The Grey Wardens possess the Right of Conscription, which demand that any individual from king to criminal can be drafted into their ranks.
Do you remember Anders? Yeah, our apostate, ex-Warden friend. In DAO: Awakening he was recruited to the Wardens thanks to the Right of Conscription, which gave him an immunity to the Chantry’s laws and Templar’s jurisdiction.
The Warden-Commander can choose to use the Right of Conscription to recruit both Anders and Nathaniel Howe.
But then the “short story” happened and Anders had to flee. (BTW: The short story may prove that Anders knew that Justice will never be Justice anymore. And that he can’t do anything with that).
It’s Terminalthrillness’ fanart that you can find HERE.
And after that we as Hawke can meet him in Darktown and “recruit” him. And what does he say then? That he is an apostate, who is wanted by the Templars and the Chantry, but not by a Grey Wardens (but he thinks that they would likely drag him to the Order against his will). Hmm... and when we meet Nathaniel Howe in the Deep Roads, he is only surprised or shocked (depending on whether Anders survived at Vigil’s Keep or not) but not saying anything... ANYTHING about Anders’ escape. He doesn’t blame him or something. So... what does it mean?
In my opinion, it means that Grey Wardens have never given up on him. That's why he is considered as a Grey Warden even after his escape. (Once Grey Warden, always Grey Warden). He is not treated as a deserter. So... what the fuck is wrong with the Chantry!? Why they CAN hunt him? Why Templars CAN hunt him? Because of what? He will be Grey Warden until his death, so what’s the point? Because he is an abomination? Who cares? Grey Wardens, who knew about it, died. Rolan died. And I will NEVER believe that the Warden Commander would not want Anders anymore because of that. First Warden maybe would do it, but not the Warden Commander. Who gave Rolan the right to attack Anders? Maybe he has given this right to himself without asking anyone? (headcanon of mine) I believe so. I believe that he was a traitor, who lied that “the Wardens can’t harbor an abomination”.
But what I truly wanted to say is that it started to bother me even more recently, because in 9:41-44 Dragon (during the Inquisition) the Wardens used the Right of Conscription again.
In response to the Mage-Templar War, the Grey Wardens offered amnesty to any mages or Templars wishing to escape the fighting, on the condition of their taking the Joining and entering the Order. The Wardens also invoked the Right of Conscription on such mage recruits to keep them from being harmed by the Templars.
Then, if Anders survived Act 3, he is now double guarded. Because he has been recruited by Warden Commander (thanks to the Right), has never been accused of escaping the Order and was AGAIN under protection of the Right during the Inquisition. Funny, yeah?
Anders would live without fear. But someone forgot that he is a Grey Warden and cannot be hunted by the Templars, because of the reason: "It would be fun to turn Anders into a terrorist”. Why, Bioware? Why?
