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Post by Reznore on Aug 8, 2024 5:48:32 GMT
since when have the Darkspawn not been goofy? I've certainly always felt like laughing at them since Origins. Some were fine, like the ogre, the architect/cory, the first in Awakening. The darkspawn design being silly is not a great tradition to keep.
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 8, 2024 8:00:35 GMT
There's no good story reason for darkspawn to look this goofy. Sure maybe Ghil is having some fun, but you shouldn't look at darkspawn and feel like laughing. From the story Horror of Hormack it would seem like the monster pools seem to be operating somewhat randomly now, even if originally the outcome could be controlled. Ghil has been napping for millennia so perhaps it takes her a while to get her faculties back and remember how she originally set them up. Actually, they could be down to some mad Venatori. Fortex was using red lyrium to create animate wigs and to be honest they sounded pretty goofy to me. May be another of their number thought they would make darkspawn more powerful and pretty by infusing them with red lyrium. since when have the Darkspawn not been goofy? I've certainly always felt like laughing at them since Origins. I never really looked at them that closely and when something is trying to kill you it tends not to matter how stupid they look. However, I can't remember thinking that monster is laughable, certainly not back in DAO. DA2 and Legacy in particular you may have a point with the Alpha Genlocks. They were a bit goofy. Then they continued to modify the look of darkspawn in DAI, in particular the Descent. However, the Red Templars ran them pretty close for the title of laughable, because it was hard to imagine how anyone could look at them and think, I want a piece of that. So, in a way these darkspawn are a cross between DAI darkspawn and red templars, with the addition of bug eyes and, I agree, they do look laughable.
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Post by illuminated11 on Aug 8, 2024 22:41:14 GMT
It was hard to get a good look at darkspawn in Inquisition due to the camera angle and we never really see them in cutscene (Cory excepted), so I never had strong feelings about them. In Origins I didn't think they looked goofy so much as derivative to Peter Jackson's version of orcs, and I thought the changes in 2 made sense. I had no issue with them.
Here I really dislike the ogre but the regular darkspawn I'm ambivalent about. I want to see both in-motion before I judge further. I'll also add the the pride demon re-design has grown on me, I'm beginning to see the exposed nerve angle they're going for there, as if being peeled away in preparation for a new transformation.
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Post by jennica on Aug 8, 2024 23:18:42 GMT
I've always thought that genlocks in DAO looked goofy, but then someone on Reddit compared them to this guy from Mario movie and now i just can not take them seriously anymore. They're on the same level as DAVe's ogre for me.
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Post by illuminated11 on Aug 8, 2024 23:31:28 GMT
I've always thought that genlocks in DAO looked goofy, but then someone on Reddit compared them to this guy from Mario movie and now i just can not take them seriously anymore. They're on the same level as DAVe's ogre for me. lol oh no, now I'll only ever see this too.
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 9, 2024 6:49:54 GMT
I'll also add the the pride demon re-design has grown on me, I'm beginning to see the exposed nerve angle they're going for there, as if being peeled away in preparation for a new transformation. They keep redesigning the demons and adding new ones but I've never had a problem with that. If the Fade is constantly changing why wouldn't the beings that inhabit it change also? As I previously posted, if demons are manifestations of the emotions of people in the material world, then presumably they would also look as the people they confront would expect them to look. Not everyone is going to imagine their appearance in the same way and if they have never previously encountered a demon or seen an artistic representation of them then they will see them differently from those that have. There was some allusion to this when we are in the Fade in DAI and each member of the party seems to see a group of fearlings that attack us in different ways because they are feeding off our deepest fears and every person's is going to be different. However, it would be good to discover the reason the demons have changed has a narrative reason for it too rather than just the design team decided they wanted to come up with something different.
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Post by illuminated11 on Aug 11, 2024 17:25:33 GMT
I'll also add the the pride demon re-design has grown on me, I'm beginning to see the exposed nerve angle they're going for there, as if being peeled away in preparation for a new transformation. They keep redesigning the demons and adding new ones but I've never had a problem with that. If the Fade is constantly changing why wouldn't the beings that inhabit it change also? As I previously posted, if demons are manifestations of the emotions of people in the material world, then presumably they would also look as the people they confront would expect them to look. Not everyone is going to imagine their appearance in the same way and if they have never previously encountered a demon or seen an artistic representation of them then they will see them differently from those that have. There was some allusion to this when we are in the Fade in DAI and each member of the party seems to see a group of fearlings that attack us in different ways because they are feeding off our deepest fears and every person's is going to be different. However, it would be good to discover the reason the demons have changed has a narrative reason for it too rather than just the design team decided they wanted to come up with something different. Oh, I don't mind demons being re-designed or new demons being added. I just wasn't sure I actually liked the re-designs when I first saw them, because they felt more abstracted than earlier iterations.
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 19, 2024 15:02:29 GMT
Okay, full on crazy theory related to the costume of our companions. It may just be the design team wanting to come up with something distinctive to each companion but they all seem to have some sort of shape throughout their clothing:
Bellara - Everywhere there are triangles from her pouches to her gloves to her earrings. (Although the centre of her vallislin is either two inverted triangles or a diamond) Lucanis - Eye motif all round his robe with one very prominent one on his back. Neve - Diamonds as are also found very much in Tevinter architecture so could be connected with that to indicate her origins. Her hat is also a diamond/square Taash - Circles. May be they remind her of coins and that is what it is meant to suggest to us but there are lots of them. Emmirch - Hexagon pattern on parts of his clothing, matching the hexagons on the big skelton. Even the 6 dots around its eyes join up to form hexagons. Davrin - Still working on his signature symbol. At the moment it would seem to be a griffon appropriate to a Warden. Perhaps he is the odd one out. Harding - She has a downward pointing arrow on the back of her costume where we can see it in the trailers. Is this something she keeps all game?
Now the strange pattern that keeps appearing after the Dragon Age title contains circles, hexagons, diamonds and triangles (I think) so that brings in at least four of our companions. That strange pattern also appeared in the 2022 trailer in connection with the Golden City, so it has to be important in some way.
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Post by dayze on Aug 24, 2024 3:26:55 GMT
Also, do you think he was agreeing that the change to the demons was just a design choice or perhaps they are also different for plot reasons? I was thinking that if demons reflect what they see and sense from the Fade, perhaps they looked different in the south because people had a more negative view of them there and expect solid looking monsters, whereas from the conversation between Dorian and Solas it would seem mages are far more chilled about spirits and demons up north and perhaps their appearance reflects how they expect them to look. Or it has something to do with the activities of Fen'Harel and his memories of how spirits used to look back in the good old days. A further thought. Whilst demons attack Rook's party when they get to Arlathan, they don't seem to bother Solas. Could it be they are aiding Fen'Harel and protecting his ritual site, not just coming through the Veil randomly?
Could be one area the leaders/prideful are primarily kings and knights whereas in another area the prideful rulers are mainly mages?
