#but then also how sten is in fereldan and is like this place sucks i miss my home

[thewardenisonthecase]

I'm latin american which means I see Latam everywhere which means the other day i was laying bed thinking wow so many thinks sten and bull say about the qun remind me of latam in very specific ways

[daughter-of-the-prophet]

Ilona Cousland (Tv Tropes)

100% Adoration Rating: Every single one of Ilona’s companions admires and become extremely loyal to her over the course of the story.

This is also the case with Ilona’s marriage to Alistair as the royal couple becomes extremely popular, in part because the people can see how very happily married they are.

The Ace: She evolves into this over the course of the story.

Affectionate Nickname: Being the youngest child, Ilona was frequently called “Pup” by her father during her childhood.

After starting a romantic relationship with her, Alistair starts calling Ilona his lady love, “my dear” and “my love”.

After Ilona helps him find his sword, Sten refers to her as “kadan,” meaning something akin to ‘close to the heart.’ 

Morrigan begins calling Ilona “my friend” partway through the story and even starts to think of her as a sister, For the Defrosting Ice Queen, this is a very big deal.

Arraigned Marriage: At the beginning of the story, Arl Howe tries to set one up between Ilona and his son Thomas. Ilona isn’t too fond of the idea as during her childhood Tomas picked on her a lot and gave her the impression that he didn’t like her.

Ass Kicking Equals Authority: After surviving the Blight, Ilona becomes Warden-Commander of all the Grey Wardens in Ferelden, which also effectively makes her the Arlessa of Amaranthine since Amaranthine was given to the Grey Wardens after the Blight.

She also becomes Queen of Fereldan after marrying Alistair, the illegitimate son of King Maric.

In Dragon Age II, Ilona has ruled Amaranthine for six years and was competent enough to quickly turn Arl Howe’s den of provincial aristocratic corruption into a powerful rival of Kirkwall itself, so apparently, Asskicking Equals Competent Authority.

Awesome Moment of Crowning: Ilona becomes Queen of Fereldan after marrying Alistair, the illegitimate son of King Maric.

Badass Bookworm: At the beginning of the story, Ilona mentions to Dairren that she spent a lot of time in her grandfather’s library.

Badass Family: Ilona’s family, the Couslands have served as a Big Good in Ferelden for centuries. Both of her parents fought Orlesian forces in the Ferelden Revolution (Bryce fought beside the King, while Eleanor led her father’s Armada), which was how they met. At the beginning of the story, Teyrn Bryce Cousland and Fergus Cousland, Ilona’s older brother, Jumped at the Call to fight alongside King Cailan against darkspawn forces in Ostagar. Retired Badass, Teyrna Eleanor Cousland is also still no slouch with her bow and arrows.

Badass Normal: Ilona was this before she went through the joining as she was able to essentially mows through a large crowd of Arl Howe’s personal soldiers in order to safely escort her mother through the family castle in the dark of night.

Bad Powers, Good People: Ilona falls under this to a minor degree after going through her joining and becoming an official member of the Grey Wardens. During the Joining Ritual, Warden recruits willing imbibe Darkspawn blood in order to take the Taint into themselves, granting them increased strength, stamina and complete immunity to the Blight spread by the Darkspawn as well as the ability to sense said Darkspawn. Sadly, this comes at the cost of only giving them roughly thirty years left to live, before they eventually succumb to its effects. The Joining Ritual can be considered a form of Blood Magic as it grants the Wardens the power of the Darkspawn taint by drinking the blood of Darkspawn.

Battle Couple: She and Alistair are considered this.

Because You Were Nice to Me: It is revealed that Ilona is one of the only real friends (if not the only one) that most of most of her companions have ever had. This is particularly true of Morrigan (who has never known anyone that she even liked before meeting Ilona), Zevran (whose closest friend is willing to kill him), and Shale (who has never before known a person who didn’t exploit it).

Benevolent Boss: Ilona treats all of her servants with kindness, compassion, and understanding. Even the elven ones.

Berserk Button: Arl Rendon Howe becomes this to Ilona after he kills her entire family, including her beloved five-year-old nephew.

Beware the Nice Ones: Ilona is the nicest and friendliest person in all of Thedas, but that doesn’t stop her from fighting anyone that’s stupid enough to try to harm her and/or her friends and family. 

