A few things I noticed from the images in the EA Play images:
First, the tree. It’s a vhenadahl. It also resembles the tree in the Dread Wolf Rises trailer. Seems to be saying the elven alienages will be empty or in revolt at the time of the game.
Second, the arch. Someone on my Twitter TL pointed out that it appears to be Skyhold- but it’s surrounded by gaatlok, and the sky suggests that the Veil is already down and the Fade is everywhere.
Last, and most importantly, the red lyrium. It’s surrounding a beating heart- which we know from Trespasser is the heart of a titan, and the source of the foci, the orbs associated with specific members of the elven pantheon.
What I noticed about the heart is that its bottom resembles the bottom of the red lyric idol in the Dread Wolf Rises trailer. The logical jump is that the red lyrium idol was also one of the foci associated with a specific member of the elven pantheon- I would suspect either Mythal (given the crowned figure on the red lyrium idol), or more likely Andruil, who made armor from the void and was brought back to sanity by Mythal.
I suspect that Solas is so depressed at the end of the main game DAI because with his own focus shattered, the only other one he knows to still exist is the red lyrium idol, and it is tainted. If he uses the red lyrium idol to bring down the Veil instead of his own focus, does he somehow taint all of Thedas?
So, taking all these cues and making more inferential leaps, I would suggest that at the time of DA4, the elven alienages across Thedas are in revolt, the Qunari have invaded, the Veil is down, red lyrium is everywhere, and Solas has been tainted by using the red lyrium idol–as has at least one of the remaining titans.
Sounds pretty grim, but I loved Dragon Age Origins!
Anyway, I am but a simple smut writer, writing my first meta, and I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts.
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vaporwave
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annaxmalina
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