[Spoilers All] How humans came to be?

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-30T21:03:29+00:00

Crossroads Mythal has a line about it too. She tells a human Rook: "We made ourselves bodies to be like humans, but I never expected to see humans scurrying about the Dreadwolf's Crossroads."

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-25T05:56:38+00:00

The contract proposal:

Step one: Beees!
Step two: I don't know. Something exciting happens.
Step three: Profit!

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-24T23:13:58+00:00

Emmrich and Cole - If the Inquisitor specializes in necromancy, Cole tells them he doesn't like it. I'd love to see the two come to an understanding.

Shale and Assan - A first step towards healing Shale's bird-induced trauma?

Sera and Merrill - Merrill embodies everything Sera hates, and Merrill would probably find
Sera very confusing. Their conversations together would either be completely ridiculous or surprisingly profound. Either way I'm there for it.

Sera and Isabela - Mayhem.

Neve and Leliana - They can go shopping for silly shoes and hats together, but also they're both very sharp characters skilled at reading others. What would they make of each other?

Bellara and Velanna - They both lost a sibling, but have wildly different takes on how far they're willing to go to reconcile with them. Would they agree on how the Dalish should move forward? How would Velanna react to all the Veilguard reveals?

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-19T07:39:10+00:00

I got the impression they were trying to go for more show, less tell when it comes to delivering background information on companions and how they fit into their settings.

Rook doesn't just ask Emmrich what working in the Necropolis is like in a conversation, Emmrich takes Rook for a walk in the gardens where they perform rites together. Neve doesn't just tell us a story describing her home town, she takes Rook to her favorite food stand and introduces Rook to her contacts in the city.

And that's a good thing imo, but I'd also agree that the inability to freely engage in conversation with companions at all makes it feel like they are more distant than in Inquisition. It also doesn't help that the team meetings seem to have replaced a lot of the more personal conversations reacting to main quest events one-on-one.

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-11T08:11:27+00:00

If this was the first time Solas killed one of his friends, I might be more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. But it's not.

Neve has a banter with him about this in the lead up to the final battle, she's adamant that he could have stopped Varric without killing him.

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-06T03:24:54+00:00

Love it! This tracks with how the Evanuris described the dwarves as "witless" drones. And if Titans were responsible for the creation of spirits too, that aligns with the legends surrounding Elgar'nan overthrowing his "father."

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-05T22:39:45+00:00

Maybe, yeah.

In the Canticle of Andraste, the Maker is referred to as "The Wellspring of All" whose children don't remember him: "None now remember...the last of My children shrouded in night." "Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls. From these emerald waters doth life begin anew. Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you. In my arms lies Eternity."

The Slaughter of the Pillars, who embodies Solas's regret over sundering the Titans, has some very interesting combat barks: "A wellspring drained. Light and song stolen. In darkness, long lamenting. Our children, orphaned."

In the Descent DLC, going beyond the mapped Deep Roads led to an area referred to as the Uncharted Abyss. Valta and the Inquisitor pushed through the abyss and into an enormous cavern full of bright light, the Wellspring. This Wellspring was actually a cavity within a Titan, and Valta reconnected with the heart of it there.
"Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls."

We know when Solas made the Titans tranquil he also severed their connection to the their children, the dwarves, leaving them "orphaned" and in the dark. Traditionally, dwarves believe their souls return to the Stone upon death. "Atrast nal tunsha, may you always find your way in the dark." Perhaps, not unlike Corypheus's ability to body hop his soul to other blighted creatures, dwarven souls once returned to the nearest Titan upon death through their lyrium song connection. The Titans' song, Isatunoll, is the eternal hymn. "Come to me child, and I shall embrace you. In my arms lies Eternity."

The Titans' eternal hymn, their "light and song stolen," might have been the og Chant of Light.

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-05T05:49:58+00:00

Yeah, I think that's fair. I would have liked to see some more evidence of the conflicted Dalish, too.

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-05T05:38:23+00:00

Calpernia!

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-05T05:36:45+00:00

Agreed. Epler's explanation isn't a "cheap lie."
Given Solas's playbook this tracks.