Big Eater: It’s a Grey Warden thing, apparently.

Big Good: Ilona is considered this, especially since she is part of the Cousland family who have for centuries stood as the Big Good towards all of Ferelden. It’s worth noting that Highever is actually a Principality of Ferelden, being mostly independent and self-governed, and Ilona’s father, Teyrn Bryce Cousland, is old friends and on a First-Name Basis with all of the people who owe fealty to him. It’s mentioned that he was once offered the throne and turned it down since as an ardent royalist, he believed that it should fall to Cailan, the rightful heir. When the Darkspawn threat arose, Teyrn Cousland was prepared to march into battle with the King’s Army, alongside his son and eldest child, Fergus, in order to defend Ferelden. Unfortunately, most of the line was brutally murdered by their treacherous friend, Arl Howe; Fergus and Ilona are the only surviving members of the family.

Blessed with Suck/Cursed with Awesome: At the beginning of the story, Ilona is selected as a Grey Warden recruit — the highest honor to which anyone in Thedas could ever aspire! Yet any birthright or title she had is now forfeit. But she has yet to become a Grey Warden - first she had to drink darkspawn blood, which mostly often kill people right away. If it doesn’t, then the person is considered an official Grey Warden! A warrior who can sense the darkspawn and destroy archdemons at the low cost of obliterating their soul. Of course, Darkspawn can sense Grey Wardens just as easily as Grey Wardens can sense Darkspawn. Oh, and Grey Wardens have about thirty years to live until the taint starts turning them into a darkspawn, at which point the Grey Warden instruction troubleshooting manual tells them to go on a suicide run against the darkspawn hordes. Oh, and having children becomes more difficult, especially if the other parent is also a Grey Warden. Furthermore, Grey Wardens are constantly plagued by nightmares.

This is inverted as Ilona and Alistair agree to Morrigan’s suggestion to perform a dark ritual which involves Alistair impregnating Morrigan with a child that will bear the taint and contain the archdemon’s soul once it is slain therefore preventing either of the Wardens from dying. Ilona and Alistair are also crowned the King and Queen of Fereldan and have twins, a son named Duncan and a daughter named Eleanor.

Blue Blood: Being the youngest child of the noble Cousland family, she is considered this.

Boxed Crook: Ilona is one of the last known surviving members of her family, the rest of whom were massacred on trumped-up charges of treason, and there’s most certainly a bounty on her head if they ever went anywhere near her home region again. 

But I Can’t Be Pregnant!: This is Ilona’s reaction when she found out she was pregnant with twins because Grey Wardens have low fertility and therefore it’s considered impossible for them to have children, especially if both parents are Grey Wardens. 

But Now I Must Go: At some point in the decade between the end of the first two stories, Ilona leaves Thedas in pursuit of a mysterious mission which revealed in Dragon Age: Inquisition is about trying to find a cure for the taint.

Canine Companion: Ilona has a Mabari war hound named Brutus, who has been her pet since childhood.

The Chessmaster: At the Landsmeet, Ilona was able to manipulate every single lord but one into supporting her over Loghain, even without the heavy support of his daughter, Anora.

The Chooser of the One: It was left up to Ilona to decide who ends up on the throne of Fereldan and Orzammar.

The Chosen One: Averted, as Ilona was merely the Right Woman in the Wrong Place. Further averted with the Darkspawn Chronicles, which depicts a non-canonical Alternate History where Ilona died during her Joining and Alistair was forced to step up. It didn’t end well.

Clear My Name: Howe tries to convince the nobles of Fereldan that the reason why he slaughter Ilona’s family and usurp their lands was because they were converting with Orlesian spies. It’s eventually revealed that almost none of the nobles believed him anyway, so there was really nothing to clear.

Ilona and Alistair go through the entire story knowing that Loghain is doing his best to convince the entire country that the Grey Wardens were responsible for King Cailan’s death.

Commanding Coolness: Ilona becomes “Warden-Commander of Ferelden” in Awakening. She is also referred to as “Commander of the Grey” by some characters.

Cool Aunt: She is clearly seen as this by her nephew, Oren.

The Creon: Ilona’s entire family is this. Despite being the most powerful nobility in all of Ferelden beside the King, they have no desire for more power and are rumored to have turned down the crown.

