142 réponses à ce sujet

[TEWR]

*loud groaning at calling Merrill stupid*

[thruaglassdarkly]

Once I did the rivalmance I could never go back to the friendship path.  Going the rival route definitely has a better out come with her giving up blood magic, and with the way her quest works you don't actually have to be mean to her to pull it off.

 

I feel the same way.  Merrill's rival mechanic worked so that you didn't have to argue or be cruel all the time, but could disagree on some fundamental issues (like people do in the real world).  The arc felt authentic in a way many of these game romances (and game relationships in general) do not.

[Xilizhra]

I find Merrill's rivalmance to be utterly loathsome and eschew it in all possible ways a thing might be eschewed.

[KaiserShep]

I know why i hate her... she was zapped from the one we met in origins

 

Maybe it's my indifference to the entirety of the Dalish origin, but I never really gave this change much thought. In Origins, Merrill struck me as the inconsequential, cookie-cutter, temporary companion that we'd simply never see again. Heck I can't even really remember exactly what that old Merrill sounded like. Then again, just about all of the NPC's, save Tamlen, gave me that impression, even Marethari (Tamlen was an obvious red shirt, but he did have spirit).

 

Anyway, I greatly enjoyed Merrill as a character, and she was easily one of the most frequently used companions in DA2 besides Varric and Isabella. Perhaps I put too much stock in banter and so forth, but I preferred the more lighthearted dialogue that she provided on quests, which is why Fenris and Anders were used so seldom. Ain't got time for that broody sh**, man.

[TEWR]

Also *loud groaning at saying DAO Merrill and DAII Merrill are different people.*

[teh DRUMPf!!]

Also *loud groaning at saying DAO Merrill and DAII Merrill are different people.*

 

*loud groaning at people insisting otherwise.*

 

Merrill: "I've done a little fighting before, but it was always alone" (dialogue stays the same even if Dalish origin was imported).

 

Merrill's only connection to the old Merrill is name, clan, and appearance. You change those three things and there's nothing left. There would be absolutely nobody comparing the two characters at all. Nobody would say, "Hey, this girl is a lot like that one elven mage companion in the Dalish origin." At that point, it's not the same character. It's just not. Add in all the blatant retcons of the origin story, and...

[Exaltation]

She is smart,she only acts dumb.
Isabela + Varric + Merrill + sarcastic Hawke = Comedy Age.

[TEWR]

So what? How does that change anything? She never denies searching for Tamlen with Mahariel in the forest. One instance of fighting alongside someone doesn't mean she did that her entire life, on the times she could go out.

[teh DRUMPf!!]

So what? How does that change anything? She never denies searching for Tamlen with Mahariel in the forest. One instance of fighting alongside someone doesn't mean she did that her entire life, on the times she could go out.

 

She claims to have never fought without company, which is false, since she fights with Mahariel to search for Tamlen. Combat was canon in that. Duncan says he could hear fighting. It's just another one of many discrepancies between that Merrill and the old one. And where did she get an accent all of a sudden?

 

If it does (not) look like the old Merrill, waddle like the old Merrill, and quack like the old Merrill, it is (not) the old Merrill.

[KaiserShep]

She is smart,she only acts dumb.
Isabela + Varric + Merrill + sarcastic Hawke = Comedy Age.

 

This is pretty much my favorite combo in the game too. Once Bethany is out of the party, this is pretty much my regular team, with Fenris or Aveline to fill in for certain quests, and Anders is pretty much out of the picture by Dissent's end.

[Reaver102]

She claims to have never fought without company, which is false, since she fights with Mahariel to search for Tamlen. Combat was canon in that. Duncan says he could hear fighting. It's just another one of many discrepancies between that Merrill and the old one. And where did she get an accent all of a sudden?

 

If it does (not) look like the old Merrill, waddle like the old Merrill, and quack like the old Merrill, it is (not) the old Merrill.

That's true for many characters who've received more depth, Isabella is in a similar situation as Merrill.  Is it a retcon, sure I guess, is it a big deal, no.  

[KaiserShep]

It could also be that Merrill only fought alongside the possibly existent elven Warden that one time and with no one else ever.

[Andreas Amell]

I found it disturbing that you could choose to enable Merrill in her dangerous quest even when you don't know the end of it. I like her and want her to fight with me against the Templars. But supporting her misguided quest doesn't make you a great friend. Or does it?  

[Xilizhra]

I found it disturbing that you could choose to enable Merrill in her dangerous quest even when you don't know the end of it. I like her and want her to fight with me against the Templars. But supporting her misguided quest doesn't make you a great friend. Or does it?  