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 24, 2024 7:28:58 GMT
Could be one area the leaders/prideful are primarily kings and knights whereas in another area the prideful rulers are mainly mages? That is another possibility. It is a pity John Epler didn't make it clear if there was a lore reason why the spirits have changed but perhaps he already had earlier and that is why the questioner asked about whether darkspawn had changed purely for design reasons in the same way spirits had. Obviously, it is down the the design team if they simply wanted to change them but if there are story reason for the change in the appearance of spirits, even if it is a different reason to why darkspawn have changed, it would be better than simply "we wanted to go with something different this time." I don't actually have a problem with the new look and actually do think it seems more lore appropriate they do look less solid than previously because they are spirits not material beings. However, the codex about the Forbidden Ones does suggest that before the Veil when spirits crossed over from the Fade they took on more substantial form on reaching the Waking World but shed it on returning to the Fade, so really it would make more sense for the Pride Demon to look more substantial in the material world but then all lit up with magic when we encounter them in the Fade.
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Post by colfoley on Aug 25, 2024 1:01:20 GMT
Got two more theories to talk about today. First of which I have been thinking about for a few weeks now but just have not gotten around to it yet, but a conversation between gervaise21 and I in Schmooples has gotten my dandruff up the other day. Still so much to post about. Now I forget the video that inspired this theory so I can't link that either, but the BioWare devs are on recoard as saying there is a 'reason Rook does not want to do Blood Magic'. Now most people just assume that it is specifically tied to Rook's blood getting caught up in the ritual, which I think is a safe assumption...but what if there is more to it then that? Enter my theory. It did strike me in the latest trailer, was working on the theory before then but latest evidence, that the Venatori cultist were using Red Lyrium weapons and were opposing our heroes. Now sure this could be some personal motivation related specifically to the personal quests, but the idea here is that the Venatori are actually serving the Elven Gods in a main story capacity. Which would not make a lot of sense given the Venatori dream of restoring the greatness of the Imperium which would be at odds with serving the Elven gods. So, the theory goes that while Blood Magic, Red Lyrium, and Blight Corruption may not exactly be from the same source, though even that is possible...but that they are close enough to one another where the Evanuris might be able to control...or influence...anyone who utilizes it and thus be enemies. Which does have rather huge implications because my understanding is I think we have seen the Qunari use Red Lyrium in some capacity, the Venatori, the Wardens, even Emmrich might be suspetable thanks to blood magic's connection to Necromancy. Now this theory is admittedly half formed and is hollier then a piece of swiss cheese because as with other theories of mine the implications of it would be a little far fetched. Plus this is a plot line that BioWare has gone back to repetedly, with the Reapers, kind of with the Kett, and in DAI with the Templars and Wardens. Not that they can't recycle plots and not that they can't make them interesting. Plus given the degree of this and given we are clearly fighting with Emmrich and the Wardens its also likely that people can resist this influence somehow and it might be tied directly how much they use said forms of magic and how far gone they already are...that would be the way around some of the more negative implications. But given there seems to be some kind of *voice* out there that is speaking through Red Lyrium...and thus the Blight...and even Blood Magic..and given even FemMythal seemed to indicate she was powerless to stop its call...well there might be something out there that can influence all these factors and maybe the Evanuris is tying into it, or maybe the Evanuris are as much puppets themselves. *ahem* Well that went off the rails so for theory 2. Long standing theory of mine, as I mentioned. The Evanuris and the Old Gods are one and the same. Now spoiler alert here around the time that VG comes out I intend on creating a post or series of posts talking about my subscribed fan theories and their likeliehood or not of coming true within Veilguard to put a stamp on if I am right. I bring this up to because Veilguard of late keeps on dropping nuggets of information that makes me doubt that the Evanuris are directly the Old Gods, but I still think there could be some connetion. Low and behold the gameplay demo dropped a rather significant bombshell. Now one that the more I think abot it the more I think it does not really change that much and we are still effectively back at square 1...but its an interesting piece of the puzzle regardless to consider: Ghil'anain and her Archdemon.
Now given that we only saw one Dragon in the trailer and given that it was different then the Dragons we saw in the release date trailer this does in my mind relate to three possibilities...and we are essentially back to the same three possibilities that we have been at...sort of.
1. The 'Archdemon' is just Ghil herself. All we saw was a dragon briefly attacking Weishaupt and then it went off screen and then the next thing we see is a giant face staring at us from the clouds...probabl Ghil. Since I don't think we see the face and the Dragon at the same time its possible that Ghil transformed herself into the face to watch the battle from afar. Again bit of a stretch but think it could still be possible.
2. This is an imitation like the Corypheus Dragon.
3. This is 'for lack of a better term' situation and is basically just a blighted High Dragon/ Great Dragon and we are calling it just because.
4...yeah guess there are four options actually. This is one of the Archdemons under the control of Ghil.
So yeah lots of different options and I guess four has the most interesting implications especially given my above theory really but only 1 of these would neccessarily directly preserve the Archdemon to Evanuris connection.
On the other hand though while I am still waiting for more information to make a firm judgement internally, other then thinking this question will be answered, think the meta textual implications are even more juicy. Since it seems the purpose of this and the purpose of the reveal might be to push that if the Evanuris aren't the Archdemons/ Old Gods but then they are more powerful then them enough to use them thus this being a much bigger threat then what we have faced so far.
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Post by dreadcat on Aug 26, 2024 3:55:28 GMT
Got two more theories to talk about today. First of which I have been thinking about for a few weeks now but just have not gotten around to it yet, but a conversation between gervaise21 and I in Schmooples has gotten my dandruff up the other day. Still so much to post about. Now I forget the video that inspired this theory so I can't link that either, but the BioWare devs are on recoard as saying there is a 'reason Rook does not want to do Blood Magic'. Now most people just assume that it is specifically tied to Rook's blood getting caught up in the ritual, which I think is a safe assumption...but what if there is more to it then that? Enter my theory. It did strike me in the latest trailer, was working on the theory before then but latest evidence, that the Venatori cultist were using Red Lyrium weapons and were opposing our heroes. Now sure this could be some personal motivation related specifically to the personal quests, but the idea here is that the Venatori are actually serving the Elven Gods in a main story capacity. Which would not make a lot of sense given the Venatori dream of restoring the greatness of the Imperium which would be at odds with serving the Elven gods. So, the theory goes that while Blood Magic, Red Lyrium, and Blight Corruption may not exactly be from the same source, though even that is possible...but that they are close enough to one another where the Evanuris might be able to control...or influence...anyone who utilizes it and thus be enemies. Which does have rather huge implications because my understanding is I think we have seen the Qunari use Red Lyrium in some capacity, the Venatori, the Wardens, even Emmrich might be suspetable thanks to blood magic's connection to Necromancy. Now this theory is admittedly half formed and is hollier then a piece of swiss cheese because as with other theories of mine the implications of it would be a little far fetched. Plus this is a plot line that BioWare has gone back to repetedly, with the Reapers, kind of with the Kett, and in DAI with the Templars and Wardens. Not that they can't recycle plots and not that they can't make them interesting. Plus given the degree of this and given we are clearly fighting with Emmrich and the Wardens its also likely that people can resist this influence somehow and it might be tied directly how much they use said forms of magic and how far gone they already are...that would be the way around some of the more negative implications. But given there seems to be some kind of *voice* out there that is speaking through Red Lyrium...and thus the Blight...and even Blood Magic..and given even FemMythal seemed to indicate she was powerless to stop its call...well there might be something out there that can influence all these factors and maybe the Evanuris is tying into it, or maybe the Evanuris are as much puppets themselves. *ahem* Well that went off the rails so for theory 2. Long standing theory of mine, as I mentioned. The Evanuris and the Old Gods are one and the same. Now spoiler alert here around the time that VG comes out I intend on creating a post or series of posts talking about my subscribed fan theories and their likeliehood or not of coming true within Veilguard to put a stamp on if I am right. I bring this up to because Veilguard of late keeps on dropping nuggets of information that makes me doubt that the Evanuris are directly the Old Gods, but I still think there could be some connetion. Low and behold the gameplay demo dropped a rather significant bombshell. Now one that the more I think abot it the more I think it does not really change that much and we are still effectively back at square 1...but its an interesting piece of the puzzle regardless to consider: Ghil'anain and her Archdemon.
Now given that we only saw one Dragon in the trailer and given that it was different then the Dragons we saw in the release date trailer this does in my mind relate to three possibilities...and we are essentially back to the same three possibilities that we have been at...sort of.
1. The 'Archdemon' is just Ghil herself. All we saw was a dragon briefly attacking Weishaupt and then it went off screen and then the next thing we see is a giant face staring at us from the clouds...probabl Ghil. Since I don't think we see the face and the Dragon at the same time its possible that Ghil transformed herself into the face to watch the battle from afar. Again bit of a stretch but think it could still be possible.
2. This is an imitation like the Corypheus Dragon.
3. This is 'for lack of a better term' situation and is basically just a blighted High Dragon/ Great Dragon and we are calling it just because.
4...yeah guess there are four options actually. This is one of the Archdemons under the control of Ghil.
So yeah lots of different options and I guess four has the most interesting implications especially given my above theory really but only 1 of these would neccessarily directly preserve the Archdemon to Evanuris connection.
On the other hand though while I am still waiting for more information to make a firm judgement internally, other then thinking this question will be answered, think the meta textual implications are even more juicy. Since it seems the purpose of this and the purpose of the reveal might be to push that if the Evanuris aren't the Archdemons/ Old Gods but then they are more powerful then them enough to use them thus this being a much bigger threat then what we have faced so far. Definitely #4, the writers still need to address the two remaining Old Gods and with a bigger threat (the Evanuris) already out it’ll be awkward if the OG were written as independent but inferior players in the story, the most logical choice is that they are subordinate to the Evanuris.
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 26, 2024 8:00:21 GMT
my understanding is I think we have seen the Qunari use Red Lyrium in some capacity Not in game but I think you are referring to their appearance in the Wraiths of Thedas comic series. If that is tied into the Antaam using red lyrium now they are no longer under the direction of the Ariqun, that could not only account for them making bad tactical decisions (like attacking Antiva, so bringing them into the war before Tevinter had been dealt with) but also their ruthless drive. Qunari souped up on red lyrium is a scary prospect. However, the behaviour of the Antaam could just be down to the fact that they are not under control of the priestesses when it comes to deciding how to best serve the Qun. the Venatori cultist were using Red Lyrium weapons and were opposing our heroes. Now sure this could be some personal motivation related specifically to the personal quests, but the idea here is that the Venatori are actually serving the Elven Gods in a main story capacity. Which would not make a lot of sense given the Venatori dream of restoring the greatness of the Imperium which would be at odds with serving the Elven gods. They were willing to serve Corypheus in return for power. Okay, I know he was originally a High Priest of Dumat but he was clearly blighted which you would think would give them pause for thought. Instead they seemed to think they wanted to use whatever gave him his power and immortality. According to the Chant of Light, Threnodies, it was this that originally drove the Magisters to invade the Black City to claim the "empty throne" and become immortal gods. By contrast the Canticle of Silence (by Hessarian) says it was merely a desire for power and they expected to find Dumat waiting to greet them, whilst Corypheus' servant suggests it was a move of desperation because the people were abandoning the faith and his blood magic was not effective (in controlling them perhaps?). Corypheus admonishes Dumat in Legacy for the fact that they were expecting to find a Golden City, although his memories in CoJ suggest that they were happy enough to embrace the Darkness once they found this was not the case. Thinking back he never said: "Where were you?" when complaining at what they found in Legacy, so perhaps Andraste's version was correct and he always expected to find an empty throne in the Golden City, which he intended to claim. Apparently he did find the empty throne but in a black, corrupted city. Nevertheless, he did get what he sought, power and a form of immortality since he no longer aged as a mortal. So, given her fixation with her looks, which I assume probably means retaining her youthful bloom, might not Zara be equally willing to work for the "gods" if they promised her immortality as a result? Whilst the prolonged use of blood magic and red lyrium had rotted her brain of any capacity to see the negative aspects of this "blind bargain". After all, what do the Venatori see but gods, likely in the form of dragons or their dragon proxies, returned to the world. Would they really care about the identity of those gods? For that matter, would the gods identify themselves by their elven identities? The Evanuris only care about power and those who are willing to serve them, or are too weak to resist and can make effective slaves. That is what Morrigan states in the trailer. They want people grovelling at their feet. That is, of course, why she would resist them whether partnered with Mythal now or not. Can you see Morrigan bowing to anyone? As for Mythal, remember what she said to Merrill: "The People are too quick to bow the knee." She also said to my Lavellan: "You do the People proud" and we were in a position of power (in my case having said I was doing it as an elf representing all - something Solas slightly approved of). You will recall that whilst Flemeth had her own reasons for assisting the Warden, she did say the blight was a threat to all. She was anticipating a showdown with the other gods eventually, so perhaps she always knew that they couldn't be kept imprisoned indefinitely, just until she was strong enough to take them on with the assistance of suitable heroes. It probably helps we are fighting the gods with the Veil still (mostly) intact. That must limit their power to a degree. Also, I think it may be important that Mythal was wanting to preserve the untainted dragons. You are likely correct that there is some sort of link between blood magic, the blight and red lyrium, particularly now we know that lyrium is actually the blood of Titans. Just as blood magic can be used to control the minds of others, it likely makes you vulnerable to mind manipulation by the gods. That is, after all, from whom the human dreamers first learned the practice. Corypheus could control the Wardens, particularly mage Wardens. It was thought this was because of their tainted blood but the Joining is effectively a blood magic ritual and eventually every Warden succumbs to the Calling of the Old Gods. Blood magic can also be used to control darkspawn whether the mage is tainted or not, so blood magic is the key to controlling both blighted and non blighted creatures. Of course, the reason Rook personally cannot do blood magic is that, according to Solas, it interferes with and weakens connection to the Fade. Whilst we may not appreciate Solas buzzing in our ear, he might have useful information he can impart. Also, our connection with the Fade may actually make us stronger and gives us some unique abilities to use in our fight against the evil gods. It is why all our specialisms seem to be hybrid ones that employ a degree of magic whether we are a mage or not but the latter gain some non-mage skills. Hence it being apparent that Rook seems to do more damage than their companions. This may be deliberate on the part of the writers for narrative reasons. As for the connection between the Evanuris and the Old Gods: I'm not entirely convinced about this but my main theory always centred around the Arch-demons being some sort of split soul vessel and they went into hibernation (uthenera) when the gods were imprisoned to await their return. (It is also possible that Solas had tricked them into doing this so his followers could seal them in). Thus they were already tainted. When Cory broke into the Black City it was meant to free the gods but presumably Solas had included a fail safe that burped them back to earth before they could do this. However, now the Magisters were infected they could at least start the other part of the gods plan which was infecting the entire world with the blight. The blighted creatures could now hear the song of the Arch-demons in their respective prisons, attracting the darkspawn to them to dig them out, although it is possible they only sang one at a time so all their efforts would be concentrated in one place. I also think the respective High Priest was involved in this action, possibly being necessary to final wake the dragon from its sleep. However, this action rendered them comatose for a time, since there is no record of Corypheus until after the death of Dumat. That may be significant. Also, he seemed confused and unaware his god was dead, even reverting to calling on him at the end of DAI.
