As an aside, I was thinking about this last night and some of the conversations that came up the other day on this thread.
To me, I'm not really that interested in where Cullen stands on the mage/templar thing from the perspective of him fitting in with my characters perception of the conflict. I really want to see how the writers have developed his characters views. So I don't really care if he's become more moderate or more hardcore and i can honestly say I'd be happy with either development. I just want to see where he goes in his views and how his experiences have shaped him since we first met him all those years ago in Origins.
I like to think of it as the study of a 'good' man in extraordinary circumstances. Also badass Cullen (should be badarse but my Husband won't let me write it like that because he says I sound like a dick) sounds kind of hot to me. 