When Dragon Age II Fell Apart

The Escapist has published an editorial on Dragon Age II, in which the author criticizes the way the game handled choices in its narrative. Here’s a snip:

When Hawke arrives at this second meeting, she is attacked by yet another group of Mages and Templars. After this second battle, a Templar saved by Hawke in an earlier quest appears and informs her that these Mages and Templars have been working together to take down Knight-Commander Meredith. Her intolerance has become a clear danger to the entire city. And this is when the story fell apart.

If the player has chosen to align with the Templars throughout the story, this course of events is not unwelcome. All of the Templars in these meetings were traitors, and the Mages would be a happily-removed threat. If the player has chosen to align with the Mages, or walk a middle path, these battles were unmitigated disasters and make no sense because there is no reason for any of these characters to suspect that Hawke might be working for Knight-Commander Meredith.

It is revealed that the Mages and Templars in question had kidnapped one of Hawke’s friends, to use as leverage against Hawke should she interfere with their plot. If Hawke had chosen to befriend the cause of the Mages at this point, that makes no sense. The Mages might even have approached her for help with their plan. If Hawke had chosen to walk a middle line, incensing the Champion of Kirkwall who had saved the city from an invasion in the previous Act and proven herself a person of virtue also makes no sense.