The Old Guard (Ye Olde Cullen Thread v4.0 + gen discussion)

Yup. I got the impression he was a shellshocked virgin when he arrived in Kirkwall, but seduced by Meredith and given extra doses of lyrium. He seems more in a trance in DA2 and is very defensive of her. She seems to treat him as a possession and is used to ordering him around. He also rose very quickly under her leadership, to Knight Captain, a token appointment on her part because having him as the face of Kirkwall's Templars was an asset and gave her operations so credibility. (If a young, polite, dedicated attractive young Templar was affirming her methods and leadership, then there can't be anything shady going on. meanwhile, she was allowing abuses from her more sadistic officers and keeping a lot of their activities from Cullen) I think when he realized he was being used, that was when he swore off lyrium and why he has a kind of violent, rejection of it. There really does seem like there's more to what happened between him and Meredith, and in DAI he's coming to terms with things and putting everything into perspective. To me, his awkwardness doesn't necessarily come from being a virgin, it comes from knowing and remembering his time with Meredith and how everything that happened warred against his true personality. When he says there was noone in Kirwall, what he could mean, in retrospect, there was no one there worthy of his affection or devotion because his relationship with Meredith was just him being used.

A good part of it, that and he knows how easy it is to get addicted to lyrium and also he's aware of the politics in the Templar order and how easily corrupted you can get with that addiction.  Look at what happened with Samson, he just got the boot when he became unuseful. Also, could it be possible that Meredith was "keeping" Samson and then Cullen showed up and she decided to upgrade? That could explain Samson's bitterness and the letter he left Cullen when they went to go get Madox.

Another thing I'd consider is that Meredith and the group she first entered Kirkwall with, were actually demon possessed on the ride into the city and that the plan was to slowly infiltrate the Templar order while slowly finding reasons to neutralize the mages. DA2 showed that Templars can be possessed, but Seekers can't. To get rid of the Seekers, who are the demon's biggest threat, they would have to find a way to get rid of both the mages and the Seeker's. Infiltrating the Templars instead of the mage's puts them in a position of power and above suspicion, so they can quietly remove possible mage allies, before taking down the Seekers.  Watching the movie "Dawn of the Seeker", it was presented that there's a rivalry between the Seekers and the Templars, it just seems like something demons would pick up on and exploit.  -shrug-

I have never thought about that but my memories about DA2 are distant and not really fresh anymore. If it is so, poor guy

First of all, he's really supportive of her tactics and seems way too...attached... to her.
I find it odd that a young recruit, after going through everything at the Circle Tower and was sent away to the main Templar headquarters to take a break and get his head together, is suddenly made Knight-Captain.  It would seem advantageous for Meridith to see a young attractive man who was still emotionally vulnerable and use him to be the clean-cut, sympathetic face of the Templars while she and her other commanders abuse the mages. Some of the mages under her care were from noble houses and having Cullen reassuring their families that the Templars' actions were necessary, made it easier to convince the families that everything was system normal because Cullen was such a sympathetic honorable guy.

In DAI, Cullen said that Meridith kept him in the dark about the harsher activities going on in Kirkwall because she knew he'd contest the actions...how else to keep him distracted and easy to control? Supply him with extra doses of lyrium and keep his bed warm. She would be the one to do that because it would keep him under her influence and help her gain his sympathies. Make him THINK he was in the know, when really he was being kept in the dark. 

The bitterness he felt against Meridith and lyrium in DAI seemed to indicate a more personal relationship than just a guy getting duped by his superior officer and he was almost offended that she would turn on HIM along with the other Templars during the fall of Kirkwall's Circle. She also seemed shocked, then vindictive when he refused to follow her orders. Kinda like she realized her smoke-screening was no longer going to work and Cullen wasn't as enamored as she thought he was.

Thank you for taking time to answer me. As I already said my memories of DA 2 are ...distant. For my next DA 2 Play I will keep that in mind. In DAI I coudn't figure that out, he doesn't talk alot about Kirwall and Meredith. This theory could explain why he is so reserve about engaging in a new relationship and even more with his superior... again in DAI.

Well, there is the line from the talk Leliana gives you like I said. Then there are more subtle things like her behavior and things like her not wanting to risk her family’s future and stuff like that. I also think the writer said something along the lines of at least supporting the idea.

I should definitly play DA2 again  The first time I  really didn't pay attention to the Cullen / Meredith relationship. To be honnest in DA 2, in my mind Cullen was still the same disturbing templar from DAO (by that time have never played a mage so never see another side of him than who he was after the circle was taken by abominations...)

You’re welcome. Glad I could help.
I love her romance. My favorite in BioWare history. Her romance quest literally has her being engaged to someone else in an arranged marriage so you duel him to call it off which he does after seeing you both truly in love with each other. It ends with you both cuddling on a sofa next to a fireplace. As for content while she may not have the most she is definitely in the upper half I believe. There is no sex scene though if you want that, as the writer wanted to focus on the romantic part of the relationship so left the physical part ambiguous. She even said seeing her as Asexual or Demisexual were valid interpretations of the character and romance which I love.

Anyway, we probably should move this over to the Josephine thread instead of keeping it in the Cullen thread.

It seems like Cullen's romance has the most content among all the LIs.

The devs really put a lot of effort into it.

Meredith would never have touched Samson's D. For one, he's FUGLY and for another, she would never have slept with someone who thought it was okay to pass along mage letters. He wouldn't have been extreme enough

Different strokes for different folks. I don't find Cullen attractive at all but I think DA2 Varric and Iron Bull are hot af.