Solas telling Cole they can ill afford to lose spirits of wisdom, compassion (and another) and before their first real kiss he tells Lavellan she has a very rare spirit and “to lose you would…” 🥲 I’m feral for them
It's crazy to think that, when our Inquisitor shows up in Veilguard, for Rook and the companions, they will just be this legend. Not that it wasn't the case before, but it's been ten years since the Breach, and most of it happened in southern Thedas, away from most of the new gang. For them, it's The Herald of Andraste showing up at their doorstep out of nowhere, going after this all-powerful elven god that lives inside Rook's head. Just imagine the absolute madness of the situation and what their reactions will be
I was lucky enough to see a few earlier versions of this piece, and! Welp! I wrote about it! And now that it's out in the world, so too shall be the words that were inspired by it. <3 (also here u go @infernaldaydreams !)
Months had not seemed so long a crawl, before Solas woke to a world in which they dragged. Winters, not so brutal, when the mere want for warmth was enough to keep their worst at bay.
Emprise du Lion is a wretched mix of both slow and cold, an uphill trek through nigh endless peaks. Enough for he, a wanderer, to wonder when his aching legs will find their rest—again, again, again.
It strikes him, somewhere in the middle of a string of taunts and offered bargains in a voice he almost does not register, why mortals cave to demons’ requests in the first place. Strife—cold, aching strife—drives them to wish so desperately for a peace they’ll never know that any alternative to the present seems worth dying for.
And still, erasing Ishmael from this plane leaves a gnawing guilt in his chest. A spirit’s wish for reality gone wrong; mortals’ desperation for something better gone even worse.
The demon vanishes, but the hollow in him does not. How foul a pull that want can be—to a place whose memory’s now blurred at the edges, yet superimposes on his sight. A place sealed away from even him.
Emprise du Lion, here and now, is an ocean of blues and midnight silvers in the last minutes of its night, the branches of bare trees eclipsing the starscape with jagged, ink-dark lines.
But through that—past it, within it—lie springs and autumns, summers too old to pin the year. Instances he’d been here, or in a place just like here, before. Voices he swears he remembers falsely, the memory bent by so much time spent dwelling on it.
Yet their laughter, forgotten by all but one, drives just as deep into his ribs now as then. Want alone holds no power in this age. To wish is to watch that wish go unanswered.
He moves too slowly for the apostate whose guise he should maintain, now that Ishmael is gone. A grief too deep for a persona this young—and yet he cannot summon the urgency that his companions expect.
How did she refuse the desire demon’s every silken word, when his insides chilled five paces back? When it was his mouth that parted, on the cusp of begging for what none can give?
No: he must stand, for the guise cannot slip, and so he does. He turns: away from where the fire of their collective magics have scorched away the snow under Ishmael, and away from the memory the demon was ever there.
The first glimpse of morning awaits him to his left, haloed around a wholly different awakening.
Sinmara. A name he’s come to find is honey-sweet and lager-warm, dark hair tousled by a faint breeze, every strand catching light in a blazing, dazzling array.
At the sight of her limned rose-gold by the winter sunset unfurling behind the nearby peaks, he stills, a breath coiled in his chest.
For how might one put this to words—the embers lit that he’d thought dead? How, when a year spent dismally awake hasn’t changed that the language of his thoughts is one no one alive speaks?
But his traitorous steps carry him to her anyway, the way whole forests turn to face the sun. The way moths chase their deaths in flame.
And, bereft of anything deserving, he translates the spark in his long-dimmed chest into a brush of warm thumbs over her cheek, up the slender lobe of her ear while every other digit curls softly behind.
He presses his lips to her temple, all the old language he can hope to convey.
She laughs, a rumble from her chest that carries, ever so faintly, up to where he’s lain his mouth to rest.
“What’s all this for?” she asks, tilting up. He shakes his head, presses the gentlest insistence with both thumbs. Stay. Stay.
“Must I have a reason for this?” he murmurs at the edge of her blood-markings, nose brushing her hairline, traces of her embrium shampoo still enlivening the senses. As if he possesses no real motive, as though this is anything but another moment ticking down.
His ring finger twitches when she stands on tiptoe, and in its fall, catches a spot on her neck that sends a sharp shiver down her spine. Her palm lands on his chest, splays—and does not press. Does not bid him to depart.
“No,” she admits, while a flush the color of blooming, bleeding dawn alights across her cheeks. “But do you?”
“No,” he lies, then twines it with the truth. “I’ll never need one to do this.”
“Suit yourself.” She sinks into his touch for half a moment, then twists: hands at the line of his jaw, fingers curled behind his ears, thumbs running smooth over their lobes.
His turn to shiver—she the hunter, he the hapless, quaking prey. A world upside-down, where despite the snow there is no winter, and despite the ripple of green in the corner of his eye, there are no demons for his mark to banish.
A world where, while his eyes fall briefly shut, he wants for nothing the Fade or its creatures could ever give.
But it, like everything, ends, and so they must go trudging on. At least when it does, the flush kindled over her cheeks lingers well past midday—as does a smile that banishes all thought of his own wearied limbs.
That night, he allays the restlessness that plagues her in sleep. She dreams instead of sunrise in bloom over mountain peaks—the ones she knows from youth, far to the north, so she remembers them simpler, fonder. So the same bone-deep ache blossoms soft as petals in the cage of her ribs, and the same smile as his haunts her once she wakes.
All it takes is a brush of lips to her temple, the ghost of a thumb up the slender lobe of her ear.
So, if there's anyone who actually read all of this and is for some reason still interested in even more ramblings, here is Part 2 of my way too long tinfoil theory/summary post about the red lyrium idol, and I swear, it's the last one. 😂 Again, I just needed to get this out before we might get the first real trailer TOMORROW and I'm proven completely wrong, because that's just so funny to me. lol
(Note: This post was written before the title of DA4 was changed into "The Veilguard", so the implications of this title for the narrative were not taken into account for any of this. 💀)
The Phylactery Theory
"A phylactery is a vessel, often a glass vial, containing the essence of a magical being. The Circle of Magi and the Chantry use small phylacteries filled with blood, to track down mages that turn apostate."
"Phylacteries, ironically, are a form of blood magic. When a templar wishes to track down a fugitive mage they will use the phylactery as a way of homing in on the fugitive by way of a "hot and cold" situation, i.e., the phylactery glows, becoming brighter the closer it gets to its respective mage."
In Tevinter Nights, the Carta assassin described the idol to feel rather heavy, like there was "liquid inside". In the 2018 teaser, we see glowing cracks creeping up the idol's surface.
Inquisitor: "You don't need to sacrifice a slave's life to make a dagger."
Solas: "I suppose it depends upon the dagger."
(- Solas when talking about blood magic)
In DAO, the Arcane Warrior specialization can be unlocked while doing the "Nature of the Beast" quest line, in the Lower Ruins of the Brecilian Ruins, south the Elven Burial Chamber. Inside a small chamber which looks like a ruined library, there is a broken stone altar. A phylactery is hidden in the far corner of the room. When you touch the phylactery you experience the memories of an elven arcane warrior who has remained trapped inside of the phylactery for centuries. It offers to teach you the secrets of the arcane warriors in exchange for setting its spirit free by placing the phylactery on an ancient altar.
In the "The Hunt of the Fell Wolf" poem in JOH, there is an idol that seems to possess a spirit that is connected to a demon wolf in a way that he can only be defeated if both him and the idol/spirit are destroyed and struck down at the same time.