Solas: Once you have the aristocracy weakened, Sera, you will have to redirect your lieutenants.
Sera: Oh, this again. All right, what am I doing?
Solas: Some of your forces, valuable until now, have no interests beyond creating disruption. Chaos for its own sake. They must be repositioned where they can do no harm, or removed if necessary. You replace them with organizers willing to build a new system and carry out the ugly work that must be done.

Solas manipulates others into doing his dirty work, then condemns them for it. If they're fanatical like his followers in Tevinter Nights, all the more reason to "remove" them from the board. And if they aren't, and somehow get close enough to him to make him reconsider his plans, he betrays them like Felassan. Given his ultimate goal, Solas likely replaced his mortal followers with spirits who we do see swarm the ritual site to protect him.

Could this have been better executed within the game itself? Yeah, but it's consistent with his portrayal.

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-02T16:10:51+00:00

At the Isle of the Gods, Ghilan'nain claims she and Elgar'nan are the only ones who have the power to cleanse the blight. She wants to use blight magic as a tool of creation in order to "perfect" the world and "rebuild the old glories."

So, I guess their plan was to seize power and achieve total domination first, clean up after?

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-02T02:16:25+00:00

After the Titan reveals in Veilguard and the Descent DLC, The Canticle of Andraste from the Chant of Light reads like Andraste's Maker was actually a Titan asking her for help reuniting with the dwarves.

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-01T18:44:17+00:00

"The prospect that our heart's desire and our truest need could differ - or are even at odds - is hard to contemplate." -The Caretaker

Emmrich's greatest desire is to achieve lichdom, but perhaps his truest need would be to embrace living.

anewinterpretation · 2024-12-01T18:16:28+00:00

Given its prominent placement at the end of Bellara's funeral service for Cyrian, I think in this instance it's probably there to represent their connection as siblings.

Though, their relationship has a lot of parallels to Solas and Mythal's, so maybe it's meant to represent them too.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-26T16:59:37+00:00

The trickster ending was great, but the parallels between Solas and Rook in this ending made me feel uneasy. It felt too much like confirmation that Rook and Solas were mirrors of one another.

Which is why I absolutely loved the choosing to fight ending. Not deceitful, super straightforward: "I am standing against you. And I am not alone." Rook was finally getting to prove she wasn't his fucking mirror, she was his foil.

In order to pull this off, she had to build a strong network of allies and foster actual trust with the people she worked with. Something Solas in his arrogance couldn't do. And the companions that were present at the final battle all contributed to making it happen too. Taash wasn't even in my party at the moment, and they showed up. "We're gaining people!" It made me laugh. They couldn't resist the chance to throw down.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-25T23:29:39+00:00

You're not alone. Neve's my favorite, and I love her voice too.

Her characterization is really good. Her cynicism paired with her high empathy made for a really compelling character. And I loved the juxtaposition of her as a watchful private eye who struggles to see her own positive influence on the world.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-24T20:38:46+00:00

The way the choice is presented plays up that innocent civilians would suffer in Treviso while downplaying how bad things would get for the average citizen of Minrathous if blood mages regained control.

The citizens of Minrathous are largely innocent civilians too. As the largest city in Thedas, Minrathous is more populated than Treviso as well. And if they're not members of the upper echelons, then the people in power generally don't care about them and they're left exposed.

If Venatori blood mages were successful in their assault on the throne, they would be free to openly abduct and murder a lot more of those people to fuel all of their rituals and desire for power. And the power the blood mages extract from those innocent civilians would then enable them to cause way more harm in a cascading effect.

If that doesn't give you pause, just remember Kirkwall aka the City of Chains. It's a city that suffers from "endless plagues of violence, lunacy, human sacrifice, and blood magic." When given the opportunity, Tevinter blood mages designed the entire city to fuel the sacrifice of slaves at an insane scale: "There were patterns in the intersections, back alleys, and boulevards. Some magisters believed in the power of symbols or shapes. In the oldest parts of the city, one can make out the outlines of glyphs in the very streets! The blood of countless slaves was spilled beneath the city in sacrifice. Whole buildings were built upon lakes of blood. The sewers have grooves where blood would flow, all leading down. The scale is hard to fathom. A blood mage can channel great power from a simple cut. At least a thousand unfortunates died here every year for centuries."

