#poses.

rather than succumb to his wounds (and the blight. he is blighted; if he didn't die from the wounds, he would have died from the taint), cailan is very much (unfortunately, sufferingly for him) alive following the ogre attack at ostagar, but just barely. actively dying, though. surviving out of sheer spite at that point.

upon the army's retreat, flemeth swoops in to save alistair, the warden, and subsequently, cailan. but she keeps the latter a secret.

when the warden & co arrive in the wilds to retrieve the grimoire and kill flemeth, she uses the "assumed late-king" as a bargaining chip. she's kept him alive, just barely, and on purpose. if the warden were to kill her, cailan himself would die shortly thereafter. but if flemeth is allowed to live, they can take cailan, perform the joining, and maybe he lives. maybe he doesn't. either way, it's a chance they didn't know they had before.

he survives the joining (something juicy about alistair performing the joining from memory for a second time, this time on his older brother 👁️👁️) both theirin boys are now tainted. yaaaaay. 🎊

ofc once it becomes obvious that loghain betrayed him/wants the wardens dead (thanks, zev), they decide to keep his status a secret.

upon their journey to the circle, redcliffe, and orzammar, rumors begin to spread that king cailan did survive, but they spread slowly. by the time anything concrete has reached denerim, it's late-game.

if bhelen becomes king and restores the aeducan rule in orzammar, he is easily recruited to the warden cause, as king endrin and maric were once friends.

during his time on the road, cailan realizes that he was not the king ferelden deserved, nor one that even came close to the legacy his father left him; the warden can either a) encourage him to abdicate and leave the throne to anora or b) maintain his role as king, but use the knowledge and perspective he's obtained as a warden to be a better king, man, and husband.