#bethany

The writers weren’t spared cuts, either. Although their deadlines fell earlier in the project, some of their completed work was for scenes or quests that the other development teams were running out of time to complete, and so had to be cut at the eleventh hour. Kirby wrote an entire series of quests involving Varric and the Carta (a dwarven crime syndicate) that was complete in its entirety, but never saw the light of day because there was no time for level design and cinematics to build it. “That was a painful one,” Gaider admitted. “We always say, ‘We’ll put it aside, and maybe use it later.’ But we never do.” An entire tutorial section of the prologue, in which the player got to know Bethany and Carver, was also cut for time. The game now began with the Hawke family already fleeing Lothering, making the sibling’s death shocking, but not tragic, as the player never really has a chance to get to know them.