The Mage-Templar War should've had a much larger focus in Inquisition instead of being shoved into comics/books change my mind

One of the criticisms I've seen DA players have in response to Anders' actions at the Kirkwall Chantry is some degree of, 'his actions forced innocent mages into a war they had no choice whether or not they wanted to be involved in'.

What a lot of these players seem to miss is this: The mages were already involved. They have been involved since childhood, when their magic manifested.

If you are born a mage in Southern Thedas, you are marked. The Templars will find you, or your neighbors who were conditioned by the Chantry to fear magic will turn you in, and you are brought to the Circle where you are at risk of Tranquility, or Annulment, and subjected to a Harrowing. Your children born to you in the Circle will be taken from you to be raised in a Chantry orphanage (like Wynne's child was). You are not allowed to get married, or start a family, or own land. You are not allowed to leave your Circle ever, unless conscripted to fight in the army (like in the Fifth Blight) or fulfilling some whim or need of those in power (like Malcolm Hawke being made to entertain nobles at a party). You might be thrown into the dungeon and left to starve to death, like the mage child Cole (and other mage apprentices of the White Spire) did. You are at risk of physical and sexual abuse, like the mages of the Gallows were.

Innocent mages were already involved. They were already being killed, they were already fighting for their lives for centuries since the inception of Circles, long before Anders' actions.

Also, in the case of the Gallows specifically, Knight-Commander Meredith had already called for the Annulment as early as the beginning/mid of Act 3. The mages' lives were already in danger, even before the Chantry was destroyed.

Anders tried for six years to make people listen and show how magic is not meant to be feared and can be used for good -- by publishing a manifesto, by providing free magical healthcare in Darktown -- to bring people's attention to the plight of mages and change things for the better. It took the imminent threat of his people being slaughtered wholesale for him to resort to what is aptly titled 'The Last Straw'.

If players want to blame anyone for subjecting mages to a conflict they did not want, look no further than the Chantry and their system of exploitation and oppression over the mages. Put blame on the Chantry for forcing mages into lives they did not choose, and asserting methods of culling and control over them, simply for how they were born. It was the Chantry that gave them no choice whether or not they had a say in staying alive or dying.

And if DA players would still say that the mages could have tried for a more "peaceful route" to alleviate their circumstances (despite seeing how Anders' manifesto, his Darktown clinic, and years of trying to negotiate with Elthina failed and Meredith was calling for Annulment anyway): very rarely do the oppressed win change by pandering to the morals of their oppressors.

Innocent mages were already suffering and being murdered in droves, for centuries. Innocent mages were already involved in this struggle, whether they wanted to be or not. And Anders' actions at the Chantry was like a rallying cry: If we're going to die anyway, then I'd rather die trying to take them down than giving them what they want.

(Also, I have not yet gone into detail on what actually started the mage-templar war, which was the Seekers hiding the cure for Tranquility, and Lord Seeker Lambert's decision to dissolve the Nevarran accord and take the Templars hunting for the free mages across the countryside because he decided dead mages were better than free mages -- because that's a whole separate post.)

Codex entry: Hunter's View of the Mage-Templar War

The words in this note have many misspellings and are scrawled in a clumsy hand:

“Mother Valerie said things I saw won't get out my head 'less I put them somewhere else. She told me write it down. It's a long time since I did letters but I'll try.

I saw refugees in the hills. I was there to hunt. I saw them but did not say hello because I was on the trail. The refugees were going to Redcliffe. They were slow and bent over when they walked like old men.

Templars came. They talked to the refugees. They hit them. The refugees gave food. Then mages came. The mages used fire. Everyone burned. I was in a bush, they did not see me.

Some templars killed the mages. The mages ran. The templars wanted to run after them. A refugee was still burning. His arm went up to a templar. The templar used his sword. It went up and down. Up and down. There were pieces of black.

He stayed while other templars ran after mages. He took things from bodies. One body was moving. It had long hair and burned dress. The templar started to take off his armor and I shot him.

I went down to the lady. She made little noises and her eyes looked at me. Then she died.

I want it to go out of my head please Maker. I been good, I want it to go out of my head.”

WAIT YOU CAN FORCE ANDERS TO STAY WITH AND FIGHT WITH/FOR THE TEMPLARS?!?!?! HOLY SHIT I WOULD NEVER HAVE LET MARI KILL HIM IF I'D KNOWN; IM PRETTY SURE, READING THRU THIS, THAT SHE COULD HAVE DONE IT

I think its funny that rogues and warriors can have an unlimited body count in Thedas but like god forbid a mage lights someone on fire

So I’ve been looking through the Valo-Kas war table missions and… boy, the Valo-Kas lose a lot of people.

I assume that many of them didn’t survive the explosion at the Conclave. There are missions available to Inquisitor Adaar to rescue some survivors, and at least in one of them, the advisor you choose also determines which people come back. So Adaar loses people before the game even begins, and then loses more as Inquisitor - and, no matter which options you choose in the war table missions, at least three Valo-Kas will wind up dead because of Adaar, because some fanatics who believe that the Inquisitor is an agent of the Qun decide to capture and torture the first qunari they saw.

That’s. Uh. That’s messed up.

imagine being a child or the loved one of a child who came into their magic during the mage/templar war. like the circle isn't an option for the parents and the concept isn't even a thing that exists for the child having never known it. very little options to control your magic and probably not even 10 yet half the population thinks you're a monster and you have literally no idea why.

here's the thing, right. like. okay, let's take everything up to the title showing up as the 'origin' style opening for dai, where you establish character. but like. literally what about that opening establishes character. you get brought to the chantry in haven where they briefly discuss executing you before declaring the inquisition. you can either begrudgingly support the people who have actively threatened you repeatedly or you can go uwu i'd love to help you guys out im so excited to be working with you. like. hello.

