945 réponses à ce sujet

[IanPolaris]

Magic is not a disease. It's a trait. You are killing off all people because they have a trait. That makes it genocide. It would be the same as if you killed all those of african descent because some might carry malaria or sickle-cell anemia. It's still genocide.

-Polaris

[stobie]

If that were true, then the Chantry would be killing them up front. No Dark Hogwarts school/prison, no Tranquility. It is known that they're vulnerable to demons. They're not killed for that reason, though they are forced to face a demon to prove their strength.

The part I don't understand is how blood magic is a disease - but clearly, the game says it is. The Dalish seem to agree. I'm not sure why they're so scared of Merrill. On my first play through, I thought we'd learn she already has a Demon Within, but she seems to have gone no farther than visiting him and chatting. Then again, when I see her use her blood magic, staff through self spell, I'd get a little nervous, too.

So what you say there isn't true - they're not killed for being mages, or they'd be killed up front. They're killed for having a fatal disease which is deemed hopelessly contagious. Why, I don't know, but that *is* how it's presented. (I'm not saying they're right - obviously, my companions are around Merrill without turning into... whatever you turn into.) I think the game itself is unclear about what makes it so contagious. Maybe it's made more clear in one of the books?

IanPolaris wrote...

Magic is not a disease. It's a trait.
You are killing off all people because they have a trait. That makes
it genocide. It would be the same as if you killed all those of african
descent because some might carry malaria or sickle-cell anemia. It's
still genocide.

-Polaris

It's genocide if someone is using that as excuse to eradicate a race.  Those issues don't threaten everyone on the planet, so it's no comparison, and is set in the real world, which has an entirely different set of physical rules from the fantasy world we're talking about here.

Modifié par stobie, 20 avril 2011 - 04:14 .

[IanPolaris]

stobie,

The Right of Annulment clearly is an order to kill mages for being mages. The very issuance of that order is an Act of Genocide. There is simply no getting around it. Everytbhing else is justification and frankly much the same justification that's been used thoughout human history for other acts of genocide.

I'm sorry. There are legitamately grey areas of morality in Dragon Age (1 and 2) and other games, but this simply isn't one of them.

-Polaris

[stobie]

It is not. It's an order to destroy everyone in a building because their condition has become fatal and dangerous. Were it anything else, there would be no Circle in the first place. They'd just kill every mage at birth.

[LobselVith8]

stobie wrote...

So if there was a building where everyone had some hideous disease that could annihilate the world, and it was decided to kill everyone in that building, that would be genocide? (this happened in a Star Trek episode - I almost hate myself for thinking of this...)

Meredith orders the execution of everyone, from the eldest mage to the youngest apprentice, because Anders blew up the Chantry. No one has a disease, no one is infected, and Hawke never meets the many mages in the Gallows to make any assessment about them because he fights antagonists who are outside the Gallows.

stobie wrote...

They're not being killed because they're mages, are they?

Yes, that's precisely what's happening. An apostate killed Grand Cleric Elthina, and the Knight-Commander ordered the deaths of every mage in Kirkwall as a result. Every man, woman, and child in the Circle of Magi condemned for the actions of an apostate who wasn't part of the Kirkwall Circle. Meredith even tries to kill Bethany.

stobie wrote...

They're being killed because they're considered infected. (and no, I don't know what that means in Thedas - but that *is* how it's described.) When Cullen says, stupidly because I'm a mage, that mages aren't like you & me, he means they're susceptible to this disease, not that they're alien beings who should die.

Cullen also took Bethany into the Gallows even after Hawke saved his life, so he has no sympathy with me. I suppose he misplaced the murder knife when Cullen took Bethany from their home.

stobie wrote...

He felt sorry for them until he saw what happens when the disease takes shape. (and he overlooks that the survivors went merrily on.) I don't see that as a desire to remove a race.

Cullen said mages shouldn't be treated like people and that they are weapons. I don't feel sorry for him at all.

[IanPolaris]

stobie wrote...

If that were true, then the Chantry would be killing them up front. No Dark Hogwarts school/prison, no Tranquility. It isIt's genocide if someone is using that as excuse to eradicate a race.  Those issues don't threaten everyone on the planet, so it's no comparison, and is set in the real world, which has an entirely different set of physical rules from the fantasy world we're talking about here.