As demon-stone was shattered,
Ameridan struck true:
Beast and spirit—both felled at once,
Though neither hunter knew.
The Black Vials are six small glass phylacteries that can be found around Ferelden. When the Warden takes a vial, the glass fractures and releases a hostile revenant. A revenant is a form of undead that is created when a powerful demon, usually that of desire or pride, possesses a corpse. Upon their death, each revenant drops a scrap of vellum/codex entry that reads:
"Bound by your true name, no mortal hand shall reach you."
In the Tevinter Nights story "Genitivi Dies at the End", Rasaan and the Qunari were searching for Solas' "true name".
In the final chamber of the Solasan temple, there's an ancient inscription that reads:
Faintly carved into the stone is a figure bound in chains. Two other figures have turned their gaze from the central image.
"Pride in our accomplishments and in our hearts. That same pride became (a word meaning corrupted or altered) within him, he sought to claim (indecipherable), cast from favor and so he was bound."
"Hidden from mortal eyes, death lies within."
A codex about an encounter with a revenant, 5:71 Exalted:
"[…] The descriptions of the creature's abilities were eerily similar to those our brothers at Marnas Pell encountered almost a century ago […]"
Solas' hideout in The Missing was located in the Deep Roads beneath Marnas Pell.
Cole's comments in Trespasser suggest that Solas was bound to Mythal.
"He did not want a body, but she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face."
While Solas seemed to have burned her vallaslin off his face, could there be a chance that he is still bound to Mythal by his true name? Could it be that he is still bound to whatever part of Mythal is trapped within the idol?
Again, the ancient spirit in DAO can only be freed from the phylactery if it is placed on an ancient altar.
So, the question is, if the idol is indeed a phylactery containing Solas'/Mythal's blood and a part of her spirit that needs to be placed on its original location/altar to free her, and if it was ripped off its original location, then where did it originally belong?
The Place Where It All Began
In 2018, we got the first DA4 teaser, showing the idol in various close-ups as well as the focal point of this mural.
Look at how the idol is suspiciously placed in the very center of the circle/tambourine which we assume to represent the Veil.
Now, what else sits at the center of the Fade that is ever present and visible but cannot be reached?
Right, the Black City.
Again, the idol is very likely depicting Mythal's death.
Now, tell me, where do you think was Mythal murdered?
Or rather, where do you think did the Blight originate?
I'm convinced that the Black/Golden City is/was Arlathan. The place where the false gods were imprisoned when Solas created the Veil. The idol/blade was likely forged after Mythal died. The 2022 cinematic clearly shows that the Blight started to spread from the center of the Golden City before it turned black and began to consume the rest of the world, but seemed to have then been contained by the Veil preventing it from spreading further.
"Had I not created the Veil, the Evanuris would have destroyed the entire world."
Corypheus is physically covered in red lyrium. We can assume that he turned into a blighted creature when he entered the Black City, which was already black and corrupted when they opened its gates.
Red lyrium only began appearing throughout the surface of all of southern Thedas in crystalline nodes following the opening of the Breach.
In Future Redcliffe, a year has past with the Breach still open and the red lyrium has spread everywhere.
It is proven that the Veil is inedvitably getting weaker alltogether, and that it will eventually come down at some point, regardless of Solas' actions.
The Veil getting weaker correlates with the Blight spreading further. If the root of the Blight lies within the Black City, and if the Blight was contained/prevented from spreading further through the creation of the Veil, and if the seven Old Gods are connected to the seven imprisoned, tainted Evanuris and serve as seals to the seven gates/mirrors of the Black City, then this banter and these visuals make a lot of sense:
Seven semi-circles with two of them still “lit” and the “tambourine”/Veil looking more broken with each new update….
Seven Old Gods/Evanuris that were banished when Solas created the Veil…..
Seven mirrors shattering….
Seven gates of the Black City, which Kordillus Drakon prophesied will someday shatter and cover both the mortal and spirit realms in darkness….
Solas: Your Order… the Grey Wardens…
Blackwall: What about them?
Solas: The Wardens see themselves as the world's defense against the Blight, do they not?
Blackwall: Yes… why do you sound so skeptical? Doesn't everyone know this?
Solas: When an Archdemon rises, they slay it. What will they do when all the Archdemons are slain?
Blackwall: Retire?
Solas: Without Archdemons, there can be no Blights. Is that the reasoning?
Blackwall: Right. Where are you going with this?
Solas: Nowhere. I hope they are correct.
Varric: Give [the Grey Wardens] some credit, it's not like you can study the Blight safely. I may not like everything they've done, but without the wardens, we'd all be blighted by now.
Solas: They've bought us some time, I will grant them that.
DA4 will likely be set ten year after the events of DAI. And the Veil has gotten even weaker/Solas might succeed in tearing it down.
In Tevinter Nights, Solas claims that whatever he's going to do will "save this world".
Maybe the idol will solely be used to destroy the Veil and merge the World and the Fade, in order for him to, quote, "casually reshape reality".
BUT, you know what was proven to be the ultimate power source for Dreamers to reshape reality in a time before the Veil?
Say it with me.....
Great. Dragon. Blood.
So let's go back and assume that the idol is a phylactery that contains some part of Mythal/blood and that Solas is somehow still bound to by his true name. Mythal was likely murdered in the Black City, which might've also been the catalyst for the Blight. Solas might want to enter the Black City with the idol. Again, the ancient spirit in Origins can only be freed from the phylactery if it is placed on an ancient altar.
So… What if Solas plans to bring the idol back to its original location and free her spirit?
The Mother's Return
"Why did Mythal come to you?"
"For a reckoning that will shake the very heavens."
At last, let me put on the tinfoil hat one final time and break this all down.
*takes deep breath*
The fact that it is Mythal's mosaic that is revealed to be on the platform in that final fight with Corypheus (symbolically surrounded by red lyrium!), the same ruins that were once the foundations of the Temple of Sacred Ashes.
The Sacred Ashes of Andraste, which possesses healing qualities "unsurpassed by even the most powerful spells".
Andraste, who was said to be too weak to bear children, but then miraculously was able to give birth to two daughters later in life. Almost like something came into her life that enabled her to do so. Like, for example, drinking the blood of a Great dragon.
Andraste, who might have not only been a mage, but also an Old God Baby like Kieran, carrying the soul of Dumat.
Old God souls, which a certain person seems to be particularly interested in collecting.
Not the Maker, but Mythal being drawn to Andraste's Old God soul, like a moth to a flame.
Andraste becoming Mythal's host, but that host ultimately burned at the stake, so she had to find another one.
Fast forward a few hundred years. Mythal has found another host in Flemeth, who just so happens to make a bargain with Calenhad Theirin, making him, again, drink the blood of a Great dragon, to gain special powers, leading him to become the first king of Ferelden.
So she watches the Theirin bloodline, until the fateful day Alistair gets almost killed at Ostagar. So she swoops in again, nudging the course of history by saving Alistair and the HOF.
Next up is Hawke, whom she saves so Hawke could find the idol and free Corypheus, setting the events of DAI in motion.
In DAI, if the Inquisitor drinks from the Well of Sorrows and you listen very carefully to the super creepy background noises while playing the audio backwards, the voices of the Well will tell you to "Stop her" and something else that sounds like "She speaks the Calling".
