Dragon Age: A serious discussion on Mages.

[LordLucan375]

My primary issue with the Templars is that they assume that all mages are as bad as one another. In a civilized society innocence should not be expected to be punished with the guilty. I found that the primary argument on the side of the Templars is that: "All mages have the potential to become corrupted by demons by way of blood magic, therefore they must all be kept under watch." However we see in both DA and DA2 that many of the mages, if not most of them fear their powers/do not have complete control over them/simply wish to be left in peace. The demon-consorting mages are clearly in the minority. So my proposal is that mages should not be taken from their families at a young age simply because they were born a certain way, but instead should be as free as anyone else. Special voluntary academies could be staffed by experienced mages and funded by the chantry to allow young mages to learn to control their powers. The templars should then stop acting as prison wardens and instead become more like modern police officers, members of the community that exists to serve society and its people, while only detaining and punishing those actually guilty of a crime. The Circles would be repurposed to become proper mage prisons, so that in the event of a cabal of insane blood mages planing to blow up the chantry or whatever, the Templars have a proper place to lock them up. "Being made Tranquil," will become illegal as taking someones free will from them is a violation of basic human dignity which all (even criminals,) posses. If a mage has committed a truly heinous crime, such as murder, then they should be executed, just as a regular person should be. What I believe would happen if these changes and laws were passed is that mages would eventually assimilate into regular society and, as most people do, live their lives without wishing to harm others. The few renegades who defy the law who seek to harm or subjugate others should be the only ones who are ever punished.

So there's my two cents.

 

[The Harkinator]

I love the portrayal of the Templar/Mage conflict. Mostly because it has quite a bit of depth on both sides.

The mages wield great power and are dangerous. But there are those who will never give in to temptation, those who actively seek it out and most mages are in between. Controlled but corruptible. When a Mage goes rogue it makes all others look at mages in a bad light since it is magic that allows them to commit such acts. Therefore it is easy to see magic as the enemy, something to be controlled and this is not entirely a wrong idea.

The Templars, or rather, the Chantry has a great deal of power too, it holds sway over all from the Emperor of Orlais (or Empress) to Kings, Lords, Knights and peasants. All respect, fear and love the chantry to some degree. The power it commands means those with power often dare not oppose the chantry unless they have no choice like blood mages and apostates. The chantry us top dog, even more so than any nation. They like it this way, with the Templars they have their own army of highly trained, well-equipped men with a presence in many countries. Certain members of the chantry will use their position to advance the power of the chantry. Meredith knows she has the best force in Kirkwall and basically starts running the city. It becomes easy for those in the chantry to forget themselves and be harsh to mages because it is easier to do so.

The Templars and mages are pushing each other and with each encounter only push harder, which always provokes retaliation from the other side. The conflict was always there and inevitably escalated in a believable way. It may not be the traditional 'Kill the big bad thing and save the world' to applause to BioWare for trying this.

 

[CountArioch]

Considering that the whole mage/fade is a copy of the psyker/warp from 40k (among others, the Qunari/Tau Collective, the Legion of the Dead/Trollslayers, and I'm sure I can make a few more points for comparison), I feel the same was as I do about 40k and their dealings with Chaos:

Mages are a clear danger to the populace, but the people in charge are dealing with it improperly and inadvertantly making things much worse.

I don't consider the events in Kirkwall to be indicative of what happens worldwide. Kirkwall was designed by the imperium to be a giant rip in the fade. Not only that, but one of the first darkspawn lives nearby. The break in the fade is what makes people in Kirkwall freak out, and times of turmoil and stife make the demons stronger. Even the Qunari were not immune, the Arishok's frequent bouts of rage was from the environment rather than him being a hothead.

If I lived in Kirkwall, I'd probably try to defect to the Qunari if I wasn't a mage, or try to make it to Tevinter if I was. Tevinter is a bad place, but all in all I think nearly any place is better than Kirkwall. I get the idea that the circle in Fereldan wasn't that bad and that Uldred was an isolated happening.

I would hope to be human, but dwarf women are so cute! ^_^ I want to hug them...