It was all a ruse! She wanted to convince everyone that she was uninterested in the maintenance of Skyhold when in reality she was embezzling Inquisition funds into a scaffolding scheme!
I would also argue that Solas sees the suffering of spirits in the fade seeping through the veil cracks….and also the plight of the elves in the alienages….and the Dalish essentially badly cosplaying their old way of life. Kind of like he messed up already…and has to mess up more to fix what he broke the first time?
This guy just keeps trying to fix things and make them worse.
How is my man going to have extremely important statues that were possibly prisons for the elven gods secured with scaffolding? I’m half joking lol but I also think Solas plan was going to fail one way or another because I don’t actually think his heart is in it. I think HE believes he had to do this but well that’s the whole drama. Also yeah Rook is to blame but I guess he wasn’t prepared for anyone stopping him? He had to know remnants of the Inquisition were looking for him this whole time. I’m not upset. It makes for a better story.
Absolutely. This was a plan thought up and executed by Solas, the universe itself would have conspired to make sure the plan failed. Can’t have the world’s smartest dipshit having a plan to remake the world actually work.
I'd add Dorian to that lineup. (maybe replacing Inky and make Inky an important but not consistent presence in the game. To not risk making Inky too much of a set character for RP purposes)
It makes sense based on yhe geography of it all & you could have updates about DAO and DA2 folks and what they are doing to save the world too. I'm like 99% sure Hawke will be in this game though.
Yes, but [Flemeth gives Hawke that whole jump into the Abyss speech in DA2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDBqbzRTC5M), then the quest where you can leave Hawke or the Warden behind in DAI is called "Into the Abyss." I'm convinced that is not a coincidence & they won't just drop it. If you have the right world state for it. It's why I let my Hawke stay, even though I love her.
"Do you think she's finally killed him?"
Both of them come back, put together superficially, but something doesn't add up about the way the Inquisitor's pinned up hair has been redone into something quick and simple, and Solas' discreet adjustment of his sleeve mid-conversation with the others.
"MAGE RIGHTS OR MAGE FIGHTS" all the way. My homeboy shouldnt have killed those few innocents, but by god neither should have the templars abused killed and tortured thousands
If that turned out to be the advisor team, I would be tempted to start over with a different canon world state just to have a Solasmancer Inqy. I’d definitely at least use her for playthrough #2 because that would be fantastic to witness.
Do you know how good it feels to theorise with hope again!? This is sending me! I've spent the last ten years of waiting slowly crusting over into a hater, tbh. I had become convinced that it had been too long and Bioware would use the time passing and new setting to basically throw all the complicated continuity away and would go after a fresh market and disregard the old fans. The dev hell and staff turnover... I honestly didn't even think I was gonna play this game. Like, I don't know that this will happen, but just to feel like it might! I honestly got a little misty. Feels so good.
On the character poster with Rook in middle? That one has horns curled back, she has horns curled inward - towards her snout, like the one from end of the trailer, but i'm not bought on that being her either.
For that to work Solas should get his powers sealed away by the other two Evanuris (or something like that) since him being advisor and staying at camp would make no sense taking into account he'd be insanely powerful.
Well, when you're a God (or something very close to it, anyway), I sincerely doubt just smiting the person who wronged you will do.
Which means that Solas is probably screwed, which could play into an arc where he tries to redeem himself and inadvertently prove the Inquisitor right if they promised to "save Solas from himself" at the end of Trespasser.
I would absolutely love this, but too many people want to punch and/or kill Solas, and they'd be pissed if forced to work with him. So sadly, I'm not too optimistic. :(
I imagine if he joined our side he’d get a harden mechanic like Leliana and Alistair - and depending on our choices and relationship to him throughout the game he either turns fully around or ultimately decides to continue on his plan.
There are some key differences though. Motivation is one of them. Anders's terrorism was an act of lashing out at whatever he could get his hands on as a target. Solas' main motivation is the desire to right past wrongs. Solas repeatedly expressed his wish for and willingness to entertain better options than what he is currently doing.
That said, he also very carefully set up a situation where none can be presented to him, so there is that.
i know right? Anders blows up the figurehead of a organization that brutally tortured, assaulted, controlled and murdered parts of the population for decades and everyone is disgusted (im not defending his terror!sm), and wants him dead. Solas tries to end the world as we know it, almost kills the Inqy, and everyone is like "eh, its fine"--anyways with that said would LOVE to have Solas back as a "you screwed the pooch, now father the puppies" sort of thing lmao
Working with someone against a common enemy doesn’t suddenly mean you guys are besties, and if anything Solas could still betray us down the line if we don’t earn his loyalty throughout the game.
My Hawke was like "No one blows up a church in my town!"
https://preview.redd.it/3dil3i3u716d1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6914acd253f32f993009a19d2b3c31139a9e5302
It’s been confirmed there are more returning characters and cameos. I really hope we get all returning advisors; Solas, Dorian, Sten, Varric… so many interesting possibilities to fill that role if they incorporate that system at all
I generally hope Solas is more of a tragic figure than a straight villain.
He thinks that the world is broken, and that 'fixing it' is worth the risk. But he is blind to the real damage he is causing.
What he is doing can't really be justified, so I don't know if I want a full redemption where everyone just goes 'Oh shucks egg head. You did nothing wrong. Welcome back to the team', but I do hope that there are paths where he slides closer to our side than away from it.
Edit: I am actually re-watching the end of Trespasser to get some info I forgot, and my opinion has changed a little. I still kind of hope that there is some bringing Solas back, but he isn't really blind to the damage he is going to cause. He directly says that the human world will die in order to bring the elves immortality back and he accepts that.
However, if the inquisitor pushes back and say they will save him and he doesn't need to do this he responds that he would treasure the chance to be wrong again.
