![]() ![]() And, in an act of foreshadowing at which Solas himself might raise an approving eyebrow, Bioware has been hinting about this twist for ages, too: the Dread Wolf exists in tapestries and lore going back as far as Origins. In a parallel universe, Dragon Age: Inquisition ends with a supercut of every time Solas hints at being Fen'Harel, like the big reveal in an M Night Shyamalan movie. And it’s all so well written that we don’t suspect a thing until he reveals himself. He even describes ancient events he saw first-hand. Elsewhere he talks about life before The Veil and his belief that the elven pantheon weren’t even gods at all. Solas openly reveres wolves, “intelligent, practical creatures that small-minded fools think of as terrible beasts”. (He’s lucky, in hindsight, they didn’t choose to go with something more insulting.) But in a classic ‘clever guy outsmarts the bullies’ move, Solas embraced it and made it his own. Fen'Harel is a pejorative nickname, forced on him by his enemies. He wears a necklace shaped like a wolf’s jawbone an odd choice for a guy who styles himself on wolves, but that’s maybe the point. Like a serial killer in a saucy Channel 5 thriller, Solas hints at who he is numerous times. How do we know he’s the Dreadwolf in Dragon Age 4?īecause he straight up tells us. And this singular, believable motivation is why he’s such an inspired choice as the villain of Dreadwolf. No matter what relationship you have with him, he’s utterly fixated on his goal. That’s partly what makes his betrayal so devastating. Doing so will destroy the world as it currently exists, and nothing will sway Solas from his cause. His ultimate goal is to reverse the process, reuniting the physical and metaphysical worlds and restoring the elves to their former glory. The weakened elves were eventually enslaved by the burgeoning human race, the weight of which Solas still carries with him. ![]() ![]() This act also created The Veil, the barrier between the physical and metaphysical worlds. ![]() When the Evanuris betrayed one of their own, Mythal, Solas took revenge by banishing them to the Fade.ĭoing so robbed Elvhenan of its magic, causing irrevocable damage to the world and stripping the elves of their immortality. Solas was part of this ancient elven pantheon, known as the Evanuris. In the ancient history of Dragon Age’s setting, Thedas, there existed an elven kingdom called Elvhenan – an idyllic world where immortal elves lived in harmony with nature and gods walked among them. And I’m afraid we need a bit of context here. In the Trespasser DLC, we learn the full extent of Solas’s transgressions. He’s more like an absurdly powerful, timeless mage. Although ‘evil’ isn’t strictly accurate: he’s considered to be the elven deity of betrayal or rebellion – rather like a laminated Loki – but the exact nature of his godhood is up for debate. He is Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf, also known as He Who Hunts Alone, Lord of Tricksters, The Great Wolf, and Roamer of the Beyond, because apparently three names wasn’t evil enough. After the credits roll, we learn the truth about Solas. Solas is like a laminated Loki, but the exact nature of his godhood is up for debate His work apparently finished, Solas leaves the Inquisition, presumably sauntering off to make a new group of adventurers feel bad about themselves. Who is Solas, really?Īt the end of Inquisition, the heroes succeed in defeating the primary antagonist, Corypheus, and closing the breach in The Fade. Being correct is more important to him than not being an asshat. Except, of course, Iron Bull doesn’t really have a choice, and that’s exactly the problem. He’s also deeply judgemental of other beliefs and ways of life, likening dwarven culture to a severed arm and endlessly chiding Iron Bull for his choice of religion. Solas might have some pretty compelling motivation for avoiding other races – we’ll get to that later – but it does make him look, in more ways than one, like a bigoted Twitter egg. You can only romance Solas if you’re a female elf, a measured decision by writer Patrick Weekes to avoid perpetuating the ‘depraved bisexual’ trope. In Thedas, however, this sort of thinking is an act of rebellion. To us, he sounds about as dangerous as a first-year politics student after too many jagerbombs. He believes in “cause and effect, wisdom as its own reward, and the inherent right of all free-willed people to exist”. Solas, meanwhile, presents himself as a rationalist, convinced these reductionist worldviews lead to conflict and disaster. It’s like Twitter, but with giant spiders. Dragon Age presents us with a world of absolutes: elves and humans are in a cycle of constant conflict the Chantry hate apostates apostates hate the Chantry the Tevinter Imperium basically hates everyone who isn’t from Tevinter. ![]()
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