Ilona is also considered this herself and only becomes Queen of Fereldan just so she can be with the man she loves.

Daddy’s Girl: Out of everyone in her family, Ilona is the closets with her father and greatly takes after him.

Death Seeker: Ilona isn’t afraid of possibly not surviving the joining or even death itself, mainly because if she died she would at least be able to be with her family again. The friends she makes throughout the story and falling in love with Alistair give her a new reason to live, however.

Determinator: Ilonas is forced to become this in order to unite Ferelden and defeat the Blight.

This is also the reason why Ilona doesn't appear in Dragon Age: Inquisition? She is looking for a way to cure the darkspawn taint. The tone of the letter she sends suggests she see the impossibility of this as a mere inconvenience.

The Dreaded: She becomes this to Loghain and particularly Arl Howe.

During “Unrest at the Alienage”, when Ilona and her companions run into a bunch of Tevinter slavers and tell them who she is:

          Guard: “Oh no! I’ve heard of you!”

In Awakening, many nobles fear Ilona’s retribution after Howe’s treachery against the Cousland Family. Is especially lampshaded by Lord Eddelbrek’s quick mention that he had nothing to do with Howe’s actions.

The Drifter: For the Grey Wardens, it’s practically their raison d'être.

The Dutiful Daughter: She is this at the beginning of the story.

Empowered Badass Normal: As a warrior, Ilona gains access to the slightly mystical Templar and reaver specializations, and more.  Avernus’ blood draughts also gives her upgraded abilities.

Even the Girls Want Her: Ilona is considered to be so beautiful that even a number of women of every race want her.

The Exile: Ilona is effectively this since returning to Highever would almost certainly be a death sentence while Howe is running the place.

A Mother to Her Men: Ilona spends almost as much time guiding her followers through their personal demons as she does fighting actual demons.

The Fettered: Ilona is considered this.

Folk Hero: Ilona becomes this after killing the archdemon and ending the fifth blight.

For Want of a Nail: Ilona surviving the Joining is a pretty crucial nail. If she hadn’t survived the Joining, Ferelden would have been lost to The Blight.

Friend to All Children: Ilona is the kind of person who loves children.  

She had a close, loving relationship with her five-year-old nephew and was heartbroken when she discovered that he had been slain during Howe’s attack on Castle Cousland.

While in Honneleath, she protects a little girl named Amalia from a demon that wants to possess her.

In Redcliffe, She saves Arl Eamon’s young son from being possessed by a demon.

Instead of feeling resentful towards Kieran and despite having never met him, Ilona loves and cares about the young boy and hopes that he is safe, despite knowing that he is the illegitimate son of her husband Alistair and her friend Morrigan.

Friend to All Living Things:  Ilona is also the kind of person who cares about animals and other living things.

While at Ostagar, she helps tend to some ill mabari hounds without accepting an award and frees a number of other mabari hounds from cages in the Tower of Ishal during the battle.

At a Dalish camp, Ilona resolves a life-threatening situation with one of the hallas by calming it down so the keeper of the hallas can try to figure out what’s causing it distress.

Girly Bruiser: Ilona is a female warrior who can beat the snot out of Darkspawn while armor and then turn around and fawn over cute shoes and hairstyles with Leliana.            

Good Is Not Soft: Ilona seems to excel at delivering Cruel Mercy to people.

A good example is with Nathaniel Howe in Awakening. He tried to break into Vigil’s Keep in order to kill Ilona for killing his father who massacred Ilona’s family. Instead of executing him and impressed that it took four grey wardens to restrain him, Ilona decided to recruit him into the Grey Wardens.

Also in Awakening, Ilona was required to pass sentence on a man who stole in order to feed his starving family. Instead of having him executed, she makes the man join the army.

Grey Wardens Have Good Sex: Ilona is considered an exceptional lover and becomes even more so after becoming a grey warden. Apparently, it’s a trait all Grey Wardens share, as people tell stories about their “legendary stamina”.

Happily Married: She and Alistair are this as the epilogue states that Alistair openly adores his wife, much to the delight of the rest of the kingdom.

Ilona’s parents were this as well as the beginning of the story depicts them as kindly people who love each other very much, and remain Together in Death to buy their daughter time to escape when the castle is attacked.