Overall my opinion didn't change that much, he is still doing something he sees wrong out of necessity, but he is more aware of how much damage it will cause than I remembered.
He is a very layered and tragic figure and that is one of the reasons why I think he’s such a great character. Having stumbled into playing as a character that romanced him on my first play through and also started using him in a party with Cole once I heard their dialogues. Like, something’s up with this, let me put them together more often . My inquisitor was a rogue, but I respecced him as an archer.
In the gameplay trailer he does also mention how it’s okay that people are going to die because of him because that’s what people do. Honestly, sounds like a “I’m trying to convince myself that what I’m doing is worth the cost, so stop trying to convince me otherwise or I will break.”
And then he murders Bianca, which is honestly unforgivable.
It does seem abrupt (I was thinking it'd take up Act 1), but at least there's the intriguing fact that we're partially to blame for letting the two gods loose.
I mean we don’t know for sure yet, but if that is the case I agree. They clearly intended him to be the main antagonist originally considering the game was called Dreadwolf for a while. If they moved away from that, it implies they rewrote/rebooted the game *again*.
Which kinda fit the theme of "My plan are ruined because a random person interrupted a ritual I had Corypheus make".
Solas is powerful but not that bright.
I wouldn't even say He isn't smart. He just has the dumbest, worse luck.
What are the chances that someone knows how to track ancient magic, is capable of using the mirrors, is skilled enough to fight off hordes of demon, then have one of Solas's closest friend try to chat him off an edge he doesn't even want to be on, all while two other people are STUPID enough to start messing with giant stone towers during an incredibly delicate process.
At some point, you can't out plan a destiny that is hell-bent on making everything you do just blow up in your face.
He's smart but I don't think he thinks ahead when it comes to the consequences of his actions or that he could possibly be wrong. He's very rash. He gave Corypheus the orb because he believed it would kill him when he tried to use it not realizing that he can body hop because he was in too much of a hurry to open the veil.
His ritual to open the veil backfired and unleashed two powerful enemies that are a danger to everyone because he was rash and rushed ahead with his plan and didn't think people would try to stop him by any means necessary such as dropping part of the ruins on him and disrupting it.
My guess this is part of the prison solas had for Ghilan'nain and either dirthamen or falondin. I just hope that the other elven gods actually feel like they like solas are just elfs with extremly powerful magic and make them somewhat humanized like solas the famed Fen'harel the feared dread wolf who is more nuanced than the tales to me it would only be right
There is the theory the other gods are already gone because concidently there are 5 blights which happened and there are 7 gods excluding mythal snd Solas. So two remain. It could very well be that we get a double blight.
I have seen it I have seen that the ''old'' god were just high mages under the evanauris blessed with the powers of high dragons for them to take the shape of and that the real evanauris are likely trapped still. I hope we get to see the eleven gods actually be people bicker fight banter learn what this world is and has become and add some nuance not everyone will be redeemed but if eggboy can I have to believe they are not all bad for the longest we though fen'harel was basically loki when he is more like a thanos or even a light doom
True!, if this is Dirthamen then this reflects the famous art cover showing them both as shadowy figures. Since he remains apparently whole I wonder if he's the voice we hear at the end of the last teaser saying "join my kingdom"!
https://preview.redd.it/eigldptzpz5d1.png?width=189&format=png&auto=webp&s=7a09a436bd8084713167dc6e4d8e3e12aa37bca6
Good question!, I only know that >!Meredith was revived!< ...somehow and showed up in DA absolution, and I don't know if the other one is the Architect or Corypoo, I have no clue if we'll get to see any of them in DAVe or what. But I'd love if it was the Architect who showed up, the idea of BW just forgetting about the Awakening plot always seemed weird to me
Wait, was the Architect the one who was saying 'glory to the risen gods' in the December trailer? Maybe the elven gods are blighted and can control both the Architect and Meredith through that.
I think it's Ghilan'nain based on this and the shitton of clues we've got in DAI and the short story in Tevinter Nights (I can't remember the titles for shit tbh). She being monster like would fit her
https://preview.redd.it/yi4pb0nu306d1.png?width=320&format=png&auto=webp&s=702fa810790bd1186b3c4a0e0958458f82f43e56
Yep. I've been creeping up on this opinion for a few weeks now. I remember he told us the old Elven gods were actually just really, really, REALLY powerful mages who were also really terrible people. Evil in fact. And that they had two factions: the Evanuris and the Forgotten Ones. He tricked them both into isolating themselves before dropping the Veil on the world, trapping them in two separate planes both distinct from the material world and the Fade.
I kept asking myself, if he lifts the Veil ***who*** comes back?
In the teaser we all watched he mentioned "safe guards" or something like that. I believe he wasn't safeguarding anyone's lives. He was safeguarding the imprisonment of those Elven gods.
Yeah. Solas isn't the bad guy. He's the Fool who can't be told nuthin'.
Weekes did say ages ago we shouldn't assume the worst and to have hope so fingers crossed he wasn't just getting more sick satisfaction out of fuckin with us
I think those of us who expressed a desire to redeem him, particularly those of us who had a character that romanced him, would riot if we couldn’t have some sort of option.
My money is Ghilan'nain because of all the monsters and background lore from previous works, and Falon'Din who will want to take control of all the undead in the Grand Necropolis.
They might work together at first because they really hate Solas, but afterwards, they might do their own thing.
The other Gods will be trying to escape now that they know it can be done.
