I didn't mind Tallis, but Larius gave me the same impression as Ruck. Killing him would probably just be doing him a favor.
Which sort of makes me wonder if Larius is perhaps meant to be the optimal choice for Corypheus' host since Larius was already looking for death having reached the end of his Grey Warden service, so to speak.
I also pick Janeka at the end because she looks less conspicuous than Larius does after she's possessed by Corypheus.
I still stand by my original opinion that Janeka's belief that she can "control" Corypheus and use him to stop the Blights is implausible. Something as ancient, evil, and powerful as Corypheus can't be controlled. Look at some of the other characters in DA who thought they could control powerful beings (Avernus, Uldred, Anders, Merrill, etc.). Disastrous results/consequences usually ensued because of their actions, which is very likely what would have happened with Corypheus. Even if you side with Janeka and she attempts her spell, Corypheus knocks her on her butt in five seconds, and Janeka herself says that Larius was right and Corypheus must be destroyed.
And Varric's opinion of "if it doesn't work out, we'll just put a bolt in him," may have been nearly impossible if Corypheus had been taken out of the tower and then broke free of Janeka's spell at a later time (or more likely, when he stopped pretending that he was under her control). Just look how difficult it is to destroy him at the tower a couple of minutes after he wakes up. Imagine how much more difficult it would be if Corypheus had time to, for lack of a better word, "recharge" all of his powers and get them to full strength.
It's very likely Corypheus put the idea for the control spell in Janeka's head in the first place, which I believe Janeka/Corypheus says after you "defeat" him. He was playing on her desire for power and control, so that she could possibly stop future Blights. My suspicion is that Janeka's binding spell itself (which she attempted and failed) is perhaps what gave Corypheus the ability to possess her. Perhaps it created a link between them that allowed him to body snatch. As for him possessing Larius, it's possible that Larius was so full of the taint by this point that there wasn't enough of him left to resist Corypheus' possession, which made it easy for Cory to set up shop. Who knows?
@TheMadHarridan
Corypheus seemed most powerful in that prison where it could extract power from those statues of Dumat or whatever. There's nothing to suggest Corypheus would be stronger when "controlled" outside of that prison if it was ever allowed to leave in the first place. That's just speculation. You can assume it to support your stance just as I can assume Corypheus would be weaker to support mine.
If the world was plagued by darkspawn I'd at least try what Janeka suggested; slim as the odds of success were. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If the world was plagued by darkspawn I'd at least try what Janeka suggested; slim as the odds of success were. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
The problem is that from the moment you meet her, there's not much that really suggests Janeka's intent of "controlling" Corypheus is anything more than the same sort of madness that Corypheus has infected the Carta with. The writers made her a little too obviously out of her element to make that aspect seem reasonable, unfortunately.
I used to always side with Larius, but when I did side with Janeka, I found her side to be a bit more reasonable than I used to. I still think it was making the best of a bad decision, but her side wasn't as bad as I'd thought. It was at least thought-provoking. It kinda reminded me of the situation with Meredith/Loghain, on the surface, they're just a bunch of power-hungry, nasty jerks...but once you take the leap of faith and gain their reluctant trust (of a sort), they end up having a fullness to their characters you don't expect, but find really interesting as a result.
The problem is that from the moment you meet her, there's not much that really suggests Janeka's intent of "controlling" Corypheus is anything more than the same sort of madness that Corypheus has infected the Carta with. The writers made her a little too obviously out of her element to make that aspect seem reasonable, unfortunately.
And Larius' flailing ravings about Corypheus being too powerful are perfectly sane? The guy can barely remember his name and past but you're saying Janeka is less reliable? And I suppose Janeka and her 3 mute comrades being Grey Wardens takes no precedence considering their intent on combating darkspawn? Note: The deranged Carta want to free Corypheus which is what both Larius and Janeka end up doing.
Who has been near Corypheus longer? Larius.
Who is more darkspawn? Larius.
Who is more touched in the head? Larius.
Who is less credible, a half-darkspawn or 4 living Grey Wardens?Larius.
Whose path offers fewer choices? Larius.
Whose path offers no chance of combating the blights? Larius.
...And yet you think siding with Larius makes the most sense?
...And yet you think siding with Larius makes the most sense?
Well, given that Larius isn't saying "hey, let's play with the big dangerous monster, no, no, man, it's totally cool, nothing could possibly go wrong", then yes. Basically, if Larius is wrong, then the worst that happens is the status quo is maintained. If Janeka is wrong, then you are potentially unleashing the Blight to end all Blights. Plus, with Larius, it's a WYSIWYG kind of crazy...Janeka's a more subtle, but still obvious, kind of crazy. She's the worst kind of threat: the kind that thinks she's helping.
Granted, that all goes to pot anyway when Larius changes his mind about just ensuring the seals stay sealed (which isn't a reliable plan, granted, and half the reason that, as noted above, I sided with Janeka anyway) and, as noted, the two end up doing the exact same thing.