Important question: Why did the Old Gods (possibly Evanuris under their alias) stop communicating with their faithful in Tevinter after the Black City was breached? Presumably because it was mission accomplished.
I also think there are many dragons shown in the trailer and not all are necessarily in cahoots with the Evanuris. The dragon flying around Weisshaupt is not the same as the one that confronts Rook and Co (different horns) or the one rising out of the sea (has more horns but I suppose they could have been hidden in the Weisshaupt clip, or the same as the dragons at the end of the release trailer (although I suppose it could be the red one but I think the horns are different) but could be the same one fighting Fen'Harel. Also, what about the big skeleton that the majority of Mortalitassi seemed to be worshipping and had some small figure riding on its shoulder? That wasn't some mummified ruler of Nevarra or even an ancient human king from an earlier period. It was huge and had horns! So either some ancestor of the Qunari or another awakened god, Falon'Din perhaps, the God of the Dead?
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Post by azarhal on Aug 26, 2024 11:12:29 GMT
Important question: Why did the Old Gods (possibly Evanuris under their alias) stop communicating with their faithful in Tevinter after the Black City was breached? Presumably because it was mission accomplished. You learn in DAI that the Old Gods stopped communicating before the Magisters went to the Black City. It is mentioned by Corypheus in his memories diary if you do the Calpernia's quest chain (which means doing Champion of the Just). My impression from DAI is that Solas trapping the Evanuris and the 1st Blight is a much shorter timeline than the in-setting historian stuff would suggest (i.e. a few decades at best, not thousands of years) and humans were also worshipping the Evanuris, just under different names. And I'm really starting to suspect that the Elves "immortality" was just the byproduct of the Taint.
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 26, 2024 12:38:40 GMT
You learn in DAI that the Old Gods stopped communicating before the Magisters went to the Black City. It is mentioned by Corypheus in his memories diary if you do the Calpernia's quest chain (which means doing Champion of the Just). It was not in CoJ but in the Fade. (In CoJ he just says that he recited the old verses on waking after Hawke freed him but that Dumat did not answer. As I say, he seemed unaware that Dumat was dead). I assumed initially that he went to the Golden City to resume contact but that was not the case as his servant said the following: Master unveiled a new altar. It stands higher than a man, like a great statue, and great spikes jut out from its length, hungry for blood. Master calls it "the Claw of Dumat" and says that the altar will help bring Tevinter to glory. I praised it, as was expected, and Master smiled. It was good to see him smile again. He has been fearful of late, vexed by the loss of followers. He has met with the other priests, and in secret, I have heard them discussing ways to return the people of Tevinter to the ways of the Old Gods, as is only just.
He spoke to me later in the day, and asked that I call him Corypheus, as it was the name he would take for himself after a ritual. Master - now Corypheus - told me that my people, the elves of old, were tied to the Fade, and that in order to carry out the will of Dumat, he would need to call upon the magic that lives in our blood.
Corypheus told me to gather all of the elven servants and bring them to the western hall of our home at midnight. That is the hall where the Claw of Dumat is now kept. There are shackles across the top of the great altar, and pools lined with runes beneath the claws.
I have sent my wife and children away, but have not warned the others. A few I may save. If I tried to save us all, we would only be killed in some other way, and others would die in our place.
Master once laughed and joked. He could be stern, but he was not a cruel man. The weakening of the temples brought fear into his heart, and that fear has changed him. The cuts upon his arms are deeper and longer where he used his blood magic more often. He speaks to his wife little. He listens only to the voices in his dreams.So, Corypheus was still hearing voices in his dreams and presumably following their orders. If the "real" Dumat had stopped communicating, someone else had started using his identity to speak with him in his dreams. As he said in Legacy, he was promised a golden city, so someone did the promising. I was puzzled from the outset when I read that entry. The Chantry said that people only stopped worshiping the Old Gods after they fell silent and Dumat attacked them. This would seem confirmed by this entry: I made the expected offerings this morning, but the gods remained silent. The priests are frightened. All of Tevinter is frightened. Our gods have led our people for centuries. Now, they have gone still. Are we alone here in this world, no better than the savages to the south who beg for guidance from spirits? And what of the strange creatures who come from underground, like our friends the dwarves? These spawn of the darkness and the plague they carry... Why do our gods not protect us from this?
Now the ground shakes. The statue cuts my hand as I fall against it. A great roar sounds. It is massive, shaking the temple market, and I see the silhouette cut the sky. It is a dragon. No, it is Dumat! I have made the offerings so many times—his form is as familiar as my own hand. He has returned in glory to destroy these darkspawn that threaten us, to lead Tevinter back to an age of glory and wonder!
But no, his scales are sickly and mottled, his form twisted and corrupt, like the darkspawn themselves. He opens his great maw, and fire billows forth, igniting the market.
The flames rush toward me.
