What did you do today in Dragon Age The Veilguard [Spoilers]

So a bunch of stuff did happen throughout this entire seqeunce that sort of *had* to happen in order to get things going. Though it was amazing that it never occured to me or the characters within the game...

Elgar'nan is the god of night and day...so he basically just kick started the Eclipse early and kick started the events of the game so we didn't have a month...and yet Oliver still had his beard. Think given that the gods can live for thousands of years or are immortal even he was just doing it to show off.

But with that on the way we rallied to get to tear stone island...by ourselves.

And well you know how you get someone to make a very important choice that will have huge moral implications? By not letting people know you are making it. Like this is the usual BioWare way of going about and doing things. Keep this in mind for later.

Must say that this is one of the best pieces of level design that BioWare has ever done in their history. From a design perspective in a few ways this was probably better then the bits in Minrathous. Because this game has done forced perspective really well in so much of its content. More on that in a moment here but the friggin fog man and having to fight darkspawn in the fog and not quite being able to see the Darkspawn moving around. And then Ghil floating through that fog like a friggin shark was some of the coolest visuals in the entire series just perfection. Then with her boss fight to, another really unique set piece here as Ghil imprisoned the entire team and forced Rook to fight her alone. Took me a while to figure out how to do it.

Oh and forgot to mention Neve getting sucked through that blight red Eluvian had me shook.

But yeah here is where it happened. Where the crows came home to roost. I didn't even know that I had made the choice but I do remember thinking at the beginning it would be so funny if this ended up being the choice...the choice I knew was coming...because I got spoiled to it. But because this was BioWare I expected some grand telegraphed chocie of sacrifice. But I do remember it is funny because I chose Harding to hold the line so thought 'haha it would be so funny i fall my choices came home to roost and I keep on getting her hurt.'

Welp.

That ended well. I friggin bawled during it though because well...got Harding killed. And while. Fuck I was going to sacrifice Davrin had it been presented as a 'grand sacrifice' type situation but now knowing it I don't think I would make another choice with Oliver anyways. Because it was logical she would lead the second team. But she still stood up bravely and fought Ghil'anain to the last. Which gave Lucanis the opprotunity he needed to end her fully. But she paid the ultimate sacrifice for it. You don't really know how much you care for a character I think until you are faced with their death because this got me so very emotional and I thought she was a little 'bland' at times. Choking up a bit now.

But then the hits just coming because panic alert I was also very nervous I got Neve killed because didn't level up her bond...which had terrible implications for the rest of my party. And then while I was still recovering from this, worried about Neve, worried about everyone else...I was spoiled to it...but I think how they handled it was brilliant because they almost anticipated this. Solas traps me in the Fade because of my regrets...my Rook's...and then reveals that Varric is dead.

Then the team gets me out because that's not thematic at all...turns out I was stuck in there for weeks. All the companions had their piece to say and they all mentioned their personal missions, do wonder if it would've gone any different had we not solved their issues and could Hezenkoss or Isseya have shown up? At the very least our allies would've been gutted in the face and unable to deal with things.

And Bellara had a full on romance scene, we told each other we loved each other...and we got naked. Didn't see the scars or the tats I gave Oliver but you know what...I am content. Her romance is just so wholesome and really reminds me of my relationship with my wife in so many ways. *sniff*.

Then the pure cinematic bliss started in a way. Rook starts moving pieces on the board and we see it in real time in the game as we move. We make our choices as to who does what and who goes where, think I made a lot of obvious choices, especially to keep my party of Bellara and Davrin with me...who essentially did become my A team in the end. It was a bit odd because then most of these decisions were crossed off pretty quick...a lot of these cutscenes got realllllyyy long towards the end. And this play session took me a lot longer then I would've thought was going to take too so I got pretty tired.

And still getting choked up!

For half a second there this reminded me of Priority Earth but the game had invested me so I was willing to give it a shot. But then the next big bit here. Solas joins us! As a mage. He battles through the streets of Minrathous (heh) with us in tow and him and the three of us make quite the party as he is a powerful mage just knocking bodies aside but not feeling *too* powerful. Somehow this game always managed to hit the perfect balance with making the gods feel powerful but not *too* powerful.

Then he turns into the Dreadwolf and it srevealed that Neve has been plugged in as a Blight intelligence. So yey she's alive...but Blighted.

