Sandal's prophecy seems a lot more legitimate when applied to Solas, for example: "One day the magic will come back - all of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see."
My theory on elves. When Cole becomes full human Solas says he never thought he'd see it, which prompts Cole to ask if hes seen it before. Spirits come from wisps, the simplest beings. I think the first elves were spirits that became real so to speak. It explains why they were so connected to the fade and reality both.
I think, when it comes to ancient elves, that they were basically all what the chantry calls abominations - spirits bonded with physical beings, like Anders or Wynne. This was their natural state, and when the fade was cut off from the physical world, they were essentially sundered from their physical forms - and that was why the elves lost their immortality. It's also why spirits desire to possess mages in the physical world so much - it's there natural instinct to become whole again. I think this because, as we see with Flemeth, when her spirit passes to Solas, her body dies. She's known for living for unnaturally long periods of time - the elven name for her, Asha'Bellanar, literally means 'woman of many years'. I like the idea that the Ancient Elves genetically engineered themselves, because it draws another parallel between them and tevinter, who do the same (confirmed by Dorian). Also, it says that once the empire fell the first thing the commoners did was find every dreamer (mage who can control and shape the fade) they could get their hands on. As for the Qunari, I think the Viddasala was acting herself without the backing of the Qunari as a whole. By the time Trespasser rolls around, Sten from Origins is the Arishok, and I can't imagine him doing something so drastic to Thedas. Also, I think the reaction from most of the Qunari to the existence of the Eluvians would be fear, and perhaps horror. I don't think they're utilitarian enough when it comes to magic to overlook how clear a threat the Eluvians are to them and they would likely destroy them.
Iron bull explained in DAI that he doesn't wear a shirt because he doesn't need armor - if qunari are in full armor, they are at war. And you run. So when I discovered a dead qunari in trespasser wearing full armor, I was like 'oh shit, this can't be good.' I'm surprised you didn't mention Iron Bull, who will attempt to kill you if he is still a member of the Qun at this point. This is especially heartbreaking for those that romanced him, and there's some special dialogue if you did. Similarly, the dialogue when Solas betrays the elf romance is soul wrenching.
Remember the war table mission where you encounter an unknown spy network from across the Endless Sea? I imagine a new faction or nation will be introduced into DA:4
Great analysis as always, interesting thoughts. I have to dissagree on your take on Teagan though. After recently replaying DAO I realised that the way Teagan behaves towards Logain is so like the way he behaves towards the Inquisition in Tresspasser. It makes perfect sense when you look at it from the perspective of not being on his side, like we were in DAO as the Warden. He isn't acting out of character, he's just treating us the way he treats those who he distrusts or feels have undue power where they shouldn't. I see a lot of people say he's ooc here, but they seem to forget or ignore or discount that aspect of his character.
I want to bring up a point you made, about Solas being "no doubt a villain", which while I agree with, I agree for different reasons. Solas does not want to go back to a time where the elvhen treated other elvhen poorly, but rather that he wants to go back to a time when all elves had magic and ruled most of Thedas (back then, known as Elvhenan). Solas/Fen'Harel was the elf that liberated the elves being treated as slaves (hence why he takes a romanced Lavellan's vallaslin away due to it "cruelly representing" slavery), while trapping the slave owners (the evanuris/pantheon) behind a locked eluvian. What Solas intends to do is to go back (it's debatable whether he intends to use time travel or other means) to a time where the veil did not exist and the fade co-existed with thedas. In regard to the Evanuris, he says during one of the conversations at the end of Trespasser that he has "plans" for them. Solas is a very strong opponent of slavery, but he wants elves to have their magic back, to have their land back, even if that means the destruction of Thedas as we've come to know it. Sorry if I'm a bit rambley, I'm just absolutely fascinated by Solas' character and the elves' history!
Well, considering I have "Var Lath Vir Suledin" tattooed on my arm, I think it's safe to say I'm going to try and redeem him-- but I will likely be playing both options/every option!
He is already my favourite. As far as villains goes though, Dragon Age is just superior to Mass Effect in every way. Loghain, The Arishok, and Solas are amazing. Not to mention all the small villains here and there that are great aswell.
His character is so nuanced that it could provide many outcomes for players and the future of Dragon Age. You're right, I hope bioware does right by this!
Inquisition is actually my favorite Bioware game in terms of character interaction, I genuinely cared about every character in my party and inner circle. My canon Inquisitor Trevelyan (my complete Dragon Age canon was my first attempt at a "Let's Play"...) and I can't wait to see if her intact Inquisition can do to bring establish an alliance with Tevinter and whether or not she can dissuade Solas course of action.
Tesla-Effect there's just not a whole lot of music which plays appropriately as ambiance music, like in an elder scrolls game or something for when you're walking around without a whole lot to do. The scenic pieces were some of my favorites, but there are long periods of near silence when walking around.
I agree, Inquisition is by far my most favorite Bioware game (Well... barely higher than KoToR which says alot for me). Back when this game came out was when I was pretty lack on video games and I had been in the Army for about 2 years at the time so I had no idea it was even being developed when it was so when I saw that the store I was very damn surprised and immediately bought it. The game became an instant classic to me within hours, I was hooked by every single one of my companions eith Solas being my go-to guy. I loved all our conversations about his journeys into the fade, his banter when exploring, everything so when it ended damn it was pretty sad for me and I never got the DLC's until a couple days ago and I still haven't started my Trespasser one since I made a new character so I'm really looking forward to reuniting with him and see how it all plays out. I've played the other 2 DLC's and enjoyed them both so I'm expecting Trespasser to be amazing
I was so salty that an Inquisitor who picked all the romance dialogues with Solas, but then vowed she'd stop him at any cost, didn't get the romance epilogue. Like, mate, you're willing to kill ME, but I say I'm going to kill YOU and it's all over between us? That's just too much for you? Wow, hypocrite.
Even though they've not played a big part at all in any of the games, Nevarra is a rising super power that rivals Orlais and most likely surpassed Tevinter in terms or military and resources. You should add them to the list of super powers as they'll most likely play a bigger role in DA4
I don't really count them as world powers. And there's no way they've surpassed Tevinter in resources or military. Tevinter's weakened by constant skirmishes with the Qunari but there's no way they'd lose a war to Nevarra. In terms of landmass, they're only a little bigger than some Free Marches states, smaller than Fereldan, and less than a third of the size of Orlais or Tevinter. If there's anything that gives them power, its that they provide a trade route between the north and the south, and are a neutral ground that both Tevinter and Orlais can act with. The other thing they have, the College of Enchanters, is possibly disbanded after Inquisition. They're basically Switzerland, but if Thedas went to war, they'd become Belgium pretty quickly.
"Thanks to enormous wealth and a strategic central location in Thedas, some claim Nevarra's power rivals that of the Orlesian Empire." Dragon Age Wiki They're a rising super power. Like England was to Spain after North America was discovered by the Europeans.
'Some claim'. They might be wealthy, but wealth is not the only form of power. It's worth pointing out that Orlais is weakened by its ineffectual ruler (Celine) and its civil war during Inquisition. Nevarra may have wealth but they are less populous, have less soldiers, and have much less land, so a full-scale invasion would hit their food supplies very hard.
