So... IS Anora barren or not?

[Shgon Dunstan]

Just about to the Landsmeet, and trying to decide whether or not to hook her up with Alistair.

It's just... At the end of the day, that is kind of a pretty huge deal with the whole thing. One of the larger contributing factors in starting the whole mess in the first place. Not quite as large as simply the fact that she is the daughter of a son of a ♥♥♥♥♥, but pretty high up there.

[Stormsong]

AFAIK she's a perfectly healthy but "aging" (looked young to me, but then Loghain didn't look ancient either) queen.

So if she barren? Nope. I think the concern was about increasing difficulties with a successful pregnancy if she gets much older, that's all.

[Shgon Dunstan]

But is it certain?

On the one hand, she can help bring stability, but on the other hand... Nothing brings instability to a kingdom like the lack of a clear line of succession.

The main reason it is hard to believe Cailan anything but the fool he seemed to be is simply how easy it would of been for him to make clear who was in charge should he die in the fighting.

...Though honestly, that whole side of things is a tad weird. Most seem to want her over a bastard like Alistair, and yet have no issue with Loghain out and out declaring her unfit to rule by appointing himself regent.

The game seems to be under the idea that "regent" means "chef advisor" or some such... It doesn't.

[Smoke Eater]

Originally posted by Shgon Dunstan:

But is it certain?

On the one hand, she can help bring stability, but on the other hand... Nothing brings instability to a kingdom like the lack of a clear line of succession.

The main reason it is hard to believe Cailan anything but the fool he seemed to be is simply how easy it would of been for him to make clear who was in charge should he die in the fighting.

...Though honestly, that whole side of things is a tad weird. Most seem to want her over a bastard like Alistair, and yet have no issue with Loghain out and out declaring her unfit to rule by appointing himself regent.

The game seems to be under the idea that "regent" means "chef advisor" or some such... It doesn't.

part of the reason the people were okay with loghain is he was literally the best general the nation had seen aswell as best friends with the hero king and father of the queen
vs alistair who is king by blood but looked at as an idiot and grey warden puppet

[SeekUtopia]

In the past, when couples did not produce children, a common excuse was to blame the woman being 'barren'. Was she really though? There's no real way to tell unless you had some invasive medical procedure or magic done.

[Shgon Dunstan]

Originally posted by Illusiveman:

Originally posted by Shgon Dunstan:

But is it certain?

On the one hand, she can help bring stability, but on the other hand... Nothing brings instability to a kingdom like the lack of a clear line of succession.

The main reason it is hard to believe Cailan anything but the fool he seemed to be is simply how easy it would of been for him to make clear who was in charge should he die in the fighting.

...Though honestly, that whole side of things is a tad weird. Most seem to want her over a bastard like Alistair, and yet have no issue with Loghain out and out declaring her unfit to rule by appointing himself regent.

The game seems to be under the idea that "regent" means "chef advisor" or some such... It doesn't.

part of the reason the people were okay with loghain is he was literally the best general the nation had seen aswell as best friends with the hero king and father of the queen
vs alistair who is king by blood but looked at as an idiot and grey warden puppet

The issue is all the love they supposedly have for said queen... You know, the queen he just walks in, openly declares incompetent, and steals the thrown right out from under before her husbands body is even cold.

And you know, she openly lets him, and is supportive of this action.

And yet they still want her as queen.

Add to that that she is the daughter of a "former" commoner who was best friends with the hero king... Who just so happened to marry the hair to the thrown, and... Oh look, the king is dead... And guess who she just up and let grab power? Her father. The general who ran from the fight that killed the king.

... Given that a blind man could see that the woman looks either guilty as all sin, or a complete and utter moron. The fact that they want her as queen out of love is freaking weird.

Originally posted by SandeepHC:

In the past, when couples did not produce children, a common excuse was to blame the woman being 'barren'. Was she really though? There's no real way to tell unless you had some invasive medical procedure or magic done.

Oddly it doesn't really say on her page in the wiki, but trying to look a bit deeper into it, I followed the link to her DAI codex entry, and she still hasn't been able to have any kids.

So... Even with Cailan out of the picture, and after like ten years of-if she has any sense at all quite a LOT-trying, she still hasn't been able to produce an heir, and is apparently forty by then.

... This isn't some womenslib issue. This is a "nobles are a pack of rabid hungry wolves who will rip the country apart piece by bloody piece if given even half a reason" issue.

[xanadu77]

It really can't be a taint issue since if you had either Allistar, Logan, or yourself sleep with Morrigan to save your butts at the end of the game since she became pregnant with somebodies kid.

