Warning: Spoilers Off applies to these pages. Proceed at your own risk.
WMG items for Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Jossed WMGs
- His name means "pride" and he comes from a time when elves and spirits were considered equals, and that name would have been taken quite literally.
- Then he breaks almost every established lore or rule about spirits in the DA universe.
- Yeah, he points out that all of that's wrong, though.
- Not all, not even close to all, just some. Indeed on Cole's personal mission Solas is very clear that he sees spirits and mortals as two very different things so I doubt he'd want to blur the lines himself. And indeed him being a spirit would rather torpedo the Elven gods plotline.
- We also have the connection between the Old Gods and the Titans. Both can be heard singing. One of the Old Gods in the Western Approach is said to sleep within a Thaig. Both have a presence in both the physical world and the Fade, since Lyrium is found both in the Fade and the physical world and is the blood of the Titans.
- Hard to say however whether such things are indicative of something in-universe or just the narrative flow of the story.
- As of Trespasser, we learn that Solas banished the Evanuris into the Fade after they killed Mythal.
- In any case there is no evidence so far that the Evanuris and the Tevinter Old Gods are connected.
Much is made of the threat the Qunari pose to Thedas and (when they're the ones talking) the inevitability of their victory. But I contend that they are far less impressive than they are made out to be. First, every Qunari agent we've met has second thoughts or doubts and at least one (possibly two, depending on what Tallis did next) can decide to leave. The Bull notes that the Qunari's leaders have not been able to satisfactorily explain why they lost the last war despite the fact that, according to their beliefs, following the Qun should have guaranteed victory. The evidence supports the idea that, despite gathering converts in some places, they are losing a lot of people to Tal-Vashoth; Tal-Vashoth are a constant problem on Seheron, they had to come up with a name for the descendants of those who left the Qun, proving that it doesn't always lead to madness and in Dragon Age 2 even the personal troops of the Arishock went Tal-Vashoth by the dozen. If Sten is the new Arishok the comics show him to still care too much about his friends to put the Qun over them. All this suggests a sense of doubt creeping into the heart of their supposedly unified society. This is also supported by the simple fact that it's been two centuries since the Llomeryn Accords and they haven't made a single advance in territory nor really made any effort to do so.
One is also not impressed by their supposed military might. They've been fighting in Seheron for 200 years and not only have they failed to expel the forces of Tevinter (which is, let's remember, a broadly spent power compared to the likes of Orlais and Nevarra) but they've actually created more enemies. In Origins an elite group of top level soldiers was surprised and massacred down to one man while on a scouting mission by an outlying group of Darkspawn before the main horde was even out of the Korcari Wilds. One of the much touted Dreadnoughts was wrecked in a storm while another will be destroyed by three(!) mages if not supported by a group of non-Qunari mercenaries. The only military success we've seen from them is taking over a city that has no army when already inside it and holding it for a few hours before one guy/girl and a handful of his/her friends cut through their ranks to their leader and possibly killing him.
Basically the Qunari come across as talking a good game and most of them probably believing it, to a point, but being significantly less hot stuff than they claim to be.
- The Iron Bull, in a conversation with Dorian about the Tevene/Qunari conflicts, says that despite the priesthood not having an adequate explanation for why the Qun hasn't conquered the world yet, as far as the military goes, before the arrival of Corypheus, the conflicts they were involved in barely counted as border skirmishes, and that things would be much different if they wanted to declare another war. It isn't said why they haven't declared war (The Iron Bull says they are waiting for something, but he doesn't know what), but given that we know little about what is happening in Par Vollen, it is likely that while the Qun is far away from taking over Thedas, another Qunari Wars with the southern nations would be far from a Curb-Stomp Battle for the south.
- Oh I never imagined a Curb-Stomp Battle, just that the Qunari are considerably less impressive than they think. While certainly the Qunari have only fought in skirmishes that doesn't change the fact that even their best (like the Arishock's personal troops and Sten's elite party) seem to lose as much as if not more than they win. And the Qunari certainly want Seheron and, by what the Bull and Fenris tell us, are getting no closer to properly controlling it. In fact it's getting more and more chaotic. I also stand by the idea that they have serious internal social issues, what with the constant haemorrhaging of people to Tal-Vashoth even from their best (the Arishock's troops again, Tallis' mentor, potentially the Bull, possibly Tallis herself etc). There's also lots of doubt and indecision among those who stay. As I said earlier the former Sten in the comics ends up helping Alistair despite the Qun because he's his friend and at one point Cole lets us know that the Tamarasssan who trained the Bull is actually glad he got out.
- The upcoming "Trespasser" DLC will make or break this guess, given that the Qunari are the main antagonists. The Qunari will be invading and coming in force after the Inquisition, and the trailer presents this as the Inquisitor's darkest hour. (Though the Qunari aren't the only factor behind that.) It also appears that the Qunari have taken control of the Eluvians and are using them as military staging grounds - a frightening prospect should they succeed.
- Indeed. Either this will prove me wrong by presenting the Qunari as a great threat or prove me right by allowing the Qunari to be defeated within the space of a DLC. We shall see.
- The Qunari in Trespasser are far from toothless, but they don't get the best showing here. True, they've infiltrated the Inquisition, come up with a pretty good plan to conquer the South and are clearly being set up as major antagonists in the next installment. But they lose both the Eluvians and their lyrium supply - potentially game-changing factors - and spend a lot of time jobbing to Solas, who's being set up as an even bigger antagonist.
- Indeed. I (original poster for reference) stand by my theory for now. [The Qunari are only as big a threat as they are in Trespasser because they're making use of Elven magic, which is in and of itself a betrayal of their beliefs. That rather backs up my points about their current crisis of faith. Also the Inquisition or in fact just the Inner Circle, put pay to their plans with the only outside help being Solas providing one clue. Also, once the plan is shot, they back off. My guess is DA 4 will be the fight against Solas with any Qunari shenanigans being a side story. We'll see.
Building on the above point: Given the evidence that a god can ride shotgun in a mortal (See Flemeth/Mythal) it's possible that the reason the city was empty was that Corypheus was not the first magister to arrive - his competition beat him there, and the Forgotten Ones had taken up new residencies in mortal bodies. Or it could be Corypheus was playing host to one of these Forgotten Ones himself, and not know it. Or he knows and forgot. It may be best to take any observations from Corypheus with a grain of salt though - he's not exactly the most mentally-stable or objective of sources.
To add further: It's also possible that the "dead whispers" that Corypheus heard when he entered the Black City was actually the Blight (or MAYBE, The Forgotten Ones, who I am getting more and more convinced are the Abstract Apotheosis of the Blight) teasing him the same way the Well of Sorrows whispers in your head, and since he's not exactly knowledgeable of the TFO's lore, he couldn't decipher what they were saying (according to what Morrigan will say if you drank from the Well instead of her). So him being the carrier of the original Blight is actually him carrying out the TFO's orders... them being the representatives of disease and pain and all that.
- If this turns out to be correct, Flemeth/Mythal's ability to turn into a High Dragon suddenly is extremely key. And Flemeth/Mythal's desire to have a Warden-spawned reincarnation of the Old God becomes much more understandable...
- Also note the iconography and statues of Mythal. Pretty draconic, wouldn't you say? Also reminiscent of the depictions of Andraste. Another note is how Arlathan and Tevinter is very much the same. You have priests with magic ruling over slaves in the name of gods. It might even be that the target for Mythal's vengeance is the Maker.
- This also explains why Solas was so freaked out by the Grey Wardens planning to kill Old Gods in their sleep before any darkspawn get to them. He wanted his old pals banished, not killed.
- Another parallel: The Maker is said to have imprisoned the Old Gods underground, which was also what Fen'Harel did to the elven gods. It even fits the "7 Old Gods, 2 surfacers" part.
- If this theory is true, then the Elven Pantheon would be even worse in hindsight. The Tevinter Imperium may be nothing more than the fallen Elven gods petty revenge against their former upstart slaves who dared to rebel against them.
- A match-up between the seven Tevinter Old Gods and the Seven Elven Gods Who Are Not Fen'Harel Or Mythal needs to be made to give this hypothesis more credence.
- Dumat, the Dragon of Silence and the archdemon of the First Blight=Dirthamon, the god of Secrets, who gave the elves the gift of knowledge. May match up with Dumat giving away knowledge of blood magic. Zazikel, the Dragon of Chaos and the archdemon of the Second Blight=Andruil, whose codex in Mythal's temple says she went mad, known as "blood and force." Toth, the Dragon of Fire and the archdemon of the Third Blight=Elgar'nan, god of the sun (fire?) and vengeance. Sylaise, the harthkeeper-fire. She gave the elves fire and taught them to heal. Andoral, the Dragon of Slaves and the archdemon of the Fourth Blight=June, the god of crafts. Slaves would be in charge of doing such work one would think. Urthemiel, the Dragon of Beauty and the archdemon of the Fifth Blight=Sylaise, god of domestic arts. Sister to Andruil. Razikale, the Dragon of Mystery=Dirthamen, the keeper of secrets. Lusacan, the Dragon of Night= Falon'Din, the god of the Beyond and twin to Dirthamen. Mythal, who is Flemeth and Solas, who is Fen'Harel. Ghilan'nain is harder to place as the mother of monsters and halla, and goddess of navigation. Night, on a stretch. Chaos, as something that monsters cause. Slaves, as she may have once been one before being raised to goddess-hood.
- If you read the Astrarium Codex lends credence to this theory as it mentions Tenebrium is attributed to both Falon’Din AND Lusacan. Of course the Silentir constellation is linked to Mythal and Dumat which raises more questions then answers yet it might explain how Flemeth knew the Dark Ritual to capture the Archdemon's untainted soul during Origins. Mythal told Flemeth of its use in escaping Dumat's death at the end of the First Blight.
- As of the Trespasser DLC this one seems to be Jossed. The Elven gods were mortal mages that became powerful enough to be viewed as gods but were sealed away from the world when Fen'Harel (AKA Solas) created the Veil. As such they are not the Old Gods, who are demonstrably not stuck in the Fade.
- Not necessarily. They may not be Old Gods, but they were still powerful enough to be viewed as gods and we do know of one elven god who can turn into a dragon...
- Taking this one step further... the Elven Gods might have been what Keiran had been, a mortal mage who houses the soul of an Old God not unlike the Abominations of demonic possessions. This could explain why the Evanurius went mad in the end if what befell them was any similar to Anders, gone mad with power or their purpose was corrupted by the weak hearts of mortals. Mythal was the only one who remained relatively sane and moral which is why Solas is so loyal to her: she literally was the best of them as she wasn't overcome by deprivation. Which means the Eighth Old God stricken from history would be Flemeth as that's exactly what happened to Mythal! She was struck down by seven of the Evanuris. By creating the Veil these seven were banished to the Fade. From within the Fade they may have only been able to influence the world as Spirits and Demons do by possessing others only instead of people they chose Dragons this time around. We've seen animal possessions before with the cat and desire demon in Shale's DLC. Which means in a sense the Chantry was RIGHT claiming these were not gods but spirits. Of course whether the original spirits that possessed the Evanuris were actual spirits or gods...
- Sadly, Oghren is not in the game. We can hope a future DLC will incorporate him, however.
- No more DLC and, unfortunately, no Oghren.
- ...the Grand Inquisitor.
- The High Inquisitor or Grandmaster Inquisitor.
- ..."Inquisitor" for short.
- This one is pretty much confirmed by the Aaryn Flynn here.
- ...Prince / Princess Stabbity.
