Will or should DA4 return to the darker roots that DAO had?

What does that actually prove, aside from the fact that most people with the time and energy to make videos bitching about computer games are whiny, entitled bigots?

Are you going to engage with the fact that Liara tells you to her face that she *is not a woman*, or did your mind just pre-emptively shut down to protect you from having to digest that?

Bioware made a bad move. Face the music and let it go. That's the last thing I'll say about it.

This is referencing the MEA gender pronoun discussion; in case it was unclear.

The current discussion regarding the Qun is fine, obviously.

And the Godwin award goes to...

Yes, and it reflects the new priorities (and ideology) of the writing crew at Bioware.  I dread to think what they'll come up with in the next instalment, considering the current year ever expanding insanity.

Yeah, except he didn't question the Qun on an ideological level. He was burned out from all the death he witnessed in Seheron. He was tired of losing friends to constant war. He never questioned how they treated their mages, the Tamassrans deciding who lived what life, gender roles, chemically lobotomizing dissenters, etc. He mainly glossed over or handwaved that stuff.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I liked Iron Bull as a character, and questioning an authority that would casually spent the lives of his friends makes sense. But that would still make sense if he was Tevinter, Rivani, or Orlesian. Iron Bull is a fine character, but a lousy example of a Qunari, or one who questioned the Qun.

The Qun is supposed to be horrifying, not just kinda stifling and a little authoritarian. DAI seems to be setting up Tevinter as the REALLY evil empire, when before Tevinter and the Qunari were sort of an "evil vs evil" setup. Now it's more Black vs Gray

DAO had darker elf roots? I don't mind their colour really, tbh.

I'm not particularly big on Dragon Age lore, but wouldn't our interpretations of the Qun be subjected to whomever seeks to enforce it, and where it is implemented? Maybe this is the wrong framework upon which to build an argument, but I base this on the chantry system and how its laws and regulations are enforced differently depending on the geographical location. While I know the Qun comes off as a pretty rigid philosophy, those who enforce may not necessarily be so.

I genuinely want to understand this.

so let me make sure I'm understanding you: a pro qun iron bull talking up the virtues of the Qun is a bad thing? Not wanting to name names but I think its fair to say that most ideologies, political and religious, would be talking up their own belief systems.

At least iron bull mentions in banter that he recognizes that the Qun isn't going to be for everyone (and Sera would have her mind broken to boot)

I just mentioned one in the post you quoted.

And remember this is the same man who:
-Has essentially gone native/ been serving in Orlais for years.
-Already has turned himself into the Re Educators at least once for burn out and doubting the Qun. Yes, you can argue that it was 'only because his men were dying' but that would still be a pretty significant move, imo.
- Hell the mere fact that he even cared about his men in the first place and that was the imputus for him turning himself in is kind of an un Qunari thing to do in the first place. This is further demonstrated by his treatment of the chargers, he started to value them...to the point he was willing to sacrifice the mission over them.
-Many of his conversations in banter do indicate his uneasiness with some of the finer aspects of the Quen.
-The fact that he did end up going Tal-Vashoth is not insignificant. Maybe the connective tissue wasn't strong enough...which is a perfectly legitimate criticism...but I'm not surprised myself.

Besides, I always got the feeling that Bull wasn't so much pro Qun as he was afraid of what he would turn into without the influence of the Qun. The Qun had been hammering in their people's heads that the pre Qunari, the Kossith, and the Tal-Vashoth were super savages that were just going around causing destruction. Bull mentions this a few times in banter and conversation with him that he does not want to 'go savage'.