marllowe:

AH NAH U GONE & DONE IT man u gone & opened the floodgates. Alright settle in, this’ll get long. Haha & if I come on strong its because ive got a lot of feelings about the issue that I’ve kept from weighing in on til now, it’s not you. I actually don’t mind getting these questions. u good

Based on posts I see, it seems like the extent of what Meredith & the templars were getting up to isn’t fully realized by parts of fandom & that’s alright, not everyone is a completionist who talks to every NPC, and not everyone reads the supplemental texts. BUT WHOSE GOT TWO THUMBS AND DOES IT’S ME so im about to lay it down, y’all. buckle up here’s the laundry list.

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I often see the argument that Meredith was A-OK until the red lyrium idol “drove her ~crazy~” but I don’t think that quite holds water. If anything, the lyrium idol amplified the violent compulsions that were present all along. In fact she mocks characters who say so (“claiming I’m irrational has become the latest sport, it seems”) as far as she’s concerned she’s in full control of her faculties. Her violence escalates in correspondence with her exposure to red lyrium, but that wasn’t the sole source of it.

It’s easy to miss because you only catch the trend if you’re paying attention & read background materials, but Meredith’s actions in Kirkwall are motivated by power hunger. Never the greater good. Even before the game starts, she’s on a quest to accumulate power and will murder or stifle anyone who threatens that. From World of Thedas:

Speaking of the templars’ unchecked power, one of the reasons I cant personally justify siding with them is this – they’re the instigators in the conflict. We don’t see the inside of the Gallows Circle so you wouldn’t guess, but we learn from World of Thedas that Kirkwall is, in fact, Thedas’ most populous Circle! Inside would be mage children, many tranquil, the elderly & feeble, and they’re all about to be put to the sword. All Orsino wants is to prevent that. They’re basically civilians facing a militarized force of trained soldiers that they DON’T WANT to fight. And they largely aren’t equipped to, and he knows that; if you side with the Templars, Orsino will beg Hawke to stand down and try to apologize to Meredith for his part in their argument and will gladly acquiesce to her earlier request to search the tower, which is all more than reasonable, and she still shoots it down. Templar!Hawke can offer Meredith further chances to reconsider, and she shoots those down as well.

OK – and THIS – THIS – is why Meredith’s “it breaks my heart [to annul the Circle]” line is bronto dung, ok? Meredith is a politician. She’s two-faced af. She says it breaks her heart because that’s the version of events she wants to present: “a poor beleaguered Templar who’s been struggling against the might of a Circle populated with evil blood mages, and is finally forced to do ~the unthinkable~ to protect the innocents.” And the maddening thing is, if Hawke hadn’t been there then it would’ve gone according to plan, nobody would be left who’d contradict it, and hell, she’d probably be given Andrastian sainthood.

But when you’re alone, with no one about but Templars? She’s giddy about it. As are other Templars present if you talk to them, because that’s the viewpoint that Kirkwall’s Templars foster, Meredith saw to that herself. As she rallies her men to raze the Circle, a Templar!Hawke can use the dialogue option: “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” She is, her smugness when she tells Orsino to prepare to fight (knowing he can’t win) proves its true. She’ll smile and say things like

Yeah, your heart is broken my pert dimpled ass. In fact she’s just been waiting for the proper excuse – she had already sent for the Rite of Annulment, you hear about it from Karras mid-Act 3. And even when the Chantry goes up in smoke, her hand still hasn’t been forced. Anders was never a part of the Kirkwall circle; they’re as guilty as any other civilian. But she spots her opportunity, seizes it, and scapegoats the Circle. Because she can get away with it and she knows it; in Thedas, death by association isn’t questioned when mages are involved. Later when innocent mages are begging on their knees, saying: “please, let us live” and she yells “NO” her heart isn’t hurting. And if Hawke & Cullen agree to save them anyway, holy shit, if looks could kill. She’ll settle for nothing less than complete genocide of mages and unquestioning servitude of her underlings.

And there ARE lines where Meredith DOES come across as being overtaken with emotion (her voice actress IS very good) and it’s almost enough to believe that she herself is convinced about what she’s saying. And I WOULD buy that if not for the gaps in the façade, as in the earlier example, and later when we see her try to turn her Templars on Hawke (even when you helped her), she’ll insinuate all this shit about Hawke to try to get her Templars to fall in line behind her plan to kill you.  And she DOES sound like she believes what she’s saying, and it could’ve worked had Cullen not contradicted her and set her off. But we know that really, she’s just trying to get Hawke out of the way because she’s uncomfortable with how much influence Hawke holds and wants to pave the way for herself to have unquestioned power in Kirkwall. So even though she CAN sound sincere it left me with the impression that her excuses are likely just covering up the fact that she’s acting in her own self-interest.