Substitute planet for "United States of America" and substitute Mage for "******" or "Japanese American", and you have the Attorney General of the US in 1942 all over again...and that WAS a war crime (as the US much later admitted and owned to).  Even then the US didn't kill all Japanese Americans (although it would have been very popular to do at the time).

See the point?  It's genocide.  The rest is excuse and justification.

-Polaris

[BanksHector]

They are killed because the chantry is blew up, and the KC finally has the power to give the RoA. I do not believe that the order was given because of the chantry, but it was the excuse she used cause she finally had the ability to give the order and in the heat of the moment when something happens people might be more willing to follow the order. Now whatever reason she wants them all dead, I am not completely sure.

Modifié par BanksHector, 20 avril 2011 - 04:20 .

[IanPolaris]

BanksHector wrote...

They are killed because the chantry is blew up, and the KC finally has the power to give the RoA. I do not believe that the order was given because of the chantry, but it was the excuse she used cause she finally had the ability to give the order and in the heat of the moment when someone happens people might be more willing to follow the order. Now whatever reason she wants them all dead, I am not completely sure.

She's a fruit loop.  I realize that's politically incorrect but it's true.  On some deep emotional level, Meredith believes all mages not only can but will go an a killing spree just like her sister did (of course this neglects the fact they never got her sister any training so she might control her ability...Meridith never blames herself or her parents for that lack of responsibility).  That made her bad enough before, but the Red Lyrium Idol of Doom has made her believe that all mages will destroy Thedas no matter what.  She even says as much in her insane rants at the end of the game.

She is a nutter and has been for years at this point.  Even Cullen admits that he sees where the rumors are coming from and he's a staunch Meredith loyalist.

-Polaris

[stobie]

What Meredith thinks while going insane doesn't really reflect on the intention of the Right, however.

[dreadpiratesnugglecakes]

IanPolaris wrote...

stobie wrote...

If that were true, then the Chantry would be killing them up front. No Dark Hogwarts school/prison, no Tranquility. It isIt's genocide if someone is using that as excuse to eradicate a race.  Those issues don't threaten everyone on the planet, so it's no comparison, and is set in the real world, which has an entirely different set of physical rules from the fantasy world we're talking about here.

Substitute planet for "United States of America" and substitute Mage for "******" or "Japanese American", and you have the Attorney General of the US in 1942 all over again...and that WAS a war crime (as the US much later admitted and owned to).  Even then the US didn't kill all Japanese Americans (although it would have been very popular to do at the time).

See the point?  It's genocide.  The rest is excuse and justification.

-Polaris

Uh..no.  Don't see the point.  Japanese were interred because of fear of spying and subversion during a war with their home country; mages have been kept in circles for centuries because they once enslaved and abused the rest of the civilized world.  Two different situations; one happened, the other is fantasy.  Apples and oranges.  Just because they both make you mad doesn't make them the same.

The Rite of Annulment is a destruction of an individual circle when its gone completely out of control.  It's not a general order to murder every mage you see...or in every circle.  Just the one where the first enchanter and the Templar Commander have lost control of a situation.  Now in the case of Kirkwall, the Knight Commander is actually guilty of helping create the conditions that she is trying to end using the Rite of Annulment.  Had a psychotic terrorist of a mage not blown up the Templar Commander's boss, they might have been able to avoid that.

Rite of Annulment is not genocide; you denigrate the severity of the term by misapplying it here.  Burning down the Dalish quarter because you think the elves are a bunch of ugly weirdos..that's genocide.  Taking out a circle tower after the Templars have lost control and the First Enchanter has been killed or subverted and the mages are a danger to the general population is a targeted execution.  Not pretty but not genocide.

[LobselVith8]

dreadpiratesnugglecakes wrote...

Uh..no.  Don't see the point.  Japanese were interred because of fear of spying and subversion during a war with their home country; mages have been kept in circles for centuries because they once enslaved and abused the rest of the civilized world.  Two different situations; one happened, the other is fantasy.  Apples and oranges.  Just because they both make you mad doesn't make them the same.

The Magisters enslaved mages and non-mages alike, and they still do in modern Tevinter. Conflating all mages with the Tevinter Magisters is the same mistake Knight-Commander Greagoir makes in the introduction of the Magi Origin.

dreadpiratesnugglecakes wrote...

