According to Bioware's latest on-line source book, Drakon's aid to the Anderfels was not as noble as it might appear. The reason his army was up north at all was that he was hoping to capitalise on Tevinter's weakness through the 2nd Blight but then likely saw an opportunity when the Grey Wardens begged his help for the Anderfels and turned aside. This proved a good move because not only did the grateful Anders convert to his faith but he also claimed the Anderfels as part of his Empire. Some 30 odd years later, whilst the 2nd Blight was still raging, the people of the Anderfels decided they didn't want to be part of Orlais anymore and declared their independence. May be they didn't like the attitude of Drakon's son or thought that it had been a pretty shabby trick taking them over as part of the fight against the darkspawn.
Both Orlais and Tevinter, the two most powerful nations in Thedas have had a pretty checkered history with helping people against the Blight. During the 3rd Blight they both took advantage of the Marcher States by occupying them under the pretence of saving them from the darkspawn. During the 4th Blight Tevinter refused to send any aid at all (presumably they couldn't see any benefit to themselves in doing so) and Orlais only sent token assistance.
Yet the elves of the Dales are meant to be damned for not helping during the 2nd Blight when it is equally possible that they tried but arrived too late. Montsimmard lies way out of the Dales, so it is odd the elven army would be there at all if they weren't intent on helping. Everywhere was afflicted by the Blight. The darkspawn were appearing in Ferelden, so it is equally possible they were appearing in the Dales and the elves were largely engaged in combatting them there. The presence of Dalish in the Anderfels in the story about Iloren would suggest that they did send some aid. Likely these were allies of Ameridan and were keeping his promise to Drakon. The source book quoted above, has a passage that specifically states it is suspicious that the only account we have of the non-assistance by the Dalish during the Blight comes from their enemies. More likely there were groups that helped, even if it wasn't an official army, but like every other instance of elves working co-operatively with their human neighbours it was wiped from history by the Chantry for political reasons. Iloren and his clan can simply be added to Shartan and Ameridan, as elves who were treated shabbily by Chantry scholars, who for much of the time have been in charge of official history.
I imagine the only reason they couldn't remove Garahel's name from the records is because he was too prominent a figure, he was a hero to the people of the Freemarches and the Grey Wardens knew the truth. Plus of course he was a city elf, not a Dalish. Not that his efforts improved the lives for the city elves at all after the 4th Blight. If nothing else he was a glaring example of how the short sided human rulers were wasting the potential sitting right under their noses. That of course was Celene's motivation for helping the elves, it would make her rule more successful, not that she actually cared about their conditions. Still, a selfish ruler improving their lives for the sake of herself is better than no action at all.
The daft part is, if I was trying for political propaganda concerning the elves, instead of eliminating references to friendly elves, I would be highlighting them, to show how previous rulers have valued their contribution and would be only too happy to do so again. If they had done this and the Dalish still sat out in the woods and refused to compromise, then you would have a valid criticism. The thing is, while we as players only discover about these bits of history in dribs and drabs, they would actually be known to the Dalish. They know about Shartan working with Andraste. They know about Ameridan. They know about Illoren. Yet they are also aware that the Chantry denies their existence and keeps the elves that did surrender to Chantry rule in squalid little compounds where they are subject to constant abuse and mistreatment. That doesn't send a very positive message about the benefits of surrendering to human cultural rule.
So the problem my Lavellan is currently grappling with is that the past is no longer something he wants to recover. This makes life simple when deciding where he stands on the Solas issue, he utterly opposes him. However, he still feels that the basic values of his society, based on their erroneous view of what the gods were like, is actually superior than anything else he has encountered. If the Evanuris were tyrants, then Tevinter are simply a rather inglorious and lesser imitation of them. Orlais is no better for whilst they don't have mage rulers, they have utterly corrupt nobility who care for nothing other than playing their Game. The Chantry, who based on the mortality of their own Chant, ought to be outright condemning them, instead reinforce the status quo with their ideas of Divine Right of inheritance. Any respect he might have had for the Chantry was done away with when he was encouraged to outright lie about the truth of his acquisition of the anchor. This extends even to those people who were his allies and one of whom might now be Divine.
Having had the opportunity to study at close hand how the various rulers of Thedas in the south conduct themselves and their political systems he rejects them all. He also rejects Tevinter and the Qun. He hasn't yet had the opportunity to visit Rivain so he is withholding judgement on their social system. Wycome was a glorious experiment that he would like to replicate but that was only achieved with the backing of the might of the Inquisition and the on going support of the current Viscount of Kirkwall. It was also necessary to eliminate the ruling elite to bring this about. So really they just hit lucky. I wouldn't be surprised if it is discovered it fell by the wayside in the future because that is what happened in Ferelden with both the Dalish and the city elf boon.
So as an elf who wants to do the best for his people, both Dalish and city, and wants to build a future for them that neither clings to false gods, forces them to follow a faith he doesn't believe in (the Chantry) or compels them to endure the corrupt systems of government that keep them forever in the gutter, please tell me, what exactly are his options other than establish a settlement in the Arbor Wilds and hope Orlais doesn't try and annex it or find some other out of the way place that they can call their own? Incidentally, he is not a mage.
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