cullen should have been replaced in skyhold like all the other npcs w roles who were replaced, like seggrit and the quartermaster. would have given a lot more room to do something w his lyrium storyline than 'lol good guys just power through it and throw things a little bit', to have him step down
Yeah, especially since if you're playing a pro-mage/mage/non-human Quiz one of their first acts as Inquisitor would be removing the Templar they were forced to deal with in Haven from authority. Unless your Inquisitor is staunchly pro-Templar and has no grasp of basic diplomacy they're not going to want Meredith's favourite minion anywhere near their leadership! Also I feel like it would've worked really well if there was a "Right, there's going to be a few changes around here" moment after you're named Inquisitor where Quiz actually gets the chance to step up and use the authority that's just been forced on them whether they like it or not. And again, unless your Quiz is super pro-Templar and also has zero political or diplomatic know-how the first change they'd make would be removing Meredith's right-hand man from the head of their army. Like, that's just really bad PR. The fact that Leliana and Josie let Cassandra get away with that is mind-boggling. There is literally no aspect of this that's a good idea, because even if you're pro-Templar and don't care about how having Cullen in any sort of prominent position is going to alienate anyone who isn't down for all the torture and mass-murder he was openly partaking in in Kirkwall (which would be... most people? Most people were not down for that) the fact that he's either going through serious withdrawal or hooked on magic drugs that are starting to destroy his mind means he's a terrible choice for any position that requires a clear head. Which would definitely include commanding an army. There's no logical reason for Cullen to remain in command once you find better options, and there are multiple better options in your fucking party; sure, if you're not pro-Templar you might not want Cassandra, but Bull and Blackwall both have experience commanding men (maybe neither of them have experience with a full army, but they're both gonna be better than Cullen for anyone who isn't prepared to play Coddle The Templar) and Varric and Leliana both know people with experience in positions of command! You have options, and the potential Inquisitors who'd be happy with Cullen's leadership and presence are few, and yet there's no option to get rid of him beyond a lukewarm "Well maybe if he wants to step down he should be allowed to" that Quiz backs down on when Cassandra gets pissy about the suggestion that maybe someone who doesn't want to be in command and clearly isn't in any fit state for it should be replaced.
God, so much of DAI would work better if the game just committed to the initial setup of you being stuck on Cassandra's leash instead of trying to pretend you have absolute control over the situation when you clearly don't. Bioware admit that the cops in your games are shitty people challenge.