The Rite of Annulment is a destruction of an individual circle when its gone completely out of control.  It's not a general order to murder every mage you see...or in every circle.  Just the one where the first enchanter and the Templar Commander have lost control of a situation.  Now in the case of Kirkwall, the Knight Commander is actually guilty of helping create the conditions that she is trying to end using the Rite of Annulment.  Had a psychotic terrorist of a mage not blown up the Templar Commander's boss, they might have been able to avoid that.

Which wasn't the case in Kirkwall, where the Right of Annulment is called because an apostate killed Grand Cleric Elthina and the Circle of Kirkwall was condemned to execution as a result.

dreadpiratesnugglecakes wrote...

Rite of Annulment is not genocide; you denigrate the severity of the term by misapplying it here.  Burning down the Dalish quarter because you think the elves are a bunch of ugly weirdos..that's genocide.  Taking out a circle tower after the Templars have lost control and the First Enchanter has been killed or subverted and the mages are a danger to the general population is a targeted execution.  Not pretty but not genocide.

Killing every man, woman, and child with magical ability in a kingdom or city-state isn't being misapplied here.

[Lewie]

Meredith may be a fuit loop but all Anders did was prove her right in a way. They were asking for the RoA in Ferelden because blood mages had infiltrated, why is that so different to kirkwall. What is the answer? Set them all free? Anders could easily check who was possessed there was a solution right there. The RoA is needed as bad as it seems, its cutting off a threat at a choke point. Ideally a way to check mages should be there also, that would give innocents at least, hope if the circle around them fails. They would think twice before using blood magic if they knew they would not be annihilated with the rest of them.

[Urazz]

LobselVith8 wrote...

dreadpiratesnugglecakes wrote...

Uh..no.  Don't see the point.  Japanese were interred because of fear of spying and subversion during a war with their home country; mages have been kept in circles for centuries because they once enslaved and abused the rest of the civilized world.  Two different situations; one happened, the other is fantasy.  Apples and oranges.  Just because they both make you mad doesn't make them the same.

The Magisters enslaved mages and non-mages alike, and they still do in modern Tevinter. Conflating all mages with the Tevinter Magisters is the same mistake Knight-Commander Greagoir makes in the introduction of the Magi Origin.

dreadpiratesnugglecakes wrote...

The Rite of Annulment is a destruction of an individual circle when its gone completely out of control.  It's not a general order to murder every mage you see...or in every circle.  Just the one where the first enchanter and the Templar Commander have lost control of a situation.  Now in the case of Kirkwall, the Knight Commander is actually guilty of helping create the conditions that she is trying to end using the Rite of Annulment.  Had a psychotic terrorist of a mage not blown up the Templar Commander's boss, they might have been able to avoid that.

Which wasn't the case in Kirkwall, where the Right of Annulment is called because an apostate killed Grand Cleric Elthina and the Circle of Kirkwall was condemned to execution as a result.

Yeah, that's basically how the Chantry basically manages to get the general populace to agree to keep mages in the Circle all their life generally.  They spout off Tevinter as an example of what mages 'will' do and say they will go down that path again if the mages aren't watched over.  I agree that mages do need to be watched over by templars (and other mages) but they don't need to be locked in the Circle all their life.

Anyways, the RoA was called for all the wrong reasons and that is all it takes for it to cause the mages to rebel.  After all, enacting a RoA is something major and can get alot of innocent mages killed if used at the wrong time.  It's supposed to be a last resort when a Circle is unsalvageable.  Now the Kirkwall Circle was unsalvageable is up to debate but I think the general consensus is that it wasn't completely lost yet.

The templars caused alot of the problems at the Kirkwall Circle and thus solving at least part of the problem would've been removing Meredith from power and then cleaning house of all the corrupt templars.  But that didn't happen and so Meredith's reputation and the situation at the Kirkwall Circle in combination with the bad call for enacting the RoA would definately cause the Circles to rebel.

One thing I like to think about, if Cullen was there with Meredith when she enacted a Right of Annulment do you think he would've went against her right then and there if he knew that the Circle wasn't responsible for the destruction of the Chantry and that the apostate responsible was right there.  Personally, I think he would've stopped it right there and Meredith would've went crazy and attacked then and there.

louise101 wrote...

Meredith may be a fuit loop but all Anders did was prove her right in a way. They were asking for the RoA in Ferelden because blood mages had infiltrated, why is that so different to kirkwall. What is the answer? Set them all free? Anders could easily check who was possessed there was a solution right there. The RoA is needed as bad as it seems, its cutting off a threat at a choke point. Ideally a way to check mages should be there also, that would give innocents at least, hope if the circle around them fails. They would think twice before using blood magic if they knew they would not be annihilated with the rest of them.

