A bit about each blight under the cut!! Spoilers, of course, for Origins and Veilguard.
The First Blight - Champion Unknown
Lasted for 192 years with Archdemon Dumat
Started in the silent planes in Tevinter (after the magisters sidereal broke into the fade )
The Archdemon was slain multiple times over those 192 years, only for it to transfer itself to the nearest darkspawn and resurrect
It was only until the Grey Wardens were created in the Anderfels that they were able to turn the tide and kill Dumat for good
Ultimately the joining ritual of taking in darkspawn blood and being the closest tainted vessel for the Archdemon to hop intoāonly for its soul and the wardens soul to clash and die togetherāis the reason Thedas survived at all
As Tevinter influence lost control on its southern territories, Andraste would rise up in Ferelden and begun the first exalted march against Tevinter
The Second Blight - Champion Corin
Lasted for 90 years with Archdemon Zazikel
Started in the Anderfels, which tevinter soon abandoned to protect its core territories
Emperor Drakon of Orlais remained in the frontlines of every battle as the blight spread across Thedas once more
The elves and their neighbouring army remained neutral throughout, believing Orlais to be just as bad as Tevinter, which caused great contention between people while fighting off the horde.
The last inquisitor, Ameridan, was an elven mage and close friend of Drakon and believed otherwise. But was unable to sway the Dalish for assistance
The last battle was in Starkhaven, with a human army led by the Wardens.
Archdemon Zazikel was eventually slain by Warden Corin, who was given the opportunity to after his lover, a mage named Neriah, shielded him from an emissary bolt with her body and sacrificed herself in the process.
The Third Blight - Champion Unknown
Lasted for 15 years under Archdemon Toth
Started in the central lands of Thedas in greater numbers than ever before.
The first use of siege weapons against darkspawn are recorded during this blight, including flaming catapults
Despite this there were heavy casualties
Eventually the Darkspawn would strike at the Free Marches, which were less defended, and Orlais and Tevinter did nothing at first until pressured by the Grey Wardens to act
With their three combined armies, the battle of Hunter Fell was one of the bloodiest in history. Bodies were piled as high as a hundred feet and burned
Nobody knows who struck the final blow, due to the mass amount of casualties. But in the aftermath, Orlais and Tevinter would turn on the Free Marches and capture Nevarra and Hunter Fell for their own empires.
It would take 24 years for hunter fell to regain independence from Tevinter, and 40 years for Nevarra from Orlais
The Fourth Blight - Champion Garahel
Lasted for 12 years under Archdemon Andoral, starting in Northeast Thedas, striking Antiva first
Unchecked, the darkspawn swarmed the Free Marches and Rivian, while Antiva locked its gates while refugees fled to it for aid
King Elaudio and Queen Giuvana of Antiva called on the grey wardens for defence. They would garrison an army, with a regiment of Gryffon warriors to help evacuate the city
Warden Garahel and his sister Isseya were amongst them. They would relocate to Wycome, and then Starkhaven, before a siege at Hossburg which would last 8 years.
Tevinter refused to send any aid, bitter over the recent Exalted Marches against them, while Orlais committed only a token force, hardly effected by the blight.
The fourth blight ended with the battle of Ayesleigh, where Archdemon Andoral baited the Wardens and their Griffons into an archer ambush. Of the few survivors, Garahel and his griffon Crookytail was among them, and he drove his sword into the neck of the Archdemon and died alongside it.
In the aftermath, the Griffons would later go extinct due to a modified joining ritual created by Isseya, which spread to uninfected griffons and made them feral.
The Fifth Blight - The Warden
Lasted for one year under Archdemon Urthemiel in Ferelden
The Ferelden grey wardens, allied with King Cailan Theirin and Tern Loghain Mac Tir, were overwhelmed by darkspawn forces in the Kokari wilds. Leading to Loghain to abandon the king and blame the wardens for their failure
The wardens were completely wiped out. But two survived, one being king Cailanās half-brother, Alistair, who was now the last of the Theirin bloodline
The surviving wardens would travel around Ferelden using the ancient rites of conscription to rally an army of all races, and unite Ferelden against the Archdemon and Loghain, who had begun a civil war by installing himself as acting regent
The final battle of Denerim had Archdemon Urthemiel fall to one of the surviving wardens. Making it the shortest blight in history.
Later it would be discovered that the fifth blight was started by one of the Magisters Sidereal, the Architect, by attempting to infect Urthemiel with a strain of the blight in a similar way of the wardenās Joining, in order to make it self-aware, only for it to backfire
The Sixth Blight - Rook (and Solas)
Lasted for a year. A double blight with two archdemons, Razikale and Lusacan.
Known as the blight to end all blights, or the final blight
Started when a ritual, created by and ancient Evanuris known as Solas or FenāHarel , attempted to destroy the veil to unite the fade with the mortal world. The ritual would backfire and release two other ancient Evanuris, Elgarānan and Ghilanānan, who were heavily blighted by their imprisonment in the fade
It would later be revealed that the blight was a product of FenāHarel sealing away the dreams of the the dwarveās gods, the Titans, in the fade with the creation of the Veil. By command of the Evanuris
Elgarānan and Ghilanānan would go on to modify the blight with their magic to accelerate the taint and take over all of Thedas
Ghilan'nain and the Archdemon Razikale would siege Weisshaupt in the Anderfels, but would be defeated at great cost by the Grey Wardens a small group of talented warriors known as the Veilguard
Meanwhile, the Inquisition would fight an endless battle against the onslaught of darkspawn in southern Thedas. The free marches would unite for the first time to defeat an Qunari invasion of the Ataam, and then march south for their aid.
The sixth blight would culminate in a battle against Elgarānan, with Archdemon Lusacan, the horde, and gathered forces to besiege Minrathous in Tevinter. A coalition of Veilguard forces would retake the city with the aid of Solas.
While reports state the south is wiped out by the blight, it remains unclear how extensive the damage is and how many survivors remain. With the final Archdemon defeated and the last Evanuris gone, it is presumed the blights will never occur again.
Though with the Titians dreams remaining trapped in the fade, and the Veil repaired once more, nothing is certain. And the true origin of the blight remains undealt with.
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