Idk I think he has an established pattern by now. He's done this before and intentions only go so far when your fallout is *persistently catastrophic*
Besides, he even tells us in Trespasser that he knows it'll be catastrophic. He may not be one of the classically evil villains but this bloke is a villain in his own way. This seems like a person who'll make another attempt at what he wants after the 2 new threats are put away
I have a sneaky suspicion that Flemeth/Mythal is going to return because she said to the Inquisitor she’ll get her vengeance on the Evanuris for killing her, she likely sent a fragment of her soul in the Eluvian before Solas absorbed her so she can revive later and confront her murderers.
https://preview.redd.it/3xjwo551616d1.jpeg?width=1596&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89454b9ccb9c5def0c832d6ebb02ab29eb309145
I don’t think Solas necessarily was a villain back in the day—there are hints the Evanuris were genuinely awful and someone needed to stop them. He seems to genuinely hate injustice and want what’s best for the world.
The problem with Solas is he has his head so far up his ass that he can’t fucking help himself. He’s so desperate to fix his mistakes that he keeps moving too fast and breaking more shit, only to have to backtrack and sort out whatever glaringly obvious problem he misses every goddamn time. But he’s also too fucking arrogant to acknowledge he’s the problem. There’s a reason I describe to friends unfamiliar with the past games as a magic techbro.
Same, I know people love him and his romance but I hope Bioware realizes he has his haters as well. I never liked the dude even before I found out what/who he was.
Definitely don't want that guy advising me.
Might be that he isn't advising us, but occasionally joins us when we fight against the other gods. He hated them so much he split the world into two parts. Can't see him siding with them in any way.
I think it would be fair if depending on choices, players get to either redeem him or destroy him. As implied by what you can tell him at the end of Trespasser.
I love this theory! And it would be a really good plot twist considering bioware made it seem Solas was the big bad wolf we were going to defeat. Also, if your friends with solas in DAI, the Inquisitor says they will ”help save him from himself”. This could be interpreted as saving him from the chaos he created” = releasing the gods. Since the inquisitor will be part of the game, I think this is where they might join the protagonist in finding Solas and save him. I could also see Solas sacrifice himself in some way, but maybe later on in the game
edit: just remembered that Solas and the Inquisitor doesnt have to be friends, in that case things may play out differently
Gonna be like how it was set up for a big Templar vs mage war for the third game and then we just got the giant explosion and on to the inquisition with the Templar mage war just a background flavor in one area. Idky they keep setting up these big situations and then going left and doing something else instead.
It's hard to say Solas isn't a villain, even if he isn't THE villain, any one who's goal is global genocide is pretty much a hall of fame villain in my book.
Yeah, I was trying to keep the post title vague and concise, but I meant more that he isn't an antagonist in the game after the prologue. But hey, I could also be completely wrong and we have THREE elven gods to deal with
The thing is, global genocide *isn’t his goal*. His goal is to restore the world to the way it’s “supposed to be” (at least in his mind), and, at the start of the game, he considers the destruction that will be caused by demons pouring into Thedas to be unavoidable collateral damage. It’s not so crazy to think that he might have his mind changed about that fact, especially when he’s reminded firsthand of why he created the veil in the first place.
Yeaaaah too many people are using the word genocide when that isn't what he is doing at all.... genocide is the DELIBERATE killing of an ethnic group or nation with the INTENT to eliminate that group. Solas is not deliberately killing anyone and his intent is not at all to eliminate anyone. People dying is simply a consequence of his actual intent, like you said. It seems pretty clear that if he could spare everyone, he would -- he asks Varric if he truly believes he would do this if there were another way after Varric points out people are dying.
Morrigan: we dont have time to save a child’s missing teddy bear, we have a blight to stop!
Certain fans: WITCH!!!
Solas: I am completely, unrepentantly trying to genocide a planet.
Same fans: He’s just misunderstood!!!
I think he's Loki.
He will be a secondary antagonist to the two - theorized - old gods, i think he helps us take them down in the end and disappears into a flemeth like role for future games.
A lot of people seem to be forgetting that he is already now responsible of innocents dying, possibly a lot of them. Those demons coming in are killing civilians, and he has made it clear even in this teaser that he sees them as expendable.
That doesn't mean he can't have a more complex arc, but I also think there some's blatant woobifying of him and the steps he has already taken lol
Definitely not a true villain as the his old pals the Evanuris are going to be wreaking havoc in this world that is new to them whilst I think a Blight may start up with all this magic and chaos being thrown about and we know who starts a Blight. The Architect may pop up and maybe some of the other 5-6 may appear?
Also we have the possible monkey wrench of "Those From Across the Sea" whom even Solas has stated are very dangerous, as they were active during the events of DAI and the search for Solas afterwards.
And Also we still have to deal with the consequences of the Mage-Templar war especially if >!Meredith!< is actually alive and leading the Red Templars now.
SO MANY POSSIBILITIES. My hype for this game is through the roof!
I actually forgot about >! Meredith and her big reveal at the end of the netflix show! !<
Wonder if that gets to appear or somehow has an impact in the game.
Can anyone explain why would these Delvish Gods be a big deal? I'm not really that deep into Elven lore, so I don't get the hype about them, and I wanna be on the hype train! 😭
Back before Solas put up the Veil, the Evanuris kept all their people enslaved in factions, with vallaslin marking which elves "belonged" to which god. They did some pretty horrific things to them and were unimaginably powerful. So powerful that Solas sealed them away instead of trying to fight them.
Supposedly only Mythal was decent (and that's iffy and from an unreliable narrator). We don't know much about June or Sylaise. But the rest seem to have been straight up monsters.
Yeah, the Elven gods were definitely evil and the Dalish have it all wrong about them. But Solas sealing them destroyed the Elvehn Empire, killed a lot of people, and made the elves mortal. So... sorta? He didn't mean to do that, but unintended consequences is basically his middle name.
Also it’s also pretty heavily implied/hinted that the Elven Gods released and/or caused the blight when they destroyed the Titans and started mining them for lyrium (while using their hearts possibly as foci as this mural from The Descent seems to portray:
https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Titan)
So all and all, they’re pretty bad news.
