Today i'd like to make a quick mention of patterns. Repeated elements and narratives that insist on sticking around for unknown reasons.
In the history of Thedas that repeated element or theme is betrayal.
Starting from ancient Elvhenan, when the rest of the Evanuris betrayed Mythal and literally took her out of the picture.
Then we have Fen'Harel avenging her by "betraying" both Evanuris and Forgotten Ones, condemning them to a near eternity of confinement away from the rest of the world.
Next and following Mythal's death by murder we have the betrayal of Flemeth; sure, she cheated first, but while one could say love is capricious and acts without warning her husband did tricked her, intentionally betrayed her, killing her lover and imprisoning her and it's due to her desire for vengeance for that betrayal that Mythal's whisp finds her.
Then a long time later Andraste is betrayed by her own husband out of jelaousy for her success and fame, only for the Maker himself to take her to his side enshrining her as the head of the new religious authority..see, there's the pattern. A female character stabbed in the back by their partner, one way or another, revindicated or avenged by something or someone from the beyond.
Then we have our protagonists. The Warden who more or less depending on the origin is betrayed, by people or fate, and must then rely on otherwordly powers to succeed in restoring some kind of order.
Hawke, also betrayed by fate, by some he called a friend or even a lover, aided by Flemeth herself.
The Inquisitor, once again, betrayed by a companion, friend or possibly even a lover but also saved by them.
Who and under what circumstances will our new protagonist Rook be betrayed by this time?
But that's not the only pattern, there's two more i'd like to touch on.
First one involves the Inquisitor. While the only canon is that there is no canon and i do agree with that to some extent as BW have said once or twice that the canon story is the one the player chooses -even if that's not entirely honest of them as they do follow a default canon around which they continue to build the story- i must say if we are to follow patterns then the unofficial canon would be a female elven mage Inquisitor. In Jaws of Hakkon DLC we learn that the first Inquisitor, Ameridan, was an elven mage and throught the DLC story we learn he had a lover, an elven mage woman who happened to have some Rift magical habilities. Theirs was an unfortunate love that couldn't survive that final mission in the Frostback Basin; Ameridan sacrificed himself to seal Hakkon while his lover, injured, died alone in a nearby island waiting. Leaving their tragic end aside, is that not awfully similar to Solavellan? Elven mage inquisitor in a relationship with elven Rift mage companion, unable to remain together due to their duties. Not to mention Solavellan is the romance that fleshes out most of the lore regarding the Evanuris and Fen'Harel himself, exposing him, rendering him vulnerable. The events of Trespasser further solidify this. It is a female Lavellan, and specifically a mage one he can relate to, who cracks his walls that he's spent millenia building around him so tightly.
It may not be the canon choice, but it certainly is the one that has the most to offer to the lore of Thedas and Solas' character.
Lastly, the other pattern i noticed is one of the games themselves.
DAO is about the Fifth Blight, it resolves the Blight -more or less- and ends with the general idea of rebuilding.
DA2 doesn't follow on that directly, it begins during the Blight and makes a timeskip to show the protagonist making a living in the Free Marches. As the events unfold, the game ends with the explosive beginning of the Mage-Templar war.
DAI begins with peace talks to put an end to the Mage-Templar war only for it to blow up in the air again and be replaced by more pressing matters like a hole in the sky spitting out demons. By the end of this story -Trespasser- the next challenge is layed out: Finding Solas and stopping him from taking down the Veil.
Now in DAV we start the game by...already having found Solas and interrupting his ritual, releasing a couple of monstrosities in the process, and the rest of the game we'll spend it trying to deal with that mess.
So the pattern here is the previous game's cliffhanger and/or it's most central theme ends up becoming the opening context for the next game that will in turn revolve around something else as if the big disaster from the previous game wasn't that big of a deal after all. This is more evident between DA2 and DAI, and between DAI/Trespasser and DAV.
I imagine many thought they'd resolve the Mage-Templar war in Inquisition only to find the agenda changed. And after Trespasser we all thought we'd have to spend the next game chasing Solas all over Thedas to stop him but in the end all that happens quickly whithin the first hour of the game!
In a silly tiny way is like BW is betraying us too, our expectations from game to game. It's like..
We'll deal with the Mage-Templar war!
BW: Lol think again.
We'll have to chase Solas all over the map, a cat and mouse race, we'll spy and gather intel and try to outsmart the guy who's always five steps ahead and we'll stop him from taking down the veil!
BW: Ha! Someone didn't read the comics lol try again
I think it's funny. Bit misleading, specially in this last case, because they set the stage and then basically tell you the play follows a different script and is to be performed at a different theater. So now i'm already preparing myself, if they make another game after this one, whatever is hinted at by the end will not be what we'll deal with then.
