23 réponses à ce sujet

[Xilizhra]

The other evil woman of the Chantry, and one who's far less popular to side with than Meredith, for some reason. I personally believe it's largely because video game players hate being lied to. However...

Certainly, she does terrible things in her anti-qunari crusade, but... well, quite frankly, I don't see what's so special. She and her monkey are only directly responsible for the deaths of the qunari delegation and Seamus, as well as the indirect possible death of Hawke. That seems like a rather weak body count over four years, by Kirkwall standards, and especially compared to what she's trying to stop; the qunari gaining a foothold in Kirkwall.

Unfortunately, even Meredith's pitifully underexplored background is denied to Petrice. We have no idea what motivates her aside from a rather ends-justifies-the-means version of Andrastianism, but we've no hint as to where it came from. Why does she believe this anyway?
To me, one things in Shepherding Wolves at least hints at it. When she mentions Hawke being Fereldan, she talks about how the inhabitants of the southern nations haven't seen the results of qunari invasions. Since Kirkwall was last occupied by the qunari nearly 200 years ago, it seems unlikely that anyone there would be intimately familiar with the results of their passing; this makes me wonder if perhaps Petrice is native to somewhere even further north, with more skirmishes with the qunari... perhaps some sort of traumatic  early life experiences? It's hard to say, but hatred this focused, sustained largely without support, doesn't spring up from nowhere. Though perhaps she's just an ardent historian and was (rightfully) terrified of what she read about the qunari doing.

Another interesting fact is that she seems to be more liberal about mages than many other Chantry members. Admittedly, both of these hints are open to interpretation, but... I believe her when she says that her pity towards the Saarebas was genuine. I don't see why she'd have a reason to lie about it then. And some of what she says in her initial presentation of the quest to Hawke (especially "Would even a templar chain a mage like this?") makes me wonder if she might not disapprove of the Circle system some herself. The other thing is that if she survives Act 2, she'll call Hawke the champion that Kirkwall needs even if Hawke sided with Orsino and openly defied the Chantry's rule, which leads me to another thing I noticed; she cares far less about the Chantry's organizational structure than she does her own faith or other motivations. Her religious interpretation seems much more Protestant than Catholic.

All in all, a far more interesting character than most seem to give her credit for. And I wish you didn't have to be aggressive to have her survive.

[KnightofPhoenix]

It is unfortunate that we do not get to delve deeper into her...backstory.

I think her motivation however is what she says it is. "Eternity" and religious zeal for the most part. You don't need personal experience to hate something ardently.

She is only liberal when it comes to mages when compared to the Qunari and frankly, I think she was practicing her propaganda on Hawke. I don't think she intrinsically cared about the Sarebaas, or at least she cared more about having political ammo. She may have genuine concern for mages, but I do not see much that points at her being opposed to the system. If anything, her comment is saying that the Chantry's system is much more humane and enlightened.

And I did not know about her pushing Hawke to really be Champion after Act 2. It could very well be that Petrice does not approve of Meredith acquiring too much power and / or being incompetent. That is interesting indeed. I would not say that she does not respect the authority of the Divine however and thus is a Thedas version of protestant. I think it's more likely that she is simply not comfortable with Meredith (who in his right mind would?).

All in all, Petrice, despite not being fully reasonable and too blinded by hatred, is one of my favorite characters in DA2 (not saying much but still) and she helped a great deal to make Act 2 be the most redeeming thing about DA2 for me. It's a shame we did not get to meet and interact with her as much as we did with the Arishok.

Modifié par KnightofPhoenix, 25 mai 2011 - 04:40 .

[Xilizhra]

Religious zeal is a part of it, certainly, but I believe she also had more worldly concerns about what the qunari might do to Kirkwall and beyond. The monkey (Varnell) seemed to be pure zeal, certainly, but Petrice seems too, well, thoughtful.

[infinite bias]

Xilizhra wrote...

Religious zeal is a part of it, certainly, but I believe she also had more worldly concerns about what the qunari might do to Kirkwall and beyond. The monkey (Varnell) seemed to be pure zeal, certainly, but Petrice seems too, well, thoughtful.

Where did you get the impression that she's in any way "thoughtful"? I found her to be a open and shut case of religious fanatic -she wants a nice spot in the afterlife so she decides to provoke a standing army into razing Kirkwall and beheading the viscount...thoughtful indeed.

[Xilizhra]

Well, her schemes did require quite a bit of forethought to enact, though I could be overestimating her. But what she actually wanted was to start a war at a time favorable to Kirkwall, instead of waiting for the qunari to start it and potentially conquer the city.

[infinite bias]

The Qunari DID conquer the city and it was only the intervention of Hawke that stopped Viscount's Keep from becoming the scene of extended siege warfare between the Qunari and the Templars.

I don't understand why having the war start when it did is "favorable" to Kirkwall. The city guard were clearly ill-prepared for the invasion as were the Templars and the Circle. I say her provocations came at the worst time possible, creating the power vacuum that allowed Meredith to extend her powers even further, something that did nobody any favours.

[Xilizhra]

Well, her plan failed, I'll admit that.

