1599 réponses à ce sujet

[Gervaise]

I've just been checking and Merrill also says that Marethari told her that their ancestors intended that the eluvians should be forgotten.   I'm wondering if Marethari was basing this on actual information rather than simple assumption.   Did the demon put that thought in her mind or someone else?  Did the Dread Wolf visit her in her dreams?   Did Flemeth tell her as much when she instructed her to take the clan to Sundermount?   I've never been entirely sure when she gave Marethari this commission (before or after the finding of the eluvian) but it is clear that Marethari was under orders to go there.   If it was after the finding of the eluvian it is possible that Marethari might have been considering trying to restore it and asked for her help, only to be told to leave well alone.  

 

You see, with the benefit of hindsight, Marethari was acting strangely and the clan was right that their welfare didn't seem paramount.   Once she reached Sundermount then it is clear the demon was messing with her but not before.    Flemeth also seemed to be advising Merrill to be cautious as though she was aware she was in danger and yet Flemeth wouldn't be fooled by a demon.    Flemeth would probably know that the Dread Wolf had a personal interest in the eluvians though and you wouldn't want to mess with him.   

 

Flemeth asked Merrill if she knew who she really was which suggests that Marethari probably does, otherwise why would Flemeth think it possible?   Also her final advice is "Step carefully.   No path is darker than when your eyes are shut."   So what was that meant to mean if it wasn't a warning against restoring the eluvian?

[LobselVith8]

I've just been checking and Merrill also says that Marethari told her that their ancestors intended that the eluvians should be forgotten.   I'm wondering if Marethari was basing this on actual information rather than simple assumption.

 

During the confrontation between Marethari and Merrill where the former makes this claim, it came across like it was an assumption, rather than something that was definitively known.

 

Did the Dread Wolf visit her in her dreams?   Did Flemeth tell her as much when she instructed her to take the clan to Sundermount?   I've never been entirely sure when she gave Marethari this commission (before or after the finding of the eluvian) but it is clear that Marethari was under orders to go there.   If it was after the finding of the eluvian it is possible that Marethari might have been considering trying to restore it and asked for her help, only to be told to leave well alone.  

 

I don't think Marethari's reasons for opposing Merrill would have been so inconsistent between Acts if she was simply going off of a warning from either Fen'Harel or Asha'bellanar.

 

You see, with the benefit of hindsight, Marethari was acting strangely and the clan was right that their welfare didn't seem paramount.   Once she reached Sundermount then it is clear the demon was messing with her but not before.    Flemeth also seemed to be advising Merrill to be cautious as though she was aware she was in danger and yet Flemeth wouldn't be fooled by a demon.    Flemeth would probably know that the Dread Wolf had a personal interest in the eluvians though and you wouldn't want to mess with him.   

 

The short story covers Marethari and Merrill approaching Audacity, who they discover was trapped in a totem; the spirit shows them images of Arlathan telepathically.

 

Flemeth asked Merrill if she knew who she really was which suggests that Marethari probably does, otherwise why would Flemeth think it possible?   Also her final advice is "Step carefully.   No path is darker than when your eyes are shut."   So what was that meant to mean if it wasn't a warning against restoring the eluvian?

 

Asha'bellanar had ties with the Dalish even in "The Stolen Throne" and Ariane seemed to know exactly where her hut was, so there does seem to be some history between her and the People. As for the warning, I certainly think Merrill handled things far better than Marethari - who endangered everyone with her recklessness, particularly when she warned absolutely no one and freed Audacity.

[Ghost Gal]

I think Marethari was just trying to cover her tracks because she didn't want to admit Merrill might be onto something that she had initially dismissed. Instead of conceding that Merrill might be onto something (which would have damaged her pride as Keeper), she pull the "this was forgotten for a reason" vague bull excuse.

[Gervaise]

Merrill tells you that Marethrari told her the ancestors meant it to be forgotten the first time she shows it to you, before you even go to visit Marethari.     So Marethari saying "this was forgotten for a reason" later is consistent with this.   

 

If Audacity telepathically projects images into both their minds, then the information was available to both of them equally.   However, this couldn't have been until they actually reached Sundermount.   Anything else that Merrill knew was as a result of the demon talking to her separately from Marethari.   It was clearly manipulating both of them.   I don't defend Marethari's actions concerning what she later did.    That was stupid and by that point Merrill clearly was showing more sense than Marethari.   I'm referring to the earlier decision concerning the eluvian.   It is possible that the demon showed something to Marethari that it didn't show to Merrill that made her behave as she did towards it.   However, it is just possible that her ideas were based on something she had been told previously.  

