And then there's the aftermath of Iron Bull's personal quest if you save the Chargers: two assassins are sent after him, and not very good ones judging by the result of the attempt. How did they get past her security? If she has any, really.
Is Skyhold security her job? I would've thought it would be Cullen's...
Is Skyhold security her job? I would've thought it would be Cullen's...
At the Winter Palace, Leliana gets introduced as the senechal of the Inquisition, which implies she is the one watching movements in and out of Skyhold. Cullen overseas the training and troop deployment, but Leliana is the one minding the nest (see what I did there?) per say. Everything and everyone coming in or out or Skyhold must go through her people to make sure nothing is being smuggled.
Basically: Cullen is the army. Leliana is the secret police.
Doesn't Blackwall change into having been elsewhere, but not Ferelden during the Blight? I mean, the backstory somewhere says so, but I think he himself says he wasn't in Ferelden.
Over the course of DA:I, we see Leliana make some pretty big mistakes: she neglects to check Solas' story properly, but he is the only expert on the Fade, so that's an excuse.
Blackwall's story though... She was fricking there. She knew exactly how many Wardens were in Ferelden during the Blight: three: the HoF, Alistair and Riordan. How can she have not have immediately clued in that something was wrong?
And then there's the aftermath of Iron Bull's personal quest if you save the Chargers: two assassins are sent after him, and not very good ones judging by the result of the attempt. How did they get past her security? If she has any, really.
I headcanon that the stress of her job is catching up with her and that's why she has those epic screw ups. (provided you do all of these before her personal quest, because then it makes less sense...)
To be fair, having characters suddenly become stupid/ignorant/corrupt/randomly evil/incompetent/complete jerks/otherwise OOC is pretty much Inquisition's go-to method for facilitating any kind of plot or character development, so Leliana not knowing about Blackwall is pretty much par for the course, unfortunately.
To be fair, having characters suddenly become stupid/ignorant/corrupt/randomly evil/incompetent/complete jerks/otherwise OOC is pretty much Inquisition's go-to method for facilitating any kind of plot or character development, so Leliana not knowing about Blackwall is pretty much par for the course, unfortunately.
I know, and it's kinda sad. Cullen's problems with lyrium was a great character arc, but sadly we did not get anything similar for Leliana or Josephine. Their sidequests were fun, but they lacked the impact Cullen's had. He was worried about his detox affecting his performance. Leliana never really doubts her being fit for duty, neither does Josephine. To quote Noah Antwiler: the fluff was great. The crunch, not so much.
Our advisors becoming unfit for duty and being replaced could have had such great dramatic potential! *sigh* It's painful to admit, but in a way Fable 3, of all games, did the decision making better. Sure it was a black and white choice, but you saw the effect of that choice on the world. I never thought I would say Fable did something better than DA, but there it is.
Blackwall's story though... She was fricking there. She knew exactly how many Wardens were in Ferelden during the Blight: three: the HoF, Alistair and Riordan. How can she have not have immediately clued in that something was wrong?
Leliana knows that Blackwall was Constable of the Grey in Val Chevin, and would not have expected him to be in Fereldan during the Blight. She even apparently located an address by Blackwall explaining to the Orlesian wardens why they couldn't go to Fereldan's aid.
If the Inquisitor had told Leliana about Blackwall's claim to have been in Fereldan during the Blight, then Blackwall's lies might have started to unravel, but the Inquisitor apparently didn't. You can of course question why Leliana didn't investigate further, particularly since Blackwall having been "travelling alone" for the last 3 years is suspicious, but she does have limited time.
I do suspect that Origins Leliana might have picked up on Blackwall and perhaps even Solas, simply because she'd have spent the effort to get to know her colleagues on a personal level. Inquisition Leliana's remoteness isn't always an asset.
As for Iron Bull, didn't he say he was expecting the assassins/wanted them to come attack him? He could've told Leliana to oversee that.
Regarding Solas, he arrived in the Inquisition's camp shortly after the explosion at the Conclave, I think Leliana was more shocked/sick with grief because of Justinia and our character being the only survivor to question Solas further.
That's all well and good, but I like to think that Leli's job was getting to be too much for her. I like her crumbling under the weight of her conscience and her duty. She needs a break from there.
As far as Blackwall goes, there's this bit of banter you can sometimes hear between Leliana and her messenger when you go visit her in Skyhold.
I just finished Leliana's personal quest. She's as soft as a baby lamb. 
Not really related, but so cute! Unless that's Schmooples and Leli...
As far as Blackwall goes, there's this bit of banter you can sometimes hear between Leliana and her messenger when you go visit her in Skyhold.
This is wonderful. I missed lots of those banters. That voice.
To be fair, having characters suddenly become stupid/ignorant/corrupt/randomly evil/incompetent/complete jerks/otherwise OOC is pretty much Inquisition's go-to method for facilitating any kind of plot or character development, so Leliana not knowing about Blackwall is pretty much par for the course, unfortunately.
