I don't have much to add to what others are already sharing, and what I've already said on my personal blog.
Dragon Age means the world to me, it's my #1 special interest (and how I found out I could have one, because I had been intensely interested in things before but never like this). It's helped me get through some moments in my life, it was a home when I didn't have one (roof over my head, yes, but a home is more than that), still is.
I'm immensely grateful to all the devs for what they have done in each game of the series, specially Veilguard, a game that to me is nothing short of a miracle and a testament to all the love and soul poured into it both by the teams behind it as well as the fans who welcomed it.
Things are not perfect, they never are because they come from people and people isn't perfect. But against every obstacle they persevered, even in detriment of their own health, and gave us everything they could, everything they were allowed.
Corporate greed is the main and dare I say ultimately the only culprit here, and believe me my anger is really bad right now I don't even want to talk about it, but I feel this dedicated blog had to say its piece as well.
I hope the devs that were laid off can land in better, healthier places and thrive again; I already am familiar with their work, in some cases both in BW and out of it, and will keep my eyes out for their future projects to give them the chance they deserve.
Like Sheryl said, DA is ours. It's given us joy, tears, obsessions, motivation, inspiration, friends, spouses, community, careers, for so many even a reason to keep going, something to look forward and specifically to those people I want to say, as someone living with depression, don't let the darkness take over. We're not losing anything, we already gained more than we imagined, and that is with us for good. I can spare some hope and patience to what may still one day come, but if you can't that's ok too, just remember:
Part 1 is HERE. I had no intention of adding to it originally but as it turns out there was more. And by more i mean the hidden mosaics from the Trespasser DLC. I had seen them before, when they were found years ago, but found them again last night and made the connection.
First i'd like to tie in my Evanuris who's who post, where i assign the "crowns" to each Evanuris the way it makes the most sense to me.
The Trespasser DLC is where we learn some details about Fen'Harel's rebellion, and where Solas comes out as Fen'Harel himself. He doesn't speak of allies, and insists the Evanuris were all more or less awful. But nobody can provoke change in the world entirely on their own, rebellions are a group effort, and often times their victories are in no small part owed to inside intelligence.
So the hidden mosaics found in this DLC are 4 sets of different designs in four different versions, each crowned with a different Evanuris headpiece.
The first row shows the central design to be one of those elven trees, and the headpieces are, from left to right, Fen'Harel, June, Dirthamen and Sylaise (this is where my who's who post plays in). I am well aware the third one doesn't quite match what i think is Dirthamen's crown but seemingly fits Andruil's better, however i think in this case it has to be Dirthamen's for a very simple reason: Andruil was sided with Elgar'nan.
I think the triangular design in the center of that crown in these mosaics is there for a reason.
As i mentioned in my linked post:
Falon'din and Dirthamen: as Guide of the dead Falon'din is represented in the mosaics as holding a shepard’s staff so i assigned him the symbol closest to a staff. As for Dirthamen, as Keeper of Secrets he’s depicted in mosaics covering his mouth with both hands. On this first picture, simple 2D, neither headpiece can be fully appreciated, but one could say the “staff” one fits in the empty space of the other one, and these two were said to be inseparable, twin souls, with a bond that trascended any labels, shadow and reflection of one another.
That outlined triangle between the "horns" of this crown could be hinting at a missing part, Falon'din's. There's no reason why Andruil's would have something in there, no other depiction of her crown has anything in the middle.
Now back to the different designs, the round tree one reminds me of the same tree we see in the Crossrads in DAV, one modified by Solas or someone else in the rebellion to be able to hear Elgar'nan and the others' conversation, to eavesdrop on the enemy. This happens a few times during Veilguard and gives us a bit of an insight into the two Evanuris thinking and their relationship.
Next we have this one:
This is very clearly the erasing of the vallaslin from, presumably, rescued elven slaves. We see then each one of these Evanuris, plus Fen'Harel himself, now not just as a detached headpiece but with lines that continue down as if they were robes, and it almost looks like they're holding this round object, from which a stream falls right through the middle of the elf's face, as if washing the vallaslin away.
There's another depiction of this magic in a big mural
Note the stream of blue lines -the extracted vallaslin- from the elf's face to Fen'Harel's hand. And specially notice what's behind these elves. A body of water, with a foci in it. If we remember the scene at Crestwood where Solas erases Lavellan's vallaslin if she agrees to it takes place right next to a body of water, and while there's no foci being used, she does have part of its magic as the Anchor in her hand. The same elements repeat. I think we could say this is a baptism. There's water involved or present, Solas as Fen'Harel in this mural is basically cosplaying John the Baptist, with the fur and the wooden staff, and these elves -or Lavellan- are having a great sin -the slave markings put on them by those supposed to protect them- washed away from them, allowing them to start a new life, free of the lies and the pain of the past.
Next there's a funny one.
It's clearly Elgar'nan, look how angry he is. He even has sharp teeth.
He's in chains, hanging upside down. Three drops of something blue fall from him. Is it tears? Unlikely. Could be lyrium but by then he was more into the red variety. I think it might represent the others, the ones still on his side, falling with him: Andruil, Ghilan'nain and Falon'din. I doubt this is representing real facts, but more a desire, a goal, a reminder to those joining the rebellion: This is what will happen if we keep this up, we'll win, the evil shall be defeated. And i say this because we know what really happened, nobody was really winning that war, Solas took desperate measures because it was the most desperate of times, and he ended up imprisoning all of them, including the Evanuris that may have been contributing to his rebellion in secret. Although it could also be depicting one particular victory over Elgar'nan but we don't details on any particular instance, at least none that involved chains.
Lastly, the one that more strongly proves these four worked together.
The rebellion itself. A group of armed elves gathered around the figure of Fen'Harel standing amongst them. They're standing inside a circle, which in DA often represents a barrier, and I'm thinking this is the resistance gathered at the Lighthouse, or the Crossroads.
