I love how similar Bioware's lore is but still feels unique. Mass Effect and Dragon Age both came out around the same time, and each has corrupted, racially distinct thrawls. Husks aren't that different from a Hurlock. Both have the super elite, fully autonomous, commando groups (Spectres and Wardens) that are the only hope to defeat the ancient evil. But each game does enough to feel unique. I love the intro stories of DA and wish Bioware did more with the concept. It's fun going to Redcliff to fight zombies as a human warrior, and then go as a mage and feel totally responsible for the whole situation. You released the blood mage that starts it all.
I agree wholeheartedly. That mage wasn't responsible for the zombies though, it was conner and his mother that were responsible, that mage only taught conner the basics as he said but his mother didn't want anyone to know he was a mage so she hid it until conner could control his own powers and made a deal with a demon to save his father, that was their fault. The mage was asigned to assasinate the arl by logain which trigger the chain reaction that lead to zombie warfare. So that means logain's at fault then.
Dragon age 2 i will say is definitely a im the main character story each origin feels like a snowball effect for the story each origin in dao goes from bad to worse to okay how do i deal with this snow storm lol
"For centuries we have kept our vigil. We have watched and waited for the Darkspawn to return. There are those who have doubted, who have forgotten; but it has always been our duty to remember. "In Peace, Vigilance; "In War, Victory; "In Death... Sacrifice. "This is what it means to be a Grey Warden!"
Great video, and I actually have a bit of a hypothesis on where the Darkspawn came from. So, according to the lore the Taint itself emerged alongside the Magisters from the Fade, thereby creating the first Darkspawn. Also, the Darkspawn are believed to be an artificial race, created solely to make the mortals suffer for their "sins". Now, what makes this important is the piece of essential lore from Trespasser, namely that not only is the Veil that the Magisters breached artificial, but it was created specifically to seal away the (evil, power-hungry, and godlike) Evanuris in the Fade forever. Now, what if the Taint (and thus the Darkspawn) were in fact created by the Evanuris in an attempt to hurt the world that banished them? We know from an anthology book that the Evanuris were no strangers to performing horrific experiments on their subjects, turning them into abominations. So what if the Taint is the ultimate result of said experiments?
its one possible theory id like to think that its was experimental project the evanuris had to weaponize and use againts people that rebels against them in their civil strifes, Mythal probably was againts it and got killed then probably the evanuris lost control of it or solas sabotaged them and sealed the evanuris with the veil and the taint out of control in the golden city of the fade, then the tevinter magisters got infected by reaching the golden city and brought it like a virus to Thedas.
from ancient writing we know that elves tried to burry "something" in the deep roads i suspect that the evanuris did not corrupt the humans but used the eluvians to transport them in the source of the blight deep in the deeproads then they emerged without them knowing what happened to them, the evanuris probably swept their memories
A interesting theory. I personal subscribe to the theory that the Blight predates the ancient elves. I have no doubt the ancient knew of the Blight but took more caution with it than the later humans.
i like this in a lot of ways. my spin is that the Evanuris where all mashed together into 1 tainted god like being/thing, think of the fade like a fishing net and the Evanuris have all cannibalised each other in so many different ways in this cage that all that's left is this taint of hate anger all the nasty stuff and what ever comes out of the fade/vail if solas succeeds it is gonna be so much worse and is going to be just another mistake for the dread wolf.
the only redesign of the darkspawn was in dragon age 2 and yeah it was god-awful both the game and the darkspawn lol the only good thing about dragon age 2 was they changed the combat for the better
The Grey Wardens have some similarities to the Night's Watch. They don't care about anyone's background once they're in the order, they're well-respected (or used to be), but have lost a bit of their force lately, etc...
Likely that when crafting the setting of Thedas and the story of Dragon Age the developers took inspiration from Martin's books As Dragon Age came out in 2009 and martin's books were first published back in 1992
It would be interesting if that broodmother was in fact one of the 7 Magisters Sidereal and it was from her that the darkspawn gained the ability to create the other broodmothers so if she's slain then darkspawn can't replenish their numbers anymore
Adrian Von Ziegler’s music is beautiful. I listen to it daily. Crazy how l can recognize it ln the background of this video! He should compose the next Dragon Age soundtrack!
The Wardens will always be my favorite organization. With the return of their noble steads and Inquisition ending signalled coming change, I hope they come out stronger in DA4!
Coryphyes and the arcitect are both two of the original darkspawns, which is why they are like they are. They aren't Just among the original magisters that broke into the golden city, but they are the very two that started the whole thing and came up with the whole idea.
Great lession, professor! I just wanted to add that, according to Sister Petrachius on A Study of Thedosian Astronomy, me might have an eight Old God, since we know that Tevinteran dragon imagery is usually about them, and we have an eight constellation called "High Dragon". Of course, it's not proven, but an old god that even Tevinterans of old decided should be erased from history is... Frightening at least.
This has been a great series. I'm going to be playing the TTRPG and didn't know much, but this is helping to consolidate and expand what I've been learning from the rulebook. Thanks!
Another fantastic video, you can't imagine how much I enjoy these lore videos. PS. One small detail you forgot to mention is that in The Joining the Grey Wardens need the assistance of mages and lyrium in addition to blood, this is confirmed by Duncan and Alistar.
Grey Wardens reminds me of the Watch in A Song of Ice and Fire - Forgoten Order that nobody care about in the current times but suddenly everyones hero when the threat emerges.
I strongly hope that we get more information on nature of Blight, ancient magisters like Architect and Corypheus, and Old Gods in Dragon Age Dreadwolf. Statments made by Kieran carrying soul of Urthamiel gave me feeling that everything in Dragon Age has a hidden meaning, and the next game must give us more revolutionary informations about Thedas.
One of my favorite characters in Dragon Age is the Messenger. Just an all around good person who wants to help. Also a darkspawn who spreads the taint if he is allowed to do so. It's a very touching and sad story. Also, he's played by Mark Meer. My favorite Shepard and clearly born to play monster roles.