[mesmerizedish]

I don't think she really intended the Viscount's head to get lopped off. She had hoped for Kirkwall to march on the compound. The Qunari struck first, which was not part of her plan.

Modifié par ishmaeltheforsaken, 25 mai 2011 - 12:06 .

[Knight of Dane]

"Petrice's a looney"

[Beerfish]

Petrice had a plan, she was right about the Qunari being cruel dangerous Heretics and if she was successful probably some lives would have been saved. The same people that fall all over themselves blasting Elthina for not doing anything also at times blast Petrice for doing something.

Obviously she was misguided and fanatical but she saw the danger of the Qunari well before the breaking point. She was ruthless for sure but in her mind was doing it for the greater good.

I really liked the two play throughs where I actually cooperated with her she ends up living, you have a nice little convo the last time you see here in which she indicates she wants to work with you or cooperate with you in the future.

[Sanarion]

I disliked her, but I sided with her on all my "ruthless"/canon characters. My favorite character was actively trying to kill the Viscount, because he blamed them for the downfall of the Amells. There's a letter you find in the celler of the estate, talking about how Viscount Dumar supposedly wanted the Amells gone, and thus contributed to their financial ruin. My favorite part of the game was advising him to burn the bodies, then telling the Arishok the Viscount had them burned to hide the torture. Playing both sides. That Hawke also hated the Qunari because of Sten, so siding with Petrice was natural.

[dragonflight288]

Hmm. I may have to play an aggressive Hawke just too side with Petrice and see what that's like.

[Xilizhra]

Or you can cheat via console. That's probably what I'll do, as I generally prefer diplomatic Hawke.

[HighMoon]

Imagine having Petrice as a romance option... O_o

[jbblue05]

Patrice is awesome she's my favorite non-squaddie.npc
The Qunari invasion was inevitable and if Patrice was the Grand Cleric the Qunari problem would've been solved before the problem became acute and the vicount wouldn't be dead

[SilentK]

Had no idea that there were a different way to go with Petrice, that she can survive =) interesting to see what that will bring in the future.

[Zeevico]

nvm.

Modifié par Zeevico, 26 mai 2011 - 04:54 .

[Beerfish]

She really is a very good character, I don't think we will see her again because most people let her get bumped off but when you have polls and she is listed as the most hated character in the game that is good character design and good writing.

[phyreblade74]

I don't like extremes. Honestly, I tend to be a more middling sort of person, looking for compromise and a real "live and let live" set of circumstances. It really boils my ire when someone insists they KNOW so much better than EVERYONE else, which is why Petrice gets under my skin perhaps. Even my aggressive Hawkes hate the woman.

It's just like Meredith. I can understand where she's coming from, I can even empathize. But her actions are disgusting and manipulative, the ultimate result so gross as to make what she's done unforgivable. Honestly, I felt sorry for Varnell when he was tossed to the wolves that is Hawke's resolve. Not sorry enough I hesitated to lop his head off, but still...

No, Petrice sickens me. She is dead-set on actions that doom innocents, makes few bones about it, and basically thunders along irregardless of the damage she knows will come of it. One of the best parts of the game is seeing an arrow thunk in her forehead, shrug. It's right up there with watching Meredith burn right after she's caught looking around, bewildered, mumbling about, "What's going on, am I just mad, else why am I losing." classic stuff.

[Jedi Master of Orion]

I thought her motives were very straightforward. She hated the influence heretical qunari so she wanted them gone by force.

[Xilizhra]

I don't like extremes. Honestly, I tend to be a more middling sort of person, looking for compromise and a real "live and let live" set of circumstances. It really boils my ire when someone insists they KNOW so much better than EVERYONE else, which is why Petrice gets under my skin perhaps. Even my aggressive Hawkes hate the woman.

Wouldn't the qunari be many times worse, then?

No, Petrice sickens me. She is dead-set on actions that doom innocents, makes few bones about it, and basically thunders along irregardless of the damage she knows will come of it.

Also totally applicable to the qunari.

[phyreblade74]

Xilizhra wrote...

I don't like extremes. Honestly, I tend to be a more middling sort of person, looking for compromise and a real "live and let live" set of circumstances. It really boils my ire when someone insists they KNOW so much better than EVERYONE else, which is why Petrice gets under my skin perhaps. Even my aggressive Hawkes hate the woman.

Wouldn't the qunari be many times worse, then?

No, Petrice sickens me. She is dead-set on actions that doom innocents, makes few bones about it, and basically thunders along irregardless of the damage she knows will come of it.

Also totally applicable to the qunari.

Uh, yea, and my Hawke kills the Arishok when he goes to the extreme.  Hawke is not a follower of the Qun, by any means.

[Xilizhra]

The qunari sort of seem to live on the extremes, though.

[phyreblade74]

Xilizhra wrote...

The qunari sort of seem to live on the extremes, though.

They do.  Which is why I completely disagree with their philosophy.  Doesn't mean I'm going to the other extreme, and high-fiving Petrice, either.  As I see it, she was no better than the Qunari, basically.  She got an arrow in the head and the Arishok got my dagger in his face.  It all works, shrug.