While there is no doubt that Merrill was inexperienced with much of the world outside of the Dalish, I personally thought that she purposefully acted clueless with some characters in order to get a reaction. For example, in Mark of the Assassin, if Carver and Merrill accompany Hawke (and Merrill isn't in a relationship with Hawke), Carver will stumble clumsily over his words (about being "together"), after which Merrill have a little fun, with Carver eventually picking up on her on playfulness.
Secondly, in many conversations with Sebastian and Fenris, I personally see a contrast when she's serious, and when she almost seems like she's feigning ignorance, similar to how Isabela feigns shallowness (such as when Isabela avoids a discussion on mages with Anders).
Oh quiet you, this thread is for shallow, thoughtless, impulse-driven character analysis.
I avoided merril as much as possible of the game because she was an annoying mentally unstable blood mage.. soo yea please don't make another one like that ...
While there is no doubt that Merrill was inexperienced with much of the world outside of the Dalish, I personally thought that she purposefully acted clueless with some characters in order to get a reaction. For example, in Mark of the Assassin, if Carver and Merrill accompany Hawke (and Merrill isn't in a relationship with Hawke), Carver will stumble clumsily over his words (about being "together"), after which Merrill have a little fun, with Carver eventually picking up on her on playfulness.
Secondly, in many conversations with Sebastian and Fenris, I personally see a contrast when she's serious, and when she almost seems like she's feigning ignorance, similar to how Isabela feigns shallowness (such as when Isabela avoids a discussion on mages with Anders).
Oh quiet you, this thread is for shallow, thoughtless, impulse-driven character analysis.
Haha, you're right, I apologize. "Merrill is yucky!" is probably what I should have used to fit in with this thread.
Modifié par arcelonious, 08 octobre 2012 - 05:55 .
I often see people say "Merrill is naive". But I never really saw her that way. Arrogant, certainly. Often mistaken. But 'naive' isn't quite the word I'd use for her. There's a certain darkness and confidence Merrill has.
Here's an example of darkness:
Naive would suggest being oblivious to the victim's pain or focusing on the wrong element of something. When she cheerfully reports on the mugging she's saying "Hey, this city kind of sucks. Fine place I've moved to." But she's twisting the way she says it. When Hawke takes "You serisously find this interesting" Merill's reply about just assuming it's a greeting isn't serious. She's sort of verbally patting Hawke on the head and saying "Aw, you didn't get the joke. But that's okay!" And she's frequently like that.
What about confidence?
Take this:
She's not being defensive. She's not feeling threatened. Nor is she reciting some simple tale she heard when she was eight. She gets the human interpretation of demons and spirits. But she's being kind of condescending here to Anders without being outright hostile. Some people are so sure they're right that when they argue with you don't really care if you think they're right. Your opinion of them is deeply unimportant to them. Here, Merrill does not care what Anders thinks of her much like Einstein likely doesn't care what some random dude on the street thinks of him. The boot doesn't worry about the ant.
Now she's not confident in every context. But that's just a sign of a good character. Few people are one thing all the time. She's not entirely comfortable when talking about sex with Isabela. And their relationship is such that Isabela is the more protective and dominant of that pair. But if they were to start talking about demons or magic, Merrill would no longer play junior to Isabela.
What about the demon in the mirror? Is that naive? It's more arrogant. Was Alexander the Great naive to think that he could bring peace to the world by waging war all the time? It's the wrong word. He was arrogant. Arrogance is blindness to your own limitations. Really smart people will ignore common sense because they're not common--because they have fewer limitations.. They know they're ignoring common sense. They know what their critics are saying. They can state the critic's position. They simply do not care because they think they are in a sense better than everyone else and thus can break "the rules". That's what's going on Merrill. She thinks she's intelligent and that she can get away with breaking the rules. And she is really intelligent. She sometimes can break the rules. But sometimes is not always and when you leave the realm of common sense you run the risk of downfall.
Well, Tali felt like an adult to me. I like Tali. If they are the same, something is wrong with me lol. From what I remember, Tali isn't stupid, isn't naive, doesn't say nonsense, and isn't really detached from reality like Merill is at time. Sometimes I really wonder how Merril thinks, how her brain works with some of her childish comments so incredibly stupid while we are in serious business in the game. As a companion, why not, but as an LI, bleh.