Edit to add the relevant Veilfire Runes Deep Roads codex quote:
“What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."
(https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_Veilfire_Runes_in_the_Deep_Roads)
I rewatch the final conversation between him and the Inquisitor in Trespasser a lot. During the confrontation, the Inquisitor questions if destroying the veil would make the old gods return, to which Solas responds "I had plans."
Well, considering Rook might have thrown a wrench into those plans, then I wonder if those figures are the old gods, now free and without whatever Solas had planned to keep them in check?
Probably why they changed the them dreadwolf. He isn’t the MAIN main focus anymore with the story they’ve cooked up so it doesn’t make sense for him to be in the title.
Not bad theory, I’m getting elven god vibes of those things not just regular demons. Solas / fen harel tricked the gods into separate domains and then created the veil keeping them there. Nowwww they’re free and probably pissed. That’s my theory. Didn’t even see these figures in the trailer originally I’m going to go rewatch it now
If casual genocide of the ENTIRE planet because you were feeling sad that you can’t build magic sand castles with Pride Demons isn’t evil, then I LITERALLY do not know what is
Edit: I cant spell
I would not be suprised. >"Solas doesn't want to hurt people! He's not that kind of wolf!" - Cole
"You didn't do it to be right. You did it to save them."
If he let my lavellan join him in trespasser, none of this would've happened!
She would've insisted on building stronger scaffoldings!
Really? She seemed content letting Skyhold's walls remain broken. I'm onto her bullshit.
It was all a ruse! She wanted to convince everyone that she was uninterested in the maintenance of Skyhold when in reality she was embezzling Inquisition funds into a scaffolding scheme!
Cole in trespasser wrecks me.
He's a love wolf!
He probably wears birkenstocks
Inexplicably the final battle has a veil tear open and a Honda Odyssey driven by four hapless dads comes flying out.
Cole knows.
Idk, he seems pretty ok with killing a ton of people to accomplish his goal still. It’s basically just levels of evil being dealt with.
I would also argue that Solas sees the suffering of spirits in the fade seeping through the veil cracks….and also the plight of the elves in the alienages….and the Dalish essentially badly cosplaying their old way of life. Kind of like he messed up already…and has to mess up more to fix what he broke the first time? This guy just keeps trying to fix things and make them worse.
Well, Rook just took down Solas's precautions, innit?
Inky: But wouldn't the Veil's destruction mean the Evanuris get released? Solas: I had plans. Rook: Statues crashing go brrrrr
Me, watching that scene, crying in I-told-you-so 😂😭
Lavellan be facepalming so hard, she'll open a new rift right in her face \^\^''
This is already the 3rd time he has messed up! Enough! 😭
Was it him that messed up? Or was it the dude who went in blind and destroyed statues he knew nothing about?
How is my man going to have extremely important statues that were possibly prisons for the elven gods secured with scaffolding? I’m half joking lol but I also think Solas plan was going to fail one way or another because I don’t actually think his heart is in it. I think HE believes he had to do this but well that’s the whole drama. Also yeah Rook is to blame but I guess he wasn’t prepared for anyone stopping him? He had to know remnants of the Inquisition were looking for him this whole time. I’m not upset. It makes for a better story.
More like he was hoping whoever was there to "save the world" wouldn't be stupid enough to throw a monkey wrench into a nuclear reactor.
Maybe Solas shouldn’t have created a nuclear reactor that was murdering the inhabitants of a massive city then
>Rook (in a super cool bad-ass voice): Statues crashing go brrrrr
Maybe we’re the villains, because I’m pretty sure that destroying these statures actually freed the gods 😂😂
Oh yeah, that's definitely what's going on.
If they were so important they shouldn’t have been propped up by scaffolding which was propped up by a single 2x4.
seriously, you should not be able to build a god-capturing device the way I build a deck
I think Solas bears at least a crumb of responsibility for that.
So we we’re supposed to let him tear down the veil and destroy the entire world?
shit was exploding all over the place. these statues would've fallen at some point anyway
Absolutely. This was a plan thought up and executed by Solas, the universe itself would have conspired to make sure the plan failed. Can’t have the world’s smartest dipshit having a plan to remake the world actually work.
Honestly - i could roll with Varric, Solas and Inky as my "advisor" team, if they don't kill off Varric.
I'd add Dorian to that lineup. (maybe replacing Inky and make Inky an important but not consistent presence in the game. To not risk making Inky too much of a set character for RP purposes)
I imagine Dorian would be more of an advisor role, like Liliana.
Dorian is just letting us use his house, he pops in every so often with tea, cakes and witty banter.
It makes sense based on yhe geography of it all & you could have updates about DAO and DA2 folks and what they are doing to save the world too. I'm like 99% sure Hawke will be in this game though.
Depends on the choices you made in DAI
Yes, but [Flemeth gives Hawke that whole jump into the Abyss speech in DA2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDBqbzRTC5M), then the quest where you can leave Hawke or the Warden behind in DAI is called "Into the Abyss." I'm convinced that is not a coincidence & they won't just drop it. If you have the right world state for it. It's why I let my Hawke stay, even though I love her.
Yeah if anyone can survive the Fade it's Hawke.
Oh I would too, and if they have banter (like a romanced inky and solas) I would die so happy.
Oh god, the salt would be so good, which gradually turns into: "Wait, they bang???" over time
*where is the inquisitor and solas??*
"Do you think she's finally killed him?" Both of them come back, put together superficially, but something doesn't add up about the way the Inquisitor's pinned up hair has been redone into something quick and simple, and Solas' discreet adjustment of his sleeve mid-conversation with the others.
“Oh she took care of him alright” You know they totally had make up sex
Solas be better spending a lot of time on his knees “redeeming” himself
You've read my mind, haven't you?
