It dawns on me that if Hawke is a mage in DA2, he's just a regular apostate, not protected by the rank of Grey Warden, yet he's an incredibly prominent figure, and has cast spells in a lot of public and well populated areas. I might have missed the explanation, but is there a reason why he's not apprehended by the Templars? Especially considering how Templar-heavy the city is. (Sorry if my form or something is wrong, first time poster) --AedonCousland (talk) 06:13, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- Hawke was simply hidding to well to be located by the templars. Carver wasn't so jealous to give own sibling to templars. Additionally Varric bribed people to stay silent maybe even the templars to forget about Hawke. When Meredith made Hawke a Champion she treated Hawke in special way, she even explained why Hawke is special and why she tolerates him being not part of the circle.FirstDrellSpectre (talk) 06:48, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
That's what I was thinking, but that only applies to the third act, in the second, it could be said he was protected by his money, but it just seems to unlikely that the Templars would look the other way with him publicly casting spells(usually with deadly intent) --AedonCousland (talk) 07:20, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- Nobles have enough money to hide complex things like magic, Isolde was hidding magic of her son well. In Act 2 templars, who saw Hawke casting spells were immadiatelly killed, so they couldn't report, Hawke wasn't casting spells in Kirkwall during day time. During Qunari battle, Meredith protected Hawke from Saarebas and she's open minded enough to make Hawke as apostate an ally, because with threat like qunari or blight, every possible ally is needed. When She gives Hawke a title of Champion, then Hawke has no more need of hidding own magic, title of Champion makes him incredibly special.FirstDrellSpectre (talk) 07:57, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- You've got a point, just surprises me is all. Thanks for clearing it up, though.
- All of this sounds more like speculation rather than fact. For an actual in-game explanation, upon meeting with Meredith during On The Loose choosing a dialog option that leans towards refusal, she will state that Hawke is a known apostate, and has been allowed to act freely due to the good deeds he's done for Kirkwall, and reminds you that she "doesnt learn otherwise" implying she could at anytime come and claim him. Warden Mage: Ferris (talk) 12:54, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- It;s so simply for hero to turn into a villain, Loghain and Howe were perfect examples, after Landsmeet, most of people remembered them as traitors. When Loghain sacrifaced himself, he redeemed himself and he had no more chance to do anything evil any more. Hawke as champion wasn't so unique.FirstDrellSpectre (talk) 13:24, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- My point being, it wasn't just because Hawke had money. In Dialog it's implied during the first Act, Hawke keeps his magic secret, or at least "as best he can" but we all know the devs did a poor job of conveying that to the player, as they allowed you to cast spells int he gallows without any issue. During the second Act is where things get murky. Hawke has enough money to buy a mansion in hightown, but the official story ont he matter was he made all that money from an excavation, nothing they did would have lead me to believe the story would have mentioned him being a mage. NOW Varric does like to tell stories, and embellish them.... I find it rather hard to believe in all his stories, he never mentioned Hawke was a mage. Now this is pure speculation on my part, but at least for act 2 I choose to believe the templars were preoccupied with their own matters (such as abominations within their own ranks) to worry about the growing population of apostates. You do also help the viscount... maybe he had a bit of a hand in keeping templars off you? I don't know. But at least by the end of Act 2, you cast magic in front of Meredith. She states she knows you're a mage, and that she needs help (more or less). Saving the city as well as several nobles would give Hawke enough popularity to not be hauled off to the circle at the drop of a hat. If the Templars claim the Hero of their city, it would have caused more problems then it was worth. Meredith then states as much, by letting Hawke know he's ALLOWED to live his life only because he is helping the city. She will even threaten Anders by letting him know he's only allowed to have his clinic because they're such good friends of the Champion. Hawke Obviously has some influence, but no real position of power. Warden Mage: Ferris (talk) 14:51, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- It;s so simply for hero to turn into a villain, Loghain and Howe were perfect examples, after Landsmeet, most of people remembered them as traitors. When Loghain sacrifaced himself, he redeemed himself and he had no more chance to do anything evil any more. Hawke as champion wasn't so unique.FirstDrellSpectre (talk) 13:24, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- All of this sounds more like speculation rather than fact. For an actual in-game explanation, upon meeting with Meredith during On The Loose choosing a dialog option that leans towards refusal, she will state that Hawke is a known apostate, and has been allowed to act freely due to the good deeds he's done for Kirkwall, and reminds you that she "doesnt learn otherwise" implying she could at anytime come and claim him. Warden Mage: Ferris (talk) 12:54, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
Don't forget that in Act II Hawke had the favor of the Viscount, and was pivotal for his interactions with the Arishok. --Liam Sionnach (talk) 15:40, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- We can't proove or disproove if the Viscount didn't know about Hawke being an apostate, he never saw Hawke in battle.FirstDrellSpectre (talk) 19:08, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
- True, but by Act II, Hawke is a reasonably powerful and quite well-known person in the city. Chances are, if the Templars knew he was a mage, word would have leaked (after all, there are plenty of corrupt templars), and if the Viscount was at all good at his job, he should be paying attention to that kind of thing. The templars may have also seen fit to inform him if one of the richest people in the city was an apostate. We can't know whether or not he knew, but it is likely that he did.--CountSilvershroud (talk) 22:22, February 26, 2014 (UTC)
Even if Meredith did suspect Hawke of being a mage, how would she prove it? Testimonies? Varric who's connected with the Carta, dwarven merchants guild, and an extensive spy network can have anyone disappear. Aveline who by then is captain of the guard will turn a blind eye to it and will probably protect HAwke and by act 2, Hawke is the the most wealthy member of Kirkwall nobility making him a high risk target. Anders who has the ear of the downtrodden and even the Circle would spin Meredith's hatred of Hawke as a tyrannical oppression. Too much bad PR. It would be like some Orlaisian templar upstart trying to pick a fight with Loghain at the height of his popularity, no easy task. Hawke would eventually be aquited or Elthina will call Merideth off from all the bad press. All Hawke has to do is not do magic, and let his allies do the dirty work. By the time he becomes Champion, he's so beloved that no one could say a bad thing about Hawke without upsetting important people. Even Cullen was smart enough to not lay a hair on Hawke even at the end.(Sports72Xtrm (talk) 23:01, February 26, 2014 (UTC))
The out of character answer is because Bioware didn't program anything in related to it. I heard it was planned, but cut for time or what-have-you. The in character answer is probably, as others have said, Hawke's hiding it and Varric bribing people to protect his friend/partner. Plus the Red Iron/Athenril's group also kept your secret for the first year. 67.61.234.198 (talk) 03:01, February 27, 2014 (UTC)
Its not like the Templars were all that great at rounding up mages. Anders operated for years under the city and never got caught. And besides, Hawke is...well, Hawke. The Champion of Kirkwall, you don't just get in his/her way. --Elshiro (talk) 04:34, February 27, 2014 (UTC)
Meredith states in Act III that she KNOWS Hawke is a mage. She says it to Hawke's face. She also states the only reason why she isn't apprehending Hawke is because he/she has proven to be formidable and helpful. When you have a mage Hawke protest Meredith's orders to find those three suspected blood mages, she'll say that if Hawke refuses to do this job, she will not hesitate to take him/her to the Gallows with the rest of the mages. This whole conversation pretty much says that the only reason why the Templars didn't take Hawke is because Meredith told them not to; she knew that Hawke was of some use, which he/she was. WhiteClaudia (talk) 05:00, March 4, 2014 (UTC)