Schmooples' Den! The DA News Discussion Thread

Ugh, so another year of that accursed box.

Going strictly by the game (DA:O), that's a pretty apt description.

I assume you’re referring to The Stolen Throne? That book actually made me like Loghain even less.

But even going strictly by the game, I recognize Loghain had semi-coherent reasons for all the terrible things he did. He wasn’t a murderous sociopath like Vaughan Kendalls or Rendon Howe. And in the end, he honourably surrenders once you demonstrate you’re the one to save Ferelden, not him.

I still cut his fucking head off, to be clear. I just didn’t *savour* his death like I did with Vaughn or Howe.

All villains have some motivation. His was a straight-up power grab, and removing anyone who could threaten him. The Couslands? Eamon? Bounties on the Wardens? Assassins? Willing to go to Civil War? I mean, he was selling the elves in the Alienage into slavery. He's literally sneering as he betrays Cailan. Despite his talk of Orlais, which amounted to nothing, this is all cookie-cutter villainy.

He doesn't though. He was desperately clinging to power even when the Landsmeet ruling goes against him. He even tries to lie his way out of some of your accusations. He doesn't surrender honorably, even though you give him the chance to. He mocks the other Banns and invokes a single-combat challenge to the Warden. You have to beat him into the dirt before he finally realizes it's over and shows a modicum of respect.

My interpretation of that scene differs, as I didn’t see a sneer. I also saw him looking regretful later on. I think, having been a hero who sacrificed so much for his country, Loghain fell into that “only I can save Ferelden” mindset, which led him to commit atrocities. That makes him not all that different from Solas.

None of this excuses what he did, of course. I’m not some swooning Loghain fangirl who wants to dress him up in leather pants - in fact, I despise him all the more because he knows what he’s doing is wrong and does it anyway. Loghain’s actions are absolutely unforgivable and he deserves to die as a traitor. Which, again, also makes him like Solas.

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I think Gaider in the legacy forum said that Loghain didn’t know about Howe’s plan to eliminate the Couslands. It was a hotly debated topic back in the days, and it was a reasonable theory, as Bryce and Eamon together would’ve been difficult
for Loghain to deal with, and he did plan to poison Eamon.

I don’t think, regardless if you consider him evil or a morally ambiguous character, that his reasoning to abandon Cailan and take control of Ferelden was for a power grab. He had the twisted idea of being the only one able to save Ferelden, and he didn’t trust the Wardens (and I can understand why he’d be fearful of a connection between them and Orlais). The Wardens are willing to do anything to stop the Blight (and keep their secrets). It’s not far fetched that some Wardens wouldn’t care about the possibility of an Orlesian army on Ferelden that would later try to claim back the region.

His reasoning aren’t a justification for what he did, but I don’t think he did all of that because he wanted the throne, but I can understand having a different interpretation.

Frost That isn't quite what I meant.  I think that timing of info being released is a valid topic of discussion, and wasn't asserting that there's a set rule across all video game companies about info release timings. Rather: lots of people lament the wait and lack of info from time to time, including myself, but I'm not sure that in the case of individual users, posting about wanting a specific piece of info (in this case who is the PC) like three or four times a week is a fruitful or constructive endeavor. It's not going to change anything about when that info drops and is something of a self-made purgatory, not one imposed by BioWare. I talk/read about DA in general a lot and check the news for it daily or near-daily, but find doing so enjoyable. My suggestion was that in cases where folk are clearly not finding it enjoyable, to the point that they're frustrated and feel that they are somehow wasting their time, maybe they could consider taking a step back or redirecting their energy elsewhere in the meantime. Check out and the time will pass faster, and when the info does drop they will inevitably hear about it from the gaming grapevine/news cycle, and if it's what they want to hear they'll be pleased or pleasantly surprised, and if it isn't what they want to hear they won't feel salty or frustrated that they spent the interim "wasting their time".

I think that the people who are asking that, are interested in finding out if there will be a returning PC or not. Which is safe to assume that neither the Inquisitor, nor the Grey Warden, nor Hawke will make a return.