The true power in eastern europe was the PLC until the the 17th century, 80000+ knights fielded at a time. Also I found kind of funny, that Fen'ral was always shown, previously, as the lone wolf, but in this game is the coalition builder
The Leilana bit reminds me strongly of Janeway in "Night". "Oh, woe is me, we're stuck in this horrible situation, there's nothing I can do. Wait, what's that - a hostile force I can go destroy? Red alert, battle stations, on my way to the bridge, computer initiate evasive maneuvers, pattern delta, authorization Janeway Pi-Omega!"
I think elves were canonically established to be more innately magical, even so far back as Origins. It was mentioned that magic came more naturally to elves in the mage tower, and all elf PCs started with a magic bonus. Elf characters also perceive the fade differently than others in Trespasser.
Onsie Twos Yup not only this but in lore cannon, the crossroads actually cause anyone else other than elves and other natural creatures that existed before the veil pain. This wasnt shown in tresspasser because for gameplay reasons It may also be a serious indicator that creatures before Solas created the veil (like elves, dragons, and dwarves) may be signifigantly more powerful than what we thought. We know elves are basically all demi gods without the veil and their race is based on the existence of the fade. The dwarves are different since they come from titans but still
I disagree strongly with the notion that the Andromeda team was screwed by EA. The team had 5 years, difficult 5 years but still 5 years, of which they, according to that kotaku article, mismanaged the game for 3.5 and cobbled together the final game in the remaining ~18 months. If the product of a million man-hours of hard work looks like a first draft then it's not the fault of the one signing the checks. As one of the Bioware Doctors put it "EA is giving you enough rope to hang yourself with."
Don't... Just... Don't. Fallout New Vegas was shipped in 18 months. From scratch to your doorstep. If you bring up that "aah but it already had the crappy engine given to them" then, I'd answer: `You do not want to work, being given a half-assed explanation of a half-assed engine that needed to be put down on day 1.`
Of course all the ancient elves were inherently magical. Since the fade was one with the material world, I can't think of any other way than every sentient being being a mage, since on characteristic of mages is their ability to consciously enter the fade, which would be a given if the fade were the material world. (I imagine it akin to something like a higher dimensional space.) Of course that doesn't mean that they wouldn't engineer themselves to become more powerful. After all Tevinter magisters would do the same with blood magic and the like. ;D After all our dear Evanuris used the blood of slaves carrying the blood writing and also waged a war against the Titans, probably to use their blood (aka Lyrium) too. Speaking of blood: the Conductor of Silence is not the only one who comments of the nature of the Qunari. Kieran, having Urthemiel's soul, does it too, if he talks to a Qunari Inquisitor: ua-cam.com/video/FHu6wkrrc48/v-deo.htmlm25s
Thank you, I've waited so long for this. Now I just need you to play Halo 1, 2, and 3. Haha. Again thank you for taking the time to play through and give your thoughts on Trespasser. It's kinda funny how I'm so addicted to wanting to hear the thoughts of one person. The way you look at things just clicks with me, no matter how much you look into something. Lore, you truly are a great guy, never doubt yourself on or off the camera.
I think it's hinted that it is probable that the elves' immortality was achieved by magic and not the nature of the elves. Because of that, I see it very likely that there is a chance that the percentage of elves with magical ability was about the same as the present day. As we delve into their past more, it's possible that the elves without magical ability where imbued with it at a later date by those with magic. This could have started as a universal healthcare kind of thing where everyone got it but then devolved into power plays or another form of indentured servitude to those that gave you, probably more limited, magical powers. As for the mess with EA, Bioware and Mass Effect Andromeda, a good article was published recently. Basically, instead of 5 years to work on the game (4 if you don't count between ME3's release and its last DLC) they only had 1.5 of actual production. Pre production didn't actually properly conclude before that last year and a half. Add a harsh work environment, change in management/director and more prevalent tonal and gameplay shifts than usual and you get a recipe for disaster. From what I understand, Bioware Montreal is being shifted to a support studio (I think, for the new IP). I don't think anything has been said that might affect the DA team but it is worrisome.
i have only used this quote to sum up 1 other game and feel that its relevant to Dragon Age not only as a game but as a series. the game i used the quote on was Fallout New Vegas the quote being "This is our Concorde moment" it was used in the automotive (car) industry to sum up the concept and subsequent building of the Bugatti Varon and it boils down to "this is the best we are every going to get in our lifetime" i say this now when talking about Dragon Age Origins as we will never get another amazing game like that even if the original team that made it works on DA4. no matter how good or bad DA4 might be we have had our "concord moment" in this series just like we did in the Fallout series and frankly thats a very depressing thing to think about/ admit to
Oooh I've been waiting for you to play this game! I did like this DLC, as it made me have emotions for it, just like I had for Origins. I was incredibly invested. I forgot most about the qunari lol, but almost everything about the elf lore stuck with me.
I absolutely believe this is just the “known” world. There’s a war map operation in which the inquisition receives a missive from a concerned party from “across the sea” who are not named. It intrigues me endlessly.
Hmm. "Were the ancient elves from the fade?" Does this question even make sense if the fade as a separate realm only existed once Fen'Harel caused the split?
Man, can't stand Solas. But in a good way, can't wait to get him. Such a hypocritical a-hole. "i'll look all contrite while killing everyone and doing stupid crap, like giving a weapon of mass-destruction to a crazy magistrate, judging your every action, like forgiving the wardens, while also believing i'm 100% right on everything" Ugh
There are times in your vids, Lore, where I have to just pause, shake my head, and smile. You said about the Qunari: "We will save you from yourselves," and I immediately thought: "You will be assimilated." And your very next line is that yes, you actually are comparing them to the Borg. OK, back to vid...
Theory: The Evanuris ARE the 7 old gods of Tevinter without Mythal and Fen'Harel who were trapped in the Fade after being banished and forced into Uthenera (eternal sleep). Their physical bodies are the dragons that the darkspawn find deep in the earth. These 7 banished Evanuris tricked the Magister Sidereal into invading the Black/Gold City to corrupt them and start looking for their bodies to force them out of Uthenera and get revenge.
I much prefer the interactions between you and your companions. They were much of a blast altogether for me. The endin' was fine for what it was, though I'm lookin' forward to it.
And yes the elves are inheritantly magical. Its in their blood both cannonicaly and in the game. In the lore cannonicaly the elves are just part fade beings. Its also seen in tresspasser they see the fade and crossroads differently. The elves are completely different magical beings
Very good rumination Lore, but you forgot to mention about one, important thing - Orlais has the best parties! And now instead of your standart credits screen, put that clip made during your live rumination, with dancing soldier :D
13:37 It's not Europe exactly but the Old World from Warhammer Fantasy. Flip Thedas upsidedown,pull Par Vollen back a few hundred miles and shrink Seheron. Read up on WFB lore and find Dragon Age's inspiration.
From what I've picked up everyone in DAI, human, dwarf, quarri, elf, all have a conscious connection to the fade, mages just have as stronger mental connection and the dwarves are somehow blocked from their dreams by their connection to the titans.
Pretty late to this but to your mention about whether elves are innately magical: in my opinion they are , or at the very least they were. The evidence for this is circumstantial, but still: 1., Kieran (old god boy) can mention to an elven inquisitor is "I don't understand why you want to look like that" which to me comes across that they were spirits first, then chose to take form, something similar to Cole. 2., As far as we know, they were around before the Veil was up: with the exception of dwarves, who were the part of the titans, the elves were probably the first race in Thedas.
