Schmooples' Den! The DA News Discussion Thread

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Ally or Foe?
The Maker only knows.
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They can't come out and say X game exists primarily because they're a publicly traded company, and making comments about a game - that hasn't yet been disclosed to investors - would likely cause big problems for BioWare. As for DA4, new IP's, or a ME reboot, they probably in the prototyping (or pre-production stage - with DA4) phase right now, so they likely can't say much more than we already know (technically, we already know another ME game is in the works). I get you're frustrated with the company, as I'm sure a number of people are, but I'm not gonna begrudge them for posting light-hearted posts on Twitter. If anything, they probably need to lay low for right now considering their reputation isn't exactly in good standing right now.

I just want to know about what troubled the Wardens in the prologue End slides of base game. There is so much meat and mystery in that, I want it.

Alright but what if...... Hawke shows up in DA4 possessed by the Nightmare, eh? Eh??! Ally or foe, Maker only knows...

Doesn’t Varric’s Trespasser slide indicate Hawke returned to Kirkwall (if alive)?

You know, we know virtually nothing about the founding of the Grey Wardens. What if they, as an order, are a long game by one of the Evanuris/Evanuris' followers? Basically the "The archdemons are the seals that keep the Evanuris imprisoned." theory, but with the Grey Wardens actually having been purposefully set up to deal with Blights this way, instead of their blind stumbling just happening to play in to the Evanuris' hands.

Well, it's not like they didn't already prove that they are susceptible to external influences, be it from Taint itself or playing on their fears/emotions and sense of duty...

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The wiki touches on this a little bit, but we don't have definitive answer...

The Joining ritual was created in the early days of the Order, during the First Blight. It is unknown exactly how the Grey Wardens developed this ritual, although many theories exist.[2] According to most records, Nakiri of The Donarks was the one who first suggested imbibing the blood of the darkspawn, as his people were known to consume the blood of their enemies to absorb their power. The first Grey Wardens consulted many Tevinter mages, who confirmed that there was power in blood, as blood magic was a common practice in the Imperium at the time. It is also said that elven slaves also contributed ancient knowledge from Arlathan. This was in return for being treated as equals in the order and with the intention that, after the Blight was ended, they would concentrate on freeing the elves.[3]

I'm guessing it had something with the internal strife we hear about in the game over the future of the Order. And that happens regardless of how you deal with the Wardens in the south.

It sounds like they're trying to give themselves as much room to shift the narrative around on that as possible.

This is pure speculation based on the most tenuous 'evidence' from games and books as well as real-world science about pregnancy, but I've never actually been satisfied by the idea from David Gaider's The Calling that the amulets that protect the Grey Wardens from being sensed by the darkspawn are what led to Fiona being cured of the taint. After all, several other Grey Wardens, including Duncan, also wore those amulets and were not, to our knowledge, cured of the taint. I think that what cured Fiona was actually the blood of Calenhad that ran in Maric and therefore in Alistair. The real world science about pregnancy is that cells from developing fetuses do cross through the placenta and the umbilical cord and have been found in the birth mothers' tissues.

My speculation is that the Qunari story of Calenhad is not wrong, in that he drank a dying dragon's blood that conferred great power on him. The Qunari hold that the strength Calenhad gained from that dragon's blood was passed down to his descendants. And due to fetal cells passing to the mother, Fiona got some of the Calenhad blood and that's what cured her. This means also that it's possible that Alistair may in fact be cured of the taint himself someday. (But, as Warden Alistair does hear the false Calling in DAI, this remains to be seen, of course.)

Anyway, like I said, it's very flimsy (one gaping hole in the speculation is that Alistair clearly IS a Grey Warden since he senses darkspawn, has the bad dreams, etc. like our HoFs - if Calenhad's dragon blood confers immunity to darkspawn taint, then how did Alistair become a Grey Warden in the first place?) but it would tie in nicely to your idea that the Archdemon's blood is the ingredient that keeps Grey Wardens from simply becoming ghouls like other living beings who have been exposed to darkspawn blood. Dragons are magic, y'all.  And so is blood, as we're often reminded in Dragon Age games and books.