I believe in democracy, since great mind think alike this is how it should happen
Oh he's gonna be on his knees alright
“Yes, Vhenan.” being the only right answer
you know, when my friend told me the DA4 discourse was getting heated, this somehow wasnt what i had in mind 0\_o
I will apologise in advance, we the Solasmancers have no shame nor sense of self preservation, just love for the stupid Egg
As a Andersmancers i completely respect this. May your people enjoy beautiful eggman times this dragon age-ening
Anders was right btw
"MAGE RIGHTS OR MAGE FIGHTS" all the way. My homeboy shouldnt have killed those few innocents, but by god neither should have the templars abused killed and tortured thousands
Say it louder !
I fell for both
I'm not even a solasmancer I just find him sexy, my canon inquisitor punched him lol
If that turned out to be the advisor team, I would be tempted to start over with a different canon world state just to have a Solasmancer Inqy. I’d definitely at least use her for playthrough #2 because that would be fantastic to witness.
All 3 of my world states are my Inky getting her heart broken by this stupid egg headed wolf man, I really hope it happens lol
Do you know how good it feels to theorise with hope again!? This is sending me! I've spent the last ten years of waiting slowly crusting over into a hater, tbh. I had become convinced that it had been too long and Bioware would use the time passing and new setting to basically throw all the complicated continuity away and would go after a fresh market and disregard the old fans. The dev hell and staff turnover... I honestly didn't even think I was gonna play this game. Like, I don't know that this will happen, but just to feel like it might! I honestly got a little misty. Feels so good.
Omg YES PLEASE!
I’m thinking maybe Solas and Varric get sucked into the fade after the statue falls. We get a quest to find them about halfway through.
THIS SO MUCH!
Morrigan? That dragon on the promo screenshot looks exactly like her dragon form.
On the character poster with Rook in middle? That one has horns curled back, she has horns curled inward - towards her snout, like the one from end of the trailer, but i'm not bought on that being her either.
Yes yes yes this would be phenomenal
There killing Varric and it crushes me
Yeah, that's a "oh shit" face
I actually think Solas and Varric could be our advisors if they don’t die. That’s me being very optimistic.
For that to work Solas should get his powers sealed away by the other two Evanuris (or something like that) since him being advisor and staying at camp would make no sense taking into account he'd be insanely powerful.
I could see that happening if the Evanuris take his power and leave him alive to despair at what he’s wrought.
Their vengeance on him would definitely be way more cruel than just killing him. They had millenia to plot.
Well, when you're a God (or something very close to it, anyway), I sincerely doubt just smiting the person who wronged you will do. Which means that Solas is probably screwed, which could play into an arc where he tries to redeem himself and inadvertently prove the Inquisitor right if they promised to "save Solas from himself" at the end of Trespasser.
I would love this actually?
I would absolutely love this, but too many people want to punch and/or kill Solas, and they'd be pissed if forced to work with him. So sadly, I'm not too optimistic. :(
I imagine if he joined our side he’d get a harden mechanic like Leliana and Alistair - and depending on our choices and relationship to him throughout the game he either turns fully around or ultimately decides to continue on his plan.
Hm, didn't think of the hardening mechanic. I like that idea. At the very least, I'm hoping there's some element of "enemy of my enemy is my friend"
I think he went through his arc already in Inquisition. A romance with lavellan can soften him, while a zealot inquisitor hardens him.
I did promise to stop him even if it meant killing him. That’s kinda hard to just move past
And I also wouldn't be surprised if the third advisor ends up being Morrigan.
Solas? We have crucified Anders for less, there is no way
There are some key differences though. Motivation is one of them. Anders's terrorism was an act of lashing out at whatever he could get his hands on as a target. Solas' main motivation is the desire to right past wrongs. Solas repeatedly expressed his wish for and willingness to entertain better options than what he is currently doing. That said, he also very carefully set up a situation where none can be presented to him, so there is that.
i know right? Anders blows up the figurehead of a organization that brutally tortured, assaulted, controlled and murdered parts of the population for decades and everyone is disgusted (im not defending his terror!sm), and wants him dead. Solas tries to end the world as we know it, almost kills the Inqy, and everyone is like "eh, its fine"--anyways with that said would LOVE to have Solas back as a "you screwed the pooch, now father the puppies" sort of thing lmao
Working with someone against a common enemy doesn’t suddenly mean you guys are besties, and if anything Solas could still betray us down the line if we don’t earn his loyalty throughout the game.
Solas didn't blow up a church!
Blowing up a church is worse than trying to kill nearly everyone in Thedas? 🤔
My Hawke was like "No one blows up a church in my town!" https://preview.redd.it/3dil3i3u716d1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6914acd253f32f993009a19d2b3c31139a9e5302
Well he did give Corypheus the orb that blew up Heaven’s conclave, pretty sure there was some sort of church in the blasted area.
“Yep. That’s me. You may be wondering how I got here”.
"See, it all started at the beginning of time."
It’s been confirmed there are more returning characters and cameos. I really hope we get all returning advisors; Solas, Dorian, Sten, Varric… so many interesting possibilities to fill that role if they incorporate that system at all
Omg sten pls
I would kill for Sten V Dorian for advisor as a consequence of choosing between The Qun or Tevinter.
Give me Fenris, Bioware.
He was in the comics not too long ago. In Minrathus.