As far as Meredith having any guilt over how she treats the mages – I’d say its closer to the opposite. When asked what her plans are if she gets her wish and the Circle’s annulled, Meredith says they’ll rebuild the Circle, and this time “The Circle will KNOW FEAR”. Now, when you visit the Gallows in Act 2 you can find mages curled up, hugging themselves and trembling – that’s a traumatic stress response. You can hear ambient noise of someone being beaten.  Some of them, young mages, tell you they’ve been raped and beaten & threatened into silence. There’s nobody to report it to, because nobody in power cares (Meredith saw to that personally). So they tell you, Hawke, a complete stranger. That’s their only lifeline. And that’s still not good enough for Meredith. That’s not scared ENOUGH, and god damn Hawke for interfering.

And I would highly doubt she gives any kind of shits about the Tranquil. Tying back into her theme of desiring unquestioned power, I think Meredith craves yes-men who will comply with her every wish, which is exactly why she fast-tracks Alrik, Karras and Cullen through the ranks regardless of ability or seniority. This is also the reason why she tried to prevent the Circle from having a First Enchanter, someone tasked with protecting mage’s interests, saying they don’t require one. A Tranquil mage has no power to assert themselves, which is how she likes it. To quote one of the ambient Tranquil wandering the Gallows: “I was never given the opportunity for a Harrowing. The knight-commander knew I was too weak.” So they’re not even offered a CHANCE. As far as the Tranquil being gainfully employed, this is how well they’re treated:

Also I’d reject the label “employed” because that implies pay & fair trade with both parties being close to equal footing. More accurate to say Tranquil are used as slave labor. Then they’re used to funnel money back into the same Circle that stole their lives. In fact, codexes tell us Tranquil make up the main source of the Circle’s wealth. There are plenty of reasons for creating more Tranquil, and it has everything to do with a compliant, unpaid labor force (or Alrik’s motive, ugh) and nothing to do with mercy.

Speaking of how she treats the Tranquil, let it never be forgotten or forgiven what she did to Maddox. IM STILL MAD Y’ALL. Made Tranquil for being on friendly terms with a Templar. The way Samson speaks of her in his novella offers a lot of insight:

“What the Chantry did to its templars was unforgivable, but what it had done to Maddox was obscene.[…] Under Meredith, freedom was a cruel dream for Kirkwall’s Circle
mages. They were often locked in their cells, watched night and day by
templars who were told any step out of line was suspicious. All those
young magelings, told that magic
was a curse, that they were dangerous, and that they had to be shut
indoors all their lives looking out through those windows. Some went
mad. Others, mad or not, tried jumping.
But in the face of all that was this little paper bird, folded by
someone whose dreams of freedom and his girl’s arms hadn’t died
completely. A proof of humanity, when the Circle and the Chantry just
wanted mages to be obedient things. […] Maddox had been accused of corrupting a templar, a serious charge.
Meredith was merciless; she turned Maddox into an emotionless Tranquil
with a lyrium brand. […] Maddox’s mind had been destroyed, and the grand cleric barely slapped Meredith on the wrist. […]The Kirkwall chapter had been under Meredith’s thumbscrews for so long
that they barely knew right from wrong. […] For all Meredith’s railing
against blood magic controlling people, fear had twisted the templars’
minds just as well.”

[x]

But it’s not as if beatings are reserved as punishment for merchant Tranquil. Nope, instead all of the mages are beaten. And again, the Kirkwall templar power structure is designed so that reporting your abuse would be impossible – all superior officers are specifically chosen for how much they hate you. Good luck lodging a complaint.

Is there still any wonder why there’s so much suicide and blood magic?
As for the Tranquil Solution, Anders says something along the lines of “they make them tranquil and parade them about to inspire fear” and I will guiltily admit that, like you, initially I did think Anders was being paranoid here. It couldn’t be THAT bad, right? … until the evidence starts stacking up.

As it turns out… Anders was right. It’s a power play. The lesson to be learned is terror. Mages are being “punished” by being killed AT RANDOM to stoke the other’s fear. The assumption that the Tranquil are being paraded about as a lesson to others suddenly isn’t farfetched at all.

Additionally, let’s mention that any normal person caught aiding an apostate will be locked up in the Circle tower with them, or in one example, just straight up killed. Another bunch of fear-mongering boloney meant to keep the Kirkwall populace toeing the line. There’s a reason the nobles hate her nearly as much as the mages.