Seeing these mosaics now I can only intepret them to be of what i'm calling the Silent Resistance. There's no other conceivable explanation why the others would be represented with the same designs if they weren't somehow involved. It'd make sense if it was just Fen'Harel's versions, but why would any of the Evanuris be depicted in the same way? Unless they were on the same side doing the same things or contributing to the rebellion in some way. Like i've mentioned before
Sylaise may have provided shelter -the Lighthouse- and medicine or other forms of protection, June may have provided his tech and filled the Dread Wolf’s armories -as seen in Trespasser- and maybe Solas outsmarted him modifying the Vi'Revas as everyone thought or maybe June helped with the modifications himself, and Dirthamen may have aided with secrecy, for all we know maybe the reason the Lighthouse is hidden in the Fade is owed to a loan of Dirthamen’s magic, concealing it from the enemy’s eyes.
It has always puzzled me why Solas never really talked about these three, why there were so few stories if any about them, compared to Andruil or Ghilan'nain they had an suspicious lack of protagonism considering they were Evanuris too and their contributions to Elvhenan were considerable as well. Although all Evanuris were cruel and corrupted it's weird we have no stories of these three's evil deeds. During Blood of Arlathan in The Veilguard, when Elgar'nan invites Solas to join him in his new empire Solas replies "But it would not have Eluvians, will it? June built them, and now he is dead. Our great cities came from Sylaise. Our deepest mysteries from Dirthamen." Earlier he mentioned Andruil's corruption from the Blight and after this line he tells Elgar'nan he only has Ghilan'nain left and he can't build an empire by stitching monsters together.
While i'm sure Solas regrets the loss of all his people, despite how twisted they had become, it seems he perhaps laments the loss of June, Sylaise and Dirthamen a bit more.
Hmmm...the theory is good, but the symbols don't match.
First crown is June, second crown is Andruil – just like in the first picture, Sylaise's is narrower and pointier on top, like the pin on Ashur's hat/Gaspin Manor sanctuary – and the triangle on top could be a crude shape of Dirthamen's crown, not Falon'din's. The third one is Falon'din's.
Curiously enough, that same triangle is at the bottom of the hi-res Dirthamen's crown, as if his crown is a piece of Falon'din's sun-like crown shape.
Also, the lyrium dagger could spy on the gods...having allies on the inside or not (again, not a disclaimer, just throwing in more possibilities). I assume the "tree of echoes" pulls Fade remnants that are amplified by the lyrium dagger. Since the Evanuris are Blighted, it makes sense their passing through places would cause magical disruptions enough to be tracked.
And, as for the trees...I'm still not sure of their correlation, but Andruil was also associated to the Oak and the Earth (as in a reference to Gaia, I'd assume). Sometimes I wonder if Andruil herself wasn't "shattered" at some point, they say Mythal challenged her and "stole her knowledge of how to find the Void", but how does one "steals knowledge" in the DA universe? As far as I know, the only case is Mythal/Flemeth herself. Could she have "killed" Andruil and absorbed her memories? They call Mythal "The All Mother", and the tree of echoes medallion in DATV is referred to as "The All-Mother's Copse", and yet, again, the tree is Andruil's symbol, not hers.
Some of the associations I have so far: all ancient magic is...natural, remember Merril's spells? They all involve trees and roots and nature damage. The petrified people in Arlathan, the corrupted mirror, trespassed by a tree. The Grand Father Oak, claiming to be the last of his line, while the Sylvans pretty much look alike to him, but...rabid, as if they were, let's say...tainted. Lyrium growing in a pattern like tree roots, the Blight itself, on DATV, looks like grotesque spiky tree branches made of flesh. The Vhenandahl, the blighted tree in the Crossroads, the Codex entries (especially the Cost of Harmony and the Field Notes of the First Days). The vallaslin themselves are mostly patterned like gnarling roots.
Ah, and I'm rambling already. 🤌 Focus on the crown part only. 🤡
Hi, I stated already that I assigned the headpieces as they make sense to me, and I linked to the post where I explained my reasoning in detail. I don't see how these unused mosaics would make sense otherwise, all things considered it makes no sense for Falondin to have been part of something like what I propose here. Of course people can and will disagree, but I don't mind it. I write these from my perspective and understanding and mainly for my own enjoyment.
As for the trees maybe on this one you are reading too deep into it, in this case it's mostly a common elven motif in DA.
EA Press Release: EA has officially announced that there is a definitive agreement for the organization to be acquired by a consortium of investors including Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, for $55 billion [source with full details, further source which is a notice from Andrew Wilson].
**Too long, didn't read** Click the link and play the demo (it contains almost 1/3 of the full story, the prologue + 3 full chapters). Then
Cool project from and by Reddit user Eglwyswrw, a gamebook adaptation of Dragon Age: The Last Court - 'I am adapting DRAGON AGE: THE LAST COURT into a Choose Your Own Adventure format in order to help preserve its narrative. Here's how you can help out...'
Excerpts from post:
"I felt compelled to start this project as a volunteer in order to preserve a playable form of The Last Court that, in spite of being in a very different subgenre of interactive fiction, somewhat keeps a good chunk of the original's spirit... or so I hope!"
"What am I supposed to do if I want to help out?
Play it, either on your phone or your PC. Keep a watchful eye for typos, random strings of code that might have sneaked into the text, bizarre balance issues (such as having negative values of something for too long, or having over 100 of them for too long), illogical narrative transitions etc.
If possible, screenshot your final stats (at the bottom of the page) and send them to me/copypaste it in the comments so I can have an idea if the balance is OK.
A single playthrough of the demo should last, I don't know, 15 minutes? There should be a lot of variations based on your chosen class and choices so please feel free to play it as many times as you would like!
When can we expect a full release?
Pretty soon I think. This includes over 37000 words and I took about 9 days to reach this point, with almost a third of the story done."
the link has a free playable demo which contains almost a third of the full story, "the prologue + 3 full chapters", "Forever free, available on itch.io".
[source and full post with more info]
credit: Reddit user Eglwyswrw !
According to this [update] for this project on itch, the full recreated game is now available.
Text in image above reads:
"Full version now available! [devlog]
This is it folks, the full game is available at https://datlc.itch.io/the-last-court!
You will find the game to have been much improved with several QoL additions, and a revamped early narrative with way more options and stuff. Oh well, go enjoy it!" [source]
There have also been a few updates since then with some fixes and tweaks.