I always feel like people justify Cullen hating mages with "but they hurt him!" Like... "mages beat me up!" "OK what were you doing" "abusing them and sitting by while others abused them, but the best me up!" Also it's so refreshing to see someone treating fenris and cullens situations differently than kyou
I can’t even fathom how people could compare Cullen’s and Fenris’ situation? yeah they both hate mages but that’s about it?
just imagine there was a prison guard completely aware of the injustice and torture the prisoners went through, who gets beaten up by said prisoners and then goes back to his old job and continues to treat the prisoners like they’re not even humans but whines about how he got beaten up by them.
second person is a prisoner who was innocent and was totured by the prison guards and when he gets out… well he hates the prison guards and people that remind him of them
yes in this scenario the mages are once the prisoners and once the prison guards and what Fenris went through… well there is no way you can compare it to anything but actual slavery, but you get my point. who’s standpoint would you be able to understand? because I would sure as hell tell that prison guard to go fuck himself
ive said this multiple times but samson and cullens roles shouldve been reversed
agreed! like I don’t know terrible much about Samson but I always felt like his struggles were way more real. and that he was in fact struggling at all. something I can’t say for Cullen
and especially since Cullen looks down on Samson?? like wow, what a freaking hypocrite
@whichwitchery : right? this is a thing that bugs me sooo much as well. like my first quizzie who romanced him did all the stuff he didn’t like. like all of it. but you could still romance him which is kinda fucked up even if we’re not looking at the big picture here. (rivalmance 2.0 if you want. I will never get why they thought this was a good idea...) but still if you talk to him personally? you can’t disagree with him. you can’t tell him to fuck off and leave you alone. I mean I can at least punch solas’ entitled ass but nope, nothing for our precious darling boy who is just soooo misunderstood and a good person now uwu yeah right -.- (seriously if he had actually shown SOME kind of remorse I would’ve maybe be able to see past all the shit but he doesn’t) I feel like they made him leave the templars just so they could pretend he changed. but does he speak out against the templars? no. he wants you to choose them of course because all mages are evil. seriously if they’re going to put him in the next game I will freaking lose my shit.
@danteh-ow: yeah and I completely get that! I mean he is not a templar anymore so he can’t be that bad and they just put all the Alistair romance stuff into his romance (like cute, dorky, a bit shy but very sweet) and it just works especially for people who don’t know the other games (I actually have a friend who had the exact same experience as you) and I even get if people who first played Inquisition and romanced him, then played the other games but still love Cullen. because you’re practically being forced to overlook all of his bullshit and you tend to do that with characters you liked at first. that’s just normal. (especially if you’re not like suuuper invested in the mage/templar debate or anything)
ok so in no way I said that I it was ok for Anders to blow up the chantry. he was RIGHT about things having to change and they did. without his action the Kirkwall circle would have killed every mage or made them tranquil and fucking no one would’ve done anything about it. things would never have changed and no mage would have had any chance of freedom. in the wise words of Grand Enchanter Fiona: “I am not going to condone, what Anders did, but I understand why he did it.” and seriously, it’s not like he didn’t try to change things EVERY FUCKING OTHER WAY FOR YEARS. and yes I don’t like that innocent people had to die for it (and I’m pretty sure he did not either). but Elthina fucking deserved it. also my guess it that blowing up the chantry was mostly Justice’s work since we know how Anders was before merging with him.
furthermore: I see people unfollowing me every time I post something about mage rights and Anders and pls go if you don’t want to see these things. but I tag everything with “mage rights!” and it’s also my fucking blog-subtitle so people can certainly guess where I stand regarding this matter
Most ppl see something & then parrot it back without ever understanding what they're actually saying eg terrorism apologist. N. Mandela was called a terrorists by the British. Many others called him a freedom fighter, & that is how he is remembered today. In the UK suffragettes smashed up shops, committed arson & planted bombs. Today we see them as hero's who helped lead the fight for female equality.Ignoring the cause that leads to the act means, fact or fiction, they will never understand.
yeah I mean I never saw Anders as a terrorist. for me a terrorist action is something that’s supposed to fuel hatred for it’s own sake, not means to an end. he did it for a good and just cause even if the action itself might not be good. people can decide that for themselves for all I care but calling me a ‘terrorism apologist man’ for supporting him is kinda stupid and ignorant, yes. so thank you for your support. I’m always grateful for it especially since there are so many of you that can explain stuff way better than I do :)
anders haters are unable to separate fictional life from real life. approving of anders' actions doesnt mean you're "terrorist apologist" i mean wow, these people are out of it. ntm, in this fictional world the people who died were not innocent. they were the donald trumps of dragon age basically. it's also ironic a lot of ACTUAL VILLAINS are loved, why can't anders be loved even though he's not a villain? i bet most ppl hate him for superficial reasons and use their agendas as an excuse.
thank you! seriously I like villains because most of the time they’re just the most interesting characters. but Anders is not a villain. he’s a freedom fighter who did something bad because this was the only way he saw to make a difference. and I feel like most people dislike him because he’s so “whiny”. fuck you seriously. you don’t even deserve him anyway. and yes, he’s fictional and agreeing with him is in no way agreeing with terrorism. people who can’t distinguish between fictional and real should probably not play these games anyway.