- Somewhat Jossed. While the Inquisitor is called "Inquisitor" frequently, each playable race has it's own unique last name, and the Inquisitor is addressed by this name often in dialogue along with "Inquisitor."
- The one nobody expects. Their chief weapon is surprise... surprise and fear... fear and surprise... Amongst their weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Divine. And nice uniforms of yet-TBA color and design.
- Jossed.
- Then again, now no one will expect them.
- Confirmed; they were bluffing. Only a few subtle ones made it in, though, such as when the Inquisition is invited to Redcliffe by Fiona but discover that no one expected them upon arrival because Gereon Alexius manipulated the timeline so that Fiona never went to Val Royeaux.
- Jossed.
- Warhammer 40,000. For the Empress!
- The Sith Inquisitor storyline.
- The Witch Hunters.
- Tomás de Torquemada.
- The song and dance number is optional.
- They already did it before it was cool, making Song Of Ice And Fire references in Dragon Age: Origins.
- Personally hoping for some Stannis & Tywin shout outs regarding the dissident, rebellious factions from the Inquisitor, myself.
- That's pretty much a given, unless you left Sten to die in Lothering in Origins. The comic book canon does not override the Old Save Bonus but it's otherwise canon.
- Unless I'm mistaken, it is never explicitly stated that he died if you leave him. If BioWare wanted, they could easily say that he somehow escaped.
- Confirmed.
- He would have to be both released from his crow cage in Lothering and have his sword recovered.
- This one's unlikely, since the Inquisition is more-or-less impartial, and you may even be able to side with the Qunari. So maybe you'll be able to kill him, but it's unlikely to be unavoidable.
- Jossed; Sten does not appear in the game at all. He does get mentioned briefly in party banter between Varric and Iron Bull, however.
- And the Warden will be Suddenly Voiced—by the same actor/actress who did their respective voice set, as imported from Origins.
- While that would be lovely, this would have to be sadly Jossed unless BioWare pulls The Other Darrin: Robin Sachs (the voice of the Experienced Human) passed away during the DLC cycle of Mass Effect 3.
- As sad as that is, if they really decide to do this, replacing one actor will probably still be easier than reassembling and recording over 30 versions of the same dialogue.
- Also they'd have to recast if they're keeping the accent changes with DAII. So say goodbye to your Yuri Lowenthal voiced male Dalish elf.
- Not necessarily: they haven't exactly been consistent with their established accents in DAII, after all, and several Dalish elves in it still have American or otherwise not Irish nor Welsh accents. I've gotten the impression that they don't really care of applying it properly and consistently anymore, so I can't see them pulling off The Other Darrin for that reason.
- While that would be lovely, this would have to be sadly Jossed unless BioWare pulls The Other Darrin: Robin Sachs (the voice of the Experienced Human) passed away during the DLC cycle of Mass Effect 3.
- A default female Hawke was seen in the "Enemy of Thedas" trailer, so it looks like Hawke will definitely appear in some capacity.
- Confirmed, in bits. Hawke is indeed in the game and fairly important to the plot.
- Sadly Jossed for the Warden, however. While the Warden was originally planned to be included as Hawke's Warden contact, they had to cut it loose due to, as mentioned above, troubles with finding the right voice actors. However, you can recieve a letter from him/her, so perhaps there is hope he/she will make it into DLC or a sequel.
- Alternatively, all three factions stay separate, but just before the final battle begins, they pull an Enemy Mine against a sudden Darkspawn invasion (a new Blight?) that threatens them all. They fight valiantly but are almost overwhelmed, but then a fifth army swoops in to save them: Grey Wardens riding griffons.
- Assuming the Wardens don't kill them all to prevent spread of the Blight. Swooping is bad, after all.
- Jossed. Though, as Iron Bull mentions, the Qunari were not unaware of the dangers, and sent him to keep tabs on things.
- Also the Qunari had nothing whatsoever to do with starting the war.
- Pretty much.
- Adrian, the Libertarian Fraternity leader
- Unconfirmed; plenty of mages die in the game, though, so he may have been killed and not identified.
- Could also have died at the Conclave.
- Unconfirmed; plenty of mages die in the game, though, so he may have been killed and not identified.
- Alistair
- Partially confirmed. If Alistair remained a Grey Warden, he shows up to aid Hawke and the Inquisitor; the player character doesn't kill him, but the player can by having him perform a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Anders/Justice, provided he survived part two
- Jossed. Anders/Justice does not appear in the game.
- Cassandra (assuming she's not a party member, and even then, maybe)
- Jossed. Cassandra is a full party member and there is no option to kill her.
- A Dalish clan, in its entirety. So far both games have given you the option of slaughtering the Dalish. While not mandatory, it's practically tradition now for some players.
- Depressingly, sort-of confirmed. If the Inquisitor is Dalish, it's possible for their clan to be wiped out off-screen at several points - getting them out alive depends on a string of War Table choices.
- Empress Celene I of Orlais
- Confirmed. The player's visit to the Orlesian court coincides with an assassination attempt. You can either save her or choose to let it happen.
- Fiona
- Confirmed. If the player recruits the Templars, Fiona must be fought and killed during the battle of Haven.
- Flemeth (again)
- Jossed. She's there, though! Solas kills her in the ending stinger, however... maybe. The interplay of gods can become rather complex.
- Hawke
- Partially confirmed, in the same way as Alistair.
- Isabela
- Jossed, although the player can ask Varric what she's doing these days.
- And she is now a playable character in multiplayer.
- Jossed, although the player can ask Varric what she's doing these days.
- Divine Justinia V
- Jossed. Her death is what kickstarts the plot, but you're not responsible... well, not exactly.
- Leliana
- Jossed. Mostly. She dies in the Bad Future if you side with the mages, but not by your hand.
- Lord Seeker Lambert (assuming he survived the encounter with Cole)
- Jossed. Cole did indeed kill Lambert. He was replaced by Lord Seeker Lucius.
- Loghain, provided he survived the first game.
- Partially confirmed, in the same way as Alistair above.
- Morrigan
- Jossed; she joins the Inquisition for the latter half of the game.
- Rhys and Evangeline
- It is possible for them to die if you botch a certain War Table mission after speaking with Cole.
- The war table op can't be "botched", merely not ever carried out. It is still possible that Rhys might extricate Evangeline from the Red Templars without Inquisition assistance.
- It is possible for them to die if you botch a certain War Table mission after speaking with Cole.
- Sebastian
- Not exactly. But if you recruited Sebastian in II and allowed Anders to live, he does make good on his threat to invade Kirkwall, and there's a war table mission that lets you take a side in the conflict.
- Sten, a.k.a. the new Arishok
- Jossed; he never appears in the game.
- The Warden-Commander
- Confirmed - to an extent. The Warden-Commander who gets killed is not the Hero of Ferelden, and her death is actually a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Zevran
- Jossed; Zevran doesn't appear on-screen, though he does have a small chain of war table missions.
- For example:
- Feynriel's fate.
- The path Hawke's surviving sibling took.
- Either killing Anders or letting him go free and the effect that has on Sebastian.
- Giving Varric the shard of the lyrium idol.
- Batrand's fate.
- If Aveline married Donnic or not.
- How The Arishok was dealt with.
- Who Hawke sided with in Legacy, Larius or Janeka. And what Corypheus is doing after the end.
- Tallis's relationship to Hawke and The Heart of The Many.
- Which companions are Friends and which are Rivals.
- The fate of Merrill's clan.
- Giving Fenris back to Danarius.
- Most of the above have now been confirmed to one degree or another by Dragon Age Keep.
- And on that note, Fen'Harel, the Elven Trickster God, is actually the Maker as well, having reshaped theology to his will after his trickery to the other elven gods.
- Sort of Jossed. He is responsible for the Elder One's rise to power since he gave the Elder One the artifact that made it possible. But he only did it because he couldn't empower the orb himself, and he needed it to aid the Elves. And as Solas, he helps the Inquisitor stop the Elder One's ambitions. Fen'Harel is arguably the Big Good of the game. Fen'harel isn't exactly a god of malevolent trickery as the Dalish depict him as, but more a god of "That's not what I wanted to happen!"
- Sort of confirmed as of Trespasser. While technically not the villain of Inquisition, Solas is definitely being set up as an antagonist in future games, albeit a sympathetic one. He likely would have been the Big Bad, had Corypheus not stolen his orb and ruined his plans.
- Confirmed! The Elder One, aka Corypheus, aka one of the first Darkspawn ever, takes advantage of the ongoing War to aid his own plans. Whoever the Inquisitor doesn't choose as allies will become Corypheus' soldiers.
- That said Corypheus is the only Darkspawn involved. All other Darkspawn encountered in the game are just random surface raids, show no sign of planning around or even knowing about Corypheus's plans and, on a couple of occasions, actually attack his forces when they get in the way.
- Seems to be holding up thus far: there are three pillars of the Inquisition's power (military, diplomatic, and espionage), three advisers to go with them, nine companions (three for each class), three multiplayer campaigns (at launch), the level cap in the single-player is 27 (3 to the power of 3), etc.
- Another could be Grey Wardens (led by Alistair, Loghain, Carver/Bethany and/or Stroud if still alive and in the Wardens) vs. The Darkspawn (led by The Architect if still alive and/or Corypheus). With the Wardens you get a skilled Warden recruit, while with Darkspawn you get The Messenger.
- Partially correct - you will choose between the mages and the Templars. Whichever side you don't approach first becomes the enemy.
- Also you can choose to ally with the Wardens or send them away and can also pick your preferred ruler/s of Orlais.
- Not really. Corypheus is a singular Big Bad, Flemeth's interest is marginal and other players are either on your side by default or become Corypheus' minions.
- Amusingly, they've actually done that FOUR times if you're just counting being reunited with sisters in general. Alistair, Velanna (temporarily), Nathaniel, AND Fenris.
- Cullen does receive letters from his elder sister, asking him to write more often, but he isn't estranged from his family and it's mostly just character development.
- You do, but not where you'd expect: you reunite the elven god Fen'Harel who traveled with you as Solas with his elven pantheon kin Mythal/Flemeth.
- Depending on your point of view, the Elven gods existing but not really being gods and Lyrium being alive are both pretty big.
- The veil being an artificial construct and not Thedas "natural state", and the fact that it is possible to destroy it permanently are arguably even bigger reveals.
- Confirmed.
- Sort of confirmed: in addition to being a party member, Varric is now the narrator in Dragon Age Keep—and thus, of the entire DA franchise, apparently.
- This has been confirmed.
- I believe BioWare has said they don't plan to officially confirm or deny the existence of the Maker ever.
- Though it should be noted that for half the game it's thought that the Maker, or Andraste at least, was directly involved. Unfortunately it turned out not to be.
- You do, however, get to meet two Elven gods and, with the DLC, an Avvar god as well.
- I believe BioWare has said they don't plan to officially confirm or deny the existence of the Maker ever.
- Jossed. Evangeline doesn't even show up in person, other than on a War Table mission and it's entirely possible to let her die if you make the wrong decision.
- Not jossed. There is no wrong decision in that short War Table mission chain, there is only "not doing the war table mission in the first place". There are some potential ways that Rhys and Eva can extricate themselves from the predicament they're in without Inquisition intervention.
- And finding clues on what happened to the Warden and possibly Hawke if Bethany/Carver was put through the Joining.
- Jossed - the Anderfels is one of the few locations in Thedas that you don't visit - but you do fight darkspawn.
- Well, not in this game, but the epilogue says that something bad is going on in Weisshaupt, and whoever goes there after the Warden mission is not heard from again. This is probably a Sequel Hook.
