pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

"The scandal was rather delicious, my dear. Think of it: all the times Halward has bragged about his talented son, how the boy would one day be the next Archon! Not bloody likely. I hear they had to hire thugs to invade some vulgati lord’s estate to get him back. Seven guardsmen killed, and they find the boys in bed, so wrapped up in their effort they didn’t even realize men were dying right outside their door. This must be why the Pavus boy still isn’t married, after all this time. Halward has held onto that betrothal for how long? All the while, the Everens could have married their girl off to someone actually interested. It’s too rich. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving family."

—Correspondence between magister rivals of Halward

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"The difference between him and me is that he’s never known anything else. He grew up in this orderly world you all made, and it all makes sense to him, people make sense, and he thinks that if he does the right thing, then everything will work. He’s been in Seheron for ten years trying to make everything work, telling himself that he’s the tool you made him to be, doing the job he was meant to do. He hunted down and killed his old commander. He killed civilians working for the rebels. There are times I’m grateful for those Tevinter mages coming in to attack. At least Hissrad doesn’t have to argue with himself after he kills them.

Now he killed the Tal-Vashoth who killed those children, and he broke himself doing it. He thinks it’s his fault, that he failed to live up to the demands of the Qun. But we all know that isn’t really true, is it? Seheron was a mess. We and Tevinter made certain of that. We grind ourselves down until we end up dead or turning Tal-Vashoth, and Hissrad would rather die than do that.

He’s a good man. He believes in you. You owe him better than what you’ve done to him."

—Post-mission deposition from team member Gatt on mental state of his commander, Hissrad

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For the next two years, Dorian drifted from one part of the Imperium to the next, living off the funds of distant relatives or whatever companions he encountered. Meanwhile, Hissrad could live a simple life as a Tal-Vashoth mercenary, using his own brutish appearance as the perfect disguise to hide his nature as a Ben-Hassrath spy. Knowing his dislike for hurting those he considered civilians, the Ben-Hassrath installed him in a role that was purely observational, sending reports on anything he deemed worth noting for his superiors.