Does anyone know if the Trespasser playthrough is going to get uploaded to youtube? Would love to see a playthrough of JoH and Descent as well but I don't know if Arch recorded it.
I also thought DAI vanilla was pretty great in terms of story, lore and what it build upon but the combat was very boring and a chore to get through. Luckily enough the story aspect of the game made me push through to the end. I finally found a GOTY edition for cheap this year and since I haven't played the DLC's beside the original version of DAI and I found my 125 hour save (thank God) I decided to start playing these DLC's. Tresspasser is a great expansion that leads perfectly into Dragon Age 4 (which funnily enough was teased/announced at The Game Awards 2018). I wasn't expecting Solas to be Fen'Harel so that was quite the shock for me, but the buildup to the reveal worked well on me. Now how it all ends and the final scene where the inquisitor throws the Knife on the map and it lands on Tevinter makes me very giddy for the next installment of this franchise. I wonder if you will play again as the inquisitor or someone else (given that he's missing one arm now and thus makes combat somewhat of a difficulty proposition).
Chloe Pechlaner He seems to be on Fenharel side He already knows that fenharel is waking up and that he created the Veil The veil is more than anything the cause of everything bad After the veil not only did the elves lose everything, the titans never woke up and reclaimed the land. Why is that? I think the veil had several unintended effects that seem to have forced the titans into a vegetative state. Sandal might be just waiting for FenHarel's return so that the Titans can re Awaken. And then the Titans may very well be the Key to defeating the Evanuris They lost the first war because the Evanuris were just to powerful, they had to much fade energy and then titans as strong as they were, couldnt compete with their raw magical force. But now, they have a real chance, the evanuris are secluded, weakened and no armies or fade weapons after the veil. They may still be powerful beyond anything else in Thedas, but for the first time Fenharel made them vulnerable. I see a Fenharel/Titan alliance with Thedas to Face down the Evanuris once and for all
I disbanded the Inquisition due to the fate of the previous organization. The first Inquisition became the Seekers and the Templars. Both groups have become corrupted. In my opinion, the Inquisition fulfilled its purpose by defeating Corepheus. It needed to end when and where it did.
EA, like Hollywood, likes to pretend that the financial flops of some of their products have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they're an absolutist hierarchy where one idiot with a title who doesn't know anything can destroy the creation of a team of dozens of highly skilled professionals. Why didn't this movie or that game fail? It's not the producer being lazy and cheap and not wanting to do any actual production work, it's not a failure by the marketing executives, it's not some office politics rivalry between a Gordon Gecko and a Jordan Balfourt who sees entire project teams as nothing but poker chips to gamble against each other in their respective quests for a new luxury car and more cocaine money. No, it's "market forces" or something, that's what they'll tell the stakeholders at the quarterly meeting.
Lore do you think that all the dragons are old elves that could shape shift like Flemmeth and were trapped in that form then the fade was made by Solas. The blights would then be what happens when one of them manages to find a crack in the fade to get back to our world?
There's even an eighth "Old God Dragon" that was stricken from official record in Tevinter, which leads to= Elgar'nan Creator of Vengeance=Dumat God of Silence(Deceased) Andruil Creator of The Hunt= Zazikel God of Chaos (Deceased) Sylaise The Hearthkeeper= Toth God of Fire (Deceased) June Creator of the Craft=Andoral God of Slaves (Deceased) Ghilan'nain the Halla Mother=Urthemiel God of Beauty (Fate undecided) Dirthamen the Keeper of Secrets= Razikale God of Mystery (Asleep in the Deep Roads) Falon'Din Friend and Guide of the Dead= Lusacan God of Night (Asleep in the Deep Roads) Mythal The Great Protector= Last Unknown Old Dragon (Consumed by Fen'Harel) This would explain why Solas is so horrified by the Grey Wardens' plan to storm the Deep Roads and kill off Razikale and Lusacan before they can be corrupted by the Blight.
@Lorerunner Solas isnt the villain though. Nor is his plan inheritantly evil. Its only evil when you're losing. In humans eyes it was entirely justified for orlais to kill enslave and rape elves for what? Because the elves wanted to live alone in their forest because they lost their entire civilization and home and history and wanted to keep what little they had? LOL The veil belongs to Solas, its HIS creation. It was meant as a prison to protect his people from the Evanuris. The side effects were not intended that ultimately hurt the elves and there was no way for him to know what would happen after since it nearly killed him, but the humans are the ones at fault for exploiting the elves after spending centuries killing themselves throwing waves of human bodies at the already destroyed elves spendingforces before finally the waves were to much and not enough elves were left. If the elves at least had their lands not pillaged and enslaved by war mongering humans who spent centuries doing it (they sacrificed millions of their own kind just to dominate another race) then Solas would have awoken without feeling the need to bring down the veil at all the elves didnt need immortality but slavery and ruins is NOT an option. But humans being humans of course had to go about flouting and touting slavery and racism and war mongering (like we always do) Then it was just obvious what solas's reaction was going to be. of COURSE he was pissed and angry at humans. We are awful as a race and its incredibly easy to see that. What Solas is doing now in DA4 is once again saving his people from slavery again, this time from humans. And also saving them from the ruins of their civilization that occured from humans war mongering after creating the veil and seperating the people from the fade which led to the destruction of most elven cities and structures and defenses. But you can hardly blame him for it, I mean the Evanuris all together were too powerful, they were all immortal, and they had armies of Immortal Elves all pretty damn powerful just by themselves not to mention whatever magical weapons they possesed at the time. Solas would never have been able to kill them directly even as strong as he is, they were too well protected, with too much power to beat all together. Even the Titans (mountain sized magical beings) were not strong enough to beat them. The Titans lost. Solas did the only thing available to him AT THE TIME. Now though he has a chance the world is different, hes regained his power, and the Evanuris are Vulnerable to being killed without an army of immortal elves at their backs. Or he can imprison them a different way since He has own army and they dont have any. It wont be easy, but in this age is the best chance he'll ever have to actually killing them. Now he will tear HIS veil down and restore the elves immortality and link to magic so they can live free of slavery and ruins. Which wont fix everything immediately but it will begin the healing which is currently impossible because of human slavers and giving the elves back their lands and their homes not to mention their immortality. The evanuris will either have to die (if they even can be killed which I doubt) or they will need to be imprisoned in a different way, maybe a backwards veil? But localized in a specific area where they can be watched and properly locked away without drastic reality bending reprecussions. Wether Solas believes it or not, he is a God for all intents and purposes. He re-shaped all of reality to making the fade almost a seperate reality, and creating an entirely new Thedas. Or Elvhenan if you prefer. He is NEEDED in Thedas, he is the Maker of the Humans. And there is no evidence saying Humans all die, what he said was "this world will die" now that seems entirely metaphorical for two reasons 1. The fade existed with the Planet as a form of nature just like air or water LONG before solas created the veil. Its only been around for around 8000 years. Now that is a long time but relatively speaking its not since the fade existed as one with the world for millions of years beforehand. Its just part of nature. What he more likely means is that humans domination world will die. and 2. Hes solas, the trickster god and master of vagueness. When asked why the world must die he avoids the question. Meaning there is something completely different happening.