- Sort of. Haven is attacked at the end of Act I, sparking the move to Skyhold.
- Confirmed. If anything, their position is worse. They are deceived by Corypheus with a fake Calling and become his brainwashed minions. And he uses them to attack the Conclave, destroying the best chance for a peaceful resolution to the Mage-Templar War and causing the death of Divine Justinia. Then they're nearly manipulated into handing Corypheus a demon army, after which the Inquisitor can choose to exile them from Orlais. It's doubtful whether the Wardens will ever recover from this debacle.
- Jossed, well at least when it comes to fangirling over Hawke; however, she does get a fangirl moment... over Varric's romance novels.
- Indeed, she does not "squee" exactly, but she does ask Varric if he thinks Hawke would be willing to sign her copy of The Tale of the Champion. Which, as Varric points out, has a big dagger shaped hole in it.
- Jossed. Romances will lock in as exclusive after a certain point, and there are no Optional Sexual Encounters outside of them.
- Well, there's one, sleeping with a noble to get her to do what you want in Josephine's companion quest. But no orgies.
- Confirmed! Hawke is indeed a Guest-Star Party Member in part of the game.
- Snarky Mage Hawke attacks from range and makes use of mooks of some kind to keep away from the party while running his mouth off the entire battle, which might act as some sort of party wide debuff to accuracy or something because of how DISTRACTING it is.
- Aggressive Rogue Hawke employs misdirection and teleports all over the place while laying traps and trying to backstab your party members before teleporting away again.
- Nice Warrior Hawke will be a Duel Boss much like the Arishok could be, fighting the PC one-on-one while arguing about their different ideologies and the state of the world.
- Jossed. Hawke comes in, does his/her thing, then promptly vanishes for the rest of the game, no duel included.
- Assuming Fiona actually is Alistair's mother. There are a lot of timeline problems in that theory, not to mention a lot of logistical ones. And personally, as many problems as I have with Alistair, I wouldn't wish being spawned from that foul creature's womb on my worst enemy.
- Another possibility is that both propositions are true: Alistair is the son of Maric and a maid from Redcliffe Castle, and Fiona did have a child with Maric who's not Alistair, thus introducing another Theirin heir and therefore more political/family drama, because the Dragon Age series is clearly lacking in these departments
- The notion that Fiona is not Alistar's mother is indirectly supported by the last issue of Until We Sleep, where King Maric refers to Alistair's mother as being no longer in the material world, along with Cailain (definitely dead) and Loghain (very likely dead in the BW canon), while Fiona is quite definitely alive at Andoral's Reach in the time frame the comic books take place.
- There being a third Theirin boy solves a serious problem; if Alistair dies - which is a very real possibility - then Maric's story is essentially pointless. Having a third brother gives us someone else to connect Maric to.
- It's now been confirmed by Mike Laidlaw that Fiona is Alistair's mother.
- Confirmed in the saddest way possible. Assuming you side with the Mages and Alistair is king of Ferelden, they do meet... but only because Alistair is exiling her and her Mages from Ferelden for taking over Redcliffe. And he never finds out she is his mother.
In Dragon Age II, Merrill (from the same clan as a Dalish Warden) and the Hawkes (scions of the Amell family like an Human Mage Warden) played a central role in the story.
Dragon Age 3 will see relatives of the two remaining potential Wardens playing a role so that every Origin can be linked to some quality family drama.
- Jossed. Although it's interesting to note that the Dwarf inquisitor is from a Carta family like Brosca and distantly related to Shale. House Cadash
- Nope. Though a couple of companions do get together without your help if neither is romanced.
- Confirmed!
- Oh, True Art Is Angsty, when will you realize Cynicism is for Losers? Wait a minute, this is Bioware... never mind. Tranquil/abomination is probably a happy choice...
- Jossed; no mention of Jowan to be found.
- And the Warden will promptly put a stop to that with something along the lines of "Was it a Blight? No? Not my fuckin' job."
- Jossed; turns out that the Warden is out there still doing his/her job, namely looking for a way to cure the Grey Wardens of the Taint to prevent the Callings.
- He voices Sandal, he will be in this game.
- Except that Sandal isn't in this game. Yuri Lowenthal does contribute to this chunk of the series, but he's only credited as supplying "additional voices."
- Sort of confirmed? While certainly not within the actual Black City, the final level seems to take place in some sort of replica being created by Corypheus.
- Cassandra. It's confirmed she'll be a companion, and to build off the earlier WMG she'll probably be the promoted love interest.
- Confirmed as a potential romance.
- Cullen. He's also strongly believed to be a companion after being a fairly important NPC for two games. He has a large female fan base, so it's likely he'll be a popular LI for the female Inquisitor.
- Confirmed as a love interest but not definite as a companion.
- He's an adviser, not a companion.
- Confirmed as a love interest but not definite as a companion.
- Varric. It will be a torrid love affair, doomed to heartbreak and torment, as he is forced to choose between the Inquisitor and the woman of his dreams.
- Jossed.
- Vivienne. New companion from the extremely liberal Orlais and Circle with a penchant for fashion? Who here thinks she won't be an option?
- Jossed.
- Sera. She will be the Veronica to Cassandra's Betty (or perhaps the reverse?).
- Dorian. He will continue the tradition of apostate/outcast mage love interests (Anders, Morrigan, Merrill) we have had so far. And judging from the popular association with his name, he might be a Gay Option for male Inquisitors. And he will make for a contrast and similar Betty and Veronica dynamic with our other currently confirmed male romance, Cullen. Alternatively...
- Dorian has been confirmed as an LI for male inquisitors only, jossing the Betty/Veronica angle with Cullen.
- Solas could also continue that tradition, plus all elf party members so far (outside of DLC campaigns/expansions which have no love interests) have been love interests.
- Confirmed, though only for female Dalish Inquisitors.
- There will be a Betty and Veronica romance that will be subverted with the Betty having a Dark Secret or Dark and Troubled Past, and the Veronica becomes nicer similar to Origins and Dragon Age II.
- Iron Bull has been confirmed as a bisexual romance. If there's anyone to play the Veronica to Cullen's Betty, it would be the Bull.
- Josephine, aka Scribbles, has also been confirmed as a bisexual LI. She could potentially fit as the Veronica to Cassandra's Betty.
- The Templars' siege of mage-controlled Andoral's Reach (obviously)
- Jossed. You do fight templars and apostates, but none of the battles take place even remotely close to Andoral's reach.
- The Orlesian civil war between Duke Gaspard's forces and Empress Celene's loyalists (from Asunder)
- Confirmed. Not only do you visit one of the battlefields, one mission ("Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts") tosses you right into the depths of Orlais' infamous Game, with the goal of preventing Empress Celene's assasination and stopping the Civil War.
- The conflict between the Seekers and the Grey Wardens (hinted at in the Fires Above trailer)
- Semi-confirmed. Rather than Seekers v. Wardens, it's Inquisition v. Wardens. It's still awesome.
- The elven uprising against humans, possibly centered around the Dales (hinted at by The Masked Empire blurb)
- Sort of confirmed with Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, like above. One of the factions you're pitted against in The Game is Briala. You have a choice of exposing her plotting and possibly getting her arrested, putting Gaspard on the throne with her pulling the strings, or reconcile her and Celene and have them rule together. Or you can blackmail all three of them into working together, with you pulling the strings.
- Possibly an ongoing conflict between the Qunari and the Tevinters?
- Jossed as far as it being a major part of the plot and/or participating it. Iron Bull is a veteran of the Seheron conflicts, and often talks about his experiences there, but you never actually see Vints and Qunari duking it out...save for one mission where you have to help a Qunari dreadnaught assault a Venatori smuggler's port.
After you, as member of the Inquisition, quell these conflicts, you can proceed to the final story area, which will be the giant Fade tear and what lies beyond it.
- Jossed. Closing the tear in the Fade is only the beginning.
- Okay, so as it turns out, there will be lots of real high dragons in Inquisition. Modification: one real and one fake plot important high dragon.
- Aaaaaand confirmed! In a way. There are plenty of real high dragons, including one that you can actually tame if you drink from the Well of Sorrows. In terms of fakes, you have Morrigan (if she drinks from the Well instead), as well as the fake archdemon Corypheus's forces keep throwing at you. It's a real dragon, but a fake archdemon, if that makes any sense?
- Somewhat, depending on how you see Solas/Fen'Harel and what exactly his original actions were (the whole thing is deliberately vague). He's not currently a major authority as even the Dalish are wary of him due to the stories, but past or future developments after that Cliffhanger await.
- Jossed. Though, hilariously, you can question Varric on that part and more or less tell him it made no sense. Varric will just shrug and say that Orsino must have just been really desperate.
- Morrigan. She is after all, a major character in this game after not being seen in 2. And someone has been making sure that elements of Thedas that could potentially resolve the Hell Gate crisis are all destabilized, such as the Grey Wardens, Circle of Magi, The Chantry and Orlais itself. Judging from the way she's dressed in Orlesian attire in "The Fires Above" trailer, it's very likely that Morrigan has insinuated herself into Empress Celene's court. She could be behind it all.
- She does claim that the world needs to change during her last meeting with the Warden; on the other hand, she insists that Flemeth is a bigger threat and is clearly terrified of whatever she has planned.
- Jossed. She's been attempting to prevent Celene's assassination and joins up with the Inquisition later to help stop Corypheus.
- Flemeth. Seriously, the woman has been set up as the most dangerous individual in the two games so far, and the kind of world-shaking that goes on in Inquisition definitely requires someone of her Power Level.
- Jossed. Flemeth does appear, though it is once again uncertain what her angle is, even after she helps you. And as of the The Stinger, we don't know if she's even alive anymore or not.
- Imshael or the Formless One. Come on, we've already fought two of the four Forbidden Ones, so chances are one of them will be in this game. Why not make one of them the Big Bad?
- Jossed. Imshael, in keeping with DA tradition, appears as an Optional Boss and doesn't have any bearing on the plot.
- Fan'Harel. Or the Maker, if you believe the theory that the two are one and the same.
- In a way, it's the opposite, since Fen'Harel joins your party in the form of Solas, making him a good guy.
- The Inquisitor. It's not like Bioware hasn't done that reveal before, and isn't it rather suspicious that the Inquisitor was the only person to survive the opening of the portal?
- Jossed within the first five minutes, though it's clear that until you prove yourself, people are pretty suspicious of you being the only survivor.
- Corypheus. He survived the events of Legacy by body-hopping, so he's certainly still a factor. The big bad is referred to as 'The Elder One', and Corypheus is one of the first ever darkspawn, and almost certainly the oldest living Tevinter Magister, so he qualifies on both counts. The big bad is creating breaches in the Fade, and Corypheus and his buddies caused the darkspawn curse in the first place by forcing their way into the Fade, so he has previous form in that area. Also, in one of the trailers, the big bad (presumably) says that there is no Maker. Corypheus is a pre-Andrastian worshipper of the Old Gods, so of course he wouldn't believe in the Maker.
- Confirmed!
- Confirmed!
- Interesting WMG, although I'm hoping that chances of this happening are unlikely. If Sandal's prophecy in Dragon Age II can be taken at his word, the magic is coming back in some way or another. We'll probably see how that happens in the game itself.
- If The Magic Goes Away, the Qunari are gonna take over the world. Seriously. They're the most technologically advanced civilization in Thedas by a good ways (gunpowder and basic sanitation), and the only thing keeping them in check is their Forever War with Tevinter. The only reason Tevinter is holding out is because they're The Magocracy and Qunari don't want to get within a mile of a mage, sending their own poorly-trained "attack dog" mages against warrior warlocks; take away their magic and it's a Curb-Stomp Battle (especially since mages tend to be extra squishy). Others may hold out longer (especially Ferelden, being generally cold and unpleasant to kossith without any magical aid), but I foresee a World of Silence if this happens.