Ilona’s older brother Fergus and his wife Oriana are also this. Unfortunately, it didn’t end well as both his wife and son are killed at the beginning of the story. Luckily, he gets another chance at this after meeting Anora during Alistair’s coronation. 

The Heart: Ilona is this to her team of companions along with being the leader.

Hello, Nurse!:  Ilona is considered to be extremely beautiful. Almost everyone wants her and comments very admiringly on how beautiful she is, referring her as being drop-dead gorgeous.

The Hero: She is definitely this since she’s the main protagonist.

Hero with Bad Publicity: Played with. Despite Loghain’s claim that the Grey Wardens are responsible for the King’s death, the only people who really believe that, and subsequently antagonize Ilona and Alistair, are either Loghain’s men or mercenaries/desperate refugees with their eye on the bounty for the Wardens. Some people gossip in various settlements, but their opinion seems to fluctuate from moment to moment.

Subverted with Ilona’s family as Arl Howe attempted to tarnish the family’s name by claiming the Couslands were killed in a failed rebellion to seize the throne for Orlais. However, when Ilona spoke to the other nobles prior to the Landsmeet, it is made clear that almost no one actually believes him.

Hope Bringer: Ilona is seen as this by most of the populace of Fereldan.

By the time of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dagna the Arcanist describes Ilona in such a way.

          Dagna: “It was a dark time. There was one light.”

Hypercompetent Sidekick: More or less ends up as this at the end with Alistair along with becoming his Queen. Alistair leads the kingdom and delivers the Rousing Speeches, while Ilona does this as well while also leading the armies.

In-Series Nickname: Nearly everyone refers to the Ilona as “the Warden.” It’s a logical enough nickname, but it comes off a little bit strange given that she isn't “THE” Warden as there are two, Alistair being the other one.  

Wynne implies that Ilona is also known as “the last of the Couslands.”

In Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Inquisition, Ilona is known as “the Hero of Ferelden”.

It’s All My Fault: Ilona blames herself for her parent's deaths after leaving them behind in order to escape the attack on her family’s castle with Duncan, believing that they would still be alive if she had stayed and defended them to death. During the “Urn of Sacred Ashes”, She undergoes the Gauntlet, where she confronts her feelings of guilt.

It’s Personal: Ilona vows revenge on Arl Howe for the brutal murder of her entire family. 

Lady and Knight: She’s still technically a Knight, but Alistair acts like the White Knight to her Bright Lady. 

Lady of War: Ilona fits this to a T.

She’s lightly scolded about this at the beginning of the story by her mother, who wants her to get married and believes being a warrior would prevent her from doing so. She later gets this lampshaded, albeit mockingly, by Arl Howe:

         Arl Howe: “Well, well. Bryce Cousland’s little spitfire. All grown up and still playing the man!”

Last of His Kind: While there are other Grey Wardens in the world, Ilona and Alistair are the only ones left in Ferelden, and thus the only ones close enough to end the Blight in a timely and decisive manner.

Ilona is also the last surviving member of the Cousland family. Almost. In fact, her brother is alive, but she doesn’t learn this until the ending and he ceases to be important to the plot after Ostagar. 

The Leader: She is the all four types leader of the group.

Like A God to Me: Over the course of the story, Ilona’s companions start to feel this way about her. Zevran calls her “an object worthy of worship.

In Awakening, Alistair fondly notes that “I married an indestructible goddess.”

Like Brother and Sister: Her relationship with Zevran is this.

Living Emotional Crutch: She is considered this towards her companions.

Living Legend: Ilona becomes one during the story, and the extent of her fame is seen as part of the landscape of Dragon Age II and Inquisition.

Loved I Not Hourned More: Wynne lampshades this, reminding Ilona that she will have to put her duty as a Grey Warden ahead of her romance with Alistair when it comes to saving the world.

Morrigan brings this up in a conversation with Alistair, pointing out that “fraternization” between two Grey Wardens could be problematic if they ever have to choose between saving Ferelden or saving each other.

By Awakening, even after becoming Queen, Ilona is back in the fray serving as Warden-Commander of Ferelden only six months later.

Magic Knight: Inverted after learning templar skills from Alistair.

She also learns the Spirit Warrior skills and Reaver Skills in Awakening.

Magnetic Hero: Comes off as this.