The Calling. A voice, a song, dreams that will haunt the Grey Wardens. Just like a certain idol does.
The Calling, which will force the Grey Wardens to go mad and join the Darkspawn as a collective hivemind to wake the Old Gods, but only after they consumed the Archdemon's blood in the Joining.
A being controlling people as a hivemind?
Like the Titans guiding their children like a collective mind? Titans, whom Mythal was the first to kill and mine their blood and something else to create bodies for her own people.
"The First of my People do not die so easily." (- Solas in Trespasser)
An Archdemon cannot be killed, because their soul will just transfer to the nearest soulless darkspawn. Transfering the soul. The secret of effective immortality.
How do you kill an Archdemon?
By drinking their blood, slaying them and taking in their soul.
What is an Archdemon/Old God?
A dragon.
What WAS Mythal?
"The new ones are faithful to Mythal, but do not understand what she was in her fullness."
Mythal's entire image is based on that of a dragon, a form that in ancient times was reserved for the gods. Because before the Veil, it was the dragon's blood that gave those dreamers the power to shape reality, so powerful that they came to be worshiped as gods. But, I think, not only had Mythal the chief role in the pantheon because she had great dragon blood within her, but because…
Her true form IS actually a motherflippin dragon.
So. What did the Evanuris do in order to KILL Mythal?
They slayed her, drank her blood and each of the seven obtained a part of her soul, but instead of getting killed themselves, they sought to become essentially invincible through both Mythal's blood and the tainted Titan blood/red lyrium.
Let me quote this wonderful post by @virlath from a few years ago.
With her conquering of the titans, I think it’s likely that her blood is a part of the blight and the red lyrium corruption.
Mythal ran the elves' lyrium operations. She had a connection to the titans and their children. She also stole knowledge of the Void from Andruil. Combining all this knowledge it makes sense that she could use this to her advantage once she was imprisoned and corrupted, because she had a connection to both dragon's blood and lyrium. She just needed a physical aspect- Flemeth, and now Solas, to act out her plans.
The use of dragon fire in Dark Fortress is further indication that the combination of dragons and lyrium results in a massive power nexus. I think it’s possible that red lyrium is simply lyrium tainted with dragon's blood. More specifically, Mythal's blood.
This is why dragons were strictly reserved for the evanuris in ancient elvhen times- because the key to their immortality and power was dragons and more specifically, great dragon's blood.
Mythal had strict rules about taking on the form of 'divinity’. I think this was likely because dragons and dragon fire/dragon's blood was the true source of the evanuris' power, and is what allowed them to appear immortal.
This could explain why the old gods are so inexplicably linked to the evanuris in the lore. I think the evanuris each had a dragon- an old god, and they each used dragon's blood and dragon fire to make their dreams into literal reality. No one could infiltrate their dreams because only they had access to the power of dragons, which they claimed was their right.
Before BioWare settled on dragons, the Archdemons were supposed to look very different.
Meaning that, each of the seven Old God souls…. is what?
Yeah, I think it's all Mythal's.
Again, WHAT did the voices of the Well tell the Inquisitor? WHO speaks the CALLING?
It's the voice of the one who's the real owner of that soul. The one who for centuries has been trying to gather the scattered pieces of HER SOUL, driven by nothing but vengeance.
"So Mythal endures."
If the idol contains a part of Mythal, and if Solas used the idol/blade to trick the Evanuris like in Dalish legends, maybe it was because they were desperate to destroy the idol and get rid of Mythal once and for all.
Remember the visions described in Trespasser.
“Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!“
“In this place we prepare to hunt the pillars of the earth. Their workers scurry, witless, soulless. This death will be a mercy. We will make the earth blossom with their passing.”
“The runes say the Evanuris fought the Titans. They mined their bodies for lyrium and… something else. It’s not clear.”
“They made bodies from the earth. And the earth was afraid. It fought back. But they made it forget.”
"For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire."
“For one moment, there is a vivid image of two overlapping spheres; unknown flowers bloom inside their centers. Then it fades.”
A sphere of fire… you mean, like the SUN? You mean, Mythal actually creating a MOON, just like in Dalish mythology?
Bear with me here.
We established that Mythal mined the Titan's blood, which I believe was then used for centuries in combination with her fire to create bodies for her own people/spirits. On top of that, I believe that, after her victory, Mythal used part of a dead Titan and lifted it into the sky to use it as a "cornerstone" to build the capital city of Elvhenan, Arlathan, on top of her "enemy's corpse".
I believe that in the moment of Mythal's death, her blood altered the Titan's blood (which also sundered the Song) and that something happened to the moon that she had created, which in turn led to the unbridled power of the sun to corrupt part of the Titan that the Golden City, Arlathan, was build on, as well as both their blood. And that's when it turned black. That's when the Blight was created.
Elgar'nan is the God of the Sun in Dalish mythology. He was likely the main instigator behind the Evanuris' betrayal and Mythal's murder.
The sun imagery keeps appearing throughout DA4's promotional stuff.
If the Old God Lusacan is connected to Elgar'nan, they would represent two polar opposites. The God of the Sun and the God of Night and Darkness. Again, Kordillus Drakon prophesied that the seven gates of the Black City would someday shatter and cover both the mortal and spirit realms in darkness.
"All the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign."
“Lusacan, the Dragon of Night, calls to you. He lives where it is darkest and waits for the day he will rise. Drink of his blood and know the power in darkness: either fear the Night or wield it.“
"The darkspawn yearn to awaken and corrupt Lusacan to start a new age of darkness.”
“A night that will never end”
But why does this need to happen? Because Mythal needs to act out her vengeance upon the ones who murdered her and doomed the world with the creation of the Blight.
"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!"
Solas wants to save his people no matter what, and for that, the Veil needs to be torn down, resulting in the World and the Fade becoming one again…
But, to truly restore his People, I believe that he needs the Mother to come back.
Mythal represents both Justice and Vengeance. If justice is corrupted, it will turn into vengeance. Solas makes no difference between spirits and demons.
"I am sorry as well, old friend."
That last line of Flemythal to Solas. It's so simple, but what does it truly mean? Why is she apologizing to him?
Is it because none of this would have happened if she didn't die and everything that happened to the people and the world was because of her downfall? Because it was her who started all this in the first place with the death of the Titans, stealing their hearts and corrupting their blood?
With her gone and no one left to keep the false gods in check, if it hadn't been for her death, Solas wouldn't have been left with what seemed to be the only choice?
Is she sorry for everything he had to endure, from her giving him a body against his will, twisting his original purpose, to him having to live with the guilt over the death of a world and an entire civilization for a thousand years?
Or is she apologizing for using him?
"An eclipse as Fen'Harel stirred."
"Cry havoc in the moonlight. Let the fire of vengeance burn. The cause is clear." (- Solas reciting Mythal's invication)
She knew that Solas would do anything at this point to undo his mistakes and save the people he doomed. She knew exactly what Solas would do when he came to her in that after credits scene in DAI. She knew that he would need that power and the idol to complete his ritual in order to tear down the Veil, but to what end?
Without the Veil, whoever controls the dreams controls reality.
(…Because it's not like this thing has been discussed to death over the past ten years, right? 😂 *drops my two cents in the Scrooge McDuck money bin*)
Ah yes… The red lyrium idol. The one thing that's given me a headache since 2018, as I'm still trying to figure out how this damn thing could possibly fit into my bazillion tinfoil theories.