Yes, but there were also demons and blood mages there killing everyone there, mage and templar alike.  That basically escalates it to be beyond the Kirkwall Circle I think.  Knight Commander Gregoir basically says the Circle is safe if you leave it up to his decision and don't try to convince him otherwise.  Kirkwall wasn't at that point yet and alot of the rise of blood mages or escaping Apostates there was caused by Meredith's actions (or lack of actions against corrupt templars like Alrik).

Modifié par Urazz, 20 avril 2011 - 10:57 .

[Torax]

I could argue that if Orsino worked with Meredith years ago to root out the Blood Magic within the Circle it never would have escalated. But it appeared he was fighting her from the start. Especially hiding his own antics. So if you want to go on about it being Meredith's fault solely, no they're both at fault. If Orsino worked with her instead of against her then maybe she'd have taken more action against her own Templars. Speculation and accusations on both sides of that coin. You can't put it all on her. He was helping to make it all far worse.

I'm not even a Templar supporter and I can acknowledge she isn't the only one to blame...

[Lewie]

Urazz wrote...

LobselVith8 wrote...

dreadpiratesnugglecakes wrote...

Uh..no.  Don't see the point.  Japanese were interred because of fear of spying and subversion during a war with their home country; mages have been kept in circles for centuries because they once enslaved and abused the rest of the civilized world.  Two different situations; one happened, the other is fantasy.  Apples and oranges.  Just because they both make you mad doesn't make them the same.

The Magisters enslaved mages and non-mages alike, and they still do in modern Tevinter. Conflating all mages with the Tevinter Magisters is the same mistake Knight-Commander Greagoir makes in the introduction of the Magi Origin.

dreadpiratesnugglecakes wrote...

The Rite of Annulment is a destruction of an individual circle when its gone completely out of control.  It's not a general order to murder every mage you see...or in every circle.  Just the one where the first enchanter and the Templar Commander have lost control of a situation.  Now in the case of Kirkwall, the Knight Commander is actually guilty of helping create the conditions that she is trying to end using the Rite of Annulment.  Had a psychotic terrorist of a mage not blown up the Templar Commander's boss, they might have been able to avoid that.

Which wasn't the case in Kirkwall, where the Right of Annulment is called because an apostate killed Grand Cleric Elthina and the Circle of Kirkwall was condemned to execution as a result.

Yeah, that's basically how the Chantry basically manages to get the general populace to agree to keep mages in the Circle all their life generally.  They spout off Tevinter as an example of what mages 'will' do and say they will go down that path again if the mages aren't watched over.  I agree that mages do need to be watched over by templars (and other mages) but they don't need to be locked in the Circle all their life.

Anyways, the RoA was called for all the wrong reasons and that is all it takes for it to cause the mages to rebel.  After all, enacting a RoA is something major and can get alot of innocent mages killed if used at the wrong time.  It's supposed to be a last resort when a Circle is unsalvageable.  Now the Kirkwall Circle was unsalvageable is up to debate but I think the general consensus is that it wasn't completely lost yet.

The templars caused alot of the problems at the Kirkwall Circle and thus solving at least part of the problem would've been removing Meredith from power and then cleaning house of all the corrupt templars.  But that didn't happen and so Meredith's reputation and the situation at the Kirkwall Circle in combination with the bad call for enacting the RoA would definately cause the Circles to rebel.

One thing I like to think about, if Cullen was there with Meredith when she enacted a Right of Annulment do you think he would've went against her right then and there if he knew that the Circle wasn't responsible for the destruction of the Chantry and that the apostate responsible was right there.  Personally, I think he would've stopped it right there and Meredith would've went crazy and attacked then and there.

louise101 wrote...

Meredith may be a fuit loop but all Anders did was prove her right in a way. They were asking for the RoA in Ferelden because blood mages had infiltrated, why is that so different to kirkwall. What is the answer? Set them all free? Anders could easily check who was possessed there was a solution right there. The RoA is needed as bad as it seems, its cutting off a threat at a choke point. Ideally a way to check mages should be there also, that would give innocents at least, hope if the circle around them fails. They would think twice before using blood magic if they knew they would not be annihilated with the rest of them.

