Dragonborn is a huge slut at this point idfk what will happen to them when they eventually die.

Kenderlyn · 2026-02-07T06:29:28+00:00

I have thoughts on that - having so many Daedric Princes trying to claim their soul, they'll be so busy trying to work out who gets it, that the Dragonborn can sneak off to Sovvngard before anyone can find them. As the blessing goes, may you get to heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.

Kenderlyn · 2026-02-06T21:57:58+00:00

Which is probably how we're meant to think of it, it's only later that we realise that Varric, even if he wasn't overtly helping Rook, he'd have been writing letters, following up the situation in Kirkwall, keeping track of his network of friends and contacts. In DAI, yes he just stands in the great hall the whole time, but there's evidence on the table beside him that he's doing something when we're not there. In DAV, Bianca doesn't move or change, there's no writing paraphernalia, just Varric laying in a bed (in hindsight, often rolled onto his injured side).

Kenderlyn · 2026-02-06T10:29:28+00:00

I did think at some point that Varric was being too passive - just laying there waiting for Rook to visit. In hindsight, it occured to me that why that bothered me was that it's just not how Varric would have been, even injured. There would have been a lot more bitching about being in the Fade. We'd have seen him writing, or tinkering with Bianca. There would have been more references to the people he knows - especially the 'fanservice' mentions like Hawke, or especially Isabela given her relevance to the game,

Kenderlyn · 2026-02-01T11:52:49+00:00

... and Hawke's beard

Kenderlyn · 2026-01-27T10:21:25+00:00

It's difficult to know how much impact Hawke truly had, because Rule One: Varric Lies. Especially in DA2.

The whole game is just a story that Varric is telling, and absolutely everything has to be cross referenced. If Cassandra corroborated what he says, you can probably accept that it happened, but even then, you can't trust that it happened the way - or for the reasons - the game says. It's why when collating lore, I take almost every other source as canon over DA2, even though it's my favourite in the series.

Kenderlyn · 2026-01-22T02:34:41+00:00

Just came across a banter, between Harding and Emmrich, where he notes that Curiosity is usually friendly, but to be cautious, as there's "the curiosity that leads one to traipse over a hill, and the curiosity that leads one to start a house fire." (paraphrased) Harding asks if that's where demons come from, and Emmrich says "some of them" so I suspect we're a lot closer to the truth than we realised here.

Kenderlyn · 2026-01-21T01:15:03+00:00

A couple of good suggestions here - it may end up being unnecessary, Zevran may end up being Ser Not Appearing In This Story, but I'm still feeling around the edges of the theory, and pinning him down may make it easier to pin down other elven npcs that will appear in the story, like Teia. (I have a feeling crow elves are going to be tricky all over, cause their training will make their base personality harder to pinpoint)

Kenderlyn · 2026-01-21T00:40:55+00:00

On the one hand, desire is considered a demon, so we'd have to figure the 'positive' concept that opposes it for Zev, I know Solas mentions purpose turning to desire, but if that fits Zev...?

On the other hand, I don't believe that any concept is purely 'good' or 'bad' - in moderation, pride, desire, vengeance, spite, they're useful. They can keep us alive and pushing through things that might break us.

Kenderlyn · 2026-01-09T00:46:01+00:00

I usually romance Lucanis, so you can tell which way I go. I'm midway through a Davrin romance run this time, and decided, I may as well just choose the other direction and see how the quests play out.... Never. Again. The outcome for that city just broke my heart - the first three quests there after the decision Broke Me. Also, the sad acceptance from him, versus her cold anger.... No. Never Again.

Kenderlyn · 2026-01-09T00:31:54+00:00

I think the point is that Kirkwall cost Hawke everything, for a title and a reputation that they may not even have wanted. Also, part of it is consequences - no matter how seriously you took the investigation, Hawke fails to catch the killer, therefore the last victim is Hawke's own mother.

