Bioware Since 2012: Honestly We Shouldn’t Have Redesigned The Elves. From Now On, Regular Faces For

I just love that solas is an artist

he speaks in poetry, he covers his homes in murals that permanently alter the walls, plays stringed instruments, and composes music

the world he was shaped by rang together in song and beauty created from the force of life itself and even if he’s irrevocably changed how that world works, he’ll keep creating — if only to remind himself that his bloodied hands and shattered voice are still capable of it

“I cannot kill the blight, but I can help to soothe its anger. I will go and seek atonement”

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i dont remember the post i saw or who made it so this doesnt count as a vague but 'actually it's good bioware retconned the agents of fen'harel because it would've been Bad Representation to have an antagonistic faction made up of the in-universe oppressed minority' well no it was straight up cowardice and the refusal to grapple with the reasons why marginalized peoples might come to believe their best recourse for a world that wants them dead top to bottom is fundamentally changing the nature of the world in a way that, yes, may read as apocalyptic to those currently in power, but the alternative is for the forgotten to continue slowly bleeding out to sustain their comfort

Not that bioware could have landed that but don't pretend it's More Nuanced not to even try. and it's literally just narratively stupid as hell

he knows of the brands. in their journey to crestwood, he asks about hers. he is curious, and they have built a rapport he has come to enjoy. she's a surface dwarf, born far from orzammar, so, why?

she surprisingly admits to him a lyrium deal gone wrong. caught by the guards, and before they tried to take her hands, they held her down and burned it onto her face. she also mentions a daring escape, a furious mother, and a lashing. she laughs at it now, but he can see in her eyes the ancient, unhealed fear.

this is not what he came here for. he had meant to regale her with knowledge of the titans--carefully curated, of course--to give her something to chew on. to keep her focus away from him, where it seems to remain steadfastly these days. but he looks at her and sees the brand and he cannot help himself. "if you like, i know a spell."

she is unfamiliar with magic. could not comprehend that something like this is not possible for any normal hedge mage--that he could take it away. the mistake. restore her. make it all as it once was. she is bewildered, excited. she should not be.

but, foolishly, he allows it to embolden him. takes the naked trust in her eyes that look at him too closely and lets it carry his hands up to her face with a practiced ease. the light from his palm is gentle, flowing like water, and when it is over, she is new. she touches her skin in awe, like the thousands he has helped before her, and what was once a cold place inside him suddenly feels...warm.

ar lasa mala revas. you are free.

she stares, waiting for him to be the mirror through which she sees herself.

the words spill forth, honest and true. "you are so beautiful."

...and so, so unwise.

When people new to DA say things like "I didn't play any of the previous games before I played Veilguard" that's fine, but to then turn around and say "well, because Veilguard says [lore thing] that means everything in the previous games is false" makes you look willfully ignorant at best and [redacted] at worst. Veilguard did not do a good job with three games of established lore. New players apparently came out of datv not knowing what a Circle is, for crying out loud???

People who wanted to see the Veil removed have a basis for the belief that it might usher in a new age for Thedas that could ultimately make things better for elves, mages, and spirits. Or at least change the world in an interesting, exciting way. That basis was given to us by the first three games. For example:

Flemeth

"We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment . . . and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly." (DA2)

PC: "Why did Mythal come to you?"

Flemeth: "For a reckoning that will shake the very heavens."

Morrigan: "And you follow her whims? Do you even know what she truly is?"

Flemeth: "You seek to preserve the powers that were, but to what end? It is because I taught you, girl, because things happened that were never meant to happen. She was betrayed as I was betrayed--as the world was betrayed! Mythal clawed and crawled her way through the ages to me, and I will see her avenged!" (DAI)

Sandal's Prophecy

"One day the magic will come back, all of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see." (DA2)

Cole

"The Veil isn’t real. It’s false, fake, fabricated to forbid. Isn’t it wonderful?"

"Cole: Is there a way to save more spirits, Solas?

Solas: Not until the Veil is healed. The rifts draw spirits through, and the shock makes demons of them.

Cole: Pushing through makes you be yourself. You can hold onto the you.

Cole: Being pulled through means you don't have enough you. You become what batters you, bruises your being.

Solas: Yes, exactly. Deliberately crossing the Veil requires that a spirit form will, personality.

Solas: That concept of self gives a spirit the chance to maintain its nature.

Solas: Wrenched into this world unwillingly by the rifts, spirits suffer the same fate as my friend.

Cole: Then we will help them." (DAI)

Morrigan

"Change is coming to the world. Many fear chance and will fight it with every fiber of their being. But sometimes change is what they need most. Sometimes change is what sets them free." (DAO: Witch Hunt)

"Mankind blunders through this world, crushing what it does not understand: elves, dragons, magic . . . the list is endless. We must stem the tide, or be left with nothing more than the mundane. This I know to be true." (DAI)

I haven't even touched on what Solas says, due to his bias/the way some people refuse to consider his insight at all, even though he knows the most about the Veil of any character in the series ever. For obvious reasons.

Due to the above evidence, I completely agree that the Veil coming down would probably be catastrophic to some degree. I disagree that it would have "destroyed the world" or "drowned [it] in demons" as Veilguard loves to repeat over and over, mostly from characters like Varric who don't know jack about the Veil, magic, or spirits. And I disagree that people who wanted to see what would happen if the Veil came down are wrong or misguided--they obviously just paid better attention to what the overarching narrative than some. It isn't their fault that this more interesting and dynamic narrative was retconned to shreds and buried in the backyard.

cadash being able to dream because of the anchor, not knowing how to dream, even, and solas, visiting her in these dreams in harmless forms to see what it is exactly she will dream about--- an experiment of sorts. what will a dwarf conjure up in their sleeping hours when they can? where will they go?

and then he is confronted with the fact that among the visages of the people she has met so far, he is in every one of them. that, more often than not, her dreams are simply images of his eyes while he looks to the sky, or the way his ears catch the sunlight on the plain, or the movement of his hands when casting a spell, all surrounded by echoes of his words, his voice poignant and precise. beautiful recreations of moments stolen when he wasnt paying attention, each one more reverent than the last. a creature that has discovered escaping to the Fade in their sleep for the first time, having the opportunity to explore its rich environments and histories, and yet she is content merely to bask in the memories of him.

This is much better than the final version too. It goes more into why Solas is even doing this and Rook feels less like a bus driver.

Scanned in all the pages with Solas from The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard :D love the concept arts so much

Epilogue

Fade Couple

[needed to do more...] [part 1]

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔.