Question: Do u prefer siding with mages or templars in the DA2?
My canon Hawke attempted neutrality/peacemaking until she was forced to pick a side, and then she sided with mages only because she didn't think it was right for them all to be wiped out. She still had serious reservations about it but had to make a choice so she ended up with the pro-mage ending.
However, in my headcanon Cullen stood up for the surrendered mages like in the templar ending, Hawke just wasn't there to see it.
Why do you guys think Cullen let pro-mage!Hawke leave in DA2? Fear? Respect? Did he lose his balance to save face pretended to have stepped backward?
I think it was a combination of respect, the fact that they'd just fought side by side, and the fact that Cullen's whole worldview was crashing down around his ears (again) and he wasn't prepared to fight that person he respected over beliefs he wasn't sure he even had anymore.
Exactly! My thoughts are that mages and mundanes need to be protected from each other, and thus templars have a very real and necessary job to do.
This is my feeling too. The Templar Order can take things too far and I'm of course opposed to the abuse of mages, but a world without any templars would be a world with a lot more dead civilians and a lot more dead mages.
Some mages are dangerous. Not always because they're evil, but because mages who lack self-control have the potential to harm themselves and others.
I think the best case scenario would be templars who consistently protected and helped mages instead of treating them like prisoners. I think templars will always need to exist, though, for everyone's safety.
But... but... we love your sass!! 
I totally misread this and was thinking, "Wow, that was pretty blunt!" 