separate alistair meme answers for dandy.
1. What sort of attachment did your Warden form with Alistair, if any at all? Were they close due to their shared experiences as Grey Wardens?
Oh jesus they were close from the very start. Gisele was immediately attracted to him for shallow reasons, but from their very first conversation she was like, enchanted by him. She genuinely thinks heâs witty and laughs even at his terrible jokes--if you were to ask Gisele why she fell in love with Alistair, her kneejerk response would be, âhe makes me laughâ. And they have much more in common than what people would realize at first glance--Alistairâs fascination with the occult is something Gisele obviously shares given her Hermione tendencies on top of being a mage and Alistair is literally the only person whose eyes donât immediately glaze over when Gisele starts gushing about some point of obscure magical theory or another. And he follows it, is the thing. Excitedly, even. Morrigan about shat herself the first time she saw it.
Going through what they did at Ostagar was just the start of the strong bond they developed. They both loved Duncan dearly, even if Alistair didnât quite understand the nature of his grief until they began to work through it together. They didnât realize it until they began to reminisce one night weeks later, but Duncan had pulled each of them aside, before the fateful mission to light the signal fire, and impressed upon each of them the importance of taking care of one another. Duncan wasnât stupid and immediately noticed the spark between them even then; he saw the way Alistair watched over Gisele when her body was changing and she was knocked out, the worry he showed that he didnât over the others. And he knew Giseleâs affections were much more appropriately aimed at a lad her own age instead of a tired old Warden about to go on his Calling. He told Alistair to protect her with everything he was, that the Wardens hadnât seen a mage with her potential in all the years heâd served. Then Duncan told Gisele to watch over Alistair, that he had a good head on his shoulders but could sometimes be reckless in the defense of his comrades. In short, to be the best damned tank/healer combo there was, but more importantly, to be the best damned partners there were. And lord, are they.
He would move mountains for her, and sheâd do the same for him. Every single time, when one of them is hurt, the other is there. Alistair held her through countless taint nightmares, whispering endearments until sheâd fall asleep calm and content in his arms. Gisele brought him tea when he shivered in the rain at watch. His body is riddled with old bruises and scars from the blows heâs taken for her. She kisses each one of them like they were sacred. They kept the promises they made to Duncan in ways even he could scarce imagine had he lived to see it. Theyâve been through hell and death together and come out the other side even stronger. Nothing in the goddamn world could tear them apart.
Thatâs not to say their bond wasnât tested on occasion. The Landsmeet strained it almost beyond repair. But they got through it together, because of that great love and trust they have in one another, and in Duncanâs memory.
2. Did Alistairâs parentage surprise your Warden? How did your Wardenâs feelings on the nobility affect their relationship with Alistair?
I say this a lot, but very little surprises Gisele when it comes to this sort of thing. Sheâs got eyes, and in hindsight she noted the resemblance between him and Cailan--not so much their features, though they do share the same nose, but the build and the carriage. (Loghain says that Alistair is the spitting image of his father, only darker, while Cailan much more resembles Rowan. Theirin lads are all built like yetis though. Itâs distinctive.) Much later on when she discovered his elven heritage, that was much more of a surprise to her. A pleasant one, actually.Â
Giseleâs feelings toward the nobility were...irrelevant really? Her world until she met Duncan was the Circle, away from the reach of mundane politics beyond those that immediately impacted the Circle. She was eager to go to Ostagar to serve with the Wardens alongside the king because she was eager to use the skills sheâd honed in the Circle for something other than practice drills, to really help people. But she wasnât ignorant of how they treated elves, not by a long shot; she was born in the alienage, after all, and her fear of dogs comes from watching shem nobles sic them on elven kids for sport when she was little.
It was more that she knew if his birthright ever became important, that it would spell the end for any romance they might have.Â
3. Was Alistair reunited with his sister, Goldanna? What did your Warden think of her? Did they relate to Alistair with their own familial struggles?
