Monica21 wrote...
Sandtigress wrote...
You have to remember that he doesn't know that he doesn't need your political marriage in order to win their support. As far as you know, either you know nothing about the political situation, or you know that his position is weak because the nobles don't like the idea of a bastard on the throne. Knowing that Alistair can take throne without you is meta-gaming. ;-)
It's not meta-gaming. Whatever race you play, you can put whoever you want on the throne. Even though you don't know much going into the Landsmeet, you know that you're there to help put who you want on the throne. Not to mention that you decided who will rule comes after the "big decision" has been made. During that previous conversation and battle, there is a significant lack of mention of the PC's nobility. It's all about what you've done before the Landsmeet. If I were to say that Alistair doesn't need to marry a male Cousland to win the throne then that's meta-gaming, but it also doesn't make it any less true. Whoever the PC supports gets the throne. The marriage option is a cherry on top, for whatever reason your PC decides.
Its meta-gaming in the sense that from the HFN's perspective, they have no idea that Alistair's throne can be gained without extra assistance. You don't know that the bannorn will ask you to decide who is going to rule, you don't know that Loghain is going to come in with an army to pull a coup. What you know is either nothing, or that the nobles are not standing behind Alistair and you are of high-quality noble blood.
And you do know that the nobles consider you a noble still - or you probably do. If you do any of the quests for the nobles prior ro Landsmeet, they acknowledge you as Teyrn Bryce's daughter, express sympathy for what happened, and at least one, Bann Alfstanna, I believe, offers you aid to regain YOUR teyrn after the Blight. Anora makes much the same offer. Most everyone still considers you nobility, Grey Warden or not.
I never said he was naive, but I did say that there's no reason for him to suddenly cave to a political marriage (and that includes Anora, but at least you can talk to him about that) when he never gives any indication prior that he'd be willing to do that.
Right, he's a romantic enough to hope that he won't have to marry for politics, but smart enough to realize that he might need to. If you ask him to, he will marry for politics and not love.
The HNF may not know, but Alistair's known the entire game. If he feels so strongly about it that he breaks up with a PC he loves after the Landsmeet, then there's no reason for him to agree to a marriage to someone he doesn't love.
He'll break up with someone over the childless thing only after he's made King. Before that, there's still some hope that he won't be crowned, and he can go on living like he'd like. Afterwards, he realizes that since you're not queen and you can't become queen (if you're elven, dwarven, or a mage), he ends it because he knows he's going to have to pursue a marriage with someone else, and its not fair to try to keep you both (unless you convince him otherwise). If you're already agreed to be in a marriage with him...well, that part of the problem is solved. He won't be cheating on his wife then. Alistair is nothing if not made of honor.
Unless he's hardened, then he wants to be crowned. I can see an unhardened Alistair caving, but if anything, a hardened Alistair should not be willing to marry someone he doesn't love and can't have children with. And yes, he is honorable. So, given his honor and knowledge of both yours and Anora's physical status, why again would he agree to marry someone he doesn't love?
He only wants to be crowned AT the Landsmeet, however. Even just before that, he'll still say that Anora is the best candidate for the throne, and she should probably have it. He then qualifies it with "People like them are the problem, they think they're the only ones who can fix everything." He hasn't done a 180 - he's still Alistair who would rather have his freedom. He's simply more accepting of the idea that he can be a good king, and that its not the end of the world if he IS made king.
Again, given RtO we know that Anora has a good possibility of being barren. That doesn't stop him from marrying her. And only in the HNF's case would the bannorn even begin to allow considering him to marry for love. If you try to announce yourself queen as anything other than an HNF, he'll say that his claim is shaky enough - the nobles would never allow someone not of noble blood to sit on the throne. He's being kind, but what he really means is no elf/dwarf/mage will ever rule, no matter how much he loves them.
He even makes a tacit acknowledgement that he
has to marry someone, even if he'll always love you, implying that he's probably going to have to marry and have children with someone he doesn't love and may never love. Alistair is not so blind as to realize that this might be the case.
Kings rarely get to marry for love. If he can do that with the HNF and be in no worse a position for heir (since Anora probably can't have children either) then why not? All the benefits of a political marriage with love thrown in on top. Its a rare situation, and one he might as well take advantage of if she presents it.
Retour en haut
The post-tent dialogue when you seduce him is also very sweet. Much as it's nice when he asks you, this is always the way I go now.
Well, not pseudo-British ones anyway. Imperial Roman ones had no problem with that.... Now off to finish the expansion. 
