The Blanketfort (crying and throwing up) - The Official Solas Thread

So... how exactly does awakening work for ancient elves?

Solas tells us that he "woke up" one year before the events of Inquisition, but did he simply will it? Does it have a timer that automatically ends uthenera when time's up?

If that's true, then one would have to ask the question on why he didn't wake himself up sooner. Given his (presumed) ultimate goal, one would think he would have initiated to break down the fade sooner rather than wait as long as he did. That, or wait for an as-of-yet unknown factor to present itself. And if he was waiting for an unknown factor, what was it?

One explanation is that he was waiting for his strength to return, since he noted that he was still weak by the time he woke up. But that in turn would beg the question on why he woke himself up ahead of schedule regardless of his relative weakness instead of waiting to return to full strength. On the other hand, he may not have willed himself awake at all and simply woke up whenever he was reasonably able. Or perhaps he was awakened by some other factor like a spell weakening?

I'm inclined to think he just woke up whenever he was able to after his previous exploits, rather than simply willing himself awake (and regardless of his strength level)--even if a willing awakening would apply for others who enter uthenera under normal circumstances.

This actually makes more sense the more I think about it as well and it would follow a natural propagation of events. Afterall the mural he was working on also had Meredith and Corypheus so this basically suggests that we have gone from the fifth blight, to the events of Dragon Age 2/ the discovery of Red Lyrium, to Solas awakening, to Corypheus, back to Solas and the revelation of the Dreadwolf as natual progression. One even directly led into the next event. 

Also depending on where one sits on the 'Shartan is Solas' theory then this would add more evidence to the idea as well considering Shartan/ Andraste came around direcly after the First Blight. 

If the Inquisitor has romanced the Iron Bull and was betrayed by him, we are told by Trespasser's epilogue that s/he is then ridiculed by tavern songs and Orlesian plays for years.

S/He is also blamed for the Qunari threat, as s/he was too "blinded by lust" to see it approaching.

That got me thinking... if the Dread Wolf's threat was common knowledge, as well as Lavellan's relationship with him, and the Inquisition remained publicly active, she could have been subjected to the same level of scorn.

It's been ages since last time I played, but it is common knowledge that the Dreadwolf and Solas are the same? May be it is known that the Inquisitor had a relationship with an apostate elven mage, that he was Fen'Harel's agent even, but that he was Fen'Harel himself?

And if it is known, once the Veil is destroyed, could it be that the remaining Evanuris target the Inquisitor as revenge? (assuming they somewhat think Solas still loves her)

I believe that what really matters is whether they consider him to be a world ending threat.

I always found "world ending" too dramatic, the world will change that is for sure but we don't know how.

I wonder, will all elves be reconnected to the Fade and become immortal and able to use magic? what about other races?

Solas says "as this world burned in the raw chaos", does this mean tearing the Veil will turn some spirits into demons, so instead of small rifts here and there the whole world will be flooded with them? or is he referring to the Evanuris taking action?


Sooooo many questions  

So for me, the thing with Solas being convinced that he destroyed the world when he put up the Veil, and that to restore it, he must destroy it again, is patently false. The world still exists. There are still people and animals that are recognizably ones that existed before the Veil was created. Indeed, they are descendants of the people and animals that existed back in Solas' time.

Solas destroyed his world - his society and culture. But he did not destroy THE world. And chances are The world will still exist if he succeeds in his current plan to drop the Veil again. The current societies and cultures will be lost or irrevocably changed, but considering what those societies and cultures are, I'm not sure that's the worst thing ever. The survivors and their descendants will get a chance to create something new, and, one can hope, better.

My big question on this is how much continuity will exist between one or the other. Afterall either because of the Imperium/ Early man or just the pure rigors of time we know next to nothing about the Pre Veil world and what it looked like specifically. Vague history and theories is pretty much it. And in modern Thedas and this world a big part of the narrative has been restoring continuity not only in terms of the pre veil world but discovering the true history of events, organizations, and individuals and using that as a basis to move forward. If Solas's destruction is metaphorical and is going to lead to a 'new' world then if it is going to have any chance at being a better one then it needs that knowlege.

This has always been one of the frustrating parts of the writing of this narrative. Perhaps it would help if they didn't keep using the word "world" to indicate civilisation or organisation of society. Nevertheless, the creation of the Veil was a reality changing occurrence on a Thedas wide scale (did it extend to continents beyond Thedas?) and its removal would alter reality for the inhabitants in a profound way. Just as creating the Veil essentially created a new world reality and the destruction of the old, so removing it would do the same in reverse.   We do not know the population of the different races at the time he created the Veil but I think it is safe to assume that the elves in particular suffered a dramatic reduction, leaving the survivors weakened and open to being preyed upon, or assimilated into the culture of other races, inter marriage and a consequent loss of all traces of their elven heritage.   The only groups of elves to survive were the Sentinels of the Arbor Wilds and the Evanuris supporters of Arlathan Forest (probably Andruil worshipers, hence their emphasis of the Way of Three Trees in the subsequent culture of the Dalish), who later came into conflict with the Tevinter Imperium.