The ONLY possible way you could even conceivably think Solas's plan is evil, is if you agree with human slavery, war mongering, and rape of the elves. Thats it no doubt in my mind. The current thedas Humans are ALL collectively Nazis in their treatment of Elves. They see and know how badly they are treated and enslaved but they CONSISTENTLY ignore it and are okay with it as a whole, they encourage it for fucks sake! That just screams nazi germany to me. And it is completely asinine in my mind to not see that.
So basically what I'm getting from your post is that you think "an eye for an eye" is a valid way to solve problems. Solas did create the veil, yes, that is true. But then he went to sleep for centuries while the world moved on. He changed the world, for better or for worse, he can't just show up centuries later and be like... yeah... I know all of you guys have developed cultures, histories, lineages of your own, but that's irrelevant and you need to die so that I can bring back the Elven Empire. Fighting hate with hate is never going to end well. And aside from that, Solas shows absolutely no care for modern Elves or their struggle. He only cares about the spirits and the magic and his fancy upside down castles and magical portals. If he really cared about the elves he would helping them overcome their current struggles, not try to destroy the world by bringing back a dead Empire that didn't work. Not all humans are evil or hate elves in Dragon Age. And what about the potential thousands or hundreds of thousands of elves who could die in the coming conflict or when he brings the veil down? Do those people just not matter? Solas is a coward who is too obsessed with the past to see he's murdering a world to bring back something that's already dead and gone. He should have stayed and sought help to fix what he did. If he wants to atone for what he did to his people, why not allow them to decide what should happen next instead of just assuming his plan is the best one. As much as I love this character, his plan for the future is abominable and I hope my Inquisitior gets to punch him in the face for ever thinking it was an acceptable plan in the first place.
I was very pleased by the Orláis= The Francs, Tevinter= Byzantium and Qunari= Otomans... I am curious as to what Ferelden, Antivan, Rivain and the Marches equal to
OK, one more time. Qunari mages and StarCraft? Vid paused. Thinking: Terran Confederacy taking telepathic kids, training them, implanting them with Psi Dampeners, sending them out on assassination/sabotage missions, and then wiping their memories afterwards. Making them mere tools on a leash. Now back to vid to see if that's where you're going with this. This is fun.
The power of the old God is debatable he clear see Mythal hiding something in the mirror from Solas is very likely it was the old God soul that she took from Kieran. Your last point on Andromeda is factually wrong The Game had enough money received more than one delay the only thing they failed at was leadership, they should never allowed the B team do a Major Title and sequel for Mass Effect they couldn't work the engine, they had no idea what they were doing at any point and time and then they rush it when they had to actually deliver a game.
I think of the Qunari as something along the lines of the Soviet Union. They stick to their ideology very strictly despite not being religious. They also view every other civilization as lost. It harkons back to the Nietzsche's idea that a nation can zealously follow an ideology to a fault, especially when the nation doesn't have an official religion. The Soviet Union used Marxism as their ideology. In Dragon Age, we see Qunari following the Qun in similar way. Not saying that the Qun is similar to Marxism, but it's how the two nations are able to zealously stick to their ideologies that makes it interesting.
Well, you're certainly much more positive about Trespasser than I am. To me, it's not better than Inquisition proper--it's exactly the same. Same strengths (characterization) same crippling flaws (plotting). Inquisition ends with Solas saying, "lol, I'm the bad guy now," and so does Trespasser. Just one more example demonstrating how much Bioware loves setting things up, but can't quite follow them through. And Trespasser is full of that nonsense. Yes, it introduces a handful of interesting ideas--but it never does anything. And an idea unexplored has little value and less utility. I'd strongly caution against any optimism for the fourth game. The Mage/Templar war was built up over multiple games... Corypheus, likewise, was built up strongly in DA2. But when it came time for the payoff, we got whimpers instead of roars. Given past experience, it seems foolhardy to expect Solas to be a terribly compelling villain in our next outing in Thedas, and equally foolhardy to expect the coming conflict to be handled with any sense of scale, nuance or import. Bioware is great when it comes to characters chatting with each other. This is precisely why the Solas (and prior Morrigan) dialogs are so memorable. But they seriously suck when it comes to plot writing. So, now that Solas is no longer a party member, it seems safe to assume that his days of having interesting dialog or a decent role in the narrative are gone for good.
Could never get that three wheel puzzle to open, finally quit. They are not making these games for the PC anymore. They are console games with a PC afterthought. Some bad glitches too.
I'm sorry lore please dont't take this personally, but I sometimes get slightly annoyed when you talk about the Jedi Order (though I don't like them either) in a negative way especially when you use the words 'Doctrine' or 'dogma' . I find it odd that you assume that having a Traditional belief system is bad, . Everyone has philosophy of some sort. When you bash someone over the head with it like in this game I suppose,then that's another story. I define the word 'religion' differently than most people anyway so yeah. It is probably just a perspective/definition thing.
Belief system that is being forced upon people, especially one that contradicts basic human morality, is probably not a healthy thing and is rightfully called dogma. Doesn't mean that every religion is like that.
Interesting that you say “we treated the eleves this way... well you know what I mean” or however you put it. Lol your ruminations have become a psychological study on your weird mentality for me.
Just finished a playthrough ending with this one for the 1st time. Pretty disappointing. It starts with fanservice with the companions : great and some political intrigue that reminds me of the best part of the base game... and drops that completely for a chase through eluvians that are now 100% controlled by qunaris out of nowhere. Then some reveals that the elves are just Tolkien archetypes after all (they're the same as in Witcher really) and just a final conversation with Solas which might as well be a "to be continued" screen. It's not all bad, but it's not really better than inquisition story-wise, and gameplay-wise in Tresspasser there isn't any exploration so combat is all that's left, and it is terrible in this game in general.
17 k subscribers? wow arch. Maybe politics would hook you up. You have the intelligence and the education and someone tole you not to. I tell you... to, but only if you like what cash can buy you. Be a starving artist. Maybe its what you are good at. ;)
Sandal's prophecy seems a lot more legitimate when applied to Solas, for example:
"One day the magic will come back - all of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see."
I miss sandal :(
My theory on elves. When Cole becomes full human Solas says he never thought he'd see it, which prompts Cole to ask if hes seen it before. Spirits come from wisps, the simplest beings. I think the first elves were spirits that became real so to speak. It explains why they were so connected to the fade and reality both.
I think, when it comes to ancient elves, that they were basically all what the chantry calls abominations - spirits bonded with physical beings, like Anders or Wynne. This was their natural state, and when the fade was cut off from the physical world, they were essentially sundered from their physical forms - and that was why the elves lost their immortality. It's also why spirits desire to possess mages in the physical world so much - it's there natural instinct to become whole again.
I think this because, as we see with Flemeth, when her spirit passes to Solas, her body dies. She's known for living for unnaturally long periods of time - the elven name for her, Asha'Bellanar, literally means 'woman of many years'.
I like the idea that the Ancient Elves genetically engineered themselves, because it draws another parallel between them and tevinter, who do the same (confirmed by Dorian). Also, it says that once the empire fell the first thing the commoners did was find every dreamer (mage who can control and shape the fade) they could get their hands on.