In the context of Iron Bull's quest, I think Leliana suffers from the effects of "let's make this character look badass by making everyone else look incompetent" syndrome that Bull repeatedly benefits from. It is, unfortunately, not the only time this sort of thing happens in Bioware games -- especially with regard to politically savvy characters. Pulling off politics and intrigue is hard, especially with the very limited screentime afforded to a single part of a single sidequest, but that is no excuse.
Looking back, the writers did neglect to give Leliana even a single moment to shine and display her competence ... which she undeniably has. Cullen gets to be a take-charge war leader several times, but Leliana and Josephine aren't really shown as successfully doing much of anything. Even at Halamshiral, they just stand around while the Inquisitor does all the work.
Their work is more in the background and does not lend itself to big showy moments like Cullen's job does, so in a way it makes sense, but that doesn't mean that they don't need on-screen moments of competence to show why they hold the positions they do. With Josie it's less glaring because she isn't shown to fail the way Leliana repeatedly does. That completely one-sided portrayal of failure versus success can undermine one's impression of the character in a way that I doubt the writers intended. First that one agent turns traitor on her, then she fails to notice Corpyheus' army, then an assassin gets within striking distance of her best friend, then the Ben Hassrath infiltrate Skyhold. Blackwall flies under her radar, and so does Vivienne's bid for the Sunburst Throne. It's like the writers never considered how all that would affect players' opinion of the character.
I prefer Champions of the Just all the way, but I did forget her involvement in the Calpernia arc. 
So that's one moment of competence, at least, though Calpernia notices the suspiciously returned crystal almost immediately.
My headcanon is that Leliana does in fact run an extremely tight ship when it comes to Skyhold security. I imagine that early on, some of the inner circle may have grumbled a bit about it, but she's bound to have a million and one anecdotes and other ways of proving her point, and everyone acquiesced more or less quickly. Really, a rising world power on the vanguard of the battle with evil needs super-tight security. Not just to protect themselves from that enemy, but from supposed "allies" as well. Everyone is bound to want eyes and ears in Skyhold for their own ends, and we can't afford that.
I'd have liked a cutscene or at least a standard conversation that shows successful anti-infiltration measures from Leliana and her agents, as well as admonishments from her to double their vigilance instead of thinking the enemy will give up.
@thats1evildude: Agreed on Solas. It is rather suspiciously convenient that the one mage who has any useful insights on dealing with the rifts and the Anchor just happens to be right there when the Conclave is blown off the face of the planet. But Solas is likely an expert liar and manipulator (I don't think the elves' view of him as a deceiver and trickster is altogether wrong, even thought his "portfolio" among the old pantheon was actually rebellion) and his current persona is so outwardly unassuming that pinning anything on him, or just tracking his recent pre-Conclave movments, is probably impossible.
You can't really put Solas on Leli. How the hell could she have discovered the true identity of an elven god, or his secret dealings with an entity believed to be a legend?
Her agents also stopped Josephine's assassin, and she was able to root out that mole. Double agents are synonymous with the spy game; virtually every intelligence agency is infiltrated at some point or another.
No argument on Solas. It's a shame we don't get to judge traitors though. This game needed more judgements! And the whole 'throne is tied to judgement' thing was annoying. The coolest thrones are locked until you do them, which kind of defeats the purpose of that customization.
I admittedly used the standard throne all the way through despite not even liking it much. The combination of rather flimsy chair plus ridiculous ring of swords looks a tad weird. But from a RP perspective, it was either that or the Andrastian throne -- and holy cow, is that thing creepy. Neither I nor my Inquisitor, devout though she is, would want the gruesome image of a tortured, dying person looking over their shoulder all the time, thank you very much.
You can't really put Solas on Leli. How the hell could she have discovered the true identity of an elven god, or his secret dealings with an entity believed to be a legend?
Her agents also stopped Josephine's assassin, and she was able to root out that mole. Double agents are synonymous with the spy game; virtually every intelligence agency is infiltrated at some point or another.
No i can't? Pretty sure i can ,all she she had to do is try to confirm his story like she did after solas screwd them and being "god" isn't rly excuse ,because corypheus outsmarted that "god".
His story is that he wandered around keeping out of people's way. There is obviously no other record of him. Do please enlighten us as to what exactly she is supposed to be able to find out.No i can't? Pretty sure i can ,all she she had to do is try to confirm his story like she did after solas screwd them and being "god" isn't rly excuse ,because corypheus outsmarted that "god".
Whoa, that first one is creepy and then some. I like it. As much as Leliana's "hardened" side bothers me at times, it is very much part of her and it's good to see it portrayed so well.
His story is that he wandered around keeping out of people's way. There is obviously no other record of him. Do please enlighten us as to what exactly she is supposed to be able to find out.
Like for example that he lied about place of his birth and his village that turned out to be ruins abandoned for centuries , what she found after solas screwd them. 
You mean the village he never mentions by name?
Except he told her his village name and more ,but well you are free to desperately attempt to justify her.
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