 

Flemeth did seem to be warning Merrill about the course she was following and that warning was totally independent of Marethari.    I presume you don't suggest that Marethari could have influenced Flemeth into saying as much.  

 

Why does everyone keep saying that Merrill's eluvian was at the Crossroads.   Even if the eluvian had the same design, I'm sure each one wasn't necessarily unique.  So far as I'm aware at the end of DA2, her eluvian was either smashed or still not working.   It may be that it was dormant because the network had not yet been activated.   Apparently that was something the helpful demon didn't mention to her.   Or may be it just couldn't be restored.    

 

There is another thing to consider.   Audacity had apparently convinced Marethari that it was going to use the eluvian to possess Merrill.   When Michel first encountered Imshael he was bound by magic in a spirit trap.   Imshael told Michel that he need to find someone for him to possess before he would give him the means to activate the eluvians and told him how this would be achieved.   Michel agreed to his terms, intending to be possessed himself but discovered that his actions simply freed Imshael from the trap.   Now Audacity could have come up with any number of permutations on this in order to be freed from its prison.    The important thing to note is the promise to give the means to activate the eluvians.   Can you be sure that Merrill might not have been tricked some way into freeing the demon (without intending harm on anyone else) because it promised her the means to make her eluvian work?    This is how it managed to manipulate Marethari into being possessed instead, because she was led to believe it had the knowledge to activate the eluvian and she was afraid Merrill might agree to its price.

 

I'd still like to know how Imshael had the means to activate the eluvians.    A simple red crystal?    I don't think so.   

[Steelcan]

I'm pretty sure Merrill explains exactly what she could do with the Eluvian, and what the tangible benefits are from it - communication. Certainly that's on as sure a footing as looting a bunch of graves after a blight, which is what Hawke and Varric will do.

Well if she knew how they worked properly she'd have known that they were less communications, more travel, and that she'd need to connect it to a network of other ones.

 

She was either under informed by her own studies or lied to by Audacity.

[Ghost Gal]

Okay, I have to address the "demon" in the room: We learn in DAI that spirits aren't necessarily demons. A spirit's default state is peaceful semi-existence, and they become perverted into demons if a) their purpose is corrupted or denied (being summoned, bound, attacked, etc), b ) they absorb the negative emotions and/or expectations of mortals. If a mortal encounters a spirit while filled with negative emotions and/or expects to see a demon, the spirit will absorb and reflect this. (Note: Justice was perverted into Vengeance due to Anders' negativity.) 

 

Also, what's the flip side of a spirit of Pride? Wisdom. What was Merrill hoping to gain from her encounter with the spirit? Lost knowledge and wisdom from her people to help her people.

 

Notice that Merrill is a sweet girl with a sweet disposition, so she probably wouldn't have approached the spirit filled with negative emotions for it to absorb. She also gives most spirits the benefit of the doubt, figuring they're good until proven otherwise, so she had no negative expectations for it to reflect. For all we know, when Merrill first approached the spirit, it was or appeared to be a benevolent spirit of Wisdom who gave her the knowledge she sought. (Notably without tricking her into letting it free or possess her.)

 

However, everyone else in Sundermount was so adamant that it must be a demon that must want to possess her, that was the spirit to do? If it wasn't corrupted from years of being in proximity to the negative Dalish Clan that parked it on Sundermount, then it certainly would have been when Marethari approached it thinking it must be a demon that must want to possess someone (perhaps through the mirror or Merrill, which Marethari seemed to think before going in), then offered herself. If it wasn't a demon before, what could it do except reflect what Marethari expected to see? 

 

I'm not saying I think it's a FACT that the spirit was Wisdom when Merrill visited it the first time (especially since it was bound, although demons sometimes can revert back to spirits if their purpose is restored, so if it was Pride it could have partially or temporarily reverted back to Wisdom when Merrill approached it seeking wisdom), but I think that's a possibility everyone is ignoring. Knowing what we know about spirits from DAI, it's closed-minded to say the spirit was definitely a demon who definitely wanted to possess Merrill and she was just an idiot for not recognizing a possess-happy demon when she saw one, since we now know Pride can be Wisdom, Merrill sought Knowledge/Wisdom, spirits can be friendly if the mortal is positive and expects to see a positive spirit (Merrill), good spirits can become demons if mortals expect to see a demon (Marethari), and/or demons can revert back to spirits if their purpose is restored. Since we didn't Merrill's first visit to the spirit, it could have been Wisdom when she saw it then it got corrupted into a demon that wants to possess someone because it reflected what Marethari expected to see when she approached it.

