How does your inquisitor forgive Solas for essentially telling you he’s made peace with your potential death?
I don’t think I’ve ever made a post engaging in fandom discussion, or thrown my two cents in, so I don’t know how people Do This. But I’ll do my best navigate it because this is something I want to discuss and hear people who romance Solas respond to.
So, I first played DA:I two years ago. I’ve romanced Solas in every single play-through other than my very first. Over the course of those two years, my feelings on this character, naturally, have changed drastically.
Disclaimer: I adore Solas. He is my favorite character despite many feelings changing, and my wanting to punch him in the face 88% of the time. Anyways.
In the beginning, I headcanoned my Inquisitor (Meva) as essentially staying with Solas regardless of his actions. Both the ones that have come to pass, and ones to come (DA 4). Though aware of Solas’s faults - not trying to have a whole thread shooting shit over those, I’m well aware of them - I always felt certain my inquisitor can and would forgive him. That his love for the Dread Wolf in question enabled him to see past everything that has happened, and will happen.
I didn’t really see anything wrong with that. I guess, as part of this discussion I want to have, there isn’t anything wrong with that. Forgiveness is subjective. Everyone forgives differently and has varying limits to what they can and will look past. In some ways, it’s nearly impossible to agree who deserves forgiveness and who doesn’t.
A few months ago, I was replaying DA:I, as I do. And I got to Tresspasser, and the conversation you have with Solas as a romanced inquisitor at the end of it. And for whatever reason, the words “I will never forget you” really hit me in a way they hadn’t before. It was like it was the first time I really grasped what he was saying to the person he’d been in a relationship with.
And suddenly, there was no way for Meva to forgive him. There was no possible way my inquisitor, regardless of wanting to stop or redeem him, could remain in love with this person. Solas stands before your inquisitor, a person who once he was presumably in love with, and tells you in more or less words he’s accepted the fact you may die as a result of his plans. And he hopes you’ll live peacefully for a few before that happens.
I see so often so many lavellans headcanoned to be so heartbroken and destroyed over this person; people seem so willing to have their inquisitors remain in love with him despite him saying this you. Hell, I was a person with that headcanon. Solas, who by that point, you might realize essentially broke up with you only to save himself from a guilty conscience over the death of the inquisitor he knows he will likely cause, just like the large amount of deaths worldwide he will likely cause. Solas quite literally puts himself first, in many ways. He was inconsiderate to get involved with the inquisitor, regardless of him making that choice. He knew would leave eventually, but he still engages in a romance, albeit reluctantly. And then proceeds to dump you so he can clean his hands, and conscience, of your death because of what he’s inevitably going to try and do.
I’m aware it’s nuanced, truly. I do think there is a level of care and love on his end. When you’re attracted to someone - in his case the inquisitor - it’s hard to stay away, even when you know it’s a bad idea to engage. And I don’t think for a moment he’s cold hearted and doesn’t care for you inquisitor at all. He clearly does to a certain degree. I guess my question is just
How do you remain in love with someone who treats you this way? How are you still able to have your inquisitor stay with him despite it all?
I know for myself, once I had that revelation, I couldn’t allow my own inquisitor to stay with him. Maybe that’s because I’m a Nerd and generally have massive investment in my OCs, to the point where I near treat them as real people. I just can’t see my inquisitor ever getting over or past Solas being so accepting of his potential death. At the least, if Solas really loved you, he’d be trying to make sure you’re one of the ones that survives. And I know a potential counter to that might be “Well, he couldn’t, because of your position and who you are. He knows you’re trying to stop him. It might be different if you were just a nobody” but...would it though? Do you think he’d try to save you even if you weren’t the inquisitor? Because truthfully, I personally don’t think it would change the situation even a hair. I think Solas would remain on the deluded path he’s on regardless; because in the end, his primary concern is his goal. And the feelings of everyone, even those he’s come to care for and, in his own words, acknowledge as “real people”, come second.
