Curate, connect, and discover
I've been watching some videos about plot choices in DA:O and DA2 that I've never seen, and Merrill has this amazing line in the Gallows at the end of Act 3, if you side against her and the mages. It speaks to everything I adore about her character, and sums up the central conflict of the entire Dragon Age series so poignantly:
"If I leave these mages to die, or I help you kill them, what then? Magic can't be made safe, and it can't be destroyed. Fear makes men more dangerous than magic ever could."
That's the thing I love about Merrill. Out of all the mages we encounter throughout the series, on both sides of the mage-templar conflict, Merrill has always been the one who, despite her flaws, or maybe because of them, understands the hard truths about magic that almost no one else seems able or willing to accept.
This line in the Gallows reminds me of another line she has, a banter line with Anders after Justice takes over and almost kills that one girl.
Merrill: Are you all right?
Anders: I nearly killed an innocent girl. How could I be all right? There's no definition of "all right" that fits this state.
Merrill: I'm sorry.
Anders: You're sorry? For me? This could be you. You could be the next monster threatening helpless girls.
Merrill: Anders, there's no such thing as a good spirit. There never was. All spirits are dangerous. I understood that. I'm sorry that you didn't.
Merrill understands that magic is not safe, and will never be safe. And until the rest of Thedas is ready to accept that, the mage-templar conflict will never end. Because until you can accept that there's no silver bullet solution to the problem of dangerous spirits and mages who choose to hurt people, you'll never be willing to do the hard work it takes to co-exist.