 

I'm just saying I think it's a possibility.

[Steelcan]

That bit that Solas says about Demons and Spirits can't apply universally, otherwise there'd be no natural demons, nor does it explain the emergence of something like Nightmare who might have originally been somehwat beneficial but now serves Corypehus there was no denial of his purpose just a change in motivations.

[Gervaise]

Audacity sounds a lot more like Imshael to me.   He was a very pleasant fellow when he first spoke to Michel and he was also most insistent that he wasn't a demon but a spirit.   Merrill says that the spirit was very pleasant to her but that doesn't mean it didn't have malign intentions and was manipulating her.   It also seems far more likely that a demon would have been bound to that place rather than a benign spirit.  

 

Merrill also says that she is well aware that all spirits are dangerous, so she didn't approach the negotiations with the spirit as some sort of naïve innocent.   However, she does seem a bit too willing to agree with the idea of working with spirits, even when they are very obviously demons.   She is also very easily tricked if you take into the Fade to rescue Feynriel.    She isn't the only one who is manipulated but she is the only one who claims to know how to deal with them and approves when you do.  

[In Exile]

Well if she knew how they worked properly she'd have known that they were less communications, more travel, and that she'd need to connect it to a network of other ones.

She was either under informed by her own studies or lied to by Audacity.

She's ignorant of their true purpose as I've said. But that doesn't undercut the point that the Eluvian would be a game changer for the Dalish - and indeed for Thedas as a whole - if the only thing they offered was instantaneous communication between two points ala the palantir from LoTR.

[Iakus]

 

I'm not saying I think it's a FACT that the spirit was Wisdom when Merrill visited it the first time (especially since it was bound, although demons sometimes can revert back to spirits if their purpose is restored, so if it was Pride it could have partially or temporarily reverted back to Wisdom when Merrill approached it seeking wisdom), but I think that's a possibility everyone is ignoring. Knowing what we know about spirits from DAI, it's closed-minded to say the spirit was definitely a demon who definitely wanted to possess Merrill and she was just an idiot for not recognizing a possess-happy demon when she saw one, since we now know Pride can be Wisdom, Merrill sought Knowledge/Wisdom, spirits can be friendly if the mortal is positive and expects to see a positive spirit (Merrill), good spirits can become demons if mortals expect to see a demon (Marethari), and/or demons can revert back to spirits if their purpose is restored. Since we didn't Merrill's first visit to the spirit, it could have been Wisdom when she saw it then it got corrupted into a demon that wants to possess someone because it reflected what Marethari expected to see when she approached it.

 

I'm just saying I think it's a possibility.

Sundermount got its name from being the sight of the last major battle between the elves and Tevinter.  A battle where both sides unleashed scores of demons upon each other.

 

The implication is that Audacity was one such creature.  If so, then it was a demon long, long before it ever met Merrill.

[Qun00]

Okay, I have to address the "demon" in the room: We learn in DAI that spirits aren't necessarily demons. A spirit's default state is peaceful semi-existence, and they become perverted into demons if a) their purpose is corrupted or denied (being summoned, bound, attacked, etc), b ) they absorb the negative emotions and/or expectations of mortals. If a mortal encounters a spirit while filled with negative emotions and/or expects to see a demon, the spirit will absorb and reflect this. (Note: Justice was perverted into Vengeance due to Anders' negativity.)

Also, what's the flip side of a spirit of Pride? Wisdom. What was Merrill hoping to gain from her encounter with the spirit? Lost knowledge and wisdom from her people to help her people.

Notice that Merrill is a sweet girl with a sweet disposition, so she probably wouldn't have approached the spirit filled with negative emotions for it to absorb. She also gives most spirits the benefit of the doubt, figuring they're good until proven otherwise, so she had no negative expectations for it to reflect. For all we know, when Merrill first approached the spirit, it was or appeared to be a benevolent spirit of Wisdom who gave her the knowledge she sought. (Notably without tricking her into letting it free or possess her.)

