Hee - I just played it too. And I felt exactly the same way. A dark, dark mission, but incredibly interesting.

Alistair's a champion, no doubt. He does so much on his own, despite all his self-doubt. His strength, his dedication - He only needed a little bit more time or maybe a little bit more help to defeat the entire Blight. It showed that he's the Hero's partner, not her/his lackey.

And I thought the same thing about the golems and werewolves! I wonder if maybe Alistair didn't have a choice in recruiting them? The Warden has to get involved in the dwarves/mages/elves personal/political quests before they honor the contracts; maybe Alistair arrived after all that shit went down?