madamebadger:

So the truth is this:

I almost always choose to save the Chargers during Bull’s personal quest, because, I mean, the Chargers! Krem and Skinner and Dalish and Grim and on and on! 

But there’s another reason why I make that choice, and that is this:

Bull has clearly been lying to himself for a very long time, about the Qun. 

You can see it in the way he accepts Cassandra as a woman warrior–okay, yeah, he makes a joke about her gender being dependent on whether she’s armed or not, but that’s clearly a joke. He accepts her, as a warrior, as a woman–something that, for instance, Sten never can come to terms with.

You can see it in the way that he keeps Dalish on his team, that he admires Vivienne, that he is friends with–and potentially lovers with–Dorian. The Qun has very firm opinions on the place of mages, and that place is chained, masked, guarded, brutalized, silent, suicidal. He ought to be comfortable with mages only when they are bridled and silenced–and yet he cossets Dalish, admires Vivienne, is fond of Dorian.

You can see it in the way that he comes to appreciate Cole–even becomes fond of Cole. Under the Qun, spirits are a nasty side-effect of not keeping your mages under control. But Cole is Cole is Cole–Cole is a charmed creature, innocence and bite.

You can see it in the way he sits, alone in the tavern, drinking and living and being. 

His name is hissrad, liar. He lies to everyone, but especially to himself. In the beginning, he told himself this: “Mages are bad, but you must lie to yourself and pretend that they are acceptable. Women may not fight, but you must lie to yourself and pretend that women can be warriors. People have no purpose except that given them by the tamassrans, but you must pretend that the people around you have worth.”

And as time went on, his face stayed the same but his lies changed. “Mages are just people, but you must lie and pretend that they are monstrous. Women may fight, but you must lie and pretend that they cannot. People can find their own purpose, but you must lie and agree that the will of the tamassran is truth.”

The Iron Bull lies, and lies, and lies, always lies. It is who he was, is, will be.

The way to determine his true nature is this: what is he lying about? And what is his truth?