Solas tells us here that the Veil will not come down by his hand. Oh the irony. And Neve makes a lot of cryptic statements about the state of the place.

Ugh sometimes these do sound like a summary but I think its important for context...

So at the end though here Morrigan shows up. The Inquisitor shows up. And Neve lets us in the big secret of the hour...one more fan theory was right, one more that I thought was actually confirmed earlier but its confirmed in full here. Solas bound the bodies of the Evanuris to the Fade. They die, it comes down. 'The Veil will not come down by my hand'.

Then Morrigan tells me I am the true Champion of the Fade, ironic that, and off we go to make one more Suicide Mission escue choice.

The last set piece was again pretty good, The Elgar'nan boss fight reminded me of Corypheus and was quite...intense...despite the advantages that I had. Though watching the Dread pupper get into it with Luscan was terrific, kind of like the Hound and the Mountain in a way. And MVP Neve came to the rescue taking on the Blight and overpowering Elgar'nan at the last.

Must say though that the highlight of the fight was when Elgar'nan did that trick and isolated Rook. Taunting him about his failures. Even twisting his victories. Based on headcannons and what not I could easily imagine that Rook felt this every word...I even felt this. The theme of regret, kind of in the games credit, I don't think it had as heavy of a focus it as it could have but then this let them actually do sub themes...but it really came up in the end game. And given that I someties...well lack confidence...felt like Elgar'nan was talking to me at times. Just pure perfection. He even regenerated to help add onto the threat, but at the last minute when all seemed lost...well i covered that...stream of consiousness yey.

Then the ending happened. The last ending. I knew what I was going to do to end this all along but was tempting for my Rook to trick him at the end even for character but in the end, had to see it through...

And so glad I committed to it because this was sheer unadulterated poetry. Four games of decisions, of plots, of character, came down to this moment. As Rook, Mythal, Morrigan, and the Inquisitor all talked the monster down. And so many amazing thematic moments here, from the very Dragon Age statement that Mythal 'twisted him from his purpose when she asked him to go to war' which speaks on that human condition thing I mentioned in the Joyguard. We are often twisted away from our purposes in life...to the fact that Mythal released Solas from her service...did she have him under a geas? But in the end he sacrificed himself, put down his burden, his desire to be right, to fix his mistakes and trying to hold on to the past...just to become a protector. To live in the service of others and protect them, keeping the Veil up.

Confusing side bar but it did mention that Solas couldn't stop the Blight but could help sooth it, think this is BioWare's ways of hedging their bets about the future of that plot point to. But the Blight did seem pretty dead. Neve had been cured.

Which then brings me to the final two more philsoopical points here, the point of this whole excercise. I believe that this game again probably did the smart thing here not convuluting things too much. We have heard hints for the last two games that the Blight had a mind of its own. An influence. "As long as the music plays. we Dance." Veilguard hinted at it to and I was wondering how far they would go in that direction in the end and whether or not at the end of the day the last big bad would be the 'Blight itself' or at least some avatar of the Blight. But there was no face to the Blight. No big bad. No Night King. No Sauron. No Palpatine. No Ultimate Source of evil that would cheapen the human lessons here and the human causes. Yes they hinted at it, they hinted that the evil of the Blight had a mind of its own and was the source even throughout the final mission.

But at the end of the day, the final conflict of the game was about a lost Elf, a very human being who made one mistake after anouther and just kept following good money after bad...but he decided to stop. Because of an appeal to his nature. An appeal to his emotion. An appeal to the connections he had made throughout his life. His human emotions, his connections got him into this mess, he became physical because of Mythal...he severed the Titans for her...and he destroyed the Elves because of the Evanuris murderign her...then that regret almost made him do terrible things to fix it...but in the end it was those same connections, with their own human connections, that ultimatley got him to stop. Prevent the plan he had been making for millenia.

And the Veilguard remains vigilant.

Must say the Epilogue was similarly well done and cinematic.

But I did not get the secret ending in my PT so had to look it up on YouTube. Heh I need to watch the Ghil'dirthalen video on it when I have time. But this plot line might not be entirely over. A mysterious voice mentioned the 'poison fruit ripens' which could be a reference to the Blight. And they mention that with the Gods out of the way maybe it is their time now.

Has the Saga of the Executors begun?