Yes they were, and Gisele didnât like her, to put it gently. Not because she felt like Goldanna wasnât at all sympathetic or didnât have any right to be angry towards Alistair (learning the truth later on, that Goldanna was literally put out on the street to cover up a lie, Gisele felt a great deal of sympathy for her). It was because Goldannaâs racist and xenophobic and literally the first thing out of her mouth to Gisele was asking if she were Alistairâs servant. It was the way she treated Gisele that made him leave more than anything; she was ignorant, and even if her circumstances were heartbreaking, it didnât give her the right.
The Hardening conversation went a lot differently with Gisele and Alistair, and this Goldanna incident wasnât some kind of binary point in time, it was the culmination of a lot of growth on Alistairâs part, simply on account of being Giseleâs friend and then lover. It was about stripping him of his naivete, yes, but also about getting him to believe in himself and his own capabilities. Duncan trusted his leadership skills enough to entrust a trio of recruits to him as only a junior Warden. Alistair was grown enough to realize nothing he could do for Goldanna would be enough; but more importantly, that it wasnât his fault, or her fault, but that of an oppressive society. Itâs an incident that stays with him when he becomes king, and he grants the ruins of Highever to the elves.
Gisele couldnât relate to his familial struggles as such. Sheâs an only child (though she does have cousins in Val Royeaux, that she meets much much later on during Inquisition and is finally introduced to her grandparents). Her family was largely a chosen one in the Circle, friends and such. Irving and Greagoir essentially raised her. It was not conventional at all. Itâs only when they meet Fiona and learn the truth that she relates to him on that level, since she didnât meet her father until she was an adult, after the Blight.Â
4. How did your Warden respond to Alistairâs dislike of Loghain? Did they share Alistairâs sentiments or disagree?
I really went into this on the Loghain ask but yeah. They Agreed at first, and Gisele might have actually hated him more than Alistair, given that she blamed him for Uldredâs shenanigans, and that he was a convenient scapegoat for her own profound guilt and shame over what happened to Redcliffe because of her (even though scapegoat is prolly the wrong word because it really was his fault. but she projected a LOT on him). And then well, the Alienage.Â
5. What became of Alistair after the Landsmeet? How did your Warden feel about their decision of Alistairâs future?
Gisele put his name forth as king, and he was unanimously accepted. This is the other half of that sacrifice she mentioned. She knew damned well it would be the end for them, even as he insisted it wouldnât. But she did it anyway, because Fereldenâs survival was more important even than her love for him. Thatâs what a Wardenâs life meant. And thatâs why she shamed him into staying. If she had to swallow her own personal pain to see Ferelden saved--if she had to give up this man she loved so wholeheartedly, even as it destroyed her; if she had to spare the life of her greatest enemy so that his blade and his shield could be used to defend their homeland one more time, Gisele would be damned if she would let Alistair walk away from everything in a petulant fit.
In the end, she really did shame him into staying. He wasnât happy about it, as an understatement; he refused to attend Loghainâs Joining, saying that even if it was necessary, and even if he himself would no longer be counted among the Wardens as King, he would never accept Loghain as a brother.
He got over it eventually, obviously. Gisele was the lynchpin in all of that.
Even if everything hadnât turned out alright for them in the end, Gisele would do it again in a heartbeat. And this is ultimately what makes Loghain thaw towards the two of them, Gisele in particular--he sees that she would do anything to see Ferelden saved, even if it meant sacrificing her own personal happiness. Needless to say, Loghain sees a great deal of himself and Maric in her and Alistair, including the same mistakes they made. Itâs why he becomes so fiercely protective of the two of them and the ot4 in general, and part of why he comes to love them so much.
Ofc it did turn out alright in the end. Gisele came back from her self-imposed exile at the end of Awakening--because, well, they bullied her XD--and they all got married and she became Alistairâs queen. And beyond everything else, Gisele believed in Alistair, that he had it in him to be a brilliant king and she was right. More importantly, he came to believe it, and believe in himself. (See #3)
