Question about Archdemon and Darkspawn?

After jumping to the nearest Darkspawn, the Archdemon will transform it into a dragon identical to one that was just killed. It's rather useful, as otherwise the Wardens would never be able to figure out which Darkspawn in the horde needed to be killed.

Corypheus does something similar at the Temple of Mythal, jumping into a Warden after his body is destroyed and instantly transforming it to resemble his former body. He might have some control over this transformation, as he was able to possess Janeka/Larius without changing in DA2 and still had that form when he met Bianca, but had reverted to his darkspawn appearance by the time of the Conclave.

I assumed that's what would happen but I don't remember any codexes mentioning that.

It require time for an Archdemon to emerge from a darkspawn codex of Dumat.
Dumat did not resurrected as soon as he was killed,it took an year for the Archdemon to come back and more years to call the darkspawns he lost when he was killed by non-GW(He was killed many times by Non-GW).

The blight leaded by the Archdemon Dumat is generally adressed as the first blight but that is not technically accurate as a definition since this Archdemon started many blights across 192 years in which there were several breaks between one ressurection and the other;I assume it's because each time an Archdemon die the soul lose its corruption (even if it is forced to enter into another darkspawn)
then it is slowly corrupted aagain but it require time.

The only rule that doesn't make much sense is the obliteration into a GW,they should in theory simply remain dormant in a GW until they become ghoul rather than cause a destruction of souls,pretty much the same rules that work for Corypheus.

An Archdemon is a darkspawn who gained the soul of an original old god and received a power-up from it as well as the dragon shape.I think most people think that an Archdemon is an original but blighted old god with a corrupted soul who resurrect within a darkspawn,but there is a fundamental difference between this two interpretations.


All the blighted creatures infected directly by the taint(not via red lyrium)become ghoul and feel sick after some year,and this is true for the GW as well.The only reason this rule does not apply to old gods(they don't become ghouls they become Archdemons and remain Archdemons)
is because the Archdemons are darkspawns who mastered the old god soul,now the issue is to determine who is in charge of an Archdemon's mind,the Darkspawn who received the soul or the soul itself?

Two differents views with two differents outcomes:


1)Darkspawns may not be empty vessels for the soul of the old god but it is the soul of the old god the one that is trapped and used by the darkspawns.An Archdemon mind is the same of the darkspawn who gained the original soul so actually it is the old god who is possessed by the darkspawn not the darkspawn who is possessed by it's soul

2)Riordan's interpretation who believe that darkspawns are empty vessels used to ressurrect the Archdemon,this however imply several thing that were never demonstrated.

a)That the taint can corrupt not only the body but the soul itself,however this does not happen to the GW they can't bodyjump just because they have the taint,so why an old god is able to do that?


b)Old gods are inhertly evil,because the taint does not make a creature evil(Grey wardens,Red templars,Corypheus,The Architect ecc.. are not evil because they are tainted it's their choice to be evil or not)while an Archdemon is a being who enjoy to destroy others(you can hear his words in the DLC) and this attitude cannot be just the effects of the taint,it must be the will of the old god soul.

As for Corypheus not wanting to use Darkspawn i assume it has something to do with his pride or just the writers choice,it is odd however that no darkspawns seem to have been affected by the calling in Orlais,the true reason is probably the fact that they did not wanted to do the same thing after DAO,so they used red templars instead of darkspawns as minions..

Is not a dialogue from Trespasser I just merged togheter the info collected from the dialogues of The Architect as well as the codex of Urthemiel in DAO,Kieran OGB and the warnings of Solas.



Darkspawns are able to create an Archdemon from an original old god, most likely what they do does not involve any complicated procedure ,they simply kill their original body(basically what Clarel wanted to do in DAI) this way they force the soul to enter into one of them causing the creation of an Archdemon,that's why Solas was probably against killing the original old gods if their death just cause the creation of the Archdemons.


An Archdemon and an OGB share the same concept,they are beings who have an old god soul without the original mind of the old god,the only difference is the host.



The Architect attempted a joining ritual on the original Urthemiel and i do think he killed the original body with it,causing the soul to body jump into another host.

Killing old gods in the wrong way seem to just cause the creation of Archdemons.
As for why or how they finished imprisoned underground,I assume they lost to the Evanuris then they decided to lock them via magical imprisonment to get rid of them probably in wars that predate the foundation of the empire of the elves,i assume these old gods were just their opponents and since Flemeth want revenge on the Evanuris she decided to help their former enemies.

All very good questions! (Where's David Gaider when you need him?!)  The connections between demons and darkspawn isn't totally clear.  The Chantry tale tells of Tevinter magisters (of whom Cory was one) who entered the Fade and into the Golden City, corrupting it and in turn, they were themselves corrupted into the first Darkspawn.  No mention of what part demons played in this.  In the games, demons and darkspawn are almost always separate from each other.  Cory with his tainted dragon seem like they might be considered darkspawn.  But who follows Cory?  Possessed humans and demons.  You never hurlocks, gemlocks, etc. around Cory.  OTOH, the Architect seems like he too might have been one of those magisters who corrupted the Golden City and he clearly does work with darkspawn.   More questions!  I wonder if there's any DA reference book out there as opposed to the comics and novels.

OTOH, demons sometimes possess trees, hence the wild sylvan. Why would trees be preferable to darkspawn? 

Well I kinda noticed that demons and darkspawn are always separated but I kinda somehow bundle them in in the same group

The fact that the darkspawn are soulless was mentioned but what about the Archdemon??? They transfer into a dark spawn when theyre killed and also the Dark Ritual happened so it kinda implies some kind of soul... it might be an appealing host for a demon especially since it could kinda control all of the darkspawn through the Archdemon

That being said would demons actually OPPOSE the darkspawn??? I know they can possess corpses but to me something like a desire demon would actually oppose the darkspawn... because of the darkspawn not being amazing hosts for them it would kinda be an advantage for them to oppose the darkspawn in any way they can... I mean shades and the like are demons without hosts (if im right not sure but I think they are)... so it isnt like demons need hosts to appear in the physical world... I think people being generally alive as a whole would be preferable to demons

I kinda like the idea of demons being a faction that you could recruit in DAO like dwarves, elves, redcliffe soldiers... stuff like that... it might be a nice addition to see desire demons for example fighting the Archdemon

No. Playing DA2 now im a little behind haha

Cool.  I'll avoid being a spoiler!   Were you able to play any of the DLCs to Origins?

How are you enjoying DA2?  Always interesting to see how BW's vision of Thedas evolves!  The "look" of things and peoples will evolve even further in DA Inquisition, the 3rd game.