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[zestalyn]

OK, so, apparently the pages left out for my husband and me complemented each other, so... a few more things of interest from Cullen's article are under the spoiler cut for anyone who doesn't want to wait until it comes out.

 

(EDIT: And a non-spoiler point of interest: not counting pictures, it's about 3 pages of text total... I was worried one of the missing pages was going to be mostly sidebar or something, but it's a nice sized article!)

Spoiler

* Beval died in Uldred's attack (along with two other named templars we haven't heard of AFAIK) and Cullen wouldn't speak to Greagoir of him (or the others) afterwards.

* There seems to be evidence he was hiding in a mage's closet at some point early in DA2 in an independent effort to see if they were a blood mage?

* He couldn't breathe normally in the pink bubble and seems to have picked up some degree of claustrophobia because of it. The boat thing has to do with this. Hence also the unrepaired roof, maybe? 

* His brother's name is Branson. One of the few letters his family received while he was in Kirkwall urged Branson not to join the Templars (he'd written to say he was considering it).

* His parents died during the Blight.

* The other Templars started looking to him as a leader before Meredith died because he was more approachable / they were comfortable telling him things they wouldn't have told her.

omg i need to hug him

[Cerulione]

OK, so, apparently the pages left out for my husband and me complemented each other, so... a few more things of interest from Cullen's article are under the spoiler cut for anyone who doesn't want to wait until it comes out.

 

(EDIT: And a non-spoiler point of interest: not counting pictures, it's about 3 pages of text total... I was worried one of the missing pages was going to be mostly sidebar or something, but it's a nice sized article!)

Spoiler

* Beval died in Uldred's attack (along with two other named templars we haven't heard of AFAIK) and Cullen wouldn't speak to Greagoir of him (or the others) afterwards.

* There seems to be evidence he was hiding in a mage's closet at some point early in DA2 in an independent effort to see if they were a blood mage?

* He couldn't breathe normally in the pink bubble and seems to have picked up some degree of claustrophobia because of it. The boat thing has to do with this. Hence also the unrepaired roof, maybe? 

* His brother's name is Branson. One of the few letters his family received while he was in Kirkwall urged Branson not to join the Templars (he'd written to say he was considering it).

* His parents died during the Blight.

* The other Templars started looking to him as a leader before Meredith died because he was more approachable / they were comfortable telling him things they wouldn't have told her.

 

 

omg i need to hug him

 

Yup, he needs hugs...

[Hellion Rex]

IT HAS THE FREAKING

Spoiler

CANTICLE OF SHARTAN AND SOME OTHER DISSONANT VERSES

[zestalyn]

Oooooh, good stuff. Goooooood stuff.

Spoiler

* There seems to be evidence he was hiding in a mage's closet at some point early in DA2 in an independent effort to see if they were a blood mage?

 

Could this be a joke with the thief in Hawke's closet in act 2? Or is it inside the Circle? Either way, that's so creepy and uncharacteristic of him.

 

* His brother's name is Branson.

 

YES! The fam is full at last. Mia, Cullen, Rosalie and Branson. I like it.

 

* One of the few letters they received while he was in Kirkwall urged Branson not to join the Templars (he'd written to say he was considering it).

 

Okay, this is the kind of elaboration that would really have helped his characterization and random face/heel turn in Inquisition HAD WE KNOWN ABOUT IT alsfnsçgsdkjhbfkhbfff I'm still so mad at this whole thing but alright, this makes sense.

 

* His parents died during the Blight.

 

NOOOooooOOOoooooooooooooooooo     No. Not alright. Not okay. All our headcanons ruined. All our fics wrong. Cullen is actually orphaned after all and omg he wasn't even there with his siblings when they lost their parents he just left and never wrote home again noooo this is awful.   

Regarding your last bullet point- nghgsjkfghfdghdg I'm kind of dying here and can't contain it

I can see it now... fanfic writers will have a heyday with this and ima die

[Asperath]

Yeah, I was pretty bummed reading the age details being so settled in stone like after Brianne went the extra mile to acommodate a generic age so everyone could headcanon whatever they wanted... specially considering I was already conceding a lot by settling for 33 when I originally pinned him at 35/36, at least. Alas, 28 is way too young for comfort for me and my Inquisitors, so I'll have to blantantly deny and contradict canon here and substitute my own version of it. Ah, well.