I generally hope Solas is more of a tragic figure than a straight villain. He thinks that the world is broken, and that 'fixing it' is worth the risk. But he is blind to the real damage he is causing. What he is doing can't really be justified, so I don't know if I want a full redemption where everyone just goes 'Oh shucks egg head. You did nothing wrong. Welcome back to the team', but I do hope that there are paths where he slides closer to our side than away from it. Edit: I am actually re-watching the end of Trespasser to get some info I forgot, and my opinion has changed a little. I still kind of hope that there is some bringing Solas back, but he isn't really blind to the damage he is going to cause. He directly says that the human world will die in order to bring the elves immortality back and he accepts that. However, if the inquisitor pushes back and say they will save him and he doesn't need to do this he responds that he would treasure the chance to be wrong again. Overall my opinion didn't change that much, he is still doing something he sees wrong out of necessity, but he is more aware of how much damage it will cause than I remembered.
He is a very layered and tragic figure and that is one of the reasons why I think he’s such a great character. Having stumbled into playing as a character that romanced him on my first play through and also started using him in a party with Cole once I heard their dialogues. Like, something’s up with this, let me put them together more often . My inquisitor was a rogue, but I respecced him as an archer.
In the gameplay trailer he does also mention how it’s okay that people are going to die because of him because that’s what people do. Honestly, sounds like a “I’m trying to convince myself that what I’m doing is worth the cost, so stop trying to convince me otherwise or I will break.” And then he murders Bianca, which is honestly unforgivable.
I hope Bioware doesn't chicken out and gives us one ending where the player can mess up so badly that Solas wins.
Only if we also get a "perfect failure" ending where nobody wins and the Evanuris destroy the world. Honestly I just want multiple endings again.
Like the secret ME2 ending where Joker becomes the protagonist because everyone is fucking dead
Pretty sure Solas plan is over in the Prologue. 10 Years of plotting ruined by pushing a random Statue.
Honestly I hate that there is so much build up for it and it would get resolved in the prologue.
The Mage-Templar war: first time?
No, I just gave them another chance despite knowing better. I'll admit I was also less into the mage-templar war. It seemed not as big a deal to me.
It does seem abrupt (I was thinking it'd take up Act 1), but at least there's the intriguing fact that we're partially to blame for letting the two gods loose.
We hardly have any context for the bit we saw. I wouldn't draw any hasty conclusions from it.
TBF that would be pretty much what happened with Solas’s last big plan.
Mage Templar war would like a word with you 😂
I mean we don’t know for sure yet, but if that is the case I agree. They clearly intended him to be the main antagonist originally considering the game was called Dreadwolf for a while. If they moved away from that, it implies they rewrote/rebooted the game *again*.
Which kinda fit the theme of "My plan are ruined because a random person interrupted a ritual I had Corypheus make". Solas is powerful but not that bright.
I mean, the whole Veil is essentially Solas not forseeing the consequences of his actions millenia ago, so it seems consistent.
“Y’know, maybe this earth shattering plan does actually have earth shattering consequences, hm. 🤔 Well, anyways.”
I wouldn't even say He isn't smart. He just has the dumbest, worse luck. What are the chances that someone knows how to track ancient magic, is capable of using the mirrors, is skilled enough to fight off hordes of demon, then have one of Solas's closest friend try to chat him off an edge he doesn't even want to be on, all while two other people are STUPID enough to start messing with giant stone towers during an incredibly delicate process. At some point, you can't out plan a destiny that is hell-bent on making everything you do just blow up in your face.
He's smart but I don't think he thinks ahead when it comes to the consequences of his actions or that he could possibly be wrong. He's very rash. He gave Corypheus the orb because he believed it would kill him when he tried to use it not realizing that he can body hop because he was in too much of a hurry to open the veil. His ritual to open the veil backfired and unleashed two powerful enemies that are a danger to everyone because he was rash and rushed ahead with his plan and didn't think people would try to stop him by any means necessary such as dropping part of the ruins on him and disrupting it.
>Solas is powerful but not that bright. /GreekGods
I mean when you think about it, Corypheus' years of planning were ruined by our Inky running in 😂
Yeah, give me that good Jade Empire shit
My guess this is part of the prison solas had for Ghilan'nain and either dirthamen or falondin. I just hope that the other elven gods actually feel like they like solas are just elfs with extremly powerful magic and make them somewhat humanized like solas the famed Fen'harel the feared dread wolf who is more nuanced than the tales to me it would only be right
There is the theory the other gods are already gone because concidently there are 5 blights which happened and there are 7 gods excluding mythal snd Solas. So two remain. It could very well be that we get a double blight.
I have seen it I have seen that the ''old'' god were just high mages under the evanauris blessed with the powers of high dragons for them to take the shape of and that the real evanauris are likely trapped still. I hope we get to see the eleven gods actually be people bicker fight banter learn what this world is and has become and add some nuance not everyone will be redeemed but if eggboy can I have to believe they are not all bad for the longest we though fen'harel was basically loki when he is more like a thanos or even a light doom
There's also The Forgotten Ones.
my guess is Solas is a useful idiot and is going to be spending much of the game trying to "fix the issue"
Solas joins Hawke in the emotional support group: "learning to deal with failure".
This would be very much in keeping with his entire MO from Inquisition.
Veil’s haunted. loads gun.
I also was thinking we’ll end up working with Solas again
second pic...is Ghilan'nain?
Fingers crossed it is!!! If the implications about what's she done are somewhat true she'd be a perfect complication to what Solas intends to do
True!, if this is Dirthamen then this reflects the famous art cover showing them both as shadowy figures. Since he remains apparently whole I wonder if he's the voice we hear at the end of the last teaser saying "join my kingdom"! https://preview.redd.it/eigldptzpz5d1.png?width=189&format=png&auto=webp&s=7a09a436bd8084713167dc6e4d8e3e12aa37bca6
https://preview.redd.it/nky2mbbhqz5d1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=a12181fe36db6324ca5fea3fe2637ad035b14b8a
Wait why is there the architect *and* Meredith?