So by the end you can get a rune and depending on what you did in the game it can be in varying levels of power. But the game tells you that it will lend you it's power for "One final time" against the final boss. Which is cool. 
Except I misunderstood the first game and got it into my head that I'd be summoning a support unit and chopping off some part of the final bosses health bar once in the fight.
So I was saving it for the "Final form" except it never came and I finished the game without using it. 

So this time I was like, I'm gonna use it. I know the final form, let's go.
So get to the point open the rune menu and see that it only lasts 10 seconds. Which sounded kinda sucky but support units are usually pretty sucky so eh, good enough.
Activate the rune and it's actually a really nice chunky buff for 10 seconds. Then there is a cool down and you can use the rune again...
So I could probably have used it for the other phases too. And it would've been real handy.

But it came in really, really handy so love it. But yeah, use the bloody rune. It's nice. 

If you do not stop Hezenkoss, the giant construct you fight with the wardens is her giant bone golem thing instead.

If you do not stop Aelia, she’s the one leading the venatory fighting Teia and whoever you choose for that part.

If you do not stop the Dragon King, he leads the Antaam against your allies and whomever you’ve chosen to lead them, when you and your party ascend to the final fight.

Kind of a shame about Isseya though having her rock up with a bunch of blighted griffons in a future PT if I do decide to do an 'evil' PT would be heartbreaking.

Going into it I suspected that how they treated Solas could make or break the game and I think it did just that. GDL and the writing for him was just phenmonal...and I think I am even learning to appreciate it even more and a few points that I kind of forgot to adress or noticed later.

Solas has regrets...he loves appologizing. But as it is easy to note that in a way despite being genuine, in its own way, it also is a shield/ weapon he uses to justify his evil actions. 'I am a good person because I feel regret and I am wise enough to know what I am doing is horrible but I am the only one with the knowledge who can do it anyways.' This character tick came crashing to a head in the final confrontation. "I am sorry Rook for this betrayal, but what happens happens." Arrogant. Prideful. The demeanor of a god. But then the first time he actually fully breaks and genuinely appologizes in the entire game, maybe the first time in a while...the Inquisitor shows up. "Inquisitor, I'm sorry." And Gareth does such an amazing job selling it because while the previous line to Rook sounded so bold this one feels broken, pleading, now that he is faced with another woman he betrayed (so glad my Inquisitor, even if not a Solas romance, was female), standing before him. And his tone just makes it sound like 'mommy I am sorry I screwed up." he still feels like he has to do it but now he is faced with someone he made a connection with the cracks begin to show.

NExt up...reading through some of the other ending options it is so amazingly resonant to what DA is in it. If you fight with Solas. If you show force to him then he breaks down and falls even more, instead of realizing the horror he is responsible for it and atoning for it, he doubles down and slips even more, proclaiming himself a god. For humanity or for spirits sometimes you get what you get out of something you put into it. And Spirits by their very nature are reflective, so if you deal with him with grace, you get grace back, if you deal with him with arrogance you get arrogance back. Wonderfully done.

And about spoilers...honestly it might have weirdly helped my reaction along because I got spoiled. Because I saw enough screen captures to know it was happening when it was happening in a way. So again when I made the choice for Harding to lead the second team I was like 'oh haha its all funny what if I got her killed here...oh shit I got her killed.' And just hit me because knowing it happened and the horror of what happened I think is what let it slam into me so much. Because even the wife was in disbelief to. But then of course no body so they do have the option of bringing her back later...

Then the Neve and Bellara choice. Now I went in and ultimatley chose to stick with Bellara for the end run because A. bit metatextual but she became Oliver's healer and B. I justified it that well if everyone was going into danger then Oliver would want to keep his girlfriend close to him for protection.

But the fun part is now that I know the 'princess gets in another castle' and can optomize future playthroughs if it ends up being Oliver and Oliver does romance Bellara for his ultimate canon, because am tempted on doing a Neve romance...but I just wonder what my reaction would be to it being Bellara. How different that would be overall. And how heartbreaking and how desperate Oliver will be to get her back because Neve is the tougher of the two, so there will be so much desperation in trying to get her back. How heartbreaking it will be to see Bellara being puppeted like that with a romanced Rook to? But then since I have already seen it once will it have the same effect?

So didn't get far and the only choice so far she made that is different is she agreed with Harding during the first team meeting and not Neve like myself.

Other funny note during the watch the replay for pics, we basically watched Solas stab Varric three times in a row to get the pic we wanted. It became morbidly humuorous.