The points of similarity between tali and merrill were pretty much that they were both appeal to people who are partial to cute women with interesting accents. I have to confess a weakness for that myself.
But as characters, they were quite different. Tali wasn't naive at all. I loved both characters though; Merrill more for the comedic value she brought to party banter.
If you don't like Merrill as a LI, don't romance her.
I always found her to be far too "ditzy" and to be there for no other purpose than to show a cliché country bumpkin's view of life in the "big city". Bleah! Romanced her twice for my completionist neuroses for friend/rival, but still bleah!
If they have one like her. Meh. I likely won't care for the romance, but it's not like they're going to force me to romance her.
Merrill is Tali for Dragon Age. She fills the same role, more or less.
But Tali doesn't get her people killed by dabbling in things she shouldn't have (her father did though ). If anything she's the opposite. During her trial in ME2 she demonstrates that she was extraordinarily careful when dealing with the geth technology she'd sent to her people for research. Merrill liked the pretty, shiny mirror and who knows what dark whispers it seduced her weak mind with.
She was certainly naive as to the Quarian's responsibility for their own history. The fact she makes strides towards something resembling a mature position on the Geth throughout the games is evidence of this.
In any case, we have the luxury of thinking Merrill is naive because we have hindsight, as well as more perfect knowledge than she does, seeing as we're more familiar with DA's lore than the characters within it, having experienced more than one perspective. Through Origins and such that is.
Merrill wasn't however so much naive as overconfident and narrow-minded. Something she has in common with much of the BSN, to be sure. She's only described as naive because we know she fails.
Modifié par Upsettingshorts, 08 octobre 2012 - 06:36 .
I hated Merril ever since the Dalish origin where she kept saying Tamlen was dead. But if I had to compare the DA:O version of Merril to the DA2, I would say the DA:O one was better. Merril in DA2 was straight lolita. "Oh, I'm so innocent and naive in the way of the shem world, but- OH! puppies!" I couldn't stand her and rarely took her along...
I know some people liked her but when she was your LI it felt ..... wrong if you know what I mean because they made her act so young. It may be just me but please don't do that again. Anyone agree
I'm not entirely sure I understand the purpose of requests like these. It's not possible for all of the romances to appeal to everyone, no matter the character. If you don't like one particular romance, there are two/three other Love Interests ready to be swept away by the magnificent sexual power of the PC's loins.
Merrill is Tali for Dragon Age. She fills the same role, more or less.
But Tali doesn't get her people killed by dabbling in things she shouldn't have (her father did though ). If anything she's the opposite. During her trial in ME2 she demonstrates that she was extraordinarily careful when dealing with the geth technology she'd sent to her people for research. Merrill liked the pretty, shiny mirror and who knows what dark whispers it seduced her weak mind with.
Haha, can anyone spell to biased? Do you think Merrill moved away from her clan for giggles? It was her number one safety rule so her people wouldn't suffer if she screwed up. That follish clan gets themselves killed by not investigating their own corruption properly just like the Quarians can in ME3 by attacking the geth against Shepards words. Their idiocy can end them by the hands of the geth. Just the same, the elves can be saved too, but only if Hawke goes out of his/her way to please them.
I know some people lilted her but when she was your LI it felt... wrong if you know what I mean because they made her act so young.
I respectfully disagree. Merrill is an informed scholar of the arcane arts, she is proficient in blood magic, she studied the lore about the Eluvian and extrapolated information from the shard in her attempts to rebuild ancient elven technology that baffled even the Tevinter Magisters, and she stands by her convictions. She was an intelligent and proactive character who did more than punch people and wear silk robes; she trying to end the plight of the People.
Merrill also has a dry sense of humor, which is lost on some people because of the accent. If you return to the Dalish clan with Merrill, you get a taste of the fact that. MoTA also has Merrill use dry humor with Anders, who isn't able to tell that she's joking until she points out that she isn't serious.
Merrill is Tali for Dragon Age. She fills the same role, more or less.