Meaningful Name: Ilona is an Hungarian variation of name Helen which means “beauty and light”. The “beauty” part fits her really well as she is seen by a number in Fereldan as being extremely beautiful looking. As for the light part, the people of Fereldan considered her a shining light in all the darkness during the dreadful time of the blight.  

Ilona’s last name is Cousland, which is derived from the Gaelic form of absolom, meaning “Peace.” The Couslands have been the Big Good of Ferelden since before Ferelden actually existed. Basically, her name means “The Beauty and Light of Peace”.

Mistaken for Gay: Gossips heard in Witch Hunt say that some believe that Ilona is bisexual and that she had a one night stand with Isabela at a brothel known as “The Pearl” during the blight, when in real life, Ilona was actually playing a friendly card game of “Wicked Grace” with her .

Modest Royalty: Ilona’s family the Couslands has shades of this. While they are the most powerful and respected noble family under the actual royal family, they still frequently talk to each other and allies informally. Ilona is also this as well as when she asks other Nobles to just use her given name in lieu of her title when they recognized her as being a Cousland. She still continues to this after becoming Queen.

Morality Pet: Becomes this to a few of her companions, especially Morrigan.

Mr. Exposition: In Witch Hunt, Ilona talks about her previous visits to various locations and explains important plot elements to Ariane and Finn. Justified as Finn and Ariane weren’t around in the main story to witness any of these things, while Brutus, who was there for most of them, naturally isn’t able to speak of them since he’s a dog.

My Significance Sense Is Tingling: The Joining allows all Grey Wardens to sense Darkspawn. Unfortunately, it works the other way around too.

        Ilona: "Warden-senses tingling"

Never Accepted in His Hometown: Ilona suffers this as a result of her home being seized by Arl Howe after he massacres her family.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Ilona is indirectly responsible for the Mage-Templar War, having recruited Anders and the Spirit of Justice in Awakening. This takes on a much darker tone after the events of Dragon Age II when Anders, who has become Justice’s new host, ends up blowing up the Kirkwall Chantry in order to force a confrontation between the Mages and the Templars, setting up the means for every Circle in Thedas to rise up in rebellion. It’s made worse by the fact that this was likely due to the Grey Wardens’ philosophy teaching him that Utopia Justifies the Means.

Noble Fugitive: Becomes this at the beginning of the story after escaping the attack on her family’s castle.

Occult Detective: While the darkspawn are their primary concern, the Wardens do train themselves to be able to deal with any threat.

Odd Friendship: Ilona is this with all of her companions, except for Alistair and Brutus. When your closest friends include a Qunari Warrior, a Stone Golem, the daughter of Flemeth, a member of the Antivan Crows, an elderly Mage kept alive by a Fade Spirit, a Femme Fatale Spy who had a Heel–Faith Turn, and a constantly drunk Dwarf, it’s worth considering the possibility that you are the odd person in this friendship.

The trait carries over to the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits recruited in the Awakening. This includes a Howe who tried to murder Ilona in order to avenge his father, an apostate mage on his seventh escape attempt from the Circle, a perky female Dwarf from the Legion of the Dead, a rather prickly Dalish First searching for her kidnapped sister, the corpse of a Grey Warden inhabited by a Spirit of Justice, and the return of the constantly drunk Dwarf.

Nathaniel Howe is a particularly Odd Friendship for Ilona, as he’s the son of the man who murdered Ilona’s entire family. Giving the Howes a chance to redeem themselves seems to be a Cousland trait. However, unlike his predecessors, Nathaniel’s actually a very deserving fellow and grows quite fond of the Warden-Commander, leading to arguably the least odd of the odd friendships.

In Golems of Amgarrak, the party includes a Dwarf Beastmaster who is searching for his brother and the secrets of Amgarrak, his brother who went mad from what he found there, and a salvaged Runic Golem.

In Witch Hunt, the party includes an impish Dalish warrior searching for an Ancient Tome stolen from her clan by Morrigan, and a bookish Circle Mage afraid of blood and dirt, as well as the return of Ilona's faithful dog, who’s finally finished repopulating Ferelden’s Mabari kennels.