 

Same, we can blissfully ignore it together

 

I'm pretty sure he joined at 13. He did spend some time begging the Templars to teach him before the Knight-Commander talked to his parents about it and allowed him to join. If training is 10 years and the Blight started around when he finished, then I spose that would make him around 33ish. Though I thought the writer at some point said he is 30? Or did she say something more along the lines of "early thirties" etc?

 

He did join at 13yrs but reading the passage it says 10yrs from when he stated/proclaimed he'd become a templar (he was 8yrs old then) so that would put him at 18yrs when he finished training. I believe in game as well Cullen says training usually finishes at 18yrs? So that puts him around 28yrs in DAI

 

Don't get me wrong though, I'd much prefer it the way you said it and had myself viewed him as between 32-35

[Tishina]

IT HAS THE FREAKING

Spoiler

CANTICLE OF SHARTAN AND SOME OTHER DISSONANT VERSES

Oooo, I want to see that...

[Asperath]

Oooooh, good stuff. Goooooood stuff.

Spoiler

* There seems to be evidence he was hiding in a mage's closet at some point early in DA2 in an independent effort to see if they were a blood mage?

 

Could this be a joke with the thief in Hawke's closet in act 2? Or is it inside the Circle? Either way, that's so creepy and uncharacteristic of him.

 

* His brother's name is Branson.

 

YES! The fam is full at last. Mia, Cullen, Rosalie and Branson. I like it.

 

* One of the few letters they received while he was in Kirkwall urged Branson not to join the Templars (he'd written to say he was considering it).

 

Okay, this is the kind of elaboration that would really have helped his characterization and random face/heel turn in Inquisition HAD WE KNOWN ABOUT IT alsfnsçgsdkjhbfkhbfff I'm still so mad at this whole thing but alright, this makes sense.

 

* His parents died during the Blight.

 

NOOOooooOOOoooooooooooooooooo     No. Not alright. Not okay. All our headcanons ruined. All our fics wrong. Cullen is actually orphaned after all and omg he wasn't even there with his siblings when they lost their parents he just left and never wrote home again noooo this is awful.   

 

Spoiler

Firstly, are you considered an orphan if you're parents die when you're an adult?(honest question) and secondly that must of been hard on his siblings to lose your parents and then you're brother pretty much goes missing since he never told anyone of them he left for Kirkwall. How would he of handled their deaths with everything going on in Kinoch Hold and the aftermath? Probably contributed a lot to him wanting to leave etc

Also, was there any indication of how they died? Was it darkspawn? Did they die in Honnleath (remember you go there in DAO & darkspawn have pretty much run of the place) and is that why they moved to South Reach? Or even possibly caught up in the civil unrest with Loghain or Ostegar?

 

Too many questions about that alone!!!

[Hellion Rex]

Oooo, I want to see that...

I KNOW. I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

[Tishina]

Same, we can blissfully ignore it together

 

 

He did join at 13yrs but reading the passage it says 10yrs from when he stated/proclaimed he'd become a templar (he was 8yrs old then) so that would put him at 18yrs when he finished training. I believe in game as well Cullen says training usually finishes at 18yrs? So that puts him around 28yrs in DAI

 

Don't get me wrong though, I'd much prefer it the way you said it and had myself viewed him as between 32-35

He might have been almost 9 when he made that declaration and could easily have been 19 when he finished (10 years is anything from exactly 10 to one day short of 11, lol). Then it was about a year before the blight began, longer until the Kinloch Hold rebellion, and the blight didn't end for a while after that (in my PTs, less than 15 to 18 months doesn't make sense.) And it's been around 11 years since the end of the blight. I'd put him at no less than 31 at the beginning of DAI. I'd headcannon it a year or two older myself just because, lol.

[Tishina]

I KNOW. I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

I may break down and actually spend the money on it. By the time it comes out, I should have a little free time to read it...

[Asperath]

He might have been almost 9 when he made that declaration and could easily have been 19 when he finished (10 years is anything from exactly 10 to one day short of 11, lol). Then it was about a year before the blight began, longer until the Kinloch Hold rebellion, and the blight didn't end for a while after that (in my PTs, less than 15 to 18 months doesn't make sense.) And it's been around 11 years since the end of the blight. I'd put him at no less than 31 at the beginning of DAI. I'd headcannon it a year or two older myself just because, lol.

 

I like it!

I guess for me, it's a little too black & white in what the preview showed and less room for "interpretation"

I'll run with what you said though plus a few years maybes...

