thinking so so much about this interaction and the outcomes depending on whether dorian reconciled with halward or not. (taken from @/daitranscripts)
PC: What did you do in Tevinter while you were away?
Dorian (reconciled with his father): I went home... twice. Father was only there once. Mother was drunk both times.
Dorian (did not reconcile with his father): I'll tell you what I didn't do: see Father even once. Mother tracked me down once, which was... nice.
we know so little about aquinea thalrassian, and none of what dorian says about her is positive. she was distant, she didn’t engage with raising dorian much if at all, she drank a lot, she was harshly critical of him and looked down upon him even into his adulthood.
but dorian also says that she hated halward, and that he hated her in return. they were in an arranged marriage because of their bloodlines, and they never loved each other. she was clearly miserable. i wouldn’t doubt that she resented dorian and saw him as a representation of the life she was trapped in. she never had a choice but to be with halward and bear his child—and they only ever had the one, the bare minimum to fulfill the role she was given. she’s also notably not a magister like halward is. she comes from an influential house, but not as influential as house pavus. she’s an active member of high society and a skilled mage, but if she has a career outside of being nobility, it’s not mentioned. sure, halward was also forced to marry someone he loathed. but he has far more power than she does.
halward’s letter says “we,” giselle says “they,” as if both parents are trying to reach dorian. it’s a team effort, if halward’s communications to giselle are to be believed (which… grain of salt). but depending on the outcome of halward and dorian’s confrontation, halward and aquinea’s relationship can go in different directions.
if dorian makes up with halward, aquinea stays where she is, at the pavus estate, drinking. she remains passive. a background character in her own life. she doesn’t seek to change anything, because it’ll always be the same. the family tied together by obligation, resentment, and just that one lingering modicum of love that hangs on by a thread stays the same as it’s always been, bonds strained but never broken.
but if dorian stands his ground? if he chooses his own life and cuts his father out of it? aquinea seeks him out. she takes action. she bears as little love for halward as dorian does, and honestly i’d wager even less. dorian had his entire life planned for him from birth, the same way she did. but he breaks away from it. and something in her shifts. she goes to find dorian on her own, and it’s nice.
obviously the relationship between aquinea and dorian is still complicated regardless of what happens. but there’s something to be said for the fact that dorian only reconciles with his mother if he refuses to reconcile with his father. she takes up agency in her own life for the first time in… who knows how long. maybe the first time ever, if betrothals among altus are frequently arranged at birth as dorian’s was. she stops seeing him as a problem child who needs to be wrangled and controlled; she starts seeing him as someone who rebelled to stay true to who he was, who refused to bend to expectations placed on him by his parents, by his teachers, by the strict roles of upper-class tevinter society.
and maybe aquinea doesn’t know who she is yet, or maybe she used to but it’s been lost to time and drink and her gilded cage. and maybe she has a lot to make up for, especially to her son. but she takes a step. she’s successful where halward wasn’t because she understands in a way halward couldn’t. and i’m so extremely curious how her relationship with dorian develops from here, especially after halward’s death.
