Some Trespasser Anchor Thoughts
I saw these hilarious posts which inspired me to share my own headcanon around this.
So I don't think removing the Anchor was possible before Trespasser because I don't think Solas knew how to. There's no evidence that he did.
In the *On Rifts and Rituals codex (which he writes sometime in the years after Trespasser), Solas is still mystified by the Anchor and studying it: "It may also yield the final elements that have eluded me." Everything about the Anchor bonding to the Inquisitor shouldn't have been possible in the first place. Corypheus couldn't remove it - "The Anchor is permanent. You have spoiled it with your stumbling" and neither could Solas at that time. Because I think Inky changed the Anchor. That spoiling line certainly makes it sound like it.
So I think the two years between DAI and Trespasser were spent searching for a way to separate the Anchor from Inky without killing them (amongst other activities of his). I don't believe Solas wanted the Inquisitor dead. If he did, they would be dead. I imagine him returning to the Lighthouse, consulting spirits, researching, doing experiments and trying to understand how to unweave the Anchor from their body.
Eventually he discovers a way to separate it, all while the Qunari situation is gaining speed. That's how I line up the timing of Trespasser.
As for why he removes the Anchor and leaves them there... yeah. Lol.
Solas is a strategist so he's going to look for solutions that accomplish several objectives at once. By the time he knows how to remove the Anchor without killing Inky, the Qunari threat has escalated, he needs the Inquisition involved, he needs to reach Inky, AND he still wants to tell Inky who he really is. Once Solas sees several paths converging, he's very good at positioning himself to benefit from all of them. The downside is that when he's focused on the larger pattern, he can lose sight of the more personal human cost - and he's a weird spirit alien man who isn't always good at the human side of things. He's also very good at compartmentalizing, which allows him to approach the Inquisitor as a problem that needs solving.
However, through a romance/friend lens, seeing that person he cares for/loves standing in front of him in pain is an entirely different matter. Suddenly he can't be as distant or clinical.
For me, every moment spent with a romanced Lavellan makes it harder for him to leave. Staying carries its own risks as well. If he returns Inky to the others himself, he's suddenly back among the people he spent two years avoiding. There would be questions, arguments, appeals to stay even, and before long he'd be pulled back into relationships and entanglements.
And ultimately, he's not a monster (fanfic preferences are one thing but I'm going on game context, text and dialogue). Whatever magic he applied, we see no blood in Trespasser. The arm is still engulfed in bright green magic, almost like a cocoon wrapped around it. Solas could have killed the Inquisitor there, but he didn't. Their death would've caused **unnecessary chaos, and he genuinely wanted the people of Thedas to experience relative calm before Veilfall. Narratively, it makes more sense to me that he'd ensure their survival until the others could reach them, opening the eluvians after he passed through his so the group could get to Inky.
I mean, it's still cruel - but that's the fun part to reconcile in a Solavellan world - I love how messy it is. 😂
This is the image after Solas removes the anchor. The magic around the arm is brighter and more expansive and the arm can still be seen.
I'd love to know how others reconcile this.
* I don't subscribe to the idea that Solas literally has the Inquisitor's arm. In Trespasser, Inky still has their arm when Solas leaves, and the grammar of the codex points to a remnant of the Anchor being studied alongside a sketch of the arm. I believe the Anchor was a physical magical glyph of sorts that had woven itself into the Inquisitor and could only be wielded by them. Otherwise, Corypheus could've just cut off Inky's arm and used it himself.
** Low approval Solas to Inky: "Ultimately, none but I could have borne the mark and lived. Your death would cause more senseless chaos, more bloodshed. It is unnecessary."
2087
snowghoul
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton
izzy806
prguitarman
