#and doesn't just keep going down the path of “hey isn't the enslaving murder cult the coolest”

[sun-marie]

DATV Spoiler thing (Late-Game Crow Thoughts)

in my heart of hearts, I do not think Lucanis would remain as first talon for very long (or a crow for that matter), and if I had MY way with the DA lore the events of datv and its final battle would spell the end for the Crows, at least as the organization as we know them. I think both Tevinter Nights and datv's Treviso plotline, and even going back all the way to Zevran, demonstrate that the Crows strategy of "cruelty breeds strength" is not viable, and instead breeds bitterness and infighting.

DATV's ending is pretty open-ended, so the most optimal outcome in my opinion is after the fight, Lucanis refuses the title of First Talon (as he states multiple times in The Wigmaker Job that he doesn't want it) and publicly resigns as a Crow to join Rook's Veilguard full-time, which results in a blow too large for the Crows to handle after all their losses in the fight against the Gods. Maybe even Caterina is killed in the Big Battle, if we're lucky.

I think it would be cool if the Crows were rebuilt (most likely by Teia and Viago?) as something closer to their function in DATV, Antivan patriots protecting their home, and did away with things like the compradi and other excessively cruel aspects of the Crows. The New Crows would also let their members choose their contracts freely and leave if they want to. I don't think they'd be as influential or powerful of a force as they were before, but it would lay a more stable foundation and return them to their revolutionary roots.

Alternatively, the Crows 100% fall apart, leading to a time of chaos for Antiva, escalated perhaps by Viago actually making a bid for the throne.

Even if neither of those outcomes happen though, it does not change the fact that Lucanis Dellamorte would not accept the title of First Talon, especially after spending time with the Veilguard team, no matter the consequences. Even if the Crows remain completely unchanged and he had to become a fugitive like Zevran, I think he would. (Besides, he'd have the Veilguard protecting him, a group that quite literally just saved the entire world, in a more public way than the hero of Ferelden). Everything in his arc, from both his short story and the game, points away from the Crows.