In Awakening, Ilona mentions Zevran when Nathaniel asks her why she would recruit him into the Grey Wardens even though he tried to kill her to which she casually remarks "You’d be surprised how many of my closest friends have tried to kill me at some point.“

Old Hero, New Pals: In Awakening, Ilona trades in one Ragtag Bunch of Misfits for another, with Oghren only staying due to his lack of screentime in the story. It happens again in Witch Hunt as well.

Only Sane Employee: Given that the only other Warden in Ferelden is Alistair, Ilona frequently comes across as this.

One-Man Army: The tales of the First Blight say that every Grey Warden is able to fight ten or twenty darkspawn at once. Ilona is The Dreaded because of this.

Only Sane Woman: Besides Alistair and Wynne, Ilona is the most well-adjusted of the group in a traditional human sense; Leliana and Zevran are both assassins who tend to use sex to get to their targets and both were betrayed by people they trusted implicitly with all of the issues that implies, Oghren is an exaggeration of the stereotypical drunk dwarf who was kicked out of polite dwarven society for a large number of reasons, Sten is from a very alien culture and has a tendency to solve many problems with violence, Shale is a golem with decades worth of misanthropy built up whose stated favorite activity is smashing something’s head and watching the blood gush, and Morrigan is a brutally pragmatic survivalist with severe empathy issues.

Except Brutus. He has no issues at all. Because he is a dog.

Parental Abandonment: Inverted as both of Ilona’s parents are present at the beginning of the story; they are both likable, genuinely good people who clearly love their children and each other very much. Unfortunately, they are both brutally murdered at the beginning of the story.

Parental Favoritism: Ilona is considered to be her father’s favorite child; Surprisingly, her big brother Fergus doesn’t seem to be remotely distressed by this fact.

Pragmatic Hero: Ilona can be this sometimes.

A good example of this is the “Trial of Crows” questline. While Ilona still has a price on their head and the Antivan Crows never abandon a contract, by agreeing to carry out assassinations on disreputable individuals for them, she will have earned enough favour that if the Guildmaster after them calls for aid in performing the hit, the other cells will be less inclined to agree.

In Awakening, Ilona allies with the Architect. The epilogue reveals that while many of the other senior Grey Wardens question this decision, they do notice the mysterious drop in darkspawn activity all across the Deep Roads as a result.

Princess in Rags: Becomes this after her family is slaughtered and their lands and titles usurped by Arl Rendon Howe.

Protagonist Without a Past: Inverted. The beginning of the story shows a clearly-defined past, complete with friends and relatives that have their own part in the story.

Riches to Rags: Ilona is a former noblewoman who lost most of her family members and became exiled from her lands.  She goes to Rags to Riches after avenging her family, therefore reclaiming their lands and titles and becomes Queen of Fereldan by marrying Alistair.

Retired Badass: Between the main story and Awakening, though it’s only a Six Month Retirement.

Right Man in the Wrong Place: Ilona begins the story as a well-trained but (sort of) unimportant person, and rises to her station through skill and pure luck

Roaring Rampage of Rescue/Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Rescuing Anora from the Arl of Denerim’s estate is a big one of these for the Ilona, in no small part due to the one holding Anora captive being none other than Arl Rendon Howe, the bastard responsible for massacring the Cousland family.

Ilona and Alistair are on the receiving end of Roaring Rampage of Rescue after being captured and taken to Fort Drakon. Morrigan and Brutus are the ones who rescue them.

In Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, the Ilona undertakes another one at the behest of a nobleman whose daughter has been kidnapped.

Rookie Red Ranger: Becomes the leader of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden one day after joining. Granted, it’s just because Alistair, the only other surviving Warden doesn’t want the responsibility of leading, but still.

Royals Who Actually Do Something: As a scion of House Cousland, second-highest in precedence among the noble houses of Ferelden, Ilona is just one step under being a princess and becomes a straight example after becoming royalty by marrying Alistair.

Since Amaranthine and Vigils Keep are given to the Grey Wardens, Ilona is automatically declared Arlessa of Amaranthine as part of her role as Warden-Commander.

Seen It All: In Awakening, when Anders and Nathaniel bring up the strangeness factor of getting into fights with dragons, demons, and darkspawn on a semi-regular basis, Ilona, having been a Grey Warden for a year and a half has stopped being fazed by it at this point.  fighting Dragons, Demons and Darkspawn has become very much routine for her.

