The Dragon Age 4 chapter in BioWare S&S 25 Years Book

At first I saw only top of that concept art and immediately thought "hey, it's Disney princess".

Then scrolled lower.

"Well... stabby Disney princess."

And I really dig that original Archdemon design.

The "falon'din' concept art looks so lovecraftian, as well as the sea serpent concept art. I wonder if that is the vibe they are going for in DA4? It is interesting because I never got a lovecraftian vibe from DAO or the evanuris in general but seeing all this concept art has me imagining so many different creature and character concepts! *excited*

If DA4 is made in a similar vein to the Horror of Hormak I will be pleasantly surprised.. I never really expected that angle from Dragon Age tbh. But thinking about it, those statues in DAO were so creepy and wacky compared to what people traditionally think of when thinking of elves and elven rulers. Perhaps Falon'Din is Dirthamen without the robes and Dirthamen is a tentacled alien. But if Dirthamen was one of Mythal's children, what does that make Mythal🤔 I always assumed she was a dragon but maybe it's more complicated than that. The sea serpent head looks like the Mythal statue in the deep roads...

It also explains that strange picture on p.38-39 of World of Thedas of a tall figure in the Deep Roads. I wondered if it was meant to be Mythal or one of the other elven gods (it still could be) but the headdress is definitely that of the proto arch-demon.

Is that Andruil? 

Between Horror of Hormak (Well Horrors), Luck in the Gardens (Things From Beyond The Faaaaade!), and this, they're definitely dipping a tentacle into Lovecraftian waters. 

And I think they might be setting something up further down the line with LitG, like traveling to a Lovecratian horror realm.

There's always been an undercurrent of Lovecraft to the series.  The Fade being a dreamscape where otherworldly beings can reach out and affect the minds of mortals is very Lovecraftian.  The Darkspawn being this giant, seemingly impossible to stop force lurking just underground waiting for their moment to rise up and devour the world is as well.  There's more to Lovecraft than tentacles.

Oh something else I just thought of...if that monster is Ghilan'nain (omg...can you IMAGINE the boss battle) what do people reckon this statue is of?


I was thinking of the Cekorax and it's multiple heads...But who could it be... 🤔 Ghil again or someone else?? Maybe the spikes are heads or eyes? We know Ghil has a special interest in eyes and the elves maybe even harvested dragons for eyes basd on the mortalitasi concept art.

If the evanuris are all alien like monsters it would make the sun and moon origin stories SO deliciously wrong...yet sort of right. lol. Now I'm also thinking about the statue the humans find at the start of DAO in the dalish origin.

A small stone statue of a woman with antlers like a halla, with the moon under her right foot, and two hares beside her. The base of the statue is covered in strange writing.


Considering that Mythal has traditionally been seen as the goddess of the moon I wonder if Ghil's exploits got mixed into Mythal's own story somehow. It does seem like Ghil has a pretty big part to play in the story especially since her iconography is in key locations at the Temple of Mythal and that Crestwood spot where Solas breaks up with Lavellan.

Anyway the new crop of the concept art opens up so many questions to me and I know it's just an image but I have so many ideas on where this could go. The evanuris really do seem like a deadly soap opera and honestly I want to know more.  Like, I get the impression Andruil was the kind of person who was easily manipulated by the people around her. Her spear is now associated with her, Ghil, and Falon'Din's statue. Yet she is known for her bow and hunter skills. And June is known as the god of craft, not Andruil. Which makes me wonder, why did Andruil even make the spear in the first place 🤔

I'm always up for some Lovecraft in my Dragon Age

Another Bianca? Or Bianca the namesake herself?