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

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Inquisitor: Am I riding in on a shining steed?
Solas: I would have suggested a griffon. Sadly, they are extinct.
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Lavellan: You want to restore the elven people. I would give my life for that.
Solas: Would you give the life of every friend you have ever known? There is no glory here, only a price I alone will pay.

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Inquisitor: You love the Fade, why would you create the Veil to hide it all away?
Solas: Because every alternative was worse.
Inquisitor: Meaning?
Solas: Had I not created the Veil, the Evanuris would have destroyed the entire world.

Related:

"Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!"

For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire.
The vision grows dark. An aeon seems to pass. Then the runes crackle, as if filled with an angry energy.

A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic.
Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast.
A voice whispers:

"What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."
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(collected dialogues after this point were originally assembled at corseque’s tumblr)
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Solas: Your Order… the Grey Wardens…
Blackwall: What about them?
Solas: The Wardens see themselves as the world’s defense against the Blight, do they not?
Blackwall: Yes… why do you sound so skeptical? Doesn’t everyone know this?
Solas: When an Archdemon rises, they slay it. What will they do when all the Archdemons are slain?
Blackwall: Retire?
Solas: Without Archdemons, there can be no Blights. Is that the reasoning?
Blackwall: Right. Where are you going with this?
Solas: Nowhere. I hope they are correct.

