DOKUGANRYU

Workshop of Rubens, Anne d’Autriche, reine de France (detail)

“Do not unsheath me without reason. Do not wield me without valor.”

"When did I say that I would save you?" is such a Solas line.

Like, in the Veilguard gameplay trailer, he has the "People are always dying. It's what they do." And it comes across as so villain mustache twirly IGAF. But those of us who understand Solas know that it's a lament! He's upset that people are always dying and that his actions have contributed to it!

"When did I say that I would save you?" hits the same villain mustache twirly IGAF vibes. But he's not saying he doesn't care. He's saying, "You asked me to kill the beast, not save your village. WTF are you still doing here?" Like it's such a spirit of wisdom, deer in the headlights, that wasn't part of the plan that we discussed, why would you automatically assume you are safe? Evacuate the village, you idiots.

Solas understand what's going on. He can't understand why other people don't understand what's going on. That's why he comes across as such an asshole in so many situations. Like, talking about the Wardens, for example. He knows what the Blight is. He fought against a bunch of gods who tried to use it. Of course, he's going to think the Wardens are fucking crazy. No, he's not going to explain why to everyone - isn't it obvious?!?! If you're too stupid to understand, why should I explain it to you?!?! "This is beyond your comprehension."

He's such a self-destructive idiot.

I think it comes a lot from thousands of years of being shunned by the evanuris. He tried to explain and reason with them, and they ignored him. So he just takes it as default that this is the way people act. There's no point in him explaining because they won't listen. So why bother?