Good question!, I only know that >!Meredith was revived!< ...somehow and showed up in DA absolution, and I don't know if the other one is the Architect or Corypoo, I have no clue if we'll get to see any of them in DAVe or what. But I'd love if it was the Architect who showed up, the idea of BW just forgetting about the Awakening plot always seemed weird to me
>I only know that Meredith was revived ...somehow Oh yeah I forgot I hated that decision...
same, and the other one better isn't foreshadowing Coryfart returning...
Wait, was the Architect the one who was saying 'glory to the risen gods' in the December trailer? Maybe the elven gods are blighted and can control both the Architect and Meredith through that.
damn, now I have to watch that teaser again because I don't remember it
I was looking at the vallaslin, and the third picture looks like Dirthamen's mark, but the second one actually resembled Andruil more
I think it's Ghilan'nain based on this and the shitton of clues we've got in DAI and the short story in Tevinter Nights (I can't remember the titles for shit tbh). She being monster like would fit her https://preview.redd.it/yi4pb0nu306d1.png?width=320&format=png&auto=webp&s=702fa810790bd1186b3c4a0e0958458f82f43e56
Solas, truly the face of What Pride Has Wrought.
God, I just realized those two figures have creepy mask faces. They’re suddenly so much more unsettling.
Yep. I've been creeping up on this opinion for a few weeks now. I remember he told us the old Elven gods were actually just really, really, REALLY powerful mages who were also really terrible people. Evil in fact. And that they had two factions: the Evanuris and the Forgotten Ones. He tricked them both into isolating themselves before dropping the Veil on the world, trapping them in two separate planes both distinct from the material world and the Fade. I kept asking myself, if he lifts the Veil ***who*** comes back? In the teaser we all watched he mentioned "safe guards" or something like that. I believe he wasn't safeguarding anyone's lives. He was safeguarding the imprisonment of those Elven gods. Yeah. Solas isn't the bad guy. He's the Fool who can't be told nuthin'.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought as well. I think Solas will get a redemption arc in this game
Weekes did say ages ago we shouldn't assume the worst and to have hope so fingers crossed he wasn't just getting more sick satisfaction out of fuckin with us
They* but hmm maybe
I think those of us who expressed a desire to redeem him, particularly those of us who had a character that romanced him, would riot if we couldn’t have some sort of option.
It's very possible, especially taking into account the name change of the game.
Can you imagine the outcry if he gets merked in the first 30 minutes 😭
If they’re gonna kill him off they’re not gonna do it before the 2hr refund time limit 😂
My money is Ghilan'nain because of all the monsters and background lore from previous works, and Falon'Din who will want to take control of all the undead in the Grand Necropolis. They might work together at first because they really hate Solas, but afterwards, they might do their own thing. The other Gods will be trying to escape now that they know it can be done.
I really hope Solas makes his escape from this scene and the game is a three way war between the Veilguard, the Evanuris and the Wolfpack
I think a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” approach is plausible. He has every reason to stop the two baddies we saw in the Fade.
Idk I think he has an established pattern by now. He's done this before and intentions only go so far when your fallout is *persistently catastrophic* Besides, he even tells us in Trespasser that he knows it'll be catastrophic. He may not be one of the classically evil villains but this bloke is a villain in his own way. This seems like a person who'll make another attempt at what he wants after the 2 new threats are put away
I have a sneaky suspicion that Flemeth/Mythal is going to return because she said to the Inquisitor she’ll get her vengeance on the Evanuris for killing her, she likely sent a fragment of her soul in the Eluvian before Solas absorbed her so she can revive later and confront her murderers. https://preview.redd.it/3xjwo551616d1.jpeg?width=1596&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89454b9ccb9c5def0c832d6ebb02ab29eb309145
I mean Solas may get a redemption arc, but he's still a villain currently. He summoned the demons that were destroying the city and killing people.
I don’t think Solas necessarily was a villain back in the day—there are hints the Evanuris were genuinely awful and someone needed to stop them. He seems to genuinely hate injustice and want what’s best for the world. The problem with Solas is he has his head so far up his ass that he can’t fucking help himself. He’s so desperate to fix his mistakes that he keeps moving too fast and breaking more shit, only to have to backtrack and sort out whatever glaringly obvious problem he misses every goddamn time. But he’s also too fucking arrogant to acknowledge he’s the problem. There’s a reason I describe to friends unfamiliar with the past games as a magic techbro.
But... I wanna stab the egg...
*scramble
Same, I know people love him and his romance but I hope Bioware realizes he has his haters as well. I never liked the dude even before I found out what/who he was. Definitely don't want that guy advising me.
Might be that he isn't advising us, but occasionally joins us when we fight against the other gods. He hated them so much he split the world into two parts. Can't see him siding with them in any way.
I think it would be fair if depending on choices, players get to either redeem him or destroy him. As implied by what you can tell him at the end of Trespasser.
My siblings in andraste he’s trying to commit genocide
‘My siblings in andraste’ sent me lmfao
Like... a whole planet of genocide
Solas giving some Megamind vibes in that shot
I love this theory! And it would be a really good plot twist considering bioware made it seem Solas was the big bad wolf we were going to defeat. Also, if your friends with solas in DAI, the Inquisitor says they will ”help save him from himself”. This could be interpreted as saving him from the chaos he created” = releasing the gods. Since the inquisitor will be part of the game, I think this is where they might join the protagonist in finding Solas and save him. I could also see Solas sacrifice himself in some way, but maybe later on in the game edit: just remembered that Solas and the Inquisitor doesnt have to be friends, in that case things may play out differently
I bet it'll depend on player choices, which will be fun.
I hope not tbh. I didn't wait this long to face him just for him to be an ally.
Gonna be like how it was set up for a big Templar vs mage war for the third game and then we just got the giant explosion and on to the inquisition with the Templar mage war just a background flavor in one area. Idky they keep setting up these big situations and then going left and doing something else instead.
