Schmooples' Den! The DA News Discussion Thread

The book wasn't open to interpretation. It was quite clear. Initially Briala did seem to be willing to forgive what Celene did to the elves of Halamshiral (because they had been rebels essentially) but then she realised how Celene had callously condemned all her servants to death in order to claim the throne. This included her parents and in fact would have included Briala had she not managed to evade the assassins. Briala realised that despite all Celene's promises about what she would do once Gaspard was out of the way, it would only last until the next crisis when she felt the need to appease the nobility as part of the Game. So she needed to break free of their relationship and strive for her people independently. In order to assist her struggle she also realised that she needed to keep the other two at each other's throats, so she let Gaspard live by calling in her debt with Michel. This really put thing back to how the situation was before Celene killed her parents. Also, only Gaspard and Michel were aware of the truth about Celene's relationship with Briala.

Okay, let's scroll forward to how this is presented in game. Gaspard seems to suggest that Celene used Briala as a scapegoat for a political mistake - that was the case when she arrested her after the burning of Halamshiral. It is implied that it was this that resulted in falling out between them. This was not the case in the book. The elf working with Briala tells us that Briala was Celene's lover when she burnt Halamshiral. (Technically not so since Briala turned against her the first time because of that but Celene talked her round). The full extent of what Celene did at Halamshiral is never revealed. (I head cannoned that my Lavellan made it his business to find out before attending the ball but only because I knew the details from the book). I'm pretty sure we are never told as part of WEWH quest that Briala's edge is the eluvians - that only comes out in one war table mission and later in what Solas tells us in Trespasser. However, that is the basis of Briala's power. She uses them to get around quickly and organise her forces, also damage her opponents, something she would not have been able to do successfully if using the normal means of travel.

Briala seems happy to backtrack on all the reasons she left Celene in the first place simply because Gaspard is out of the way, when that would have been exactly the same situation had she let Michel kill him. Celene is still the woman who killed her parents for the throne, still the woman who she realises would sacrifice her for the throne if the situation demanded it, still the woman who felt she had to massacre the elves of Halamshiral because of the strength of feeling among the nobility about the concessions she had already allowed the elves previously. This last one would not go away simply because Gaspard wasn't around. Celene had promised Briala a title before their break-up and Briala had realised it was an empty promise as everything depended on current Court opinion. Briala walked away from Celene because she was no longer prepared to accept those terms.

So what changed? A stranger with a bit of political clout (but not enough to keep the Inquisition more than 2 years) finds a locket that Celene has kept, gives Briala a bit of credit for stopping Florianne and both of them kiss and make up. To my mind it does render everything in the book meaningless or at least the motivations attributed to Briala. Anyway, luckily she also loses control of the eluvians, so Celene doesn't get her hands on them - it seems that Solas was right and Felassan was wrong after all.

... And she did. Everything you said has happened - Briala realized that, in order to better the situation of the elves, she has to stop relying on Celene; that their feelings to one another aren't enough to shape policy of the Empire and that she has to start building up elves as viable players in the Game in their own right. Which she did - it's why she was invited to the Ball in the first place.

And we actually do not know who had an inkling about Celene and Briala, because the book follows only a small group of people and sticks to the bubble of their POVs. Also - even if just Gaspard and Michel were aware of the truth it's a factoid that rings true only till the end of the book. 

If we are to treat the book and the game as part of the same story, we CAN'T ignore that things have happened between the book and the game (and events in the game involving Orlesians) as well. Clearly, enough happened for some to catch a whiff of what relationship between Celene and Briala was.
Since when Gaspard is a Reliable Narrator or Spouter Of Objective Facts? There was a short discussion about this when some people were wondering why Briala kept certain things from Inquisitor - and you think Gaspard can't be the person who keeps things to himself? Gaspard detests the game, but still realizes he has to play it to reach his goals. And he has no reason whatsoever to reveal before Inquisitor things concerning details, or anything that could lead to the discovery of eluvian network, the access to which he probably still covets, given that he's fought to gain access to them. What happened in the alienage is big enough reason to cover the whole thing, nevermind it was where the rift between Briala and Celene began growing in earnest. Everything that happened later was a result of that. 
Since when the servant elf is a Reliable Narrator too? How a simple servant is supposed to know all the details that transpired during or after the burning of the alienage? You think Celene or Briala - people who played the Game all their life - would just babble all the details to everyone working under them?
I mean, being Briala's agent doesn't make the servant privy to these things, just like being an agent fo Inquisition (or Solas) doesn't. They also have a right to have their opinion or even disbelieve their leader, as the servant does.
Which is what I argued is the only logical way to 'translate' our knowledge, both from standpoint of us as an audience and how BW writers probably approach it.

You want to play as if your character knows more in order to pick choices that are right (or we think that are right)??? Okay - then you need to put a bit more extra effort and read a book, or at least a wiki.

I think it's a perfectly valid way to do so, that also provides the incentive to read the book. If every information or twist was available to uncover in the game, there really would be no reason to read auxiliary material - and if things in the book were laid out in a way that clearly shows or even downright spoil things in the game, then they'd just be shooting their own foot.

Plus, we know already, both from books and games, that the storyline can take directions we, as an audience, have not expected or may have had conjectured wrong from past material.
We are never told, but it is implied - during the dialogue on the balcony when she's offering an alliance with Inquisition. Briala has no reason to be 100% truthful with us - and it is smart to keep the way her people are slinking through the entire Empire and beyond a secret. It makes her look bigger.

A player who didn't read the book knows enough to make decisions. I know this because I began my adventure with DAI. And I may be the weirdo here, but I've found it enjoyable when I figured that the picture painted in the game ain't full and that my diligence paid off after I reached for additional materials.
But... that's the point of the series. The subjectivity of it, experienced differently the more we know (or don't know). The same thing happens when we don't play DAII. Or DAO. Or read any other book or comics the events of which are referenced in games.

Heck - we may gain different insight on things by just finishing the game. Or playing DLCs. Or even playing a different race/origin. The insight you have is proportional to your knowledge of the storyline. I personally find it very rewarding and one of the main draws of the series.

This is what I'm also looking forward to in DA4, when the game will inevitably be played by newbies to the series. How much information will be conveyed to them and how different their decisions will be in relation to the knowledge they have? I'm very interested to find out.
He disrupted his boss's plan and that gave a chance to achieve a different outcome. Felassan doesn't have to know a thing in order to be a facilitator of future events, just like Inquisitor doesn't have to be aware of Corypheus actions when they disrupt the ritual. 

Or just like the story about Slow Arrow doesn't have to be literal to have an impact. Thedas is a world in which metaphors and symbols can be very palpable things, and there are many forces trying to influence events in it, some of which we aren't aware of yet. I think you're making a mistake by thinking that all actions have to be conscious, or those involved to be knowledgeable, in order for events to matter. 
True - but Felassan knew what would have almost certainly happened if he handed the control of eluvians to the Dread Wolf. Yet he left things to chance, instead of hands of his chance-phobic boss. 

And I myself didn't read anything there that suggested that Felassan thought that Briala has a chance because 'she walked away from Celene' - only that she's built the resolve to take things in her hands and actively fight for the elves, instead of just relying on Celene. Which she did and continues to do so if given a chance, although to yet unknown end.