327 réponses à ce sujet

[TEWR]

@Filament: If it's a person, sure. I can get behind that too. A really, really powerful Demon? Maybe, though I think that's stretching things a bit.

What I'm expressing worry over is if it's going to be something stupid like the Fade itself controlling people.

[Urzon]

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

@Filament: If it's a person, sure. I can get behind that too. A really, really powerful Demon? Maybe, though I think that's stretching things a bit.

What I'm expressing worry over is if it's going to be something stupid like the Fade itself controlling people.

Or worse, it's some dark mysterious evil god we never heard before, and we find out it has been pulling the strings of any and all villans thoughout history. Those evil villain's motives might as well not matter anymore, since they were forced to be villains.

It would be the Meredith/Idol situation x the whole game series.

Horrible.... just horrible if that happens. We don't need the ultimate Big Bad in a fantasy series. It's human nature that monsters create more monsters. They can't run out of villains then, just make the actions of the hero or antagonist give birth to the next bad guy.

[ElitePinecone]

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

Also, do you happen to have a link for where you found out all of this?

I put it all into one post here.

Initially we weren't sure if the marketing survey people had done was the real thing, but the response to it and now confirmation of the name Inquisition seem to suggest large parts of it are accurate. At the very least, it's a better idea of what DA3 will be about than what we have at the moment. The companion/character information is also very interesting.

[ElitePinecone]

Sable Rhapsody wrote...

Filament wrote...
DA2 felt insufficient not just because it had supernatural elements, but because the elements felt like crutches rather than, um, big, muscular legs. Yeah, that analogy totally worked.

Hey, Meredith's legs were pretty manly 

But I agree.  I might not be the biggest fan of George R.R. Martin's writing as of late, but he employs the supernatural well.  It's an element to his stories, and an important one, but it's not the only one.  There's much more driving the plot and complicating events than than magic or Others or dragons.

I loved A Game of Thrones (as in, the first book) precisely because it had layers upon layers of intrigue and plots and conspiracy without resorting to crutches like mind control or supernatural influence - it was all human drama fed by factional loyalty, family, a certain kind of nationalsm, revenge, love, whatever. Magic does come into it but the focus driving the narrative remains human nature and conflict, and that's a great thing.

Reminds me of Origins, in a way, at least in the overarching plot - Loghain was a pretty interesting antagonist because he had eminently human reasons for behaving like he did.

[Zoe]

ElitePinecone wrote...

People are assuming that the Inquisition is a violent campaign of persecution backed by religious zealots and targeted towards mages.

We have no evidence that any of those things are the case.

It seems like there must be some reason the group is called the Inquisition.

[LobselVith8]

ElitePinecone wrote...

People are assuming that the Inquisition is a violent campaign of persecution backed by religious zealots and targeted towards mages.

That's what the prior Inquisition was, before Emperor Drakon organized them into the Order of Templars.

[Vandicus]

LobselVith8 wrote...

ElitePinecone wrote...

People are assuming that the Inquisition is a violent campaign of persecution backed by religious zealots and targeted towards mages.

That's what the prior Inquisition was, before Emperor Drakon organized them into the Order of Templars.

Well the previous Inquisition wasn't a religious organization to begin with. They were largely focused around dealing with the blood mages remaining from the Tevinter Imperium, which I hope that you agree is a valid reason for an anti-X organization to exist. However the organization may have ended up before its fusion, it was created/founded as a non-religious organization with the objective of protecting people from blood magic and those who would abuse magic. For all we know it could've been an organization founded and headed by good guy mages.

This next Inquisition I suspect will have a minor religious affiliation as the most likely source of its rebirth is disillusioned templars and seekers. The founding members are religious but I find it unlikely that the Chantry would recreate the organization. In the Chantry's own hierarchy it would be redundant. The other possibility is that the main character is involved in the founding and so gets to determine the organization's attitudes.

Modifié par Vandicus, 21 septembre 2012 - 01:29 .

[The Elder King]

esper wrote...


I find the Chantry's official version of the Andrastian faith unsetteling, because the whole abusive parent thing the Maker has going for the world in their version. I also worry for the fact that it most be spread to all four corner of the world and for the fact that it is mixed with the Orlesian Goverment and Orlais is an empire with expanding dreams.

I have nothing against the common human/city elf Andrastian. They are allowed to their faith, it is not my problem nor my busniness. Its the organisation I have a problem with.