Whether it's the first official DA4 teaser in 2018, the Blue Wraith comic series or the entirety of the last chapter of Tevinter Nights, a lot of the supplementary media and promotional stuff setting up the course for DA4 seems to be centered around the idol. Quite literally, in some cases, like this mural from the first 2018 teaser:
It certainly led us to think that the idol won't just be another McGuffin (or so I hope lol), but other than that, it's still heavely shrouded in mystery…
Which is why I will now make an attempt to unravel this and gather every single bit of information we have on it (so far) and maybe that'll get us closer to some sort of answer in the end (actually, it won't, because this got SO long that I had to split this post in two parts lol No one's going to read all of this anyway 💀)!
Look, I just needed to get this behemoth of a post out before we might get an actual substantial trailer tomorrow and none of this will probably matter anymore. 😂💀
(Note: This whole thing was initially intended to be solely for myself to keep track of any information we've gotten about the idol since DA2. But since it's gotten SO long over the years, I figured why not just rewrite it into a somewhat coherent text and post it on here? :D ......Seriously, it's really, REALLY effing long.)
The Idol's Journey so far
To me, the idol always seemed to be something like "The One Ring" in LOTR. A forged ancient artifact with creepy unknown powers that is said to feel "alive", almost as if it possesses a will of its own, seeing as it has somehow found its way from countless random people, back to (presumably) its former owner. It also appears to be somewhat cursed, given that almost everyone who held it at one point seems to have died or gone mad by now (Yeah, I'm very worried about Varric and Hawke 👀).
Let us start with a quick summary of the journey the idol has made in the span of about 12-13 years (not counting the unknown timespan in which the last chapter of Tevinter Nights takes place):
First discovered by Hawke and Varric in an ancient Thaig in the Deep Roads.
Stolen by Bartrand, who then made a quick trip to Rivain.
Sold to Meredith, who turned it into a sword.
Taken out of Meredith's petrified corpse by Carta dwarves.
Sold again to a Tevinter mage, who brought it to House Qintara in Ventus.
Handed to a secret agent of Fen'Harel named Gaius (who was impersonating Magister Qintara).
Traded away to Tractus Danarius.
Handed to Magister Nenealeus at Castellum Tenebris to be used as part of a ritual.
Picked up by Cedric Marquette after the fortress fell, while trying to escape.
Handed back to Tractus Danarius, who then probably (not confirmed) went to Nevarra to perform another blood magic ritual.
Picked up by a Mortalitasi who (maybe) took it to Tevinter.
(Supposedly!) ended up in a vault under an auction house in Llomerryn in Rivain, where it was (supposedly!) retrieved by Solas.
That's quite the journey… that you wouldn't even know half about if you didn't read the comics or Tevinter Nights. But whereas the book and comics were all published after the first teaser trailer in 2018, after which the idol became the center of the fandom's attention and speculation, it should be noted that a connection to the idol was in fact already made way back in 2014, when people noticed that the image of Solas holding Flemeth's lifeless body at the end of Inquisition was very reminiscent of something else.
...Which brings us to the point of what the idol is even depicting to begin with.
Description
Before I'll start to give my own description based on the models in-game, the teaser and concept art, I'd like to quote the people who've actually seen it in person.
In the last chapter of Tevinter Nights, we are being told three tales by three different people, who all describe the same idol differently.
The Carta Assassin: "A couple hugging, too thin to be dwarves - but it's sitting there, glowing softly like a ruby lit by the grace of the Maker himself. […] It's heavier than you'd think - lyrium's heavier than you'd think, too, but this was heavy even for that. When I hefted it in my hand, it was like it wanted to keep moving, like it was liquid inside."
The Mortalitasi: "An idol crafted from red lyrium, which seemed to show two lovers, or a god mourning her sacrifice. It whispered in our minds when we saw it […]."
The Orlesian Bard/Solas: "He whispered something as he picked it up, tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other."
The one thing that all of these seem to have in common though is two figures who embrace each other in some way.
Which is interesting, because in all the depictions of the idol we've seen so far, it clearly shows three people instead of two. Granted, the third figure is a bit cramped up in the back of the crowned figure, but what's strange is that not even Solas himself mentions this third figure.
Most notable though is the crowned female looking figure in the center, which is holding onto the two other figures on each side of the ring shaped object (or it's the two figures holding onto the female?). The figures themselves look rather goulish, deadly or skeletal, with their bone structure clearly visible and all their expressions captured in a mix of horror or torment. The small carved-in lines coming from the middle figure's eye sockets also resemble black tears, much like we've seen on "The Mother" in Awakening.
There's also no sign of clothing, which is all the more apparent on the concept art of the idol, in which the breast of the middle figure is.. much more prominent. lol (We don't make fun of saggy boobs in this house, it's just nature and gravity after all, but for the sake of observation, I will note that they do remind me of Broodmother boobs, too 😂), aside from a hint of what could be a veil on the middle figure's head.
At the bottom of the idol, the lower bodies of the figures seem to fully submerge within its name-giving red lyrium and this "claw" type thing, which is coming off in the shape of crystalline red lyrium spikes at the tail end, though in the concept art and the DA2 model, these spikes were clearly more like red lyrium roots. But either way, the bottom makes it kinda look like it's been broken/ripped off?
We can also see tentacle like features, that remind me of the figures we've seen in the mural in the 2020 teaser and the depiction in the 25th anniversary book that revealed to us what the Archdemons were initially supposed to look like. 👀
I'd also like to point out that in the original concept art of the idol, the ears of the crowned figure look much more pointy to me than in later versions. 👀
There's also this "ring", that I've seen many people connect to how the Veil is often portrayed in Solas' murals.
But if this ring is supposed to depict the Veil, then what could it mean for the crowned figure reaching across to hold that ominous third figure on the "other side"?
And yes, I recognize that this ominous third figure also seems to be missing a left arm, just like another certain main character. 👀
The one thing that stands out the most though, is probably the crown itself. Most people might first associate it with Andraste, when the same shape can be traced as far back as ancient statues of Mythal.
Yeah, there's definitely a pattern here. 😂
That being said…
Connection to Mythal & Solas
Okay, we all know about the theory that Andraste might have been Mythal's previous host, right? We all know about the parallels between Mythal's story, Andraste, Flemeth, etc. And after comparing the idol to Flemeth and Meredith in their moment of death, considering all of the above/following and how old this thing potentially is, I will now make a wild guess here and argue that the idol is in fact depicting Mythal's death.
"He whispered something as he picked it up, tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other. But I could not make out the words, for I fear they were elven."
Not only does Solas seem to hold sentimental value for whoever the crowned figure is supposed to be, while also talking to it in elven, but the way he describes to "caress" the idol in Tevinter Nights does also seem to mirror how Flemythal was comforting him at the end of DAI.
However, I always thought it was a bit odd how Solas describes the idol as "a figure comforting another", when… tbh, "comforting" would probably be last thing that comes to my mind when I look at this...
"Agony" would be more fitting here, maybe? lol Kinda begs the question of how Mythal was murdered, too, with this being her expression in her moment of death? 👀
Without getting too much into it here, if there's one thing we can take from everything we've learned so far about their past, Solas' relationship with Mythal must've been a rather complicated one, to say the least.
"He did not want a body, but she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face."