What did we do wrong?Mind you, the entry was incorrect because the Arch-demons use corrupt spirit magic not simply fire. I can only think the priest was confused and saw black spirit flames. Still, it is quite clear that in his part of Tevinter they still worshiped the gods but for some reason the gods weren't answering them as they had done and then the darkspawn appeared on the surface. So, which was it, the people stopped honouring the gods, so Corypheus responded with his mission to restore the faith, or the lack of faith had nothing to do with it and his action was pure personal ambition based on the whispers in his dreams that he assumed came from Dumat? Did Dumat lie to him and say that the people weren't as faithful as they once had been? Since Corypheus only took that title just before the ritual, presumably he wasn't the official High Priest of Dumat at the time but a lesser priest who Dumat encouraged to take the action for his own glory as well as that of Tevinter. Perhaps Dumat had tried influencing the official High Priest and had been rejected. The servant also speaks of the loss of followers, so Cory perhaps was a rather ineffective priest and so was open to manipulation by his "god" into doing what the High Priest would not. My impression from DAI is that Solas trapping the Evanuris and the 1st Blight is a much shorter timeline than the in-setting historian stuff would suggest (i.e. a few decades at best, not thousands of years) and humans were also worshipping the Evanuris, just under different names. The darkspawn probably existed before the Veil but Solas' action likely imprisoned them as well and the action of the Magisters broke the seal on their prison in the Deep Roads. That would be why it was such a short time from the Magister entering the Black City until the Blight started, too short a time for the requisite number of darkspawn to breed from scratch. The dwarves said the darkspawn just started appearing from the depths and that they thought it had nothing to do with the Magisters. It is even possible that the Memories in Kal-Sharok have more information on this. However, a long time did seem to have passed from locking away the gods until the rise of Tevinter. It does seem likely that some elves were cohabiting with humans (as evidenced by the ruin in the DAO Dalish origin story) and this may have been before the Veil. May be they were part of the rebellion. After the gods went missing, there was some sort of civil war between the factions and it would seem the priesthood started the story that it was contact with humans that was making the other elves behave oddly. Likely worried that their own followers/slaves would learn the truth, they suggested they cut themselves off from the outside world and enter Uthenera to wait out the return of the gods. May be the gods had even managed to make contact and suggest they do this. So, the enclave in Arlathan Forest was one of these pro-Evanuris groups. The next they were aware of how Tevinter had developed in their absence was when its citizens started encroaching on their borders and activated the defenses. When they discovered the elves, initially Tevinter sent friendly diplomats whom the elves murdered. Eventually a new Archon took power and decided it was time to deal with them. Meanwhile, I am convinced that not all elves went into uthenera and those who mixed with the humans had elf bloodied children who were more magically sensitive than regular humans. It was these children who became the first Dreamers and gradually rose to power among the tribes because of their superior magical knowledge. The northern tribes were encouraged to establish their settlements on old elven sites, copy their structures and use the artifacts they found there. Meanwhile, the Old Gods (elven gods?) spoke to them in their dreams teaching them blood magic and other techniques that would eventually allow them to be freed. Essentially they were playing a long game and they were accustomed to do in the past. Solas says their magical rituals could last years. As immortal beings shut away where they could not be harmed, they had all the time in the world to enact their plans. And I'm really starting to suspect that the Elves "immortality" was just the byproduct of the Taint. No, Solas definitely said it was their natural state. It is clear the elves were originally spirits that crossed over into the Waking World and took on material forms. Being spirits they didn't age or their bodies only did so very slowly because they were constantly drawing on the magic of the Fade to sustain them. Then Solas cut this off so they started to age and die. However, the disease that Gisharel speaks of that he blamed on contact with humans was likely a memory of the blight, since the codex about Andruil says that she brought back sickness from the Void and plague ate her lands. Strife says that Arlathan Forest was her domain, so the priesthood there likely spun the story that it was contact with humans (which Andruil formerly used to hunt) rather than Andruil herself that had caused the sickness.
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Black Magic Ritual
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Post by Black Magic Ritual on Aug 26, 2024 19:41:47 GMT
Could there be a lost, 10th evanuris stricken from the Record Books like the 8th Old God?
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gervaise21
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 26, 2024 19:53:35 GMT
Could there be a lost, 10th evanuris stricken from the Record Books like the 8th Old God? I doubt it but there were 3 Forgotten Ones, for whom we have names, and everyone seems to have overlooked. According to the Dalish, Solas imprisoned them at the same time as the other gods and say that they were his allies whom he betrayed along with the Evanuris. So, if the prison was weakening on the Evanuris, presumably it was weakening on their prison too. We really shouldn't forget them.
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Post by colfoley on Aug 27, 2024 2:23:34 GMT
Got two more theories to talk about today. First of which I have been thinking about for a few weeks now but just have not gotten around to it yet, but a conversation between gervaise21 and I in Schmooples has gotten my dandruff up the other day. Still so much to post about. Now I forget the video that inspired this theory so I can't link that either, but the BioWare devs are on recoard as saying there is a 'reason Rook does not want to do Blood Magic'. Now most people just assume that it is specifically tied to Rook's blood getting caught up in the ritual, which I think is a safe assumption...but what if there is more to it then that? Enter my theory. It did strike me in the latest trailer, was working on the theory before then but latest evidence, that the Venatori cultist were using Red Lyrium weapons and were opposing our heroes. Now sure this could be some personal motivation related specifically to the personal quests, but the idea here is that the Venatori are actually serving the Elven Gods in a main story capacity. Which would not make a lot of sense given the Venatori dream of restoring the greatness of the Imperium which would be at odds with serving the Elven gods. So, the theory goes that while Blood Magic, Red Lyrium, and Blight Corruption may not exactly be from the same source, though even that is possible...but that they are close enough to one another where the Evanuris might be able to control...or influence...anyone who utilizes it and thus be enemies. Which does have rather huge implications because my understanding is I think we have seen the Qunari use Red Lyrium in some capacity, the Venatori, the Wardens, even Emmrich might be suspetable thanks to blood magic's connection to Necromancy. Now this theory is admittedly half formed and is hollier then a piece of swiss cheese because as with other theories of mine the implications of it would be a little far fetched. Plus this is a plot line that BioWare has gone back to repetedly, with the Reapers, kind of with the Kett, and in DAI with the Templars and Wardens. Not that they can't recycle plots and not that they can't make them interesting. Plus given the degree of this and given we are clearly fighting with Emmrich and the Wardens its also likely that people can resist this influence somehow and it might be tied directly how much they use said forms of magic and how far gone they already are...that would be the way around some of the more negative implications. But given there seems to be some kind of *voice* out there that is speaking through Red Lyrium...and thus the Blight...and even Blood Magic..and given even FemMythal seemed to indicate she was powerless to stop its call...well there might be something out there that can influence all these factors and maybe the Evanuris is tying into it, or maybe the Evanuris are as much puppets themselves. *ahem* Well that went off the rails so for theory 2. Long standing theory of mine, as I mentioned. The Evanuris and the Old Gods are one and the same. Now spoiler alert here around the time that VG comes out I intend on creating a post or series of posts talking about my subscribed fan theories and their likeliehood or not of coming true within Veilguard to put a stamp on if I am right. I bring this up to because Veilguard of late keeps on dropping nuggets of information that makes me doubt that the Evanuris are directly the Old Gods, but I still think there could be some connetion. Low and behold the gameplay demo dropped a rather significant bombshell. Now one that the more I think abot it the more I think it does not really change that much and we are still effectively back at square 1...but its an interesting piece of the puzzle regardless to consider: Ghil'anain and her Archdemon.
Now given that we only saw one Dragon in the trailer and given that it was different then the Dragons we saw in the release date trailer this does in my mind relate to three possibilities...and we are essentially back to the same three possibilities that we have been at...sort of.
1. The 'Archdemon' is just Ghil herself. All we saw was a dragon briefly attacking Weishaupt and then it went off screen and then the next thing we see is a giant face staring at us from the clouds...probabl Ghil. Since I don't think we see the face and the Dragon at the same time its possible that Ghil transformed herself into the face to watch the battle from afar. Again bit of a stretch but think it could still be possible.
2. This is an imitation like the Corypheus Dragon.
3. This is 'for lack of a better term' situation and is basically just a blighted High Dragon/ Great Dragon and we are calling it just because.
4...yeah guess there are four options actually. This is one of the Archdemons under the control of Ghil.
So yeah lots of different options and I guess four has the most interesting implications especially given my above theory really but only 1 of these would neccessarily directly preserve the Archdemon to Evanuris connection.
