Dual Protagonists in Dreadwolf?

As you know, I've always agreed with you on this one. It is my main criticism of the claimed intent by the writers with Trespasser: it did not close the book on the PC as the protagonist in the ongoing narrative, just their role as Lord Inquisitor of Thedas. This was largely caused by that confrontation with Solas at the end. They could have omitted that, finding a different way to remove the anchor, and their story would have concluded in a reasonably satisfactory manner, with them going into honourable retirement, with some idea that Solas was more than he had claimed to be but leaving their successor PC to discover the actual truth and the danger he represents. It was that final scene with Solas that flew in the face of the idea that the Inquisitor's story was over and did seem more of a teaser trailer for the next game. As he walked away from the Inquisitor after removing the anchor, you could almost imagine the words appearing "To be continued". So, the only way they have found to resolve this paradox is the idea "we need people Solas doesn't know". It seemed a rather poor excuse in 2015 but clearly they have not been able to come up with anything better; hence the wild goose chase of the Missing ending in the protagonists coming to exactly the same conclusion in 2023.

At present I would argue, who is? At least the Inquisitor has a fair idea of what they are dealing with and, depending on your relationship with him, the possibility that Solas will always be a reluctant adversary. Our new PC will have no such advantages, although on the flip side, I suppose they won't have any emotional reason to pull their punches either. I'm still curious to discover exactly how they are going to factor in that declaration by the Inquisitor in the final scene about saving or slaying Solas.

This really only applies to female Lavellan, whose romance I feel is part of the problem when it comes to how the story has developed because there are other versions where the Inquisitor is male and/or hates Solas' guts. So, Solas sending his apologies in Tevinter Nights comes off as trolling in the latter case. My male Lavellan doesn't hate Solas so much as feels utterly betrayed by him and disbanded the Inquisition with a defiant screw you to the Council and "I'm off to save the world again". So, if Varric did use those words (in the comic?), I feel it is somewhat patronising to suggest he has suffered enough. So, long as his former friend is out there plotting to destroy this world, he is not about to stop his pursuit of him and it is that thought that is causing him sleepless nights.

the line I am referencing was varric talking about Hawke when he had his fight with Cassandra.

And my female trevelyan has suffered more then enough. Lost her arm. Fought a would be God. Had a mountain fall on her. Etc etc. It's literally time for a new hero since mine is living quite comfortably enjoying a much earned rest...relatively speaking.

And this is doubly true when she doesen't have to lead from the front. She can do a lot of good in the South. Tripply so since her participation in the war will be a negative considering Solas has proven on three separate occasions to be ahead of the Inquision and able to anticipate their moves.

it's likely they'll be filled in early in the game by Varric/ Harding. What happens after that is anyone's guess.

I disagree with the part about needing to play past games. Absolutely they give better context, but most franchises with a returning protagonist you can join in fresh and quickly get into the same mindset as returning players.
And yeah, how much time and resources of this game are going to be wasted reestablishing what people already know to catch the character up. All that could have been used to continue building the nuance and connection the old PC had.

I absolutely hate Trespasser. It has two good things in it: the acting and the music. The Solas stuff all sucked if we aren’t continuing, the other plots sucked with how forced they are (why can’t I agree with Josie and tell them about the Aunari before Leliana and Cullen screw everything up leading Josephine to be mad at me too). Speaking of Josie, some romances got screwed like not being able to at least propose to everyone. And so on.

Which is why I've always argued the Inquisitor shouldn't have had that confrontation with Solas. Then they could have been sent into retirement, may be got wind of the rise of this cult of Fen'Harel and sent people north to discover more about who it involved because they suspect Solas may be connected in some way. However, there was no reason to feel personally responsible and it could all be done via codices and letters.

Whilst, I agree they don't have to lead from the front, it does appear to be the only thing occupying the time of the scaled down Inquisition and, if it has been ascertained that the majority of Solas' activities and those of his followers is now in the northern half of Thedas, you would think the ex-Inquisitor would at least move their base of operations up there. Ravens and sending crystals are all very well but would take time to travel to the relevant location if someone turns up something important and make no mistake, if they are running the operation, given its importance, they should want to get hands on at some point.

As for Solas constantly being one step ahead of them, they have now hammered home that point so much it is a wonder anyone connected in any way with the Inquisition is going to be able to avoid his notice. He knows the principle players and, even without his own ability to follow people through the Fade, can just have one or more of his agents keeping watch on each. The moment they make contact with someone new, that person will also be tracked.