They may have expansionistic plans, but they already suffered a defeat against Nevarra. Even if it wasn't that importand, it's a sign that while Orlais is still the most powerful human nations, it's not invincible. Nevarra's a great threat to Orlais's supremacy (at least before the conflict between mages and templars. We don't know how those events have affected Nevarra's or Orlais's power).

[LobselVith8]

Vandicus wrote...

Well the previous Inquisition wasn't a religious organization to begin with. They were largely focused around dealing with the blood mages remaining from the Tevinter Imperium, which I hope that you agree is a valid reason for an anti-X organization to exist.

They killed "heretics" and "cultists" as well as mages (as we know from "On Templars, Raiders, City Guards, and the Coterie").

Vandicus wrote...

However the organization may have ended up before its fusion, it was created/founded as a non-religious organization with the objective of protecting people from blood magic and those who would abuse magic. For all we know it could've been an organization founded and headed by good guy mages.

This next Inquisition I suspect will have a minor religious affiliation as the most likely source of its rebirth is disillusioned templars and seekers. The founding members are religious but I find it unlikely that the Chantry would recreate the organization. In the Chantry's own hierarchy it would be redundant. The other possibility is that the main character is involved in the founding and so gets to determine the organization's attitudes.

I don't think it will be minor. Considering Gaider doesn't want to allow the protagonist to be atheist, I doubt the player will have any choice about whether or not the protagonist is religious; Hawke was certain a religious Andrastian, whether we wanted the Champion to be or not.

[Xilizhra]

Hawke only slightly tilts in that direction by default; the strength of said belief, or even whether or not it lasts after All that Remains, is up to the player.

[Olmerto]

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

Olmert wrote...

Thank you for pointing this out.  I see many posters misstating the actual words from Corypheus. He does not use the word "already".  He says that the City "was black when we got there".

It was supposed to be Golden! It was supposed to be ours!

The light. We sought... the golden light. But it was black, corrupt. Darkness... ever since. How long?

That seems to indicate that it was never truly golden, and only appeared such.

I still think that you and others draw all the wrong inferences from Corypheus's words.

First, what you've quoted is not the operative phrase from Corypheus, but let's look at it anyway:

"It was supposed to be Golden!  It was supposed to be ours!"  This phrase doesn't dispel the Chantry account.  If it turned black on the magisters, then they indeed would say that "it was supposed to be golden".  Do you believe they intentionally travelled to a black city?  You can see the city from the fade, whether its golden or black.  It's implicit that when they embarked to the city, it was golden, but when they arrived it was black.

Likewise, "[t]he light.  We sought... the golden light.  But it was black, corrupt.  Darkness... ever since.  How long?"
This confirms that when they embarked for the city, it was the "golden light".  When they arrived, they found it black.  If the magisters embarked for a golden city, but upon arrival it turned black, what would you expect them to say?  They were never in the city while it was gold, because for some reason it turned black between the time they departed and the moment of their arrival.  We don't know why it might have turned black, but if there's one thing that's clear it's that it was gold when they departed -- or else they'd never have gone -- and black when they arrived.

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

And given how the Chantry dogma states that when the Magisters trespassed in the City, it was blackened after the Maker spoke to them in a booming voice -- "Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting" -- and Corypheus says nothing about hearing any voice nor even seeing something so perfect on the inside as it appeared on the outside, then.... well...

I'm left to believe it was never Golden.

The Maker fluff, and other fanciful elaborations, from the Chantry account isn't true, of course.  But that doesn't mean the Chantry account of the magisters travelling to the Golden City and causing it to turn black isn't true. It likely wasn't the Maker who cursed them and turned the city black, but it was some reaction or phenomenon that did it. Corypheus confirms the existence of a golden city; that's what the magisters were striving for.  The golden light was the very reason they travelled there in the first place.  Why it was black upon their arrival is unknown, and that's ALL you can take from Corypheus.

Corypheus doesn't confirm anything about the Maker's existence or Andrasteism.  By the same token it doesn't dispel the account of the Golden City turning black upon the arrival of the magisters.  It pretty much confirms that.

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

And to confirm it, the dialog of the conversation with Anders suggests that he knew Corypheus had verified the Chantry's version of this event.

Corypheus doesn't verify the Chantry's version of the event. The timeline is off, Corypheus' own statements say nothing about his drinking buddies and himself tainting the Halls of Creation, and Anders contradicts what he said in Act 2 when he's given the Tevinter Chantry Amulet.