 

This is why I prefer a little ambiguity with things like this

EDIT: And like Nine said, Brianne left it open for headcannons so sticking to that. (sorry I'm little OCD about this show age thing)

[Hellion Rex]

I may break down and actually spend the money on it. By the time it comes out, I should have a little free time to read it...

The minute I saw the Canticle of Silence in its entirety, I went ahead and just hit the preorder button. There was an entire 270 more pages of content that was not yet unlocked. But when I saw the Chant, I was immediately sold on this thing. Absolutely worth the money.

[Owlfruit Potion]

He might have been almost 9 when he made that declaration and could easily have been 19 when he finished (10 years is anything from exactly 10 to one day short of 11, lol). Then it was about a year before the blight began, longer until the Kinloch Hold rebellion, and the blight didn't end for a while after that (in my PTs, less than 15 to 18 months doesn't make sense.) And it's been around 11 years since the end of the blight. I'd put him at no less than 31 at the beginning of DAI. I'd headcannon it a year or two older myself just because, lol.

This was my (biased) math too. As others have said, though, whatever, the "24 in DA:O" idea got in my head first, and canon can wait in line.

 

Spoiler

Firstly, are you considered an orphan if you're parents die when you're an adult?(honest question) and secondly that must of been hard on his siblings to lose your parents and then you're brother pretty much goes missing since he never told anyone of them he left for Kirkwall. How would he of handled their deaths with everything going on in Kinoch Hold and the aftermath? Probably contributed a lot to him wanting to leave etc

Also, was there any indication of how they died? Was it darkspawn? Did they die in Honnleath (remember you go there in DAO & darkspawn have pretty much run of the place) and is that why they moved to South Reach? Or even possibly caught up in the civil unrest with Loghain or Ostegar?

 

Too many questions about that alone!!!

Spoiler

"During the Blight, Cullen's siblings were forced to flee their home in Honnleath following the death of their parents." That's all that's there about that. Darkspawn seem like the most likely cause to me, but it's ambiguous.

I should probably also have noted that his brother was specifically asking about joining him in the Kirkwall templars. Poor guy probably missed him.

But yeah, like everyone's saying, dude definitely needs a hug.

[riverbanks]

Spoiler

Firstly, are you considered an orphan if you're parents die when you're an adult?(honest question) and secondly that must of been hard on his siblings to lose your parents and then you're brother pretty much goes missing since he never told anyone of them he left for Kirkwall. How would he of handled their deaths with everything going on in Kinoch Hold and the aftermath? Probably contributed a lot to him wanting to leave etc

Also, was there any indication of how they died? Was it darkspawn? Did they die in Honnleath (remember you go there in DAO & darkspawn have pretty much run of the place) and is that why they moved to South Reach? Or even possibly caught up in the civil unrest with Loghain or Ostegar?

 

Too many questions about that alone!!!

 

Spoiler

I don't know if the idiom exists in English, but in my native language you are considered "orphaned" once you lose your parents, regardless of how old you are. That's different from actually being an orphan as in losing or never having your parents since childhood, of course. In my mind, he is orphaned in the sense that he's lost both parents and has no parental figure left.

 

....which actually fits in really well with my long-standing headcannon that he latched onto Meredith as a substitute parental figure, so it turns out this new!new turn of events works more for than against me, in the end. Huh. Of course. He lost his parents in the Blight, he went through all that mess in the Circle, he had to leave Ferelden and the family he had left there, and in comes Meredith as the mentor/authority/substitute parental figure. It's perfect.

 

Anyway, I digress, lol.

 

I vaguely remember Cullen mentioning that his "family" moved to South Reach, implying his whole family. But that could have been just an assumption, and either way it wouldn't make much difference to him if it was just his siblings or his parents too, as by that point he would be training away from home. Still, interesting question. South Reach is also ravaged by darkspawn (we hear from its Bann in Origins), so it's possible that his parents died there too. nvm, Owl clarified that. So they did die in Honnleath, and the kids moved away much much older than I'd originally figured.

 

It's also possible that their deaths weren't related to the darkspawn or the Bligh wasting disease at all, but the civil war, as you mention, and that would make things really interesting for my world state, seeing as Loghain has to stay in Skyhold for a while. Would Cullen resent him for it? Would he even know or comprehend the full extent of the political games the nobility was playing during the Blight? Would he not know the difference and only know that his parents died "during" the Blight and not the direct cause? Hmmmmmm. Lots of headcanon to readjust there.