If you have steam you might want to go check out the Dragon Age: The Veilguard page and snatch up the free promo dlc that lasts until the 9th!
As of right now this is just for pc users, but this dlc was previous also a promo item for the xbox. It features cosmetic items that may trigger trypophobia for some people, so little heads up!
I've put images of the items below the cut.
Mage
Watchful Poniard
The small blade sees obstacles and drinks deep to remove them.
Watchful Staff
A trusted tool that facilitates observation and will never reveal secrets.
Rogue
Watchful Bow
The arms tremble as if hungry for the arrow's target.
Watchful Saber
The long blade sees goals and opens the path to desired outcomes.
Warrior
Watchful Blade
Observes and obeys with perfect precision, as a good tool should.
Watchful Maul
It sees. It crushes. It waits. The chains are ornamental now.
Watchful Shield
Protection, warning, and when merited, shelter from the storm.
Matt Rhodes: "Veilguard. Living world illustrations were a way to explore the relationships between different groups and classes in a region. For Tevinter, you see the interactions between mages, powerful magisters, templars, slaves and soldiers." [source] [two]
Art by Matt Rhodes.
Artstation caption for these images reads "Living World - Tevinter (2014)".
Artstation filenames: Living world Tevinter, living world Tevinter lines, Living world Tevinter sketch [source]
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a 2025 Hugo Award Finalist in the category of Best Game or Interactive Work! [source, via]
Text in image reads:
"Best Game or Interactive Work
- Caves of Qud, co-creators Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat; contributors Nick DeCapua, Corey Frang, Craig Hamilton, Autumn McDonell, Bastia Rosen, Caelyn Sandel, Samuel Wilson (Freehold Games); sound design A Shell in the Pit; publisher Kitfox Games
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard produced by BioWare
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom produced by Nintendo
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes produced by Simogo
- Tactical Breach Wizards developed by Suspicious Developments
- 1000xRESIST developed by sunset visitor 斜陽過客, published by Fellow Traveller"
If you have steam you might want to go check out the Dragon Age: The Veilguard page and snatch up the free promo dlc that lasts until the 9th!
As of right now this is just for pc users, but this dlc was previous also a promo item for the xbox. It features cosmetic items that may trigger trypophobia for some people, so little heads up!
I've put images of the items below the cut.
Mage
Watchful Poniard
The small blade sees obstacles and drinks deep to remove them.
Watchful Staff
A trusted tool that facilitates observation and will never reveal secrets.
Rogue
Watchful Bow
The arms tremble as if hungry for the arrow's target.
Watchful Saber
The long blade sees goals and opens the path to desired outcomes.
Warrior
Watchful Blade
Observes and obeys with perfect precision, as a good tool should.
Watchful Maul
It sees. It crushes. It waits. The chains are ornamental now.
Watchful Shield
Protection, warning, and when merited, shelter from the storm.
[original post] Recently it was the 36th GLAAD Media Awards. Dragon Age: The Veilguard won the award in the category of Outstanding Video Game! [source] “The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community and the issues that affect their lives.”
Text in image reads:
"Outstanding Video Game [nominees]
- Caravan SandWitch (Studio Plane Toast / Dear Villagers)
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts) – WINNER
- Dread Delusion (Lovely Hellplace / DreadXP)
- Dustborn (Red Thread Games / Spotlight by Quantic Dream)
- Fear the Spotlight (Cozy Game Pals / Blumhouse Games)
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine / Square Enix)
- Minds Beneath Us (BearBone Studio)
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)
- Sorry We’re Closed (à la mode games / Akupara Games)
- Until Then (Polychroma Games / Maximum Entertainment)"
Part 1 is HERE. I had no intention of adding to it originally but as it turns out there was more. And by more i mean the hidden mosaics from the Trespasser DLC. I had seen them before, when they were found years ago, but found them again last night and made the connection.
First i'd like to tie in my Evanuris who's who post, where i assign the "crowns" to each Evanuris the way it makes the most sense to me.
The Trespasser DLC is where we learn some details about Fen'Harel's rebellion, and where Solas comes out as Fen'Harel himself. He doesn't speak of allies, and insists the Evanuris were all more or less awful. But nobody can provoke change in the world entirely on their own, rebellions are a group effort, and often times their victories are in no small part owed to inside intelligence.
So the hidden mosaics found in this DLC are 4 sets of different designs in four different versions, each crowned with a different Evanuris headpiece.
The first row shows the central design to be one of those elven trees, and the headpieces are, from left to right, Fen'Harel, June, Dirthamen and Sylaise (this is where my who's who post plays in). I am well aware the third one doesn't quite match what i think is Dirthamen's crown but seemingly fits Andruil's better, however i think in this case it has to be Dirthamen's for a very simple reason: Andruil was sided with Elgar'nan.
I think the triangular design in the center of that crown in these mosaics is there for a reason.
As i mentioned in my linked post:
Falon'din and Dirthamen: as Guide of the dead Falon'din is represented in the mosaics as holding a shepard’s staff so i assigned him the symbol closest to a staff. As for Dirthamen, as Keeper of Secrets he’s depicted in mosaics covering his mouth with both hands. On this first picture, simple 2D, neither headpiece can be fully appreciated, but one could say the “staff” one fits in the empty space of the other one, and these two were said to be inseparable, twin souls, with a bond that trascended any labels, shadow and reflection of one another.
That outlined triangle between the "horns" of this crown could be hinting at a missing part, Falon'din's. There's no reason why Andruil's would have something in there, no other depiction of her crown has anything in the middle.
Now back to the different designs, the round tree one reminds me of the same tree we see in the Crossrads in DAV, one modified by Solas or someone else in the rebellion to be able to hear Elgar'nan and the others' conversation, to eavesdrop on the enemy. This happens a few times during Veilguard and gives us a bit of an insight into the two Evanuris thinking and their relationship.
Next we have this one:
This is very clearly the erasing of the vallaslin from, presumably, rescued elven slaves. We see then each one of these Evanuris, plus Fen'Harel himself, now not just as a detached headpiece but with lines that continue down as if they were robes, and it almost looks like they're holding this round object, from which a stream falls right through the middle of the elf's face, as if washing the vallaslin away.