On the other hand though while I am still waiting for more information to make a firm judgement internally, other then thinking this question will be answered, think the meta textual implications are even more juicy. Since it seems the purpose of this and the purpose of the reveal might be to push that if the Evanuris aren't the Archdemons/ Old Gods but then they are more powerful then them enough to use them thus this being a much bigger threat then what we have faced so far. Definitely #4, the writers still need to address the two remaining Old Gods and with a bigger threat (the Evanuris) already out it’ll be awkward if the OG were written as independent but inferior players in the story, the most logical choice is that they are subordinate to the Evanuris. Yeah thinking that this is the most likely now, at least at some point. Starting to get that one meme in my head going because starting to suspect that the 'Old Gods' aren't really the Evenuris per se but just puppets for it and the Evanuris are puppets of the True Source of the Blight. my understanding is I think we have seen the Qunari use Red Lyrium in some capacity Not in game but I think you are referring to their appearance in the Wraiths of Thedas comic series. If that is tied into the Antaam using red lyrium now they are no longer under the direction of the Ariqun, that could not only account for them making bad tactical decisions (like attacking Antiva, so bringing them into the war before Tevinter had been dealt with) but also their ruthless drive. Qunari souped up on red lyrium is a scary prospect. However, the behaviour of the Antaam could just be down to the fact that they are not under control of the priestesses when it comes to deciding how to best serve the Qun. the Venatori cultist were using Red Lyrium weapons and were opposing our heroes. Now sure this could be some personal motivation related specifically to the personal quests, but the idea here is that the Venatori are actually serving the Elven Gods in a main story capacity. Which would not make a lot of sense given the Venatori dream of restoring the greatness of the Imperium which would be at odds with serving the Elven gods. They were willing to serve Corypheus in return for power. Okay, I know he was originally a High Priest of Dumat but he was clearly blighted which you would think would give them pause for thought. Instead they seemed to think they wanted to use whatever gave him his power and immortality. According to the Chant of Light, Threnodies, it was this that originally drove the Magisters to invade the Black City to claim the "empty throne" and become immortal gods. By contrast the Canticle of Silence (by Hessarian) says it was merely a desire for power and they expected to find Dumat waiting to greet them, whilst Corypheus' servant suggests it was a move of desperation because the people were abandoning the faith and his blood magic was not effective (in controlling them perhaps?). Corypheus admonishes Dumat in Legacy for the fact that they were expecting to find a Golden City, although his memories in CoJ suggest that they were happy enough to embrace the Darkness once they found this was not the case. Thinking back he never said: "Where were you?" when complaining at what they found in Legacy, so perhaps Andraste's version was correct and he always expected to find an empty throne in the Golden City, which he intended to claim. Apparently he did find the empty throne but in a black, corrupted city. Nevertheless, he did get what he sought, power and a form of immortality since he no longer aged as a mortal. So, given her fixation with her looks, which I assume probably means retaining her youthful bloom, might not Zara be equally willing to work for the "gods" if they promised her immortality as a result? Whilst the prolonged use of blood magic and red lyrium had rotted her brain of any capacity to see the negative aspects of this "blind bargain". After all, what do the Venatori see but gods, likely in the form of dragons or their dragon proxies, returned to the world. Would they really care about the identity of those gods? For that matter, would the gods identify themselves by their elven identities? The Evanuris only care about power and those who are willing to serve them, or are too weak to resist and can make effective slaves. That is what Morrigan states in the trailer. They want people grovelling at their feet. That is, of course, why she would resist them whether partnered with Mythal now or not. Can you see Morrigan bowing to anyone? As for Mythal, remember what she said to Merrill: "The People are too quick to bow the knee." She also said to my Lavellan: "You do the People proud" and we were in a position of power (in my case having said I was doing it as an elf representing all - something Solas slightly approved of). You will recall that whilst Flemeth had her own reasons for assisting the Warden, she did say the blight was a threat to all. She was anticipating a showdown with the other gods eventually, so perhaps she always knew that they couldn't be kept imprisoned indefinitely, just until she was strong enough to take them on with the assistance of suitable heroes. It probably helps we are fighting the gods with the Veil still (mostly) intact. That must limit their power to a degree. Also, I think it may be important that Mythal was wanting to preserve the untainted dragons. You are likely correct that there is some sort of link between blood magic, the blight and red lyrium, particularly now we know that lyrium is actually the blood of Titans. Just as blood magic can be used to control the minds of others, it likely makes you vulnerable to mind manipulation by the gods. That is, after all, from whom the human dreamers first learned the practice. Corypheus could control the Wardens, particularly mage Wardens. It was thought this was because of their tainted blood but the Joining is effectively a blood magic ritual and eventually every Warden succumbs to the Calling of the Old Gods. Blood magic can also be used to control darkspawn whether the mage is tainted or not, so blood magic is the key to controlling both blighted and non blighted creatures. Of course, the reason Rook personally cannot do blood magic is that, according to Solas, it interferes with and weakens connection to the Fade. Whilst we may not appreciate Solas buzzing in our ear, he might have useful information he can impart. Also, our connection with the Fade may actually make us stronger and gives us some unique abilities to use in our fight against the evil gods. It is why all our specialisms seem to be hybrid ones that employ a degree of magic whether we are a mage or not but the latter gain some non-mage skills. Hence it being apparent that Rook seems to do more damage than their companions. This may be deliberate on the part of the writers for narrative reasons. As for the connection between the Evanuris and the Old Gods: I'm not entirely convinced about this but my main theory always centred around the Arch-demons being some sort of split soul vessel and they went into hibernation (uthenera) when the gods were imprisoned to await their return. (It is also possible that Solas had tricked them into doing this so his followers could seal them in). Thus they were already tainted. When Cory broke into the Black City it was meant to free the gods but presumably Solas had included a fail safe that burped them back to earth before they could do this. However, now the Magisters were infected they could at least start the other part of the gods plan which was infecting the entire world with the blight. The blighted creatures could now hear the song of the Arch-demons in their respective prisons, attracting the darkspawn to them to dig them out, although it is possible they only sang one at a time so all their efforts would be concentrated in one place. I also think the respective High Priest was involved in this action, possibly being necessary to final wake the dragon from its sleep. However, this action rendered them comatose for a time, since there is no record of Corypheus until after the death of Dumat. That may be significant. Also, he seemed confused and unaware his god was dead, even reverting to calling on him at the end of DAI.
Important question: Why did the Old Gods (possibly Evanuris under their alias) stop communicating with their faithful in Tevinter after the Black City was breached? Presumably because it was mission accomplished.
