I kinda wish he was, though. Imo, the game could have used one more mage and rogue companion. You have 4-5 warrior options, with 3 standard Warriors (no DW option), and then Dog/Shale, who have the Warrior core talents with unique specs.
But for Mages you only have Morrigan and Wynne who, depending on your choices, might not even be available in the final stretch of the game. Though this isn't TOO big an issue, since the two are opposites, and most roleplayers probably wouldn't lose both. If you are going to kill the mages/defile the Urn, you probably won't be opposed to sexing up Morrigan.
Leliana and Zevran are a bigger issue for me. Primarily because an "aggressive" character might kill Zevran, thinking he would betray you (as he might), then defile the ashes to cause Leliana to turn. They could at least have given Shale the ability to smash open chests. XD