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sky-scribbles · 7 years

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Tanner Hawke’s playthrough of DA2 is done! I never did do a proper introductory post for him, so instead I’ll talk about some assorted thoughts I have about him and his story in the game, and throw in a bunch of my favourite screenshots.

Rambling about an aggressive pro-mage, Merrill-mancing rogue Hawke below the cut, plus my thoughts on several random things in the game.

(Ffs, my blog theme’s squishing my pretty screenshots again. I’ll see if I can sort that out soon.)

- I was a little worried about playing Red Hawke at first, but... I actually really enjoyed it? Where the red options got too aggressive, I’d switch briefly to green or purple, ‘cause Tanner’s a ‘lil jerk except he really isn’t at heart. He ended up about 80% red, 15% blue and 5% purple - and when speaking to his friends and loved ones, it was almost always blue and purple options. And even a lot of the red options were much more simply brutally honest rather than outright aggressive. I think I misjudged Red Hawke; I have rather a soft spot for them now. They come across, to me, as bitter, blunt, to-the-point and ready to fight, but not in the least dislikeable, as long as they’re not picking horrible options in the moral choices.

- This was my first time with Warden Bethany, and it was both heartbreaking and wonderful. The former because that first bitter letter she sent Tanner was just the saddest thing, and seeing her resentful of the Warden life and of the brother who loved her was just agony. But... she grew up so much. Circle Bethany is happier, but Warden Bethany is stronger, older, maybe even wiser, by the end. I ended up loving it far more than I expected.

(The family all looked really alike in this game too, which was amazing ‘cause my first Hawke looked like he was the milkman’s child.)

Sorry Fenris I know not all of us have great bonds with our sisters

- And the Merrill romance was just. The cutest thing. Few things have made me happier than seeing my withdrawn and hot-tempered Red Hawke melt into a gentle puddle around his sweet little elf.

I do wish there had been a bit more content to the romance - one flirt option in the entirety of act one and not a single one again until her personal quest halfway through act two? Not even an opening conversation in act 2? Really? If I remember rightly, Anders and Fenris both had multiple flirt options in their recruitment quests and post-recruitment convos, then more in their opening chats in act 2... and I really got the feeling of yes, these guys and my Hawkes were already forming an attraction soon after they met, and it’s been growing stronger these past years. With Merrill, I... didn’t get that so much. Which is absolutely not a knock on her character or her romance, both of which I loved! I’m just a sappy little thing who wants mooore.

Look at these cuties tho

- It was pretty interesting playing a character who is 100% behind tearing down the Templars almost right from the get-go. I wasn’t sure how Tanner would feel about the mage rebellion at first, but things were decided with a single line from Cullen in act one: ‘I’ve heard interesting things about your sister, Hawke. I hope they’re not true.’ Cue the incredibly protective Tanner dragging his sister to the Deep Roads with him to keep her away from the Templars, only to lose her to the Wardens and have her resent him for it. So Tanner pretty much blames the Templars for everything that’s gone wrong in his relationship with his sister, and that’s not something he forgives easily.

A big part of his character development was going from the Circle needs to be destroyed because the Templars did me a personal wrong to it needs to be destroyed because it’s the right thing to do. He alone of all my Hawkes so far didn’t really question Anders’s actions during the final stage of Justice, guessing that this was the first strike of the war against the Templars, and deciding that he was willing to be a part of that war.

Yes, I did the first stage of The Last Straw with a three-mage party. It was awesome.

- Tanner and Fenris had such a great friendship. Two withdrawn, bitter but good-hearted blade-wielders who don’t hold back when it comes to avenging the wrongs done to them... It’s a match made in the Golden City. I headcanon that Tanner spent a lot of his time ‘round Fenris’s mansion, both of them drinking and complaining about pretty much everything.

Battle buddies ftw.

Actually, Tanner had good friendships going with all the party - he was in the Rivalry zone with Aveline for some time, and I did consider pursuing that path with her, but in the end I just couldn’t do it; after some initial headbutting over their different methods, they came to respect each other immensely.

I think Varric and Anders drew for closeness with Tanner after Fenris - the former because he’s one of the only people who can get Tanner to open up and laugh, the latter because he made Tanner feel he could actually do something about the messed-up world that took his sister from him, rather than just venting his anger with mercenary work. Anders might not have the best handle on his own rage, but he sure was good at channelling Tanner’s into something productive.

Choosing my party was always a struggle; quite often it was ‘OK, which one of Varric, Fenris and Anders is being dragged along with Tanner, Merrill and Bethany this time?’ But I still had plenty of mix-and-matching, especially on personal quests, where I always tend to drag along the party members who get along with whoever’s quest I’m doing (Isabela tends to be a staple in personal quests, ‘cause she accepts everyone just as they are, bless her wonderful roguish heart.)

- It was my first time doing the Legacy DLC, and I loved it. Having more time to interact with Hawke’s sibling is an automatic win, and it also gave some extra exposition on Corypheus’s powers and motivation that really make me wish I’d had this DLC before I played DAI for the first time. Everything just makes sense once you see Corypheus calling upon Dumat, and being answered with nothing. I can’t wait to do the DLC again when I replay Dalton and Bryony, my first two Hawkes.

All in all, I loved this playthrough to death. Rogue combat was amazing (Tanner was so overpowered by the end - Mark of Death plus Assassinate took out bosses with terrifying speed) and I’m very, very fond of Tanner, his tiny elf wife, and his bickering found family. This game still continues to own my heart - it’s so personal, so full of character, so focused on emotion.

What’s up next? I’m probably going back to SWTOR and Mass Effect for a bit, but when I return to Dragon Age... the Inquisitor in Tanner’s universe is gonna be a dwarven warrior named Tova Cadash who’ll romance Sera, but she’s going to be on hold for a bit. Mostly because I have a fierce desire to replay my first Warden and Hawke and... I’m not sure I can fight it.

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #rogue hawke #red hawke #hawke x merrill #warden bethany #pro-mage #oc: tanner hawke

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