Yes, the writers have done an abysmal job of presenting the Mage-Templar conflict in an even, objective, and unbiased fashion. They's so pro-mage it's absurd.
DA:O
Mage:
Our main view into mages is via playing one. They get an origin in which they are forced by the cruel templars to take a test that will result in death if they fail. Their 'best friend' is terrified he's going to be made into a soulless automaton simply because he's weak. At the end, you are threatened with harsh punishment, again by the cruel and uncaring Templars, simply for doing what you were told. Only the timely intervention of the surrogate father figure saves you from the harsh and arbitrary life of the Circle.
Templar:
Our main view into the life of a Templar is the party idiot who repeatedly tells you how much he hated almost being a templar, how terrible it was to be an initiate, and how glad he is that the surrogate father figure rescued him from that life before he had to take his vows.
During the game, the main group of Templars we see performing their duty, again at the Circle, is shown as a group that fled for their lives and locked the door, heedless of survivors that might still be inside, and who refuse to help the PC and party in any way when it comes to cleansing the tower and saving people. The Mage inside, however, leaps at the chance to save her fellow mages as deal with any abominations as they come up, in spite of being elderly and having 'almost' died shortly before.
In DA:O + Expansions we had 6 Mage party members and 0 Templars. We had no opportunity whatsoever to explore the Templar side of the story, but plenty of time to talk to folks about life in the Circle AND life as an Apostate.
DA II:
They have said they were attempting to make the story less one-sided, but if that's the case they were incompetent about it.
Mages:
They live in a former prison. Every time we see one in the Courtyard, they talk about how horrible life is there, or they have been abused beyond absurdity. Of all the mages we meet, potentially two can say life there isn't so bad. Assuming Anders doesn't kill one of them. Most of the mages we meet outside the Circle, who invariably turn to Blood Magic, start the excuses by blaming the Templars. It's rarely the Mages fault they're doing what they're doing, oh no, it's all because of those evil Templars. The writers go even further to excuse the mages by giving them not one but TWO excuses for why it isn't their fault, Kirkwall made them do it. You get the notes talking about how Kirkwall was created to be a hell pit, followed by 'proximity to Corypeus made people crazy'. Even the Serial Killer who has nothing to do with the Circle or injustice is ultimately allowed to continue his killing spree to it's conclusion because Orsino protected him for fear of the Templars.
Templars:
Rapists. Murderers. Illegal Rites. Coercion in the ranks. An Insane Knight Commander. We meet very few 'reasonable' Templars, and they end up being incompetent, elderly, and murdered. The first Templar we meet in the game is so stupid he wants to go after an Apostate (or two!) while suffering a crippling wound, rather than saving his wife from the approaching Darkspawn Horde, and he is dead weight the entire time he is with the party. One of them so distrusts the Circle, he lets his own daughter run rather than put her there. He follows this act of brilliance up by trusting and assisting Blood Mages in an attempted rebellion and dies a patsy. The other is treated as an object of pity to be tolerated by his fellow Templars, scorned by the Guard, and ultimately gets himself murdered. The only party member you might consider a Templar, because he can become one after leaving the party for good', so distrusts the Circle that he never reports his own sibling or any of his sibling's companion mages. On top of spending his entire time in the party being mocked because he's an unlikable brat.
Companions:
3 Mages, 0 Templars. Plenty of time to get the mage point of view as both an escaped Circle Mage and as an Apostate. No opportunity to see what life is like as a normal Templar.
So, yeah, to say the presentation has been uneven would be an understatement. You could hardly ask for a less objective and more biased presentation of two sides of an issue than the DA writers have given us. And I fully expect this to continue in DA:I. IF we get an actual Templar companion, as opposed to a Seeker like Cassandra, I expect them to have left the order in protest after the events in Asunder. I fully expect it to be another hamfisted 'poor mages just want to be free from tyrannical Templars', while the Templars are treated as moustache twirlers who will do anything, including indoctrinate themselves use Red Lyrium to kill a few more mage babies in spite of the world burning down around them.
Retour en haut
What?
