Madame Vivienne is Awesome
Many seem to think she’s this arrogant, power hungry bitch who doesn’t care for anyone else, but there’s actually a lot more to her than that.
When asked about what her life was like in the Circle, Vivienne clearly states that there is no universal answer to what Circle-life is like; each mage has an entirely unique experience, and so their perceptions of the Circle are shaped by their own experiences. She readily admits that life in the Circle was beneficial to her, and that she actually doesn’t remember her life before she lived there.
Like Leliana and Josephine, Vivienne is a master of the Grand Game, and manages to change the position of Court Enchanter. Previously, it had essentially been a glorified court jester, but Vivienne steps into the role and turns it into an advisory position to the crown, effectively becoming magical advisor to Empress Celene. This is in spite of the fact that mages are not technically allowed to hold political positions.
From the moment she’s introduced, Vivienne is portrayed as someone who wants to Get Shit Done. She wants to join the fledgling Inquisition because like her, they want to actually fix the problem instead of just complain about it. If the Herald says that the Mage/Templar War benefits no one, Vivienne agrees. She sees the Rebel Mages’ actions as selfish, not because it took away some of her privileges, but because they show little to no regard for what the conflict is doing to the civilian populace. People have been killed, injured, or forced from their homes in the name of someone else’s war.
An undercurrent of Vivienne’s views on magic is responsibility; she openly acknowledges the potential dangers of magic, as indicated by her quote “Magic is dangerous, just as fire is dangerous, anyone who forgets this truth gets burned.” In essence, she’s saying that mages are responsible for controlling their own power, both for their sake and everyone else’s, and in her eyes the Rebel Mages aren’t. And given what we see of the apostates in the Hinterlands, she’s right. Fiona and her people are hidden away in Redcliffe, and the ones you actually fight are just thugs attacking everyone who comes close, be they Templars or otherwise. Any power can be destructive if controlled poorly, and Thedas’ magic is a prime example of this.
Her dialogue is also very telling of her character:
“In my own experience, nothing is more deadly to a young mage than a lack of knowledge.” Coupled with her first quest being tracking down books stolen from the Circle library, and her status as a scholar, this indicates that Vivienne is a believer in education for mages, likely as a means of better understanding magic and how to control it.
“Kirkwall gave the world a reason to remember its fear of magic. A mage killed hundreds with a snap of their fingers. Across Thedas, a new tangible fear of magic grew. Commoners and nobles alike called out to the Chantry for protection. But the malcontents in the towers thought nothing of this.” I’ve talked about how Anders’ actions only made the mages’ situation worse in Southern Thedas before, but this makes that point perfectly. Widespread fear of magic benefits no mage; not Vivienne, not Wynne, not Merrill, not Dorian, not Bethany, no one. Most mages you have as companions in these games don’t want people to fear mages, they want people to RESPECT them. Yes, there is a potential for danger with magic, both its destructive force and its inherent risk of demons, but blind fear won’t help anyone, and Vivienne seems to understand this better than others.