An expansion called Asunder where we actually get to play in the meat of the mage-templar war instead of just seeing the beginnings and whatever dregs we get in inquisition

OC Style Boards pt 2

Violetta Amell - former Circle mage, rebel mage, Amihan Amell's long lost twin sister

Maya Tabingdagat - former Circle mage, ex-tranquil, Inquisitor Gabriel Trevelyan's close friend

Marikit - former Circle mage, fused with the spirit of Resilience, elven-blooded

Caridad Lacanilao - former Circle mage, disgraced & removed from the noble Trevelyan house, Red Jenny member

---

These are my other DA OCs, some in my canon worldstates and others in their own. Did this cause I like making style boards lol ✌🏽

love playing dragon age inquisition and hearing an NPC in redcliffe ask his mother (after admitting he’s had dreams that make him think he might be a mage) if she would still love him if he were a mage.  in the game that tries to “both sides” the issue of mages vs templars. 

As much as I enjoyed Inquisition I was also heavily disappointed by it. I was looking forward to fighting in the Mage-Templar War ever since Dragon Age 2's ending. Instead the war mostly took place in comics and books, and in game it's over in...what? An hour? Two hours? More depending on how long it took you to choose a side after all those side quests? Are you honestly telling me this war that's been brewing since Dragon Age: Awakening (you get hints of it if you meet Wynne and do her side quest) and finally started at the end of Dragon Age 2 with Ander blowing up the Chantry ends with just one big quest for either side? Instead of taking on the Chantry—instead of focusing on the enemy of the now, of the present, of what's always been there—we're focusing on the Fade and the Ancient Elves of the past? I'll probably enjoy Dreadwolf when it eventually comes out. I'm just going to be continuingly disappointed that something that had been hyped and eager to play in was just...over in one big mission.

It's still weird to me that BioWare tried to frame the mages vs templar narrative as a conflict of two wholly opposing sides, when a more compelling conflict-driven narrative would have been templars and mages joining forces to topple the Chantry. - via my Twitter @ justcallmecappy

I posted this on Twitter and thought I'd follow-up with a longer form "what if?" post here, exploring the mage-templar conflict in DAI and how it could have been approached very differently, but still retaining the game's messages and themes of unification, overcoming differences, and people coming together to accomplish great things, by having mages and templars join forces to dismantle the Chantry.

I thought I would draft up a whole outline on how things could have gone down differently; like instead of Lord Seeker Lambert dissolving the Nevarran Accord and breaking the Templars away from the Chantry to hunt mages, it would have been Ser Barris electing to declare the templars independent from the Chantry and opening Templar Rehab early; etc. Eventually the mages and templars would come to the realization they need to work together to bring down the institution that manipulated and abused them, via the Player Character's efforts in bringing about unification.

Then I realized this could never have happened, with DAI being the way it is. In DAI, the Inquisition is painted as a force of stability and positive change, instead of a means for the Divine to rebuild the Chantry's military after losing the Templars. The idea of exposing the Chantry as a corrupt and power-abusing institution perpetuating structural oppression early on in the story -- giving the protagonist an antagonistic structure to take down -- could never have flown, at least in DAI.

I thought I was changing just a small detail in the story. Then realized by doing so, we'd have a completely different story, haha😂

Anyways I still think BioWare handled the mage-templar conflict poorly by trying to pit an oppressed people against their oppressors like it was an equally justifiable fight both ways, and it should have been resolved differently🙂

Codex entry: Healer's Notes at Redcliffe Crossroads

“Low on elfroot. Send girl out tomorrow to gather more. Send village boy with her. Fighting closer. Redcliffe closed gates. Refugees staying by crossroads now.

Treated refugees. Illness and stomach trouble from eating spoiled food. Burn marks consistent with magic attacks. One elderly refugee had bone-sickness, made worse by fleeing village when apostates attacked.

More refugee arrivals. Elfroot, spindleweed low. Treated slash wounds, contusions, internal bleeding. Six treated, two eased to Maker. Reported templars attacked them as suspected apostates.

Treated frost-cough at crossroads. Sent letter to Redcliffe asking for blankets. No response. Widow Taine passed in sleep.

Treated hunger shivers at crossroads. More refugees. Burns and contusions, severe bleeding. Caught in fighting between apostates and templars. Amputated arm to save girl. Will die without more elfroot anyway, but too dangerous to gather more.

Girl running high fever. Refugees found merchant wagon burning on way to crossroads. Matched Old Vinn's wagon. No bodies, but everything in wagon taken. No more supplies coming.

Think girl will make it. Used last of elfroot. Making poultices from whatever I can find. Telling refugees to boil anything they eat or drink. Too many sick. Giselle came, said Inquisition help is not far behind.

Fighting outside. Sounds like templars and mages both. Refugees scattered. Someone outside, screaming. Have to help.”

—From a journal belonging to the old healer who lived at the Redcliffe crossroads and was believed to be killed in the fighting

not people having a genuine debate about whether you should side with templars or mages in dai, this is 2023 people

My ideal fantasy version of DA:I is set exclusively in Val Royeaux and just goes incredibly hard on Orlesian politics in the aftermath of the Chantry explosion. You've got the largest circle in Thedas, you've got widespread unrest, you've got a city chock full of decadance and masks and intrigue. You've got the paranoia of knowing that a ton of mages are on the loose and anyone around you could be an apostate. Which, y'know, seems like the kind of thing that might spawn an inquisition of some kind.