Dragon Age: Dark Fortress (Comic)

In keeping with most Dragon Age media, a decidedly bittersweet ending. I guess anyone who had Ser Aaron in the deadpool wins a shiny nickel.

I will say that I am disappointed that Shirallas' powers weren't a bit more flashy; I expected something along the lines of creating giant red lyrium spikes to shoot out of the ground or to turn other people into red lyrium statues, not a very limited healing factor. In fact, he seems weaker than Fenris, who got phasing powers from his markings.

I'm also not crazy about this trend of qunari simply letting mages go because they fought honourably or they made a bargain. The qunari infamously don't believe in making deals with bas. If Shirallas had killed more of them and they were simply forced to withdraw, that would have struck me as more believable.

And sadly, Marius and Tessa (who naturally had to get knocked out just so that Vaea could break her "no killing" rule) survived. Oh well, I guess that gives me a chance to kill them both in DA4.

I'm now curious what impact it would have had on the storyline if Ser Marquette had successfully recovered the journal from Starkhaven, or if Francesca's father had actually made it to the fortress along with the others.

... I'm guessing that Tractus is the young Tevinter mage who went south to Nevarra with the idol in "Tevinter Nights." He allied with the Mortalitasi in order to cast a ritual to control the minds of the qunari. However, that whole effort went to hell, as Solas interrupted the ritual and literally tore Tractus apart.

I have to admit, I did feel that Shirallas was killed too easy for a project that was meant to be the Imperium's trump card but it's understandable considering the limited number of pages the writers and artists have to work with.
I do wonder how different Red Wraiths are from Grey Wardens. Ultimately, they seem to be drawing power from the same source, the Blight.

On another hand, I did love that opening page. I hadn't recognized Shirallas' vallaslin as belong to Elgar'nan's but I see why he'd choose the elven god of vengeance as his patron.

Speaking of which, this issue did make me think of that Pitch Meeting series from Screen Rant.

Producer: So now the heroes have to take down a red lyrium-empowered magekiller wielding a red lyrium sword like the one Meredith had? I bet that’s going to be tough!

Writer: Actually, it’s going to be super-easy. Barely an inconvenience!

Producer: Oh really?

Writer: Yeah, because the only super power he has is a healing factor that only works while he’s holding the sword.

Producer: Oh, I thought he would have been able to do more than that.

Writer: Afraid not! And so Ser Aaron is going to get the sword away by being impaled and falling off a cliff.

Producer: Oh no!

Writer: Yeah, and then Fenris is going to chop off Shirallas’ head, and then the fight’s over.

Producer: Couldn’t they have found some other way of disarming Shirallas?

Writer: Well, this way Ser Aaron and Vaea can have this really tearful goodbye, and he can give her a letter requesting King Alistair make her a Knight.

Producer: Oh, unlikely elven knights are tight!

Wowwowwow wow.

I know this is not the same design, but I can't help to wonder whether the last issue the way to 'even out' all possible Inquisition playthroughs, so that in each possible timeline a certain sword is with Inquisition?

I assume that Fenris, Francesca, Autumn, and Vaea are not likely to be in DA4 as they're traveling south. Tessa and Marius staying up north makes me think they'll make an appearance in the next game. Matthew Goldman also quoted the author on twitter when he shared an image of Tessa, saying "this isn't the end, but the beginning," or something to that effect.

I have to say, I didn't particularly like this ending. It felt rushed, and Ser Aaron's death seemed forced. I was expecting a lot more from The Red Wraith. Shirallas became this fascinating beast with a unique power, only to die quickly. It would have been interesting to see the effects of the symbiotic relationship between the lyrium and Shirallas and how it affected his mind. With Meredith, she kept pulling and pulling power until it was too late, which showed the desperation of her character. Shirallas just went beserk and died.

Still, I enjoyed the story, and I understand they didn't have a lot of pages to work with. Thank you to everyone who made this comic.

What's interesting to me is that Dark Fortress and TN clearly illustrate that Solas is watching the red lyrium idol. But who is he not watching if he's watching the red lyrium idol? We have discussed on this forum how our protagonist will evade Solas, as he an OP god who can watch his enemies from The Fade. What we've seen of Solas vigilance from The Fade, and god-like intervention, all directly relate to The Idol. That doesn't necesarrily mean he isn't watching out for other people - but it does prove that Solas can be distracted should The Red Lyrium be tossed around Northern Thedas as it has been. That could be where our new protagonist comes in. The Inquisition distracts him with the idol business, while our PC rallies from the sidelines.

I think it may be true that he doesn't necessarily need it for his ritual, although in the Dread Wolf Take You (Mortalitai's tale) it does seem as though the idol could perhaps alter or interfere with his ritual (or its outcome) and that is why he was so anxious to recover it.
There is something odd about the idol and it almost seems to have a life of its own but I think any qualities it has of becoming a weapon was part of its original creation, not something that happened through recent misuse. I do wonder if it was the weapon that was used to kill Mythal and that is why it was not the idol itself that he was thinking about when he stroked it but Mythal.
Anyway, it is clear that the idol is going to be integral to the plot going forward and Solas will be aware of anyone who has it in their possession.

No, no, I meant that little chat with Solas. In what way did they help Vaea's team? 

Hold on a minute, did he actually use an eluvian? So how did that work? I thought Solas had control of the entire network now, so why did he open it up and, assuming it was to allow the idol to get away from the Qunari, why didn't he then trap him in the network and retrieve the item?

If Tractus was using a section of the network independent of Solas, does that mean we may be doing the same next game? Since the idol allegedly ended up in the Grand Necropolis in Nevarra, does that mean they are part of that network?