Every once in a while the YT recommendations serve me up an unknown gem. This video will go into my cycle of videos to fall asleep to and you have a new subscriber. Great work bro (Edit: then I see you actually have 8 videos of the same quality. So I have a new Playlist to sleep to. All I can say if fucking sweet!)
Hey, awesome job on this video, but I feel you missed an opportunity to mention that the Wardens know where all the Old Gods are located underground, but lack the resources to tunnel below and kill them before they rise as Archdemons: maybe in a future lecture, professor.
Hi! I adore this entire series. I just stumbled upon it and I'm enthralled haha. I see that you haven't gotten around to doing videos on the individual blights, the Architect, or Corypheus yet (or if you have, they're not part of the playlist and I would love to be directed to them!). I would love for you to get around to those someday, if you're still active on youtube! The depth of detail in your videos and the way you weave the narratives are incredible. Thank you for the fantastic content! I hope to see more.
What terrifying body horror and fascinating antagonists. I wonder if there’s a way to end the darkspawn threat once and for all? I really like the Architect, and I’m looking forward to a video on them.
Another excellent lecture. Honestly giving me a lot of the 😭 feelings about the Wardens. It's nice to remember their part of the lore and how brutal the tasks asked of them are.
Hey Professor Absalom! I just randomly stumbled upon one of your videos and it was an almost instant subscribe for me after that first one. I think I'll spend today going through the rest of your content. It's amazing to see quality DA content on UA-cam, best of luck to you, excited about the next class' topic!
Love the content professor, I showed my friend your channel and we are loving it all. In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice. Love my Grey Wardens.
I'm just doing a replay of DAI and wanted to get a bit more of the backstory. So these videos help me very much. Thank you for making my replay much more fun!
This looks really good, accurate and informative. The only "problem" is that I wouldn't have included the Darkspawn design in Origins as it's basically not canon anymore, it would be simply aesthetic since the general shape of the Darkspawn is the same if it wasn't for the genlocks that now are more unique and different from the "baby hurlocks" design in Origins. Also a more important thing about genlocks is the emissary variant as I don't think that Emissaries are subcategories of Darkspawns anymore but a completely separate kind so I doubt Genlock Emissaries are a thing anymore, unless: A) All Emissaries look the same B) In II and Inquisition for some reason we only met one kind of Emissary (the closest based on looks being Elf/Shriek, maybe they might actually go for that adding that elven broodmothers are more likely to have mage children as the Elves have a closer connection with magic) But I actually doubt that the "Genlocks being Emissaries despite Dwarves not being able to be Mages" is canon anymore, it looks like Emissaries are their own category now unrelated to Genlocks, Hurlocks, Shrieks and Ogres.
The blight won't end until all 7 magisters that invaded the black city are destroyed since they had been sent back from the fade infected somewhere underground. I do how ever believe corythius when he said that the gold city was already black and empty by the time they step foot in there, he just seems so confused and outrage that it wasn't what they believed it to be. Two of the magisters have been shown only five left.
the architect, if kiled by dao-awakening charcter probably isnt actually dead because he presumably has the ability to revive himself through blighted creatures just like corypheous did
Yeah seems that way. I would like to know what he has accomplish to this point though, you'd think after coryphyous appeared he would have gone to meet up with him but alas.
@@V2ULTRAKill that the thing, the magisters are the speaders of the blight and corypheous has been shown to control the archdemon. Let's say the archdemons are all wiped out, the archetect has shown to control darkspawn even without an archdemon. There is also the very real posibility that one of the magisters was a woman and most likely has become a broodmother, the broodmother that started the blight. The magisters are a bigger threat then the archdemons and if they are all eliminated before the archdemons are found then the old gods would remain sealed underground in their slumber without harming anyone or turning into archdemons. It just seems to be an impossible job.
So, that’s how Fiona did it. She used/got a hold of Warden blood. That necklace only acted as a catalyst. Fiona drank/ingested/impregnated/all of the above with Warden blood. This broke her bond and it’s also why the Joining wouldn’t work with her. An Archdemon would ignore her body as it could not invade her.
43:42 hey I was wondering when these other blight videos were coming out? I’m super excited! I love this series and your delivery of the lore is top tier
Thank you! I will have to go thru the major nations of Thedas and some other lore concepts first, but after that I’m thinking of starting a new series about wars and conflicts were the blights will be included.
I love the lore of the Blights, Darkspawn and Grey Wardens and the mystery surrounding them. A shame Bioware completely redesigned the Darkspawn, they used to look menacing and cool from their armor down to their decaying flesh but now they just look goofy to me and I can't take them seriously. The hurlocks and genlocks being the prime example of that change. The only Darkspawn that either benefited from that change were the Ogres and Shrieks
I've watered all your videos more times then I can count to the point where I turn them on when going to bed to fall a sleep to thank you for what you do
There was a line in the DLC of Origns that I wish was explored more. I don't remember it exactly, but it was about the Demon's and the Dark Spawn "The taint is Alien to them."
I love your videos. I have listened to everything while working and feeling like I'm in a lecture hall keeps me hard at work and motivated! Always looking forward to the next video.
Dragon Age: Awakening is, in part, second only to DAI: The Descent to me because of how vastly it expanded the potential for the Darkspawn. Like, sentient Darkspawn? Darkspawn that can learn? THat can question the nature of their existence in contrast to the wider world? It is as much terrifying as it is intriguing, and I'm still hoping Bioware brings the Architect back because he was leagues better presented than Corypheus. These lessons of yours remind me why I love Dragon Age lore so much, and I cannot wait to see what you have in store for us.
Can you imagine the final dragon age game where the last two remaining old gods rise up to bring upon the blight of all blights. That would be sick >:)
In Origins, the Dalish Elf story arc, you go into a cave which they think is Dwarven but find Elvish artifacts. In Inquisition, Solas tells us that the Vallaslin was, essentially, slave markings of the followers of the first Elves. I have wondered, since I learned that, if Solas caused the blight. The different types of darkspawn for those races who were serving the first elves. Later, stealing women and people to further their number.
