I really like the Iron Bull. I would drink with a guy like him in real life. We’d have each other’s backs if one of us gave a shit. That’s why I can’t stop thinking about how badly his action RPG story ended Dragon Age: Inquisitionand why I’m revisiting the ways this ties in with how poorly marginalized cultures are treated in BioWare’s sprawling series.
The Iron Bull is a companion that appears to offer aid to your character’s army at the start, when it’s still simple a small peacekeeping force before it does solid geopolitical unit. He immediately explains that he is a spy from the hostile nation Par Vollen (based on Mongol Horde) and that his bosses have common interests with you.
Look, there’s a screwed up hole in the sky. No one knows how it happened, but it spawns monsters and spews green lightning. The religious people have gone mad, no one seems to be in charge of fixing things, and the only way to seal it away is by using a glowing seal on your hand. Thus you find yourself at the head of a paramilitary force sponsored by the Andrastian Church. Because of your continued heroic actions against the greatest natural disaster this world has ever faced, potential allies from other countries are coming together to see how they can help. This includes the usually hostile Qunari, who are a religious group I’ve been at odds with for most of Dragon Age 2. They value conformity at all costs, have a powerful military, and have expansionist tendencies. Most of the inhabitants of the continent of Thedas do not appreciate being attacked – or horned creatures who do not worship their master and savior… So for the first time in Dragon Age story, the player begins working with the mysterious, dogmatic Qunari as equals.
Iron Bull’s predicament is incredibly relatable
I was excited for Iron Bull to pave the way for international friendship, even if it was through a military alliance. See, his story reminds me a lot of mine. Growing up Chinese in the US was a tough ordeal. Kids would guess that your people were the reason all American jobs disappeared. White people would freak out if our national government sneezed in any direction. I get it too. People feel small and powerless in the face of geopolitical forces beyond their control. It’s easier to project these nasty things onto a human being, and they do – both in Thedas and in real life.
G/O Media may receive a commission
Iron Bull is not just an active Kuhn supporter. He is a secret police officer for the Qunari nation of Par Volen. Despite his membership in a police force that deals with murder and religious re-education, Iron Bull tries to build a life outside of his duties. He believes that Kun is the best political system, but he does not want a holy war. He also likes to drink and have sex despite the religious stigma against hedonism. I feel close to him in this regard as I too choose what I like about being Chinese. Also, I’d rather talk about anime than the Communist Party. But most strangers don’t care what I believe. Like Bull, I have to be armed with an icebreaker for every conversation. We consider ourselves threats until proven otherwise.
Despite the stigma, I like that Bull adheres to his religion and that he is willing to risk his life for it. Why shouldn’t you? Human Templars fight and die for Andrastianism all the time, and that doesn’t mean they’re evil fanatics. My friendship with him on my first run was special because I was playing as a member of his race, albeit one who had never been born into the culture (Vashot). Our lives were different, but we both knew what it was like to be taken for a monster before person.
The quest “Kun’s Requirements” made me worse on the Iron Bull arch
Halfway through my first playthrough of the campaign, Par Vollen tries to push an olive branch, and I find myself extremely engaged with this storyline. When a group is strongly associated with a hostile nation, warming relations leads to less racial discrimination against that group. My character agrees to the joint military operation out of pragmatism. On a more personal level, he wants to live in a world where people don’t assume he’s a threat.
My character will have to learn to live with disappointment. The military operation goes horribly wrong, and the group is presented with a decision: either sacrifice the Iron Bull mercenaries to save the Qunari ship, or sacrifice the mercenaries to save the ship (and thus the Qunari alliance). His surrogate children are basically his found family that exists outside of religious culture. If you choose to save Iron Bull’s mercenaries, then the alliance proposal collapses. The iron bull will be driven from his homeland. His country will send assassins after him after a lifetime of faithful service. damn it
Now I understand that all-or-nothing player choice is a hallmark of BioWare games. Somebody’s got to get screwed. But this choice in “Demands of the Qun” feels particularly forced and… bad? Surely Par Volen would respect the military acumen of one of their most talented officers. If the Iron Bull thought his mercenary group was worth more than one ship, there was certainly room for negotiation. Especially when an alliance with the most powerful military power on the continent is at stake. What happened to the famous Qunari pragmatism?
It gets better. If you don’t forcibly sever his connection with his homeland—if you don’t give up the continent’s first chance for international peace in centuries—then the Iron Bull will turn on you in Trespasser A DLC that is a story-focused epilogue that takes place after you have saved the world from the evil zombie mage Corypheus. You are forced to kill him in battle, figuring out which choice is the most “canonical” for him. I hate this score because Dragon Age has always created a way for players to sacrifice the few to save the many. Now how many Andrastians and Qunari have to kill each other because we couldn’t come up with an alliance? The post-game DLC even makes this sacrifice useless as the Qunari turn on you anyway. Sometimes life bites you in the ass even when you make all the right decisions. That’s something I’ve always respected in BioWare games. But what annoys me is that BioWare has this unfortunate pattern of dehumanizing their marginalized cultures in-universe.
But the search is not about big important issues like peace or sacrifice. It’s about smaller, more personal. Can the Iron Bull prioritize his personal feelings over his loyalty to a dogmatic culture? One of my companions, Solas, makes this even clearer: The Iron Bull is either an independent being or it isn’t. But I don’t care what Solas thinks of the Qunari. He is racist to everyone. I’m interested in what BioWare has to say about this fictional race they turned into a stand-in non-European powers that endangered Christian Europe. Dragon Age never had any respect for non-humans who thought their culture was worth protecting. The Kuhn Demands mission is an extension of this ongoing disdain for non-hegemonic diasporas.
Dragon Ageongoing problem with non-human characters
Take Varric, for example. He was a companion in two wholes Dragon Age games and his character revolves around how much better he is because he never experienced proper dwarven culture like his brother. Come on dude. Aren’t you even? the least A little curious about the intergenerational trauma that shaped your entire family? Apparently No. Coming to terms with family history and giving it up is one thing, but Varrick doesn’t even want to question his Inhuman origins. I always feel conflicted when I see fans lying to him. He is not a “dwarf” character. He is successful because rejecting his heritage makes him non-threatening, like fantasy model minority. Would he still be so beloved if he had strong opinions about the dwarven caste system or cared for the sprawling towers where his family had lived for generations?
And don’t even get me started on Solas, an ancient elven god who wants to bring back his lost civilization by committing genocide against the entire world. Why those bets, BioWare? And why did he make the representative of this incredibly important civilization a a complete fool who apparently has no interest in lives other than his chosen few? Maybe we do Must return Arlatan. Just not on his terms. And Sera the prankster elf? She can’t go five minutes in my group without reminding everyone that she’s not like the other elves.
On the other hand, the human Cassandra Pentagast (who is also a member of the secret police) is narratively rewarded for sticking to her Christian coded faith. When she discovers that her religious organization is corrupt, she has an opportunity to reform it. There is no reformation for extremists like Solas or Iron Bull – unless they are willing to leave an important part of their personality behind.
I wouldn’t care so much about everyone being a perfect saint if we had some well-rounded characters who uphold traditional, non-human values. But unless you are culturally coded as a Christian in Dragon Age universe, attachment to heritage makes you a heretic. And just like the kingdoms of medieval Europe, the only cure for heretics is conversion, exileor death.