"The Blighted Gods Don't Stand A Chance"

I do wonder what the source is but really just sounds like a battle cry to drive up hype in and out of universe.

Yes, they're going to have a hard time living up to horror of hormak and other stories, but if Bioware nails it, it'll be amazing. I'm thinking that they'll get this across through the companions. When the devs emphasized that your choices will affect your companions, I believe they were leaning in the direction of using these 'gods' as a mechanic to feel the consequences of said choices. Hopefully it pans out.

It's part of the BioWare vibe. Quirky band of misfits snark their way to inevitable victory.

"Darkness closes in. Will you stand against it or lead this world to its bitter end?"
- also Morrigan, Dragon Age Inquisition trailer

And then we got Coryphywaffles who fumbles around pitifully most of the time until he gets put out of his misery by a party of four.

I'm sure lots of people will talk about how incredibly terrible those blighted elven gods are, there will be codex entries about about their unfathomable might, and then we'll crack oneliners while kicking their asses up to their teeth.

It's funny you bring up Mass Effect, because that's kind of how I want this to be. When the Reapers finally showed up, we could not have been more outclassed. Aside from a few contextual moments of us getting the better of them, we spent most of the game ducking and running from them. Yeah, we eventually prevailed at the end, but dammit if it wasn't a struggle, filled with many retreats and hard loss. 

Yes, the Evanuris are mortal mages. That being said, they are extremely powerful with magic no one in tis world likely has. I want these beings to pose a serious threat, and make our heroes struggle their ass off to beat them. It makes for better drama, and makes our inevitable victory all the sweeter. With how the last game went down, and the official tag line that's been put out there, I don't think it's unreasonable to be a bit skeptical.

I've never particularly liked Dragon Age villains. The Arishok and that's about it. Solas if he counts, maybe the Architect. So I admit my expectations for the blighted gods are low, although I'll be happy to be surprised. The writers did say they heard all the feedback and are taking it into account, and I assume that includes issues with Corypheus.

The power dynamic was a bit different with them though.  Melkor/Morgoth was an actual Valar and originally part of the song that created the universe, whereas Sauron was Maiar who was subservient to the Valar.   I think he joined up originally with Morgoth because that gave him greater status than he had enjoyed before and then after Morgoth's defeat he was offered a pardon if he would return and submit to the judgment of Manwe.   Suspecting this would involve spending a period of time doing penance for his crimes and humbling himself, he stayed in Middle Earth because he didn't want to surrender what power he had enjoyed under Morgoth.     

Now Ghilan'nain may have created monsters but she was never as powerful as the other Evanuris originally or why would they be able to buy her off with the promise of improved rank?  The other 7 might equate to a degree to the Valar in that they created the "World of the Elves" as Solas put it but really their status seemed to come from the fact that they were spirits that had crossed into the Waking World and taken on material forms, then assumed leadership in the war with the original inhabitants of that realm, the titans.   Morgoth never really got any significant push back from the inhabitants of Middle Earth when he arrived.   That came from the pursuing Noldor and eventually the Valar responding to the request for aid.

However, I would agree that if Elgar'nan was the voice at the end of that trailer, he does probably equate to some degree to Sauron.   However, the latter originally built up his power base in the 2nd Age by putting on a fair form and seducing various leaders with his promise of gifts that would give them knowledge and power.    Only once he was revealed did he revert to more obvious aggression.   Yet, when forced to submit to the might of the King of Numenor, he swapped back to his original strategy, bringing about their destruction by playing on their weakness (desire for immortality) and corrupting them from within.

In some ways Solas reminds me more of Sauron as Anatar bearing in mind what the Evanuris said about him:  "Beware the forms of Fen'Harel! The Dread Wolf comes in humble guises, a wanderer who knows much of the People and their spirits. He will offer advice that seems fair, but turns slowly to poison."   That was Sauron in the 2nd Age.

To be honest, whatever they were in the past, the Evanuris now just seem wholly corrupt powerful beings with no redeeming features and intent on corrupting the entire world and making its inhabitants submit to their rule by force.   So, a bunch of mini Morgoths.

The griffons was a peculiar case in that Isseya deliberately used blood magic on a griffon to persuade it to accept the Joining after it had become infected with the taint in the usual way and was simply going to die as had previously been the case. The griffons had a pathological hatred for blight creatures but for some reason this didn't extend to the Wardens themselves. Her blood magical control of its mind persuaded the griffon it was suffering from an ordinary disease after taking the Joining, when otherwise it would probably have self mutilated. However, it became even more aggressive towards darkspawn as a result, being almost uncontrollable if it got too close, although it also seemed to gain increased strength and stamina. In view of her "success" with the first griffon, the First Warden ordered her to put other griffons that were feeling the effects of their prolonged war against the darkspawn through the Joining but this had the effect of actually creating a griffon plague through the unforeseen effects of manipulating their minds with magic.

So, when it comes to griffons, if tainted by the Blight, they will just die like any other creature and untainted griffons would kill them if they detect the corruption within them. So, I don't think those weird looking dragons were griffons, just looked abnormal because of the amount of corruption that had occurred which twisted their bodies and created cyst-like growths, which dragons seem to be able to withstand longer than normal creatures.

I know the one you mean. I did a double take when I first saw it and tainted griffon did cross my mind but it has a snout and teeth rather than a beak and I think it is the same "dragon" as is seen on the right hand side with blue veins at the end of the trailer. It does look weird for a dragon, particularly the fact it seems to lack horns or they are stunted in growth. However, I suppose that could be down to becoming tainted at an early stage in its growth, or may be it is another of Ghilan'nain's monsters of the air that she gifted to Andruil. People have assumed the tale meant griffons but perhaps it didn't. The Fog Dancers claim the griffons originated on Seheron, so unless Ghil had control of the whole island back then, it is possible they were just a naturally occurring hybrid creature. (I'm really not sure that biology and evolution work the same on Thedas). Thus, her "monsters of the air" may have been something completely different. They could not have been dragons because they already existed and were under the control of Mythal. It suppose it is possible that Ghil took a griffon and crossed it with a dragon, resulting in that weird monstrosity.

Thanks for reminding me. Checking back it would seem the lack of horns is a feature of the cold dragons as even Hakkon didn't have them. So, that would fit with the dragon in the trailer being coloured blue because it is a cold dragon. Then it looks strange because it is covered in cysts, presumably as a reaction to the taint.