Actually World of Thedas is the most reliable source so far, but you are right: it’s written in the perspective of a Chantry scholar and therefore has Chantry prejudice, especially towards Anders (as you would expect).
Here is what I do know though:
Anders made a total of 7 escape attempts.
World of Thedas Vol.2
- Anders was taken to the Circle when he was 12 years old, he made his first escape attempt 6 months after.
- When Irving asked why he had tried to escape, Anders simply stated that he wanted to go home and Irving took pity on him.
- Anders made no more escape attempts for a year.
- His second escape, it took the Templars 3 weeks to find him.
- His third attempt, it took them an entire month.
- When Anders and Karl became friends and later more, Anders did not make any escape attempts.
- When Irving transferred Karl to Kirkwall, he worried Anders might try to escape and assigned him Templar bodyguards.
- It was only after the Templar assignment Anders escaped again and he was caught in West Hill, trying to get passage to Kirkwall.
- On his sixth escape attempt, Anders was brought back and stuck in solitary confinement for an entire year. **Take note that solitary for even just a day can cause psychological issues, one study showed that monkeys placed in solitary for a year lost all ability to socially interact and another on consenting humans was only able to last for a week.
- After being let out of solitary, Anders escaped for the last time.
Witch Hunt
Finn mentions a mage tried to escape during outdoor exercise time, the mage jumped off the dock and begun swimming to the other shore. The Templars could not go after him with their armor and only found him a week later. This was one of Anders’ escape attempts and afterwards all mages were restricted from outdoor access.
This was likely 4th, 5th, or 6th escape, as it was only after Anders’ 2nd attempt that Irving tried implementing outdoor activities for apprentices and Finn hadn’t heard of Anders after his last attempt. Meaning there was an attempt(s) made after it.