As for the Qunari, I think the Viddasala was acting herself without the backing of the Qunari as a whole. By the time Trespasser rolls around, Sten from Origins is the Arishok, and I can't imagine him doing something so drastic to Thedas. Also, I think the reaction from most of the Qunari to the existence of the Eluvians would be fear, and perhaps horror. I don't think they're utilitarian enough when it comes to magic to overlook how clear a threat the Eluvians are to them and they would likely destroy them.
good point about elves!
Iron bull explained in DAI that he doesn't wear a shirt because he doesn't need armor - if qunari are in full armor, they are at war. And you run. So when I discovered a dead qunari in trespasser wearing full armor, I was like 'oh shit, this can't be good.'
I'm surprised you didn't mention Iron Bull, who will attempt to kill you if he is still a member of the Qun at this point. This is especially heartbreaking for those that romanced him, and there's some special dialogue if you did. Similarly, the dialogue when Solas betrays the elf romance is soul wrenching.
also his horns get in the way
Remember the war table mission where you encounter an unknown spy network from across the Endless Sea? I imagine a new faction or nation will be introduced into DA:4
Great analysis as always, interesting thoughts. I have to dissagree on your take on Teagan though. After recently replaying DAO I realised that the way Teagan behaves towards Logain is so like the way he behaves towards the Inquisition in Tresspasser. It makes perfect sense when you look at it from the perspective of not being on his side, like we were in DAO as the Warden. He isn't acting out of character, he's just treating us the way he treats those who he distrusts or feels have undue power where they shouldn't. I see a lot of people say he's ooc here, but they seem to forget or ignore or discount that aspect of his character.
Trespasser was a better Dragon Age game than Inquisition itself.
No. Watch start of the video only reason why it is good it have expansion effect. Same ME citadel DLC.
@@Mr9TalesFox doesn't mean it's not better. And as he says in the video, just because it comes after doesn't mean it's automatically better
I want to bring up a point you made, about Solas being "no doubt a villain", which while I agree with, I agree for different reasons. Solas does not want to go back to a time where the elvhen treated other elvhen poorly, but rather that he wants to go back to a time when all elves had magic and ruled most of Thedas (back then, known as Elvhenan). Solas/Fen'Harel was the elf that liberated the elves being treated as slaves (hence why he takes a romanced Lavellan's vallaslin away due to it "cruelly representing" slavery), while trapping the slave owners (the evanuris/pantheon) behind a locked eluvian. What Solas intends to do is to go back (it's debatable whether he intends to use time travel or other means) to a time where the veil did not exist and the fade co-existed with thedas. In regard to the Evanuris, he says during one of the conversations at the end of Trespasser that he has "plans" for them. Solas is a very strong opponent of slavery, but he wants elves to have their magic back, to have their land back, even if that means the destruction of Thedas as we've come to know it. Sorry if I'm a bit rambley, I'm just absolutely fascinated by Solas' character and the elves' history!
Well, considering I have "Var Lath Vir Suledin" tattooed on my arm, I think it's safe to say I'm going to try and redeem him-- but I will likely be playing both options/every option!
I think Solas has the potential to be the best BioWare villain since Irenicus. Please please PLEASE capitalize on this potential, BioWare.
He is already my favourite. As far as villains goes though, Dragon Age is just superior to Mass Effect in every way. Loghain, The Arishok, and Solas are amazing. Not to mention all the small villains here and there that are great aswell.
I miss Irenicus
His character is so nuanced that it could provide many outcomes for players and the future of Dragon Age. You're right, I hope bioware does right by this!
Inquisition is actually my favorite Bioware game in terms of character interaction, I genuinely cared about every character in my party and inner circle. My canon Inquisitor Trevelyan (my complete Dragon Age canon was my first attempt at a "Let's Play"...) and I can't wait to see if her intact Inquisition can do to bring establish an alliance with Tevinter and whether or not she can dissuade Solas course of action.
Tesla-Effect there's just not a whole lot of music which plays appropriately as ambiance music, like in an elder scrolls game or something for when you're walking around without a whole lot to do. The scenic pieces were some of my favorites, but there are long periods of near silence when walking around.
Not for me. I pretty much gave the shoot to kill on Solas
I agree, Inquisition is by far my most favorite Bioware game (Well... barely higher than KoToR which says alot for me). Back when this game came out was when I was pretty lack on video games and I had been in the Army for about 2 years at the time so I had no idea it was even being developed when it was so when I saw that the store I was very damn surprised and immediately bought it. The game became an instant classic to me within hours, I was hooked by every single one of my companions eith Solas being my go-to guy. I loved all our conversations about his journeys into the fade, his banter when exploring, everything so when it ended damn it was pretty sad for me and I never got the DLC's until a couple days ago and I still haven't started my Trespasser one since I made a new character so I'm really looking forward to reuniting with him and see how it all plays out. I've played the other 2 DLC's and enjoyed them both so I'm expecting Trespasser to be amazing
I was so salty that an Inquisitor who picked all the romance dialogues with Solas, but then vowed she'd stop him at any cost, didn't get the romance epilogue. Like, mate, you're willing to kill ME, but I say I'm going to kill YOU and it's all over between us? That's just too much for you? Wow, hypocrite.
Why would you get a romance ending if you've both given up on each other lol
Urthemiel The God of Beauty. That was the old God you were looking for.
Oh Solas- "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"
Even though they've not played a big part at all in any of the games, Nevarra is a rising super power that rivals Orlais and most likely surpassed Tevinter in terms or military and resources. You should add them to the list of super powers as they'll most likely play a bigger role in DA4
I don't really count them as world powers. And there's no way they've surpassed Tevinter in resources or military. Tevinter's weakened by constant skirmishes with the Qunari but there's no way they'd lose a war to Nevarra.
In terms of landmass, they're only a little bigger than some Free Marches states, smaller than Fereldan, and less than a third of the size of Orlais or Tevinter. If there's anything that gives them power, its that they provide a trade route between the north and the south, and are a neutral ground that both Tevinter and Orlais can act with.
The other thing they have, the College of Enchanters, is possibly disbanded after Inquisition.
They're basically Switzerland, but if Thedas went to war, they'd become Belgium pretty quickly.
"Thanks to enormous wealth and a strategic central location in Thedas, some claim Nevarra's power rivals that of the Orlesian Empire." Dragon Age Wiki
They're a rising super power. Like England was to Spain after North America was discovered by the Europeans.
'Some claim'. They might be wealthy, but wealth is not the only form of power.
It's worth pointing out that Orlais is weakened by its ineffectual ruler (Celine) and its civil war during Inquisition.
Nevarra may have wealth but they are less populous, have less soldiers, and have much less land, so a full-scale invasion would hit their food supplies very hard.
The true power in eastern europe was the PLC until the the 17th century, 80000+ knights fielded at a time. Also I found kind of funny, that Fen'ral was always shown, previously, as the lone wolf, but in this game is the coalition builder
The Leilana bit reminds me strongly of Janeway in "Night". "Oh, woe is me, we're stuck in this horrible situation, there's nothing I can do. Wait, what's that - a hostile force I can go destroy? Red alert, battle stations, on my way to the bridge, computer initiate evasive maneuvers, pattern delta, authorization Janeway Pi-Omega!"