But Tali doesn't get her people killed by dabbling in things she shouldn't have (her father did though ). If anything she's the opposite. During her trial in ME2 she demonstrates that she was extraordinarily careful when dealing with the geth technology she'd sent to her people for research. Merrill liked the pretty, shiny mirror and who knows what dark whispers it seduced her weak mind with.
Haha, can anyone spell to biased? Do you think Merrill moved away from her clan for giggles? It was her number one safety rule so her people wouldn't suffer if she screwed up. That follish clan gets themselves killed by not investigating their own corruption properly just like the Quarians can in ME3 by attacking the geth against Shepards words. Their idiocy can end them by the hands of the geth. Just the same, the elves can be saved too, but only if Hawke goes out of his/her way to please them.
You obviously know how to spell the word. I'd chalk that up to experience.
Maybe not exactly, but what's wrong with well-intentioned and kind hearted LI's? What's wrong with being relatively naive in a bleak situation or location?
I thought Merrill was refreshing compared to angsty Fenris, preachy and hypocritical Anders and Isabella...while she's a good character, I just don't see the appeal in romancing a woman who was about to leave an entire city to die because she wouldn't return a book or the notion that she may have literally slept with half of the city.
And thinking she could prevent the demon from causing any harm and and that it was just "helping" her was extremely naive, was it not?
Considering Merrill wasn't serious when she told Anders that, and later chastises him for thinking that any spirit is good - because she explicitly points out that all spirits are dangerous - it's disingenuous to say that Merrill is naive about the denizens of the Fade. She isn't; she knows they are dangerous. The situation with Audacity is unique because he was sundered from the Fade, and is trapped in a totem. It isn't until Marethari decides to let it loose that it endangers anyone.
what's so wrong with loving a satanic elf that slaughters her whole clan, wait never mind don't answer that.
You mean the clan that attempts to murder Hawke and Merrill in cold blood unless Hawke coddles them like children, because Hawke and Merrill killed an abomination in self-defense? Yeah, you're going to have to excuse me if I don't side with the people who try to murder Hawke and Merrill because Marethari let a demon loose and became an abomination because she pulled another theory about the Eluvian out of her a...
Merrill is Tali for Dragon Age. She fills the same role, more or less.
But Tali doesn't get her people killed by dabbling in things she shouldn't have (her father did though ). If anything she's the opposite. During her trial in ME2 she demonstrates that she was extraordinarily careful when dealing with the geth technology she'd sent to her people for research. Merrill liked the pretty, shiny mirror and who knows what dark whispers it seduced her weak mind with.
Haha, can anyone spell to biased? Do you think Merrill moved away from her clan for giggles? It was her number one safety rule so her people wouldn't suffer if she screwed up. That follish clan gets themselves killed by not investigating their own corruption properly just like the Quarians can in ME3 by attacking the geth against Shepards words. Their idiocy can end them by the hands of the geth. Just the same, the elves can be saved too, but only if Hawke goes out of his/her way to please them.
What are you talking about? Quarians are winning the war in ME3. The fact that Geth have to rely on Reaper technology really shows the real naive side. Plus maybe you're Shepard told them not to go to war but I gladly stood with the quarians as we slaughted all geth.
Merrill is much more than naive in the way Isabela is much more than just a sex fiend.
Nathaniel Howe put it best "I am not a fan of over-simplifications."
Sten did it better. "People are not simple. They cannot be summarized for easy reference in the manner of 'The Elves are a lithe, pointy eared people who excel at poverty.'"
I know some people liked her but when she was your LI it felt ..... wrong if you know what I mean because they made her act so young. It may be just me but please don't do that again. Anyone agree
I don't think she acted "Young" she was just somewhat innocent and naive. These are traits people of any age can have
I for one thought Merril was a great character
Damn right. Fitted her so well too, a elf who had barely any experience when it came to human culture and life, how could she be anything else but naive and innocent.
Exactly, she is like the opposite of fenris, who had been dragged around the city as a slave, Merrill was pretty much a cotten wool elf. lol.
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). If anything she's the opposite. During her trial in ME2 she demonstrates that she was extraordinarily careful when dealing with the geth technology she'd sent to her people for research. Merrill liked the pretty, shiny mirror and who knows what dark whispers it seduced her weak mind with.
