Maker's Breath.... (Official Cullen Rutherford discussion)

It's been a long time, so I don't remember. What are Cullen's views on mages in DAI?

I'm thinking Cullen can romance a human or elven mage.  He'll also follow a mage Inquisitor, play chess with Dorian, and overall feel just fine about being around mages.  He specifically chose to NOT be a Templar anymore, even going so far as to stop taking lyrium.  That man has come a long way since DAO.

In that view, Cullen worse than Fenris. Fenris was not a mage hunter in Thedas cruellest Circle and the right hand of a mad criminal (ofc, if Hawke doesn't count a mad criminal...). And at the end, Fenris fought for the mages – while Cullen just fought against his mad commander.

Yes, the mage Inquisitor able to ask him, he's able to love/trust a mage... but he didn't ask, the Mage Inquisitor able to love/trust in a man who was a mage-hunter. And not even able to question him about his role in Kirkwall, and accuse him.

"We [the Templars] have dominance over mages by divine right." He still believes that?
And he realized that Meredith's mad, but not that mad as Uldred was before the transformation. And he even realized, he may on the wrong side if support her... but still supported her – this is sad. There are many doubts on his face... 

Yes, on one hand he admits, he's not that proud to the man who was before (sadly only if he's in the romance with the Inquisitor, at least I don't remember he would apologize from my mage), but then why said "Meredith methods were hash but kept people safe"?
It is a big missed opportunity, what missing from his redemption arc.

And this is because of the rifts and the very important deed? Then why the Inquisitor deals with his problems? (Bad writing... wasted opportunities)

Cassandra also mentions that the Seekers were aware of the harshness at Kirkwall, but because of the large number of Abominations in Kirkwall they decided not to investigate there for abuses. The Seekers felt the harshness was justified under the circumstance.

Given Cullen's experiences in Kinloch Hold, it stands to reason he would support keeping mages very closely monitored. Throw Meredith into the mix, whose family was killed by her sister, and what was going on in Kirkwall at the time, that there was harsh treatment was not a surprise (not necessarily right, but not surprising). Orsino seemed pretty useless and Mother Althea was weak as well. In addition, if you recall the veil was thin in Kirkwall. It was mentioned at one point in the game if I recall, that using the Gallows - a former prison and place of death- as a home for the circle was a bad idea. Echos of death (the prison) attracted demons who could come through the veil easily. Look at all the weirdness that was going on in Kirkwall - including the death of Hawke's mother,that murder case, possessed Templars...

Looks like Cullen's job was to train the Templars and he did say that he was not aware of how far Meredith was going until it was too late. He does carry remorse that he didn't know and that he didn't look into it more. Clearly he still sees Mages as a potential threat, but is open to freedom with oversight - to keep everyone safe.

It just occurred to me that if you romance Cullen, his mabari will be your mabari too.

As Hawke? You mean... during his "mages aren't people" phase?