[Smoke Eater]

Originally posted by xanadu77:

It really can't be a taint issue since if you had either Allistar, Logan, or yourself sleep with Morrigan to save your butts at the end of the game since she became pregnant with somebodies kid.

not true morrigan specifically states the ritual she preformed is what guarnteed the child

[Scottx125]

She's not barren. However if Anora is married to the Warden or Alister. Being a grey warden whilst improving your... performance. Reduces your fertility. Plus Anora might not want to have sex let alone raise a child with Alister or the Warden. Plus she really has not aged going by how she looks in Inquisition xD!

[Taiwan Number One]

I'm not sure if Anora is barren, but she certaintly is frigid.

[Bloomingtide]

Originally posted by SandeepHC:

In the past, when couples did not produce children, a common excuse was to blame the woman being 'barren'.

Exactly. And I'm pretty sure it was Cailan shooting blanks or otherwise there would be a lot of Theirin bastards with how much he slept around.

[Shgon Dunstan]

Originally posted by machinehuntress:

Originally posted by SandeepHC:

In the past, when couples did not produce children, a common excuse was to blame the woman being 'barren'.

Exactly. And I'm pretty sure it was Cailan shooting blanks or otherwise there would be a lot of Theirin bastards with how much he slept around.

... What sleeping around?

He was planing to divorce her in favor of the Orlesian Empress, but that isn't the same thing. To be honest, it would of likely been the best thing for Fereldan, particularly given the Blight.

The biggest problem with Cailan, is that even the writers don't seem to quite know what is going on in that head of his. Whenever it looks like he might be doing something for any particular reason, he goes and just shoots that reasoning in the foot for seemingly no reason at all.

[Bloomingtide]

He had multiple affairs with women (serving girls etc) It is a well known fact stated a couple of times in the game. Anora is one of them telling you about it.

[Rylanor the Unyielding]

It does look a lot like she is a commoner who is barren.
She was married to Calin for all those years, and she was not with child.
if she marries Alistair she doesn't have any children in inquisition which is 10 years later.
making her about 40 years old meaning even if she was fertile, her fertility would be extremely bad then.

Who knows, perhaps that's why Calin was sleeping around and Courted the Empress and wanted to divorce Anora. It was stated in-game that Calin was smitten with Anora, but he is still a King with a duty to produce an heir for the security of the nation. This actually makes a lot of sense why he would Court the Empress, not only of the political advantages and the unification of two nations but also producing an heir who is of both Fereldan and Orlesian royal blood would be a strong unifier. While Calin seems like a good-hearted fool, thinking of all this, it's possible he was playing the fool. When you return to Ostager with Loghain, Loghain is furious to see he was Courting the Empress, but before the battle of Ostagar, he rejects King Calins proposal to wait for reinforcements from the Orlesians. It's also mentioned that King Calin knew the battle was hopeless despite all his Bravado, but both Ducan and the King expected Loghain to charge in the Darkspawns rear, where they likely would have made their exit.

So the more I think about it, the more it seems Anora was, in fact, Barren, and King Calin was courting the Empress for political reasons, for an heir and for aid against the Blight, all of which Loghain hated. So it does sound an awful lot like regicide, allowing for Loghains attempt of a power grab from his daughter's title. Otherwise, why blame the Wardens if he truly wanted to rebuild Fereldans forces and defeat the Blight?
Let's not forget how Loghain signed off on Arl Howes betrayal on the Cousland family, one of the most powerful and loyal nobles to the Fereldan throne. Why is that? Probably because the Couslands would have called Loghain out for treason and regicide.

There's also this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pS36ZcUj7I

[Nighinn]

We never get any answers to that. It's just as likely that Cailan was sterile. In older times, as someone else said, the woman most often got the blame even if she later got kids with someone else and the first man never had any children. In DA:O and the later games we never get any definitive answers who was really to "blame" for the couple's infertility, only that some people seemed to blame Anora for it. Since Cailan never got the chance to divorce her and marry the empress of Orlais, we can never know if he could have had any children with her.

Originally posted by machinehuntress:

He had multiple affairs with women (serving girls etc) It is a well known fact stated a couple of times in the game.

It was Cailan and Alistair's father, Maric, that was the one having lots of affairs (hence, Alistair's birth - and the story was that his mother was a serving girl, but she really wasn't).

[BDK]

This is how Alistair looks in DA2 ... LOL
https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/141/images/2910-1-1319822714.jpg