- Thankfully Mr. Final Fantasy VI fan, you can rest easy, as your theory is Jossed. In fact it is said multiple times that the tear in the fade is bad news; not only is it spewing demons like some sort of hellish Old Faithful on steroids, but it's also mentioned that it's really messing with the magic in Thedas, causing instabilities in time itself. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief when it's finally closed, but then again....that's only the beginning of the story.
- Jossed. Dwarves are still dwarves. Though Dagna seems to be doing quite well.
- As of The Descent Sort-of confirmed! Maybe! It's not clear whether Valta has become a mage or not after connecting with the Titan (She very vaguely says that the thing she did that looked like a spell was "not a spell" but "an accident") but it certainly looks like she just became a mage.
- Jossed. Though we are treated to seeing one of the Qunari Dreadnoughts in action.
- If the above-mentioned WMG implying that there's an elven revolt is true, Merrill is protecting other elves from retaliation or helping them in one way or another - probably city elves, considering that she's an exile at this point.
- Fenris is allied with one of the anti-magical or anti-Tevinter factions...though possibly not if you convinced him to stick with you for the Mage endgame. (Well, not with an anti-magical faction in that case, necessarily. If there are Tevinter asses to be kicked, though, he's apt to be kicking them.)
- Anders is either The Atoner, especially now that he's seeing all the disaster he helped to bring about, or a completely Ax-Crazy "grr, arrg" abomination destroying everything in sight.
- If Anders is dead, Justice/Vengeance may not be...and might well be an Arcane Horror or the like inhabiting his former host's corpse.
- If Anders is alive, Sebastian will *try* to raise an army to destroy Kirkwall, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll *succeed*; with everything else that will probably be going on, a whole army of allies interested in Revenge by Proxy might be hard to come by. (And an army that could destroy Kirkwall would have to be pretty impressive. I mean, not only is it fortified, but it's also basically the Sunnydale of Thedas. Maker only knows what an army besieging that demon-infested hellmouth would face.) If Anders is dead, Sebastian may abandon his attempt to retake Starkhaven in favor of fighting on behalf of the beleaguered Chantry.
- Zevran is a Wild Card with no faction allegiance, still just gradually wiping out the Crows and anybody else who wants him dead.
- According to an early dialogue with Varric, Merrill is helping her fellow Dalish nomads, Fenris is indeed busy killing any Tevinter slaver he finds, leaving a convenient trail of corpses behind him should someone seek to contact him, and, as a conversation very late in game between Morrigan and Flemeth shows, the Elven goddess Mythal looks eerily similar to Justice, so even with Anders out of the picture, there is, indeed one powerful revenge-seeking abomination on the loose. As for Zevran, some war-table mission involve him still killing members of the crows while still avoiding their wrath.
- Jossed - Corypheus was the culprit.
- Somewhat true - she does show up near the end and offers a crucial piece of advice on how to beat Corypheus.
- While not perfectly implemented, it wasn't a bad idea in Mass Effect 3, and might see a return in Inquisition.
- It looks like Cullen isn't a companion and he's been confirmed to be a love interest, as was Josephine.
- Because he's getting a bit fanatic about it and things can only go downhill.
- He'll be the focus character of a DLC campaign, with shout-outs aplenty to The Tudors (morally conflicted man who struggles to be noble and moral in a time of corruption and immorality) and Man of Steel (superhuman who nonetheless wants to help people and make society a better place).
- Jossed sadly. One can only hope for that DLC now.
- Popular rumor going around.
- Jossed, regrettably. However, the War Table does feature several operations that take place working with the Dwarves of Kal-Sharok.
- Flemeth has done it twice, yes. So, rule of three demands the situation be subverted by having Morrigan assume her mother's traditional role in the story by pulling our asses out of the fire.
- Jossed, though Flemeth and Morrigan do play a major role in the game.
- And it will be filled with the cast of Torchwood. Yes, that includes John Barrowman.
- Bonus points if he makes reference to "a doctor in his blue box" he knew once.
- Oh look, we'll even be bringing Suzy with us.
- Sadly, nope. We do meet some elves, but they're unrelated to previous characters. Even Dalish Inquisitors don't get to physically visit their old clan.
- For the record, I really, really hope I'm wrong about this. But having the Red Templars attack the Wardens makes sense for a variety of reasons. The Wardens are something of a safe haven for apostate mages and even blood mages, which would make them a target for the fanatical red templars. Having the templars willing to attack such a respected neutral organization as the Wardens, who have such a reputation for badassery shows how off the deep end they've gone. And having them win shows how dangerous the red lyrium makes them, establishing them as a credible threat.
- Jossed - it's even worse: the Wardens are as formidable as ever, but Corypheus' fake calling made them so desperate that they end up becoming his pawns, forcing the Inquisitor (and therefore the player) to turn the whole strength of the Inquisition against them..
- The king of Nevarra, Markus Pentaghast, is extremely old and has no children of his own, neither does his heir-apparent, his younger brother, Ferdinand. More distantly related Pentaghasts are lining up to replace him while various other Nevarran clans are circling, smelling blood in the water. As it happens, you're going to have a Pentaghast- Cassandra- in your party. Even if it doesn't lead to an Alistair situation, you can bet her familial connection will come up.
- Jossed. Though they are mentioned.
- Aaaaaand Jossed. Darkspawn make an appearance, but they're enemies only-not to mention the Big Bad is a darkspawn himself.
The spirit-turned-demon will either be possessing someone else or pulling a Kristoff with Anders' body. Eeeeew.
- Jossed. We meet both of them(and at the same time in the same room, no less). In fact, if Flemeth was telling the truth, Morrigan didn't need to be so afraid of being body-snatched in the first place.Flemeth: A soul is not forced upon the unwilling. You were never in any danger from me.
- Those demons who come through it are actually the spirits of BSN forum posters angry about the ME3 ending.
- Jossed - though that would be one hell of a crossover and breaking of the Fourth Wall.
- This has been confirmed.
- They will also spend a lot of time complaining about how Varric's original descriptions of the dungeons Hawke had cleared out and street brawls they had survived are repetitive, monotonous, and generally uninspiring.
- Somewhat confirmed, as many people in the game world have read Varric's books, and the Inquisitor him/herself can ask Varric about what they read in The Tale of the Champion.
- And let us not forget about the sappy romance series inspired by Aveline, whose fandom includes a very devoted Cassandra Pentaghast.
Looking at the facts: the original Inquisition, like the new one, was formed in the aftermath of a Blight (the first one, in their case), when conflicts rocked Thedas on almost daily basis (with Andraste's rebellion being the most notable one). It is possible that the original Inquisition was formed because its founders believed that, like in the Dragon Age, there is a single puppet master pulling the strings behind all of these conflicts. Their hunt for mages might have been an unintended side effect of their search for that villain. Evidently, the old Inquisition must have fulfilled their purpose, as they shifted their focus to babysitting mages full-time by the beginning of the Second Blight.
They must have accomplished something very important to Thedas in the years around the 1:1 Divine (the adoption of modern calender), but that event must have been stricken from every single (Chantry-controlled) history book. Possibly only the senior Seekers and the Divines know the truth of that story.
As far as Flemeth goes, she's been at least partially aware of what's been going on and what was going to happen, but as we've seen in the Witch Hunt DLC, she's not a human, abomination, or demon, and has some huge plan going on. Either she's been playing the long con and has been manipulating the Warden-Commander, Hawke, and (presumably) the Inquisitor into doing her dirty work so she can walk in and gain something from it, or she's actually good, and has been preparing the heroes for the tear in the Veil.
- The one thing that speaks against Flemeth's central role in the upcoming conflict is Sandal's prophecy, which explicitly says "when he rises...", while Flemeth has been consistently described in feminine terms.
- Do we even know that Flemeth is female anymore? She's explicitly stated to be "not human", after all, and thus our rules of gender may not apply to her (it?).
- Jossed. The role of "big ugly monster that is taken out as an early game boss" is taken by a Pride Demon this time.
- Not the case, but it is exactly the getup Leliana suggested in Origins.
- Likely jossed. Leliana was suspicious about Morrigan's presence during the Halamshiral Ball in "Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts".
- If you meet with Leliana then one potential scene reveals that she had a word with Morrigan's son and he got his mother to dress that way.
- Not the case, but it is exactly the getup Leliana suggested in Origins.
- It could actually be Fen'Harel, it's implied that he was comparing Briala to him.
- Given The Stinger, Fen'Harel is (or was) around, and is also an enigmatic elf who Knows Things. He's not quite a villain, but he is an Unwitting Instigator of Doom.
- As of Trespasser, confirmed. Cole at one point says in his own cryptic way that Solas killed Felassan because Felassan was starting to sympathize with modern elves.
- It could actually be Fen'Harel, it's implied that he was comparing Briala to him.
- Multiple Reasonable Authority Figures who were this close to getting a ceasefire between all the warring factions.
- Potentially Rhys from Asunder, and Fiona among them.
- Whichever potential Inquisitors the player didn't choose. They'll do that thing from Origins where all of the potential Wardens existed, but only one of them survived to become the protagonist.
- Divine Justinia. Her goal is to end the Templar-Mage war, so her being at a peace summit would make sense. It would also explain why Cassandra is threatening the Inquisitor in the trailer: because she holds the Inquisitor responsible for Justinia's death.
- Which would handily explain why Justinia's Right and Left Hand (Cass and Leliana) now work full-time for the Inquisition—with their patron gone and the new Divine not yet elected, they might just as well join her backup plan.
- Confirmed.
- Which would handily explain why Justinia's Right and Left Hand (Cass and Leliana) now work full-time for the Inquisition—with their patron gone and the new Divine not yet elected, they might just as well join her backup plan.
- Sorta confirmed in that a demo offhandedly mentioned a lot of leadership died in the breach so Reasonable Authority Figures and Divine Justinia are quite possibly dead.
- Mostly confirmed according to this interview. There are different branches of the Inquisition that certain returning characters are in charge of, with Leliana confirmed as being in charge of a network of spies/assassins.
- Josephine actually manages political alliances and diplomacy, but otherwise, spot on.
- I actually doubt Iron Bull is going to get along with anyone, at least at first. In that shot, he's noticeably standing a few paces back from the table and the rest of the group. In every screen shot he's in, he's on his own. In the first trailer, he was on his own, in concept art, he's on his own. In a lot of ways, I think he's meant to stand apart from the rest of the group.
- Jossed to hell and back again. Iron Bull gets along with everyone (with the slight exception of Varric due to Varric's general aversion to Qunari). And if neither of them are romanced by the player character, Iron Bull and Dorian end up together.
The supposed Inquisitor actually did die when the Breach opened. You're playing as an amnesiac fade spirit who took their appearance and identity. We know something similar can happen with Cole, and it sounds like a sufficiently Bioware-y twist. It also explains why we aren't getting playable origins stories: because the player character didn't actually live through those events. They just think they did.
- So the Inquisitor is basically Captain Scarlet?
- I believe David Gaider jossed this, though damned if I'm about to go digging through the old BSN to find the post in which he did so.
- Jossed. Your companion/adviser romances are the only ones which go anywhere (and some of those may not last, either).
- Other possibility: Leliana's vision wasn't about the Blight nor the Breach, but about the Dragon Age itself. Thedas is clearly going through its version of the late middle age crises: the darkness represents this age of turmoil, while the rose symbolizes the renaissance that will come afterward.