Solas calls Mythal "the best of the elven gods", calling her "the mother, protective and fierce", and Solas is even described in the designer's notes as "Mythal's oldest friend" who is all about free will, yet if the spirit origin theory is true and Cole's cryptic comments in Trespasser are in fact about them, it was Mythal who gave Solas a body against his will, potentially bound/enslaved him with her vallaslin, and maybe even forced him to act against his original purpose?
"You should have seen me when I was younger. Hot-blooded and cocky, always ready to fight."
Cole: "You didn't do it to be right. You did it to save them."
Inquisitor: "Solas, what is Cole talking about?"
Solas: "A mistake. One of many made by a much younger elf who was certain he knew everything."
How much of what happened was Solas acting out Mythal's will, or rather, acting out of vengeance and pain in reaction to Mythal's death? How much of it was him acting downright impulsive?
Solas: “Cole is a spirit. The death of the real Cole wounded him, perverted him from his purpose. To regain that part of himself, he must forgive.”
Varric: “You don’t just forgive someone killing you.”
Solas: “You don’t. A spirit can.”
Or was it Mythal's death itself that "wounded him and perverted him from his purpose", just like he described what happened to Cole?
And what does that say about Mythal then, when she clearly hasn't forgiven her murderers and still strives for vengeance after all this time? What if Solas' own perception of Mythal and all the circumstances surrounding her murder is warped because he was once bound to her? 👀
Anyway. To get back to topic.
So if we assume that the idol is in fact depicting Mythal's death, then that brings us to the next question of why the idol is even made of red lyrium? Or rather, what is Mythal's connection to red lyrium?
We know that red lyrium is tainted blood of a Titan. Mythal was the first to kill a Titan and mine their blood for things we won't get into in this post. So, how did the idol end up in the Deep Roads, anyway? How long had it been there? One thing that's kinda strange to me, is how the DA wiki page about the idol says that it was forged by the dwarves, solely based on the fact that it was initially found in the Deep Roads, when we have no actual evidence for that. We've seen statues of both Mythal and the Dread Wolf in the Deep Road section in Trespasser where the mining of lyrium was undergone, but we don't know if the dwarves even had any part in building them as well.
Would the dwarves forge an idol of the elven deity who conquered them and killed their Titan, if they were somehow forced to do so? We also have to remember that dwarves were and still are the only ones able to actually mine raw lyrium safely, but even the Carta dwarves in Tevinter Nights had to take several precautions in order to recover the red lyrium idol from Meredith's corpse. And even then, many of them still fell shaking or went mad in its presence like Bartrand.
So if it only takes that little exposure to have that much of an effect on someone's sanity, how were the ancient dwarves or anyone even able to create it in the first place? What if the idol was initially made of blue lyrium but was then somehow corrupted?
And if we take one moment to really think about what an idol actually is.
"An object representing extreme devotion and religious worship to a god."
While Solas doesn't think of any of the Evanuris as actual gods, he still seems to hold Mythal at such a high regard that he wouldn't even speak of her at a sacred place like the Temple of Mythal (whether or not that was because he just wanted to withhold any secret ancient knowledge). He's able to fully recite the invocation to Mythal if you bring him with you to her altar. He also looks exactly like the sentinels in Mythal's temple.
I could go on, but generally speaking, there are so many little hints pointing to Solas being a former slave/servant of Mythal that, again, we won't get into here, but it's important to mention when trying to figure out why the idol (presumably) even belongs to Solas.
"The idol's journey is now complete, and it has found its master."
In Tevinter Nights, the Dread Wolf claims that the red lyrium idol belongs to him. He also made sure to punish those who tried to misuse it, going so far as to march in with an entire army of spirits and snapping a guy's neck with his jaw. (Yup, you're better off not to touch the Dread Wolf's stuff for dirty blood rituals, kids.)
"You use my idol carelessly, and in doing so, you threaten all creation."
Additionally, in the last chapter of Tevinter Nights, Charter and other spies conclude that Solas must need the idol for whatever ritual he's planning, while Solas in Bard disguise claims that he's already in possession of the idol now and therefore, I quote, "cannot be stopped". (Though I personally still don't actually buy a single thing about his vivid tale at that auction house, but we'll get back to this later. lol)
And if the idol belongs to Solas, was he the one who created it, or did he order the dwarves or someone else to make it for him? But why would he intentionally make an idol out of red lyrium, anyway? He is fully aware of the dangers and corruption that comes with being exposed to red lyrium and its use. Especially considering that red lyrium is blighted and how he repeatedly expresses great concern over the Blights and gets furious over the Grey Wardens' attempts to preempt them by killing the Archdemons (because he obviously knows more than us).
So, does he know a way to use it without getting corrupted like everyone else? The Seekers of Truth are so far the only ones we've seen to be immune to red lyrium thanks to having their minds touched by a spirit of Faith during their vigil. Could Solas' connection to spirits/his hypothetical spirit origin allow him to use the idol without it effecting him?
But if any of this is true, then l'm again asking myself what even was the purpose of the idol to begin with? Why or when was it created? How does it differ from any other red lyrium, and what could Solas have used it for in the ancient past?
Powers & Effects
So, let's talk about what this thing can actually do (as far as we know).
(Btw, this is the part where I will shamelessly copy a lot straight from the DA wiki, because truth be told, I'm just a German struggling with limited vocabulary and I figured there's simply no way to summarize this any better than the wiki already has. 💀)
Just like any other red lyrium, we know that being exposed to the idol for too long will make you mad/paranoid/possessive/violent, while also grant you special powers, until overuse causes your body to be completely overtaken by red lyrium. It seems to thin the Veil wherever it is currently kept, allowing spirits or demons to interact with the physical world.
It also emanates a song that is slowly turning people who hear it insane.
The Song
"It sings… sick music."
"It eats you inside until you're nothing."
"It creeps into your thoughts, humming."
"They hear a different song. The song behind the door old whispers want opened. They are dead and dark and done."
"Songs screaming far away. It wants to wake up but can't remember how."
(- Cole's comments about red lyrium/red templars)
After Bartrand took the idol and left Varric and Hawke to die in the primeval Thaig, he started hearing voices, claiming the idol was "singing" to him. Even after selling it, Bartrand could still hear the idol and was eventually driven mad by its red lyrium.
Three years later, it is discovered that Bartrand had chipped a piece of the idol off and left it in his estate, which causes the house to behave like it was haunted and the Veil was torn.
Then during the "Haunted" quest, Varric himself remarks several times to hear music while walking through the estate, much like the Carta assassin in Tevinter Nights recalled to have heard "music in the wind, like some old song I heard as a kid but can't quite remember" when obtaining the idol from Meredith's corpse.
Important to mention here is that Varric seems to also be the only one in the party able to hear this song.
Varric: "Hey… is that music? Where is that coming from?"
Hawke: "In don't hear anything."
Varric: "Where is that singing coming from? You hear it, right, Hawke?"
Varric: "Where is that voice coming from?"
Hawke: "What voice?"
Varric: "I can barely hear it… I wish I could make out the words."
Varric also told us that, after Bartrand went mad, he tortured his non-dwarven servants by cutting pieces off them to help them "hear the song".
(And remember, the idol was found in an ancient primeval Thaig in the Deep Roads, sitting on something like an altar, indicating that it was being worshiped by the ancient dwarves as well. Presumably because they too were being influenced by the idol's/red lyrium's song?)