There's another depiction of this magic in a big mural
Note the stream of blue lines -the extracted vallaslin- from the elf's face to Fen'Harel's hand. And specially notice what's behind these elves. A body of water, with a foci in it. If we remember the scene at Crestwood where Solas erases Lavellan's vallaslin if she agrees to it takes place right next to a body of water, and while there's no foci being used, she does have part of its magic as the Anchor in her hand. The same elements repeat. I think we could say this is a baptism. There's water involved or present, Solas as Fen'Harel in this mural is basically cosplaying John the Baptist, with the fur and the wooden staff, and these elves -or Lavellan- are having a great sin -the slave markings put on them by those supposed to protect them- washed away from them, allowing them to start a new life, free of the lies and the pain of the past.
Next there's a funny one.
It's clearly Elgar'nan, look how angry he is. He even has sharp teeth.
He's in chains, hanging upside down. Three drops of something blue fall from him. Is it tears? Unlikely. Could be lyrium but by then he was more into the red variety. I think it might represent the others, the ones still on his side, falling with him: Andruil, Ghilan'nain and Falon'din. I doubt this is representing real facts, but more a desire, a goal, a reminder to those joining the rebellion: This is what will happen if we keep this up, we'll win, the evil shall be defeated. And i say this because we know what really happened, nobody was really winning that war, Solas took desperate measures because it was the most desperate of times, and he ended up imprisoning all of them, including the Evanuris that may have been contributing to his rebellion in secret. Although it could also be depicting one particular victory over Elgar'nan but we don't details on any particular instance, at least none that involved chains.
Lastly, the one that more strongly proves these four worked together.
The rebellion itself. A group of armed elves gathered around the figure of Fen'Harel standing amongst them. They're standing inside a circle, which in DA often represents a barrier, and I'm thinking this is the resistance gathered at the Lighthouse, or the Crossroads.
Seeing these mosaics now I can only intepret them to be of what i'm calling the Silent Resistance. There's no other conceivable explanation why the others would be represented with the same designs if they weren't somehow involved. It'd make sense if it was just Fen'Harel's versions, but why would any of the Evanuris be depicted in the same way? Unless they were on the same side doing the same things or contributing to the rebellion in some way. Like i've mentioned before
Sylaise may have provided shelter -the Lighthouse- and medicine or other forms of protection, June may have provided his tech and filled the Dread Wolf’s armories -as seen in Trespasser- and maybe Solas outsmarted him modifying the Vi'Revas as everyone thought or maybe June helped with the modifications himself, and Dirthamen may have aided with secrecy, for all we know maybe the reason the Lighthouse is hidden in the Fade is owed to a loan of Dirthamen’s magic, concealing it from the enemy’s eyes.
It has always puzzled me why Solas never really talked about these three, why there were so few stories if any about them, compared to Andruil or Ghilan'nain they had an suspicious lack of protagonism considering they were Evanuris too and their contributions to Elvhenan were considerable as well. Although all Evanuris were cruel and corrupted it's weird we have no stories of these three's evil deeds. During Blood of Arlathan in The Veilguard, when Elgar'nan invites Solas to join him in his new empire Solas replies "But it would not have Eluvians, will it? June built them, and now he is dead. Our great cities came from Sylaise. Our deepest mysteries from Dirthamen." Earlier he mentioned Andruil's corruption from the Blight and after this line he tells Elgar'nan he only has Ghilan'nain left and he can't build an empire by stitching monsters together.
While i'm sure Solas regrets the loss of all his people, despite how twisted they had become, it seems he perhaps laments the loss of June, Sylaise and Dirthamen a bit more.
Dragon Age: "Thank you SO MUCH for the love! 🏆 We've won four awards at #/CGA2025: Best Score/Soundtrack, Best Audio Design, Best Narrative, Most Innovative Studio" [source]
If anyone would like me to tackle anything on Dragon Age lore, this is the time to request it.
I analyze DA lore for free, btw, and this year I'll be working on a small passion project centered on that so I'll be in the mood (and if not, I'll beat myself into it anyway because I have set myself a deadline 😱). If I get any requests I can't guarantee they'll fit into that project but if I take a request I'll see it through regardless.
I just read this and there's new information here that really hits we may just have gotten the best possible outcome with The Veilguard.
It's one thing to know of Joplin and Morrison and lament every single could-have-been we see in the artbook, but now knowing Joplin was supposed to be one of three installments released in quick succession with short DLC or expansions developed in a even shorter time, and that it was all supposed to fit the live-service trend EA wanted to chase for $$$..I feel we missed several bullets now. I just don't even want to imagine what that kind of development in those time-frames would have done to Dragon Age. I think it would have really destroyed its spirit and the dev team as well.
We were just barely out of Anthem, the whole exposé of crunch in the industry happened and the development hells were fucking awful, "BioWare magic" was finally and very publicly acknowledged as a problematic, unhealthy practice...in that context releasing games and DLC like a machine gun shoots bullets would have caused a level of damage I can't even put into words. Yes, some ideas and visuals in the artbook sound and look amazing (except the submarine, come on guys that was silly), but if that's how things were planned to be it would have been nothing short of a disaster of its own and it would have only proven nobody had learned a single fucking lesson from past mistakes. DA2 is a one-time miracle, not really a viable model to replicate.
Instead of whatever Joplin was supposed to be we got a single, finished game, that suffered in it's development because of EA, what its earlier version was supposed to become, and grifters pushing rancid bigot takes with such a level of vitriol I'm surprised they still live considering the amount of poison they carry within, really. I'm sure if DAV had been the initial approach and had it been allowed to be a DA game more than an EA shareholders whim, it would have been near perfect.
I've said it before, that DAV got released as it was is nothing short of a freaking miracle. We got a good looking game with great and fun combat, like 90% of lore questions finally answered, a finished game, and a complete story with characters we already love and adore. I'll take that over part 1/3 with 18-months dev cycles pushed carelessly into the world to make EA the quick bucks.
Forgotten and Forbidden ones, the exiled waiting for their time to rise once the Evanuris eventually fall.