Anders believes the story one minute, doesn't the next, then believes it again once he finds out that Corypheus was an ancient Magister that invaded the "Golden" City, the Halls of Creation.

Okay, maybe I wasn't too clear on this: The "event" I've been talking about is the existence of a Golden City and it turning black upon the arrival of the magisters.  That part of the Chantry account seems verified.  The other stuff involving the Maker and his supposed thinking or actions is definitely NOT verified, and is even disproved to a certain extent I would say.

I'm not making this argument to bolster the authenticity of the Chantry, I'm just verifying the nature of the lore supplied by Corypheus, and saying that for some reason there was a city exuding golden light, and while it was still golden the magisters travelled there and found it black upon their arrival.  And, we also could gather that the magisters (as represented by Corypheus) were thereby tainted and were the first darkspawn because we could see Corypheus for ourselves and how he appeared corrupted and transformed.  At least nothing about him was inconsistent with that lore.  We don't know that the Maker -- if he even exists -- had anything to do with it, but there was nothing inconsistent with the part of the account saying it happened. 

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

That's the only thing the Chantry got definitively right. That the Magisters did, in fact, step foot into the City.

And that it was initially "golden", before they arrived.

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

The Chantry religion is not 100% factual on what they preach. Their religion has only a grain of truth amidst a sea of lies, exaggeration, and stories.

Yes, yes I agree.  Let's not dispute that!

There seems to be some bare bones truth in the lore on which the Chantry account is based, but the Chantry took those facts and really, really embellished them to support their view of the Maker and his attitude.

[Vandicus]

LobselVith8 wrote...

Vandicus wrote...

Well the previous Inquisition wasn't a religious organization to begin with. They were largely focused around dealing with the blood mages remaining from the Tevinter Imperium, which I hope that you agree is a valid reason for an anti-X organization to exist.

They killed "heretics" and "cultists" as well as mages (as we know from "On Templars, Raiders, City Guards, and the Coterie").

Vandicus wrote...

However the organization may have ended up before its fusion, it was created/founded as a non-religious organization with the objective of protecting people from blood magic and those who would abuse magic. For all we know it could've been an organization founded and headed by good guy mages.

This next Inquisition I suspect will have a minor religious affiliation as the most likely source of its rebirth is disillusioned templars and seekers. The founding members are religious but I find it unlikely that the Chantry would recreate the organization. In the Chantry's own hierarchy it would be redundant. The other possibility is that the main character is involved in the founding and so gets to determine the organization's attitudes.

I don't think it will be minor. Considering Gaider doesn't want to allow the protagonist to be atheist, I doubt the player will have any choice about whether or not the protagonist is religious; Hawke was certain a religious Andrastian, whether we wanted the Champion to be or not.

Very few humans in Thedas are not Andrastians. I'm not sure how that relates to the Inquisition's affiliation with the Chantry. The Grey Warden's have an official religion of Andraste worship, but they're not beholden to the Chantry. Just because a person worships Andraste doesn't mean they can't be anti-Chantry *cough Anders *cough. Nearly every organization in Thedas that has humans is associated with the Chantry in some way shape or form. Just because the Inquisition has an affiliation with them(which is assumed on this part, we don't know for sure yet) doesn't mean the organization will have religion as its main focus.

"
 templars were known as the “Inquisition” and combed the land in search of all dangers to humanity—whether they came in the form of blood mages, abominations, cultists or heretics. "

It does not appear that the original Inquisition is religious in nature, unless they have some other non-Andraste religion predating the Chantry, which I find unlikely. By the very statement it appears much like the Wardens, their main focus is protecting humanity by any means necessary. The Cult of Andraste was also a Cult during that time period, so if anything the Inquisition was originally anti-religious. It is specified though that they were only pursuing dangers to humanity, and the Cult of Andraste had benign teachings, versus darkspawn and old god worshippers, so their lack of conflict is understandable.

In other words the original Inquisition hunted blood mages AND religious zealots(of the ritual sacrifice and evil god type). 

Modifié par Vandicus, 21 septembre 2012 - 02:00 .