- Nope. There's some pretty hilarious barbs traded between them, but nobody mentions their lack of hair.
- We're apparently going to continue playing after completing the main storyline, so I don't know how that'll jive.
- There is the possibility of an Awakening Orlesian Warden type situation, or even a DA:O situation that lets you continue before the point of no return. Given the 40 ending variants, I'd be surprised if all of these left the Inquisitor alive.
- Definitely Jossed for the main game; all possible endings leave the Inquisitor alive. Doesn't mean anything about future DLC, though...
- The Inquisitor may be part of Ariane's Dalish clan.
- The Inquisitor as owner of the brothel will be able to be a Miss Kitty or cruel pimp regardless of gender.
- Jossed, since he's not really a Grey Warden.
- Jossed. Blackwall was formerly an Orlesian army captain, disgraced for carrying out a massacre ordered on Gaspard's behalf. He deserted when Gaspard disavowed the order and his immediate superior poisoned himself rather than be captured. If the Inquisitor chooses to permit Celene's assassination and his approval is not high enough, Blackwall will leave the party in protest.
- Sorta building on this Vivienne will become a Base-Breaking Character. One side will like her for being a strong female character and going after what she wants, others will dislike her for being hypocritical and selfish.
- She already kind of is, though not to the degree that I've felt worth adding the trope to the YMMV page.
- Cassandra is Templar, obviously.
- Blackwall is probably Champion.
- That leaves Reaver for the Iron Bull. He does have a dark past, and he has extreme issues with demons. Maybe the thing that burned him out of home defense was something that led him to make a Deal with the Devil he regrets?
- That the Iron Bull is a reaver, at least, has been confirmed via the 2014 E3 demo; whether he will teach the spec to the Inquisitor or not remains to be seen.
- The mages are harder. I can't see any of them being an Arcane Warrior, especially not Vivienne. Solas, maybe?
- The description for Knight Enchanter lists it as a circle thing, albeit, rare among the circle; Vivienne's the only circle mage in the party.
- Confirmed. Vivenne is a Knight-Enchanter.
- But Rift Mage sounds more like Solas's thing, Fade expert and all.
- Confirmed.
- So, Jazz Hands Mc Mustache (sorry, Dorian) = Necromancer? But he hates blood magic. Maybe he learned a bit before he defected, and restricts himself to using it on corpses only.
- Dorian as a necromancer has been confirmed. Again, it is unknown at this time whether or not he'll teach the spec.
- Animate dead is in the Spirit School, as is walking bomb. According to the Codex in Origins, these spells are considered ghastly, but are not blood magic.
- Necromancy being blood magic is jossed. Nevarra, an Andrastian nation, has odd burial practices looked after by mages called "Mortalitasi", who practice necromancy. Dorian is this.
- The Rogue specializations are hard to pin down too. Assassin could be Sera, she was a Friend of Red Jenny, but I cannot think of that class being anything but stabby, not shooty. But there's no reason it couldn't be a ranged build.
- Tempest, being an unknown, could be an archery based spec, which would shift assassin to Cole.
- So, Varric is Artificer? I could see him trolling his enemies with traps, getting a good laugh out of it.
- So that leaves Tempest (whatever that is) for Cole, who will be a companion, dammit. Maybe it's a mystic class, the rogues could use one.
- Sera is the Tempest, which focuses on doing crazy things like lighting yourself on fire. Cole, being knifey and sneaky, is the Assassin. Varric is an Artificier.
- Played with. He does have more potent stealth tree abilities, and a different stealth shroud, but nothing particularly special.
- Jossed with particular gusto- you have to craft the Murder Knife (yes, that is its actual name) in order to unlock the Assassin specialization.
- Alternatively, Aveline.
- Or Bethany, if she went to the Circle - that would devastate him.
- Jossed. The Player Character's unintended intervention in Corephyus's dastardly plot caused the Breach and likely thwarted something even worse.
- Jossed. If you tell Cole to leave, he will. He's probably still out in the world helping people as best he can, but you don't hear of it.
- Jossed. The Elder one is Corypheus.
- Iron Bull holds a pouch (and a skull) similar to the traditional card for The Fool.
- Other speculation is that his card is The Devil, given his pose, the horns, the lack of a cliff for him to walk off of (a major component of just about any version of The Fool), and, well the appropriateness of a pansexual mercenary hedonist representing temptation.
- From the physical tarot deck included with the Inquisitor's Edition: Confirmed that Iron Bull's card is The Devil.
- Other speculation is that his card is The Devil, given his pose, the horns, the lack of a cliff for him to walk off of (a major component of just about any version of The Fool), and, well the appropriateness of a pansexual mercenary hedonist representing temptation.
- Dorian seems to be the Magician, sharing the infinity symbol.
- Confirmed.
- Varric holds Bianca in front of him, making her 4 straps look similar to the Wheel of Fortune.
- Jossed by an e-mail sent out by Bioware announcing new giclees with some of the tarot card art. Varric's card is The Lovers. That makes Varric x Bianca officially canon.
- The only "lover" symbolism on the card though seems to be the light and shadow splitting Varric.
- This may also mean that part of Varric's storyline in the game is about choosing.
- Jossed by an e-mail sent out by Bioware announcing new giclees with some of the tarot card art. Varric's card is The Lovers. That makes Varric x Bianca officially canon.
- Blackwall rides astride a griffon on his card, making him the Chariot.
- Judgment, actually. The Chariot looks to be Dorian holding two items, one black, one white.
- Solas' card has him standing alone with a light in a dark place, like The Hermit, but he also has symbols of the four elements surrounding him, similar to the World card.
- Confirmed as The Hermit.
- Cassandra's card, featuring her riding a horse alongside others, is similar to the Rider-Waite card for Death.
- Vivienne stands with a white cup and a black staff in her hands, the colour scheme and cup suggests that her card is Temperance.
- Jossed, that card is The High Priestess.
- Sera's card depicts her looking at a tall tower.
- Sera could also represent The Fool (not at the edge of a cliff, but definitely on a steep slope), and generally, The Tower is depicted being damaged. It's likely the Tower card in the actual physical deck that comes with the Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition will depict the Fadesplosion that wipes out the peace conference at the beginning of the game.
- Cole's card is the Moon, he's standing astride a black and brown hill, with a lobster beneath, and if that wasn't enough, he's also above an actual moon.
- It appears that Morrigan has been confirmed as the Queen of Staves, likely meaning Queen of Wands, which could symbolize that her part in Inquisition is part of a plan (shocker).
- Jossed, though Morrigan muses whether or not the Inquisition's forces already think of the Inquisitor as The Maker.
- Confirmed! If Morrigan was in a relationship with the Warden, she does reference him and even speaks highly of him.
- Jossed, but one scene does have Leliana swear in French.
- We got to play as Collectors in Mass Effect 3. I don't see this as unlikely.
- And there will be an end credits stinger to that effect, showing the Normandy in orbit, watching the final battle.
He more or less poisons the Fade permanently, causing all the benign spirits to die off or become corrupted in that ending, after all. Eventually, however, the strain on Corypheus' mind grows too great from fending off unruly demons all the time, and his mind fractures into four split personalities, each embodying a different aspect of the four major strains of demon he's familiar with as they affect him; the Dark Gods (plus Malal, embodying what's left of his sanity and self-loathing). Eventually, the Qunari's descendants can't take the hellish environments of Thedas anymore, and begin constructing gates to new worlds as the Old Ones (bringing along what survivors of the merge they can), but of course the Dark Gods follow, curious about where they're going. Cue the Crapsack World, sooner or later.
- Jossed - The designers have mentioned Flemeth intentionally sacrificed herself to Fen'harel.
- Confirmed. Flemeth/Mythal was okay with it too.
- Adding to that, maybe she's just trying to return to her original form. The "throne of god on the Black City is empty" if Corypheus is to be believed, so maybe a single god did exist at one point, and the Old Gods of Tevinter and Elven gods were born from this single entity's power being split.
- That seems plausible. Doesn't Solas himself support this view?
- One might note that, as Professor Kenric points out, we don't have a specific definition of "god" in this setting. Hakkon Wintersbreath is "just" a powerful spirit but he fits the Avvar definition of a god. Solas, despite being one of the pantheon, may not have the final word on the matter.
- As of Trespasser, confirmed. By Solas, no less.
- That seems plausible. Doesn't Solas himself support this view?
- Confirmed.
- Jossed. The Descent reveals that Lyrium is the blood of the Titans.
- Related: Cole will be a potential romantic interest, but only if you sided with Varric to make him more human. He'll go through several rounds of What Is This Thing You Call "Love"? and general confusion. Then, because this is BioWare, something tragic will happen.
- Jossed. In the DLC Trespasser, assuming Cole is your friend and you did his personal quest, Cole will either return to the Fade, if he is Spirit; Or he will be in a romantic relationship with Maryden Halewell, if he is made Human.
The comics imply that dragons are needed to preserve the world. Solas hates the Grey Wardens because of their willingness to kill the Old Gods. He never elaborates on this, but since he's actually Fen'harel, he probably knows something about the Old Gods that the Wardens don't. Maybe Flemeth wanted Urthemiel's soul to prevent whatever catastrophe killing all of the Old Gods will cause.
Solas describes other people as 'predictable' multiple times throughout the game. If romanced, he'll describe the Inquisitor as having a 'rare and marvelous spirit', which might mean that he's surprised at how captivating and wholesome the Inquisitor is, compared to how unsatisfying and repetitive he finds everyone else to be. After Solas breaks up with the Inquisitor, Cole will read Solas's feelings to be "You're real, and it means everyone could be real. It changes everything. But it can't."
This might mean that by spending time with the Inquisition, giving approval upon making benevolent in-game choices, and falling in love with the Inquisitor, Solas developed empathy for people that shouldn't matter 'in the grand scheme of things. Feeling empathy for mortals makes it harder to complete his goal of freeing everyone from slavery by doing the equivalent of crashing the game. This is why Solas/The Dread Wolf is considered an enemy to the other elven gods; The Dread Wolf wants to grant ultimate free will by freeing people from the control of the other elven gods, which can't be done when all life choices are pre-determined by dialogue wheels.
- Solas is against the blight, but he's also very critical about the Grey Wardens. Often saying that they are messing with powers that they in NO way understand. The Old Gods/Archdemons are bad things, but they're also the only things that can give any resemblance of control over the Darkspawn. Specifically in the form of 'The Song' that they make. For an example of a Darkspawn that's freed from any form of connection to 'The Song' just look at The Mother from Awakening. Totally berserk, and completely out of control. Now imagine what would happen if EVERY Darkspawn went that way. The Wardens aren't 'fixing' the Drakspawn problem. Darkspawn and The Blight are a corruption of a fundamental system, and the Wardens are breaking that system.
- I would like to say that while I think this is where they're going with the story, I really, really hope it isn't. It was a goddamn stupid plotline when Blizzard used it for the Scourge and the Lich King and it is a goddamn stupid plotline now. Less so because precedent has been set where as it was completely ignored and contradicted when Blizzard did it, but still, goddamn stupid.