If I'm to be evenhanded...

 

Merrill's story arc is actually pretty poorly written, and one of the worst aspects is the all-or-nothing approach the approval system takes. It's true that she risks harm to herself through her obsession, but I don't like rivalry because it seemingly refuses to acknowledge that the behavior of everyone else in the affair is much worse, and puts the blame for both Marethari's willing possession and the clan's hostility on Merrill working on a project that, honestly, never does harm to anyone; it's the overreaction of all the other reindeer that brings about any and all possible tragedies in Merrill's arc.

 

It helps if you bring Merrill with you to Night Terrors and listen to her apology afterwards, as you can admonish her to be cautious with her magic while still remaining within friendship. I also find it a total dick move to refuse the arulin'holm, as Marethari is pretty blatantly breaking both her agreement with Merrill and the Dalish's own laws.

[Ryriena]

She is smart,she only acts dumb.
Isabela + Varric + Merrill + sarcastic Hawke = Comedy Age.

Yeah she only acts dumb laughs

[Andreas Amell]

I don't know if her story was that poorly written. Certainly, her clan are bigger douchebags than Keeper Zathrian's. But the moment Merrill decided to pursue the mirror it doesn't take a First Enchanter to know that's a dark path. Merrill's rivalry is closer to a woman who's been so obsessed with a single goal that she has little consideration for anything else. If you go against her, or insult her Elvish pride, then she'll hate you for it.

[Xilizhra]

I don't know if her story was that poorly written. Certainly, her clan are bigger douchebags than Keeper Zathrian's. But the moment Merrill decided to pursue the mirror it doesn't take a First Enchanter to know that's a dark path. Merrill's rivalry is closer to a woman who's been so obsessed with a single goal that she has little consideration for anything else. If you go against her, or insult her Elvish pride, then she'll hate you for it.

But... it's not a dark path. The eluvian never does anything bad.

[SgtSteel91]

I found it disturbing that you could choose to enable Merrill in her dangerous quest even when you don't know the end of it. I like her and want her to fight with me against the Templars. But supporting her misguided quest doesn't make you a great friend. Or does it?  

 

If you share her beliefs and agree with her, then you are a friend for helping her.

 

If you don't agree with her, then you are a friend for trying to save her from herself.

 

It's all about perspective.

[Sir DeLoria]

She's my second most disliked character in the franchise.

Never killed her though because even without max rivalry, she seems to always want to help me against the mages, meep.

[Andreas Amell]

The Eluvian was corrupted. If Duncan believed shattering it was a good thing then that's good enough for me. Merrill's obsession was not healthy and I don't like being an enabler to it.

[Xilizhra]

The Eluvian was corrupted. If Duncan believed shattering it was a good thing then that's good enough for me. Merrill's obsession was not healthy and I don't like being an enabler to it.

Merrill cleansed the corrupted part. Which we can confirm, as Anders doesn't sense any taint in it, and would definitely have spoken up if he did.

[Who Knows]

Withholding the Arulin'holme from her feels wrong and controlling. The rivalry romance feels squicky to me. Going from "I never want to see you again" to "I love you" so quickly is...uncomfortable.

But I don't still agree with the use of blood magic and dealing with demons in her clan's backyard. That puts me in the position where I'm satisfied with neither the rivalry or friendship routes. Without intentionally metagaming, I naturally go with the friendship route, being pro-mage and not withholding the arulin'holme. But I don't like how Hawke at the end of the friendship route seems to shift all of the blame on her clan. She is partly to blame. Her clan doesn't want her there doing blood magic and dealing with demons, and yet she continues to do so.

 

She should have at least waited until the clan moved. The problem with her justification of wanting to help the Dalish and her clan is that they don't want the mirror nor do they want her to be using blood magic and speaking with demons. The fact that they refuse her help should be enough for her wait until they've moved on.

 

They have good reason to refuse her help, too. If she gets possessed and Hawke is defeated by the demon, then the Pride Demon isn't going to stop there. It's likely going to go slaughter the Dalish camp and so on. Merrill clearly thinks there was cause to be concerned that she might get possessed, and the fact that without Hawke's intervention, she gets stabbed by Marethari (and the Night Terrors thing) goes to show that Merrill is at risk of being tricked by demons.

[SgtSteel91]

I go friend route. I try to model Hawke like Nier, so Merrill is closely approximated to Emil, which means he's nice to her and a friend.

 

Spoiler

Which also means that her Clan is killed like Emil does to The Aeire. "Don't look back."