Seek Truth of Tomorrow

Or more specifically, blood writing.

By using a binding ritual on their slaves, the Evanuris could prevent any act of rebellion, any thought of freedom.

That was, until one freed them all.  

By using a ritual of his own creation, Solas, or Fen’Harel, removed the vallaslin of every slave who wished it, and together they led a revolution against the former masters.

But, if the Evanuris were such powerful beings, why weren’t they able to fight back?

I believe they were in the process of such plans, and it’s likely that it involved its own powerful ritual.  Where blood magic exists, corruption flourishes.

The Evanuris had just lost their slaves, what was probably their largest source of blood for any spells they may have used in defense against Fen’Harel. How else could they fight back and defeat the rebellion? What could they kill to grant them enough power?

They used Mythal.

After her death, modern Dalish legends tell of how Fen’Harel banished the evanuris from the world, imprisoning them in an Eternal City within the Beyond.

As we now know, these events actually transpired, though they were more along the lines of, “Solas created the veil, locking the Evanuris in a prison within the Fade.” This prison, as has been speculated before, is the Black City. The perfect prison, forever out of reach from any outside forces. It may have been created specifically for this purpose, or found and utilized by Solas. Perhaps it is even a palace from Arlathan, permanently trapped in the Fade with the Evanuris. Whatever it was, the Black City is now the home to some of history’s most powerful mages, and the birthplace of the Blight. Or is it?

When Corypheus and the other high priests of the Old Gods entered the formerly Golden City, they found an empty palace.

How could a prison be empty, without its occupants having escaped? Simple. They found the hallway.

What the magisters discovered was similar to the Crossroads: a liminal space, a hallway,  a room with seven eluvians.

Before the maker returns to the world, the seven “gates” of the Black City will shatter, releasing darkness on the world. These gates lead to the individual prisons of the Evanuris, separated in their captivity. Where precisely these individual prisons are, I cannot say, though it is likely that they lie somewhere between the Fade and the world, their only entrances being through the Black City.

Now, if the Black City is a prison hallway, where did the Blight come from?

The Blight was the security system set in place should someone try and release the Evanuris without the correct key.

This is very similar to what happened in Dragon Age: Origins to Tamlen and Mahariel in the Dalish origin.

When Tamlen touched the eluvian, he began to see what he described as an “underground city”. However, the eluvian rejected him for unknown reasons, and he was infected with the Taint.

Tamlen did not have the correct key for the eluvian, and so it reacted as it was programmed to do. As the eluvians in the Black City were programmed to do. Whether this eluvian was a back door created by Solas to the Black City, should he ever require it, or simply led to another hidden place, it serves as an example of what the magisters encountered in their expedition, though on a much smaller scale.

When these pieces are fit into the blanks of Thedosian history, it all becomes clear.

In the early days of the Evanuris Empire, the former generals turned gods became greedy and unsatisfied with their power. By creating vallaslin, and scarring it into the faces of their slaves, they had complete control over Arlathan, and their own freedom to experiment and kill as they wished.

One of their own, resistant to the ways of the others, began freeing these slaves, hiding them away from the Evanuris, and gathering his strength to lead a rebellion against the tyrants.

Fen’Harel led a war against the masters, draining them of their resources, and shepherded the people to a future of hope and freedom. When victory was in sight, Fen’Harel himself was seen as a savior, a herald of revolution. The freed people of Arlathan began to see him as a new god, no matter his refusal to be one.

During this time, the Evanuris were turning to their last resources, fighting a losing battle against the people they subjugated for so long. In a last ditch effort, the Evanuris slaughtered Mythal, one of their own, mild in her ways compared to the others. She would have been used as the source behind their last ritual, which they hoped would win the war for them.

That was, until Fen’Harel separated the Fade from the world, creating the Veil and dooming the remnants of the empire in exchange for imprisoning the murderers of his only friend. The Evanuris were imprisoned inside the Fade, within their own cells, only accessible through a floating palace forever out of reach.

Fen’Harel slept, drained from the construction of the Veil, and years passed as the elves adjusted to the ruins of their home, and humans entered Thedas.

Tevinter sprung up from the ashes of Arlathan, enslaving the elves yet again, and pillaging what was left of it. In -1595 Ancient, Archon Thalsian dreamt in the Fade, and somehow came into contact with one of the Evanuris, who taught him the secrets of blood magic, a gamble that meant to free them from their prisons.

Tevinter rose, and began worship of what they believed to be the Old Gods. The magisters became powerful, and set their sights on the Golden City in their dreams.

