"Was Anders Right?" or "Here There Be Dragon Age Spoilers"

[Seil]

Let's get this off the table - this thread is going to be full of spoilers for the Dragon Age series.

Now, if you'll remember, Dragon Age the First took place in Fereldan, where we get our first good look at the Circle of Mages. It's running rampant with abominations and demons because one mage fraternities violently rebelled against Templar rule. Why?

Well, the bias against mages is simple: they have a strong connection to the spirit world, called the Fade. This is the place where demons and spirits reside. Because of this connection, mages are more susceptible to possession than anyone else, turning into abominations. While that's horrific, mages can also use blood magic. So the prejudice against mages makes sense - they have the potential to be dangerous, evil, possessed monstrosities. That's why Templars monitor them, that's why they're sent to a big tower upon realization of their powers. They're dangerous. They've even got a ritual to turn them into mindless servants - the rite of Tranquility. ...But then again, they're people. Mages are men and women. They're sent away from their families as children and forfeit any royal or noble titles or tithes when they leave for the Circle.

When Uldred attacks the circle in DA:O, he tried to incite a rebellion. One of his blood mage subordinates makes a good point:

"You don't really believe that do you, Wynne? Change rarely comes peacefully. Andraste waged war on the Imperium; she didn't write them a strongly worded letter. She reshaped civilization, freed the slaves, and gave us the Chantry. But people died for it... We thought... someone always has to take the first step... force a change, no matter the cost."

She makes a good argument. Think of the civil rights movement in the 1960's - protestors were sprayed with fire hoses, set on by attack dogs and beaten with clubs. Still they fought for their rights. For a life that... well, even today racism is still around. Would a strongly worded letter have done the trick? Probably not. In the games, it seems that most Templars are willing to kill apostates (mages outside of the Circle) just for the suspicion that they might be blood mages. Life's got to be rough when you're on the run from religious zealots - and life inside the Circle doesn't sound too great either:

Anders: No, it's not about Uldred. It's not about being beaten or raped by a Templar— that does happen, but I've been fortunate.

There was talks of the Tevinter Imperium, which is a country(?) ruled over by mages, where the stronger mages rule. It is the only place where slavery is legal. Blood magic and deals with demons are common place. In DAII, Fenris - an escaped slave who was tortured there - details their crimes and punctuates his sentences with a general hatred for all magisters.

I liked Anders. After hearing a lot about the Circle, and hearing about the Fraternities of the mages, I respected his point of view that mages should be free, and his repeated escape attempts. He could cite the Dalish Keepers as proof that mages could exist outside the circle without turning to demons. I even liked Justice in Awakening because he was a cool character who got caught up in a bad situation and tried to make the best of it.

What I didn't like was Anders in DA:II, what with all the rants and the hatred and the whatsits. I put that down to good characterization. Anders had taken Justice, a spirit of the Fade, into himself, and changed into a mixture of both. Justice became angered at the prosecution of the mages, while Anders became imbued with a strong sense of activistic righteousness. When you first meet him and he finds his lover turned tranquil, I fought with him. But as the game went on, I thought his claims had no merit. (At least until Meredith literally went mad.) But here's the thing - I recently did a replay of the DA series, and I overheard this conversation in the Gallows:

Ser Alrik is a templar who has been secretly turning mages Tranquil because of both prejudice and lust. It's suggested he sleeps with the newly tranquil mages. I realized something about Anders' character. He was born a mage, and forced into the tower. He grew dissatisfied with life in the tower and the abuse of the Templars and escaped, his best chance at leaving entirely to join the Gray Wardens. Leaving the Gray Wardens after... fusing with Justice, his newly developed personality drove him to fight against his perceived Templar injustices. He fell in with a mage named Karl in the Kirkwall Circle, and Karl was made Tranquil for that involvement.

Okay, so rich characterization. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's get to the bit where Anders blows up the Chantry.

Anders does exactly what he says. He starts a war between mages and... well, everyone else. In DA:O, the blood mage in the Circle tower defend the assault as a rebellion against Templar rule, which, as detailed, is kind of... rape-y and murderous. However, the Chantry is a religious order, the largest in Thedas. It becomes well known that it was attacked and destroyed by a mage. This will incite not only Templars, but the whole of the world to rise up against them. This is not a solution. It's a means to an end.

Was Anders right in what he did?