(he is totally not hinting here that killing all the Old Gods/Archdemons would help destroy the Veil)
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Solas: I find the fall of the dwarven lands confusing.
Varric: What’s so confusing about endless darkspawn?
Solas: A great deal, although that is a different matter.
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(at the Western Approach)
Inquisitor: The Approach seems to be recovering from the old Blight.
Solas:Blights scar all they touch. To see wildlife thriving here…
Solas: It is deeply unexpected.
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Solas: The Grey Wardens allow elves and dwarves into their ranks?
Varric: Qunari, too, I imagine. They don’t care about titles or blood, just stopping the Blight.
Solas: A pity they do it so badly, then.
Blackwall: Would you care to repeat that?
Solas: Argue if you like. Your fight against the darkspawn is noble, but what progress have you made?
Varric: Give them some credit. It’s not like you can study the Blight safely. I may not like everything they’ve done, but without the Wardens, we’d all be blighted by now.
Solas: They’ve bought us some time, I will grant them that.
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(warning to the elven woman in Crestwood who wants to join the Grey Wardens)
Solas: Wardens will do anything to stop the Blight. There is much to admire in that commitment… but much to be wary of as well.
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Inquisitor: Why would the Wardens try to kill the Old Gods?
Erimond: A Blight happens when darkspawn find an Old God and corrupt it into an Archdemon.
Erimond: If someone fought through the Deep Roads and killed the Old Gods before they could be corrupted… poof!
Erimond: No more Blights. Ever. The Wardens sacrifice their lives and save the world.
Solas: That’s madness! For all we know, killing the Old Gods could make things even worse!
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(after Here Lies The Abyss)
Solas:I cannot believe the Grey Wardens could even conceive of such a plan.
Solas: To seek out these Old Gods deliberately in some bizarre attempt to preempt the Blight…
Inquisitor: Grey Wardens have always been dangerous. They care for nothing beyond stopping the darkspawn.
Solas: Like a fair maiden chasing a butterfly off a cliff.
Solas: Except that if you hadn’t stopped them, we’d all have fallen.
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Inquisitor: And calling the army of demons. That’s my favorite part.
Solas: The demons are nothing. They’re a tool.
Inquisitor: A tool that would have let Corypheus ride roughshod over most of Orlais.
Solas: Even if they hadn’t, the entire idea is wrong.
Solas: The Blight is not something one smugly outsmarts.
Solas: Forgive me. The entire idea is… unnerving.
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Inquisitor: I wouldn’t mind never having another Blight. Corypheus interfering is the real problem.
Solas: The Blight is the real problem.
Inquisitor: And the Wardens are trying to end the Blight forever.
Solas: That’s not the point. Even if they could succeed, the entire idea is wrong.
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Inquisitor: How many lives were lost during the last Blight?
Inquisitor: Corypheus notwithstanding, I don’t blame the Wardens for acting instead of reacting.
Solas:They acted stupidly.
Inquisitor: By trying to end the Blight forever?
Solas: Yes! Would it have worked? Do you know? Did they?
Solas: The fools who first unleashed the Blight upon this world thought they were unlocking ultimate power.
Solas: Forgive me. The entire idea is… unnerving.
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Solas: Those fools and duty. Responsibility is not expertise. Action is not inherently superior to inaction.
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(Solas’ disapproval conversation)
Solas:Why am I surprised? You supported the Grey Wardens. Their blind zealotry must be a solace.
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Solas:Are you pleased to have the Grey Wardens on your side? Do you wish you could join their proud little cult?
Solas: How long, do you think, before their next attempt to control something beyond their comprehension?
Inquisitor: The Wardens deserved a chance to redeem themselves.
Solas: Their only purpose is to protect the world from something they do not understand, something that corrupts them!
Inquisitor: Grey Wardens know more about the Blight than anyone else. They’re our best hope of fighting it.
Solas: If that is true, then… (Sighs.) Let us hope otherwise. For all our sakes.
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Inquisitor: So you’re an expert on the Blight now, not just the Fade? Or are you just an authority on everything strange?
Solas: If current wisdom suggests you corrupt yourself with darkspawn blood, any suggestion I offer would have to be better.
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Cassandra: You don’t think much of the Grey Wardens, Solas.
Solas: They are fools, a fact only amplified by Corypheus’ meddling. The Wardens’ insistence on tampering with forces they do not understand… that is what defines their Order.
Cassandra: A harsh assessment—but after Adamant, perhaps not undeserved.
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Inquisitor: What can you tell me about the source of Corypheus’s power?
Solas: According to the lore, the ancient magisters of Tevinter received guidance from the Old Gods.
Solas: Corypheus commands a false Archdemon—a corrupted Old God. This suggests he no longer sees himself as their minion.
Solas: Some of his unique power comes from the corruption of the Blight. The rest may come from the orb he carries.
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Inquisitor: You said that you believed the orb is elven?
Solas: I never would have believed a Tevinter mage could unlock such a powerful relic.
Solas: It clearly enhances his abilities, giving him access to power he should never have known.
Inquisitor: Like the power to control the Archdemon?
Solas: Indirectly, one assumes. Nothing in any lore connects my people to the Old God dragons who became Archdemons.
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Cassandra: Solas, what do you think this Corypheus actually is?
Solas: A darkspawn, as he appears.
Cassandra: But what of the orb he wields and the dragon he commands? This is no ordinary darkspawn.
Solas: His true advantage is the red lyrium. It is corrupted by the blight as he is, thus he taps into its power twofold.
Solas: Whatever he was before, that is what makes him dangerous now.
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Cassandra: Solas, the dragon Corypheus commands—could it truly be an Archdemon?
Solas: One assumes that if it were, we would be facing a Blight.
Cassandra: So what is it, then? A corrupted dragon, simply another darkspawn?
Solas: It is connected to Corypheus. Such a relation goes beyond mere control—it is a bond.
Cassandra: It makes you wonder if that’s all the Archdemons themselves are: pets to beings who no longer exist.
Solas: I would not go so far as that. This dragon is a replica spawned from a creature who aspires to greatness, no more.
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Vivienne: Corypheus is a complex creature, to draw upon so many different sources of power.
Vivienne: He has his own magic, he draws from the blight, the artifact he carries is elven…
Vivienne: And now, he uses a demon to create a false Calling to fool the mages.
Solas: The false Calling was blight magic. The demon merely amplified its power.
Vivienne: This ancient magister is like a man drinking from three wineglasses at once.
Solas: And one of the glasses is poisoned.
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Vivienne: You disapprove of Corypheus using the magic of the blight, Solas?
Solas: Every intelligent creature should.
Vivienne: Yet you raise no objection to the Grey Wardens using blood magic.
Solas: Blood magic is no worse than any other, properly used. But the Blight…
Solas: The blight corrupts everything it touches. Those who believe themselves capable of using it safely are mad.
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Vivienne: I understand that Grey Wardens are connected in some way to the blight.
Solas: Then that explains why we saw no old men at Adamant.

Blackwall: What happened at Redcliffe, have you ever seen its like, Solas?
Solas: The distortion of time? I have seen magic accomplish many things, but ... no, that is new.
Blackwall: Magic has little place in a war between men.
Solas: Many mages are brutes, seeing nothing more than a larger ball of fire.
Solas: But those with imagination, those who use war to push the limits of the possible ...
Blackwall: I wish the Chantry could better enforce restrictions against its use.
Solas: Such rules never hold. Any who want victory will find some reason their cause merits exception.
Solas: The best we can do is ensure the world still stands when this fight ends.