@@NineTailedFate same number of them, and they all share names. It's not explicitly confirmed. But I would be positively shocked to find out they aren't.
@@samreddig8819its impossible for them to be the same One group was sealed underground The other was sealed in the fade If theyre connected at all, its as vessels, or locks
I absolutely love this channel. This is going to be a good video. Dragon age spoiled me in terms of game expectations lol I need history and lore and secrets lol
so in theory the grey wardens could die out if the time between Blights was so wide that they ran out of arch demon blood to make new Wardens or they will have to at some point share the ways of making wardens so that when the next blight comes around even if they fail to kill the archdemon permanently they can still harvest its body to remake the order i don't know the lore of this land confuses me due to the scale of things.
i am also not happy about in DA2 where in the deep roads you can make your sibling a grey warden without archdemon blood. its just drinking dark spawn blood now i guess
There are stores of archdemon blood, just in case it's needed. Using it is preferred, since it's far more potent than normal darkspawn blood. If archdemon blood is not available, however, the blood of lesser darkspawn can be treated to let a Joining occur without archdemon blood.
During previous blights, Archdemons were slayed multiple times. As long as Grey Warden doesn't deal the final blow the Archdemon will be reborn. So the stores of blood should be huge. In case the order disappears there are enough rumors and legends to reinvent the joining. But yeah. This common darkspawn blood joining is an ass pull. Happens here and there in the lore.
@@xSkyWeix I just replayed Dragon Age Origins and when you do the Joining in that game they use darkspawn blood that you yourself collect and only a drop or so of archdemon blood, so they dont even need large amounts of stored blood. I guess in DA2, your sibling is not a TRUE Grey Warden, just partially, just enough to sense darkspawn in a small area.
Flemeth's words about a soul not being able to be forced on the unwilling is interesting. It could be the reason why Archdemons and wardens die during the possession process. Also, it could be the reason for why most abominations are unstable.
This is pure speculation but 2 fairly popular theories I've heard is one, Tevinter is kinda right in that the magisters aren't responsible for the darkspawn existing and they have been around much longer and there's a story about one of the Elven goddesses hunting deep underground and contracting an illness that drove her insane, now what does that sound like. And something else I've heard is the Old God's of Tevinter and the Evanuris are the same, minus Fen'Herrell and Mythal, which kinda lines up, I don't think bioware decided they're were 7 Old God's and 9 Evanuris with 2 of the Evanuris who opposed the other 7 was them pulling random numbers that sounded nice
Here's the codex entry I'm talking about "One day Andruil grew tired of hunting mortal men and beasts. She began stalking the Forgotten Ones, wicked things that thrive in the abyss. Yet even a god should not linger there, and each time she entered the Void, Andruil suffered longer and longer periods of madness after returning. Andruil put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands. She howled things meant to be forgotten, and the other gods became fearful Andruil would hunt them in turn. So Mythal spread rumors of a monstrous creature and took the form of a great serpent, waiting for Andruil at the base of a mountain" I know the Forgotten Ones are supposed to be the evil opposites of the Elven gods but what they actually were is nearly entirely forgotten and I can't help but notice the similarities of "being driven mad deep underground" and how darkspawn taint works
The issue there Is the old gods are underground The elven gods are trapped in the fade The old gods would have to be vessels of the elven gods, servants if you will
@@Comuniity_ I second this. And I'd like to add, there is a lot of talk in earlier videos about the flexibility of spirits and demons in the fade - about how a demon of vengeance and a spirit of justice are almost the same. About how easy it would be to cross a line from one into another. What if it's just yin and yang at work here - these are two sides to one being? And the Veil sundering them from one another, making them incomplete and driving them mad as they seek out their other parts to be whole again?
What if the Taint was magic from Gilan'nain? She created monsters, and thr blight sounds like a great way to make endless monsters for Andruil to hunt. (Brood mothers keep spawning) Perhaps magisters contracted it?
Solas is the maker, I bet. Trapped the old gods and “made” the veil as punishment for mythal and other issues. I’d wager that the “golden city” was also that one missing elven city and was the source of the taint. A plague created to destroy the magical “gods”.
I think Elgarnan is the maker. And that Andraste is the first possessed of Mythal (her daughters descendants have been possessed by Mythal over the generations like Flemeth) reason why Flemeth knows Solas and why Andraste was all lovey dovey with the maker.
There are only seven elder gods in the Tevinter pantheon. In a thousand years the wardens killed five. That means that there are only two blights left before there are no more archdemons. What happens then? Is it only the elder gods be corrupted or any dragon? Corypheus had a dragon corrupted by red lryium he used to hold his soul like an arch-demon. Can the process be continued indefinitely as long as there are dragons and demons to possess them? The decent DLC showed that thedas is a hollow earth. Who knows what is in the depths? The dragons went extinct before and appeared again. Are there more in the depths? I don't know what terrifies me more, that we could see the end of the blights soon or that the blights are just beginning?
I just finished the lecture on Qunari and hearing about the Saarebas made me wonder what would happen to them if turned into an Ogre. Would the Saarebas retain that power magic or become something different entirely? I shutter at the image of a ogre wielding any type of magic.
Dear Professor Absalom: If I remember correctly the dwarves claimed that a variety of Darkspawn species assaulted them on their first encounter. If they originated from one broodmother deep under ground before reaching the surface wouldn't that mean that she could spawn all kinds or a primordial kind that none have seen. From what we know of broodmothers it seems unlikely to be the case. This issue causes more questions for every solution I can think of with the exception of one. The Dwarves are lying. Or at the very least their recorded memories are inaccurate. Their connections with Tevinter is more than enough motive for doing so I think. I know that we will never know the truth of it until the end of blights and then some but what are your thoughts on my suspicions?
