I don't blame Dorian for being miserable in Emprise du Lion, hiking through the snow is awful (Did we ever figure how/why everything froze over in the middle of Spring/Summer?)
The flash freeze is never explained. I've never found any evidence that any sort of magical source was hinted at either, just that it was a freak occurrence that happened.
That said, I don't think we can really judge what season we're supposed to be in. All of the zones/maps have different climates, even ones that are relatively near each other -- Emprise du Lion, Emerald Graves, Exalted Plains. And too, the game takes place -- at the very least -- over a period of a few months, so there would be some shift in the seasons, but the game's design and developer decisions makes it difficult to tell how much time has passed, let alone the season.
I do wish they would add time references. I don't think they need to add an elaborate day/night system or a calendar, or anything like that, but some random dialog references here or there after major mission completion would be nice. BUT I do understand that they do that because DAI, like DAO, is mostly non-linear. Some time ago after DG made his errant tweet referencing time that got ran away with there was a large thread discussing this, referencing travel times and such. It was pretty entertaining.
One thing that I wish that we could ask about is one of his comments on the Magisterium: "They think that the Qunari can be defeated". Considering that Dorian's from a city that's been routinely attacked/invaded by the Qunari he's probably lived through events similar to what happened in Kirkwall (possibly from a young age) it would make sense that they appear to be unstoppable.
Calpernia's short story in WoT2 and other remarks in DAI suggest that the Imperium could possibly push back if they weren't constantly fighting amongst themselves. Even on Iron Bull's side of things, the Ariqun doesn't seem very interested in committing to anything beyond the current skirmishes.
Yes, certainly. The Imperium is slowly killing themselves because, like many leaders in the real-world, they can't see or don't care enough about the future beyond their own selves to do anything about it.
I'm reminded of Alexius's Codex entry, which is a good indicator of his mentality and shows the type of (positive) influence he likely had over Dorian as well as why Dorian admired him so much:
Lords and ladies of the Magisterium, before we vote on the budget for this latest measure against the Qunari, I would ask that we take a moment to consider the state of our institutions of higher learning.
The Circle of Minrathous is more than ten thousand years old. Darinius the Dreamer himself was born within those walls. It continues to be a source of wisdom and guidance for the best and brightest of the Imperium's youth. Yet it falls into disrepair.
Magister Aurarius has made her case several times for increased funding to the Circles, and as yet, her appeals have gone unanswered. Magister Viren has spoken at length on the threat of the oxmen in the north—a tide of brutality that we alone hold back. Let me add this: how shall we defeat the Qunari? How have we held back their advance all these long years without support from the other nations of Thedas? You know the answer: magic. It is our magic that holds the beasts at bay, and through the ingenuity of our magic we will drive them from our shores forever.
My friends and colleagues, this is the battle we prepare our apprentices, sons, and daughters to face. They need the resources to discover new magic, new techniques, that can lend us an advantage in this endless war. They cannot do this while roofs crumble over their heads. Repair the Circles; let the Imperium's future be more than slow decline to the marching steps of legions.
—An address by Magister Alexius to the Magisterium, taken from the official minutes in 9:39 Dragon
Here we see a forward thinker, which seems sadly lacking in the Magisterium, and just adds another element of misfortune that it lost such a member.
Although the two men have different priorities in their personal lives, I think it's also easy to see why (according to WoT Vol. 2) Alexius and Halward are friends; I think they have the same mentality when it comes to the Imperium, even if one of them is more mired in its traditional aspects than the other. Dorian wasn't raised in a vacuum, and both of these men had a strong influence on his opinions and beliefs regarding the Imperium, magic, and being a mage.
Plus if Seheron and the Arishok are anything to go off of non Ben-Hesserath Qunari kind of break down and stop functioning mentally if they can complete or receive orders. They remind me a lot of the Dominion from DS9. Any kind of occupation or long-term war away from their territory would either require a more robust command structure or long range communications.
I imagine that if any sort of long-term occupation were planned that they would probably send along Ben-Hassrath in order to begin conversion of the local populace and so on, like we see in the comic flashbacks of Isabela's childhood.
Retour en haut
They'd probably go the Hero of Ferelden route, with Dorian on business for the Inquisition and writing letters back home if befriended or romanced.
