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

I've always imagined the loss of the arm would be taken as meaning that the Inquisitor has lost the Maker's favor. Or a sign of their identity, as you say, assuming that the Inquisitor missing an arm is public knowledge.

The problem is that the Inquisitor/Herald seems to have an invisible (to themselves) sign over their heads, saying who they are.

Anyone remember restoring the bridge in the Exalted Plains, going up to this keep that has been cut off from outside news for who knows how long and the guard saying, "The Inquisitor!"

I could see the nobles pretending not to know who you are if they were just being condescending/antagonistic (especially if you're not human) or if they were trying to play the Game.

Yes, we have to remember we were entering the arena of the Game, so some may have been genuinely ignorant, whilst others chose to not know who you are. In any case, hearing is not the same as seeing. I imagine all sorts of stories may have started to get around about the identity of the Inquisitor/Herald during those months. I seem to recall Josephine had her work cut out during the early months trying to quash incorrect information about the Herald.

Hence the lover of Dorian being able to sneak into Minrathous and out again with only the odd rumour circulating as a result. Naturally, it would be entirely up to the Herald (we will always carry that title if we wish) if they want to use their identity or not. Now if you were following Leliana's advice in disbanding, it was done with the intent of working from the shadows, so they wouldn't want to advertise who they were. By contrast, if handed over to the Divine, she might actually want the Herald to do a tour confirming the fact that this was the Maker's will.

As for the loss of the arm, I could think how the Divine/Herald could spin it to their advantage if they wished. How many people actually knew the damn thing had been malfunctioning? On the face of it, the Herald of Andraste confronted Fen'Harel, an enemy of the faithful, and he "bit off" the Maker's gift, thus demonstrating his ill intent. Luckily, the Maker preserved the Herald to be able to warn of the danger the ancient "demon" represented. Of course, that wouldn't be the truth but I think that went out the window when they suppressed the fact that Andraste wasn't the woman people saw behind you in the Fade or the anchor wasn't a gift from the Maker.

Metaphorically speaking, I would agree but it isn't the literal truth. You have to admit, it would be a good way to explain the loss of the anchor that would maintain the legend of the Herald to inspire the faithful.   If being burned at the stake was interpreted as inspirational, the loss of an arm can certainly be viewed in that way.

There are raven message deliverers. Hence why Leliana had a ton of ravens in the Rotunda/Library/Rookery at Skyhold.

See, Chancellor Roderick was right all along. He said they would allow that belief when convenient, and they did.

I mean, he's not a demon, he didn't bite you, he doesn't have a particular animus against faithful andrastians, he saved your life removing it so there's no ill intent, and it wasn't the Maker's gift in the first place, so... lol That's why its devious. You can pull an Obi-Wan and claim its true from a certain point of view, but its not factually accurate.

Well, firstly, he's an elf, not a demon. Secondly, I don't think "wants to murder everyone" actually is part of the DA definition of a demon, actually. Demons are often violent, but its not a requirement. Desire demons don't want to murder people. Unless your desire that they're eating is a desire to be a serial killer, and then probably they want to murder people.

And Solas' goal isn't to murder everyone, Solas' goal is to bring down the veil and merge magic back with the physical world. The fact it will likely result in a lot of death is something he'd rather avoid but can't without abandoning his actual goal (far as he sees it). This is one of the reasons he still spares people he feels he can, like the Inquisitor and Charter.

I meant that Solas' actions being framed as being "the enemy of the faithful by removing the maker's gift" wasn't accurate b/c Solas doesn't particularly dislike or attack the faithful andrastians, and the anchor was not from the Maker. I wasn't really commenting on the Maker himself here. I was just saying the anchor is Solas' magic, not some supernatural gift from the Maker. I do grant you could claim the Inquisitor showing up when they did and getting the anchor instead of Corypheus was Providence at work. 

"magic is his jaws" is metaphorical language and I already said you can frame it that way. But it is not the actual thing that happened. There was no wolf form or biting involved in the actual incident; and using that language to describe it is proper propaganda intended to paint a certain image in the heads of Thedosians who don't know better, in this imaginary example of how an Inquisitor could frame it that gervaise made.

That's why I liked it. I found it very clever.

It almost sounds like you're saying that if Solas had two paths, 1) take down the Veil but kill a lot of people or 2) take down the Veil but not kill a lot of people, then he'd take option 1 because according to you, he *wants* to kill a lot of people.

To make a really simple analogy:
I want hot food.  I don't live in convenient traveling distance to a restaurant/or delivery.  I don't want cook it but I want hot food.  I also don't want to clean up afterwards.  But I still want hot food so ... I have to suck it up and do things I don't want to do to get to the thing I do want.  Nowhere in this do I ever actually WANT to cook or clean (yes, I'm lazy).  In this instance my desire for hot food outweighs my dislike of cooking and cleaning.

Edit to add:
I really don't want to go to work tomorrow but I need money to pay to continue to argue on the internet.  Sadly, I really want to argue on the internet so I have to go to work to get money.

Thank you, it's nice to be appreciated. I did frame it very carefully, so from the perspective of a believer it was symbolically true even if some parts weren't literally true.

You see, from the point of view that the Maker acts through people in the world, you could even argue that creating the Veil was part of his plan and Solas was just his unwitting tool, so indirectly the Maker was responsible for imprisoning the false gods. Thus, events we learned about in Trespasser could be reconciled with the Chant. If the Evanuris, including Solas, were originally spirits that crossed into the Waking World and took on bodies like the creatures they found there, eventually assuming the position of gods over them, then they were essentially demons that usurped the Maker's rule.

The question now is whether Solas is still unwittingly working for the Maker or whether he is now in opposition to his plans. A lot hinges on whether Solas believes that what he intends to do will cleanse the world of the Blight. Also, whether our hero is able to find an alternative way to accomplish this. The Blight is an ongoing threat to all life in Thedas and I don't believe it was ever the intent of the Maker that this should be the case. The Blight is definitely the work of evil creatures in the ancient past and it would seem that until the Magisters broke into the Eternal City, it was safely contained there. I think that Minrathous also is home to a secret important part of this puzzle and that is why the Maker seems to constantly urge his faithful to try and conquer it.