#[ and the charge on the Viscount's estate with all templars following her lead? ]

[idolbound]

obviously meredith didn't always envision her life and station being the way that it is - how and when did she get a taste for power; and when did she decide to pull the strings instead of wear the crown herself?

Headcanon asks - @sanctamater

With Meredith's more extensive backstory, I think I pinpoint the moment of her becoming Knight-Captain as the very start of her desire for power. She did not earn the role, but instead, inherited it from Ser Wentworth Kell as he retired from his position to, essentially, his deathbed, but it wasn't until he died that Meredith officially took on the duties of a Captain.

While she had been following in his shadow since he took her under his wing and she became an initiate, through her teen years, she was all about duty and sworn oath; power was not an inkling of a thought in her young years. But, once she was officially Knight-Captain, she became a stand out in comparison to the acting Knight-Commander; her fellow Templars saw her as charismatic and competent, more than the old man ever could've been.

As per World of Thedas vol. 2:

"As knight-captain, Meredith proposed several changes to the administration of the Gallows, resulting in greater efficiency and a more orderly schedule for the mages. A structured environment and predictable routines led to calm, she would argue. It also made it much easier to detect anything that was out of the ordinary. Meredith’s case was so persuasive that her recommendations were put into practice almost immediately, and Knight-Commander Guylian began seeking her out for counsel in other matters. Beside the greying knight-commander, Meredith cut an imposing figure: stern, icy, and uncompromising. When Guylian gave a command, it was Meredith who enforced it. Her drive and her devotion to her duty made her a bit of a legend among her fellow templars, and privately, many thought she possessed a hundred times the old knight-commander’s charisma. many said that it was Meredith who was really the leader of the templars, despite her junior rank."

It was at this point that Meredith's decisions were actually implemented successfully; she made the Order more efficient, and templar-knights respected her, despite the way she inherited the role from Ser Wentworth. She was 2nd in command, but she held a lot of power for a Captain (we see how this is not reflected with Cullen later on - she is well aware of the role a Captain can play, but as Commander, she wouldn't have wanted any chance of being usurped!).

When the Divine asked Knight-Commander Guylian to force Viscount Perrin Threnhold to reopen the Waking Sea passage to allow Orlesian ships through, the Viscount retaliated by sending hired mercenaries who captured and hung Guylian. It was at this point that Meredith took on acting command, leading the army of templars to the Viscount's estate, looking for blood and for justice. It was the current Captain of the city guard that begged his innocence and had Threnhold arrested and placed in his own dungeon. Meredith, on the other hand, was soon crowned Knight-Commander by Grand Cleric Elthina. Taking on the charge in Guylian's stead demonstrated Meredith's ability and her desire to lead the templars - and they all followed her, without question.

It is this point that now, she had the title to go with the control she had earned over the Gallows and the templar knights. Cold and calculated, this role would begin her ascension to power to maintain control over mages and the city alike with Grand Cleric Elthina being the only one she would truly obey.

In the role of Knight-Commander, Guylian had kept his templars politically neutral - it was only by order of the Divine that had forced his hand and it led to losing his life. But for Meredith? The role gave her a footing as one of the prominent figureheads in the city-state of Kirkwall. After all, she and Elthina together put forth the suggestion for the next Viscount, Marlowe Dumar - a man that Meredith wasted no time in threatening by sending Perrin's bloodied signet ring in a box, engraved with 'His fate need not be yours'. In this sense, Meredith already sought to establish herself as the acting enforcer (with Elthina as puppet master) of the political leader of Kirkwall, to serve the interests of the Divine and the Chantry, and to avoid political issues like his predecessor.

With this set in motion, Meredith began seeing herself as a powerful figure. Templars respected her, mages feared her, and the people saw her as a protector - or at least, she imagined them doing so. As someone Kirkwall born and raised, she wanted to be a local hero, upholding the Andrastian faith and protecting the city and its citizens from the horrors of apostates and blood magic.

However, this very idea was what drove Meredith further to seek more and more ways to retain her political power and control. While templars are certainly trained with magic suppressing abilities, blood magic is a difficult one to tamper. She was always paranoid, but more threats of blood magic in her city led Meredith to taking more steps of power - for example, asking for the Rite of Annulment in advance to the Divine (and being rejected), or, eventually, seeking out the red lyrium idol from Bartrand.

This, together, is why Hawke is a particular thorn in her side. They advance against the Qunari invasion and the Arishok, leaving Meredith no choice but to declare them the Champion of Kirkwall - a title she would've rather bestowed upon herself. Hawke's position - regardless of being pro mage or pro templar - demonstrates more of being a "people's hero" than Meredith as someone in a role deemed necessary by the Chantry.

With the death of Viscount Dumar, too, Meredith realizes that appointing another person at this point would be a viable threat to her control over the city. It's why she chooses to enact martial law, to prevent any possible contention with what she intends to do to flush out blood magic from her Circle and the city itself. It is quite clear that Elthina and Meredith have worked as a team for the better part of two decades, as the Grand Cleric did not seek to stop Meredith from enacting martial law either. This is, essentially, putting Meredith in control of Kirkwall without naming herself Viscount; she plays a game of political chess in the city-state, but cannot take the role of 'king' for herself.

Now, back to her paranoia, though... were it not for the influence of the red lyrium settling in, I would imagine that only until Meredith was content with killing blood mages or making apostates tranquil, would she and Elthina find another spineless noble to place on the throne, and the cycle would begin anew.