[Xilizhra]

I'm not making this argument to bolster the authenticity of the Chantry, I'm just verifying the nature of the lore supplied by Corypheus, and saying that for some reason there was a city exuding golden light, and while it was still golden the magisters travelled there and found it black upon their arrival. And, we also could gather that the magisters (as represented by Corypheus) were thereby tainted and were the first darkspawn because we could see Corypheus for ourselves and how he appeared corrupted and transformed. At least nothing about him was inconsistent with that lore. We don't know that the Maker -- if he even exists -- had anything to do with it, but there was nothing inconsistent with the part of the account saying it happened.

There was a city that Dumat claimed] was exuding golden light. It doesn't mean that it actually was. The Chantry's account is still lacking in a great deal of evidence.

In other words the original Inquisition hunted blood mages AND religious zealots(of the ritual sacrifice and evil god type).

In other words, not nearly enough religious zealots.

Modifié par Xilizhra, 21 septembre 2012 - 02:07 .

[Olmerto]

Xilizhra wrote...

There was a city that Dumat claimed] was exuding golden light. It doesn't mean that it actually was. The Chantry's account is still lacking in a great deal of evidence.

Are you asserting that the magisters could not see this golden city from the fade?  And are you also asserting that what you now see in the fade as the Black City is not the city Corypheus entered?

[Xilizhra]

Olmert wrote...

Xilizhra wrote...

There was a city that Dumat claimed] was exuding golden light. It doesn't mean that it actually was. The Chantry's account is still lacking in a great deal of evidence.

Are you asserting that the magisters could not see this golden city from the fade?  And are you also asserting that what you now see in the fade as the Black City is not the city Corypheus entered?

The Fade is a realm of illusion that can warp at the touch of a thought. I'm fairly sure that what something seems like, especially from a certain zealous point of view, does not have to correspond to what it is.

[LobselVith8]

Vandicus wrote...

Very few humans in Thedas are not Andrastians.

The player should decide, like we could for Origins.

Vandicus wrote...

I'm not sure how that relates to the Inquisition's affiliation with the Chantry. The Grey Warden's have an official religion of Andraste worship, but they're not beholden to the Chantry. Just because a person worships Andraste doesn't mean they can't be anti-Chantry *cough Anders *cough. Nearly every organization in Thedas that has humans is associated with the Chantry in some way shape or form. Just because the Inquisition has an affiliation with them(which is assumed on this part, we don't know for sure yet) doesn't mean the organization will have religion as its main focus.

Part of the problem is that some players would rather have control over the proragonist's agency and religious beliefs, rather than follow a linear path (Dragon Age II), or be given a choice that leads to the same conclusion (Legacy, MoTA).

Vandicus wrote...

"templars were known as the “Inquisition” and combed the land in search of all dangers to humanity—whether they came in the form of blood mages, abominations, cultists or heretics. "

It does not appear that the original Inquisition is religious in nature, unless they have some other non-Andraste religion predating the Chantry, which I find unlikely. By the very statement it appears much like the Wardens, their main focus is protecting humanity by any means necessary. The Cult of Andraste was also a Cult during that time period, so if anything the Inquisition was originally anti-religious. It is specified though that they were only pursuing dangers to humanity, and the Cult of Andraste had benign teachings, versus darkspawn and old god worshippers, so their lack of conflict is understandable.

In other words the original Inquisition hunted blood mages AND religious zealots(of the ritual sacrifice and evil god type). 

Considering some talk about the reign of the Inquisition as "a reign of terror," I don't think the Inquisition was as benevolent as you seem to think it was. You also seem to be unaware of the fact that there were multiple Cults of Andraste, not simply one. If they weren't religious, I doubt Drakon could convince the Inquisition to join his religious organization (as he followed one of the Cults of Andraste).

[Vandicus]

Xilizhra wrote...

Olmert wrote...

Xilizhra wrote...

There was a city that Dumat claimed] was exuding golden light. It doesn't mean that it actually was. The Chantry's account is still lacking in a great deal of evidence.

Are you asserting that the magisters could not see this golden city from the fade?  And are you also asserting that what you now see in the fade as the Black City is not the city Corypheus entered?

The Fade is a realm of illusion that can warp at the touch of a thought. I'm fairly sure that what something seems like, especially from a certain zealous point of view, does not have to correspond to what it is.

The First Blight predates the existence of Andraste. If anything the Chantry's statements are BASED off of Tevinter accounts of the event, though conveniently warped to Chantry doctrine. It is impossible though for the Chantry to have gotten the impression that the city was golden from anybody except the Tevinter mages, since the Chantry did not exist when the city was allegedly golden. 