I don’t know. I just want to hear other fellow Solas Romancer’s thoughts because personally the bar is looking like it’s on the floor for this white man HAHA so let us Discuss
Alright, adding to this now that we have some Answers and the discussion is becoming Interesting.
So, my question in the OG post was basically this: How does your lavellan personally forgive Solas, and potentially want to remain romantically involved with him later on?
While it’s good discussion to have to a degree, people are seemingly thinking I’m misunderstanding or “misinterpreting” Solas’s actions and words which is...😬. A lot of it is objective. There isn’t a right or wrong way to view his behavior or actions.
I’m not assuming Solas is alright with your death entirely. Perhaps I didn’t explain that well. And when I speak of lavellan’s death, I meant her death in action - during a skirmish, etc - due to his tearing down of the veil. The tearing down of the veil is unleashing a lot of chaos into the world. Demons, etc. Y’all know what I’m talking about. Lots of ways to die. Point is, I’m not referring to him accepting her death because he is immortal, and she is not. I’m not talking about mortality VS immortality here.
Also, I do think it’s interesting that some people are saying Solas isn’t being selfish, or that his actions aren’t based in selfishness to a degree. What exactly is it do you think that he is saving the elves from? His desire to bring back “the old ways”, whatever those ways were, is stemmed in the desire to fix his own mistakes. A personal, selfish wish. Is the state of the world the elves find themselves in now unfair? Absolutely. They’ve faced countless adversities and still have it pretty rough.
But tearing down the veil doesn’t mean it’s going to immediately bring the elves back to former glory. Nothing in life is that simple. Things have changed, for better or for worse. And for someone who’s spent thousands of years sleeping, only to wake up and decide the state of things isn’t to his liking so he’s going to rectify it...well. That implies a great deal.
Think about it. Is every elf miserable? Doubtful. Dalish or otherwise. Sera certainly isn’t. She doesn’t spend her days mourning What Once Was. And I don’t think for a moment she’s a rare case. Solas or anyone viewing the elves as people who just need sympathy alone is sad to me. I don’t know. I think it’s pretty unfair the way Solas is unrelentingly harsh when you first meet - and continues to be if you don’t become his friend/lover/open his eyes - to the Dalish. Even when you are close to him, he’s pretty unkind in the Temple of Mythal toward the Dalish when he’s talking with Morrigan about the things they got wrong about the gods. When he could, you know, help them understand instead of giving up cause a clan didn’t react well to him marching in and claiming he knows better one time.
Dunno. There’s a lot of that I could speak on but honestly it’s whole other discussion entirely. But I’m just pointing out, for arguments sake, it’s not a contest to see who understands Solas best. My interpretations aren’t wrong, and neither are yours. I’m not new to discussions about Solas, and his intentions. None of us know what he intends at the end of the day or what will come about from his plans.
But I do think it’s something to consider, the fact that he clearly views the current day elves as this pitiful sob story that needs fixing. And I am curious as to why some people DO think the elves just have it so horrible that they ‘need saving’. Especially seeing as they are based on real life oppressed peoples.
And consider this: Is the solution to thousands of years of oppression Solas taking action that will result in the deaths of thousands now?
And since I just played the Well of Sorrows mission literally two days ago, consider how arrogantly and cruelly Abelas treats your lavellan. Ancient elves kind of sort of have a stick up their ass when it comes to “their ways”. They’d rather die and reject the Dalish and any other modern day elves, to the point of callously calling them shemlans, than try to adjust to the new world or help modern elves know what once was. Solas openly sympathizes with said arrogance. So, ya know. Just something to chew on.
These things I’m saying are all compressed, quick thoughts I’m shooting out, mind you. I don’t have the time or resources it would take to go in depth on every facet of this discussion. I don’t think any of this could be discussed in depth and explained easily in one tumblr post. Solas is complex, the conversation as a whole is complex. But please don’t assume I misunderstand or “don’t get it”. It’s a broad topic as a whole !
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