Right of Annulment

The Right of Annulment is the right of the templars to kill all mages in a Circle of Magi used as a last resort to restore order.

Divine Galatea granted the Right of Annulment to all the Grand Clerics of the Chantry in 2:83 Glory after an abomination slaughtered all mages and templars in the Nevarran Circle. Normally, the Right can only be invoked by a Grand Cleric or a de facto successor (Revered Mother); if there is no access to a Grand Cleric or Revered Mother, then Knight-Commanders of the Templar Order have legal authority to invoke the Right. Depending on the exact circumstances and how long it takes the relevant Grand Cleric to respond, the Right can be invoked but not carried out.

By the beginning of the Fifth Blight, the Right had been invoked 17 times. The Right was requested three more times between 9:30 and 9:40 Dragon, and was carried out in at least two of these instances.

According to Fenris, the Imperial templars also possess the Right of Annulment, but the line that mages must cross for it to be invoked is "elsewhere".

Known uses of the Right of Annulment

• 3:09 Towers: The third time the Right of Annulment was invoked. Knight-Commander Gervasio of Antiva killed all of the city's mages for demonic possession, though the Seekers of Truth later found evidence that this may have been a cover-up of Knight-Captain Nicholas' crimes, who confessed to murdering over a hundred mages.
• 9:30 Dragon (conditional): The Circle of Magi in Ferelden (during Broken Circle). After the Circle was overrun by abominations following Uldred's rebellion, Knight-Commander Greagoir invoked the Right and sent request to Grand Cleric Elemena to grant it along with additional templar reinforcements. Depending on the Warden's actions, Greagoir may revoke his request to invoke the Right of Annulment.
• 9:37 Dragon: The Circle of Magi in Kirkwall (during the Kirkwall Rebellion). According to Knight-Lieutenant Karras, Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard requested the Right of Annulment directly from the Divine in Val Royeaux. Following Anders' destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry, Meredith invoked the Right of Annulment herself without waiting for an official authorization.
• 9:40 Dragon: The Circle of Magi in Dairsmuid, Rivain. When the other Circles rose up against the Templars, the Seekers were sent to the Dairsmuid Circle to investigate, and found them freely mixing with their families and training young women in the tradition of the seers. They denounced them as apostates and invoked the Right of Annulment.

See also

Codex entry: The Right of Annulment