The artifact that Bellara recovers is an Archive spirit set in a crystal, the Nadas Dirthalen, "the inevitability of knowledge". It's set to know everything the maker of the artifact knows. When finally Bellara fixes it and they manage to get it to respond their queries we learn this one was made by Anaris. A Forgotten one known from a story where they and Andruil fight each other over Fen'Harel. From the Archive spirit words and some other codices Bellara translates it seems Anaris was a considerably arrogant elvhen noble who was also in rebellion against Elgar'nan but not on Solas' side, and had a very poor opinion of him; Anaris speaks of the Evanuris thus: "a group of cowards. Hiding behind their more 'powerful' magic and 'superior' numbers". And of Solas, he thinks he's "an ideologue and a fool who sill soon pay the price" but still as the spirit tells us "when Anaris dispatches the Evanuris, he will spare a thought for Fen'Harel".
The name Anaris appears very little, in that dalish tale, in the elvhen word "Bellanaris" meaning "eternity" and in Fen'Harel's secret meeting wich has no official translation, that it goes "Ar-melana dirthavaren. Revas vir-anaris". I can offer an attempted translation as "I promise now/My promise. Freedom through the years". If Bellanaris means eternity and elvhen is actually a cypher anaris might come from anni, anno, years. Bellanaris/eternity is an abundance of years, or no end to years. The bell part must be that bit while anaris might be just the years. Yet it says vir-anaris, no -an suffix indicating a place, as the Vir is often used to mean the path of/to. Solas became Fen'Harel with the rebellion so if this is his secret greeting it could be a promise to all who joined him that through their efforts they'd achieve freedom in time and hopefully one that'd last. He's always been sensible enough not to speak in absolutes, he wouldn't promise eternal freedom without knowing for sure he could sustain it, so promising freedom in time, like eventually, if one joined his rebellion, makes sense. (I do my elvhen translations with the wiki, autism and vibes, sorry)
I find it very curious that when we first meet Anaris in Veilguard he mentions that "the sixth and seventh" got out, which allowed him to escape as well. The ones who escaped are Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, the first and last of the Evanuris ranks respectively, why is Anaris refrerring to them as sixth and seventh? Adding this to how his Nadas Dirthalen is referred by Bellara as "the eighth" archive spirit makes it weirder because all Evanuris were supposed to have their own Archive, so would that make Anaris like a low rank Evanuris himself? One that didn't make it into the top 7? Oh but wait, the Evanuris were 8, if we count Mythal, so why is Anaris's Archive the 8th? It'd seem the Veil Jumpers are not considering Mythal as an Evanuris or presuming one of them didn't have an Archive to begin with. It just seems weird and implies the ranks may have been less rigid than originally thought. Anaris is also called "noblest of nobles" and granted that may be his ego at work but maybe the Evanuris weren't just the elvhen self-proclaimed gods but their nobility, the highest class, of which a select few were at the very top and made it into history known as "The Creators".
Now, the post-credits scene is short but telling. It's unlocked by finding three codices about mysterious circles, found in the chamber where we fight The Formless One necro dragon, in an isle with a puzzle in Arlathan Forest and in the Crossroads after defeating the revenant Betrayal of Felassan. Each time a codex is found a disembodied creepy voice makes a comment that tries without success to reassure Rook there's no reason to alarm.
It's the Executors, those across the sea. Throughout the game they've had a silent presence in various codices and mentions, and it's revealed they were around even in Evanuris' time. They were a problem even back then. In the scene, that voice speaks in plural, "we", and mentions the storm has been quelled, the sun has been dimmed and the wolf has been defanged, while showing pictures of Ghilan'nain, Elgar'nan and the Dread Wolf, respectively. Then the voice claims they've "balanced, guided, whispered"..as the images show two or more figures appearing over images of the Magisters Sidereal ritual, Loghain at Ostagar surrendering King Cailan, Bartrand with the red lyrium idol in his hand..Corypheus, Mythal, the Breach..basically declaring they have shaped every major event in thedosian history for a long, long time.
The figures are cloaked in white and grey, hooded, wearing grey masks with what seem to be mutiple holes placed at random -as in, not pretending to be eyes-, and the pauldrons very much look like the ones in ancient elvhenan armor. So who could be wearing armor with ancient elvhen design elements, been around since the Evanuris time being at war with them, working from afar to shape history, and now feeling free to do their thing as the Evanuris are no more? Is it the Forgotten ones? Or more Forbidden ones? The latter are said to be just four -Gaxkang, Xebenkeck, Imshael and the Formless One. And the Forgotten ones are said to be like the Evanuris, their counterparts in a way, and are supposedly trapped in the Abyss. But the thing is throughout all of the games not once does Solas mention them. The only Forgotten one we found so far is Anaris, and he was not far behind in horrors from the Evanuris either. Other Forgotten ones names are Daern'thal and Geldauran. Considering Solas doesn't mention them being locked up, and his focus lies solely on his fellow Evanuris, i'm considering the possibility that, as is custom now, history was passed down with errors. Solas didn't lock up the Forgotten ones in the Abyss, but the Forgotten ones, much like the Forbidden four, must have been exiled, or exiled themselves -like Geldauran- in wait for the day when the Evanuris fell under their own crushing weight.
Maybe the story mentioning the Evanuris counterparts being locked in the Abyss was a form of passing down the fact they were blighted, because the Blight allegedly came from the Abyss. The maligned aspects of the benevolent Creators may have been in fact the Creators themselves, once corrupted by the Blight. Veilguard confirms their prison, Arlathan, the Golden City, has been Black with the Blight all along. That ever since the sundering of the Titans the Blight resided there with the Evanuris and reached Thedas only after the Magisters Sidereal broke into Solas' prison. The Evanuris were therefore imprisoned with their big bad blight. And that's maybe why Solas never spares a word for the Forgotten ones because he hasn't forgotten them, they're the Evanuris themselves, in their most terrible, sadistic, blighted aspect, the last they ever had, the reason they had to be locked away. Solas didn't trap anyone in the Abyss, the Evanuris had brought the abyss back to Elvhenan to exploit it, to use its power, the power of the Blight. The Evanuris and the Forgotten ones therefore may very well be the same thing. The powerful weapon with which Fen'Harel lured both groups may have been the lyrium dagger, and other "frogotten ones" like Geldauran and Daern'thal may have been much like Anaris, Evanuris wannabes, the competition that wasn't up to their level, so they went away.
