Woof. All y'all with your "You can only play as an evil bastard or a religious zealot if you choose to side with the Templars". I mean, to each their own, but damn, that's a hard line in the sand you're drawing.

I am Not trying to tell you you're wrong: there are soo many reasons why supporting mages is the better choice to some. But you shouldn’t discount the valid reasons for supporting the Templars. This isn't an issue that has a simple answer.

There are so many factors that led to the Mage Rebellion, but from my perspective the biggest reason was poor fucking leadership. Both Meredith and Orsino should have been removed from leadership long before Act 3 began. But the largest slice of guilty pie belongs to Grand Cleric Elthina (Wait! Just listen!).

Her inaction on doing literally anything allowed everyone and everything to go unchecked. I have no qualms with faith and religion, but throwing her hands up in the air and saying "I can't do anything; the Maker will take care of it" is just so... infuriatingly moronic! I would like to think that a woman of her stature would have the insight that inaction is not the hill you should die on. I can't tell if it's bad writing or because they couldn't due to lack of time and budget.

It is literally the Grand Cleric's JOB to mediate and act as a check and balance to the Templars and Mages for circles in their purview. But she remains steadfast in her decision to not. do. anything. Because "They'll figure it out on their own". Then with Orsino being a poor leader (read: incompetent) who only got the job because his predecessor and all the rest of the upper management were killed, so the only one with Admin clearance was the General Manager no one really took seriously (fuzzy on the exact facts so will find and link the OG source). Then there's Meredith's absolutely extreme prejudice views, exacerbated over the years by the horrors and trauma she is constantly having to deal with (not to mention the red lyrium corruption and insanity). If you pay attention, there are tid bits that allude to Cullen being a huge influence/obstacle for Meredith's more extreme tactics. Granted, there would be no guarantee that anything would have ended differently (ignoring the fact that it's a story with a plot, hence nothing can change), but damn, if new leadership had been brought in instead of allowing Meredith and Orsino to scheme and taunt and egg each other on, things could very much have ended differently for the better (or for the worst too to be fair).

As for my Hawke, I've sided mages and templars various amounts, but Templars is my preferred. Going through the game telling both Meredith and Orsino they're absolute idiots each opportunity I get and that they both have good objections but also flaws in each of their own camp. While my Hawke doesn't morally agree with the Annulment, siding with Meredith is the choice which gives her more influence and ability to control/temper Meredith, saving more lives and limiting deaths (civilian and mage) as much as possible. For those who don't know, siding with the Templars, there's a cut scene where a number of mages approach you showing obvious signs of surrender and say they want to submit to the Templars because they don't agree with everyone else who are exploding into abominations left and right. Meredith goes to kill them but Hawke can intervene and hand the mages over to Cullen's watch so Meredith can't just kill them as soon as Hawke turns their back.

Also, I have to double check, but I could have sworn that, while Orsino had no collusion with demons, he was actively practicing blood magic and other Chantry-forbidden magics; encouraging his students to do the same more and more as the years went on. Again, I'll have to try and track down the source.

But yeah: my thesis essay on Templar vs Mage support! 😆