Yes, but there were also demons and blood mages there killing everyone there, mage and templar alike.  That basically escalates it to be beyond the Kirkwall Circle I think.  Knight Commander Gregoir basically says the Circle is safe if you leave it up to his decision and don't try to convince him otherwise.  Kirkwall wasn't at that point yet and alot of the rise of blood mages or escaping Apostates there was caused by Meredith's actions (or lack of actions against corrupt templars like Alrik).

Add to that that templars are now turning into abominations, not just being killed. Blood mages in the blooming rose getting info from templars who are smitten. Kirkwall just needed overhauling in and out there is blame everywhere.

[Rifneno]

stobie wrote...

Wiping out a Circle isn't genocide, either. It's killing people in a building. As the story is told, it's killing people who are infected with something wildly contagious & world-threatening. (this isn't clear to me, but so it seems) I didn't see that even Meredith wanted all mages everywhere to die. She just thinks they have to be brutally contained so they don't hurt anyone. Vicious & wrong, but not exactly race-eliminating.

You don't know what the word means.  "Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group""  Note "in part."  This word was not invented solely for use with Hitler and his attempts to exterminate the jews, despite what many seem to think.  Scholars on the subject (i.e. people who actually study it, not make vague and inaccurate comparisons on the Internet) have noted patterns to it, every single one of which can be noted in the Chantry's Circle "solution."

TJPags wrote...

If Ian stops calling people genocidal mass murderers, he might well be left with nothing to say.

I see he's added gestapo to his list of catchphrases.

I suppose you'd still be such a fountain of wisdom if you weren't using the phrase "terrorist" (incorrectly under all but the most broad definitions of the term, I might add) constantly?

stobie wrote...

I really wish they either left that part out  - the Kerras part, because Alrik does come off as a rogue templar - and that they'd shown mages as something other than screaming lunatics.  It's hard for me to hate crazy - whereas manipulative, I can despise. (Petrice leaps to mind.)  

The story pretty much would've had to be re-written to allow for mages being villains en masse without insanity.  Either by making the Circle packed with malicious blood mages planning to go Tevinter 2.0, or making it so mages simply are inherently evil.  Either one would've also had to eliminate the Tevinter vortex to hell angle too as they wouldn't be "evil" themselves if it's just because Kirkwall's built out of crazy.  And the end result is there being no moral grey area, simply a bunch of mages that need killing.

stobie wrote...

Wait - are Bioware writers beholden to International Law?  Beware the Hague!

Funny how you "it's not genocide!" types never use the fact that "terrorism" is a modern-day word, just as genocide is, being barely 200 years old (i.e. far too young to apply to DA) against the people screaming about Anders' "terrorism."

[EmperorSahlertz]

Didn't I just spend two freaking pages explaining how it ISN'T genocide? Why does he refuse to listen?

[Urazz]

Torax wrote...

I could argue that if Orsino worked with Meredith years ago to root out the Blood Magic within the Circle it never would have escalated. But it appeared he was fighting her from the start. Especially hiding his own antics. So if you want to go on about it being Meredith's fault solely, no they're both at fault. If Orsino worked with her instead of against her then maybe she'd have taken more action against her own Templars. Speculation and accusations on both sides of that coin. You can't put it all on her. He was helping to make it all far worse.

I'm not even a Templar supporter and I can acknowledge she isn't the only one to blame...

True she isn't the only one to blame.  I tend to put most of the blame on her, Anders, and Elthina mostly.  Orsino does deserve some blame but alot of what happened is a result from the conditions created by the templars.

EmperorSahlertz wrote...

Didn't I just spend two freaking pages explaining how it ISN'T genocide? Why does he refuse to listen?

It may not be genocide but it's pretty darn close.

Modifié par Urazz, 20 avril 2011 - 02:31 .

[tausra]

Urazz wrote...

EmperorSahlertz wrote...

Didn't I just spend two freaking pages explaining how it ISN'T genocide? Why does he refuse to listen?

It may not be genocide but it's pretty darn close.

Actually it's not. It may be a slaughter, a massacre, butchery, or mass killing but it's nowhere near deserving to be called genocide. Genocide implies that EVERYONE sharing the title of Mage is killed off, not the execution of a single circle. If the Rite of Annulment had a big brother rite that annuled every Circle then it would be genocide, but not until then.

[Rifneno]

Urazz wrote...

True she isn't the only one to blame.  I tend to put most of the blame on her, Anders, and Elthina mostly.  Orsino does deserve some blame but alot of what happened is a result from the conditions created by the templars.