This is the only way I can see the new PC working or being credible. Initially they have no connection with the Inquisition whatsoever but are dealing with other issues in the north and, let's face it, there seems plenty to work with up there. Then at some point in the narrative their efforts uncover the threat of Solas and they cross paths with agents of the Inquisition, at which point they form a loose alliance with them and become a target of surveillance by him or his agents. It may well turn out that we have acquired various clues and items in our previous activities that combined are going to be vital in stopping him, although we did not know it at the time (or our PC didn't but we may have joined the dots).

The other possibility, of course, is that it turns out that Solas is not going to be the big bad we have to deal with in the end and we have to make a truce and join forces with him in order to overcome the greater threat. At present, my money is still on the ultimate threat being red lyrium/the Blight covering the surface of the world and we have to find and deal with the source of it to save the world from destruction and remove the need for Solas' ritual to "purify" it.

Yes, if it wasn't enough that they have the Solas problem on their minds, they also have that of the Antaam invading Antiva. Now to be honest, that shouldn't just concern an Inquisitor who romanced Josephine. Even on a personal level they owe Josephine for all she did for them as their diplomat but there is also the matter of the Antaam breaking the Llomerryn Accord. Now if you handed the scaled down Inquisition over to the Divine as her private army, then that is where the Inquisition will be needed and you would think the Inquisitor would be useful in rallying people across the Freemarches on behalf of the Divine in readiness to defend their territory from further incursions. They would also have a vested interest in doing this if they disbanded the Inquisition since the Antaam breaking the Accord is still a threat to their security whatever they decided to do in retirement. Then once their defenses had been secured, launching an all out Exalted March on the Antaam utilising forces drawn from the western side of Thedas that was not immediately under threat and so could afford to spare the troops, principally Orlais but also Nevarra and possibly Ferelden too. So, unless the Inquisitor was someone who was pretty apathetic, with no motivation other than saving their own skin, I would actually expect to see them utilising their time in supporting the cause to repel the Antaam, whilst awaiting their agents out in the field to turn up news on Solas.   (Actually, it is possible they will use the invasion of Antiva as a reason the Inquisitor is otherwise engaged.)

Your former ally has declared his intent to destroy your world. Even if that is not actually your responsibility since you were not aware of the danger he represented whilst part of your organisation, I would think the majority of people would feel some sort of obligation to direct their efforts to stopping him now they have been informed personally by him of their intent. Otherwise, what is the point of anything? Solas may think he has given you a few years peace by foiling the Qun but could you really focus on anything else now you know his plan? I know I couldn't.

Which seems to be why he has been one step ahead of the Inquisitor. Even if they have not been focused exclusively on Solas, which seems likely in view of what happened in Antiva (see my post above), he does seem to have been aware of those that are. If the Missing is anything to do by, I would also suggest that he has been gently nudging them in the direction he wishes them to take. Now that sounds a lot like Flemeth, so may be absorbing Mythal has had that effect on him. To my mind, there has to be more to him telling the Inquisitor his plans than simply he wanted them to know to enjoy life whilst they could. Solas doesn't tell people anything without good reason and I just don't see the reason he gave as being a valid one. It may be part of the reason, so in typical fashion, he wasn't actually lying, but there is another element to it that he hasn't divulged.

What I meant was "feel free to ignore whatever they may write in the future to contradict that". Sorry for not being clear enough.

Ah I see. My apologies as well for the misunderstanding.
Unfortunately what they do will be treated as canon so can’t wave that away. Just hope they actually put in some effort and have the situation change whether you romanced her or not. Same with if you romanced Dorian or anyone else who will appear.

I could've worded that better. You definitely don't need to play past games, but it definitely helps.

But basically, the bottom line is its all Corypheus's fault. If it wasn't for him, DAI and DAD would've been in one game, with one PC, and we wouldn't be in this mess at all. Figures.

How is telling the rest of the story "fixing" the first part of the story? I don't see how that follows. And how do we know that the Solas/Veil plotline isn't "the name game", especially given what the lore reveals in Trespasser imply about the role of dragons in the areas the Solas/Veil plot is going to touch upon (i.e. the Evanuris, the Black City, the Old God dragons)? The assumptions you're making here appear to be of fairly dubious justification.

(and realistically, how often do major video game developers do something like what you're suggesting, i.e. decided to abandon their follow-up/conclusion to a critically and commercially successful previous iteration in a franchise in favor of leaving the existing plot/story unresolved and going in a completely new direction? I certainly can't think of any examples, can you? And what possible motivation could Bioware have to do that in this instance?)