I have finally read Blue Wraith and Dark Fortress and I literally do not understand people who think Fenris was out of character, or had regressed in his character development throughout the comics.
Firstly; mages. Yes, when Fenris first meets Francesca he is weary of her, but I wouldn't say Fenris ever truly got over being weary of mages in da2. He came to understand that some mages can be trusted (Hawke, Bethany) but was willing to fight for the innocent circle mages (dependent on Hawkes choices) but he ALSO saw a close member of his friendship group blow up a chantry, and he perceives that what happened to Merethari (and possibly the whole clan) as Merrill's fault for her blood magic.
Besides which, Fenris is shown to be WAY LESS weary of mages than he used to be!! He begins to trust Francesca almost immediately, is telling her she has a good heart by the end of Blue Wraith, defending her when she needs it. He does not look at her and see "evil mage" or even "dangerous mage" like he would have about a mage of her power from TEVINTER no less, at the beginning of da2. Instead he gets close to her rather quickly.
Secondly; I know people get upset about this panel:
But Fenris has legitimate reasons to feel prickly about joining a new friendship group. In his old friendship group, he found love and friendship in Hawke and Isabela, in Varric, Aveline, Donic, Sebastian, Bethany and even perhaps Merrill, Carver and Anders. And then that friendship group ripped itself apart from the inside out. It exploded into chaos taking Fenris's home which he had built for himself; the first true home he could remember, with it. Fenris has every right to feel anxious about getting involved with new people. He has every right to feel "used" in some ways, particularly if he was brought on any of the "Justice" quest lines in Act 3 of DA2.
Fenris isn't a static character who's fully healed by the end of da2. He deserves to feel upset that he and his friends had to go their separate ways. He deserves to feel betrayed by what happened, by the destruction of his home.
And besides that, Blue Wraith and Dark Fortress both showed all the ways Fenris has grown. He has the same emotionally maturty he would display in da2, quickly apologising when he needs to. But he ALSO directs that sort of emotional maturity outwards now. He is not directly antagonistic to mages, or to those who defend them, like he was with Anders and Merrill. He offers comfort to those who need it, particularly at the end of the book, and seems to fill a "tired Dad/Older Brother" energy.
Also I cannot believe people don't see what happened with the Person He Does Not Kill in Dark Fortress as showing his character development throughout the end of da2 and blue wraith, when its basically an exact parallel to what happens in A Bitter Pill except he MAKES A DIFFERENT DECISON THIS TIME. like!!! Come on!!!
Overall this duo of comics was wonderful! I haven't even touched on the extra characters who I would 100% die for (particularly Sir Aaron and Francesca). I seriously recommend it and am just ??? At anyone who thinks it does Fenris dirty. I thought it was a perfect depiction of Fenris, I could even hear his dialogue in Fenris's voice it fit him so well.











