#it's an interesting wrinkle that if you've played a pro-mage hawke

[the-fallen-blue]

This is an interesting take, because I think it's very true to how fandom interprets and reacts to Anders. But it misses what Anders himself tells you is his actual intent. What he's doing is very calculated, and, if you accept his premise, very intelligently done; it's not an act of anger at all, it's not even about the Chantry, really. Specifically, he's put it together like this:

Meredith has been calling for an Annulment since before the start of Act 3. Elthina has been rejecting it every single time. They're in a holding pattern, with Elthina too afraid of Meredith to curb her, but just beholden enough to her own morality to forbid outright mass murder. As a consequence, things are very bad for mages in Kirkwall, but not quite so bad that any useful number of them are willing to risk literally everything by banding together with Anders to fight back. Survival is still possible. Escape is still possible. For some, even comfort is still possible (mages from wealthy families in particular, like Bethany and that guy who sneaks out to get laid, seem surprisingly content). Violence is too dangerous for too little potential gain by comparison.

But if Elthina dies, that holding pattern breaks. There is nothing stopping the Annulment, nothing holding Meredith back. Indeed, if a mage destroys the cultural heart and spiritual center of the city for which the vast majority of its citizens hold deep reverence, those citizens - which, under a pro-mage Hawke, might in fact have become quite sympathetic to mages by now, might have been an additional potential check on the Annulment or mage-on-normie violence - will lose any shred of sympathy and demand mage blood. The mages will be backed into a corner. They will not be able to escape, as individuals, sheltered by allies outside the Circle; they will not be able to live, miserably, as charges of the Gallows. They will only be able to fight back, or die.

In short, if the Chantry explodes with Elthina in it at the hands of a mage, the mages, who have refused Anders' manifestos, who have survived or collaborated or fled or done anything other than rise up, will have all those avenues closed off, and must join the revolution. If they will not choose Anders' way, he will not give them the choice.

It's true that it's not about making the world a better place for mages with this specific act, but only because he's seeing himself as a Moses figure, here. That part isn't his job. If he can just start them on the right path, the path of violent revolution, the other mages will do that for themselves. He's just got to get them there.

Killing Templars would not accomplish this goal; in fact, it would be counterproductive. So would freeing mages or helping people escape beforehand. He knows that, and that's why he does this instead. His problem is not an aimless despair, a blind lashing out. He is not attempting to bring attention to the suffering of mages, make a political statement, or secure more rights for his people from the wider society they are a part of, and doing it badly. His problem is that he no longer believes that the suffering of mages is of interest to anyone other than mages themselves. Allyship isn't real. Progress isn't real. There is no version of society that grants rights to everyone. There can be no peace. Mages and non-mages will always be enemies, and the only thing he can do for his people, now that he's realized that, is to force them to realize it too, so they finally act accordingly. He knows perfectly well that the consequences will be devastating and mages will suffer a lot more before they finally triumph, and he clearly feels genuine guilt and regret over it, but, well, he assumes he won't have to live with that much longer, either. If the cost of long-term mage vengeance is a few hundred mage lives now, a devastating war after, and his own soon-to-be-executed conscience, it's still a small price to pay.

(Puts on my communism goggles) I think staunchly pro-anders fans are fascinating because to me at least it shows how to most people revenge is more important than actual progress. People will always want to do what feels good over what is right, because progress often is slow and unsatisfying in the moment.

My main issue with Anders’ action isn’t that he did something extreme, it’s that he did in the wrong place. Why the chantry over the gallows, where the actual templars were and there would be less civilians to hurt? He had Hawke on his side, he could have planned to evacuate people or put some safeguard in place to minimize civilian damages in the gallows, since most of the people in the gallows are not civilians. Blowing up property - especially if the property houses information and shelter for the oppressing party- is good. It’s a great plan. It would have made a much bigger impact and put a lot less mages across Thedas in direct danger if it was the gallows that were destroyed and not a chantry.

But Anders was wrapped up in vengeance (and we can have a whole discussion about how responsible Anders is for the actions of Justice). The point wasn’t to make the world better for mages at that point- the mage-Templar war that ensued did not ensure any kind of rights for mages depending on what you did in inquisition, and many had to die for being made automatically complicit in crimes against Andraste (even if they were believers themselves, that’s just the consequence of BLOWING UP THE CHANTRY), it was to do something extreme to feel like he was doing something just for the mages. Blowing up the chantry made this a statement on religion. It distracted from the actual grievances about the abuse taking place in mage circles.

There is no justice when collateral damage in the form of life is acceptable. That is no way forward, and it will create a lot more problems in the long run than it solves. It creates Martyrs, people who won’t rest until their own versions of feel good revenge is satisfied.

But it did feel real good to see the chantry- at that point housing people sheltering from danger- blow up as a symbol of your hate to the Templar order. It felt real good and that’s all that mattered.

This is great commentary on real world situations where good people - and Anders was a good person, dedicated his whole life to doing right by others and the world around him- get corrupted and twisted and pushed to do things that a younger version of them might never condone. When things get bad enough and no one wants to listen these kinds of actions seem to be the only way forward. The issue, ultimately, is not Anders. It’s not even Kirkwall. It’s fear against magic and a distrust of strangers, both issues that would never be solved or even addressed with terrorism. Anyway. He’s a fascinating character and his writing is really interesting to me