She Who Must Not Be Seen: Ilona’s actions had a very notable impact on Dragon Age II, and she gets brought up directly by Varric and Cassandra, and indirectly by Flemeth. She is also mentioned by Anders, Isabela, Bethany, Cullen, Nuncio, Bodahn Feddic, Zevran, Alistair, Leliana, Nathaniel Howe, a letter found in the Wounded Coast, an ex-werewolf, several Codex entries, and Hawke herself. Despite this, Ilona never shows up in the second story.

In Inquisition, Ilona is occasionally referenced and even writes a letter to Leliana, but never actually shows up in person. She is on a quest to cure the Wardens of the taint.

Six Month Retirement: Between the main story and Awakening.

Spare to the Throne: While Bryce doesn’t come out and say it, the reason why he leaves Ilona in charge of Castle Cousland is to leave an heir behind if the worst happens at the Battle of Ostagar. Both Bryce and Fergus plan to fight in the battle. This would also explain why Bryce is reluctant to have his daughter join the Wardens before Ostagar, but is willing to entertain the notion after he comes home.

Spoiled Sweet: Due to being her father’s favorite child, Ilona was spoiled during her childhood yet she retains a kind, compassionate, and understanding personality.

The Squadette: She is the only woman in the group of Grey Warden recruits who go through the joining. Alistair even lampshades it by wondering why there never were very many female Grey Wardens.

Tragic Keepsake: Ilona keeps her family’s sword and shield and prefers to use only those when fighting in a battle.

Tranquil Fury: This happens to be the case when Ilona finally faces off with Arl Howe.

Try To Fit THAT On A Business Card: “Her Royal Majesty, Queen Ilona Theirin, Queen-Consort of Ferelden, Arlessa of Amaranthine, Warden-Commander of the Order of the Grey Wardens, Heroine of Ferelden.”

The Unchosen One:  Went from a random person who survived because Duncan and Flemeth happened to be around at the right times to Hero of Ferelden in about a year.

Undying Loyalty: Ilona is this to all of her friends, especially since she comes from a family of ardent royalists, with Bryce Cousland being rumored to have turned down the throne when it was offered to him, in favor of the true heir to the throne. Their loyalty is such that the only time Bryce ever gets remotely angry is when Arl Howe insults their King. Historically, they’ve only ever turned on tyrants but fought to the death to defend their One True King and homeland.

Walking the Earth: The Grey Wardens go where they are most needed.

Warden Senses… Tingling: Says this at the start of combat.

Warrior, Mage, Rogue: Ilona is a warrior, having been trained by her father and older brother during most of her youth.  She was also taught archery skills by her mother.

Warrior Princess: Ilona’s father rules what the codex states is actually a principality within Ferelden, though the Couslands don’t refer to themselves by princely titles. And Ilona ends the story by becoming Queen of Fereldan by marrying Alistair while also becoming Warden-Commander of Ferelden, which also makes her Arlessa of Amaranthine since Amaranthine and Vigils Keep are given to the Grey Wardens.

Warrior Therapist: Being a warrior and giving a compassionate and listening ear to her companions make her this.

Weapon of Choice: Ilona is very skilled at fighting with a sword and shield.  She is very skilled in archery as well but prefers swords and shields over bows and arrows.  She also prefers using her family’s sword and shield over any other weapon when fighting in battle.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: Falls into this in Awakening after allying with the Architect at the end.

What’s Up, King Dude?: Inverted in Awakening. Ilona walks up to any old commoner in Amaranthine like she normally did before becoming royalty.  She prefers it this way.

The Wise Princess: Ilona definitely fits under this trope.

It’s said by the people of Highever that, although big brother Fergus is technically next in line to be Teyrn of Highever, many of them would be pleased to see Ilona in that role because of her popularity, intellect, and battle skill. This it is also noted that many of the nobles wanted Ilona’s father, Bryce Cousland, to be named king - suggesting that it may well be In the Blood.

World’s Best Warrior: Ilona definitely seems to be this even among the other protagonists in the series, though with very close competition from Hawke. She is often spoken of with reverence in Dragon Age II and Inquisition, and was the Inquisition's first choice for leader (again, just edging out Hawke).

You Can’t Go Home Again: Ilona never returns to Castle Cousland during the story after the beginning.