He sees the entirely unexpected smile. There's no use in pursuing, in actually offering to waylay Templars to bears and saying that what Alayre's colleagues don't know won't hurt anyone, but he'll remember that smile. It's... shocking. What if Alayre had been Knight-Commander in Kinloch hold instead of Greagoir? His whole life would be-- and that's not really worth dwelling on. The past has happened as it has happened. Karl might be alive, certainly, but every Kirkwall mage would have died without a chance to fight for their freedom.

"Change has to come." It's more a prayer than anything. So many mages are afraid and will bend their necks if the Templars try to force them back into the Circle, and others, the Loyalists, will encourage it. The remainder would die. He can't let that happen.

"But Thedas being whole... That's an entire different set of issues. The Qunari want to expand, the Dalish are mistreated and hunted, the underground has Darkspawn even without an ongoing Blight, and then there's the tiny, ever-so-insignificant detail of Corypheus wandering about. With, if rumors are true, a dragon." And then there's Starkhaven threatening Kirkwall, too, but he's not going to list that.

"You've certainly set your goals low. An admirable trait." It's the gentlest of teases, because he can hear how tired that sigh is. He can feel that tiredness, considering.