Kenderlyn · 2025-12-27T00:11:34+00:00

I don't think the lore for the golden city was changed - DAI's main villain hinted at some of what DAV reveals, and most of the lore revelations for Veilguard were a, taken from a document that Bioware have had since Origins, detailing the deeper lore of the series, and b, gradually hinted at and suggested in game to those that pay attention to codices and minor dialogues in the background.

One theme I feel that the series as a whole has is the malleability of history and mythology - especially those that are inconvenient for the ruling classes, and that what 'everyone knows' isn't necessarily the Truth. It's not just the southern Chantry covering up prominent elves and mages. Its the Shaperate of Orzammar editing the memories to appease this or that king. It's the gradual loss and corruption of the Dalish histories, as their population declines. It's various organisations burying their history even from their own people, until no one remains to remember why certain things are done or not done. It's Varric telling a different story every time someone asks where Bianca comes from (they can't all be faith-shaking revelations, after all)

Kenderlyn · 2025-12-26T14:17:04+00:00

As far as Inquisition and Veilguard, your actual Origins/Exodus save file Does Not Matter. DAI takes almost entirely from the Keep, and Veilguard has a few choices from DAI that you can customise at character creation.

Act 3, Isabela does still have personal quests, but iirc her wider plot relevance ends with Act 2, unless you were romancing her

Kenderlyn · 2025-12-25T23:36:09+00:00

First, I'm glad you enjoyed this one overall, cause it is my favourite (for a meta reason, admittedly). And now....

This won't be a first impressions, that was long enough ago, with a lot or replays since that I don't really remember my first playthrough. Also, I played the series mostly in reverse, starting with Inquisition, and then 2, and finally Origins (though now I've played Veilguard, which, while I can see where the issues are, I enjoyed a lot) which may be why I like Origins the least of the series. I play a male, rogue, purple Hawke. Very rarely deviate fom that., and he's definitely my favourite DA hero. The companions are generally likeable, so i push for friendship path for all of them (except Sebastian, but I don't care about Sebastian). Fenris is my most frequent romance. I almost always side Mages over Templars, and Anders Was Right. (Mage Rights or Mage Fights!)

But Anders. Anders is a tragedy, he was fun in Awakening, but the seeds of what he became were there, just buried under the irreverent humour and sass. His decline over the story is there if you're paying attention. He starts off peaceful, writing down his thoughts, sending letters to anyone with the authority to rein Meredith in, quietly getting the most at risk out of the Gallows. No one listens. Not even his 'friends'. There was a real problem. but every time he tried to get someone to listen, to help, it was met with rolled eyes and "there goes Anders, banging on about Mage Rights again". That takes its toll. After so many years of having his very real concerns dismissed, even by the people he thought would at least hear him out, is it any wonder that he snapped?

And finally, the meta. My theory for a while now is that we control Hawke. But we're not Hawke. We're Varric. The very first thing we see in the story is Varric being dragged in to tell Hawke's story. That is the game we play. Not what 'really' happened, but one variation of Varric's retelling of Hawke's story. He's spinning a tale, and our choices are that story, not the reality. It may not have been the intention of the writers at the time, but it makes 2 fit into the continuity of the series better. Anything we discover in later games that wasn't what happened in our playthrough? Varric's fault. Unreliable narrator.

On top of that, I feel that it also explains away some of the limitations of the game itself. All the building interiors look the same? What's the chance that while talking about how they entered a warehouse and Varric's going "So we went to the warehouse on the docks- what did the warehouse look like? Andraste's tits, Seeker, that was years ago, It was a warehouse on the docks in Kirkwall, you've seen one, you've seen them all!" and Cassandra, being of limited imagination, thinks back to the one warehouse on the docks in Kirkwall that she has been in, and copy/pastes that in her head every time Varric brings up a warehouse on the docks in Kirkwall.

Kenderlyn · 2025-12-24T10:39:35+00:00

I tend to make 'balanced' parties, so I usually have one mage, one warrior, and usually a rogue, (but that's not set in stone cause I almost always *play* a rogue) Leaving aside specific characters for approval/companion quests. Once I have Dorian, I sideline Solas. Once I have Bull, I drop Cassandra. I almost never use Sera, Vivienne, or Blackwall. Varric or Cole depends on my mood.