Haunted
During the "Haunted" quest, we learn that the mere presence of a shard of the idol in the estate causes:
"Voices whispering in the walls"
Random objects moving on their own
Apparitions/screaming spirits appear running across the floors
When Varric picks up the piece of the idol, he starts to exhibit the same symptoms of madness Bartrand showed, at which point Hawke can either let Varric keep the piece, or can take it from him with the intent of having Sandal destroy it.
If Hawke asks Anders to diagnose Bartrand in Act 2, he suspects a demon at work, however Bartrand is a dwarf. Instead, he determines that "his mind has been poisoned by something powerful".
In Tevinter Nights, the Carta assassin recalls that, in the attempt to retrieve the idol from Meredith's corpse, most of his colleagues fell shaking and whispering the closer they got to it.
Meredith
After Bartrand sold the idol to Meredith, she reshapes it into her sword Certainty, which does eventually drive her insane as well. It also gives her unnatural powers, such as the ability to animate the statues in the Gallows, and even limited flight capabilities.
(My question is though, were the things happening in that final fight directly caused by the idol or was this just the result of the Veil being already weakened that much by the many terrible things that happened at that place/Kirkwall in general?)
Anyhow, during the final battle at the Gallows, Meredith overuses the lyrium sword, causing it to burst into dust and petrify her into a statue.
Though as we all know now, some part of Meredith seems to have survived somehow, as her… mind(?) or something was shown to now still "live" within the red lyrium somewhere in Kirkwall at the end of Absolution. She (or "it") also seems to have somewhat control over the red templars now, too.
So, how is this possible? What exactly is she now, if it even is herself and not just a manifestation/echo of her memories or something? Could it have something to do with the idol? No one really knows (and we might never find out, if Netflix won't give us a second season, anyway lol), but I do think it's curious how the idol is likely depicting Mythal's death, who didn't actually die either and lived on through the ages as a type of lingering "wisp" clinging to various hosts. 👀
I also want to point out how Solas did suspiciously include Meredith's petrified corpse in his mural in the 2020 teaser as well, placing her right under that ominous upside down figure with the tentacles.
Furthermore, just like Meredith, the idol also seems to be somewhat indestructable. lol After Meredith's sword burst into dust, it regrew inside her petrified corpse (which Solas was apparently also aware of). What's interesting is that it regenerated in Meredith's chest of all places. You know, like, where the heart is supposed to be? 👀
Then there's also this curious line from Anders, when talking about Varric acting strange after obtaining a shard of the idol:
"This thing's magic seems only more potent when broken."
I've mentioned it before, but with the spikes (or roots in DA2) at the bottom part of the idol making it look like it was ripped or broken off of something, you have to wonder if its current state is somewhat broken, even after regenerating.
"Hot-Blooded"
During the Haunted quest, Fenris will remark this:
"Whatever is here is angry."
In DAI, Cole repeatedly comments on how red lyrium feels "very angry" and how it is "less angry when it's cold". We know for a fact that red lyrium emanates a noticeable heat. A corrupted Bartrand is especially weak to cold/ice magic.
While anger is generally associated with heat, I find this aspect particularly interesting, given that red lyrium is tainted blood of a Titan.
And building on that, while still searching for further connections between red lyrium, the idol and Mythal… Remember how the ancient sarcophagus in the Blue Wraith and Dark Fortress comic was used in a ritual, in which lyrium combined with fire of a Great dragon carved lyrium infused markings into Fenris' and Shirallas' skin, granting them special powers.
Not only was this ancient sarcophagus specifically built only for elves, and its design resembling that of Mythal's statues…
…but here we have a case in which lyrium is purposefully "set on fire" by a Great dragon to create "elven super soldiers". Mythal is always depicted as a dragon. And she mined lyrium in humongous amounts.
Again, red lyrium emanates heat. If this was common practice in ancient times, then I feel like it's not surprising that a Titan would eventually be pretty damn angry in reaction to its blood being continuously burned for centuries [insert boiling blood joke here].
So, aside from the red lyrium being blighted, could there be a connection in Mythal burning the Titans' blood? As far as we know, it did take a couple of aeons in which Mythal (presumably) continued to mine (and burn?) the Titans' blood, before the ancient elves sealed the Deep Roads for good, because they discovered something… bad. As Solas himself declares in the vision described at the mural depicting a Titan's death:
"Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger."
"The vision grows dark. An aeon seems to pass. Then the runes crackle, as if filled with an angry energy. A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic."
"Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast."
And there it is again. That anger we're talking about. What's so interesting to me, is how this does sort of come full circle with Mythal and the idol after all, since the motivation behind Mythal's actions, even after thousands of years, remains her unwavering desire for vengeance upon the people who betrayed and murdered her, which, in a way, does mirror the same anger/heat that the Titan is emanating from its tainted blood.
And speaking of blood……
A Ritual Blade
In Tevinter Nights, we learned that the idol is able to produce a blade, which is then used as part of a blood magic ritual.
"The Tevinter mage was killing his slaves. […] He had cut the throat of one of them, and then another, catching the blood of his victims on the idol as he made his way around the circle. […] The Tevinter mage raised the idol before him, and I saw a spike of lyrium spring from the base of the idol, so that all at once, it was not merely an idol, but a ritual blade. He slashed his own hand, and a wave of power pulsed through the cavern. It was as though we were the blood, and the cavern was the body through which it flowed, and we fell, all of us, to the ground, our minds pulled into the raw chaos of the Fade by the power of his ritual."
In the end of the Dark Fortress comic, the idol produced another red lyrium sword, that could be fully detached and was then placed onto the before-mentioned sarcophagus, turning Shirallas into a raving beserker that was pretty much invincible as long as he was in possession of that same sword.
While the blue lyrium infused sword that was used in Fenris' ritual simply dissolved in the process, the sword produced by the idol could "regenerate" and was especially resistant to Great dragon fire.
"Unlike the lyrium-infused swords of the so-called Arcane warriors, this sword should survive the ritual."
In the final fight against him, Marquette comments on how Shirallas "feeds energy to the sword from the red lyrium in his veins" and how in turn "the sword heals his wounds".
So in both the comic and Tevinter Nights, the idol/the weapon produced from the idol seems to draw power specifically from the blood of its wielder. It makes me wonder if it was initially intended to be used this way, since we have to remember that it still presumably belongs to Solas, who claims to not practice blood magic, because it seems to make it more difficult to enter the Fade.
Which is ironic, given what the mage in Tevinter Nights did to disrupt the Fade, but also how the Magisters Sidereal used a massive blood ritual to enter the Fade physically.
And oddly enough, in your first conversation with Solas about blood magic, he makes this curious analogy with daggers as an example…
Inquisitor: Every time I've seen blood magic used, it has been for some evil purpose.
Solas: I once saw a woman being stabbed in the stomach with a dagger. She died slowly, in angony. It was repulsive. If the Chantry outlawed daggers, would that stop the people from using it? Of course not. […]"
Inquisitor: "You don't need to sacrifice a slave's life to make a dagger."
Solas: "I suppose it depends upon the dagger."
So… Could Solas be referencing Mythal's death here? Or what if the dagger here is referring to the idol in its blade form? What the heck does he mean by "I suppose it depends upon the dagger"? Was a slave's life sacrificed to create the idol maybe?
But if blood magic wasn't the sole purpose for why it was made, then what else could the idol as a ritual blade be used for?
