With a single generation between the Orlesian defeat in Ferelden, and Cailan Theirin’s own crowning, there’s still a lot of bad blood between the newly-independent nation and its former oppressor. As we learn in the Return to Ostagar DLC, Cailan was not only trying to open borders between Ferelden and Orlais to boost the war effort against the darkspawn, he was also making overtures to Empress Celene for a more permanent alliance between the two nations. A diplomatic move, to be sure, but one which Loghain as war veteran and general of the Fereldan armies cannot accept. And while Loghain’s eleventh-hour antics to pin the blame of the Blight on the Orlesians ultimately fail, he cannot be the only one to still feel some xenophobia towards Orlais.
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