That’s definitely possible. I mean the darkspawn ogres, created from the kossith colonists, did exist during the start of the first Blight. So there are absolutely some inconcistencies in the dwarven narrative.
What if Humans are spirits that resisted the veil when it was first created and so they fashioned themselves bodies or what if Elves closer to where the Veil begab, skyhold presumably, lost more than their immortality and became Humans? The skyhold is in the north after all EDIT: Skyhold is, in fact, not in the North
Hard maybe, spoilers but the archdemon problem would probably be over. Unless normal dragons can be used, then also maybe if the inquisitor didn't hunt them all down and extinction them again. But blights as the all consuming darkspawn horde would probably cease to be a threat
the archdemons are the seals that ancient elves used to keep "something" in the deep roads and everytime one of them awakened the elves captured it worked their magic and sealed it again. This is why solas is angry about this topic
The first and especially the second comments here are speculative. The true answer is "we don't know yet". We have yet to be given the answer or even the true details surrounding the sealing of these so called old gods, but from the small clues we have from the game we can lean more into the "no" category. Solas, [SPOILER BELOW!!!] ,before his reveal as the ancient elven trickster god, Fen'harel, is disgusted with Warden Commander Clarel and the Orlesian Wardens decision to use a army of demons to kill the remaining old gods still in slumber. He talks about the Blight as being something you can't outsmart. Given that he predates the first "recorded" Blight and his knowledge of the ancient world, we can only assume the Blights would carry on. My own personal opinion favors that the Blights will continue as well.
@@NRV0its more likely that the darkspawn would cause one last continuous blighr until eradicated Unless theres a different being powerful enough to serve as an archdemon theyd have no leader or purpose
Could u potentially do a video on how u think thedas manage to survive the first blight for as long as it did since it’s lasted almost 200 years I’m curious to hear yours or anyone else who also thought about it opinions
@@marcusblackwell2372 Maybe. Or maybe they're like orcs in LotR: they can be spawned as such (like we see with Uruk-hai), but originally they were corrupted elves.
One correction: Anyone who goes through the Joining - whether they die or not - is officially recognized as a Grey Warden.
every wardens sacrifice is equal and paid in full eventually
Free Jory!
I love how similar Bioware's lore is but still feels unique. Mass Effect and Dragon Age both came out around the same time, and each has corrupted, racially distinct thrawls. Husks aren't that different from a Hurlock.
Both have the super elite, fully autonomous, commando groups (Spectres and Wardens) that are the only hope to defeat the ancient evil.
But each game does enough to feel unique. I love the intro stories of DA and wish Bioware did more with the concept. It's fun going to Redcliff to fight zombies as a human warrior, and then go as a mage and feel totally responsible for the whole situation. You released the blood mage that starts it all.
I agree wholeheartedly. That mage wasn't responsible for the zombies though, it was conner and his mother that were responsible, that mage only taught conner the basics as he said but his mother didn't want anyone to know he was a mage so she hid it until conner could control his own powers and made a deal with a demon to save his father, that was their fault. The mage was asigned to assasinate the arl by logain which trigger the chain reaction that lead to zombie warfare. So that means logain's at fault then.
I love the intro for DA:O. The amount of emotion that Duncan put into those lines hit deep every time.
Nothing was cooler than playing as a grey warden. Their story was so cool and gave the game's story a sense of intensity that the sequels lacked.
Aye and that Dragon Age Origin intro hooked me so massively
Dragon age 2 i will say is definitely a im the main character story each origin feels like a snowball effect for the story each origin in dao goes from bad to worse to okay how do i deal with this snow storm lol
"For centuries we have kept our vigil. We have watched and waited for the Darkspawn to return. There are those who have doubted, who have forgotten; but it has always been our duty to remember.
"In Peace, Vigilance;
"In War, Victory;
"In Death... Sacrifice.
"This is what it means to be a Grey Warden!"
Great video, and I actually have a bit of a hypothesis on where the Darkspawn came from. So, according to the lore the Taint itself emerged alongside the Magisters from the Fade, thereby creating the first Darkspawn. Also, the Darkspawn are believed to be an artificial race, created solely to make the mortals suffer for their "sins". Now, what makes this important is the piece of essential lore from Trespasser, namely that not only is the Veil that the Magisters breached artificial, but it was created specifically to seal away the (evil, power-hungry, and godlike) Evanuris in the Fade forever.
Now, what if the Taint (and thus the Darkspawn) were in fact created by the Evanuris in an attempt to hurt the world that banished them? We know from an anthology book that the Evanuris were no strangers to performing horrific experiments on their subjects, turning them into abominations. So what if the Taint is the ultimate result of said experiments?
its one possible theory id like to think that its was experimental project the evanuris had to weaponize and use againts people that rebels against them in their civil strifes, Mythal probably was againts it and got killed then probably the evanuris lost control of it or solas sabotaged them and sealed the evanuris with the veil and the taint out of control in the golden city of the fade, then the tevinter magisters got infected by reaching the golden city and brought it like a virus to Thedas.
from ancient writing we know that elves tried to burry "something" in the deep roads
i suspect that the evanuris did not corrupt the humans but used the eluvians to transport them in the source of the blight deep in the deeproads then they emerged without them knowing what happened to them, the evanuris probably swept their memories
A interesting theory. I personal subscribe to the theory that the Blight predates the ancient elves. I have no doubt the ancient knew of the Blight but took more caution with it than the later humans.
i like this in a lot of ways.
my spin is that the Evanuris where all mashed together into 1 tainted god like being/thing,
think of the fade like a fishing net and the Evanuris have all cannibalised each other in so many different ways in this cage that all that's left is this taint of hate anger all the nasty stuff and what ever comes out of the fade/vail if solas succeeds it is gonna be so much worse and is going to be just another mistake for the dread wolf.
I hated the redesign of the dark spawn so much. Origins still my favorite.
Dragon age 2's dark spawn was Trash 🗑️
the only redesign of the darkspawn was in dragon age 2 and yeah it was god-awful both the game and the darkspawn lol
the only good thing about dragon age 2 was they changed the combat for the better
After Origins, all of the Darkspawn looked like the kind of villains the Power Rangers fought.