Anaris' ego tho is freaking terrible, he must have been a spirit of sheer arrogance.
Anyway, now that the Evanuris are gone, and the Dread Wolf is locked away too, these unknown group feels free to act. All the "guidance" they've been doing from the shadows reminds me of Mythal's nudging of history. The first contact we had with them was in Inquisition, when they started leaving the triangles and lines symbols at Inquisition outposts, and when they took everyone stationed there, seemingly without resistance, telling the Inquisitor that all those people joined them willingly, for a higher purpose. We know now that mindcontrol was an ancient elvhen favourite. That enslaving or subjugating others was their bread and butter, with vallaslin, with binding masks like the one Anaris used of Cyrian. Maybe the reason there was no resistance at that outpost is because they were mindcontrolled to just get up and leave. And even then the "executors" spoke of an oncoming storm we had to get ready for. Back then everyone imagined it was Corypheus, the Breach, and all that. But now we can safely say the "storm" was Ghilan'nain, as that's how they refer to her in this scene.
As for the "wolf defanged" there's a curious choice of words. Solas as a wolf didn't lose his fangs, he's simply locked away, they could have said "the wolf, imprisoned", "the wolf, caged", even "the wolf, tamed" as he's with Lavellan who's the only with power enough to change his mind. But they said "the wolf, defanged". When fixing the Vi'Revas at the Lighthouse the Caretaker notices Rook has "the wolf's fang", meaning the lyrium dagger. I doubt that's the dagger's name, Solas wouldn't call it that as he didn't choose the Wolf name, it was imposed on him by evanuris propaganda and his rebels and he embraced it because it was useful -at the insistence of Felassan tho-. So the executors saying the wolf is defanged may not mean he's defeated or harmless now, it might just mean he no longer has the dagger, and therefore poses no real threat, as without it he can't cut open the Veil and get out.
I once proposed "those across the sea" could be Evanuris Loyalists that escaped to the East, beyond the Amaranthine. Now i have to rephrase it and say maybe "those across the sea" where the Evanuris competition, rivals that coveted their position and power. I think it's from my Blight post where i point out the pattern of the Blights moving east, like i initially thought maybe the Archdemons where aiming towards a last bastion of their masters or being drawn there for some reason but what if the motive was not to join allies but to strike enemies? The true forgotten ones who abandoned physical form during the Evanuris war with the Titans, the ones who like Geldauran exiled themselves in waiting for a moment where the Evanuris were no more so they could rise instead
Their pride will consume them, and I, forgotten, will claim power of my own, apart from them until i strike in mastery -Geldauran's Claim).
The spirits design in Inquisition was generally that of an ethereal translucid skeletal apparition just floating around. In Veilguard, demons are portrayed as glowing, floating nervous systems wearing a cloak . Solas himself in his spirit form is portrayed as a flying nervous system, extending into a couple of wings, a long tail, with 6 eyes where a head should be. So if the Forgotten ones are those who -much like the Forbidden ones which may have been the same thing- abandoned their physical forms to return to a spirit form, abandoned the people, the Evanuris and their awful war and exiled themselves far away from it all, it'd make sense that they are now portrayed as fully cloaked figures wearing masks, not letting an inch of skin show. The Executor that shows in Tevinter Nights is fully covered as well. Maybe this is because they don't have a body, they're those same nervous systems that just wear a cloak to have a bit more presence. Like the Caretaker or Vorgoth do.
Also, it's clear in Veilguard that triangles, golden ones specifically, are a staple of Elvhen design, they're everywhere. The Executors' symbol in this scene is a downwards black triangle crossed over by two white lines that open a bit in the middle, as if outlining an eye. I really think now it's most likely they are indeed the Evanuris competition -i don't say opposition because that would be Solas' rebellion; this other group may have opposed the Evanuris but only because they coveted their position of power, they didn't want to depose the Evanuris but take their place instead.
The Veil is a barrier between the Fade and the physical world.
The Veil is a wall between two realms of opposite natures.
The Veil is a wound inflicted upon the world by a desperate man performing a ritual that didn't work as intended.
In his desperation to seal the blighted Black City and the Evanuris he ended up sealing the entire Fade, a barrier that was meant to separate the blighted from the rest of the world ended up separating the entire Fade from the rest of the world, destroying an old empire but simultaneously defining the future of new ones, reshaping the very nature of the world itself.
Solas' lyrium dagger is a very special item. Most likely crafted from pure lyrium directly from a Titan, from the time of Titans, maybe even from the same mine we saw in Trespasser. This dagger pre-dates the end of the war, it was crafted precisely in an attempt to end it, and all it really did was sunder the Titans, sever their link to the Fade, leaving behind inert mountains and blighted dreams full of fear and anger, festering through the ages. The lyrium dagger can be used to open the Veil possibly because -all magic aside- it's the blood of Titans trying to reach their stolen dreams.
Now, the dagger was not meant to kill, not really, only incapacitate a perceived threat. The first time its blade tasted blood may have been when the Evanuris turned on Mythal and killed her with it. Thousands of years later may have passed until now. After being recovered and cleansed of the blight, the first blood the blade tasted was Varric's, a dwarf. The purest lyrium in existence in present Thedas extracted from Titans during their time got in contact with a child of the Stone's flesh and blood. I can only imagine the effect it had on Varric in his final moment. Then when it gets in contact with another dwarf it was with Harding, and I think it picked up on her pain over Varric's death, and connected her with the Stone directly. Unable to save Varric this time it saved Harding and tried to restore her, awakening her heritage long lost and forgotten.
Some people saw it coming and others were shocked to learn of Varric's fate near the end of the game, but i think not all can be pinned on Solas' manipulation. He may have taken advantage of Rook's own shock and denial, planted an illussion in their head that Varric was still around but in no way was Solas controlling said illussion. The Varric Rook kept seeing and talking with was more like a projection of their own memories of him, and their time together. And maybe, there was something more.
