No Path Leads Home: Frodo & The Inquisitor
Growing up in a household that loves Tolkien, it’s easy to see echos of his world in other works of fantasy.
I’ve been most fascinated with Frodo Baggins - his journey and the themes of friendship, forgiveness, endurance and sacrifice.
As I continue writing the story of my Inquisitor in my Dragon Age world state, I keep returning to Frodo. I can’t help but see parallels of burdens and losses between Frodo and the Inquisitor. That even after the battle is won – some wounds never heal.
The Burden Not Meant for Them
For Frodo, his burden is the Ring. For the Inquisitor, the Anchor. Neither sought these burdens but they carry them, thrust into leadership positions in world altering events due to circumstances beyond their control. These burdens make them essential to the world they live in, yet these burdens cause them both harm and make them targets for evil.
The Physical Cost
Both wear visible marks of their trials. As the story unfolds, the Ring’s strain on Frodo becomes clear, but he also suffers the Morgul blade’s stab, which never fully heals. Similarly, the Inquisitor carries the Anchor, a force of ancient elven magic in their body that is slowly killing them. Their body cannot sustain such power and, in the end, they must sacrifice their arm to survive. Their burdens leave lasting scars, etched on their bodies.
The Burden of Duty
Frodo, as the Ring-Bearer, holds a title that few in Middle-earth share - “to bear a Ring of Power is to be alone” - to suffer. Likewise, the Inquisitor, named the Herald of Andraste, is thrust into a role they never sought. Both are marked by fate, not by choice.
Bilbo passed the Ring to Frodo, binding him to its fate; Solas’s Anchor was forced upon the Inquisitor, binding them to the fate of Thedas, shaping them into a messiah the world demanded. Neither was meant to carry these burdens – yet no one else can carry it for them.
Fellowship
The best fantasies have a fellowship – a group bound by purpose, strangers at first usually, but forced to come together to get to their journey’s end. Frodo begins with a fellowship of eight, each member playing a role in guiding and protecting him. But the fellowship fractures as time goes by, companions pulled into their own battles. In the end, only 3 stand at the end of Mount Doom – Sam, Frodo and Gollum.
The Inquisitor, begins with nine companions, their strength coming from the unity of their cause. By the end of Trespasser, the Inquisition itself dissolves or is taken over control by the Chantry, and many in the Inquisition move on, some to rebuild, some to fight elsewhere, some to disappear entirely. In the Atonement ending of Veilguard, only 3 stand to face Solas – the Inquisitor, Rook and Morrigan (representing Mythal).
The Trickster’s Influence
Frodo is guided by Gollum, a creature twisted by his past and obsession with the Ring - a trickster in his own right. The Inquisitor, too, has a Trickster amongst their companions – Solas, a figure of wisdom and pride - yet warped by his regrets. Gollum leads Frodo to Mount Doom only to take the Ring from him at the final moment. In Trespasser the Inquisitor follows a mystery through the Crossroads, leading to Solas, where he then removes the Anchor. Both tricksters serve as guides, yet their guidance isn’t salvation though their lives might be saved – it's revelation, loss and transformation.
No Burden Carried Alone
Frodo cannot destroy the Ring alone. When he falters, Sam carries him, and in the end Gollum’s intervention is necessary. Though Frodo bears the burden, others must step in to see it through. Likewise, the Inquisitor cannot stop Solas alone – bringing him to his final moment in the atonement ending requires the efforts of many such as Varric, Rook and their companions and Morrigan. Just as Gollum tears the Ring from Frodo’s grasp, it is Mythal’s voice that finally wrenches Solas’ guilt from his hands.
Both these ‘endings’ reflect the same truth: it is not just about strength or will, it is about the hands that carry you when you fall – no one can bear these burdens alone.
You Can’t Go Home Again
The rest of this post is where I move into headcanon, as I’ve spent a long time thinking about my canon Inquisitor and her journey – there and back again. And ultimately – there is no going back again.
“How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep.” ~Tolkien
There are some wounds that time cannot heal. Some burdens that, once carried, never truly leave. Can time restore what was lost? Certainly not for Frodo, and not for my Inquisitor Lavellan.
Both Frodo and the Inquisitor are swept up into something grander than themselves, their identities consumed by the roles thrust upon them. They become ghosts of their former selves, shaped by suffering that others cannot see. It does not mean they can't find connection or love their friends any less, it just means the world in which they exist is forever altered.
That's the story I've chosen to tell for that character.
The Fellowship returns home – but Frodo cannot. The people of Thedas move on, but the Inquisitor remains trapped. Ever the Herald of Andraste, her role diminished but the burden still heavy. Whether the Inquisition is disbanded or not, she is called back into war.
And for a Lavellan who loved Solas? There is another pain, carried alongside memory and loss – because the only person in the world who can truly understand what was taken from her...is the one who took it. Just as Gollum was the only one who could truly understand Frodo’s suffering.
Departure into another World
In my world state – Lavellan, like Frodo, leaves.
Frodo sails with the Elves to the Undying Lands, seeking healing beyond the shores of Middle-earth. Lavellan, steps beyond the known world, passing through the Veil with Solas into the Fade, leaving Thedas behind.
She does not leave just for love, but because mending the greater wound will mend her as well. In walking this path with Solas, they become each other’s fellowship, a reminder that even at the end of the road, neither must walk alone. Through restoring what was broken, Lavellan hopes to find her own healing as much as she seeks to help Solas find his. A journey that will ultimately lead to something greater - the healing of the Blight, the Titans.
Frodo and Lavellan’s stories do not end in defeat, nor do they end in returning to the lives they once know. They both end in transformation – a truth that to have loved, fought and suffered for something greater than oneself is to be forever changed.
Another thank you to @lotsofthinkythoughts for our Tolkien and DA chats.