Hot Take: The Origins Darkspawn are discount Orcs while the DA2 Darkspawn have their own design.
I liked it when they were lava monsters 😂
The Grey Wardens have some similarities to the Night's Watch. They don't care about anyone's background once they're in the order, they're well-respected (or used to be), but have lost a bit of their force lately, etc...
Yeah agreed, they also give me some witcher vibes too, being able to sense darkspawn and shit.
There are several similarities between Dragon Age and ASOIAF.
Likely that when crafting the setting of Thedas and the story of Dragon Age the developers took inspiration from Martin's books
As Dragon Age came out in 2009 and martin's books were first published back in 1992
I've spent the last week or two watching your entire backlog. It has been a great and incredibly interesting time. Thank you for the content.
The idea of a massive brood mother at the center of the earth is truly horrifying.
It would be interesting if that broodmother was in fact one of the 7 Magisters Sidereal and it was from her that the darkspawn gained the ability to create the other broodmothers so if she's slain then darkspawn can't replenish their numbers anymore
Still, Being the Warden is the best role I've played.
Adrian Von Ziegler’s music is beautiful. I listen to it daily. Crazy how l can recognize it ln the background of this video! He should compose the next Dragon Age soundtrack!
The Wardens will always be my favorite organization. With the return of their noble steads and Inquisition ending signalled coming change, I hope they come out stronger in DA4!
I swear this the type of content I use to fall asleep. Feels like someone is reading me a bedtime story
Coryphyes and the arcitect are both two of the original darkspawns, which is why they are like they are. They aren't Just among the original magisters that broke into the golden city, but they are the very two that started the whole thing and came up with the whole idea.
No they're not.
They're not two of the 7.
@@ugn154 And this is why google exists. Now go use it
But what about the other three Magisters who took part in the ritual?
@@ugn154 dude, you're literally just a google search away where it confirms that they are, and you somehow deny it
@@samflood5631 we don't know yet.
Great lession, professor! I just wanted to add that, according to Sister Petrachius on A Study of Thedosian Astronomy, me might have an eight Old God, since we know that Tevinteran dragon imagery is usually about them, and we have an eight constellation called "High Dragon". Of course, it's not proven, but an old god that even Tevinterans of old decided should be erased from history is... Frightening at least.
Hespith's poem about becoming a brood mother freaks me out to this day
First day they come and catch everyone...
Same. Really dark and ominous, perfect for the theme of dao.
@@loreuniversity895, yep. But, perfect all the same.
Haven't even watched the video yet, but I already know I want more
Keep it up mate, love these
You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this
Thanks for bringing us this sweet lore
This has been a great series. I'm going to be playing the TTRPG and didn't know much, but this is helping to consolidate and expand what I've been learning from the rulebook. Thanks!
yes! lots of driving tomorrow. this will be perfect!
Same!
Don’t forget snacks!
@@leasykes863 snacks were had.
Another fantastic video, you can't imagine how much I enjoy these lore videos.
PS. One small detail you forgot to mention is that in The Joining the Grey Wardens need the assistance of mages and lyrium in addition to blood, this is confirmed by Duncan and Alistar.
That’s true, forgot about that. I guess some things are bound to slip past. Thank you for being observant and for enjoying the content. :)
Grey Wardens reminds me of the Watch in A Song of Ice and Fire - Forgoten Order that nobody care about in the current times but suddenly everyones hero when the threat emerges.
The Legion of The Dead in Dragon Age Origins also reminds me of the Watch.
@@hds3018 legion for sure is greatly influenced by Slayers in warhammer fantasy… oath of finding death in the glory of battle.
A song of Ice and Fire was an inspiration for the creators.
There's an old proverb that goes,
The soldier is hated by everyone untill the enemy is at the gates
Let's hope DA-D goes back to the grim dark version of Dark Spawn.
In Origins, they were scary. In the other games, they were a joke.
In war, Victory. In peace, Vigilance. In death, Sacrifice.
Man I loved dragon age origins the dark spawn fascinated me so much when I was a teenager and played it for the first time.
I strongly hope that we get more information on nature of Blight, ancient magisters like Architect and Corypheus, and Old Gods in Dragon Age Dreadwolf. Statments made by Kieran carrying soul of Urthamiel gave me feeling that everything in Dragon Age has a hidden meaning, and the next game must give us more revolutionary informations about Thedas.
The Chantry says a lot of things.
Did you just quote the Warden Mage? I literally just said this to Wynne in Ostagar.
One of my favorite characters in Dragon Age is the Messenger. Just an all around good person who wants to help. Also a darkspawn who spreads the taint if he is allowed to do so. It's a very touching and sad story.
Also, he's played by Mark Meer. My favorite Shepard and clearly born to play monster roles.
Every once in a while the YT recommendations serve me up an unknown gem. This video will go into my cycle of videos to fall asleep to and you have a new subscriber. Great work bro
(Edit: then I see you actually have 8 videos of the same quality. So I have a new Playlist to sleep to. All I can say if fucking sweet!)
Hey, awesome job on this video, but I feel you missed an opportunity to mention that the Wardens know where all the Old Gods are located underground, but lack the resources to tunnel below and kill them before they rise as Archdemons: maybe in a future lecture, professor.
That is true, I will bear that in mind for the future. Thank you for pointing it out :)
Man did Veilguard make it all underwhelming
I can see so many biblical elements and themes in this world
Huzzah! A new lesson from Professor Absalom! I have my quill and inkwell ready.
Hi! I adore this entire series. I just stumbled upon it and I'm enthralled haha. I see that you haven't gotten around to doing videos on the individual blights, the Architect, or Corypheus yet (or if you have, they're not part of the playlist and I would love to be directed to them!). I would love for you to get around to those someday, if you're still active on youtube! The depth of detail in your videos and the way you weave the narratives are incredible. Thank you for the fantastic content! I hope to see more.