Which brings us to…
Dalish mythology
According to Dalish legends, Fen'Harel told the Creators and the Forgotten Ones that the Avvar had forged a "terrible weapon", a blade that would end the war between both clans of gods. He told the Creators that it was forged in the heavens, while the Forgotten Ones were told that it was hidden in the Abyss. And when the gods went seeking it, Fen'Harel sealed them both in their realms forever.
Okay. So, let's just assume for a second that the blade in this legend was actually the idol in its blade form. Because hell, what are the odds of having two "super powerful ancient blades that belong to Solas"? lol
If they are in fact the same weapon and the part about Solas tricking the gods is true, why were the Evanuris and the Forgotten Ones so eager to get this thing, to the point that they would fell into a trap?
And with this, I'd also like to point out the level design in the scene in which Flemeth takes Kieran's Old God soul in the Fade. I can't help but feel like the statue of Dirthamen being stabbed in the back with a sword, crying a stream of blood, resulting in a huge pool of blood, as well as a bloody ouroboros symbol on the ground, is a very deliberate design choice. Especially considering the context of this scene with the revelation about Flemeth and Mythal, I'd argue this is all in reference to how Mythal was betrayed and murdered.
Again, the idol could depict Mythal in her moment of death. In the final fresco in the rotunda, the one Solas never finished before leaving the Inquisition, we see a wolf looming over a dragon slain by a blade.
In the last visual of the 2022 cinematic that, going by Varric's narration, could potentially depict the destruction of the Veil, Solas appears to hold something that resembles a blade with a very destinct handle. Additionally, we've since discovered an icon hidden on the Steam page of DA4, that shows a dagger with an identical shape and the same glowy purple as the Dreadwolf title.
So we have the idol in its blade form, the blade Mythal was potentially slain with, the blade Solas is holding in the 2022 cinematic, Solas mentioning a dagger in relation to blood magic and Fen'Harel's blade in Dalish legends.
That's a lot of blades... and a lot of blood. lol
The Hunt of the Fell Wolf
"The Hunt of the Fell Wolf" is the title of a poem that can be found in the Jaws of Hakkon DLC. It tells a story of former Inquisitor Ameridan, his friend Haron and their fight against a demon wolf.
Along with numerous odd things in this tale that could be interpreted as some kind of metaphor (or just the devs messing with us, if you want to know more, please check out this post), it also mentions an "idol of fade-touched stone" in connection to the demon wolf.
The wounded knight in darkness
Found within the cavern’s gloom
An idol of fade-touched stone,
Which could prove the monster’s doom.
In the poem, after a grim fight, the wolf takes Ameridan's friend Haron to its lair, a "labyrinth of winding cave" (which many believe is referring to the Deep Roads, just like the ancient Thaig in DA2 where Hawke and Varric found the red lyrium idol originally) where Haron, oddly enough, also happens to find an idol. What's intruiging though, is that this idol seems to be connected to the wolf in such a way that he can only be defeated if both him and the idol are destroyed and struck down at the same time.
With burning blade, Ameridan
And monster met again
Whilst elsewhere did Haron valiantly
With demon-wards contend.
As demon-stone was shattered,
Ameridan struck true:
Beast and spirit—both felled at once,
Though neither hunter knew.
"Beast and spirit—both felled at once"
Two entities that are connected across two different places… as in the physical body and the spirit maybe?
As in the waking world and the Fade?
So, let's reiterate.
The red lyrium idol belongs to the Dread Wolf. Cole remarks how he can feel that Solas is "in both places". The word "Dread Wolf" itself is an anagram for "World" and "Fade". We've talked about the popular spirit origin theory before, Solas taking a physical form against his will because of Mythal. The whole matter of Solas' "true name" before he called himself Pride. Solas' entire personal quest, which may or may not mirror his own past, a spirit of Wisdom being denied its original purpose, turning into a pride demon ("He wants to give wisdom not orders"). His strange remarks at the end of Cole's personal quest ("We cannot change our nature by wishing"). The fact that Solas makes Cole forget about his true identity, just like spirit!Cole does. The visual portrayal of Solas "consuming" Flemeth's powers at the end of DAI. The way in which Solas doesn't recognize anyone in the waking world as "people", but will vehemently debate you on why spirits should be considered people.
"But the People… They need me." (- Solas to Flemeth at the end of DAI)
"Never again." (- Solas after burning the mages who were responsible for Wisdom's corruption)
"From this moment, should you ever bind a spirit, your life is mine." (- the Dread Wolf's final warning to the mages in Tevinter Nights)
All of this considered, what could the poem in JOH imply for the connection between Solas and the Dread Wolf/the Dread Wolf and the idol?
"They made bodies from the Earth, and the Earth was afraid. It fought back, but they made it forget."
One theory assumes that the creation of the Veil lead to the separation of the ancient elves' bodies and their souls/spirits, assuming that before the creation of the Veil, the Evanuris somehow made bodies from the Titans/lyrium for spirits to manifest and then enslaved/bound them to their will by marking those bodies with their vallaslin.
But if that's true, then what happened to Solas when he created the Veil?
"He broke the dreams to stop the old dreams from waking. The wolf chews its leg off to escape the trap."
In all the murals, tarot cards and illustrations, the Dread Wolf and Solas are always depicted separately.
What really IS the Dread Wolf? And what is he to Solas?
"It was a beast unlike any I had ever seen. Lupine in appearance, but the size of a high dragon, with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a pride demon, and it came to us on wings of fire that resolved themselves into a horde of lesser demons."
From what little we know of the Dread Wolf himself, he only seems to exist within the Fade (that is to say, before the Veil, Solas was already depicted as a wolf, presumably even before his rebellion and before the Evanuris "bestowed" him with the title "Fen'Harel"). In the Mortalitasi's tale in Tevinter Nights, his army of spirits follows the mages back to the waking world, yet the Dread Wolf himself remains in the Fade. In one of the frescoes in the rotunda, Solas portrays the Black City surrounded by the six burning red eyes that resemble those of the Dread Wolf, almost like he's keeping watch over the eternal prison of those he banished. In the Tower tarot card, the Dread Wolf is ominously looming over Solas, almost like it's about to consume him, while in one of the Trespasser murals, it looks more like the Dread Wolf follows his lead. And then there's the DA4 2018 teaser mural, in which they're opposing each other, only seperated by the red lyrium idol in the center of the Veil.
If the red lyrium idol is connected to Solas like the idol in the poem is connected to the wolf, could this be part of the reason Solas is so desperate to find it? Does it possess some kind of spirit? Can the Dread Wolf only be defeated if the idol is destroyed at the same time, just like in the poem?
Where is it now?
So where's the damn thing now?
Well, in my opinion, there are two options.
Option 1) The bard's tale in Tevinter Nights was complete bullshit. lol
Despite Solas trying to convince us that he already obtained the idol in a vault some time ago under an auction house in Llomerryn, it's possible that, much like his whole charade in that chapter, this tale was also entirely fabricated. lol
To make it short, here is a list of arguments for why the "bard's tale" could've been a complete lie:
Solas attended this spy meeting specifically for information on the idol's whereabouts (because he doesn't actually know where it is currently?).
Everything until the last two pages was an act.
Both the Mortalitasi and the Carta Assassin point out several contradictions within his tale.
Upon hearing the other spies assuming that he needs the idol, it would just make sense that he would want them/Charter to believe that he’s now in possession of the idol and “cannot be stopped”, so that they would drop all effort to find it before him.
