DAI's 'real' ending locked in a DLC. Fair or unfair?

I admit, I didn't catch Teagan saying anything about Solas. I probably tuned him out at that point.

But if that was true, it would be a weird narrative choice to make. Like a courtroom movie that skips the reveal of the big evidence and goes right to the rendition of judgment. Why would anyone cut out the possibly most dramatic moment of the story?

And if Solas's plans have already been revealed to the court at that point, why is everyone's prime concern still whether the Inquisition should be disbanded entirely or just neutered into being the Divine's honor guard instead of "what do we do against a super powerful ancient elf who thinks it's a great idea to eradicate everything that's not elven"? One way or the other, the scene does not really work.

But this being the game where Blackwall addresses the protagonist as "Inquisitor" long before the actual ceremony, I tend to believe that whatever Teagan said about Solas is likely some kind of bug. We'll likely never know.

Now that you mention it, that seems to be a recurring theme in BioWare's games no matter what franchise you're playing.

"Reapers, lol"
"Collectors, lol"
"the Elder One, lol"
"Dread Wolf? rofl"

I voted fair. (Last generation console players being unable to play Descent or Trespasser is unfair, but I think that's a separate issue). There are many reasons Trespasser couldn't fit into the main game, pacing being one of them. Trespasser is the best damn DLC I've ever played. It set me on fire. I want more of that, not less.

 I dunno if it's an ending in the big scheme of things so much as it is a bridge to the next game, ala ME2's Arrival DLC.

I can understand the concern of the precedent being set here, but, somehow I cannot get too worried about it myself. 

You know am I the first one to point out that the poll question and the thread are asking two different questions?

You make some good points.

But I'd maintain that even if BioWare's intention was exactly as you said, the execution is odd and clumsy. Because what certainly would not be repetitive is the reaction of friends and loved ones to the Inquisitor's return and missing arm, yet it is completely omitted. You may also want to choose of how much to actually reveal to the assembly - some Inquisitors might not want to mention Solas at all, maybe out of loyalty to him or merely to avoid being blamed for his actions by association.

If BioWare merely wanted to avoid repeating all the things the player just learned, they could have put a fade to black at some point where the Inquisitor turns to the audience to explain what happened. But as it is, I had no feeling of time (how much?) having passed since the Solas encounter, and the entire final scene felt unreal.

To me, it's fair, because Trespasser is NOT the real ending.

The MAIN PLOT of Dragon Age Inquisition (stopping Corypheus) was ended within Inquisition.

Tresspasser picks up another thread that wasn't the main focus of Inquisition. However due to the scene with Solas and Flemeth in the original game, I don't think you're completely left in the dark if you've never played Tresspasser, I feel that the DLC just explains/expands on existing material.

Anything vital to the main story should be in the main game. DLCs should just add extra stuff. Separate stories and whatnot.

Solas pulled a Morrigan at the end of the main game, but his reveal is what I think was a bit of a mistake. If they had already planned Trespasser, having Flemeth mention his true identity could have waited. I ended up with the impression that there was no cut content from the main game, but the DLC was made to appease the fans who went crazy at the reveal. Even if that was not the case, it felt that way based on how they handled things.

Yes, other posters have mentioned that possibility. As I said, that is of course possible - but it would be like a courtroom movie that completely skips the scene where the detective returns with the big evidence and goes right to the rendition of judgment scene. It would be poor storytelling. Why would they do that, other than cutting corners and avoid having to render a very busy scene?

Also, yes, people know that Solas is involved when the Inquisitor walks in, but then again, Blackwall addresses the protagonist as Inquisitor back in Haven already, way before the actual ceremony. BioWare does mess up and writes inconsistent stuff, they always have. Back in the overrated Hordes of the Underdark for example, Aribeth gives you a completely different back story than she did in the NWN original campaign, because her writer didn't bother to look it up. ME2 started the dark energy plot line and then promptly forgot about it in ME3.

Assuming that whatever scene is needed to make sense of the plot has happened off-screen (without any hint in the game that it did) is pretty much reaching too.


Yeah, they might be, but do you think we'll ever hear about that plot point again? Morrigan was all grim-omen about it, and then no one ever mentions it again. Hawke is happily off to Kirkwall to be Varric's assistant. The ending clearly focuses on Solas as the antagonist. I doubt they'll run a Warden plot parallel to DA4, which will likely be Tevinter focused. And if they planned ahead as far as they like to claim, then surely they should have seen the "information overload" coming too.


David Gaider and BioWare as a whole say a lot when the day is long, and they are getting a reputation for the occasional dishonesty for a reason. Sure Gaider claims that it was all totally planned out, but he also admitted that they put in the Enigma of Kirkwall because they kinda noticed too late that they forgot to put any sane mages into the DA2 plot. Didn't he also claim that Templars didn't react to Hawke being a mage because they didn't know whether blood magic would be a playable mage specialisation (an explanation that only makes sense if Templars went after blood mages exclusively and not all of them)?

Gaider talks a lot. I think BioWare's storytelling is overrated as a whole, and people eagerly fill in the gaps with their head canon, which is fine. I see them regularly mess up, and tend to think it's another oopsie on their part.