I think elves were canonically established to be more innately magical, even so far back as Origins. It was mentioned that magic came more naturally to elves in the mage tower, and all elf PCs started with a magic bonus. Elf characters also perceive the fade differently than others in Trespasser.
Onsie Twos
Yup not only this but in lore cannon, the crossroads actually cause anyone else other than elves and other natural creatures that existed before the veil pain.
This wasnt shown in tresspasser because for gameplay reasons
It may also be a serious indicator that creatures before Solas created the veil (like elves, dragons, and dwarves) may be signifigantly more powerful than what we thought.
We know elves are basically all demi gods without the veil and their race is based on the existence of the fade.
The dwarves are different since they come from titans but still
I disagree strongly with the notion that the Andromeda team was screwed by EA. The team had 5 years, difficult 5 years but still 5 years, of which they, according to that kotaku article, mismanaged the game for 3.5 and cobbled together the final game in the remaining ~18 months. If the product of a million man-hours of hard work looks like a first draft then it's not the fault of the one signing the checks. As one of the Bioware Doctors put it "EA is giving you enough rope to hang yourself with."
Don't... Just... Don't. Fallout New Vegas was shipped in 18 months. From scratch to your doorstep. If you bring up that "aah but it already had the crappy engine given to them" then, I'd answer: `You do not want to work, being given a half-assed explanation of a half-assed engine that needed to be put down on day 1.`
Of course all the ancient elves were inherently magical. Since the fade was one with the material world, I can't think of any other way than every sentient being being a mage, since on characteristic of mages is their ability to consciously enter the fade, which would be a given if the fade were the material world. (I imagine it akin to something like a higher dimensional space.) Of course that doesn't mean that they wouldn't engineer themselves to become more powerful. After all Tevinter magisters would do the same with blood magic and the like. ;D After all our dear Evanuris used the blood of slaves carrying the blood writing and also waged a war against the Titans, probably to use their blood (aka Lyrium) too.
Speaking of blood: the Conductor of Silence is not the only one who comments of the nature of the Qunari. Kieran, having Urthemiel's soul, does it too, if he talks to a Qunari Inquisitor: ua-cam.com/video/FHu6wkrrc48/v-deo.htmlm25s
Thank you, I've waited so long for this. Now I just need you to play Halo 1, 2, and 3. Haha. Again thank you for taking the time to play through and give your thoughts on Trespasser. It's kinda funny how I'm so addicted to wanting to hear the thoughts of one person. The way you look at things just clicks with me, no matter how much you look into something. Lore, you truly are a great guy, never doubt yourself on or off the camera.
idk why but if iron bull betrays us and calls us baas instead of boss I find it incredibly clever and I never realized the word play
I think it's hinted that it is probable that the elves' immortality was achieved by magic and not the nature of the elves. Because of that, I see it very likely that there is a chance that the percentage of elves with magical ability was about the same as the present day. As we delve into their past more, it's possible that the elves without magical ability where imbued with it at a later date by those with magic. This could have started as a universal healthcare kind of thing where everyone got it but then devolved into power plays or another form of indentured servitude to those that gave you, probably more limited, magical powers.
As for the mess with EA, Bioware and Mass Effect Andromeda, a good article was published recently. Basically, instead of 5 years to work on the game (4 if you don't count between ME3's release and its last DLC) they only had 1.5 of actual production. Pre production didn't actually properly conclude before that last year and a half. Add a harsh work environment, change in management/director and more prevalent tonal and gameplay shifts than usual and you get a recipe for disaster. From what I understand, Bioware Montreal is being shifted to a support studio (I think, for the new IP). I don't think anything has been said that might affect the DA team but it is worrisome.
i have only used this quote to sum up 1 other game and feel that its relevant to Dragon Age not only as a game but as a series. the game i used the quote on was Fallout New Vegas the quote being
"This is our Concorde moment"
it was used in the automotive (car) industry to sum up the concept and subsequent building of the Bugatti Varon and it boils down to "this is the best we are every going to get in our lifetime"
i say this now when talking about Dragon Age Origins as we will never get another amazing game like that even if the original team that made it works on DA4. no matter how good or bad DA4 might be we have had our "concord moment" in this series just like we did in the Fallout series and frankly thats a very depressing thing to think about/ admit to
Oooh I've been waiting for you to play this game! I did like this DLC, as it made me have emotions for it, just like I had for Origins. I was incredibly invested. I forgot most about the qunari lol, but almost everything about the elf lore stuck with me.
I absolutely believe this is just the “known” world. There’s a war map operation in which the inquisition receives a missive from a concerned party from “across the sea” who are not named. It intrigues me endlessly.
Hmm. "Were the ancient elves from the fade?" Does this question even make sense if the fade as a separate realm only existed once Fen'Harel caused the split?
wish you'd talked more about the characters. you didn't go through them like you did with the ruminations for the other games. great video.
Man, can't stand Solas. But in a good way, can't wait to get him. Such a hypocritical a-hole. "i'll look all contrite while killing everyone and doing stupid crap, like giving a weapon of mass-destruction to a crazy magistrate, judging your every action, like forgiving the wardens, while also believing i'm 100% right on everything" Ugh
There are times in your vids, Lore, where I have to just pause, shake my head, and smile. You said about the Qunari: "We will save you from yourselves," and I immediately thought: "You will be assimilated." And your very next line is that yes, you actually are comparing them to the Borg.
OK, back to vid...
Theory: The Evanuris ARE the 7 old gods of Tevinter without Mythal and Fen'Harel who were trapped in the Fade after being banished and forced into Uthenera (eternal sleep). Their physical bodies are the dragons that the darkspawn find deep in the earth. These 7 banished Evanuris tricked the Magister Sidereal into invading the Black/Gold City to corrupt them and start looking for their bodies to force them out of Uthenera and get revenge.
I much prefer the interactions between you and your companions. They were much of a blast altogether for me. The endin' was fine for what it was, though I'm lookin' forward to it.
And yes the elves are inheritantly magical. Its in their blood both cannonicaly and in the game.
In the lore cannonicaly the elves are just part fade beings. Its also seen in tresspasser they see the fade and crossroads differently.
The elves are completely different magical beings
Been missing on the ruminations for a while, so let me say that's one swanky jacket.
That cover photo was awesome!
Very good rumination Lore, but you forgot to mention about one, important thing - Orlais has the best parties! And now instead of your standart credits screen, put that clip made during your live rumination, with dancing soldier :D
I love watching your content, thank you!
13:37 It's not Europe exactly but the Old World from Warhammer Fantasy. Flip Thedas upsidedown,pull Par Vollen back a few hundred miles and shrink Seheron. Read up on WFB lore and find Dragon Age's inspiration.
How does Solas have the soul of an Old God if we saw Mythal place the soul in an Eluvian prior to Solas' arrival?
luffyjam ....Solas might have the soul of Urthemiel. I don't think so though. I think Flemmeth put it in the eluvian. It's not proven either way
From what I've picked up everyone in DAI, human, dwarf, quarri, elf, all have a conscious connection to the fade, mages just have as stronger mental connection and the dwarves are somehow blocked from their dreams by their connection to the titans.
Pretty late to this but to your mention about whether elves are innately magical: in my opinion they are , or at the very least they were. The evidence for this is circumstantial, but still:
1., Kieran (old god boy) can mention to an elven inquisitor is "I don't understand why you want to look like that" which to me comes across that they were spirits first, then chose to take form, something similar to Cole.