On the very last page of the book, there's a lists of bullet points of information when Charter is about to write down her report, and it does not explicitly say “He has the idol” but rather just what it looks like, which suggests that Charter didn’t buy his story either.
So if this was all lies, the last known location of the idol would therefore be the unknown person who took it when escaping from the Dread Wolf's spirit army in the Grand Necropolis in the tale of the Mortalitasi.
Meaning that Solas would therefore still be searching for it now. (Which would actually be kind of hilarious, considering how there's likely gonna be a ten year timeskip since DAI, so he would've been searching for the flippin thing for the better part of a decade now. 😂 We know from the end of the Blue Wraith comics that he had followed the idol's path via eluvian, but maybe he just lost track of it at some point? In fact, the last we heard from him, Solas was apparently busy pursuing some Venatori people to get another ancient artifact called the Crucious Stone in the The Missing comic, much like he prevented the Tevinter mage in Nevarra from using his idol. Solas after ten years of searching for the idol was probably like "Oh fuck it, I give up, on to McGuffin Nr 2 then". lmao)
In an interview with the comic writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, they talked about how in their initial draft of Dark Fortress, Solas actually *got* the idol(!!) from two of his agents by using the eluvian located at Nenealeus' place before BioWare stepped in and requested a change. 👀 That version would've explained how Solas was able to track the idol through the eluvian we see at the end. Their own interpretation was that Solas can only overlook a certain radius within the area of where another eluvian is located. Which would actually support the assumption that Solas might've lost track of the idol at some point after Nenealeus left the place… but that's just their interpretation and not official BioWare canon (yet), sooo…. Hm.
Option 2) Solas has the idol now.
So let's assume that the part about him obtaining the idol in Tevinter Nights was actually true and it's now in his possession.
Aside from this, the only thing that could speak for Solas already having the idol in the beginning of DA4, is once again the final visual in the 2022 cinematic.
If this cinematic is in fact playing at the beginning of the game as a general re-introduction to the lore and the last visual is depicting Solas in the middle of destroying the Veil using the idol, then.. well yeah, there it is, in his hand…. at least, for now. Making Solas succeed in the first 10 minutes, I guess? lol
……Unless!
See, a few years ago, I speculated about how the idol might actually be the perfect plot device/motivation for our new protagonist to get involved in the whole Solas deal without even knowing who he is.
Let's say the last visual in the 2022 cinematic is actually showing us a hypothetical scenario, and not something that has already happened/is currently happening. Like, Varric gives this expository narration explaining who Solas is and what might happen if we don't succeed in getting the idol. (Notice how Varric says "And we're the only ones who can stop him" at the end… Like there's still a chance to stop him before this actually happens.) We know from Tevinter Nights that Charter knows that Solas needs the idol for whatever ritual he's planning. And Charter obviously informed the Inquisition/Varric about this as well. So the next logical step for the Inquisition now would be to obtain the idol (whether or not the bard's tale in TN was true) to prevent this ritual at any cost, right?
The comic The Missing re-emphasized that Varric is now in charge of getting people that Solas doesn't know. And this might be where the new protagonist gets recruited by Varric (who is still a spymaster after all) and gets assigned the alias "Rook" for a heist mission to obtain the idol. (And after a very thorough observation of the DA4 reddit leaks from 2023… it looks like Rook might've actually succeeded in this potential quest?)
While we don't know when the stuff in the leaks actually takes place within DA4's storyline, I think it's safe to say that Rook will obtain the idol at some point in the story and that it will play a pivotal role, if the blurb on the Steam page for DA4 is to be believed. lol
As well as what could likely end up being the game's icon, found on the Steam page.
And again, remember how in the Hunt of the Fell Wolf poem, it seemed like Ameridan struck the wolf’s body in the waking world, while his friend Haron killed the spirit (inside the idol?) in the Fade. What could this imply for DA4 then, if we are applying the role of Ameridan, Haron and the wolf in this tale to the Inquisitor, Rook and Solas?? 👀 Is this how we can stop him? The Inquisitor confronts Solas in the waking world, while Rook has to destroy the idol/fight the Dread Wolf in the Fade?
Or could it just be a metaphor for the Inquisitor in DA4 keeping Solas occupied to distract him from Rook, while they can figure out another secret way to deal with him/how to get/destroy the idol?
See, the thing is, we have to remember that this is after all, a video game. lol Meaning that, if our protagonist gets to carry around a powerful ancient artifact/weapon, I would assume that this has to be somehow implemented in the gameplay as well. What we can take from the short footage of the 2023 reddit leak, is that Rook might carry the idol (if it really IS the same thing) while still fighting with their own main weapon in combat. So, what if the idol serves as more of a special power tool outside of combat, for example, like the anchor did in DAI, where it can only be used for special occasions? Let's say, the idol in its blade form can't be used in battle but is able to "split" the Veil or reality, like the anchor was able to open and close rifts? Or, if we assume that the idol is something like an ancient phylactery (which btw is my favorite theory and I will talk about in my second post), maybe it can be used as some kind of "tracking device"? Actually, I'm super curious to learn how Rook is even able to carry it like this in the first place, since we know what kind of effect it usually has on people. lol
~~~~~
Anyway, I'll make a hard cut here now and save the rest of this behemoth of a post for a second separate post (because I also just realized that tumblr doesn't let me add any more images 😂💀), so if any of you actually made it this far... thank you for being just as crazy as me about this and I will post the second part shortly after. lol ❤
Uthenera and Back Again - A Theory on the Origins of the Elven People
This is a theory that has been percolating in the collective minds of the Wyrd Sisters of Thedas for many a moon. Indeed, an entry was very nearly written before the release of Trespasser, but upon its release the theory went through major updates to take into account the new information. As I’m sure most of you who are interested in Dragon Age lore know, there is A LOT of information to sift through, and this was no different.
Thesis Statement: The elven people are the descendants of spirits, made corporeal by crossing from the Fade into the physical world.
"lol isn't it funny how there are hardly any dragons in the dragon age games! and how dragons are barely relevant to the story lol" Anyway isn't it funny how the true importance of dragons in Dragon Age has been such a slow-burn concept despite the final boss of the first game being a dragon? One of the most important recurring NPCs in the series transforms into a dragon and is associated with dragon imagery. The big repeated world-ravaging catastrophes are led by corrupted dragons. These dragons and said catastrophes are connected to at least three of the world's major religions. The current age was named the "Dragon Age" because of the resurgence of dragons after they were thought to be extinct. A daughter of the aforementioned recurring character is revealed to have been deliberately breeding dragons to bring them back, and tells us that "the blood of dragons is the blood of the world." A major character from ancient times finds the idea of all the old god dragons being killed really upsetting and hasn't told us why. We found out in the last game that dragons have an unusual resistance to that world-ravaging catastrophe. There are only a couple old god dragons left. Dragons aren't always in the foreground of the story, but they're always there, they've always been there, in the background or just offscreen, hiding, sleeping, deep under the surface, waiting.
About mythal...her story (or the little bit we got) and flemeth story (the various versions that are canon)....
And Andraste.....and th different versions of that.... especially with th differences between tevinter chantry and the south chantry....
What if....they are the same person? What if the story of the maker, and that of ancient elves are the same but over the course of several millennias it's become but a ghost of what the history was....
tangentwithtanner
kaledo-art
romaincrisis
dededos
discoholicmusic
