I'm curious about what everyone's take is on what Hawke has been up to since Kirkwall and his/her role in Inquisition.
Personally, I'm not that satisfied with it, and it's sort of altered my view of Hawke as the big hero of Varric's legends -- I really thought the character deserved better/could do more.
(Inc wall of text, lots of Spoilers, TLDR at bottom, yes I put too much thought into this 
).
Mostly, I just don't understand why Hawke would ignore the mage-templar war in favor of investigating red lyrium. Sure, the lyrium is important, but it seems like something that can wait or be given to someone else to look after, given that there's a huge destabilizing war going on in which, for many, Hawke has become a central figure. Whether for the templars, the mages, or as a peacekeeper, you'd think Hawke would have way more motivation to be jumping into the fray to -do- something than he would to disappear to research lyrium.
Now, I can buy into the idea that, for the 3 years between the Kirkwall Rebellion and when Varric is interrogated by Cassandra, maybe Hawke was just on the run, worried about attracting the Divine's negative attention, and wouldn't be too moved to act since things don't really start to go to hell until that year (9:40, when Varric's interrogated).
Things get a little harder for me to swallow when Varric chooses to lie to Cassandra about Hawke's whereabouts, but I can still work it out. I mean, yes, she does make it pretty clear that she's only loyal to the Divine and just truly needs Hawke's help to stop the slaughter. Buuuut....she also kidnapped and interrogated him, so maybe he's just being cautious and plans to tell Hawke about the Divine needing him/her after Cassandra lets him go.
Between when Varric is interrogated and when Inquisition starts, a year passes with still no Hawke. But communication could be slow, maybe it takes awhile to find Hawke, who knows. We do know that when the game starts, Varric was there originally to talk to the Divine about Hawke (finally!).....before everything exploded in green. Damn.
This is where things start to feel wrong to me though and I have to start reconsidering my view of Hawke. Why wouldn't Varric immediately tell everyone about Hawke then? Or why wouldn't Hawke just reveal themselves? The need was obviously there, you'd think the motivation would be too.
Even when Hawke does jump into things, it's all about Corypheus and has little to do with the war Hawke had a responsibility towards. Assuming he survives (and if he doesn't, I'd argue that it's the one heroic thing he can do the whole game) he doesn't even stick around afterwards to help with the continued fight, and leaves the war to be resolved by the Inquisitor and the Inquisition while he takes off to grey warden headquarters to go be a messenger.....as he literally stands next to a perfectly able-bodied grey warden. I just...what?
The only way any of this makes sense for me, is if I think of Hawke as just much less important, and less of a hero figure, than the Inquisitor or the Warden. DA2 starts with Hawke just looking out for his family. He was catapulted into being an important figure in Kirkwall, he didn't necessarily choose it, and in the end, despite his best efforts, war breaks out anyway.
Maybe this takes a toll on him, and he decides he's done with "heroing" and just spends the next 3-4 years reverting to looking out for those he cares about, which leads Varric to being hesitant to draw Hawke back into things until he's absolutely needed?
When I think of that scene with the Inquisitor and Hawke looking out from atop Skyfall, and Hawke wearily says that, eventually, all he saw below him were all the people who depended on him, and the Inquisitor replies that Hawke only had a city to look after, while the Inquisitor has all of Thedas, it really hits home for me how much less important/heroic the character of Hawke has become.
I really thought Hawke, as a character, had more potential and was better than this, so I'm a bit bummed out that he's been pushed to the wayside and become small-time.
TLDR: Hawke wasn't a player in the mage-templar war, which should've been his fight, and the excuse of "because he was chasing red lyrium" feels pretty weak -- it feels like he didn't step up to the plate, and let the Inquisitor end his war for him. The role he does play in Inquisition has little to do with the mage-templar war, and he doesn't stick around long enough to do anything that lives up to the hero and story we created in DA2. In light of this, it might make more sense to start looking at Hawke as more of a small-fry hero, in comparison to the Inquisitor and the Warden.
What does everyone else think? I'd actually love to hear from someone who disagrees and thinks that Hawke lived up to his expectation/past actions, because I'd love to be able to find a way to still see him as my awesome,big-time snarky hero from DA2. Does his portrayal in Inquisition change anyone else's impression of him? Do you think he could still be important later and make up for his role here? Or maybe investigating red lyrium was an important, pressing enough task to justify staying out of the war? Mostly I'm just trying to get a better picture and more understanding of one of my favorite characters. 
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