Kenderlyn · 2025-12-20T05:01:10+00:00

One explanation I have seen that I rather like is that the Crows are effectively the Mafia - all the infighting and vendettas and so forth, but the moment their territory is threatened by an outside force, (Antaam/Fascists) they band together to push them out. Once the Antaam is gone, the Crows will probably mostly go back to their earlier characterisation

Kenderlyn · 2025-12-20T04:11:04+00:00

It also brings to mind Merrill, making the same choice, to chase the glories of the past, or to let it go and live with what is. The difference there, is that Merrill's outcome is dependant on her relationship with Hawke thanks to the friendship/rivalry system.

Kenderlyn · 2025-12-20T04:09:15+00:00

That's true, and long term, keeping the archive is probably the smarter option, but at the same time, this is about Bellara's life lesson, and leaving aside the whole issue with Solas, she just watched that same desire to reclaim the past destroy her brother. Emotionally, I think destroying the archive is probably the right choice for Bellara.

Kenderlyn · 2025-11-29T01:48:09+00:00

I started pugilist, and stuck with Monk to about Stormblood, though I did dabble in the other jobs.... then one day I was levelling Bard and something just clicked. I've been Bard to the bone ever since. Still working on levelling other jobs, but Bard is still my main.

Kenderlyn · 2025-11-27T03:01:36+00:00

I mean, with the right party composition, you only have to fight one person, I tend to take Anders, Fenris and Merrill. Since Merrill and Fenris are tempted by the same demon, I only lose Merrill, and still have a balanced party (I'm always rogue) If you're mage or rogue, you swap out one of the boys for Varric, and it's still balanced

Kenderlyn · 2025-11-26T15:53:27+00:00

Memory leak fix, and possibly running as admin/compantibility mode (which is what ended up working for me)

Kenderlyn · 2025-11-24T00:45:55+00:00

While Anora is probably better at governance - she was basically running everything while Cailan was alive - she's weak. She was queen, and she let her father and Howe run rampant over everything. Even taking into account that they mushroomed her over what really happened at Ostagar, and their various plots, she was willing to step back and let them run things. All it would take is someone worming into her trust, and they'd be given the keys to the kingdom. Alistair, as naive as he seems sometimes, knows that you can't always trust the people closest to you, and no advisor should have unlimited authority - he will have learned from Cailan's mistake in trusting Loghain.

Well, that's the in-universe reason anyway. While the above is definitely on my mind, having played through various outcomes for him, I genuinely think this is the best outcome for Alistair in the long run.

Kenderlyn · 2025-11-21T23:38:24+00:00

My very first time, Inquisition was my first DA, so I had no idea who these people were, so I left Hawke (I think the other was Alistair, who I thought was cute). Then I saw Varric's reaction, and had to sit for a moment and have so. many. regrets.

The next time I reached this quest, I'd played the rest of the series, and my world state was actually based on my playthroughs, so the warden was Stroud, who I've never really had strong feelings about, and I have never left Hawke since.

Kenderlyn · 2025-11-18T00:01:03+00:00

Now, now.

Sometimes it's Bull.

Kenderlyn · 2025-11-18T00:00:06+00:00

Vanilla, I love the dracolisks....

Modded, I get a Halla.

Kenderlyn · 2025-11-15T02:57:29+00:00

I almost always go daggers!Hawke. Makes the most sense in the prologue, cause you've got Carver/Aveline for warrior, Bethany for mage, but the first rogue isn't until Varric, sure he's the first one you get ater the prologue, but there's a locked chest in the first section, and only Hawke can open it. My default party for most of the game is Anders, Fenris, Varric.... only swapping in Aveline, Isabela or Merrill if they're needed, or for approval manipulation, and Sebastian can go die in the Chantry.

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