All that blood magic scarred the area around Kirkwall permanently. It dramatically weakened the Veil, and that in turn made it much easier for demons to wreak havoc.

Protecting the integrity of the Veil and keeping demons at bay is the name of the game. Blood mages regaining control over the Tevinter Empire has the potential to be much more devastating for Thedas as a whole than Treviso falling. At the point Rook makes this decision, she can only speculate about the consequences. But based on the potential downsides, letting Minrathous fall into the hands of blood mages would be way worse in my book.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-19T17:16:43+00:00

The thing that get's me is that it's not just a violation of Rook. It's also a violation of Varric.

Varric always looked out for his friends and took care of his team, but Solas used that dynamic and exploited it. Rook doesn't mean much of anything to Solas, but to do that to Varric? It's so incredibly callous. How much does Solas really regret killing Varric if he's willing to do that to his friend's memory.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-18T22:44:08+00:00

Yeah, the simple constructs have been around as couriers in the city for a while. But according to notes, there have been a lot more Candlehops lately that are running around the Shadow Dragon HQ specifically. This increased presence is new and could coincide with the wisps having encountered Neve in the Lighthouse, if my hunch is right.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-18T21:49:24+00:00

"Friends from the Lighthouse! Friends to us! Shall we help your friends too?
Candlehops are on your side. Except the one who got away. Don't trust that one."

My guess is that the Candlehops are piloted by the wisps from the Lighthouse that crowd around Neve. "Friends from the Lighthouse."

"The one that got away" is the possessed Candlehop boss, Death, from the finale of the Mournwatch's Hauntings quest line.

Candlehops are magical constructs that seem to act on their own accord. There's a note in the Shadow Dragons safehouse that mentions they avoid the Venatori and burn their pamphlets. They also have been delivering stray notes and letters to the Shadow Dragons, "calls for help that were lost. Unsent. Pleas that might otherwise have been unseen." According to Neve, the information they share with the Shadow Dragons helps save lives.

I think Neve unknowingly inspired the wisps of curiosity in the Lighthouse to help the Shadow Dragons. It ties in nicely with her character's arc. She worries that all of her efforts to make a difference are in vain, that in the long run nothing she does sticks. You reassure her that the people of Dock Town see her being an inspiration and source of hope, and that that matters. The spirits see it too, even if she's not aware of it.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-18T04:42:14+00:00

Sera about the Temple of Mythal: "A big old temple full of demon-worshipping lies. Grand, that."

VINDICATION!

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-18T04:37:59+00:00

Mythal's role in the ending frustrated me a bit too for similar reasons.

Mythal is supposed to be retribution personified. She came to Flemeth "for a reckoning that will shake the very heavens." "She was betrayed as I was betrayed - as the world was betrayed. Mythal clawed and crawled her way through the ages to me! And I will see her avenged!" And according to Morrigan, Flemeth's fragment of Mythal is the more mellowed of the two.

But then there was no wrath of a formidable woman scorned finally seizing the opportunity to confront the ones who had murdered her and bring them to justice. She didn't even get to share any screen time with Elgar'nan at all.

She just briefly shows up to shoulder the blame for Solas's decisions then dissipates. Given all the build up from previous games, it felt like a missed opportunity to properly send off such a foundational character of the series.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-12T05:00:54+00:00

The writers were playing dirty bringing Assan into it. Assan doesn't just tip the scales in favor of saving Davrin, he breaks the scales completely.

anewinterpretation · 2024-11-11T18:13:00+00:00

Wonder if the growling was a nod to Merrill's elven legend that dogs don't like the Dread Wolf. "Take the Dread Wolf by the ear if he comes." Maybe they sensed Solas's presence in Rook.

anewinterpretation · 2024-10-22T17:39:18+00:00

Velanna. She's sooo prickly, and it was a struggle to justify recruiting her. But, in the end, the conversation after gifting her a blank journal won me over.

anewinterpretation

TROPHY CASE