Leave your theories

First off, the Devs have stated categorically that the Hero of Ferelden will not return physically, ever. The best you can hope for is that there will be another codex explaining how the search in the West went and may be offering some clues about a cure for the Taint.

I'm tending to agree that it will be a new PC in the next game and not playing as the Inquisitor character. Whilst I felt that Trespasser did not tie off the Inquisitor's emotional involvement with whatever Solas is planning and it felt like the story was far from over, there are various reason why they will probably avoid using them as the PC (apart from their previous declared intention to use a new PC each game):

1) At the end of Trespasser they specifically declare that they need to recruit new people that Solas doesn't know. They also indicate we will be going to an area far removed from the Inquisitor's main sphere of influence. So that seems a pretty big clue that the Inquisitor will not be the PC. However, it may well be they will be a major point of contact for the PC, offering advice and clues as to where to go next. When it comes to the problem of how to deal with Solas, they will express an opinion, probably based off your decision in Trespasser and your relationship with Solas in the main game, as recorded in the Keep, but it will then be up to the new PC how they wish to follow that advice. This could be done through personal contact, intermediaries or just letters, the latter two removing the need to have a customized Inquisitor present in the game.

2) New player engagement. This also covers why I do not think they could begin with the Inquisitor dying by Solas' hand. Whilst established players have a heavy emotional involvement with the Inquisitor, new players will have none at all. What do they care if Solas kills off the Inquisitor in the opening minutes? It would seem a very practical thing for the villain to do. If they haven't played DAI and Trespasser, they won't know why the Inquisitor might have such a personal grudge against what Solas intends to do. Admittedly, by the same reasoning they won't know why it would seem so odd if the Solas kills the Inquisitor now when he could just have let the anchor kill them. At the time he says, even to a hostile Inquisitor, that it plays more into his plans for them to prevent further chaos. If it was a bad idea just to let them die then, what changed? He clearly did not view them as a threat and, if friendly disposed towards him even after his revelations, it did leave the way open they might come up with an alternative plan. That does not remove the possibility that they will kill off the Inquisitor but quite possibly that would be another antagonist we have yet to meet.

3) The variation in character and approach of each Inquisitor and their relationship to other people in the game is why they would probably wish for a clean sheet when it comes to the future. Trying to accommodate all that whilst still allowing enough new characters and romances to be introduced to satisfy people who expect to see them would suck up too much time and resources. So the Inquisitor in a brief cameo role or the Inquisitor as a sort of hub contact could be made to work, plus individuals who know them mentioning them in conversation, but otherwise I think it will definitely be a new PC and it may be that initially they don't even know about Solas or his plan.

If they want to have a situation where the new PC has strong feelings about Solas, then that would best be accomplished by origins stories where you establish that you have relationships with the people in the Tevinter setting and then they suffer through something that he or his agents do. I think, though, that they are more likely to introduce the new PC to the threat more gradually than that. Whatever happens to them in the early part of the game will probably bring them to the attention of the Inquisitor's contact in Tevinter that they would be a useful agent on their behalf (a bit like how our actions in the origin stories in DAO convinced Duncan we would make a good Grey Warden). Most likely they will get caught up in the Qunari assault on mainland Tevinter that is described in the epilogue to Trespasser and would be an effective way to throw you into some action straight away.

If you spent any time in the Twitter thread or followed any of the lead devs on the game you would know it's not dead. 

Theories? Hmmm. Aha.

At the beginning of the game, Solas is seen doing his hocus pocus stuff. Unfortunately for him it backfires. He banishes himself, but releases the evanuris guys. Now the main character, a bread maker, who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, ends up saving Thedas. I like it. excellent

the power of bread compels you!


i.imgur.com/BCy1iwg.jpg

It is official that they are working on a new, single-player Dragon Age project.  They haven't officially confirmed it to be DA4 yet, but have strongly hinted at it.  

One article I read even report at late 2018 release date, which I find unbelievable since they're just in the hiring stages. 

Anyways, if you want the most up-to-date news, I highly suggest following the devs on Twitter and tweeting random questions to them now and then.  Usually, they won't reply, but Mark Darrah did answer my question about adding CC to the Keep once.  

Hawke also got an Epilogue slide in Trespasser too.  He returns from Weisshupt and helps Varric run Kirkwall as Viscount. 

1) There might be a conflict between the new protagonist and the Inquisitor if they won't agree on certain issues (like dealing with Solas).

2) To defeat Solas, we'll have to cut him off from his source of power, magic... by making him tranquil. Somehow. (I admit, this is my wet dream. I'm an evil man.)

3) Blood magic for mages (it's Tevinter!) and dual-wielding for warriors (there is one such warrior in Inquisition's multiplayer) will be back.

4) The game will break the pattern of "the new protagonist must be from country visited in previous game". I hope so. I really don't want to hear that Orleasian accent ever again.

5) Origin stories will make comeback. It's a perfect opportunity to explore different sides of upcoming Tevinter-Qunari war.

6) We will visit Minrathous, the largest city of Thedas. The only accesible location will be its market.

7) Ultimately, Solas won't be the big bad of this story (or not the only one).

Damn it!

I was referring to comments Gaider made years ago, but fair enough. Regardless, there was nowhere for the HoF to go at this point anyway.

Here I have to disagree with you about having found a cure. You are assuming that because the Warden is back living with Leliana then it follows they must have found a cure for the taint. It never says as much and it is clear the idyllic bliss is only in the short term because it says how they have misgivings for the future. That probably refers to Solas but it could equally apply to the fact that eventually the Warden will hear their Calling.

To my mind if the Warden had actually found a cure it would have been mentioned. As you point out, this screen only appears if the Warden romanced Leliana, leaving Wardens who romanced Alistair, Anora, Zevran or Morrigan none the wiser if a cure had been found or even with closure to their Warden's fate. Morrigan said that she would be joining the Warden with their son after the events of DAI were over but this was not confirmed in Trespasser.

Finding the cure is such a big deal that to ignore it can only mean it didn't happen and whatever information they did find towards a cure is likely to be passed on to a future PC to complete the quest. Let's face it, the Warden "looking for a cure in the West" was just a convenient way of explaining why they weren't involved in any of the events in DAI.

I assume they didn't even bother to explain why the substitute Orlesian Warden that you could play in Awakening wasn't still in command of the Ferelden Wardens because no one was particularly bothered about seeing them again.

Yes, well, "some years" was a conveniently vague explanation that they didn't need to go into it further in DAI. Strangely enough, the plot of DAI concerning the Grey Wardens must obviously have been based off the Orlesian Warden ending considering than Clarel is begging Teagan for admittance to Ferelden as though the permission to be there and the running of Vigil's Keep by the monarch had never happened. However, if the Orlesian Warden was called away to Weisshaupt by the HQ, effectively ignoring their commitment to the running of Vigil's Keep, that might at least explain something of Teagan's hostility.