Thank you very much and welcome to the channel! I will definitly get around to all of those subjects in the future, it is simply a matter of time. 😁
What terrifying body horror and fascinating antagonists. I wonder if there’s a way to end the darkspawn threat once and for all? I really like the Architect, and I’m looking forward to a video on them.
Another excellent lecture. Honestly giving me a lot of the 😭 feelings about the Wardens. It's nice to remember their part of the lore and how brutal the tasks asked of them are.
Yesssssss! I just caught up on the Qunari episode a week or so ago and was hoping the next one would drop soon!
Hey Professor Absalom! I just randomly stumbled upon one of your videos and it was an almost instant subscribe for me after that first one. I think I'll spend today going through the rest of your content. It's amazing to see quality DA content on UA-cam, best of luck to you, excited about the next class' topic!
Thank you very much, please enjoy!
Love the content professor, I showed my friend your channel and we are loving it all.
In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice. Love my Grey Wardens.
I'm just doing a replay of DAI and wanted to get a bit more of the backstory.
So these videos help me very much.
Thank you for making my replay much more fun!
I've been rewatching your videos the last couple of days wondering when your next video's gonna come out. Irl foreshadowing. Thank you so much!
This looks really good, accurate and informative. The only "problem" is that I wouldn't have included the Darkspawn design in Origins as it's basically not canon anymore, it would be simply aesthetic since the general shape of the Darkspawn is the same if it wasn't for the genlocks that now are more unique and different from the "baby hurlocks" design in Origins. Also a more important thing about genlocks is the emissary variant as I don't think that Emissaries are subcategories of Darkspawns anymore but a completely separate kind so I doubt Genlock Emissaries are a thing anymore, unless: A) All Emissaries look the same B) In II and Inquisition for some reason we only met one kind of Emissary (the closest based on looks being Elf/Shriek, maybe they might actually go for that adding that elven broodmothers are more likely to have mage children as the Elves have a closer connection with magic)
But I actually doubt that the "Genlocks being Emissaries despite Dwarves not being able to be Mages" is canon anymore, it looks like Emissaries are their own category now unrelated to Genlocks, Hurlocks, Shrieks and Ogres.
The blight won't end until all 7 magisters that invaded the black city are destroyed since they had been sent back from the fade infected somewhere underground. I do how ever believe corythius when he said that the gold city was already black and empty by the time they step foot in there, he just seems so confused and outrage that it wasn't what they believed it to be. Two of the magisters have been shown only five left.
the architect, if kiled by dao-awakening charcter probably isnt actually dead because he presumably has the ability to revive himself through blighted creatures just like corypheous did
so prob still 6 left
Yeah seems that way. I would like to know what he has accomplish to this point though, you'd think after coryphyous appeared he would have gone to meet up with him but alas.
Not the magisters
The tevinter old gods
Without the old gods, even with a magister, the darkspawn cant create an archdemon
@@V2ULTRAKill that the thing, the magisters are the speaders of the blight and corypheous has been shown to control the archdemon. Let's say the archdemons are all wiped out, the archetect has shown to control darkspawn even without an archdemon. There is also the very real posibility that one of the magisters was a woman and most likely has become a broodmother, the broodmother that started the blight. The magisters are a bigger threat then the archdemons and if they are all eliminated before the archdemons are found then the old gods would remain sealed underground in their slumber without harming anyone or turning into archdemons. It just seems to be an impossible job.
So, that’s how Fiona did it. She used/got a hold of Warden blood. That necklace only acted as a catalyst.
Fiona drank/ingested/impregnated/all of the above with Warden blood. This broke her bond and it’s also why the Joining wouldn’t work with her.
An Archdemon would ignore her body as it could not invade her.
Found you in recommendation on UA-cam. Thanks for bringing back good memories of my time on Dragon Age. Earned a sub. 👍
Videos are great, thank you for doing this! Grey Wardens have always been a favorite fantasy faction.
was just thinking about this lore series and would you look at that? a new vid! fantastic work as always!
43:42 hey I was wondering when these other blight videos were coming out? I’m super excited! I love this series and your delivery of the lore is top tier
Thank you! I will have to go thru the major nations of Thedas and some other lore concepts first, but after that I’m thinking of starting a new series about wars and conflicts were the blights will be included.
I love the lore of the Blights, Darkspawn and Grey Wardens and the mystery surrounding them. A shame Bioware completely redesigned the Darkspawn, they used to look menacing and cool from their armor down to their decaying flesh but now they just look goofy to me and I can't take them seriously. The hurlocks and genlocks being the prime example of that change. The only Darkspawn that either benefited from that change were the Ogres and Shrieks
I've watered all your videos more times then I can count to the point where I turn them on when going to bed to fall a sleep to thank you for what you do
There was a line in the DLC of Origns that I wish was explored more. I don't remember it exactly, but it was about the Demon's and the Dark Spawn "The taint is Alien to them."
That was Avernus in Soldier's Peak.
Excited for the next installment!
This is good stuff.
I’m glad I found this channel.
I love your videos. I have listened to everything while working and feeling like I'm in a lecture hall keeps me hard at work and motivated! Always looking forward to the next video.
I love what you do here. I m more the book than the game nerd, but you realy bring this universe to life. Please keep it on!
I wish the grey wardens had a bigger part in the games still 😢 I love your videos!!!
Yeah, they kind of got thrown under the bus in inquisition.
I love long lore videos like this! I hope you make a new one soon, your time and schedule permitting, of course!❤❤❤❤❤
man must be my lucky day just started DA origins over again and this video drops! yep its my lucky day.
Y E S
I've been waiting on a new video from you for a bit, and I cannot wait to watch this one tomorrow!
Another great lore video. Your content is always very welcome.