However, everyone else in Sundermount was so adamant that it must be a demon that must want to possess her, that was the spirit to do? If it wasn't corrupted from years of being in proximity to the negative Dalish Clan that parked it on Sundermount, then it certainly would have been when Marethari approached it thinking it must be a demon that must want to possess someone (perhaps through the mirror or Merrill, which Marethari seemed to think before going in), then offered herself. If it wasn't a demon before, what could it do except reflect what Marethari expected to see?

I'm not saying I think it's a FACT that the spirit was Wisdom when Merrill visited it the first time (especially since it was bound, although demons sometimes can revert back to spirits if their purpose is restored, so if it was Pride it could have partially or temporarily reverted back to Wisdom when Merrill approached it seeking wisdom), but I think that's a possibility everyone is ignoring. Knowing what we know about spirits from DAI, it's closed-minded to say the spirit was definitely a demon who definitely wanted to possess Merrill and she was just an idiot for not recognizing a possess-happy demon when she saw one, since we now know Pride can be Wisdom, Merrill sought Knowledge/Wisdom, spirits can be friendly if the mortal is positive and expects to see a positive spirit (Merrill), good spirits can become demons if mortals expect to see a demon (Marethari), and/or demons can revert back to spirits if their purpose is restored. Since we didn't Merrill's first visit to the spirit, it could have been Wisdom when she saw it then it got corrupted into a demon that wants to possess someone because it reflected what Marethari expected to see when she approached it.

I'm just saying I think it's a possibility.

Merrill is a prideful person, so she could never make the demon revert into Wisdom.

[The Ascendant]

I've never seen a Demon become 'redeemed'. Is it possible? Solas' friend seemed more of a mercy killing than anything.

[Steelcan]

She's ignorant of their true purpose as I've said. But that doesn't undercut the point that the Eluvian would be a game changer for the Dalish - and indeed for Thedas as a whole - if the only thing they offered was instantaneous communication between two points ala the palantir from LoTR.

Well those didn't work out very well in the long run either.....

[IHaveReturned1999]

I am a Jew, and I am here to tell you that you are mistaken. Yes, Judaism is a religion. But to be a Jew encompasses religious AND ethnic identities, which include genetic markers. I recently took a genetic test through National Geographic and my markers for "Jewish diaspora" were zero. If Jewishness did not also encompass race, there would be no genetic markers to test for.

When I converted, I was welcomed as an "adopted daughter" into the tribe. I did not simply convert into a religion, I converted into a peoplehood, with an ethnic identity and a history where constructs of race very MUCH impacted our lives, whether Jewish women tried to erase their Jewish nose through plastic surgery, or Nazis tried to destroy us because we were "defiling" the "racial purity" of the "Aryans". Not all Jews are genetically Jewish, but that does not mean we are not a religio-ethnic amalgam, as I think Xilhra termed it.

Also, you said this: "The whole thing with Jewish people are elves is false and here's why, because their holocaust was never a racial issue but a religious one..." Putting aside the fact that of COURSE the Holocaust was racially motivated...The Jews DID serve as one point of inspiration for the elves. David Gaider confirmed it. The lives of city elves are modeled after the lives of Jews in European ghettos, and the Dalish longing for a homeland is modeled after the Jewish longing for Israel. We have existed as a people for 5000 years, there is much more to us than the Holocaust of the 20th century.

Hey I'm just a messenger. I'm saying that the elves are related more so to African Peoples than Jews because of the downfall of Ancient Civilizations like Egypt, Ethiopia, and so on. And our holocaust is so horrifying that our heritage of culture and history were lost, just like the elves were enslaved by Tevinter Imperium after the downfall of Arlathan (Influenced by Ancient Egypt). And it explains why elves worship human religion instead of their own. Same way with Slavery in the Colonies and the South convert slaves by force to worship a Christan god and Jesus Christ, and not their own spirituality that their ancestors passed down to them. That causes spiritual and psychological damage to the psyche of my ancestors. (That's why I don't convert into Western Religion) Same thing with the elves who've forgotten of who they were because of the evils of humans who took their history, culture, and beratige away from them by enslavement, set up a system of racial discrimination and oppression, and give the elves the Chantry to worship this make-believe god to dive them to bow down to humans to revered them as a superior race. But don't take my word for it see it for yourself

[LobselVith8]

Merrill tells you that Marethrari told her the ancestors meant it to be forgotten the first time she shows it to you, before you even go to visit Marethari.     So Marethari saying "this was forgotten for a reason" later is consistent with this.  

