The Threnhold family assumed its foreboding control of the city at the very onset of the Dragon Age, less than a week after Maric Theirin retook the Ferelden throne from Orlais. Since this was followed by a civil war in Antiva (the much-maligned "Three Queens" era) and a coup in the Tevinter Imperium, many thought that the Dragon Age would bring devastating change. Perhaps this was a hasty estimate, but it was true for Kirkwall. Viscount Chivalry Threnhold was a vicious thug who took power through a campaign of intimidation, and his son Perrin who succeeded him in 9:14 Dragon Age was even worse.