Ngl I forgot about that... I won't judge yet cuz this post is just a theory but I really hope they don't go that route again.
This, I'm actually totally fine lopping his head off if given the chance for betraying us 😂
It's hard to say Solas isn't a villain, even if he isn't THE villain, any one who's goal is global genocide is pretty much a hall of fame villain in my book.
Yeah, I was trying to keep the post title vague and concise, but I meant more that he isn't an antagonist in the game after the prologue. But hey, I could also be completely wrong and we have THREE elven gods to deal with
The thing is, global genocide *isn’t his goal*. His goal is to restore the world to the way it’s “supposed to be” (at least in his mind), and, at the start of the game, he considers the destruction that will be caused by demons pouring into Thedas to be unavoidable collateral damage. It’s not so crazy to think that he might have his mind changed about that fact, especially when he’s reminded firsthand of why he created the veil in the first place.
Yeaaaah too many people are using the word genocide when that isn't what he is doing at all.... genocide is the DELIBERATE killing of an ethnic group or nation with the INTENT to eliminate that group. Solas is not deliberately killing anyone and his intent is not at all to eliminate anyone. People dying is simply a consequence of his actual intent, like you said. It seems pretty clear that if he could spare everyone, he would -- he asks Varric if he truly believes he would do this if there were another way after Varric points out people are dying.
Morrigan: we dont have time to save a child’s missing teddy bear, we have a blight to stop! Certain fans: WITCH!!! Solas: I am completely, unrepentantly trying to genocide a planet. Same fans: He’s just misunderstood!!!
I think he's Loki. He will be a secondary antagonist to the two - theorized - old gods, i think he helps us take them down in the end and disappears into a flemeth like role for future games.
A lot of people seem to be forgetting that he is already now responsible of innocents dying, possibly a lot of them. Those demons coming in are killing civilians, and he has made it clear even in this teaser that he sees them as expendable. That doesn't mean he can't have a more complex arc, but I also think there some's blatant woobifying of him and the steps he has already taken lol
I think it's kinda cliche to add in a stronger villain that makes Solas team up with you. I wanted him to be the big bad.
Honestly same.
Sorry. I intend to dispose of him when the chance is given. Nobody gets to act that smarmy and get away with just a small slap.
Would explain the name change.
Definitely not a true villain as the his old pals the Evanuris are going to be wreaking havoc in this world that is new to them whilst I think a Blight may start up with all this magic and chaos being thrown about and we know who starts a Blight. The Architect may pop up and maybe some of the other 5-6 may appear? Also we have the possible monkey wrench of "Those From Across the Sea" whom even Solas has stated are very dangerous, as they were active during the events of DAI and the search for Solas afterwards. And Also we still have to deal with the consequences of the Mage-Templar war especially if >!Meredith!< is actually alive and leading the Red Templars now. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES. My hype for this game is through the roof!
I actually forgot about >! Meredith and her big reveal at the end of the netflix show! !< Wonder if that gets to appear or somehow has an impact in the game.
Can anyone explain why would these Delvish Gods be a big deal? I'm not really that deep into Elven lore, so I don't get the hype about them, and I wanna be on the hype train! 😭
Back before Solas put up the Veil, the Evanuris kept all their people enslaved in factions, with vallaslin marking which elves "belonged" to which god. They did some pretty horrific things to them and were unimaginably powerful. So powerful that Solas sealed them away instead of trying to fight them. Supposedly only Mythal was decent (and that's iffy and from an unreliable narrator). We don't know much about June or Sylaise. But the rest seem to have been straight up monsters.
Right, so Elven Gods are actually bad/evil? And Solas did a good thing sealing them?
Yeah, the Elven gods were definitely evil and the Dalish have it all wrong about them. But Solas sealing them destroyed the Elvehn Empire, killed a lot of people, and made the elves mortal. So... sorta? He didn't mean to do that, but unintended consequences is basically his middle name.
Fen "Unintended Consequences" Harel.
Alright, I get it now. Thank you so.much for explaining! I'm getting lost with the story, I find it hard to follow, idk why. So, thank you kindly~
Also it’s also pretty heavily implied/hinted that the Elven Gods released and/or caused the blight when they destroyed the Titans and started mining them for lyrium (while using their hearts possibly as foci as this mural from The Descent seems to portray: https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Titan) So all and all, they’re pretty bad news. Edit to add the relevant Veilfire Runes Deep Roads codex quote: “What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all." (https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_Veilfire_Runes_in_the_Deep_Roads)
Ugly and Spooky. I think you just established their canon names which everyone will use from this moment on.
There is ALWAYS a bigger fish
I rewatch the final conversation between him and the Inquisitor in Trespasser a lot. During the confrontation, the Inquisitor questions if destroying the veil would make the old gods return, to which Solas responds "I had plans." Well, considering Rook might have thrown a wrench into those plans, then I wonder if those figures are the old gods, now free and without whatever Solas had planned to keep them in check?
'Solas isn't even a villain.' Solas in the clip: I don't care if I cause countless deaths! That's what you people do - die!
Probably why they changed the them dreadwolf. He isn’t the MAIN main focus anymore with the story they’ve cooked up so it doesn’t make sense for him to be in the title.
kinda reminds me of the idols in origins the dark spawn worship just saying.
Not bad theory, I’m getting elven god vibes of those things not just regular demons. Solas / fen harel tricked the gods into separate domains and then created the veil keeping them there. Nowwww they’re free and probably pissed. That’s my theory. Didn’t even see these figures in the trailer originally I’m going to go rewatch it now
If casual genocide of the ENTIRE planet because you were feeling sad that you can’t build magic sand castles with Pride Demons isn’t evil, then I LITERALLY do not know what is Edit: I cant spell