My first Rogue Hawke sided with the mages, and was one of those people who was very loyal to family & friends. I was unable to side with the Templars as I was romancing Anders and Bethany was in the Circle. Going through the story in this way felt appropriate.
The consequences though weren't as I'd hoped. It seems that going through this path, I was able to stand up for the mages and make Bethany/Anders happy, but as a result we all became outcasts. This path kind of ruined Aveline's life, as now she is also on the run from Kirkwall (I hope at least Donnic came with her). Also at the time I thought Sebastian was coming across as belligerent, but I can see how he felt Hawke betrayed him when he asked if Hawke would have cared if he was in the Chantry when Anders blew it up. If Sebastian was in the Chantry, and Hawke allowed Anders to live, there would have been no justice for his death. Also Aveline seemed to still want to bring Anders to account for his crimes for what he'd done, but instead I was leading him out of Kirkwall to avoid punishment. Would my Hawke had done differently if Bethany or someone else was killed in the Chantry? I'm having a hard time reconciling that.
My second Rogue Hawke was sympathetic to the mages, and loved Bethany, but sided with the Templars. When he met Leliana, she commented that if Kirkwall fell to mages, the rest of Thedas would follow. He had this primarily in mind when it came to siding with the crazy Meredith. He also had in mind all of the nobles begging him to run for Vicount, but all the advice from Alistair and others that he'd need Templar support to accomplish this. He felt if he did become Vicount, he'd be able to influence Mage-friendly changes, such as allowing family visits at the very least.
The end-trip while siding with Meredith felt really horrible. I was part of the army going on the agressive, condemning innocent, law-abiding Circle mages to their deaths just so Meredith could make a political statement. I already killed Anders in retribution, but that was not enough. Though I made up with Bethany in the end and protected her, I participated in an assault that killed many of her friends. I tried to justify this that I could keep a closer eye on Meredith so that I could prevent the worst injustices (saving some mages here and there, saving Bethany) but I allowed Bethany's life to be at risk in the time frame I was not with her.
Though this felt horrible, I felt the ending was also a mixed bag. I found it troubling that my Hawke became a symbol for oppression of mages. I was hoping that by becoming Vicount, and working with Cullen (who I am assuming would have stepped in as Knight-Commander) and Aveline (who'd still happily be Captain of the Guard) I would have enough influence to encourage positive changes for the mages, while still keeping the general populace in check. I know a lot of the nobles/templars in the game mentioned having children who were mages, who'd probably embrace rules that would allow those family relationships to be more in tact. Also with the Chantry completely destroyed, my Vicount would have more liberty to encourage these types of changes since the Chantry influence would temporarily be limited as they had to rebuild.
In my "fairy-tale" vision of this ending, Bethany could start dating Sebastian (after Legacy), she could become an Enchanter in the Circle that was less oppressive/hostile, and Kirkwall could have been viewed as a positive, if moderate, place to be a mage. I'd then give Isabela her Ship and everyone would be happy not to have to leave their home.
It just seems that the Templar route felt like overall the "Happier ending" unless you were in love with Anders. But I still felt bad getting to the ending on that path.
Modifié par SebastianDA, 07 août 2011 - 04:20 .
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How did you think murdering a ton of mages wouldn't make you a symbol of their persecution? Aveline has nothing to do with mages except for turning in apostates, and Cullen was a total hardliner just not a monster like Meredith. Any influence would be minimal at best.