[Hellion Rex]

Did this one get shown as well?

 

http://brilcrist.tum...cassandra-coz-i

[riverbanks]

Spoiler

I should probably also have noted that his brother was specifically asking about joining him in the Kirkwall templars. Poor guy probably missed him.

 

Aaaaaw, that is adorable.

Spoiler

First, Branson teases big bro about his dreams and tries to throw him in the lake for it, then he misses big bro and wants to follow in his steps all the way across the sea to be near him again. I'm loving this little guy.   

[Asperath]

Aaaaaw, that is adorable.

Spoiler

First, Branson teases big bro about his dreams and tries to throw him in the lake for it, then he misses big bro and wants to follow in his steps all the way across the sea to be near him again. I'm loving this little guy.   

Spoiler

For me, it sounds like Cullen and Branson are close in age and the brothers being the two middle children. Another reason why he could miss Cullen so much esp after losing their parents

[zestalyn]

Spoiler

"During the Blight, Cullen's siblings were forced to flee their home in Honnleath following the death of their parents." That's all that's there about that. Darkspawn seem like the most likely cause to me, but it's ambiguous.

I should probably also have noted that his brother was specifically asking about joining him in the Kirkwall templars. Poor guy probably missed him.

But yeah, like everyone's saying, dude definitely needs a hug.

 

 

Spoiler

According to the wiki, the majority of Honnleath's citizens were slaughtered by darkspawn during the Blight. Probably safe to assume that his parents were among them, perhaps their death was the reason his siblings were able to successfully escape

What I find interesting is how Cullen discouraged his brother from the Order during his time in Kirkwall. I wonder if this before the Rebellion? I always assumed that his resentment against the Order peaked during the Rebellion, but I would not have guessed that it could've started some time before Meredith began losing her mind.

I'm amused by how he managed to hide in a mage's closet during DAII, despite having developed some degree of claustrophobia from Kinloch  Talk about dedication! Though tbh when I first read that from your original post I thought that was slightly disturbing. While obviously a dedicated templar, I also feel that it says something about the amount of paranoia he had against mages. He went beyond formal investigation etiquette, and went solo to hide in a mage's private quarters. That's pretty intense, needless to say

[Owlfruit Potion]

Spoiler

* There seems to be evidence he was hiding in a mage's closet at some point early in DA2 in an independent effort to see if they were a blood mage?

 
Could this be a joke with the thief in Hawke's closet in act 2? Or is it inside the Circle? Either way, that's so creepy and uncharacteristic of him.

Spoiler

I'm amused by how he managed to hide in a mage's closet during DAII, despite having developed some degree of claustrophobia from Kinloch  Talk about dedication! Though tbh when I first read that from your original post I thought that was slightly disturbing. While obviously a dedicated templar, I also feel that it says something about the amount of paranoia he had against mages. He went beyond formal investigation etiquette, and went solo to hide in a mage's private quarters. That's pretty intense, needless to say

You know, rereading that part again, I wonder if I may have, um, hilariously misinterpreted it... oops.

(EDIT: That was the only one I was confused about, though; I think everything else I've said can be trusted. I've been trying to paraphrase instead of using quotes so anyone who wanted to wait but can't help looking at spoilers still has the much nicer, long-form, nicely worded article to look forward to. And as a hedged bet in case it turns out they don't want us posting the pages even though they're already up there.)

Spoiler

"A note dated soon after his arrival, found wedged in a mage's closet, read 'Danger? No. But cannot be trusted.'" I pictured Cullen sitting there taking field notes on the closet's owner as if in a bird blind, but I suppose that maybe makes a tiny bit more sense if it's a mage writing it about him to see who would be willing to join an early version of the Thrask and Grace club, and then shoving it in their closet for safekeeping. Derp!!!

[riverbanks]

You know, rereading that part again, I wonder if I may have, um, hilariously misinterpreted it... oops.

Spoiler

"A note dated soon after his arrival, found wedged in a mage's closet, read 'Danger? No. But cannot be trusted.'" I pictured Cullen sitting there taking field notes on the closet's owner as if in a bird blind, but I suppose that maybe makes a tiny bit more sense if it's a mage writing it about him to see who would be willing to join an early version of the Thrask and Grace club, and then shoving it in their closet for safekeeping. Derp!!!

