Solas and Veilfall - Why it Was Necessary... Until it Wasn't
please do not add hate to this post, bring up the art book, or bring up the books/comics. thank you! special psa for this post only: ppl who wanted veilfall are not bad ppl 💖 (personally, i wanted it, played the game, and then was happy we didn't get it, but the ppl who still want it are just fine)
the blight:
solas and mythal tranquilized the titans and, in the doing, created the blight. the former was an intentional action knowingly taken; the latter was an unintended and unforeseen consequence. one could make an argument that they are not responsible for the blight, but it is a largely academic argument about semantics and ethics; the simple, in-world fact is, their actions created the blight, and those actions were independently brutal
there's a great deal to be said here, but it's not the point of this meta
the veil:
another unintended consequence of a deliberate action. solas was right to try and end slavery in arlathan, and he was right to stand against the tyrannical evanuris. imprisoning them for eternity is another uniquely brutal solution, but it, as with the titans, also exists in a very particular context: immortal beings who are extremely powerful. solas was unable to kill them. he couldn't even stand against elgar'nan without being so wounded he needed to retreat. so imprisonment was likely the only way he found to actually stop them
and this was extremely important as they had begun to access the blight. they were already powerful, already tyrannical... with the full power of the blight - of the titan's rage - they would have been eternally unstoppable. the entire grey warden order can barely hold back one blight, and the entirety of the blight within thedas is but a tiny fraction of that which exists. had they not been stopped, likely thedas would not exist, or would not exist in any remotely recognizable way
(again, not the meta for it, but worth acknowledging that the evanuris claiming the blight as a source of power was yet another way they used the titans for their own ends... it's awful)
the original prison:
while it is not entirely clear where the blight is located, there's a chance that it is somewhere within the original prison that solas formed, although certainly separated from the evanuris. but even if not, even if it is sealed elsewhere, the simple fact is: with his prison eroding, the evanuris (blighted tyrants with a centuries-long grudge and a desire to return to their time of rule) would have been released onto a thoroughly unprepared thedas. and they would certainly have pursued the rest of the blight, wherever it was stored
if they found and unleashed it - which is likely, given both their original power, the power from the blight itself, and the canonical recognition between blighted beings which may have helped them track it - then thedas, already under threat, would have been destroyed. no ifs, ands, or buts about it
evanuris and the veil:
the evanuris were bonded to the veil and to their prison. had they all been killed as the grey wardens slayed their dragon thralls, the prison and the veil would have come down with them. this would have been a sudden and almost certainly catastrophic event... and there is a very real possibility that it would have unleashed the entirety of the blight as well
veilfall:
now, this is murkier. in the murals, flemythal agrees that the evanuris must be dealt with, but disagrees with veilfall. this could easily imply that creating the new prison and transferring the evanuris to it is not dependent on veilfall
however, it is unclear
personally, i think the most plausible explanation, given what we know of solas' magic during the time of veilguard (magic which had been taken from flemythal, who had been slowly accruing it over centuries; thus, presumably, not the same strength it was during arlathan era), is that the veil itself is essentially... raw power
solas' orb has been broken. the anchor was recovered and he experimented on it until it, too, was destroyed. he learned a great deal but was presumably unable to recover much if any of its power. his own magic had waned significantly while in uthenera, although it built up in his orb (perhaps actually drawing and storing his magic, now that i think about it...)
so all his resources have been destroyed, used up, or (possibly) rendered unusable by him (in the case of the anchor). all he has is his own meager magic and that which he gained from flemythal. while considerable, it is likely nothing near what he had when he created the prison and unintentionally created the veil alongside it
and since the physical world and the fade originally coexisted in some manner - they were separate locations, as the mural with solas' spirit worm confirms - and were easily transversed, it's clearly not a situation where two planes exist at, idk, different frequencies, different speeds, or some other fundamental difference that cannot be crossed
given that reality, the veil must be powerful. this is not an oil and water situation where power is required to connect the two - they might not connect fully, but certainly they interrelated with ease. thus, the veil has to be a power in order to keep them apart
given all that, i think it's safe to conclude that the destruction of the veil would also have released power... power which could be harnessed and used in order to transfer the evanuris from the old prison to the new one (it might also be less that the veil held power which could be harnessed, and more that it's destruction would react, producing power which could be harnessed)
now, did solas want to tear down the veil even when he anticipated having access to his orb and all its accrued power? yes, he did. that was his plan. and at that time, i would not say that the power released by veilfall would have been necessary. i might be wrong on that, perhaps it was always necessary, perhaps the veil held more suspended magical energy than anything else... but it is unclear, and i won't assume that it was necessary
and he readily admits that he wants to return that which he took: elvhen/elven power. he did not want to give them arlathan back. he fought against arlathan. but he wants to empower the modern elves, literally and figuratively. they are a deeply oppressed people, but also ones who have a history of profound magical ability which they have lost with the creation of the veil
conclusion:
some people paint solas as someone who is only doing what he is doing to soothe his own conscious. while there is certainly an element of that, this interpretation entirely fails to consider the canon these behaviors are standing within
at the beginning of dai, i would say this read of solas is accurate. he of course does want to seal the evanuris in a new prison, but he also wants to tear down the veil, and there is no inherent, canonical connection between the two (at least, none that i know of - mind you, i am sticking to in-game canon [including plot-heavy dlcs], so it might have been mentioned elsewhere and i wouldn't know about it/am not particularly interested in spoilers)
but the events of dai changes him. the time between dai and trespasser changes him. trespasser changes him. the time between trespasser and veilguard changes him
and, yes, veilguard changes him. veilguard changes him significantly
but it is not until the very end of veilguard, with ghilan'nain dead for a time and elgar'nan dead just now, that the inherent, underlying threat to the world finally ceases. or at least, ceases being so immediately threatening
solas has been committed to this course for so long. has sacrificed so much in the pursuit of it, for reasons both selfish and selfless, both cold and caring, both analytical and emotional
i think the fact that he can be stopped at this point says a great deal about his fundamental nature. and, yes, it takes everyone. just as it took everyone to beat the evanuris, just as it took everyone - in origins, in 2, in inquisition, and now in veilguard - to stem the tide, to help mitigate destruction, to save the world. so too did it take everyone who was there to stop solas
but he stopped. he was not made to stop, not forced to stop. he did not lose. he had the dagger. he had the ability. all the pieces in place
and he chose
and he chose... a new path