For this reason, her romance is more healthy and more fulfilling to the story than any other romance in the game.
In stark contrast, Isabela learns to let down her walls and remains independent but in a healthy way. If anything, she becomes more emotionally dependent on Hawke after losing Keeper Marethari and her clan. Merrill never becomes emotionally independent. When I said Merrill never changes, I think I meant emotionally. This is why she never says she loves Hawke until the end of the game and why she pretends that their romance is just about sex (when in reality, she's really sad if Hawke leaves her for someone else). Isabela is completely emotionally independent, but in such an unhealthy way, she keeps people at a distance for fear of hurting them. This did not hit home for me until I thought about Isabela and how she's the exact opposite. well, gross, that this is presented as something that adult gamers should find attractive. I know there's a lore reason (the elves were physically diminished over time because they lost their magic) but it's still really. Why do all the elves in Dragon Age have the bodies of teenage girls? That's a rhetorical question. It's my belief that Merrill was supposed to be a subversion and a mockery of the trope, but it was so poorly done that she still comes off as just the same plain old trope.Īnd the more I examine this trope, the more I'm disgusted by it.
They did it with Liara and Tali from Mass Effect, and then they did it again with Merrill. She's older than she looks, she's viriginal, she seems like an idiot but she's only half idiot, and she loves and adores the protagonist no matter what.īioWare has done this way too many times. Merrill is essentially the girl trapped in the woman's body. I think my problem is that Merrill is a really annoying, borderline-pedophiliac trope that I'm really, really tired of. She pretends to be an idiot some of the time to get out of conversations she doesn't want (with Carver in particular). I know I wrote a big, long article about how Merrill is an adult who looks like a child and as a result, has to put up with a lot of condescending people.
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