NaBlo #3. Which Ser Cullen is in your canon? (And how might that change your expectations for Cullen
NaBlo #3. Which Ser Cullen is in your canon? (And how might that change your expectations for Cullen in DA3?)
Am I looking forward to the possibility of Ser Cullen making an appearance in the DA3? Yes. Definitely yes. If Cullen ends up as a companion character, I’ll hunt the game for clues to figure out how to recruit him as early as possible. If a little Cullenmancing is available, I certain that my PC will lay out the welcome mat for that templar, no matter the roller coaster ride the romance provides. Flaws and all, Cullen’s characterization has interested me so far and I love how Greg Ellis brings this character alive.
But, despite all of that, I actually have doubts about Cullen playing a major role in DA3. Why? If Cullen is brought back as a companion character, the breadth of his prior history makes him a difficult and polarizing character to write.
Two days ago I wrote about how Ser Cullen is one of the best kept secrets in the Dragon Age series because many the scenes that show his character growth are optional and some require unpopular player choices. Yesterday I detailed out his most dramatic story arc by describing Cullen’s Personal Growth During His Quest For Trust.
Cullen 1 experiences dramatic personal growth
Cullen 2 can come off as a mage-hating sycophant
Cullen 3 comes off as sympathetic but does too little, too late
The overall gist is that depending on how people play DA:O and DA2, Cullen may have come off as a flat, one-note, sycophantic mage-hater who does too little, too late … or Cullen may have appeared as a dynamic character who starts off trusting mages enough to fall in love with one before his ability to trust is traumatically shattered. Then, after that, he struggles to navigate a dangerous world until he is finally able to trust himself to know right from wrong. Both of these Cullens have deep flaws. Both behave in infuriating manners from time to time. Yet the first Cullen is the one that a number of fans claim they wish to knife the moment he appears in DA3, whereas the second Cullen is loved by another segment of fandom.
While I’m at it, I might as well add in a third and fourth Cullen.
The third Cullen is the Cullen who appears sympathetic because the player knows his backstory from the mage origin but, in the end, he does too little, too late because the player has only played the mage ending of DA2. This third Cullen is arguably on the verge of transformation, but evidence of his profound personal growth isn’t shown on screen (and, without Hawke’s backing, arguably have never happened at all).
The fourth Cullen (who isn’t pictured in my set of character plot arc graph) just plain failed to leave a last impression on the player. The player might remember how the traumatic events in Ferelden shaped Cullen’s views, and they might feel that some of Cullen’s concerns about the danger of mages are partly warranted but, other than that, Cullen was merely someone who helped in the final battle and, for unknown reasons, decided to let the mage-supporting Hawke go.
Given this range of possible Cullens that players may know, the writers have a tricky job when tackling his character for a large part in DA3. After all, in DA:O and DA2 they have already given Cullen a very dramatic character arc that features profound changes but the majority of this arc is shown in optional dialogue and scenes that require less popular player choices. So, how do the writers create a trajectory for Cullen in DA3 that the majority of players find believable?
The easy way out has the writers having Cullen launch into exposition about how he’s seen the light after the upper echelons of Kirkwall templars went to hell in a hand-basket. Some of fandom will undoubtably complain about Cullen’s sudden personality change, some of fandom will shrug, and the rest of fandom will nod their heads as they silently think, “That’s alright, Cullen. We understand. Now, please pick up your sword and finish fighting this battle, okay?” If Cullen is a companion in DA3, I sort of expect at least one backstory exposition scene from him to create a baseline.
And then there are Cullen’s issues with anxiety (PTSD). Is this mostly behind him or something he’s still struggling with? If you play the templar ending of DA2, his reactions to accusations of blood magic are incredibly reasoned and controlled, and anxiety no longer appears to act as a trigger that causes him to overreact. Thus, it’s fair to say that the PTSD symptoms Cullen exhibits in 9:30 and 9:31 no longer have a hold over him. By 9:37, Cullen appears to have mostly recovered from PTSD, although a player will only come to this conclusion if they play the templar ending and back Cullen’s decision to save some of the Circle mages. If you don’t play that variant of the templar ending, you might not realize how much growth and healing Cullen has undergone.
I’ve read comments from a number of fans saying that if the writers drop the ball on Cullen’s PTSD, they will be upset because, in their eyes, that “change” would be a retcon. So, it seems like the writers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Do they regress Cullen for the sake of players who never saw him change? Do they take into account which ending a player played in DA2 and have moderate Cullen’s growth accordingly?
I also have another worry about Cullen’s believability in DA3. Earlier this year, David Gaider said that he saw a lot of angst in Cullen’s future. While angst makes sense for someone who has seen the worst aspects of the Circle system while being a true believer in Andrastrian religion, I think Cullen’s “angst” would be more believable if it reflects the maturity, growth, and experiences that he has been through. Again, this can create a challenge for his writers. A good story needs dramatic arcs that confront characters with difficult challenges. But, I would have a very hard time believing Cullen in DA3 if his angst is expressed as the (somewhat immature) broodiness we saw with Fenris or the desperate absolutism we saw with Anders. Both of those characters exhibited amble angst in their dramatic arcs but, at least in my eyes, Cullen has matured too much for that particular brand of angst.
I’d have a far better time believing Cullen as someone who grows into an Aveline-style character. Perhaps not at first. Perhaps he starts off wracked with dread because his external world has been turned upside down. The templars’ purpose is corrupt, the Chantry is in shambles, the mages have rebelled. But, internally, the Cullen I know from my canon should appear more stable. My Cullen announced to Hawke that he now knows what being a templar is all about, and that it isn’t about strictly following his commander’s orders, judging all mages as inherently dangerous, and assuming that mages are automatically guilty if their innocence cannot be proven without a shadow of a doubt.
The Cullen I know from my canon appears to have built his own moral compass after the Kirkwall Templar Order failed him. He believes that mages should be treated as innocent until proven guilty without a doubt. He has regained his ability to trust people, mages included. I’ve watched Cullen confide his fears and concerns to a mage Hawke and even help elevate a mage to the position of Viscount. For these reasons, if Cullen plays a major role in DA3, I think I would have trouble taking his story seriously unless his angst focuses primarily on external problems: the deteriorating state of his world and whether or not he is capable of solving these problems while standing at the Inquisitor’s side. I expect Cullen to have a strong moral compass that is mostly lawful and strongly favors selfless, “good” actions. I expect him to balk when underhanded approaches are suggested. I even expect him to act judgmental at times. But unless he is facing demons let loose from the Fade, I think I would have a hard time believing that internal angst and PTSD-driven anxiety shapes Cullen’s life in the way that these forces shaped him in 9:30 and 9:31.
But, just because this is what I would find believable, it doesn’t mean that all other players will agree with me. As I’ve written over the past two days, depending on how a player plays DA:O and DA2, they end up seeing different versions of Cullen’s story arc. No matter how the writers tackle Cullen in DA3, I bet he will remain a controversial character purely because players come to DA3 with a wide range of ideas about who he is. It will be impossible to please everyone and depending on which Cullen the writers decide to run with, even I might end up disappointed when faced with “weak” or unbelievable character development.
Crossposted at http://vieralynn.dreamwidth.org/182552.html.