 

Yeeeeaaah, that second interpretation makes a whooole lot more sense. You have a colorful imagination if the first thing that popped into your mind was that image, though, I'll give you that.

[Owlfruit Potion]

Yeeeeaaah, that second interpretation makes a whooole lot more sense. You have a colorful imagination if the first thing that popped into your mind was that image, though, I'll give you that.

In my defense, the look on his face in the mental image was hilarious. But yeah, as someone who normally prides myself on my reading comprehension, this is what I get for hurriedly checking in on the BSN on my frequent but short "code is compiling" breaks: unwittingly writing my very own 2009-vintage Gaider non-canon Cullen fic. I probably should have hallucinated a hairbrush in there with him.

[Tishina]

You know, the fact he's

 

Spoiler

apparently claustrophobic makes me feel a lot closer to him as I'm terribly claustro myself. And makes his tower room with a hole in the roof make a lot more sense. I remember thinking that some of those lovely spare bedrooms are a bit snug.

 

Depending on what timeline they decided for canon for DAO, it's possible he knew about his parents before the mage rebellion and had communicated with his siblings before all h**l broke loose. I could actually imagine that making it even easier for him to want to leave Ferelden; too many bad memories close together. I could also imagine getting the news after the mage rebellion and that being part of why he left without letting them know anything (some people react badly to grief, especially when they feel guilty or are already on the edge.) Or he may even not have known where they were to reach them; we don't know that he was still at Kinloch Hold when they settled in South Reach and presumably wrote him (or how long it would have taken with the chaos of a blight for the letter to reach Kinloch.)

 

I also wonder if Mia suspected something was badly wrong already from his response to his brother considering joining the Templars and that explains part of why she seemed relieved he'd left them in her letter?

[R2s Muse]

So reading that makes me wonder about his age again. I was quite happy to be able to have an ambiguous age range so that people could headcannon it for themselves esp after I think his writer said about age range or such. But reading that it states clear he proclaimed he'd be a templar at 8yrs & finished training 10yrs later (no probs with that makes sense). From there goes to Kinoch Hold (doesn't say straight away but I think is implied) and within a year or "barely a year" of being placed there the blight occurs - this is what leads me to say his age would be around 28... hmm only makes me slight put out because I had headcannoned him to be about 32-35...
 
Anyways, I'll blissfully ignore it for my cannon PT lol

Grrr. Yeah, I was trying to gloss over that when I read it. Not quoted here, but I agree with Tishina's point. I think we can squint a bit and say that they intended for Cullen to probably be around 20 in DA:O (like Alistair) and around 30 when DA:I begins. I agree that it's unfortunate they seemed to make a point of putting specific dates into WoT2, but I think that still works. I also personally prefer the early thirties for him at this point, but... eh.

 

(edit: And, to be more clear, he was probably 19 during the Blight, (age eight + ten years + "barely a year"). So, 29ish at end of DA2, and roughly 30 in 9:41 for DA:I. So still consistent with what Brianne said.)
 
 

Spoiler

For me, it sounds like Cullen and Branson are close in age and the brothers being the two middle children. Another reason why he could miss Cullen so much esp after losing their parents

Brianne has also said as much, that the brothers are close in age, altho Cullen is the elder.

[R2s Muse]

OK, so, apparently the pages left out for my husband and me complemented each other, so... a few more things of interest from Cullen's article are under the spoiler cut for anyone who doesn't want to wait until it comes out.
 

Spoiler

* The other Templars started looking to him as a leader before Meredith died because he was more approachable / they were comfortable telling him things they wouldn't have told her.

At least this is something that still jibes with DA2. During the Final Straw, when Meredith goes cuckoo, the templars all seem to follow Cullen's command to support the Champion. This has always suggested to me that he holds quite a bit of sway with the men at that point.

In the section on Thrask...

Spoiler

they make a point of saying that Thrask was passed over for promotions as Mer favored instead dudes like Alrik, Karras, and "even Fereldan newcomer Cullen." This reinforces my belief that Cullen might indeed have been the outsider in the beginning.

...and, no, I didn't try to go to every page they listed for Cullen in the Index.

[R2s Muse]

Speaking of ages, it looks like they addressed Cassandra's age, too. 

 

Spoiler

Seems she was 12 in 9:16, when she started training as a Seeker. That would make her 18 in DotS, sort of the lower limit we'd been considering. And, 36 when we meet her in DA2. Consistent with Mike Laidlaw's "not forty."