Re Cullen Dr-gon Age: whenever I see someone defending his actions because of his PTSD from being mentally tortured by demons in the Circle, I always feel like "Yeah that sure sounds HARROWING, doesn't it". Like it *is* traumatic and horrible; but all Circle mages are forced to go through exactly that or die in the attempt, and yet their trauma is never directly addressed in DAI. just Noodle McHeterosexual's
Also like... even if he'd never ever done a thing to hurt a single mage in all his days prior to Broken Circle and what happened to him wasn't in any way similar to the Harrowing, he still wouldn't have the right to take his trauma out on others?????? That's not how it works?????
But yeah, if a mage ever so much as says an unkind word to a Templar because Templars tortured them for years they're treated like they're just being so mean and unfair and don't they know that most Templars are totally nice and just ("just") lock children up forever for being born and only kill them if they get mad about being locked up. Meanwhile poor sweet baby Cullen got tortured by demons, so you know, if he wants to torture a bunch of children and young adults with demons (and also more traditional methods) that's just fair play! Because in case you forgot, he was tortured. By demons. Who were also torturing all the surviving mages in the tower and they weren't allowed to so much as show how exhausted and terrified they were or Cullen and his buddies would murder them, but we don't talk about that. Nor do we talk about how if you play a mage your introduction to Cullen is him helping to torture you, the teenage/early twenties Warden, with demons! And then casually informing you that he doesn't know what possession looks like and so would have just killed you stone dead if someone else told him to! HAVE I MENTIONED THAT CULLEN WAS TORTURED YET.
Essentially Cullen was a terrible choice to make into this poor, sweet innocent tormented baby. Pick someone who isn't human scum using his trauma as an excuse to be cruel to people who've never wronged him, Bioware. I don't think that's a high bar.