 

Are you talking about Act II? In that conversation, Merrill explains the Eluvian when she shows it to Hawke, addressing that she used blood magic to cleanse the shard or explaining why the mirror doesn't reflect anything in the room (depending on the dialogue option that is chosen). She goes into how they found the shattered pieces of the Eluvian in the Brecillian Forest, and how the mirror is inert because she thinks that a special tool is needed to complete the task.

 

The conversation with Marethari at Sundermount also illustrates how the Keeper views the situation and her opposition to it. Marethari claims "it's a trap" because it cost them "Tamlen", and accuses it of leading Merrill to blood magic. That doesn't really sound like Marethari is speaking from an informed position when she's acting as though it's cursed. Marethari says nothing about any of the elven lore cautioning them from using the Eluvian; her reaction is entirely emotional.

 

If Audacity telepathically projects images into both their minds, then the information was available to both of them equally.   However, this couldn't have been until they actually reached Sundermount.   Anything else that Merrill knew was as a result of the demon talking to her separately from Marethari.   It was clearly manipulating both of them.   I don't defend Marethari's actions concerning what she later did.    That was stupid and by that point Merrill clearly was showing more sense than Marethari.   I'm referring to the earlier decision concerning the eluvian.   It is possible that the demon showed something to Marethari that it didn't show to Merrill that made her behave as she did towards it.   However, it is just possible that her ideas were based on something she had been told previously.  

 

Yes, the short story addresses that Audacity spoke to them when they reached Sundermount. However, Merrill kept a fragment of the Eluvian since Ferelden because it was her goal to cleanse it and construct one. Merrill also moves to Kirkwall while Marethari stays close to Sundermount, within vicinity of Audacity.

 

Flemeth did seem to be warning Merrill about the course she was following and that warning was totally independent of Marethari.    I presume you don't suggest that Marethari could have influenced Flemeth into saying as much. 

 

I don't see how Marethari could influence Asha'bellanar to say that, since it would require Marethari to know future events.

 

Why does everyone keep saying that Merrill's eluvian was at the Crossroads.   Even if the eluvian had the same design, I'm sure each one wasn't necessarily unique.  So far as I'm aware at the end of DA2, her eluvian was either smashed or still not working.   It may be that it was dormant because the network had not yet been activated.   Apparently that was something the helpful demon didn't mention to her.   Or may be it just couldn't be restored.   

 

Because DragonFlight and others tested saves where the Eluvian was spared to when the Eluvian was destroyed, and they have said it only appears when the Eluvian was spared. Lady Insanity also did a video on Merrill's Eluvian.

 

There is another thing to consider.   Audacity had apparently convinced Marethari that it was going to use the eluvian to possess Merrill.   When Michel first encountered Imshael he was bound by magic in a spirit trap.   Imshael told Michel that he need to find someone for him to possess before he would give him the means to activate the eluvians and told him how this would be achieved.   Michel agreed to his terms, intending to be possessed himself but discovered that his actions simply freed Imshael from the trap.   Now Audacity could have come up with any number of permutations on this in order to be freed from its prison.    The important thing to note is the promise to give the means to activate the eluvians.   Can you be sure that Merrill might not have been tricked some way into freeing the demon (without intending harm on anyone else) because it promised her the means to make her eluvian work?    This is how it managed to manipulate Marethari into being possessed instead, because she was led to believe it had the knowledge to activate the eluvian and she was afraid Merrill might agree to its price.

 

I'd still like to know how Imshael had the means to activate the eluvians.    A simple red crystal?    I don't think so.   

 

Merrill tells an aggressive Hawke that she had no intention of releasing Audacity from the totem; Marethari also never makes such a claim, instead claiming that Audacity would escape through the Eluvian. Merrill went to Sundermount to communicate with Audacity about why the Eluvian was insert, but no one (not even Marethari) claims that Merrill was planning on intentionally releasing Audacity from the totem. Considering that Audacity was released by Marethari, isn't it more logical that Marethari was the target all along? Who else would have given her the information that made her drastically change her opposition to Merrill's efforts between Acts II and III?