- Unlikely. The darkspawn are largely non-sentient, only becoming capable of working intelligently when there's an Archdemon leading them (with the exception of the rare Alpha who is smarter than usual). The Architect's Joining ritual seems to make any darkspawn intelligent enough to function like a normal person but that's likely a side effect, something they take from the Warden's blood, much like The Mother changed to birth the Children rather than Hurlocks. In fact the only one to go berserk from the silence was The Mother, who, as a broodmother, is not a darkspawn at all but a horrifically mutated ghoul. Yes, there were other darkspawn that were displeased by the silence but they simply continued acting as regular darkspawn do, it was the Mother making them extra aggressive. Odds are if the Old Gods song was suddenly silenced the darkspawn would simply scatter, it might appear to be a blight at first, with large numbers coming to the surface, but they would be uncoordinated and lack planning or intelligence. If anything it would destroy the darksspawn since they'd spread out too thin and act too aggressively to survive long term. Though there may be widespread madness spread through the broodmothers.
- Alternatively: She knows that killing the Old Gods is a solution that will eventually destroy the world, and the solution to the Grey Wardens Calling problem will lead to saving the Old Gods from the Blights as well.
- Considering that the codex informs us that Harellan originally meant "rebellion", Fen'Harel probably most accurately translates to "Rebel Wolf", which hardly seems like a title for an advisor to the gods.
- Then maybe Fen'Harel was the name they gave him after the uprising, and his original title was something else wolf-related. To be honest, the original thrust of the theory was that Solas is really an elf and not any sort of god, and then I got a bit carried away. XD
- "I was "Solas" first. "Fen'Harel" came later, an insult I took as a badge of pride."
- Alternatively, we'll have a separate dwarf character carry over from each installment. Oghren carried over from DAO to DAA, Bodahn and Sandal carried over from DAO to DA2, and Varric carried over from DA2 to DAI. Perhaps Harding will carry over from DAI to DA4. In any event, Varric expresses interest in returning to Kirkwall to help rebuild after the Inquisition is done with its work, and the next game is likely going to be set a considerable distance north. So unless Varric's visiting Maevaris or checking on that beat plantation he half-owns, I don't see him making the trip.
- However, there is an Easter Egg in Trespasser, where one can find Sandal's diary, together with some runes and an upgrade station. The diary, of course, contains nothing but repetitions of "Enchantment!" with varying punctuation.
- Problem with that theory: does not exist in Inquisition's default World State
- Possible solution; Kieran could appear not as the protagonist of a primary game, but of a DLC in the style of Leliana's Song or Darkspawn Chronicles, where we take over as a separate character for the duration. For worldstates where Kieran exists, the DLC could be canon, while for worldstates where it does not, it could be an alternate universe, "what if?" scenario.
- Other possibility: they do things like in Genealogy of the Holy War: make Kieran an important Teammate but also introduce a replacement character to take his role if he was not conceived: if Kieran exists, this character is a NPC and perhaps the Hero of Another Story, otherwise, he joins the party as one of the mages
- The game where he appears will have only the best endings available in world states where he exists. If he lives, and is either Alistair's son or Anora's half-brother, he will become King and lead the nation into a golden age. If he is not, or does not exist, Ferelden will break into a civil war that destroys the country and balkanizes it. The Fereldans felt comfortable in their elected monarchy because there was always a Theirin to be the obvious choice. Now that that has been taken from them, they will not survive.
- Other points in favour: Cassandra states that Reavers eventually begin to physically mutate, including growing spines (like horns?). Corypheus and Old God Kieren both state that a Tal-Vashoth inquisitor's blood is "engorged with decay" and "does not belong to [her people]". Iron Bull mentions that the Qun reveres dragons for their power but hates them for their chaos - and the Qun seems to exist to harness that power and master that chaos within the Qunari. And, finally, Iron Bull even outright states at one point that there's a conspiracy theory amongst the Ben-hassarath that the tamasrins spiked Qunari blood with dragon blood at some point in the past.
- Also, if the way Corypheus possess people is similar to what the process depicted by Morrigan in Origins (where the stronger the host, the stronger the creature possessing him or her becomes), possessing the formidable Hero of Ferelden may have made Corypheus pretty much unstoppable, which would make the bad future the second time (after protecting Anders from his Templar pursuers) the Warden's compassion caused a major catastrophe down the road.
- At one point, the Elves decided to create the perfect rulers for their society: for every important institution, one spirit epitomizing the virtues and/or quality needed to make it function was called from the fade and merged with a powerful elven which became the God: so Mythal was created from the merging of a spirit of justice with and elf and tasked with overseeing the justice system; her counterpart Elgar'nan was created from the merging of perhaps a spirit of valor with and elf and tasked with overseeing the law enforcement, June was tasked with overseeing Elvhenan's industry, Sylaise was in charge of healthcare, Ghilan'nain oversaw agriculture, Falon'Din was in charge of education while Dirthamen was the spymaster/secret-police overseer, and so one and so forth... Together, these artificial gods administrated the elven civilization but since they were the result of merging a living creature with singleminded spirits, they lacked the capacity for nuance needed to lead a society of comprised of millions of complex individuals , and as a result of their simplistic nature pushed in the name of efficiency the elven civilization into the rigid caste society it was thus sowing the seeds of its eventual demise.
- Well crap, someone better make sure Anders doesn't get that crazy powerful.
- So Morrigan was actually partially right: elven gods were indeed powerful elven rulers, except their godhood was neither the result of crass propaganda nor the consequence of history turning into legends and deforming its original meaning but a core feature of the elven rulers.
- This theory puts Solas' fondness for spirits in an new light. Of course he'd be sympathetic to them, he's been fused with one for millennia.
- It might also explains many things regarding Solas' interactions with Cole:
First, it explains both why he sympathizes so much with Cole and why he wishes him to remain more Spirit than Human: Solas knows by experience how painful it is to be a material material creature habited by the simple drives of Spirit and he wants to spare this fate to Cole.
During one banter with Cole, Solas says "I am not a spirit, and sometimes it is hard to remember such simple truths.": having more in common with Spirits than virtually everyone else, he sometimes forgets that he's still a creature of the material world with at least as much in common with its denizens than with Spirits.
Another Banter, if Cole becomes more Human, asking Solas when was the last time he saw a spirit becoming Human: Cole was actually sensing Solas' memories of the time his elven self was merged with a spirit, and Solas answer: "You have taken a difficult path": he knows, because he walked this path himself.
- It might also explains many things regarding Solas' interactions with Cole:
- Another possibility is that the Elven Pantheon were all originally Spirits who took on physical form without a host, not unlike Cole. Which means they had even less in common with their constituents than if they were abominations, and this led to the eventual fall of the Elven empire. Judging by his attitude in this game, Fen'Harel or Solas may have originally been a Spirit of Freedom.
- With this in mind, the situation goes from being a no-win situation to having an obvious right answer - Save the Chargers. The Qunari aren't going to stop fighting Tevinter just because of this, since they've already been at it for centuries, so the Inquisition doesn't lose anything on that front. The Qunari have also been mentioned repeatedly to not really understand alliances beyond mutual convenience, so getting backstabbed by them is all but inevitable. Saving the Chargers is also what Iron Bull really wants, since you gain higher approval by doing that. From the Inquisition's standpoint, they gain a powerful mercenary company that is now totally loyal to them while also checking Qunari intelligence operations in Thedas and depriving them of a valuable and highly-placed operative while losing only an alliance that wouldn't have stuck anyway. This takes the quest from a Downer Ending no matter what into a Moment of Awesome for your Magnificent Bastard Inquisitor.
- There's four problems with this theory:
- Sacrificing an entire dreadnought just to test the loyalty of a single person seems a bit over-the-top. Sure, Bull has some connections, but not that much, plus he'd be under the constant oversight of Leliana.
- Bull chose which group assaulted which camp, meaning the entire thing could easily have been rendered pointless.
- How would the qunari assure that the venatori would be in the exact position to make this possible?
- Qunari have fairly strictly defined roles and functions in society. If there was a role which had 'to be sacrificed in case of convenience' as a function, you'd think Bull himself would mention the possibility. Especially since he was part of the same organization that would have organized this.
- Finally subverted by Trespasser: the Inquisitor didn't unwittingly cause the next big crisis that will threaten Thedas during Inquisition's final story DLC: s/he did that during the main game, by being Solas' pawn from the very beginning
The elven gods managed to contact the ancient Tevinter magisters in the Fade and convinced them to worship them. Eventually, Elgar'nan, elven god of vengeance, known to the Tevinters as Dumat, tricked the magisters into assaulting the Golden City so the elven gods could finally finish off the Forgotten Ones. The Forgotten Ones responded by infecting the magisters with the Blight and brainwashing them into infecting Elgar'nan with it.
When Solas awoke from his slumber, he saw that only two of the elven gods were alive and his former followers' Blight had killed millions of people. His goal is to free the elven gods from their underground prison and kill the Forgotten Ones. The latter would require physically entering the Fade, which is why he needed the Orb. I'm not quite sure why he wants the elven gods alive, but in Inquisition, he strongly dislikes the idea of killing the remaining ones. Perhaps he respects the gods, even though he once fought to overthrow them.
- Dumat, Old God of Silence, was Elgar'nan, Elven God of Vengeance. The leaders of the two pantheons are one and the same.
- Zazikel, Old God of Chaos, was Andruil, Elven Goddess of the Hunt. According to an inscription in the Temple of Mythal, Andruil lost her sanity while exploring the Fade, which would make her a rather chaotic person.
- Toth, Old God of Fire, was Sylaise, Elven Goddess of the Hearth. Hearths need fire.
- Andoral, Old God of Slaves, was Ghilan'nain, Mother of the Halla. This one is kind of a stretch, but according to inscriptions in the Temple of Mythal, Ghilan'nain created other beasts and beasts are slaves to people.
- Urthemiel, Old God of Beauty, was June, Elven God of Crafts. Crafts and aesthetics are closely related.
- Razikale, Old God of Mystery, is Dirthamen, Elven God of Secrets. Secrets are mysteries and it makes sense that one of the two gods whose temple the player can explore is still alive.
- Lusacan, Old God of Night, is Falon'Din, Elven God of Death. Just as night comes at the end of day, death comes at the end of life. Also, it is fitting that the twins are the only buried elven gods to be alive.
- I would reverse June and Ghilan'nain. June was more broadly the god of work and (interestingly) unity: he "taught" the Elves crafts by enslaving and forcing them to labor. Ghilan'nain was the mother of the, indeed the first, beautiful halla. I wouldn't worry about the gender issue too much; RW mythologies can be flexible there too!
- A corollary to this, the codex entry for the Draconis constellation mentions speculation of an eighth Old God who's name and very existence was stricken from the record. That would be Mythal, who was murdered by someone. Thus Flemeth's ability to turn into a dragon.
- One potential problem with this was recently revealed in Jaws of Hakkon. It was reveiled that Razikale was a female Old God where as Dirthamen is a male Elven God. But the potential that the codex is inaccurate in-universe still exists.
- She is the first person in the franchise to question what's across the giant ocean and seems to be interested enough to find out herself. Shame if she goes all out Columbus but the similarities are there.
- Considering Josephine is from Antiva, which is a fusion of an Italian city-state, where Columbus was from, with Spain, who financed his expedition, this would make perfect sense.
- In particular The Divine, Lelianna and Cassandra would quote it at each and planned to throw a party where everyone would have to cosplay as a character. Aveline and Donnic would be invited as guests of honour.
- As of Trespasser, Jossed. His name was always Solas. "Dread Wolf" was what his detractors called him.
He was using them to weaken it. He's not trying to bring back the other elven gods. In fact, he could care less about them. Rather, he's trying to tear down the Veil for good, to merge the Fade and the waking world, just like it was back in the ancient days. Think about it: this is a man who makes no secret of his love for all things Fade related. One of the first conversations you can have with him is him gushing over how cool it would be if spirits were commonplace. He continues to make several offhand comments throughout the game about a merger between the two worlds, but the most telling of them is this low approval conversation about helping the elves:
- Inquisitor: The man whose spent half his life in the Fade has no ideas [on helping them]?Solas: Not unless we collapse the Veil and bring the Fade here so I can casually reshape reality, no.