Unfortunately, we don't have much information on Orsino.  While it'd be naive to assume it is so, the case could even be made that the Harvester breakdown thing was his first usage of blood magic.  We only know that he was providing some books for Quentin, we don't know if he knew at that point that the freak was killing people and stitching parts together.  I think one of the templar ending dialogue options has him claiming when he found out what Quentin was doing he didn't report it because Meredith would use it as ammo to further her stranglehold on the Circle's innocent mages.  Which is fairly plausible.  The **** was trying to get the RoA even before Anders' stunt.  If true, just another case of how the templar's extreme methods don't work.  Any system where people will be punished for assisting the authorities is an idiotic system doomed to failure.

When it comes down to it, the blame falls in all different directions.  But I place the most blame on people whose minds aren't being compromised by thin veils, evil dwarven idols, twisted spirits, or even more mundane things like childhood trauma.  People who are completely of their right mind and made a conscious, sane decision to do as they did.  And that is the Chantry.

[Rifneno]

tausra wrote...

Urazz wrote...

EmperorSahlertz wrote...

Didn't I just spend two freaking pages explaining how it ISN'T genocide? Why does he refuse to listen?

It may not be genocide but it's pretty darn close.

Actually it's not. It may be a slaughter, a massacre, butchery, or mass killing but it's nowhere near deserving to be called genocide. Genocide implies that EVERYONE sharing the title of Mage is killed off, not the execution of a single circle. If the Rite of Annulment had a big brother rite that annuled every Circle then it would be genocide, but not until then.

How many times must the "in whole or in part" thing be brought up?

[Addai]

stobie wrote...

So if there was a building where everyone had some hideous disease that could annihilate the world, and it was decided to kill everyone in that building, that would be genocide? (this happened in a Star Trek episode - I almost hate myself for thinking of this...)

They're not being killed because they're mages, are they? They're being killed because they're considered infected. (and no, I don't know what that means in Thedas - but that *is* how it's described.) When Cullen says, stupidly because I'm a mage, that mages aren't like you & me, he means they're susceptible to this disease, not that they're alien beings who should die. He felt sorry for them until he saw what happens when the disease takes shape. (and he overlooks that the survivors went merrily on.) I don't see that as a desire to remove a race.


Wait - are Bioware writers beholden to International Law?  Beware the Hague!

You're using reason against someone who's only interested in a foolish consistency.  There's the wall if you want to bang your head against it a few times, just for fun.

And you are right- a Right of Annulment is called when a particular Circle is considered so irredeemably corrupted that the templars need to pull the plug for the sake of the innocent outside it.  It's a bit easier to agree with Greagoir about this than with Meredith, but then again there is ample evidence that in Kirkwall, mages have a particularly virulent strain.

[EmperorSahlertz]

the "in whole or in part" is completely irrelevant, but I can see why you would focus on that part of the sentence. The important part of the sentence is the part before that. It says "... with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part...". That is not the intention of an annulment. Ergo, it is not genocide.

[Wulfram]

So if you round up a group, stick them in a prison where you regularly kill or lobotomise them and then massacre all of them if they try to resist, that's not genocide?

[Rifneno]

Addai67 wrote...
And you are right- a Right of Annulment is called when a particular Circle is considered so irredeemably corrupted that the templars need to pull the plug for the sake of the innocent outside it.  It's a bit easier to agree with Greagoir about this than with Meredith, but then again there is ample evidence that in Kirkwall, mages have a particularly virulent strain.

It's not a bit easier, there's worlds of difference.  The Ferelden Circle was overrun with abominations and Gregior rightfully felt it was unlikely there even was any real survivors inside.  It posed an immediate and immense danger.  The Kirkwall Circle was none of that.  The templars had complete control of the Circle and it was no immediate danger to anyone, at least no moreso than it had ever been.  The "extremely contagious illness" comparison works for Gregior.  It completely and totally falls flat with Meredith.  Meredith is attempting genocide, that's all there is to it.

Are there more corrupt mages in Kirkwall?  Of course, the place is a portal to hell.  But who put every mage in the country in the Gallows?  The templars did.  A great many of them, probably most of them, weren't from Kirkwall.  So it's not so much "burning a quarantine full of an extremely virulent disease," it's more like "burning a quarantine with a moderately virulent disease that we injected them with."