Arson?

This is what Roerich's paintings look like:

“Rook has nothing to regret, and that’s why they have escaped Prison of Regret.” Is a shit take and I’m going to tell you why.

Let’s start with the definition of what actually is regret. Oxford dictionary tells us that “Regret is a sad feeling because of something that has happened or something that you have done or not done”. The obvious perceived failings of Rook greet us when they land in Solas’ cage: the leader of the second team, the person chosen to undo the wards, and, of course, Varric. Hot takes igniting my need to write this post often claim that Rook bears no fault, so they cannot regret those sacrifices. It happened because of a narrative, fate, “they couldn’t have known”.

Well, let me just lay it out for you–not being guilty of something does not make you less regretful.

Rook can condemn their own actions or not–they can regret not doing something else; not finding another way to stop the ritual, not picking another person or thinking of another plan. Most people regret things they haven’t actually done, and Rook is no different.  

Regret follows Rook even before story of Veilguard starts to unfold. They are a member of a faction on a mission and face a choice — do something reckless and save people, or adhere to your faction’s mode of operation. They throw caution to the wind and it bites their ass, sometimes to the point where their faction wants nothing to do with them, like Shadow Dragon Rook meeting Tarquin after a year and being greeted with “I thought you’d be gone for good.” Upon first arriving at Lighthouse, Rook recalls that moment when they ‘failed’ the mission, and they do have options to admit that they were reckless and their faction was correct for kicking them out, even if they saved people. Does that mean that Rook regrets saving those people? No. They wish they have found a better way, one that did not end up with them being thrown out of their home.

“B-but Varric’s death wasn’t their fault!” you scream at me through the screen. Wasn’t it? As they approached the ritual site, Neve warned the group that the ritual was connected to the statues, and they had to reach it before the last statue activated. Rook made a choice to bring the statue down. Even if Varric says it was an accident, when Solas himself admits that he was losing control of his ritual and didn’t mean for it to happen (he says it during The Last Gambit in banter with Neve)–Rook was the catalyst. Rook brought down the statues, ruined the ritual and threw Solas off balance enough for things to end up this way, hurting themselves and Harding/Neve. Even worse so, if Rook was the one who encouraged Varric to go talk to Solas in the first place. Rook’s regret goes so deep that it gives the means for Solas to blood-magic project Varric into their head and tune out any mentions of his death, and Rook knows this–“Deep down I knew you were dead” they say to Varric in regret prison.

Okay, let’s move on to other possible regrets of Rook in chronological order:

Minrathous or Treviso–I don’t know if I really need to explain this, but. It doesn’t matter that Rook sent another team to the city they didn’t choose, or that they did it without enough information, or maybe they chose their home (because who wouldn’t?). Remember how you felt seeing blighted Treviso, or Shadow Dragons hung in streets of Minrathous? Didn’t you have a feeling of “this is my fault”? Imagine if it’s a Shadow Dragon or Antivan Crow Rook? What if they sacrifice their city? What if they save their city but doom the other? Circumstances forced even Rooks from other factions to sacrifice countless lives for others. There is no climbing out untouched from this morality hole.

The Siege of Weisshaupt–not convincing the First Warden in time. Winging the entire operation while Grey Wardens were dying en masse around them. Shit getting shittier every goddamn second because Rook did not have a team good enough for it. Rook did not plan for any of this. They charged right into the slaughter and lost more than they had gained. That first conversation with the First Warden must be haunting Rook in their sleep. What if they were more convincing? What if they brought proof? Maybe more Wardens would still be fighting today.

Companions–despite Rook already drowning in never ending tasks of trying to get their allied forces ready for the big showdown they are also stuck in a never-ending cycle of helping out their companions, often making world altering decisions for them, because they trust Rook to make the correct choices.

Should Griffons go to the Wardens or to Arlathan? Rook can regret taking away hope from already broken Grey Wardens. They have lost so much–their fortress, their leader, their friends. It just keeps on coming. But if Rook gives griffons to them, are they not denying a better future of griffons and Arlathan? Denying a chance for a better future of the forest and species? They might not regret doing either, but the thought of what could’ve been will haunt them, aka Rook will be regretting what they haven’t done.

Destroy or keep the archive? Do you tell elves to forget and move on or let them reclaim their past, even if it’s potentially dangerous? If you tell Bellara to let it go, Bellara’s voiced regret haunts Rook—she wonders if she should have kept it. Who is she to deny her people their past? But if they keep it, what could the consequences of such knowledge be?

And the list just goes on and on…

In the prison of regrets, Solas tells Rook, “You are not ready to make sacrifices leadership requires”. But they are. They have been doing them since day one. They were thrown into this role and shit just kept piling up and everyone looked at Rook to solve everything, decide everything. Solas molded Rook into someone who could take his place in prison of regrets by inadvertently putting Rook in a position of leadership, by encouraging them to bolster their allies and help their team.

Rook is like Solas, because they were willing to make decisions no one else was willing to do or could do. Rook is a reflection of Solas in his rebellion days–it’s just them and their wits against the world, except that Rook, unlike Solas, was not granted luxury of time. Rook couldn’t sit on their regrets. They did not have a millennium to overthink their decisions. They couldn’t drown themselves in questions of what could have been as deeply as Solas could. It does not mean that Rooks has nothing to regret. It means that Rook acknowledges their regret, faces it and moves on. Because Thedas will not stop falling into ruin and wait for Rook to catch up.

Water is way more hydrating than soda, but soda is more hydrating than nothing. A balanced meal is way more nutritious than ice cream, but ice cream is more nutritious than nothing.

Something is better than nothing. Some hydration is better than no hydration. Some nutrients are better than no nutrients. Some produce is better than no produce.