A select few, the high priests of each god, began a ritual to enter the Golden City, using two-thirds of the country’s lyrium, and the countless lives of slaves. They succeeded, and breached the Fade to claim their prize.

What the magisters found instead of riches and power, was an empty palace, and living within were seven Eluvians, waiting to be opened. However, the magisters did not have the keys to open the prisons, and triggered the defenses left behind in case of such a threat. The blight, the ultimate punishment, was released onto the men as they were thrown from the city.

While playing through Trespasser, we find dead Qunari laying about, which frankly isn’t too surprising when they’ve trashed the place. What is interesting is how they were killed.

While some were oddly killed by fright, likely by some other insane power Solas has, most have been stabbed in the back.

Considering that Solas was definitely right ahead of us at the beginning…

… we can assume that the ones we found at the tower were killed by him.

But why would Solas stab them instead of using his magic?

He was.

Mage Inquisitors have the Knight Enchanter specialization open to them, taught by Commander Helaine in Skyhold. Vivienne also uses these techniques. Knight Enchanters summon swords from the fade, along with a slew of other abilities.

Interestingly, “ according to Solas, their techniques descend from ancient elven mages called Arcane Warriors. “

Even more interestingly, Solas “remarks favorably” when you take the specialization, even though it’s been bastardized by the chantry. Perhaps he’s personally fond of the technique.

Adding to the evidence that Solas was totally holding out on us, is the fact that the Arcane Warrior in multiplayer uses Rift Mage abilities, the same specialization used by Solas.

Now, if we have to fight Solas in the next game, we shouldn’t expect him to stay far away in typical mage fashion. He might get behind our guard and stab us in the back.

Funny, since that’s exactly what he did.

The first thought that comes to mind, is Andruil’s ‘sponsorship’ of Ghilain’nain.

Andruil saw power and potential in Ghilan’nain, and got the other Evanuris to accept her into their Cool Kids Club for Magic™. So, it’s not a complete stretch to say that they could have let others in also, like a gifted and trusted general or adviser.

The specific position Solas may have had, I think, would be similar to a sentinel, if not exactly that. Not only does he share similar armor preferences with Abelas...

... but the two definitely recognize one another.

And then there’s the matter of the shared magic. It makes sense for Solas and Mythal to have similar magical characteristics after the end-credits scene, but why would Abelas share them, too?

Now, we get to the more abstract bits: whispers from the Well of Sorrows, and Cole.

When the Inquisitor drinks from the Well, whispers play as a sort of white-noise to add atmosphere (and creep you out). They do that job very well, but it’s not just random gibberish. Fortunately, they don’t talk in ancient elven. Unfortunately, they’re played backwards and all overlapping each other. But where you find obscure Dragon Age easter eggs, you find Mari from Geek Remix! In one of her videos (seen here) , she very nicely cleans up the audio and adds captions, so we can clearly understand most of what’s said.

Speculate as you will, and I encourage you do, one of the voices clearly says:

“He is bound to the same.”

At first, this can apply to many people throughout the series. But at the time this takes place, with all the other elfy things going down, context would relate us to Abelas and Solas, and we already know how Abelas is bound. 

That may seem a bit of a stretch, but my next point comes from someone directly connected to Solas.

And it’s certainly the most damning.

During the events of Trespasser, the Inquisitor can talk to Cole and listen to his ramblings on the people around you and their emotions, in his regular poetic style. Some of the things he says are just silly references to players cheating and shady cows from Mass Effect, but a large amount deal with Solas and the Inquisitor.

Then, he says something that has no immediate reference to another game, but isn’t clear on the subject either.

Well, that sounds sad and weird, right?

Then, we have to stop looking at it literally.

If we entertain the theory that the ancient, ancient elves were spirits, it could be about Mythal making the Evanuris, and Solas, more real, like a Human Cole. Solas would have had her vallaslin, as all others bound to her will did. Even if they were friends, we would have still been a slave. Then, being the magic-savvy, freedom-loving, egg-looking guy he is, Solas found a way to remove his vallaslin and any underlying enchantments.

That would definitely put a snag in their relationship they had going on.

Now, this is all fine and dandy speculation, but what might this mean for the future?

Every interaction we had between Solas and Mythal, along with any future interactions with any Evanuris, could have underlying dynamics we could have never considered. Conversations could have hidden meanings, choices you make as the player may have more personal consequences than expected, and the motivations of Solas just got more complicated, somehow.

It’s possible, that through her magic’s influence and their past dealings, Mythal could still be carrying out her will through Solas, even after the events of Trespasser.