Thank you very much! :)
Dragon Age: Awakening is, in part, second only to DAI: The Descent to me because of how vastly it expanded the potential for the Darkspawn. Like, sentient Darkspawn? Darkspawn that can learn? THat can question the nature of their existence in contrast to the wider world? It is as much terrifying as it is intriguing, and I'm still hoping Bioware brings the Architect back because he was leagues better presented than Corypheus.
These lessons of yours remind me why I love Dragon Age lore so much, and I cannot wait to see what you have in store for us.
Already went through all your videos and am left wanting more. Great job!
censoring the broodmother is so hilarious
Can you imagine the final dragon age game where the last two remaining old gods rise up to bring upon the blight of all blights. That would be sick >:)
Thus bioware MUST bring back The Hero of Ferelden our main guy! yea would indeed be awesome ;]
I actually was thinking about this exact idea before I found this UA-camr and this comment like 3 days ago XD
the wardens are really cool. i hope we can get a whole faction out of them next game instead of a limited story line.
Great to see an upload after such a long time, I kinda hope you do dragons next
Blessed is your work, amazing job done!
Cannot wait to listen while I go through my morning routine!
Sooo i guess that video didnt age that well
In Origins, the Dalish Elf story arc, you go into a cave which they think is Dwarven but find Elvish artifacts.
In Inquisition, Solas tells us that the Vallaslin was, essentially, slave markings of the followers of the first Elves.
I have wondered, since I learned that, if Solas caused the blight.
The different types of darkspawn for those races who were serving the first elves. Later, stealing women and people to further their number.
In a way they're all his fault. He locked up the old gods that the darkspawn seek out. The gods are the one who enslaved the elves
@@samreddig8819 The old elven gods aren't the Old Gods I don't think. They're separate entities.
@@NineTailedFate same number of them, and they all share names. It's not explicitly confirmed. But I would be positively shocked to find out they aren't.
They think its human not dwarven
@@samreddig8819its impossible for them to be the same
One group was sealed underground
The other was sealed in the fade
If theyre connected at all, its as vessels, or locks
DAO will be one of the best RPG ever made
I have to say besides the armored ogre, the Bereskarn is the coolest Darkspawn monstrosity
I absolutely love this channel. This is going to be a good video. Dragon age spoiled me in terms of game expectations lol I need history and lore and secrets lol
so in theory the grey wardens could die out if the time between Blights was so wide that they ran out of arch demon blood to make new Wardens or they will have to at some point share the ways of making wardens so that when the next blight comes around even if they fail to kill the archdemon permanently they can still harvest its body to remake the order i don't know the lore of this land confuses me due to the scale of things.
i am also not happy about in DA2 where in the deep roads you can make your sibling a grey warden without archdemon blood. its just drinking dark spawn blood now i guess
There are stores of archdemon blood, just in case it's needed. Using it is preferred, since it's far more potent than normal darkspawn blood. If archdemon blood is not available, however, the blood of lesser darkspawn can be treated to let a Joining occur without archdemon blood.
that does not fit with DAI imo because your explanation kinda makes them out to be dumb in that game then
During previous blights, Archdemons were slayed multiple times. As long as Grey Warden doesn't deal the final blow the Archdemon will be reborn. So the stores of blood should be huge. In case the order disappears there are enough rumors and legends to reinvent the joining. But yeah. This common darkspawn blood joining is an ass pull. Happens here and there in the lore.
@@xSkyWeix I just replayed Dragon Age Origins and when you do the Joining in that game they use darkspawn blood that you yourself collect and only a drop or so of archdemon blood, so they dont even need large amounts of stored blood. I guess in DA2, your sibling is not a TRUE Grey Warden, just partially, just enough to sense darkspawn in a small area.
Great video. Looking forward to seeing more.
Subbed.
Flemeth's words about a soul not being able to be forced on the unwilling is interesting. It could be the reason why Archdemons and wardens die during the possession process. Also, it could be the reason for why most abominations are unstable.
Imagine if a gray warden accepts it
@@noobatgames3321 They do
This is pure speculation but 2 fairly popular theories I've heard is one, Tevinter is kinda right in that the magisters aren't responsible for the darkspawn existing and they have been around much longer and there's a story about one of the Elven goddesses hunting deep underground and contracting an illness that drove her insane, now what does that sound like. And something else I've heard is the Old God's of Tevinter and the Evanuris are the same, minus Fen'Herrell and Mythal, which kinda lines up, I don't think bioware decided they're were 7 Old God's and 9 Evanuris with 2 of the Evanuris who opposed the other 7 was them pulling random numbers that sounded nice
Here's the codex entry I'm talking about "One day Andruil grew tired of hunting mortal men and beasts. She began stalking the Forgotten Ones, wicked things that thrive in the abyss. Yet even a god should not linger there, and each time she entered the Void, Andruil suffered longer and longer periods of madness after returning.
Andruil put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands. She howled things meant to be forgotten, and the other gods became fearful Andruil would hunt them in turn. So Mythal spread rumors of a monstrous creature and took the form of a great serpent, waiting for Andruil at the base of a mountain" I know the Forgotten Ones are supposed to be the evil opposites of the Elven gods but what they actually were is nearly entirely forgotten and I can't help but notice the similarities of "being driven mad deep underground" and how darkspawn taint works
The issue there
Is the old gods are underground
The elven gods are trapped in the fade
The old gods would have to be vessels of the elven gods, servants if you will
@@V2ULTRAKill unless im mistaken, that codex is supposed to be referring to the time before the elven "gods" were sent into the fade
@@Comuniity_ I second this. And I'd like to add, there is a lot of talk in earlier videos about the flexibility of spirits and demons in the fade - about how a demon of vengeance and a spirit of justice are almost the same. About how easy it would be to cross a line from one into another. What if it's just yin and yang at work here - these are two sides to one being? And the Veil sundering them from one another, making them incomplete and driving them mad as they seek out their other parts to be whole again?
What if the Taint was magic from Gilan'nain? She created monsters, and thr blight sounds like a great way to make endless monsters for Andruil to hunt. (Brood mothers keep spawning)
Perhaps magisters contracted it?