I also think there are many dragons shown in the trailer and not all are necessarily in cahoots with the Evanuris. The dragon flying around Weisshaupt is not the same as the one that confronts Rook and Co (different horns) or the one rising out of the sea (has more horns but I suppose they could have been hidden in the Weisshaupt clip, or the same as the dragons at the end of the release trailer (although I suppose it could be the red one but I think the horns are different) but could be the same one fighting Fen'Harel. Also, what about the big skeleton that the majority of Mortalitassi seemed to be worshipping and had some small figure riding on its shoulder? That wasn't some mummified ruler of Nevarra or even an ancient human king from an earlier period. It was huge and had horns! So either some ancestor of the Qunari or another awakened god, Falon'Din perhaps, the God of the Dead? Yeah I am not sure how much I agree on your individual points but do agree with the broad strokes of what you are proposing here. And really your ideas I think do support a lot of what I am saying but helps smooth over some of the rough edges that I have in my theory. The Venatori and their leadership could very well be open to making a faustian bargain for power and immortality and godhood in order to restore Tevinter, and their own power base, to in other words feel like they are using the Evanuris or the Evanuris's magic for their own ends only to end up being more suspetable to their magic and control in the first place. The point being here that I do not think the Evanuris are just going to automatically be able to control everything but that those who are trying to make bargains with them or go in too deep might be suspetable. Important question: Why did the Old Gods (possibly Evanuris under their alias) stop communicating with their faithful in Tevinter after the Black City was breached? Presumably because it was mission accomplished. You learn in DAI that the Old Gods stopped communicating before the Magisters went to the Black City. It is mentioned by Corypheus in his memories diary if you do the Calpernia's quest chain (which means doing Champion of the Just). My impression from DAI is that Solas trapping the Evanuris and the 1st Blight is a much shorter timeline than the in-setting historian stuff would suggest (i.e. a few decades at best, not thousands of years) and humans were also worshipping the Evanuris, just under different names. And I'm really starting to suspect that the Elves "immortality" was just the byproduct of the Taint. Yeah its kind of possible. I am starting to think there is mroe of a seperation between the two then what I first thought. But, lets try this twist on the theory on for size: The Evanuris start talking to the Tevinters in their dreams teaching them blood magic and getting them to start worshipping them but they do so in their dragon forms. When the dreamers dreamed the Evanuris approached them with their memories of them being in dragon form to impress them and indicate their power. Thus the Tevinters got confused between the physical example of the 'Old Gods' and the Evanuris masquerading as those beings. Thus when Dumat rose as the first Archdemon they thought that it was the Old God coming to smite them while the Old God was still actually trapped in the Fade. Still in this regard it is still likely that Solas used the Old Gods as prison seals to trap something else within the Deep Roads. On this note though it would also mean that if the two are seperate then the other Evanuris are still alive and well within the Fade unlikse some theories I have seen floating around mainly by Ghil'dirthalen. If the Old Gods aren't really one and the same as the Evanuris, just either some combination of puppets or confusion by the ancient Imperium then that means they are seperate entities and are still out there...with huge implications for either Veilguard or the future of the franchise. What if a third one secretly did get out? What if the rest of them get out in this game or a later one? Having to fight Elgar'nan, ghil, Andruil, could get really crowded. And then what if we still have to deal with a larger threat that is basically ultimatley in control of the Blight?
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illuminated11
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Post by illuminated11 on Aug 27, 2024 2:34:28 GMT
Do we think we'll see more of the Sidereal? And if so, how do we think they'll factor into the plot? Maybe we'll see the two that are connected to the remaining archdemons? I read a theory on reddit recently that the First Warden is actually one of the Sidereal, and also was the one who gave them the key to stopping the Blight. It seemed like a neat idea.
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Post by dreadcat on Aug 27, 2024 4:10:51 GMT
The Black City’s true purpose
I know the most popular theory is that it’s the prison of the Evanuris and I agree with that but I think the true purpose of the Black City is that it contains the source of the Blight itself : the Blighted Heart of a Titan.
I agree with the theory that it was a Blighted Titan which the Elves woke up in the Deep Roads causing them to seal it, but I think something else happened : Mythal made a spiritual/psychic connection with the Blighted Titan calming it down and resealing the Blight inside its Heart/Core but the rest of the Evanuris wanted the Blight’s power so they moved this Titan’s Heart into the Golden City, the Evanuris tried to convince Mythal to release the Blight but she refused so they killed her, when Mythal died the psychic link with the Titan broke and the Blight was released from its Heart/Core causing the Golden City to turn Black and become Blighted.
Now I think why Solas was so against the killing of the Archdemons is because he knew killing them will break the seven seals on the Black City. The popular theory is Solas was afraid of releasing the Evanuris but I think the main reason why he feared the seals being broken is because the Blight from the Tainted Titan’s Heart/Core will spread throughout the world like super radiation and kill all life.
So I think the main purpose of the Black City is that it is the source of the Blight because the Corrupted/Tainted Heart of a Titan is housed there, it just so happens that the Evanuris was also in the City so Solas imprisoned them there to contain the Blight, but because the prison is weakening Solas planned to transfer them to a new prison but the main prison aka the Black City remains the quarantine prison of the Blight because its source the Blighted Titan Heart is inside it. I also theorize that if Elgarnan and Ghil are killed in the ending of Veilguard the Black City will be completely unsealed and the Blight from the Tainted Titan Heart will be fully unleashed in the world, hence the prophecy of Emperor Drakon that the seven gates (seals) of the Black City will shatter unleashing darkness upon the world.
The One True Enemy
Many speculate and believe that once the remaining Evanuris are dealt with or killed the story of Dragon Age ends, that Ghilan’nain and Elgar’nan are the final enemies of the story, but I believe they are just the penultimate enemies and the true enemy is the source of the Blight itself: a Tainted Titan particularly the Blighted Heart of a Titan which is sealed inside the Black City.
Lyrium (specifically Blue Lyrium) is said to be the blood of Titans and that Lyrium emits a “Song” Red Lyrium is also stated to emit a song but a different song from normal Lyrium, Cole described Red Lyrium as “very angry” Red Lyrium is stated to be Blighted Lyrium, the Darkspawn also here’s a Song from the Old Gods causing then to instinctually find them and turn them to Archdemons. My theory is that the Song of the Red Lyrium and the Song or Call of Darkspawn are the same and they come from the Blight.
My theory is that the Blight itself is conscious, if Blighted Red Lyrium is described as very angry then there’s probably a consciousness controlling the Blight, and that consciousness that’s controlling the Blight is the Mind/Heart of a Blighted Titan.
It is said that the Elves mining Lyrium in the Deep Roads woke something terrible there causing them to collapse and seal the mines and tunnels. I believe what they woke up was a Blighted Titan, I can’t say for sure the exact circumstances of how and when it was awoken but I suspect it is connected with Andruil hunting the Forgotten Ones in the Void, the Void is probably very far down in the Deep Roads and Andruil was said to have fashioned weapons and armors of the void which I think is actually Red Lyrium, it is said it drove her mad and plague ate her lands (similar how templars go mad using red lyrium)
It is said Mythal confronted Andruil and made her forget how to find the Void which I think meant the source of the Red Lyrium deposit. Now this is what I think likely happened: Mythal went into the Void herself and found the source of the Red Lyrium which is a Blighted Titan particularly the Blighted Titan’s Heart (which acts as its brain and central nervous system) if Lyrium is Titan’s blood and Red Lyrium is Blighted then it stands to reason the thing that’s creating or pumping out blighted lyrium blood is a blighted titan itself particularly its heart.
This Blighted Titan is very angry (because Red Lyrium is described as very angry) so Mythal either put this blighted titan to sleep and resealed the Blight inside its heart/core by forming a spiritual or psychic link with the Titan so that would effectively make Mythal “the lock” or the seal that kept the Blight contained.
My next theory is that the rest of the Evanuris (headed by Elgar’nan) saw the power given by the Taint/Blight and wanted that power for themselves, somehow the Evanuris were able to find the location of the Titan’s Heart and they moved the heart to their headquarters aka Arlathan/Golden City. They have the Heart but they needed to open the lock to release the Taint and that lock is none other than Mythal.