I can't help but entertain the idea that at the time of his death, with the Veil open, in touch with pure lyrium from Titans' time, maybe Varric's spirit did enter the Fade, in some way. Solas may have manipulated Rook during most of the game but that doesn't explain how or why Varric can guide Rook in the Fade prison.
To say Varric has only been Rook's imagination fueled by guilt and denial and manipulated by Solas through blood magic really doesn't explain some things Varric says that Solas would never admit to, or how Varric guides Rook in the prison OR Varric narrating the entire game all the way down to the epilogue, even after we all learn he's been dead the whole time. I get it that the narrator part is a callback to DA2 and possibly meant to also trick the player into thinking Varric survived after all but I think there's more. Knowing Varric is no more, who's the omniscient narrator that keeps spoiling stuff after every main and companion quest? A spirit perhaps? Watching everything from the Fade, inspired by one of Varric's main attributes, the storyteller one. Or maybe his own spirit survived and the dagger connected him to the Fade at the last moment..
I think the text we get with Hawke's armor at the Lighthouse, where Neve suggests we might have a friend in the Fade, may be Varric's spirit. He's granted Rook the armor Hawke wore as champion of Kirkwall -maybe just a replica- because the similarities between Rook and Hawke are undeniable, in terms of both circumstances and personality. DAV is where we got ALL the purple back, and where we got the comedy mask dialogue options back. We can have Purple Rook just like we had Purple Hawke. And Varric's last word was "Rook"; if someone's gonna be looking after a friend even after their death that would be him.
Sure, it could just be a random spirit with a helping nature, but if holding the dagger for two seconds reconnected Harding to the Stone, just try to imagine what that dagger directly to the chest of a dwarf could do, while the Veil is opened in the background.
Veilguard, and the artbook too, leave little room to this topic but I have a thing or two to add anyway.
The Evanuris are gone; Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan both killed by the Veilguard, Flemythal gone since Inquisition, and as we learned now the others still in the prison possibly dead or too far gone from the Blight to count as living. Oh, and Solas trapped in the Fade for eternity. But are all of them truly lost and gone?
In Inquisition Solas is very much against the Warden’s plan of preemptively killing the Archdemons to prevent future Blights, he’s very vocal about it but somehow not worried enough, if that makes sense. As if killing the archdemons beforehand is something he’d lament for the creatures themselves, and not for something more. Veilguard shows us the Old Gods, the “archdemons” were the Evanuris’ “dragon thralls”, a thrall is someone bound in service, under someone else’s power. The Evanuris bound powerful dragons to themselves. I was right about it, the Old Gods were the Evanuris draconic mounts or vessels as I called them, sort of like their pets, but bigger and adding to their power with their own. It’s implied very subtly that the reason why the Evanuris were immortal was because of these dragons, much like how an Archdemon’s soul can jump into the nearest blighted creature and live on, the same applied to the Evanuris; if slain, they could use their dragons to keep going. An archdemon is a lesser creature by comparison so that might explain why their souls could use any other blighted creature, or a Warden, but an Evanuris spirit must be very loaded, too much to contain, which would be the reason why they had dragons as vessels, should they need them.
Solas points out in order to defeat these two Rook had to first get rid of their dragons, to make them mortal. It isn’t until Razikale is slained that Ghilan’nain learns she can bleed, and later be killed. It isn’t until Solas defeats Lusacan that Elgar’nan can be defeated. Through the Blight and all their magic the Evanuris had linked their immortality to their dragons, but failed to consider making their dragons immortal as well.
So what does this mean to the other Evanuris? Where are they? Solas’ reaction in Inquisition, in retrospective, doesn’t strike me as that of someone who knows killing their thralls kills them too. But if they’re all blighted, and the worst of the Blight is contained in the same prison they were in for millennia, and killing their dragons makes them mortal….could it be the other Evanuris died from the Blight itself? Once their dragons were slained they became mortal, and nothing else was there to protect them from the Blight, and that’s why Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain whose dragons still remained where the ones to survive this long, and therefore the only ones left standing when Solas opened the Veil. In a letter to Elgar’nan once they got out Ghilan’nain expresses her wishes of building a monument to Andruil in their new empire, because she’s dead. Now I wonder was Andruil dead before or did she die while in the black city, after her dragon Andoral was slained, leaving her susceptible to the Blight? If she was the one who first caught the Blight, made herself an armor of it, went mad from it...when exactly did she pass? From Solas’ regret murals she’s inlcuded in the imprisonment, so this is a bit confusing.
Also, was Ghil always so tentacly and limby? If making creatures and enhancing them is her one true passion, did she, perhaps, add limbs and tentacles enhancing herself with the remains of the fallen Evanuris? Are her extra arms and extended torso contributions from Andruil’s corpse?? She makes no mention of having her added to herself, but the sickening love was there, and she’s very cold when it comes to materials; maybe she identified the Andruil she loved was no longer in that body, and took the body for parts. I feel somehow someone so obssessed with enhancing and monstermaking could not spend millennia trapped in a bubble without doing something. And if the people around her continued to just drop dead, maybe she did do something...She wouldn’t do it to Elgar’nan though, so she did it to herself. She’s ...very much capable of it.
But then, where does this dying with no dragon while imprisoned leave June? The soul of his dragon could be preserved, through the OGB ritual, and we see Flemythal passing a soul through an Eluvian, to where? If Urthemiel’s soul persists, could it be possible June’s does too? They were spirits first, and when spirits die they become fragments of a whole. Is Urthemiel’s soul just chilling in the Fade, oblivious to it all, or did Mythal send it elsewhere? One of her daughters had a dragon sanctuary, what if that’s where it went? What if Mythal granted Urthemiel a new body, therefore perhaps saving June’s spirit?
I suspect the reason June got all those mentions in Veilguard all of a sudden may be related to that scene in Inquisition, to Urthemiel's soul retrieved from OGB Kieran and presumably sent away by Flemythal. And maybe, just maybe, however small, there's a chance June is the last remaining Evanuris, still in slumber in the original prison, and if Solas is now on the same side of the Veil doing his best to calm the Blight, what if he wakes up?
I'm ready for Dragon Age 5: Arts&Crafts with June, i'd play the hell out of that.