However, even if he is largely speaking metaphorically, Solas seemed in no doubt as to the consequences for the majority of people currently inhabiting Thedas; they are going to die a premature death as the direct result of his action (or at the very least have similar results as that of the ancient elves outlined above). There is no ambiguity in what he believes about that.

I haven't been to the forums in years, sorry for bringing this up again.

I agree with ladyiolanthe 's definition of world: society and culture. I consider the rise an downfall of nations trough the ages a normal ocurrence because life is change. Sometimes it happens pacefully sometimes violently. Such is life.

That is why the idea that Solas is going to destroy de world, understood as the physical place lifeforms inhabit, is bizarre to me. He says "I will save the elven people, even if this world must die", how is he saving the elven people if he destroys the place they need to live? or are we talking about death being their salvation?



Just because the world, understood as the physical place lifeforms inhabit, is not destroyed does not mean changes brought by the Veil being removed won't threaten the lives of everyone in Thedas. I think that is reason enough to try to stop Solas.

And I, for one, think that at the end of DA:D the Veil will be no more.

I base my theory on:

Sandal's prophecy in DA2:

(This also why I think the physical world won't be destroyed)

The letters "Dragon Age" in DA:D logo are cleary shattered

As far as we know, Solas is the most powerful being walking Thedas at the moment. How can he be stopped? Mythal "survived" her murder and Solas took a 1000 years nap after creating the Veil, I assume because the spell drained him

In the released art, we have seen references to the blights/archdemons, the red lyrium idol and the Foci, effectively tying DAO, DA2 and DAI. Each game exposed us to different lore that seem related to the creation of the Veil and possibly its destruction. At the moment, and without any further info, I think that the first three games have been a set up to the destruction of the Veil.


My opinion may change as we learn new info, but such is life

Why does he say to Lavellan (male or female) that it will result in the death of their people? They are elves, although not in the eyes of Abelas, who recognises Solas as one of his own but not Lavellan or Sera. In Tevinter Nights he seemed to think it possible that Charter would survive but her origins are mysterious so it is possible she is another of his agents who effectively switched sides, like Felassan. He talks of the "elves who remain", not all elves.

I've mentioned in my earlier post that on the face of it only two groups of elves survived to the present. The modern elves descend from the enclave in Arlathan Forest, which would seem to have been doing something similar to the Sentinels, sleeping out the millennia until the Evanuris return (which strangely enough they did believe will happen eventually) but were forced to awaken permanently through the intrusion of the Tevinter Imperium. Could it be there are other enclaves of elves sleeping in uthenera awaiting the restoration of their world? Could it be that, like the gradual deterioration of the Crossroads, they will slowly starve to death because of the Veil, which impedes their sustenance from the Fade? That might explain his determination to reverse his action in order to "save his people".

Actually, it was closer to a 3,700 year nap, 2800 years before the modern calendar and 840 years after it. That is a very long period of history during which other races have grown and developed in the current reality. For that matter we don't know modern creatures are the same as the ones that existed pre-Veil and likely they also adapted over time to a world with reduced magic. As Solas admits, the reversal of his previous action will have severe implications for all life that has developed post Veil.

I don't deny that the narrative could have Solas succeeding in some way in going through with this ritual and the result may not be as he anticipated, for good or ill, leading us to have to deal with the aftermath. Thus, it will be possible to survive it but that will apply to our hero and their companions, who will effectively have plot armour to preserve them. May be they will be in the Crossroads and protected from the immediate effects (the game leak information talked of using an eluvian to leave the hub) or may be they will have some sort of floating hub that does the same. That won't lessen the impact on the population at large who have no such sanctuary.

Incidentally, I do wonder if there will be some localised weakening and removal of the Veil, even if it is not Thedas wide. The concept art would suggest as much (there being a shattered floating landscape surrounding the archer and what appear to be floating aravels with a similar backdrop), bearing in mind when Corypheus punched a hole in it at the end of DAI, the surrounding country also started to levitate. Of course, the narrative didn't take into account what would really happen when such large quantities of rock plummeted back to earth, having everyone survive even if they had been left behind on the ground. So, it is entirely possible the statements by Solas were written without really considering what the implications would be.