2., As far as we know, they were around before the Veil was up: with the exception of dwarves, who were the part of the titans, the elves were probably the first race in Thedas.
Does anyone know if the Trespasser playthrough is going to get uploaded to youtube? Would love to see a playthrough of JoH and Descent as well but I don't know if Arch recorded it.
I missed the livestream. Did you pick disband, join the Chantry, or Synthesis?
Chantry...well leliana who is changing the chantry
Skyrims dlc is expansion effect arch highly recomend them
Alright, I did not see that archon bit coming...
I love the white blazer, but it just looks TOO bright sometimes. Anyways, I also enjoyed Inquisition; more than Andromeda at least.
I also thought DAI vanilla was pretty great in terms of story, lore and what it build upon but the combat was very boring and a chore to get through. Luckily enough the story aspect of the game made me push through to the end.
I finally found a GOTY edition for cheap this year and since I haven't played the DLC's beside the original version of DAI and I found my 125 hour save (thank God) I decided to start playing these DLC's. Tresspasser is a great expansion that leads perfectly into Dragon Age 4 (which funnily enough was teased/announced at The Game Awards 2018).
I wasn't expecting Solas to be Fen'Harel so that was quite the shock for me, but the buildup to the reveal worked well on me. Now how it all ends and the final scene where the inquisitor throws the Knife on the map and it lands on Tevinter makes me very giddy for the next installment of this franchise. I wonder if you will play again as the inquisitor or someone else (given that he's missing one arm now and thus makes combat somewhat of a difficulty proposition).
I think Sandal might very well be a Titan, connected to them at the least.
Chloe Pechlaner
He seems to be on Fenharel side
He already knows that fenharel is waking up and that he created the Veil
The veil is more than anything the cause of everything bad
After the veil not only did the elves lose everything, the titans never woke up and reclaimed the land. Why is that? I think the veil had several unintended effects that seem to have forced the titans into a vegetative state.
Sandal might be just waiting for FenHarel's return so that the Titans can re Awaken. And then the Titans may very well be the Key to defeating the Evanuris
They lost the first war because the Evanuris were just to powerful, they had to much fade energy and then titans as strong as they were, couldnt compete with their raw magical force.
But now, they have a real chance, the evanuris are secluded, weakened and no armies or fade weapons after the veil. They may still be powerful beyond anything else in Thedas, but for the first time Fenharel made them vulnerable.
I see a Fenharel/Titan alliance with Thedas to Face down the Evanuris once and for all
you have a voice fit for radio
how has solas the power of the old god child/urthemiel? is this conditional, or guarantied?
I disbanded the Inquisition due to the fate of the previous organization. The first Inquisition became the Seekers and the Templars. Both groups have become corrupted. In my opinion, the Inquisition fulfilled its purpose by defeating Corepheus. It needed to end when and where it did.
EA, like Hollywood, likes to pretend that the financial flops of some of their products have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they're an absolutist hierarchy where one idiot with a title who doesn't know anything can destroy the creation of a team of dozens of highly skilled professionals. Why didn't this movie or that game fail? It's not the producer being lazy and cheap and not wanting to do any actual production work, it's not a failure by the marketing executives, it's not some office politics rivalry between a Gordon Gecko and a Jordan Balfourt who sees entire project teams as nothing but poker chips to gamble against each other in their respective quests for a new luxury car and more cocaine money. No, it's "market forces" or something, that's what they'll tell the stakeholders at the quarterly meeting.
Lore do you think that all the dragons are old elves that could shape shift like Flemmeth and were trapped in that form then the fade was made by Solas. The blights would then be what happens when one of them manages to find a crack in the fade to get back to our world?
There's even an eighth "Old God Dragon" that was stricken from official record in Tevinter, which leads to=
Elgar'nan Creator of Vengeance=Dumat God of Silence(Deceased)
Andruil Creator of The Hunt= Zazikel God of Chaos (Deceased)
Sylaise The Hearthkeeper= Toth God of Fire (Deceased)
June Creator of the Craft=Andoral God of Slaves (Deceased)
Ghilan'nain the Halla Mother=Urthemiel God of Beauty (Fate undecided)
Dirthamen the Keeper of Secrets= Razikale God of Mystery (Asleep in the Deep Roads)
Falon'Din Friend and Guide of the Dead= Lusacan God of Night (Asleep in the Deep Roads)
Mythal The Great Protector= Last Unknown Old Dragon (Consumed by Fen'Harel)
This would explain why Solas is so horrified by the Grey Wardens' plan to storm the Deep Roads and kill off Razikale and Lusacan before they can be corrupted by the Blight.
@Lorerunner
Solas isnt the villain though. Nor is his plan inheritantly evil. Its only evil when you're losing. In humans eyes it was entirely justified for orlais to kill enslave and rape elves for what? Because the elves wanted to live alone in their forest because they lost their entire civilization and home and history and wanted to keep what little they had? LOL
The veil belongs to Solas, its HIS creation. It was meant as a prison to protect his people from the Evanuris. The side effects were not intended that ultimately hurt the elves and there was no way for him to know what would happen after since it nearly killed him, but the humans are the ones at fault for exploiting the elves after spending centuries killing themselves throwing waves of human bodies at the already destroyed elves spendingforces before finally the waves were to much and not enough elves were left. If the elves at least had their lands not pillaged and enslaved by war mongering humans who spent centuries doing it (they sacrificed millions of their own kind just to dominate another race) then Solas would have awoken without feeling the need to bring down the veil at all the elves didnt need immortality but slavery and ruins is NOT an option. But humans being humans of course had to go about flouting and touting slavery and racism and war mongering (like we always do) Then it was just obvious what solas's reaction was going to be. of COURSE he was pissed and angry at humans. We are awful as a race and its incredibly easy to see that.
What Solas is doing now in DA4 is once again saving his people from slavery again, this time from humans. And also saving them from the ruins of their civilization that occured from humans war mongering after creating the veil and seperating the people from the fade which led to the destruction of most elven cities and structures and defenses.
But you can hardly blame him for it, I mean the Evanuris all together were too powerful, they were all immortal, and they had armies of Immortal Elves all pretty damn powerful just by themselves not to mention whatever magical weapons they possesed at the time. Solas would never have been able to kill them directly even as strong as he is, they were too well protected, with too much power to beat all together. Even the Titans (mountain sized magical beings) were not strong enough to beat them. The Titans lost. Solas did the only thing available to him AT THE TIME. Now though he has a chance the world is different, hes regained his power, and the Evanuris are Vulnerable to being killed without an army of immortal elves at their backs. Or he can imprison them a different way since He has own army and they dont have any. It wont be easy, but in this age is the best chance he'll ever have to actually killing them.
Now he will tear HIS veil down and restore the elves immortality and link to magic so they can live free of slavery and ruins. Which wont fix everything immediately but it will begin the healing which is currently impossible because of human slavers and giving the elves back their lands and their homes not to mention their immortality.
The evanuris will either have to die (if they even can be killed which I doubt) or they will need to be imprisoned in a different way, maybe a backwards veil? But localized in a specific area where they can be watched and properly locked away without drastic reality bending reprecussions.