[Steelcan]

Hey I'm just a messenger. I'm saying that the elves are related more so to African Peoples than Jews because of the downfall of Ancient Civilizations like Egypt, Ethiopia, and so on. And our holocaust is so horrifying that our heritage of culture and history were lost, just like the elves were enslaved by Tevinter Imperium after the downfall of Arlathan (Influenced by Ancient Egypt). And it explains why elves worship human religion instead of their own. Same way with Slavery in the Colonies and the South convert slaves by force to worship a Christan god and Jesus Christ, and not their own spirituality that their ancestors passed down to them. That causes spiritual and psychological damage to the psyche of my ancestors.

and you pretend you aren't N7 Phantom while displaying the exact same the same intellectual timidity as well as a view of history that garners support on fringe conspiracy theorist's websites and racist rants and nowhere else.

[LobselVith8]

Audacity sounds a lot more like Imshael to me.   He was a very pleasant fellow when he first spoke to Michel and he was also most insistent that he wasn't a demon but a spirit.   Merrill says that the spirit was very pleasant to her but that doesn't mean it didn't have malign intentions and was manipulating her.   It also seems far more likely that a demon would have been bound to that place rather than a benign spirit.  

 

Merrill also says that she is well aware that all spirits are dangerous, so she didn't approach the negotiations with the spirit as some sort of naïve innocent.   However, she does seem a bit too willing to agree with the idea of working with spirits, even when they are very obviously demons.

 

That's actually not the case. Merrill cautions Hawke that he can acquire intel from spirits without making any bargains with them, which is true - Hawke can get information from both the Profane Abomination and Torpor without making a bargain with either spirit.

 

Bringing up Merrill speaking with Audacity - a spirit trapped in a totem - isn't quite comparable to dealing with spirits roaming free in the Beyond.

 

She is also very easily tricked if you take into the Fade to rescue Feynriel.    She isn't the only one who is manipulated but she is the only one who claims to know how to deal with them and approves when you do.  

 

Everyone but Anders is railroaded into trying to kill Hawke in a matter of seconds for the most asinine reasons (I guess Isabela values a boat more than Hawke's life if we're discussing that quest). Perhaps we can include how Cullen doesn't care about Anders plotting against the Kirkwall Chantry because of this scene while we're at it.

[Steelcan]

None of us have said that Merrill would intentionally let out Audacity, but she could have easily been tricked

[Steelcan]

 

 

Everyone but Anders is railroaded into trying to kill Hawke in a matter of seconds for the most asinine reasons (I guess Isabela values a boat more than Hawke's life if we're discussing that quest).

She still supported making a deal with a demon, mundane people doing that is much less dangerous than a mage doing so.

[IHaveReturned1999]

and you pretend you aren't N7 Phantom while displaying the exact same the same intellectual timidity as well as a view of history that garners support on fringe conspiracy theorist's websites and racist rants and nowhere else.

Dude obviously you're obsessed with this guy who's been banned and not in this forum. Relax and drink some beer with your buddies.

[GoldenGail3]

and you pretend you aren't N7 Phantom while displaying the exact same the same intellectual timidity as well as a view of history that garners support on fringe conspiracy theorist's websites and racist rants and nowhere else.

And he's afraid of me, too, it's so funny that I can make people run away, loi. 

[LobselVith8]

She's ignorant of their true purpose as I've said. But that doesn't undercut the point that the Eluvian would be a game changer for the Dalish - and indeed for Thedas as a whole - if the only thing they offered was instantaneous communication between two points ala the palantir from LoTR.

 

Merrill says that she believes the Eluvians will help the People, and we're never told the extent of her knowledge in-game (or even by the developers). Admittedly, the narrative never goes much into it, but that's also true of Briala's storyline in Inquisition - the games mainly focus on Andrastian human plots even when it could otherwise fleshed out the elven ones.

[Steelcan]

Dude obviously you're obsessed with this guy who's been banned and not in this forum. Relax and drink some beer with your buddies.

and there's the deflecting of criticism and accusations of intellectual cowardice

[GoldenGail3]

and there's the deflecting of criticism and accusations of intellectual cowardice

Oh and being afraid of me too, unless it's stated otherwise, that's what i believe, and it's funny. 

[Steelcan]

Merrill says that she believes the Eluvians will help the People, and we're never told the extent of her knowledge in-game (or even by the developers). Admittedly, the narrative never goes much into it, but that's also true of Briala's storyline in Inquisition - the games mainly focus on Andrastian human plots even when it could otherwise fleshed out the elven ones.

Well then wait for next game and see the results of the Dalish ideal, a return to the old days before the humans came.