“Demands of the Qun” is the companion quest forDragon Age: Inquisition’s Iron Bull. Like most of the game’s companion quests, it gives players the opportunity to make some big decisions that impact that story and their relationship with their companion going forward.
“Demands of the Qun” may not be everyone’s most memorable quest (though it should be), but there are some great reasons that it’s one ofDragon Age: Inquisition’s best moral decisions. Ultimately, the quest stands out as it really stresses the “human” factor in so many ways.
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The Quest
Once Iron Bull has at least 35 approval, the Inquisitor can activate his companion quest. The Ben-Hassrath will reach out to the Inquisition to form an alliance. The Ben-Hassrath are a significant portion of the Qunari priesthood, with agents across Thedas. Though he pretends to be aTal-Vashoth, Iron Bull is actually an agent of the Ben-Hassrath who was commanded to live as an undercover mercenary in southern Thedas.
Considering the Qunari Wars and the poor relationshipPar Vollenhas with Thedas, even Iron Bull is surprised that the Ben-Hassrath are directly contacting the Inquisition for a partnership. If the Inquisitor expresses distrust as well, however, they will lose approval with the character. Beneath his jovial exterior, it’s clear that Iron Bull’s commitment to the Qun remains strong.
The premise of the quest is that the Inquisition and the Ben-Hassrath will be working together to intercept a Venatori operation that is smugglingRed Lyriumon behalf of the Tevinter Imperium. To this end, the Qunari send a dreadnought with a 100-man crew. The quest involves one key choice. When the operation goes awry, the player must choose between saving the lives of Iron Bull’s mercenary band, the Bull’s Chargers, or saving the Qunari dreadnought from destruction.
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Iron Bull’s Character Development
There are a few reasons this is one of the best moral choices players are faced with inInquisition. One the surface level, the choice to save the Bull’s Chargers seems more appealing. Iron Bull is the player’s companion, and letting the Charger’s all die in order for an operation to go along as planned seems like a classic “bad"BioWarechoice.
There are also plenty of reasons to be unsympathetic with the Qunari war machine and the Ben-Hassrath. If the player brings Dorian along on the mission, there’s extra dialogue about the war between theTevinter Imperiumand the Qunari. Dorian will comment on the Qunari forcing conversions in the lands they take over. Iron Bull’s approval will go down if the player agrees with these comments, and will go up if the player points out the slave trade in Tevinter.
Nonetheless, there are 100 people onboard the Qunari ship, while the number of mercenaries in the Bull’s Chargers is less than half that size. Not only that, but under Iron Bull, the Bull’s Chargers are also essentially an extension of the Ben-Hassrath and theQunari wareffort. At this point in the story, the Chargers operate mostly as a front that allows Iron Bull to report information from the south back to the Qunari in the north.
In many BioWare companion quests across theMass EffectandDragon Agefranchises, there is a core decision which will greatly influence the player’s approval with that companion. One of the main reasons that the key decision in “Demands of the Qun” is so well-executed, however, is that no matter whether the player chooses to save the Qunari dreadnought or the Bull’s Chargers, they do not lose approval from Iron Bull. In fact, either choice results in Iron Bull greatly approving.
The quest is a fork in the road for Iron Bull as a character. At the moment ofthe Inquisitor’s choice, he is equally loyal to both the Bull’s Chargers and the Ben-Hassrath. He equally approves of either sacrifice, so there is no easy way for the player to tell which choice was the “right” one in retrospect.
Too often inBioWare gamesthe right choices feel obvious. In “Demands of the Qun,” however, players get no easy out. If they sacrifice the dreadnought, they are sacrificing 100 lives and an alliance with the Ben-Hassrath that could be vital to the Inquisition’s success in the future. If they sacrifice the Chargers, they are letting people die for the sake of that political alliance.
Morality And Consequences
The long-term impact of this choice isn’t felt untilInquisition’s final DLC,Trespasser. If the player saved the Chargers, Iron Bull was declared a real Tal-Vashoth for not protecting the interests of the Qun above all else. As such inTrespasser’s final moments, he will side with the Inquisitor against the Ben-Hassrath who are attempting to use the Eluvians for “Dragon’s Breath” - a plan to assassinate much of the leadership of southern Thedas. If the player saved the dreadnought, Iron Bull never falls out with the Ben-Hassrath. He betrays the Inquisitor and must be killed.
When the main choice in “Demands of the Qun” has to be made, there’s no obvious moral option, and in the aftermath of the Inquisitor’s choice, the game reassures them of Iron Bull’s approval regardless. Many BioWare games in the past reward choosing good. Players can rest relatively reassured across most ofMass Effectthat a Paragon Shepard’s good deeds will lead to the best outcomes, for example. “Demands of the Qun” severs morality from consequences entirely. The initial choice is morally murky. The eventual consequences of the decision are unforeseeable, but also make total sense considering the character of Iron Bull.
When BioWare is crafting its bigdecisions inDragon Age 44it needs to do what “Demands of the Qun” does so well, and reflect realistic consequences that are unrelated to morality entirely. Morality should be something players are concerned about, but the consequences of decisions should not be determined by their morality. Just as in real life, “good” decisions should be able to have disastrous consequences, and “evil” decisions should have the potential to lead to greater goods. Only then can players truly find themselves engaging with these dilemmas in-character as instead of on a meta level, immersing them in more realistic, dynamic stories.
