Dorian Pavus Thread "He's More Handsome Than A Cockroach"

Awhile back when some people were arguing how Dorian's Personal Quest makes no sense since homophobia doesn't exist in Thedas, it got me thinking. Now, I agree much of The Last Resort of Good Men can come off like a bad Afterschool Special at times; myself, I would have preferred something that confronted Dorian on whether Tevinter can, or even should be saved, and how far he's willing to go achieve it. As for which real world prejudices "make sense" in Dragon Age, that's another topic entirely. But I do think some such prejudices are a logical outcome of Tevinter's culture, though maybe not in the way some might think.

Despite being on top in the Imperium, I can see most mages there being paranoid. In the minds of most Tevinter Magi, both the South and the Qunari want to enslave and/or exterminate them, most other mages would sell them out in order to advance their own position, and magical ability still remains a rare genetic recessive. Thus, if mages are going to survive in the long run, they need more numbers. Even elevating commoner, slave and foreign mages wouldn't be enough, since you couldn't guarantee their loyalty. For these people it isn't about any twisted morality, but base survival. So if mages are to survive as a subspecies, they need more mage babies .

Obviously, there are more than a few flaws with this philosophy, like how keeping mage bloodlines in such a narrow gene pool can lead to inbreeding and such. The fact that they concentrate on eugenics, elitist and nationalist politics cuts off many potentially valuable recruits. But it wouldn't be the first time people shoot themselves in the foot rather than admit that they're wrong. So while fear is certainly no better than hate in the end, I think Tevinter's obsession with breeding can share archetypes with mage issues, and not just homophobia*.

*More than once I've seen people say they think Bioware made Tevinter homophobic as a reaction to all the hardcore mage fans that refuse to find fault with anything any mage does. How well they succeeded, or if they missed the point entirely, is up to the individual.