Modifié par Vandicus, 21 septembre 2012 - 02:21 .

[Olmerto]

@Xilizhra: I don't believe that kind of a view negates things that appear to have been verified in the lore, but you're entitled to your own interpretation of Thedosian metaphysics. For sure Bioware has left that topic intentionally murky. Yet I believe the Corypheus story lent strong credibility to the golden city lore, where it hadn't been credible before.

Edit: Great point Vandicus!

Modifié par Olmert, 21 septembre 2012 - 02:25 .

[Vandicus]

LobselVith8 wrote...


Considering some talk about the reign of the Inquisition as "a reign of terror," I don't think the Inquisition was as benevolent as you seem to think it was. You also seem to be unaware of the fact that there were multiple Cults of Andraste, not simply one. If they weren't religious, I doubt Drakon could convince the Inquisition to join his religious organization (as he followed one of the Cults of Andraste).

Hmm, don't recall saying they were benevolent. I did say their founding was as a non religious organization and was designed to protect humanity. The point of the Cult of Andraste comment, is that cults WERE the religion of the time. The Inquisition hunted dangerous cults, and were thus anti religious. We don't have a precise time frame for when the Inquisition was founded, but it is highly possible the predominant religion among them was not Andraste worship. The Grey Wardens, for example, are a very similar organization founded with similar goals that were convinced to worship Andraste by... wait for it... by the same guy. Both the Inquisition and the Grey Wardens affiliated to the Chantry due to the influence of Mr. Drakon.

[LobselVith8]

Vandicus wrote...

Xilizhra wrote...

The Fade is a realm of illusion that can warp at the touch of a thought. I'm fairly sure that what something seems like, especially from a certain zealous point of view, does not have to correspond to what it is.

The First Blight predates the existence of Andraste. If anything the Chantry's statements are BASED off of Tevinter accounts of the event, though conveniently warped to Chantry doctrine. It is impossible though for the Chantry to have gotten the impression that the city was golden from anybody except the Tevinter mages, since the Chantry did not exist when the city was allegedly golden. 

The Magisters were religious as well, worshipping the Old Gods as their deities. Corypheus seems like a zealot of Dumat to me.

[ElitePinecone]

Keriana wrote...

ElitePinecone wrote...

People are assuming that the Inquisition is a violent campaign of persecution backed by religious zealots and targeted towards mages.

We have no evidence that any of those things are the case.

It seems like there must be some reason the group is called the Inquisition.

True, and that's what we really don't know yet - even with the blurbs from the survey. 

Perhaps Leliana or Cassandra, in the aftermath of whatever disaster happens to the Chantry in Orlais, invokes the rhetoric of an Inquisition to describe what is required by the player character. Evidence that things are being orchestrated behind the scenes by corrupt people in positions of power would necessitate a very particular kind of response, and perhaps they reached for the obvious word to describe a campaign against dark forces, even if the targets are vastly different to the old Inquisition.

Check out Allan's posts in this thread - they were aware of the connotations people would draw from the word, even if traditional notions of what an Inquisition is might not apply in DA3's case. At the end of the day calling the game Inquisition is a lot "cooler" and more recognisable than "Dragon Age 3: Investigation". 

[Vandicus]

LobselVith8 wrote...

Vandicus wrote...

Xilizhra wrote...

The Fade is a realm of illusion that can warp at the touch of a thought. I'm fairly sure that what something seems like, especially from a certain zealous point of view, does not have to correspond to what it is.

The First Blight predates the existence of Andraste. If anything the Chantry's statements are BASED off of Tevinter accounts of the event, though conveniently warped to Chantry doctrine. It is impossible though for the Chantry to have gotten the impression that the city was golden from anybody except the Tevinter mages, since the Chantry did not exist when the city was allegedly golden. 

The Magisters were religious as well, worshipping the Old Gods as their deities. Corypheus seems like a zealot of Dumat to me.

Yep, its entirely possible that the Tevinter accounts are completely inaccurate. Since the Chantry accounts are based off of them that would make their accounts inaccurate as well. However the Golden part of the golden city does not originate with the Chantry, and can thus not be attributed to Chantry religion warping. It can be attributed to Tevinter religion warping. 

End result? We don't know any more about the Golden City than before, whether it really was ever golden or whether the Tevinter mages corrupted it. 