*Dragon Age Veilguard enters chat*
this this this
i love these videos. please continue theese videos as long as possible.
I will, thank you. 😁
Solas is the maker, I bet. Trapped the old gods and “made” the veil as punishment for mythal and other issues. I’d wager that the “golden city” was also that one missing elven city and was the source of the taint. A plague created to destroy the magical “gods”.
God would that be just a kick in the dick. Not surprised though if its true.
I think Elgarnan is the maker. And that Andraste is the first possessed of Mythal (her daughters descendants have been possessed by Mythal over the generations like Flemeth) reason why Flemeth knows Solas and why Andraste was all lovey dovey with the maker.
I think solas is the dreadwolf. The trisckedter god that locked away the face in dalish stories
Well yes but no
The old gods are not the elven gods solas sealed in the fade but dragons
Bioware is the maker.
There are only seven elder gods in the Tevinter pantheon. In a thousand years the wardens killed five. That means that there are only two blights left before there are no more archdemons. What happens then? Is it only the elder gods be corrupted or any dragon? Corypheus had a dragon corrupted by red lryium he used to hold his soul like an arch-demon. Can the process be continued indefinitely as long as there are dragons and demons to possess them? The decent DLC showed that thedas is a hollow earth. Who knows what is in the depths? The dragons went extinct before and appeared again. Are there more in the depths?
I don't know what terrifies me more, that we could see the end of the blights soon or that the blights are just beginning?
Always a great video! Keep doing good work, love watching them!
I just finished the lecture on Qunari and hearing about the
Saarebas made me wonder what would happen to them if turned into an Ogre. Would the Saarebas
retain that power magic or become something different entirely? I shutter at the image of a ogre wielding any type of magic.
Sounds like a kick-ass boss fight but also give it the armor from the armored ogre boss fight
Creatures arent TURNED INTO darkspawn
Women are turned into broodmothers, but men simply become ghouls used to feed thw women
Comment for engagement!! Love your videos man.
Dear Professor Absalom: If I remember correctly the dwarves claimed that a variety of Darkspawn species assaulted them on their first encounter. If they originated from one broodmother deep under ground before reaching the surface wouldn't that mean that she could spawn all kinds or a primordial kind that none have seen. From what we know of broodmothers it seems unlikely to be the case. This issue causes more questions for every solution I can think of with the exception of one. The Dwarves are lying. Or at the very least their recorded memories are inaccurate.
Their connections with Tevinter is more than enough motive for doing so I think. I know that we will never know the truth of it until the end of blights and then some but what are your thoughts on my suspicions?
That’s definitely possible. I mean the darkspawn ogres, created from the kossith colonists, did exist during the start of the first Blight. So there are absolutely some inconcistencies in the dwarven narrative.
@@loreuniversity895 Thank you sir.
Hell yeah! I’ve been waiting for this one. Watching first thing into work tomorrow morning
Yess! Another lore video!!
The Wardens are so metal af lmao
Can anybody do a quick comparison count on the elven gods and magister gods?
What if Humans are spirits that resisted the veil when it was first created and so they fashioned themselves bodies or what if Elves closer to where the Veil begab, skyhold presumably, lost more than their immortality and became Humans?
The skyhold is in the north after all
EDIT: Skyhold is, in fact, not in the North
Skyhold isn't in the north. It is between ferleden and orlis
@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl Oh right. derp. Well maybe its something like that but not involving how close they were to Skyhold
@@music79075 Cole does seem to foreshadow your theory or at least support it
@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl Thanks. It would be an interesting development. Especially for the lore implications
i always wondered what happens when all the old gods are killed, does that mean blights would be over?
Hard maybe, spoilers but the archdemon problem would probably be over. Unless normal dragons can be used, then also maybe if the inquisitor didn't hunt them all down and extinction them again. But blights as the all consuming darkspawn horde would probably cease to be a threat
the archdemons are the seals that ancient elves used to keep "something" in the deep roads and everytime one of them awakened the elves captured it worked their magic and sealed it again. This is why solas is angry about this topic
The first and especially the second comments here are speculative. The true answer is "we don't know yet". We have yet to be given the answer or even the true details surrounding the sealing of these so called old gods, but from the small clues we have from the game we can lean more into the "no" category.
Solas, [SPOILER BELOW!!!]
,before his reveal as the ancient elven trickster god, Fen'harel, is disgusted with Warden Commander Clarel and the Orlesian Wardens decision to use a army of demons to kill the remaining old gods still in slumber. He talks about the Blight as being something you can't outsmart. Given that he predates the first "recorded" Blight and his knowledge of the ancient world, we can only assume the Blights would carry on.
My own personal opinion favors that the Blights will continue as well.
@@NRV0its more likely that the darkspawn would cause one last continuous blighr until eradicated
Unless theres a different being powerful enough to serve as an archdemon theyd have no leader or purpose
Thank you for your work 👍
Can you do a video on each of the archdemons
Could u potentially do a video on how u think thedas manage to survive the first blight for as long as it did since it’s lasted almost 200 years I’m curious to hear yours or anyone else who also thought about it opinions
All the Blights will get full-length videos dedicated to them, so thats definitly something I will get to in the future.
@@loreuniversity895 that awesome can’t wait
Hope there are more videos coming after Veilguard drops!
those censor bars oh lawd
Wardens are cool af. Hail Duncan.
Also, in my head canon, Darkspawn and Locusts (from GoW) are one in the same.
How so? Aren't the Locusts just natural creatures, who weren't humans before?
@@marcusblackwell2372 Maybe. Or maybe they're like orcs in LotR: they can be spawned as such (like we see with Uruk-hai), but originally they were corrupted elves.
@@marcusblackwell2372 they are mutated humans that once were part of a secret program of the COG which porpoise was creating superhumans
Omfg you included the ending of the last flight 💜💜
Of course! :) People need to known that the griffons didn't die out, a little well deserved hope amidst all the doom and gloom.
I love these videos so much, can't wait for da4!!!!