knight-captain ren is an encounterable npc during the events of DRAGON AGE II . he's first seen at the very beginning of hawke's journey , outside the gates of kirkwall , denying access to ferelden refugees. this is the one and only time ren is seen as an ordinary knight-templar ; shortly after his post in kirkwall began, ( somewhere between the prologue & act i ) he caught the eye of one KNIGHT-COMMANDER MEREDITH and jumped the templar ranks to knight-captain , taken under wing as her apprentice.
he is her shadow (always seen in the same cutscenes as her) , her muscle . . . and her FURY. he alone enacts meredith’s will in the form of the rite of tranquility. if hawke aids them, mage refugees whisper of the unspeakable things he has done to their peers. they fear his brutality even more than they do his master. other templar-knights ( particularly , cullen ) express contempt for skipping rank and being the knight-commander’s pet , and rumors begin to surface of him being an escaped grey warden.
his loyalty to meredith and the templar order appears unwavering throughout the events of the game, though his appearance changes subtly. as a knight-templar at the gates, ren is pristine and his dark eyes sparkle with fervor & devotion. he progressively becomes more unkept: dark circles encircle dulled eyes , his cheeks become gaunt , his hair unkempt, and his uniform no longer bears the polished templar emblem. by the end of act iii , the knight-captain is nothing more than a hollowed shell of the man he once was. the sparkle has been put out for good. a visible , red aura hangs from him and red lyrium crystals may even be cresting the surface of his skin.
in the final battle , ren does the unexpected : he turns against his master. while meredith reveals the lyrium sword , hawke can see the knight-captain slowly maneuver behind her , into her shadow , with a hand poised on the hilt of his weapon , ready to strike.
2 choices are presented to hawke: remain silent & allow the apprentice to kill his master or stop him by making meredith aware of ren’s position.
if allowed to kill meredith himself , ren will express his thanks to the champion of kirkwall before escaping through the city gates and into the free marches.
the second choice results depend on whether hawke supported the mages or the templars. if hawke supports the mages , knight-captain ren is immediately killed by his master’s hand. if hawke supports the templars , ren is merely wounded , distracting meredith long enough for hawke to engage in combat and put an end to the woman’s tyranny over kirkwall.
in this ending , after the combat has ended , a wounded ren is seen crawling up to the remains of the lyrium sword . he picks up the ruined hilt . when the camera pans back to his face , his wounds are mysteriously healed and there’s a sinisterly bright glow emanating from the crystals protruding from him. he flees kirkwall , that awful red aura trailing him.