Well, given that Larius isn't saying "hey, let's play with the big dangerous monster, no, no, man, it's totally cool, nothing could possibly go wrong", then yes. Basically, if Larius is wrong, then the worst that happens is the status quo is maintained. If Janeka is wrong, then you are potentially unleashing the Blight to end all Blights. Plus, with Larius, it's a WYSIWYG kind of crazy...Janeka's a more subtle, but still obvious, kind of crazy. She's the worst kind of threat: the kind that thinks she's helping.
Granted, that all goes to pot anyway when Larius changes his mind about just ensuring the seals stay sealed (which isn't a reliable plan, granted, and half the reason that, as noted above, I sided with Janeka anyway) and, as noted, the two end up doing the exact same thing.
To clarify, my entire argument for siding with Janeka (as mentioned in the OP) is based on the assumption that siding with Larius will result in freeing Corypheus anyway. And if Janeka is wrong, what happens when you side with her occurs; not "the blight to end all blights." It could have been worse, but that comes with taking any risk. I don't know if I'd call Janeka "crazy" but rather being manipulated. Larius was crazy with the way he was muttering to himself and couldn't even remember his name initially for example. He had to be crazy when he says "better to die than see Corypheus free" only to free Corypheus if you side with him.
I sided with Larius at first, because Janeka's plan to control Corypheus seemed like too big a risk, but when it was revealed that Larius had threatened to hurt Hawke's mother in order to get Hawke's father to do as he asked, I chose to defect to Janeka's team.
I sided with Larius because in Fantasy or Science fiction pharses like "I can control him/her/it/them!" almost always end in something old, terrible, eldritch or just very unpleasant being released or getting out of control.
Seriously, this sentence is basically a synonym for "I'll fail to control him/her/it/them like a little b*tch and bring death and destruction by doing so."
I prefer to err on the side of caution so I went with Larius. Turned out that it doesn't matter much but I was happy with the decision cause I like his puzzle more. His history with mother was a non factor.
(possibly slightly paraphrased)
Hawke: "One step closer and you're dead."
Larius: "Better to die than see Corypheus free."
And yet Larius frees Corypheus if you side with him.
Larius because if Corypheus is going to get a new meat puppet it is going to be one that CANNOT pass for normal.
I side with Janeka than switched over to Larius.
It was worth it for that cutscene.
He frees him so that you can try to kill him. Besides, you would have been stuck there if you didn't set Corypheus free one way or another. Better to try to kill him than risk someone trying to use him and him escaping his leash. It would have been a perfect plan if Corypheus couldn't bodysurf.
Or you can free him, try to use him, and if it fails then kill him. Given the threat of blights I'd take the chance of him escaping his leash and having to kill him then, but I feel like I'm talking in circles on this thread.
Or you can free him, try to use him, and if it fails then kill him. Given the threat of blights I'd take the chance of him escaping his leash and having to kill him then, but I feel like I'm talking in circles on this thread.
The thing with that is that if Janeka loses control over him at some point after you leave, you have an ancient Tevinter Magister on the loose. Corypheus is plenty powerful after coming right out of hibernation, I would hate to see him at his peak. He could do incalculable damage to the Wardens and the civilian populace at large.
Once again I'm repeating the same arguments and rebuttals. He was pretty powerful waking up because he was extracting power from those statues of Dumat. There's nothing to indicate he would be more or less powerful outside of that prison if he ever was allowed/able to leave. In a world of darkspawn infestation I don't know if I could live with myself not taking the risk of trying to use him to battle the darkspawn.
I'm new to the DAverse and just finished this quest today. When I played Awakening, I gave the Architect the benefit of the doubt, in that he seemed to have intelligence and free will and wasn't hell-bent on killing everything in sight. My Hawke is of somewhat similar disposition as my Warden - mostly looking out for the underdog, skeptical of all the political factions - so initially I just wanted to know who Corypheus was and what he was trying to accomplish, rather than committing to killing him or using him for any particular purpose.
I sided with Larius mainly because Janeka struck me as even less trustworthy, appeared to be planning on exploiting Corypheus even if she wasn't going to kill him, and generally did not inspire confidence that this plan of hers would even work. Plus, Anders was urging me not to side with her, while Varric seemed to be in favor of giving it a try, and I usually find Anders' POV a little closer to my own than Varric's.
In the end, the way the scene played out fit my character pretty well - I gave Corypheus a chance to explain himself and he started attacking anyway, at which point it became a matter of self-defense.
It would have been nice if you could have had the Avernus option with Larius,
I'm siding with you because i think Corypheus should be killed buy payback for Malcolm will be decided afterwards.
Of course quite a lot of people feel Corypheus will be back in either Larius or Janeka anyway which would have made this impossible for future storyline purposes but it would have made sense to Hawke at the time to finish with Corypheus and then run Larius through as well if you are playing hardline.
Retour en haut