Rylen and Cullen were both Templars and in OOC are best friends. What do you think makes them best bros and how are they similar/different? Curious twones are curious. ;)
Hehehe oooo good ask curious twone! I have so much to say on this topic so buckle up, haha.
First off - I think there’s a TON of similarities between Rylen and Cullen that would make them relate to one another. They’re both from common families, for one - which even in an organization like the Templars is a big deal. Alistair mentions feeling caught between the two since he’s a (royal) bastard, and I imagine that commoners like Cullen and Rylen would have faced their own issues.
Couple that with the fact that they both joined the Templars “late” - Cullen at 13, Rylen at 15, and I think they would have had a lot of common experiences because of those two factors. I think that means that their approaches to the Order, mages, Templars, etc., are fairly similar considering their backgrounds and that they joined the Templars late. They still both have firm memories of life at home, outside of the Chantry. I’m certain that did much to influence them both.
Then there’s their personalities - they are both practical, pragmatic problem solvers. If anything, that means their working relationship has to be stellar. They’ll do what needs to be done and think outside the box to accomplish tasks. I feel like that would make them at the very least work well together, but I also like to think it makes them rely on one another maybe more than they would rely on others. I feel like it would have led to a great deal of trust between the two.
Also - they both have dry, sarcastic sense of humors. Reading their war reports, listening to both of them make jokes about Orlesians and jokes along the lines of “other than all of these horrible things happeing everything’s fine” - I just like to picture them sitting around joking and making one another laugh. The snark - the sarcasm - the are-you-kidding-me tones - all so perfect and so similar.
I think their biggest difference has to be trauma. They both went into the Templars to protect, based on their answers. But Cullen obviously has deep trauma - and Rylen not. Or at least - not so much. By all accounts he was stationed at the Starkhaven Circle when it burned down - and is almost certain to have at least some sort of trauma or at the very least survivor’s guilt over it, one would think. It doesn’t seem to be as a deep a trauma as Cullen’s - but he’s sure to have lingering issues from it, right?
Rylen also seems a little less dogmatic in his faith - at least based on (my favorite) line of dialogue that he has at Griffon Wing Keep: “ When the barracks are on fire, [he] will go and get a bucket of water, not [smite] the ashes for the heresy.” I love that little bit - he’s far more practical about it all. Faith is all well and good - but sometimes you need to get down to real work, as he says. Just - perfection.
However get the two of them together, and it’s the ultimate BROTP. They’re my favorite. <3
Thanks for the ask twone, I love talking about my two favorite ex-Templars! You know me so well. xx
