Morning everyone. I see this thread is still thriving.
Maybe I should give my actual opinion on Vivienne. After all, she's a great character deserving of some attention here on the forums.
Vivienne is a flawed character. Oh, definitely. Much like Sera, she seems to be narrow-minded in her opinions and beliefs. Take what she thinks of Cole, for example. The Circle taught her that all spirits, and especially demons, can and will be dangerous. And it's a certainly viable stance to think that way of our beloved Cole. I mean, she's been raised on Circle education and teachings. There's a very large benefit to be drawn from that, on both an educational level and when it pertains to one's abilities, but, as Solas so cleverly points out, it also "creates boundaries, limits where none need exist." Granted, he was talking about her magical prowess here, but something like that will, unavoidably, also extend to one's stance on magic, demons and the Fade. But even without that there would be nothing wrong with how Vivienne thinks of it all, considering the world of Thedas is filled with proof to support those beliefs. And hey, if I were in her position I'd be mad at Cole too upon finding out what he did at the White Spire, and what effect this had on the tensions between mages and templars. But that's a discussion for another time.
Much like with the other companions, Cole's banter with Vivienne provides a lot of insight into her character. It even tends to imply that a part of this 'Iron Lady' cares more than she'd like to admit, and this seems to extend to Cole himself, in that Vivienne is worried about him. Of course, she denies it. In a way, Vivienne is much like Sera. Both hide behind their words, quite possibly out of fear that the world might change too much for them if they don't.
Related to that seems to be Vivienne's (as said before, completely understandable) fear of demons. One might conclude that Vivienne rose to power not only to be in power, but also avoid the life of the Circle. Where one is among books, Templar swords and the whispers of those inhabiting the Fade, invading one's mind every single night. Vivienne prefers to be faced with the danger of people, characters and personalities that can be influenced and crushed with words. She loves playing the Game, and yes, seems to be very good at it. But doesn't it speak in favour of her then that she decides to give all of that up to some degree and join the Inquisition? She moves to Skyhold, where the winters are long and harsh, where the food is of inferior quality to what she was used to in Val Royeaux, and where fashion is a word mostly unknown (as proven by what the Inquisitor wears when running around the castle).
She makes it very clear that she joins the Inquisition largely for personal gain, sure. But to come out of her comfort zone to do so, that is something I respect and yes, even admire about her. She's willing to fight demons to be a part of this adventure, and does a damn fine job at it. Of course, one might argue that she does this all this to rise to the throneroom of Thedas (e.g. sit on the Sunburst Throne), but I didn't make her Divine in my canon, and she seems perfectly fine with the result. Albeit that she feels Cassandra still needs some work to truly become great. But she does seem to respect the woman to a great degree.
Not Morrigan, though. She hates Morri with a passion, and her gaining an advisory position at Empress Celene's side might be one of the reasons that Madame de Fer decides it's time to join the Inquisition. I certainly wouldn't be surprised.
As for how Vivienne feels about the Circles and the Mage/Templar war: she seems to have perfectly reasonable thoughts on the matter. And I very much agree with her views (even though I wouldn't make her Divine). The Circle-system didn't completely fail, and definitely shouldn't just be cast aside like some people would have it. The system failed because its execution was poorly done, and that is exactly what Vivienne aspires to prevent upon receiving the Sunburst Throne; more freedom for mages, yet the Circle-system remains. One could say that Vivienne doesn't like the world to change too much, or only keeps the Circles for her own personal gain, but I wouldn't say there isn't a part of her that cares about the mages' plight. She isn't inhuman, you know.
And if all of the above sounds like BS to you, there's the fact that Vivienne acts like a Tamassran around Iron Bull, making for some great and hilarious banter. Which is a major reason alone to bring her along in your travels.
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