As far as the Tranquil Solution, Meredith makes it clear repeatedly that she holds no love for mages and thinks they’re a disease, “stupid” and “a danger to themselves” so I think her refusal of Alrik’s request had more to do with her staying inside of her legal boundaries than any kind of compassion. Elthina is still her supervisor after all, and the link between the Divine and Meredith, and when the Divine rejects the proposal, Meredith’s hand would be forced as well, or risk drawing the Divine’s ire. So she rejects…. OFFICIALLY, at least. We later see that Meredith winds up going about putting the Tranquil solution into effect herself. According the Gaider mages can’t be made Tranquil without the Knight-Commander signing off on it. And while there have been efforts to circumvent Meredith (as with Karl), I wouldn’t assume it’s the norm. Like we hear a Gallows mage say: “I heard Ser Alrik place the order for me to be made Tranquil. I passed my Harrowing! He can’t do that!” which would imply there are official channels one must go through before Tranquility is accepted/denied, which surely lead to Meredith. And really, after ordering mage executions at random, is there really any doubt she’d stoop this low?

And you know what, even supposing she’s 100% unawares, I do blame Meredith for Ser Alrik. I blame her for Ser Karras, who’s threatened Alain that he’ll have him made Tranquil if he tells on Karras for ‘visiting his chambers’. A templar’s job is to protect mages, and as their superior officer for decades, she should’ve had some inkling of the abuse they got up to, or was incompetent if she didn’t. But moreso for the fact that the rapists of the Templar Order enjoy their comfy, protected positions of power not because they were otherwise qualified or had seniority, nope, like I mentioned earlier Meredith promoted them & Cullen solely on the basis of  how much they hate mages. 

And you know what? After all of that – alllll of that, I MIGHT have been able to give Meredith a bit of a pass because Kirkwall does attract a high number of blood mages and her templars are supposed to be the only thing keeping it in check and that’ll wear down a person. Buuut… they don’t?? And then they make more problems than the blood mages do? Instead of protecting civilians, the cruelty of the Kirkwall Templars is beaten out only by their staggering incompetency. Ideally the Templars are supposed to help citizens. They make up
Kirkwall’s largest and most organized force, and they could – they’re
supposed to – use that power for good. And the Chantry, who claims to be
a force for good, should compel Meredith to try. But no charity, no
assistance, nothing. Not surprising I guess, considering Meredith thinks of
Kirkwall’s populace as “entitled degenerates”.

Instead, who does help? The
least capable. A sewer apostate and some refugees. And not to get
sidetracked, but that’s why I’ll never demonize Anders. Both him and the
Templars have hurt and killed people, but propr to that, for YEARS, he
pours his full efforts into HELPING people, especially the downtrodden,
free of reciprocation. This in spite of having Thedas’ 2 most powerful
factions hunting him and having every justification to keep his head
down and do nothing.

Whereas the Templars make a habit of the opposite, despite being in a
position of power & obliged to help. They torture or ignore the
pleas of Kirkwall’s most neglected classes: the Qunari, the mages, the
Dalish, the very poor, the elves in the Alienage, the refugees.
There’s no charity, opportunities, or food for the poor (or anyone
else). A pedophile is raping and killing elf children from the Alienage,
and no Templar stops him (or even seems aware). The templars themselves are kidnapping and
torturing both Qunari and Dalish elves. Crime & gangs overrun all districts of Kirkwall. The hunting of dangerous blood mages is contracted out to misc bounty hunters or Hawke. Again, the incompetency is amazing. There’s a reason Kirkwall’s in the gutter, and it isn’t blood magic. These are the benefits
you reap when you appoint leaders for their prejudices instead of their
skill. What a shitshow. And the
responsibility rests on Meredith (and by extension, Elthina) for Kirkwall’s least
fortunate being hung out to dry.

One of the only Templars who’s actually onto something is Emeric, who FOR 3 YEARS tracked a dangerous blood mage while no other Templars lift a finger to help him until eventually he’s killed, continuing the trend of Templars concerned with REAL issues being ignored by Meredith and the Order, who’d rather focus on stomping on the mages already cowering in the Gallows.

And to drive that home: even given all that shit, ALL THAT SHIT, according to World of Thedas Meredith thinks her “Circle runs perfectly” her only issue is having a First Enchanter that speaks up for mages. What…the heck

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All that being said, people can still like Meredith… people like bad guys all the time (who doesn’t, really?) But don’t let the wool stay over anyone’s eyes. Let it never be said that the game canon and parts of fandom are correct when it presents her as some noble pyrrhic figure, who did what was “”””tough but right””””.  Because that’s no excuse anybody should ever be making for a dictatorial warmonger who rules through terror and whose goal is ethnic genocide. Anyone can like a character in spite of their flaws, i only ask that people first acknowledge that those flaws exist. And like I mentioned in the opening, there are those who might’ve been unaware of those flaws even existing.

SO WELP… now it’s all out in the open.

Anyway. That got out of hand. Welp that’s my thesis. Damn. Im gonna go eat a rice crispy treat