Elgarnan and the Evanuris might’ve tried to convince her to release the seal but Mythal refused, and that’s when the Evanuris decided to kill her (Flemeth in DAI: She (Mythal) was betrayed, as I was betrayed, as the world was betrayed) and with Mythal’s death the seal on the Titan’s heart/core was undone and the Blight reawakened (Cole in DAI: They still remember when they were higher, before it awakened and everything fell) the Evanuris in their hubris thought they could tame and control the Blight but they couldn’t so the Blight from the Blighted Titan’s Heart spread tainting the Golden City and transforming it into the Black City.
This is the event that made Solas create the Veil and isolate the Black City to quarantine the Blight before it spreads while also imprisoning the Evanuris, the Evanuris and/or the Old Gods were used by Solas as seals to keep the Black City locked up (the seven gates of the Black City are likely the seven seals keeping it quarantined) because it would take enormous power and energy to keep the Black City sealed (and that is why the likely deaths of the 5 Old Gods/Archdemons/Evanuris weakened the seal making Solas try to transfer the remaining 2 Evanuris into a new prison at the beginning of Veilguard)
I think Elgar’nan and Ghil are being manipulated by the Blighted Titan. As Solas said in DAI it’s foolish to think one can tame or master the Blight. Like the Darkspawn being called by the song to dig deep into the earth to corrupt an Old God turning it into an Archdemon. I think both Elgar’nan and Ghil are being called by the Blighted Titan to open the gates of the Black City to release the Titan particularly the heart stored in the city that’s why in the Veilguard trailer we see what appears to be Elgarnan in his dragon form fighting the heroes in the Black City (the towers with symbols of the Evanuris at the background) this will put Solas and the heroes in a difficult situation: They need to stop elgarnan and ghilanan from breaking out the blighted titan inside the black city but at the same time they can’t kill them because they are the two last remaining seals of the city, so they would needed to both be stopped and imprisoned (not killed)
But I think at the ending of Veilguard both the last two remaining Evanuris will die thereby completely undoing the seals of the Black City and fully unleashing the Blighted Titan Heart so I think after Veilguard the final entry of the series we’ll be fighting the true enemy: the source of the Taint : The Blighted Titan
I also think this Blighted Titan heart is a gigantic Red Lyrium crystal that constantly pumps out the Taint and that’s why it’s absolutely imperative that the Black City remains sealed. I suspect that when this Heart is set free it will fashion a new body using the ruins of the Black City itself thus turning the city into its new Titan body.
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Post by Reznore on Aug 27, 2024 7:20:19 GMT
Whatever the devs spoiled makes me believe there were probably dragon kings, like Titans. And it's the first war the elves fought, that whole Elgar'nan defeated the sun business. Yavana said Dragons were the blood of the world, (whatever that means) and they ruled the skies. She wanted to awake the Queen of the dragons, I imagine Mythal "archdemon" , with special blood. And all of it was set in motion by Flemeth a long time ago. Like Titans, there's something extremely powerful about great dragons blood.
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Post by illuminated11 on Aug 27, 2024 7:23:13 GMT
Whatever the devs spoiled makes me believe there were probably dragon kings, like Titans. And it's the first war the elves fought, that whole Elgar'nan defeated the sun business. Yavana said Dragons were the blood of the world, (whatever that means) and they ruled the skies. She wanted to awake the Queen of the dragons, I imagine Mythal "archdemon" , with special blood. And all of it was set in motion by Flemeth a long time ago. Like Titans, there's something extremely powerful about great dragons blood. I was thinking about this too. We know the Evanuris were at war with something, most people assume the Forgotten Ones, but maybe it was originally Great Dragons? And then they enslaved the dragons as victory trophies, and started in fighting once the war was over.
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 27, 2024 7:30:45 GMT
Do we think we'll see more of the Sidereal? Like the Forgotten Ones, the Magisters Sidereal have all but been forgotten in recent speculation but since both groups were referenced in a codices in DAI and associated DLC, it is likely the writers haven't forgotten them. I suppose a lot depends on resources. Perhaps they couldn't allow the story to get more complicated than it already was. After all, allegedly they were going to use the Architect in DAI and then decided against it. Still, expect the unexpected!
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Post by gervaise21 on Aug 27, 2024 7:44:41 GMT
The Black City’s true purpose I know the most popular theory is that it’s the prison of the Evanuris and I agree with that but I think the true purpose of the Black City is that it contains the source of the Blight itself : the Blighted Heart of a Titan. I agree with the theory that it was a Blighted Titan which the Elves woke up in the Deep Roads causing them to seal it, but I think something else happened : Mythal made a spiritual/psychic connection with the Blighted Titan calming it down and resealing the Blight inside its Heart/Core but the rest of the Evanuris wanted the Blight’s power so they moved this Titan’s Heart into the Golden City, the Evanuris tried to convince Mythal to release the Blight but she refused so they killed her, when Mythal died the psychic link with the Titan broke and the Blight was released from its Heart/Core causing the Golden City to turn Black and become Blighted It doesn't even have to be as complicated as moving the tainted heart to the Golden City in the Fade because to a great extent everything in the Fade tends to mirror the material world. My theory was that the Golden City reflected a real city in the Deep Roads inside a Titan. The Wellspring in the Descent did make me think of the descriptions of Arlathan. The city in the Deep Roads became corrupted and so Solas/Mythal sealed it with magic. However, the city in the Fade still looked Golden because that is how the majority of people knew and remembered it. Solas tricked the Evanuris into his trap by leaving a clue that they could access the ultimate weapon (either the idol or the city itself) through the Fade equivalent. Then he closed that off too. Now everything was safely contained even though city in the Fade gradually took on the attributes of the city in the Deep Roads because of a connection between them (which is why the Black City is always a constant rather than changing as the rest of the Fade does unless under the control of a powerful demon). Then the Magisters broke into the Fade City, revealing what was contained within and their discovery of the truth meant it turned black outwardly as well as inside. They were then transported to the real Black City in the Deep Roads where they had also broken the seals keeping it locked away. Armies of darkspawn that had been locked away were now released on the unsuspecting dwarves and ultimately the surface and the history of Blights began. To deal with the problem likely we first have to deal with the blighted Titan in the Deep Roads and then the tainted city in the Fade. The reason Solas wanted to drop the Veil was likely to help with this because it would awaken the Titans en mass and it would be their actions that would cleanse the world and probably the Fade too, since lyrium, their blood, is the one constant that is found in both places.
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Post by Reznore on Aug 27, 2024 7:47:08 GMT
Whatever the devs spoiled makes me believe there were probably dragon kings, like Titans. And it's the first war the elves fought, that whole Elgar'nan defeated the sun business. Yavana said Dragons were the blood of the world, (whatever that means) and they ruled the skies. She wanted to awake the Queen of the dragons, I imagine Mythal "archdemon" , with special blood. And all of it was set in motion by Flemeth a long time ago. Like Titans, there's something extremely powerful about great dragons blood. I was thinking about this too. We know the Evanuris were at war with something, most people assume the Forgotten Ones, but maybe it was originally Great Dragons? And then they enslaved the dragons as victory trophies, and started in fighting once the war was over. I don't think the big war was against the Forgotten Ones. Elgar'nan fought something big, lots of talk about him beating his father the Sun. I don't think it's the actual Sun, but dragons would fit the bill, being in the sky breathing fire. Perhaps the proto elves had a symbiotic relationship with dragons at first, like the dwarves and Titans.
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