Wether Solas believes it or not, he is a God for all intents and purposes. He re-shaped all of reality to making the fade almost a seperate reality, and creating an entirely new Thedas. Or Elvhenan if you prefer. He is NEEDED in Thedas, he is the Maker of the Humans.
And there is no evidence saying Humans all die, what he said was "this world will die" now that seems entirely metaphorical for two reasons
1. The fade existed with the Planet as a form of nature just like air or water LONG before solas created the veil. Its only been around for around 8000 years. Now that is a long time but relatively speaking its not since the fade existed as one with the world for millions of years beforehand. Its just part of nature. What he more likely means is that humans domination world will die.
and
2. Hes solas, the trickster god and master of vagueness. When asked why the world must die he avoids the question. Meaning there is something completely different happening.
The ONLY possible way you could even conceivably think Solas's plan is evil, is if you agree with human slavery, war mongering, and rape of the elves.
Thats it no doubt in my mind. The current thedas Humans are ALL collectively Nazis in their treatment of Elves. They see and know how badly they are treated and enslaved but they CONSISTENTLY ignore it and are okay with it as a whole, they encourage it for fucks sake!
That just screams nazi germany to me. And it is completely asinine in my mind to not see that.
So basically what I'm getting from your post is that you think "an eye for an eye" is a valid way to solve problems. Solas did create the veil, yes, that is true. But then he went to sleep for centuries while the world moved on. He changed the world, for better or for worse, he can't just show up centuries later and be like... yeah... I know all of you guys have developed cultures, histories, lineages of your own, but that's irrelevant and you need to die so that I can bring back the Elven Empire. Fighting hate with hate is never going to end well. And aside from that, Solas shows absolutely no care for modern Elves or their struggle. He only cares about the spirits and the magic and his fancy upside down castles and magical portals. If he really cared about the elves he would helping them overcome their current struggles, not try to destroy the world by bringing back a dead Empire that didn't work. Not all humans are evil or hate elves in Dragon Age. And what about the potential thousands or hundreds of thousands of elves who could die in the coming conflict or when he brings the veil down? Do those people just not matter? Solas is a coward who is too obsessed with the past to see he's murdering a world to bring back something that's already dead and gone. He should have stayed and sought help to fix what he did. If he wants to atone for what he did to his people, why not allow them to decide what should happen next instead of just assuming his plan is the best one.
As much as I love this character, his plan for the future is abominable and I hope my Inquisitior gets to punch him in the face for ever thinking it was an acceptable plan in the first place.
I was very pleased by the Orláis= The Francs, Tevinter= Byzantium and Qunari= Otomans... I am curious as to what Ferelden, Antivan, Rivain and the Marches equal to
Ferelden is England with the twist of being occupied by Orlais (France) instead of the other way around.
OK, one more time. Qunari mages and StarCraft? Vid paused.
Thinking: Terran Confederacy taking telepathic kids, training them, implanting them with Psi Dampeners, sending them out on assassination/sabotage missions, and then wiping their memories afterwards. Making them mere tools on a leash.
Now back to vid to see if that's where you're going with this.
This is fun.
When you're talking about Europe in 1200... Franks are long gone and the Holy Roman Empire is INFINETLY more influential than France at this point.
Saarebas are Kossith mages.
How come I never seen this video>.> It's not in Friday Ruminations category.
The power of the old God is debatable he clear see Mythal hiding something in the mirror from Solas is very likely it was the old God soul that she took from Kieran.
Your last point on Andromeda is factually wrong The Game had enough money received more than one delay the only thing they failed at was leadership, they should never allowed the B team do a Major Title and sequel for Mass Effect they couldn't work the engine, they had no idea what they were doing at any point and time and then they rush it when they had to actually deliver a game.
So Arch... Try to redeem Solas or stop him by any and all means?
I think of the Qunari as something along the lines of the Soviet Union. They stick to their ideology very strictly despite not being religious. They also view every other civilization as lost. It harkons back to the Nietzsche's idea that a nation can zealously follow an ideology to a fault, especially when the nation doesn't have an official religion. The Soviet Union used Marxism as their ideology. In Dragon Age, we see Qunari following the Qun in similar way. Not saying that the Qun is similar to Marxism, but it's how the two nations are able to zealously stick to their ideologies that makes it interesting.
Well, you're certainly much more positive about Trespasser than I am. To me, it's not better than Inquisition proper--it's exactly the same. Same strengths (characterization) same crippling flaws (plotting). Inquisition ends with Solas saying, "lol, I'm the bad guy now," and so does Trespasser. Just one more example demonstrating how much Bioware loves setting things up, but can't quite follow them through.
And Trespasser is full of that nonsense. Yes, it introduces a handful of interesting ideas--but it never does anything. And an idea unexplored has little value and less utility.
I'd strongly caution against any optimism for the fourth game. The Mage/Templar war was built up over multiple games... Corypheus, likewise, was built up strongly in DA2. But when it came time for the payoff, we got whimpers instead of roars. Given past experience, it seems foolhardy to expect Solas to be a terribly compelling villain in our next outing in Thedas, and equally foolhardy to expect the coming conflict to be handled with any sense of scale, nuance or import.
Bioware is great when it comes to characters chatting with each other. This is precisely why the Solas (and prior Morrigan) dialogs are so memorable. But they seriously suck when it comes to plot writing. So, now that Solas is no longer a party member, it seems safe to assume that his days of having interesting dialog or a decent role in the narrative are gone for good.
Could never get that three wheel puzzle to open, finally quit. They are not making these games for the PC anymore. They are console games with a PC afterthought. Some bad glitches too.
Whats up
i wont be surprised if they go full Mike and Bob with Sandal and Solas ala Twin Peaks.
I'm sorry lore please dont't take this personally, but I sometimes get slightly annoyed when you talk about the Jedi Order (though I don't like them either) in a negative way especially when you use the words 'Doctrine' or 'dogma' . I find it odd that you assume that having a Traditional belief system is bad, . Everyone has philosophy of some sort. When you bash someone over the head with it like in this game I suppose,then that's another story. I define the word 'religion' differently than most people anyway so yeah. It is probably just a perspective/definition thing.
This is just friendly feedback no offence was intended. I'm not trying to preach either.
Belief system that is being forced upon people, especially one that contradicts basic human morality, is probably not a healthy thing and is rightfully called dogma. Doesn't mean that every religion is like that.
Solas is a bald Eric of Melnibone.
Interesting that you say “we treated the eleves this way... well you know what I mean” or however you put it. Lol your ruminations have become a psychological study on your weird mentality for me.
Just finished a playthrough ending with this one for the 1st time. Pretty disappointing. It starts with fanservice with the companions : great and some political intrigue that reminds me of the best part of the base game... and drops that completely for a chase through eluvians that are now 100% controlled by qunaris out of nowhere. Then some reveals that the elves are just Tolkien archetypes after all (they're the same as in Witcher really) and just a final conversation with Solas which might as well be a "to be continued" screen.
It's not all bad, but it's not really better than inquisition story-wise, and gameplay-wise in Tresspasser there isn't any exploration so combat is all that's left, and it is terrible in this game in general.
There will be no Dragon Age 4.
17 k subscribers? wow arch. Maybe politics would hook you up. You have the intelligence and the education and someone tole you not to. I tell you... to, but only if you like what cash can buy you. Be a starving artist. Maybe its what you are good at. ;)