I'm of the opinion that the Old Gods knew what they were doing when they had the magisters do what they did, so the result is actually part of their own master plan.

[LobselVith8]

Vandicus wrote...

LobselVith8 wrote...

Considering some talk about the reign of the Inquisition as "a reign of terror," I don't think the Inquisition was as benevolent as you seem to think it was. You also seem to be unaware of the fact that there were multiple Cults of Andraste, not simply one. If they weren't religious, I doubt Drakon could convince the Inquisition to join his religious organization (as he followed one of the Cults of Andraste).

Hmm, don't recall saying they were benevolent. I did say their founding was as a non religious organization and was designed to protect humanity.

There's nothing to support your theory that the Inquisition wasn't religion.

Vandicus wrote...

The point of the Cult of Andraste comment, is that cults WERE the religion of the time. The Inquisition hunted dangerous cults, and were thus anti religious. We don't have a precise time frame for when the Inquisition was founded, but it is highly possible the predominant religion among them was not Andraste worship. The Grey Wardens, for example, are a very similar organization founded with similar goals that were convinced to worship Andraste by... wait for it... by the same guy. Both the Inquisition and the Grey Wardens affiliated to the Chantry due to the influence of Mr. Drakon.

The Grey Wardens made a beneficial arrangement with Emperor Drakon that resulted in Grey Warden mages being free of the Chantry, while the Inquisition became the religious army of the Chantry. Not quite the same thing.

[Vandicus]

LobselVith8 wrote...

Vandicus wrote...

LobselVith8 wrote...

Considering some talk about the reign of the Inquisition as "a reign of terror," I don't think the Inquisition was as benevolent as you seem to think it was. You also seem to be unaware of the fact that there were multiple Cults of Andraste, not simply one. If they weren't religious, I doubt Drakon could convince the Inquisition to join his religious organization (as he followed one of the Cults of Andraste).

Hmm, don't recall saying they were benevolent. I did say their founding was as a non religious organization and was designed to protect humanity.

There's nothing to support your theory that the Inquisition wasn't religion.

Vandicus wrote...

The point of the Cult of Andraste comment, is that cults WERE the religion of the time. The Inquisition hunted dangerous cults, and were thus anti religious. We don't have a precise time frame for when the Inquisition was founded, but it is highly possible the predominant religion among them was not Andraste worship. The Grey Wardens, for example, are a very similar organization founded with similar goals that were convinced to worship Andraste by... wait for it... by the same guy. Both the Inquisition and the Grey Wardens affiliated to the Chantry due to the influence of Mr. Drakon.

The Grey Wardens made a beneficial arrangement with Emperor Drakon that resulted in Grey Warden mages being free of the Chantry, while the Inquisition became the religious army of the Chantry. Not quite the same thing.

The Inquisition was not founded by Drakon or the Chantry. The organization existed autonamously some point before they became the Templars. They were clearly not Old God worshippers because they hunted Old God worshippers. There is no evidence to suggest they worshipped Andraste before Drakon converted them. Their founding mission statement does not suggest a religious affiliation.

In other words, until they joined with the Chantry there is no evidence whatsoever to support their existence as a religious organization. Speculation that they were religious prior to this event is baseless(lacking in evidence). 

We don't even know when they were founded, besides "after the First Blight". What if they were founded before Andraste? If they were founded after Andraste its still unclear whether they worshipped Andraste until talking to Drakon. 

[Olmerto]

Vandicus wrote...

Yep, its entirely possible that the Tevinter accounts are completely inaccurate. Since the Chantry accounts are based off of them that would make their accounts inaccurate as well. However the Golden part of the golden city does not originate with the Chantry, and can thus not be attributed to Chantry religion warping. It can be attributed to Tevinter religion warping. 

Prior to Corypheus it could have been attributed to Tevinter religion warping.  Upon hearing Corypheus speak of seeking the golden light himself, we have an eyewitness speaking directly from experience.  His credibility cannot be questioned in this instance.

Vandicus wrote...

End result? We don't know any more about the Golden City than before, whether it really was ever golden or whether the Tevinter mages corrupted it.

See above, I think Corypheus confirms it was golden, and that somehow they triggered the taint. 

Vandicus wrote...

I'm of the opinion that the Old Gods knew what they were doing when they had the magisters do what they did, so the result is actually part of their own master plan.

Yes, I think that is also implied from Corypheus's statements.