- Ding ding ding ding! Trespasser confirms that Solas' endgame is to tear down the Veil—the barrier that he created—to restore the ancient elves.
- Not completely unfounded. Solas makes a subtle allusion to an elven skirmish during one his banters with Blackwall. He could be referring to his role in sealing away the other elven gods, but directors notes found in the game file state specifically that Solas has been sleeping for a thousand years. Either this was an oversight on the writer's part, or he's been up and about since the fall of Arlathan. And one thousand years puts him neatly in the timeframe of Andraste's rise to power. Besides, leading an elven slave uprising seems like the kind of thing that a god of rebellion would get behind, and it'd certainly explain both his disillusionment with modern elves, and the dialogue you get where he expresses weariness over fighting for unspecified causes. If this is true, he fought not once, but twice for the elves, and in the end, they were still oppressed, downtrodden, and impoverished. It's no wonder he's so bitter and disheartened by the time of Inquisition.
- If the above is true, it would also explain why he approves of the idea of The Maker, to Cassandra's astonishment. He was a close friend (possibly more) of Andraste herself.
- While it fits what little we know of Dorian's mother, it raises the question of why she didn't just do the ritual herself. The whole reason she was forced to marry Halward is because she's such a powerful mage, and there's no indication given that the ritual required more than one person.
- Maybe what she needed wasn't so much help as it was permission to go ahead with it. She could have done it on her own, but doing so without getting her husband's consent would have provoked a hostile response and been a hassle — especially since they already hated each other.
- It's very possible that she was intended to do the ritual herself, but Dorian ran off before she could.
- Dorian specifically says that Halward is the one that attempted to do it.
- He could have stepped in to do it before she could. They knew the risks and planned to go ahead with it anyway, but they also don't like each other; Halward may have intervened because he didn't trust her to do it right.
- Dorian specifically says that Halward is the one that attempted to do it.
- In one party banter, she talks disgustedly about how killing doesn't bother her, but once a body is dismembered, they're not people anymore, just meat. She also hates elves for being "too elfy" and all forms of moping about the past. If Sera is partly an elven goddess of the hunt who reviles what she once was, it makes sense that she doesn't like to be reminded of anything related to it, even subconsciously.
- The Enemies of Thedas trailer centers on the threat, what should happen if you fail, certain characters like Hawke trying to stop a Bad Future, ect. Who is prominently shown? Sera. She also grows rather worked up in Trespasser vowing to fight against any threat to Inquisitor, even if not romanced they are still together and s/he is gifted a prosthetic crossbow arm: odds are the groundwork is laid for Sera to at least be looked at and expanded in more detail.
- If you bring him to the dark future, he even says, "You would think such understanding would stop me from making such terrible mistakes. You would be wrong." That could just as easily refer to his ability to think fourth-dimensionally as to his missteps as Fen'harel. Being able to see and understand the flow of time doesn't preclude him making bad judgment calls in the moment.
- I always thought it was weird that in Maryden's song about Sera, the chorus is "Why change the past when you can own this day?". If the theory about Sera being Andruil is true, and Solas is at least somewhat aware of it and that's why he tries to get her to acknowledge her "inner elf", it might be a deliberate hint.
- That becomes complicated if she is anointed Divine Victoria...
- Cassandra is a long way down the line and still far from the end of it. What kind of massacre did you envision occurring?!
- Word of God has already confirmed that the Architect is "the same type of being as Corypheus"
- Even better: in the Chant, one of the titles of the High Priest of Urthemiel was the Architect of Beauty.
She didn't "miraculously recover" from her death/beheading at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, the original Leliana died, and was later replaced by an Envy demon with a more vicious personality. Envy then used Leliana's contacts and ruthlessly climbed the ladder to the position of Left Hand of the Divine, then as spymaster to the Inquisition, using whatever means necessary to attain true power: the Sunburst Throne.
- Not a great theory, as it relies on several different people who are the best placed both to recognise demons and spot Leliana acting out of character failing to do either. Also relies on the Warden siding with the Cult Of Andraste. Otherwise Leliana walked out of there just fine. Finally there's no reason why an Envy demon would even tell the story of what happened there.
- confirmed, oddly enough. Not the envy demon part - apparently the lyrium in the Temple of Sacred Ashes "sang thought into being." And that's why she's still walking around if she's been perforated.
- Given the similarities between the Architect's mask and Urthemiel's symbol, it's also possible that the Architect was the Magister who worshiped the Tevinter god of Beauty. That would explain why he sought out Urthemiel first when he enacted his plan to end Blights by "Joining" Old Gods.
- And very tragic, if he turned the god he once venerated into a monster.
- According to a removed verse from the Chant of Light, Urthemiel's Magister was known as "The Architect of Beauty".
Who else would Mythal want revenge on more than the Dread Wolf? Sure, they're friends, but Solas royally fucked up in giving his Orb to Corypheus. He even says "I should pay the price". He wasn't just being colorful, he came to Mythal as a penitent, and she punished him by usurping his will.
- Word of God is that Solas took Mythal's power...except for a portion that Flemeth transferred through the Eluvian that she intended Morrigan to claim.
- This may look less likely, as it seems Sandal's ominous portent may have instead been referring to Solas's intent with the Veil.
This could also mean her oft-criticized accent is fake (since Andraste was Alamarri). Interestingly, this would mean the Inquisitor really is the Herald of Andraste even though it was Justinia who saved them in the Fade, just not for the same reason everybody believes.
How is Andraste alive at the tender age of 1043 (and after being incinerated), though? This could very well be related to the whole Flemeth/Mythal business.
Her initial hostility towards Dorian because he's from Tevinter would also be understandable since she dedicated most of her life to fighting Tevinter before she was burned at the stake by them.
- This also has some support by the nature of how she rallies the Inquisition in its darkest hour: Song. Andraste was known to be a beautiful songstress; the ghost of her childhood friend in the Temple of Sacred Ashes attests to this. Giselle rallied the Inquisition with a rendition of "The Dawn Will Come", and it worked.
- All but confirmed at this point.
- Jossed. The new threat the Inquisitor leaves for the next PC is Solas and a qunari invasion.
Following up on this, mages are humans with the divine spark, and just enough divine power to make a difference across the Veil. Demons are greedy, and seek to have the divine spark, thus returning them to partial glory that they once had as the Maker. This also explains why Spirits/Creators require consent to possess a mortal body. An omnipotent being can contradict anything except itself.
Lyrium is alive, specifically, it's similar to siphonophores, and Titans are gigantic colonies who attained a form of sentience and the capacity to "communicate" and enter mutually beneficial covenants with smaller sentient beings like the Dwarves.The taint is the Lyrium organisms' rough equivalent of cancerous growth: cancerous cells don't die: they grow and spread beyond control and eventually cause the death of the very organism they originate from, which is very similar to the observed effect of the Taint. Now here comes the nightmarish hypothesis:
- That's kinda splitting hairs. Calling Lyrium the "blood" of the Titans is really a metaphorical flourish; they are not comparable organisms to humans (or dwarves, elves etc) so they use terminology that's familier. Blood, flesh, it's really neither, it's a non-biological life form, but either serves as a fitting metaphor.
So what is the Black City? It's the manifestation of a very old, very sick Titan: perhaps driven mad by the pain caused by the taint, perhaps senile and unaware of the damage it's doing around it, or perhaps so terrified by death that it find existing as a crippled collective organism composed of billions of microscopic ghouls preferable to oblivion, even if it's harming the rest of the planet by clinging to life: no matter the reason, the Taint and a lot of Misery affecting Thedas originated from it, and putting it out of its misery in order to dry out the source of the Taint will be the ultimate goal of the Dragon Age series Grand Finale
- Not a bad thought as a concept but I doubt it, for narrative reasons. For a fantasy story this is a little too scientific in it's approach. Plus the Titans are so fundamentally alien to a human viewpoint that they cannot even communicate in any direct sense and a story needs a relatable villain. Even the Reapers could at least talk to you. Also this doesn't explain where the Blight originated.
- Some points in support: some have already pointed out the similarities between Flemeth/Mythal and Andraste, such as only ever having daughters and vast and mysterious magical powers. Maybe it's because they're both gods bound in human form? Also Old-timey folk seem to connect gods and dragons an awful lot (the 'Vints explicitly worshipped dragons, a lot of old elven god art seems very draconic, Mythal's guardian is a dragon Hakkon Wintersmith was bound into a dragon, and Flemeth can notably transform into one. And suddenly the idea that the people of Haven started mistaking a High Dragon for "Andraste reborn" seems much less silly, if they were remembering pre-Chantry beliefs of her.
- Aren't all Sha-Brytol supposed to be mute, however?
- Maybe that's why he was cast out; for whatever reason, the ritual that he Sha-Brytol perform to become...Sha-Brytol didn't completely work on him, leaving him with his simple speech and savant-like powers over enchantment!
Lastly, sort of meta, but still: In both the original campaign and Jaws of Hakkon, the penultimate or final boss was some kind of dragon, but there is nothing of the sort in Descent... unless the Titan is a giant dragon and you were fighting a part of it.
- The dragons in The Silent Grove are still High Dragons, just really big ones. While the dragon goes through an interesting lifecycle it's a logical one; it's always a dragon, it just gets bigger. The only big shift is growing wings. Titans aren't even biological lifeforms. Seems like a pretty huge leap.
- The Nocen Sea just north of Tevinter wouldn't be too bad an idea (Tevinter on one side, Qunari in Seheron on the other). All we need is a Silent Sister archer companion. And if the base gets destroyed? It's cause they played you like a damn lute!
- Maybe the first one but I very much doubt that Fenris would be with Solas. First, for character reasons; Fenris is broadly Andrastian in his beliefs so he won't like Solas as a god and we know how he feels about mages, so whichever way one views Solas Fenris will not like him. Second, for story construction reasons; the series has yet to force us to kill a former companion, even when it might be something you could see happening, like Sten in Dragon Age II or Trespasser. We've been given the option but never forced into it. Third, relationship reasons; if Hawke survives Here Lies The Abyss Varric says that their love interest (if any) and surviving sibling will certainly follow them. As of the Tresasser epilogue we know a surviving Hawke is back in Kirkwall. Relevance? Well, this means that, if romanced, Fenris is back with Hawke and highly unlikely to follow some stranger on a crusade. And that would be overly favouring one world state. Finally the biggest reason why Fenris would not follow Solas is because Solas' aim is utterly antithetical to Fenris' beliefs and view of the world. Solas wants to burn the world in order to make it more magical. Fenris despises magic in all its forms and believes that its mere existence corrupts the world. These are not two people likely to get on.
- A free Fenris will probably not help a powerful mage hellbent on strengthening the world's magic... Merrill on the other hand... Here Bioware has the opportunity to pull another Iron Bull by having a Merrill who fixed her Eluvian and never gave up on restoring ancient elvhen magic joining Solas' ranks and becoming an antagonist even if she was romanced.
