The Messenger - A Darkspawn Companion in DA4?

Unfortunately, he can be killed in Awakening.

But having a Darkspawn companion should be possible. Just have them wearing a special suit of armor enchanter to keep the Taint inside it. That could even be a reveal, where at first it's just a knight who won't take his helmet off but during a battle it's knocked off and you see it was a Darkspawn the whole time.

People have been asking for a darkspawn companion since the dawn of Awakening, it seems. Personally, I don't see the appeal. I'd rather keep the darkspawn as pure antagonists than try to paint them as sympathetic or misunderstood.

Anyways, besides the fact that the Messenger can be dead as a doorknob in the Deep Roads, there are two main problems with even a non-psychotic darkspawn companion: first, they spread the corruption, and second, the darkspawn are the common enemy of every single living being in Thedas. Most people would either attack them on sight or run screaming for help.

None of these problems are insurmountable - maybe the darkspawn could wear some kind of magic mask that cloaks their presence and prevents them from infecting others - but if you just want a crazed psychopath in the party, I'm sure there are plenty of humans, elves, dwarves and qunari who fit the bill.

Where they might be useful is if we were going into an area where there was a high risk of being tainted; if you are already tainted then you will be immune. I'm thinking in particular of that corrupted beating heart we were shown last year. However, that function can already be filled by a Grey Warden, who will be more acceptable generally when not in the Deep Roads.

Also, a further problem with a darkspawn companion would be the attitude of other party members to them. I think the Wardens generally were not happy with our hero if they didn't kill the Architect and probably would have felt similarly about the Messenger. Other party members or associates might have lost family or friends to the darkpsawn, for example think of Dorian and Felix, so would not be happy about working with one.

To be honest, I am more inclined towards the view that trying to portray the darkspawn in a sympathetic light and thus killing them on sight being a morally questionable act was something about DAA that didn't really work for me. I spared the Messenger because clearly I was being sign-posted by the writers to do so but really I'd rather they keep the darkspawn as the enemy. Otherwise, what happens if we have the opportunity to cleanse Thedas of the Blight altogether but this will result in the death of our darkspawn companion and their allies? That gives me a feeling of deja vu with what happened in ME3 concerning the Reapers and the Reaper codes, being forced to give those codes to the Geth, so suddenly killing off the group that had been our enemy from the beginning is going to result in killing off all AI's not just the Reapers, so it becomes the ruthless choice rather than something we have always worked for.

I already suspect that it will be revealed that dropping the Veil is going to be the only way to defeat the Blight and that is why Solas feels he has no choice but is going to result in widespread destruction and death. I really don't need further reasons to want to find some other solution to the problem.

We already had one technically, if Anders died in DAA since then he is a dead mage possessed by a spirit/demon.

Wasn't Wynne already possessed by a spirit, before that?

I wouldn't want him as a companion, too much explaining to do with trying to contain the taint.

I would love to see him in a quest in the next game though. Maybe even the Architect? They could be involved in either a Warden mission, or something else related to taking down Solas? The Architect is one of the oldest sentient beings we know of, he's got to have some ancient knowledge stashed away somewhere that we could use?

I don't know, just speculating

BAH!

Games these days way overdo it with moral complexity.

I like my enemies to have a big, glowing signs above their heads that they are BAD. Then I hit them over the head with a big hammer and become a clear conscience HERO for defeating them.

Did the Architect in. Not sorry one bit. Never felt quite right about sparing that messenger once either.

I must admit that I don't think "Glow-head" is going to be a conventional sort of spirit possessed person that we are accustomed to. People with spirits that co-habit their body may have glowing eyes and even glowing skin from time to time when roused but otherwise look normal the majority of the time. Cole was an actual spirit that had crossed the Fade taken on mortal appearance, whilst still being essentially a spirit, and he didn't glow at all.

By contrast, "Glow-head" seems to have his/her head permanently enveloped by veil-fire, which is odd to say the least and means that they can hardly pass unnoticed through the population generally. So they are probably going to be some new unique entity that has some association with the Grand Necropolis in Nevarra and (hopefully) some unique attributes and insights on events. Vampires are so cliched now, I'm rather glad that they haven't yet made an appearance in Thedas and would much rather "Glow-head" was not some pseudo vampire hybrid.

I am intrigued to know exactly what they are though, assuming they did make the final cut, and how they become involved in the life of the new PC.

Why would that make his head glow? Essentially that is the same as what happened with Justice and Kristoff and his head didn't glow. Unless the Veil-fire is necessary to stop the mortal remains from decomposing. Even then, though, it is not quite the same thing. Justice didn't take up residence until Kristoff had already rotted away to some extent, whereas I would assume the soul would be bound to the mortal remains immediately after death before that happened. Although, thinking about it, Justice was a fade spirit and this would just be the soul of the Necromancer, so no power of itself to prolong life or prevent decomposition, so I suppose that could account for the Veil-fire being necessary and visible.

Mind you, I understood that what the Mortalitasi did was swap a fade spirit for the soul of the deceased in the corpse, as opposed to keeping the soul from entering the Fade.   They have this strange idea that the Fade can only hold so many spirits/souls, so it is a case of one goes in, another comes out.   Then instead of the spirit being twisted into a demon by being rudely sucked out of the Fade, they ensure it remains a spirit by directing its path into a suitable vessel.   I'm not entirely convinced of the validity of this idea for justifying the practices of the Mortalitasi but I suppose it could be a case of outsiders not fully understanding the procedure, so I await further information in the game.

Yes, but as you yourself pointed out, Justice was a Fade spirit inhabiting a mortal corpse. This would be a human soul bound to a human corpse. The set-up is different, and I imagine the glowing energy is tied to that.