining neutral and deferring to an unfettered outside party (Hawke) due to lack of other options.
Repeated portion with emphasis added:
The Grand Cleric
should have had all the influence needed to quell the troubles both with the Patrice situation (the Qunari provocation) and the Meredith situation (which is what the Mage/Templar thing boils down to if you take out crazy freedom Anders for a minute, just to simplify). Both these people were her inferiors in a religious order that is THE religious order of Thedas city dwellers - both human and elves - of a wide region. Even Varric, a dwarf, considers what the Chantry does for its dead when he kills his brother. We're talking the dominant culture, a social structure designed to interweave nations in service to the Maker.
Yes, she had the power to have those persons dismissed,
but what is that?
Does anyone believe that a fanatic like Patrice or Meredith is going to simply accept their chastisement and return to the Divine's sight in shame? Or, would they stay on and work through the undercurrents of the city to accomplish their ultimate goals and prove they were, in fact, righteous in the eyes of the Maker, if not his other disciples? I am going to venture the guess that they would, and
it would be far worse for everyone then while they went about their tasks completely unfettered by her attention to their action or act courteous to the Champion for good show - remember, you might be an apostate yourself, surely some of your well protected "friends" are. She (Meredith) actually threatens you with this if you are an mage and pick all the refusal options to her quest in the 3rd Act - and then she snaps back to "nice" because there's still a leash on her, which is the mere presence of the Grand Cleric.
Meanwhile, Orsino is "aware" of the horrific bloodmage that chopped up dear mother, and he too is forced to keep a low profile while there isn't open war. Look what he became! That was being
kept in check by Meredith not being able to supersede the Grand Cleric and declare the Rite of Annulment. Meredith, as the Knight Commander, does not have that power - the Knight Commander in Ferelden didn't have it, he had to wait on orders from the Grand Cleric of Denerim.
Elthina choosing not to take a side is an illusion she must maintain to everyone, because that's the only way she can function in this situation, she IS the status quo embodied - killing her removed the avoidance of conflict that "compromise" of which she was the only living agent remaining after the Viscount's death. Her greatest mistake was not trusting Hawke, or trusting Hawke too much - I can't tell.
She cannot be seen to move to either side, and so she cannot even "send" Hawke to do anything. It's left up to us,
we become her agency. She says as much when she sends you to Liliana and tells you to use your own arguments and come to your own conclusion, she's already said all she can say.
She couldn't direct us, but I wish she had, because the weight of the decision didn't belong to Hawke, and that's what we ended up with - I think its brilliant, but I understand why people say that Act 3 seems forced;
it is forced, on everyone in the story, including the player, and that's part of the tragedy of it.
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And that's I guess my whole stance on the issue, for better or worse, the situation doesn't allow anyone to work to their greatest possible potential because it has become SO unusual and complicated by the issues that need to be balanced but refused to remain in stasis.
Modifié par Asdara, 30 mars 2011 - 04:20 .
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