Across BioWare’s catalog, there probably isn’t a character with more emotional range than Merrill, the Dalish blood mage. When Hawke first meets her, she seems young and innocent, but it becomes clear she’s viewed in contempt by her elven clan. It becomes clear shortly after that she has been working with a demon and using the much-reviled blood magic. Even as she casts spells that would be taboo elsewhere in the world, she is still somehow one of the most light-hearted and humorous characters in the entire series. Merrill is the sweetest character in Hawke’s crew, even as she is berated by just about everyone else for her “crimes” of using blood magic. Though it would be easy to make her come off like an abused puppy, she is steadfast in her decisions, as she believes she can use this magic for the good of the Dalish people by restoring a piece of their history.
Merrill’s conviction leads her and those around her down devastating paths, and her story is one of the most frustratingly complex situations Hawke deals with in their story because every decision and outcome feels painful for everyone involved. Ultimately there is no happy ending for someone who consorts with demons, nor for people who distrusted her so much that they couldn’t let her face the consequences. But Merrill is subversive, tragic, and somehow, still a joy to know.
Dragon Age 2 was always the most divisive game in BioWare’s fantasy series, but The Veilguard seems to draw pretty heavily from it. It has an action-oriented approach, brings back DA2’s three-route dialogue system, and slims down the party. Overall, it looks like it’s learning some of the right lessons from the 2011 RPG. We’ll see if its characters live up to this merry band of misfits when The Veilguard launches this fall.