The Idea That Varric Is Trying So Hard To Stop Solas Because He Didn't Try To Stop Anders Is Making Me

The idea that Varric is trying so hard to stop Solas because he didn't try to stop Anders is making me so feral. He didn't try. He just watched as Anders spiraled further and further until it was too late. His attempts were jokes, lighthearted things that didn't reach how far Anders already was

He can't do nothing again.

prophet girl, cursed daughter.

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So I’m doing the puzzle of The Dead Hand in Ghilan’nain’s Grove when I realize the layout of the puzzle is telling a very specific story about Fen’Harel and Andruil that I don’t remember anyone pointing out before.

imo this puzzle gives in-game evidence to Felassan’s story in The Masked Empire about how Andruil tied Fen’Harel up to a tree and and “declared that he would have to serve in her bed for a year and a day to pay her back.” 

So the puzzle is a statue of Andruil that shoots arrows wildly at targets in four directions. What is preventing Andruil from hitting her targets? Four pillars that are right in her way. 

Now, the designers could have left it at that and the puzzle still would have worked. It still would have characterized Andruil as someone who just wants to shoot everything in all directions wildly, someone with an insatiable desire for hunts and blood sacrifice. 

But on top of each of these four pillars? Wolf statues of Fen’Harel. 

(the fourth wolf statue was already broken off the pillar)

So with that extra detail (that they did not need to include), this becomes a visual metaphor of Fen’Harel deliberately putting himself between Andruil and the trees. To solve the puzzle, you have to find some way of making Fen’Harel’s statue pillars move down so that Andruil can hit her tree targets.

And the most interesting detail, the one that made me snap to attention on my replay, was what happens when you finally light up the last tree (video). Little magic orbs come off and light more targets, which finally makes the bars imprisoning a small caged room open up. 

What’s inside the caged room? The only thing is a large statue of Fen’Harel, cramped in the small room, staring at the imprisoning bars. You get the feeling that he was locked in that room, under Andruil’s control, but now that you’ve solved the puzzle, he’s free.

And how do you solve the puzzle? Cleverness, teamwork, and at one point, locking yourself up in a cell temporarily, so you can get another of your team members access to the right levers/torches. 

It’s the same type of clever thinking that was needed to solve his petitioner’s path puzzle in the Temple of Mythal. (his was the trickiest one, the one with the levers)

There’s a lot in the mythos about Fen’Harel’s cleverness, how one of his main tricks was to make someone believe he was trapped and helpless, then free himself by forcing others to fight each other while he chewed off parts of himself to escape. Solas even talks about “choosing to enter this cage” at one point. 

It makes me wonder just how often he does this sort of thing.

Merrill’s story about the Keeper’s Hound: “Neither hound nor wolf gave in. Finally, Fen’Harel bit off his own tail to escape, and away he fled.”

Solas (to low-approval Inquisitor): “Rattle the bars if you like, but I chose to enter this cage.”

Constellation of Fenrir Codex Entry: […] —in the case of Fenrir, an alignment with the elven trickster god, Fen'Harel, would be logical. Others claim a much older Neromenian tale of a wolf escaping hunters by fleeing into the sky exists […]

Felassan’s story of Fen’Harel and the Tree:  “Anaris fell with a golden arrow in his back, badly injured, and while both gods slumbered to heal their wounds, Fen'Harel chewed through his ropes and escaped.”

Cole comment (Trespasser): “He broke the dreams to stop the old dreams from waking. The wolf chews its leg off to escape the trap.” 

still miss you

One thing I love about the morning after Fade kiss talk is that even though Solas knows he has made a huge mistake, he can’t stop himself from a cheeky little “Sleep well?” flirt. The whole conversation after that is basically him being sorry/ not sorry about the kiss. You can tell he is already in love but also that he must have been a real heartbreaker in Arlathan.

Per request, below are some skin tone references for the companions of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

These colour palettes are not meant to enforce a rule that you must stick with them exactly 100%, but rather, I hope they can be of use as basic guidance for artists who want something to reference. A time-saver, if you will.

I would personally recommend either second or last images as the most neutral lighting!