- That would require some impressive Character Derailment. While she may be intense on the subject of Elvhen magic the defining character trait of Merrill is her compassion, which overrides even her obsession with the mirror. It would be a hell of jump for her to suddenly be ok with murdering millions. Not to mention she is a faithful follower of the Dalish religion and was not there to see the evidence of the Evanuris so won't be inclined to trust Fen'Harel. Plus even if she doesn't destroy the mirror she doesn't fix it either and in fact decides to put aside her obsession to follow a new path. Frankly I'd be surprised if any former companions except Dorian put in personal appearances in DA:4, since it appears to be set to take place in Tevinter, which is a LONG way from any of their stomping grounds and, more meta, the only former companions that have had significant effects after their games are Anders and Varric (who were companions again) Leliana and Morrigan (whose backstory make them essential to the plot). The others get cameos at most. And no, I don't count Warden Alistair/Loghain, since their role in Inquisition is optional and totally replaceable with a minor NPC.
- Morrigan again
- Kieran, if he exists.
- Solas.
- One of the other Evanuris' avatars.
- The Warden, assuming he or she is still alive
- Carta Member: Dwarven Warrior/Rogue. If Harding appears as a companion, she'll have hired them for a scouting mission.
- Magister: Elven/Human Mage. Potentially, another option might be a Magister's apprentice, with the PC in that case being a mage born to disenfranchised non-mages.
- Slave: Human/Elven Warrior/Mage.
- Ben-Hassarath: Qunari Warrior/Rogue. Serving on the frontlines alongside the Antaam.
- Saarebas: Qunari Mage. Starts out as a member of the Ben-Hassarath, though perhaps not of the same rank or function as the above origin, who manifests magical ability while serving on the frontlines and escapes being leashed.
- The Elven Fanatic being the female elf from Act II who stole what she thought was gaatlok (but was really the poison saar-qamek) from the Qunari and framed Javaris Tintop for it. If you look at the scene where you confront her from a post-Trespasser viewpoint, she ticks a lot of the boxes for being one of Fen'Harel's agents. Though Fen'Harel himself was still sleeping at this point, he makes it clear in Trespasser that his agents were still active, since they ensured Corypheus' Venatori agents would find the Orb a year before Solas actually woke up. First off, the Fanatic hates the Qun with a fiery passion, just as Solas does in Inquisition. She also rails about how the Qun is attracting a lot of elven converts, causing them to forsake their heritage and culture which is something Solas probably also would be angry about, given his stated goals from Trespasser to return the elves to their former glory. Viscount Dumar also makes vague noises afterwards about how she probably belonged to or was being manipulated by some shadowy group he would be forced to appease, which seems to foreshadow her involvement with the Dread Wolf. While it's unlikely Solas would have approve of her plan (which was basically domestic terrorism made worse by the fact that she didn't realize she had gotten poison gas instead of explosives, which even she is freaked out by), it's possible her actions were not authorized by whatever superiors she reported to (if any) and was simply an act of extremism due to her blinding hatred of the Qunari. I would not be surprised if in the fourth game there isn't some throwaway nod to one of Fen'Harel's agents taking a more active stand against the Qunari in Kirkwall during the events of II or something else along those lines.
- Badass? Check. Chronic Hero Syndrome? Check. Leads a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits to save the world? Check. Magnetic Hero? Check. The default Femquisitor even resembles Jane.
Similarities between Evanuris and the Warhammer Elven/Eldar Pantheon:
- Elgar'nan, elven god of vengeance and the sun, corresponds to both Asuryan and Khaine. The vengeance aspect, and overall personality of Elgar'nan resemble more Khaine's, but his connection to the sun and fatherhood, as well as being the pantheons leader, are more corresponding to Asuryan. As Khaine and Asuryan are viewed often as twin brothers, it's possible that overtime, Elgar'nan split into Asuryan and Khaine.
- Mythal is Isha, both being connected to motherhood, and a Token Good Teammate among gods. What Flemeth became after merging with Mythal, resembles an Everqueen, especially that according to David Gaider, Flemth transfered her Mythal powers to Morrigan after her death at the end of Inquisition, very similarly how Everqueens were described to work.
- June is Vaul, both being described as masters of crafts, and gods of blacksmitting.
June also seemed not particularly vicious, there not being particular descriptions of cruelty like of other of Evanuris, mirroring Vaul also being one of the nicer gods. - Fen'harel/Solas, parallels Cegorach/Loec The Laughing God, both beings the outsiders of their pantheon, and tricksters. Both Solas and The Laughing God, are also more kind than it can initially seem. Another possibility, is that Solas is some early, pre-human incarnation of the Emperor of Mankind, both sharing the disdain at the concept of gods, and having very good, selfless intentions, but extreme methods of realizing them.
- Dirthamen may be Morr, especially his probably older, elven version Sarriel. Both Sarriel/Morr and Dirthamen are gods of sleep and dreams, brothers to gods of death(Khaine for Sarriel, and Falon'Din for Dirthamen), and both are associated with Ravens. Alternately, Dirthamen may be a male version of Lilieath, the goddess of dreams, or possibly Morai-Heg, goddess of Prophecy. Another possibility is that Dirthamen, Sarriel/Morr, Morai-Heg and Lileath, are different forms or descriptions of the same being.
Yet another possibility is that Dirthamen is Hoeth, as both are Gods of Knowledge. - If Dirthamen is Morr/Sarriel, then Falon'Din very probably is Khaine, with Khaine being the brother of Sarriel, and Falon'Din is the brother of Dirthamen. Both Khaine and Falon'din are gods of Death, and it was revealed Falon'Din was similarly vicious to Khaine, and like him, caused wars. Falon'Din had also a conflict with Mythal, similar to Khaine having a conflict with Isha.
- Alternately Falon'Din is Sarriel/Morr, and Dirathamen is Lileath, as both fit those roles, and Sarriel/Morr was more often named the god of dead/death, rather than Khaine.
- Or Dirthamen is Lileath, and Falon'Din is Morai-Heg, as like Lilieath and Morai-Heg are said to complete each other, so do Dirthamen and Falon'Din.
- Xebenkeck has similarities to Slaanesh, as Xebenkeck appears as a Desire Demon,
And similarly has a confusion about gender, being presented as female, yet referred as a male, paralleling Slaanesh being a hermaphrodite. It's also notable that like in humans refer to Xebenkeck as a male, and elves as a female, just like Slaanesh is referred as a male among humans, and female among Eldar. - Gaxkang may Khorne, as both are the most directly martial of their groups, with Gaxkang appearing as an armored Revenant with a sword and shield. While Gaxkang has a mage form, and Khorne normally disdains sorcerers, it was explained that Khorne doesn't disdain magic/psyker abilities in general, but sorcery, which draws power from the Warp by the use of arcane knowledge such as runes, words of power or some other magic trickery, which which Khorne sees as cowardly, as it steals the power through unfair trickery in his mind, while magic/psyker abilities may be completely natural, own abilities and skill of the psyker/mage to harness the power of the Warp, and a form of personal strength(of the mind), not “borrowed”/“stolen”, like sorcery.
It was shown with Khorne choosing Azariah Kyras, a Chief Librarian, and later even elevating him even into an incredibly powerful Daemon Prince. If you believe Khaine is a form of Khorne, it would also mean Gaxkang also doubles as Khaine, especially since it's practically stated Gaxgang and the rest of the Forbidden Ones started out as elves. Gaxkang's sword, is called the Keening Blade, which sounds quite similar to The Wailling Doom, and Windowmaker, names of Khaine's swords, or of Knorne's sword, Woebringer.
The Keening Blade is even said to make an eerie wail whenever it cuts, likening it to a Wailling Doom. - Imshael may be Tzeentch. Both are skilled manipulators, and like Tzeentch, Imshael was shown to like to often change his form. Imshael's focus on choice, is very similar to Tzeentch's focus on change.
- There is little known about The Formless One, but seeing the previous tendency, and that out the 4 only they two are left, he/she may be Nurgle
- Also, if Geldauran of the Forgotten Ones isn't one of the 4 Forbidden Ones above, Geldauran, seeing his hate of the very concept of godhood, may be Necoho and/or Malal.
- Why? Three reasons. First is they already did this with Felicia Day and Stirling is clearly a fan. Second is her video quite likely helped sell quite a few copies of the game and this would be a nice way of BioWare saying thank you. Third there is an in game or in music video explanation as to why: The Inquisitor loses The Mark at the end of Trespasser. Who finds something similar? Stirling...imagine it, you are not the Savior of Thedas, she is, and your job is to protect her. Plus with Leliana well and truly out of said role by now Stirling would be a great Bard replacement.
- The two defining choices (Whether striving to redeem or kill Solas, whether to dismantle of scale down the Inquisition) will interact with one another easting of simply being plus/minus values on a single axis: If the Inquisitor vowed to kill Solas, they'll view the Inquisitor's associates as threat, and keeping the Inquisition around will backfire by providing Solas with more opportunities to infiltrate their organization and sabotage their work, making dismantling the best choice. If on the other hand the Inquisitor vowed to redeem Solas, they won't be able to bring themselves to actively work against their friend, and should the Inquisition still exist, Solas will find ways to indirectly assist it, making scaling down the best choice in this case.
- In DA:O, a Dalish Warden's first encounter with Darkspawn is through an Eluvian, when Tamlen strongly implies seeing the Archdemon themself through the glass. Later, the Darkspawn flood the ruins. This suggests that the Darkspawn have overrun the Crossroads. Fourteen years later, the Crossroads are deserted. This has never been expanded on or explained in any of the games.
- The Archdemons are *clearly* in the Deep Roads, but Solas explicitly states they're banished to the other side of the Fade.
- This doesn't add up, except for one thing — in a game where Lavellan romances Solas, Cole refers to someone "sleeping" behind mirrors that need to be awoken.
- Trespasser establishes that there are Eluvians in the Deep Roads.
- There's also another question — the Deep Roads are utterly, utterly overrun by Darkspawn to the point where there's only two Dwarven kingdoms, one of which is seriously isolated. So how is it it takes centuries at a time for Darkspawn to be able to find an Archdemon even though the Archdemons are singing to them? That's the longest game of Marco Polo I've ever heard of.
- So the answer is this — the Darkspawn don't find an Archdemon and wake it. The Darkspawn find massive eluvians in the Deep Roads and spend centuries searching for the key to activate it. Only when the key is found can the Archdemon "awaken", surge through, and the Blight can properly begin.
- And expanding on the above, one of those keys could be Solas's wolf bone necklace, a distinct but strangely undiscussed prop in DA:I...
- We do see a dragon-sized one in Flemeth's final scene, and another at the end of Trespasser.
After finding out that Solas intends to kill everyone in order to tear down the Veil, and with Cole being a spirit that manifested a human body, and the spirit of Divine Justinia who may or may not have been the real thing, there's a lot to suggest that the souls of sentient life on Thedas and the spirits of the Fade aren't actually very different from each other as a spirital "species", as it were. Mages draw from the Fade to produce magic, and it is possible to be present in the Fade physically, implying that mortals actually do have the ability (or the right, possibly) to exist on both planes, with each type being disoriented and disturbed by crossing into the other's world.
Of course on the flip side of that, some of them will join Team Solas instead... Because you know Merrill and Velanna will be there.
- Velanna, maybe. Merrill, probably not; it'd take some serious doing to convince her to side with the guy whose goal involves mass murder.
Because it'd be next to impossible for Solas to not know about the lyrium-tattooed former slave with a real bone to pick with the Tevinter slave trade. Given how much Fenris hates slavery and the Magisters, he'd be a perfect operative for Solas' interests in the north. And how could the Dread Wolf possibly pass up the chance to have an agent named Fenris?
- As discussed above, it'd be pretty unlikely for Fenris, who heavily distrusts mages, to ally with Mr. 'Let's-Bring-All-Magic-Back-Again', especially since it's going to result in at very least genocide of non-mages.