Ever since Inquisition, and specially the Temple of Mythal scenes, I've entertained the possibility that some Evanuris were let's say just a wee bit nicer than the others, and on this I do take Solas' word like it's set in stone because he's a primary source, their last contemporary. Yes, he lies and manipulates, but he never does that without a reason and when he speaks from emotion is when there's a higher chance he slips up. So when he speaks of the Evanuris' evil, sadistic ways I believe him. When he says Andruil was also a goddess of sacrifice and Falon'din was so vain he instigated wars so more people would worship him as Guide of the Dead, I believe him. Mostly, I believe these people did things that angered him considerably, that he condemns their ways so badly that even thousands of years later and with them already dead and gone Solas can't keep his opinion of their character to himself.
So considering how Solas doesn't hold back talking the awful truth about the Evanuris I think there must be a reason why he has zero to say about three of them: Sylaise, June and Dirthamen.
While he insists they were all awful it's clear the ideals of those three may have been the most harmless -home, hearth and architecture, protection and preservation for Sylaise, arts and crafts, beauty for June, silence and secrets, privacy and confidentiality for Dirthamen...compared to vengeance, retribution, sacrifice and unethical science from the others..-
..and that reason for Solas to hold his tongue against those three may be that they contributed to his rebellion in secret, behind Elgar'nan's back.
Sylaise may have provided shelter -the Lighthouse- and medicine or other forms of protection, June may have provided his tech and filled the Dread Wolf's armories -as seen in Trespasser- and maybe Solas outsmarted him modifying the Vi'Revas as everyone thought or maybe June helped with the modifications himself, and Dirthamen may have aided with secrecy, for all we know maybe the reason the Lighthouse is hidden in the Fade is owed to a loan of Dirthamen's magic, concealing it from the enemy's eyes.
Why would some Evanuris join Solas' rebellion? For starters, Elgar'nan was a tyrant, and nobody really loves a tyrant, they get support from others for as long as it's convenient for them. Still, Elgar'nan was dangerous enough that maybe denying him publicly represented too great a risk to take, even for other accomplished Evanuris.
The murals in Veilguard interestingly enough hint at a sort of clique: Elgar'nan, Ghilan'nain and Andruil.
Mythal was the most decent among them and unaware of their breaking of the seals when these three released the Blight so she wasn't part of the gang, and Falon'din was probably too busy feeding his vanity with the blood of the innocent. So where does that leave the other three? Well, until BW comes out to say any different, I'm assuming they supported Solas in secret.
Particularly Dirthamen, perhaps he joined the rebellion out of love for his brother, seeing how his new ways fueled by Elgar'nan's ambition and the blight's power was turning him into a vain deathbringer rather than the friend and guide of the dead he used to be. As for the couple's reason to join Solas in secret i guess it would be all the senseless destruction of the war, and the corruption of their creations at the hand of the blight-addicted evanuris; all the war and infighting destroying their precious cities, turning their beatiful works of art and craftsmanship into empty tools for killing. For instance, June's artifact that we can see during one of Bellara's quests in Arlathan Forest, his "Tear", has the power to separate an object into its various components and it may have been originally meant to gather materials, but in the hands of Ghilan'nain it would have turned to a much darker purpose, used on living beings to get body parts for her own creations.
Veilguard also has way too many casual mentions of June as well peppered around, possibly more than in all three previous games combined. He’s responsible for the Eluvians -made from two fragments of lyrium which used to be one, so that’s how two eluvians connect to each other. June also designed the light beams we use in Arlathan and the Crossroads for some puzzle solving. And the crystals we use to energize some doors and bridges...basically June seems to have designed Elvhenan’s whole tech and aesthetic. I couldn’t believe how all of a sudden he was the most mentioned Evanuris after the two that got out of the prison.
I always theorized that, due to how little protagonism and mentions they had, June and Sylayse may have been somewhat decent Evanuris. Most of their contributions were directly to the People, and to making everyday life a bit easier (medicine, shelter, tools, hunting). The couple are the most domestic of the group so it wouldn' be so weird they maybe cared for the people a bit more than the others. Solas insist they were all corrupted, sadistic, and freaking evil in their ways, and i'm sure Sylaise and June had their darker side (there's just enough on Veilguard to imply June may have used spirits for those beams of light and that's a bit creepy to think about). I've been keeping this inside since 2015 and i frankly never imagined Veilguard would have so much to add to it. Also, June's dragon was Urthemiel, the archdemon from the Fifth Blight, and its soul can be saved through Morrigan's ritual and if so, later extracted from Kieran by Flemeth in Inquisition. We still don't know where that soul ended up. All of a sudden June's become even more mysterious so there's a chance, however slim, that he could return somehow.
And as for Sylaise again, there's this codex in Veilguard and i want to focus on this part:
She was linked to someone only known as "the Healer", but this high-ranked ancient had their name magically erased from the records, apparently by order of no other than Elgar'nan. Just imagine who could elicit such a reaction from the Firstborn of the Elvhen. Surely someone known as a Healer is doing nothing wrong? Why bother erasing them from history like that? Unless...that was one of Solas' many titles.
This rang a bell so loud in my memory I just have to add it here, from Solas' Inquisition dialogue lines with Blackwall:
Solas: I wish to apologize for what I said to you, Blackwall.
Blackwall: You were right, though. I deserved it.
Solas: My people had a saying long ago - "The healer has the bloodiest hands." You cannot treat a wound without knowing how deep it goes. You cannot heal pain by hiding it. You must accept. Accept the blood to make things better. You have taken the first step. That is the hardest part.
Oh yes, he was a healer alright. Remember Solas often speaks from personal experience and his own memories, but presenting it more objectively, he tells on himself a lot and i think that was one of such instances where he's actually talking about himself.
That Sylaise codex in Veilguard turned out to be more about this unknown healer than about Sylaise herself and i think that's also of note because Solas says it himself in the prologue, "The Veil is a wound inflicted upon this world. It must be healed"...and he's trying to heal it, he's the only one who can.
He is the Healer, and his hands are bloddied.
I hope in time we get more info on that period of Elvhenan and on the other Evanuris and we can answer all the questions, or most of them at least.
