#cailan theirin
Then I’ll have the mighty Duncan at my side
Glorious
I used to think Cailan sent Alistair and the Warden to the tower of Ishal just to protect Alistair. I mean, Return to Ostagar revealed that Cailan knew he was going to die. So he was making sure that Alistair – who he likely viewed as his heir – survived the ordeal. You can actually argue with Cailan at the war meeting and he will insist that you and Alistair go to the beacon together. He wanted Alistair to live and he wanted to make sure YOU kept him alive.
I can’t remember where I read it, but Cailan actually kept tabs on Alistair and showed an interest in his life. He cared about him, or at least, he cared about how useful his half-brother could be to him one day in the face of Anora’s infertility.
But after playing Ostagar recently again, I’m also thinking Cailan sent you and Alistair because he didn’t trust Loghain’s men to light the beacon (late to the table, I know). And Loghain puts up a big fuss about trusting the wardens with it because it’s implied that Loghain’s men sealed off the tower earlier in order to sabatoge the beacon signal. The men there did not expect darkspawn. They likely let in the horde on accident while trying to sabotage the beacon (my guess is they were destroying the floor that led upstairs so no one could get to it). So this is why the darkspawn group are “ahead of the horde” as Alistair points out.
But Loghain’s reaction when the beacon is lit is not one of shock. He was there when Cailan sent you and Alistair to light it, so maybe he already knew his plans were screwed, and when the beacon was lit, he figured he’d just leave anyway. Either way, he wins: the Orlesian wardens and chevaliers would die and/or never enter the kingdom, and Cailan, who Loghain perceived as a threat for trusting the Orleisans, would die with them.
The dlc Return to Ostagar is supposed to further prove that Cailan sent for reinforcements and wanted to wait for them, but Loghain kept the Grey Wardens and the cavaliers out because of his fear and paranoia against the Orlesians.
I mean, it’s one of the few things Wynne is actually right about (lol). Cailan was pretending to be a boob to keep everyone’s morale up. But he knew they were going to die. Because of Loghain.
Cailan congratulated my character on becoming a Grey Warden yesterday, and for the first time, I chose the line, “I don’t feel that special.” And Cailan answered, “Oh, but you are. Every Grey Warden is needed now more than ever.”
What’s really sad is that … Cailan was right. Cailan, the guy who everyone thinks is this big boob, was actually RIGHT about the Blight and the necessity of the Grey Wardens and the chevaliers. And it’s Loghain who is wrong, because Loghain will always see Cailan as little more than a child hopping around asking for war stories. One of the guards by the royal tent says Loghain has known Cailan “since he was swaddled” and talks to him however he pleases. That line alone perfectly demonstrates how Loghain views Cailan through the “father filter” and sees him as little more than a hyper boy whose real father failed him. So of course Loghain isn’t going to bow to a kid he perceives as a foolish child and a traitor for not only trusting the Orlesians (who he will always view as the enemy) but also considering marriage to the empress.
What’s really great about the battle of Ostagar, though, is that the line is so blurry, it’s easy to say the exact opposite: that Cailan really was a boob and Loghain was protecting his people.
Personally, I lean in favor of Cailan putting on an act.
