After Moira was killed and Maric's whereabouts were unknown, Rowan refused to believe that he had been killed and persistently used her cavalry to search for him. She finally found Maric, as well as Loghain, not long after the two had left the Korcari Wilds. Later, during a battle against the Orlesians in which Loghain led some of the rebels in a tactical maneuver that would have meant certain death, Rowan defied her father's wishes and rode to the rescue, saving Loghain and personally slaying the Orlesian commander. In the following years, Rowan and Loghain struggled to drum up support for the rebel cause, her pleas often winning over those of the nobility who remembered better times.

During these years, Rowan grew close to both Maric and Loghain. For much of her life she had been infatuated with Maric, but her feelings for him were unrequited despite their betrothal: Maric cared for her, but not in a romantic way. However, her relationship with him soured when he entered into a relationship with the elf, Katriel, and Loghain admitted his own feelings toward Rowan, which she initially rebuffed. At the disastrous battle of West Hill, Rowan and Loghain abandoned the rebel army in order to rescue Maric. After that, Katriel suggested that they should use the Deep Roads to get back to Gwaren where the rebel army had fled. Rowan was opposed to the idea, though she consented to it in the end. During their journey through the Deep Roads, she came to terms with Maric and Katriel's relationship. Loghain, once again, reaffirmed his feelings for her, and the two became lovers.