Chantry goes BOOM

"Unconscious" refers to a state in which a person is not awake and not aware of their surroundings or themselves. In Solas’s context, when he says he was "unconscious for millennia," wouldn't it suggest then that he spent 1000 years unaware of everything happening in the world?  

What was Solas’s unconscious state like? Was he completely unaware, or could he reflect within the Fade? His description of “dark and dreaming sleep” suggests he may have perceived ripples in the Fade, reflecting the chaos of the world. Perhaps he became gradually more aware as his awakening approached, though "unconscious" implies some level of disconnection.

I initially wondered if the killing of Felassan occurred while Solas was in Uthenera, but the timelines don’t align. The Masked Empire ends just before Inquisition, making it likely that Solas killed Felassan in the year before the Temple of Ashes explosion. This would have been a highly emotional moment, marking his first year in this new world.

If Solas spent 1,000 years unconscious (or semi-aware), then no shit his awakening in modern Thedas is an intense shock.

Which aligns with his description of waking in a world that felt “tranquil”. It also explains his decision to approach a Dalish clan to reveal himself - only to be met with threats of violence and rejection. It suggests that Solas wasn’t fully caught up on Thedas’s history or the Dalish’s disconnection from their roots and how history had reshaped them. These were supposed to be his people. Small wonder he carries bitterness toward them throughout Inquisition. 

Now, Solas is faced with the horrifying consequences of the Veil, burdened by a new and excruciating regret. If he was unconscious for millennia, he likely jumped back into the Fade upon awakening to uncover everything he’d missed. When he tells the Inquisitor about the battles of Ostagar, he’s recounting what he learned from the Fade, piecing together history during his first year awake.

It’s speculative, but plausible, that he studied the world’s changes extensively through the Fade - gathering insights on different factions, cultural shifts, and political landscapes. He may have also consulted spirits, seeking to understand how the Veil had twisted them over time. Quite the busy year - and with time functioning differently in the Fade, it’s possible he could have absorbed a good amount of knowledge in a relatively short span. And as I suggested earlier, it’s also possible that as he neared his awakening, he began to perceive more.

So, the world he once knew is gone, and the consequences of his actions are catastrophic. 

Tearing down the Veil becomes his new mission - not a goal forged over centuries, but one born of immediate and overwhelming regret. How could it not? Because of him, the elves and spirits lost everything. 

Add the fact that he is living in modern Thedas, navigating a timeline vastly different from his timeless, immortal existence.  Naturally, it begs exploration.

Immortal Time vs Mortal Time 

Solas now lives in a world of mortals - a world where time is compressed and perceived differently through a mortal lens. 

For a mortal: 

Ten years is a significant portion of life. For a 30-year-old, it represents one-third of their existence.  

The briefness of mortal life lends a constant urgency to decisions; ten years is a narrow window, carrying immense pressure to achieve goals, foster relationships, or experience growth.

Memories are shaped by a finite brain, which can create the sensation of time passing faster as life progresses.  

For an immortal: 

Ten years might feel like a brief moment in the vast expanse of their existence. To someone who has lived for millennia, a decade to an immortal could feel as a single season does to a mortal. 

Time for immortals would be more likely measured in milestones, not years and there would be an absence of a fixed endpoint. Without the pressure of a ticking clock, serious actions could be delayed for careful years of planning, viewing a decade as barely a delay at all.

Immortals, with an infinite capacity for memory, might not experience the passage of time as mortals do. Memories unmarked by significant emotions (intense regret or joy) could fade away becoming indistinguishable from a vast expanse of their existence.

Through fiction and media, we are told how immortals perceive time differently. Without the looming pressure of mortality, immortals can take the time to plan, reflect, and deliberate - luxuries that mortals can't afford. 

Solas – Forced into Compressed Timelines 

Solas previously lived in a world of endlessness. Even massive, horrible events, like the war against the Titans, the rebellion against the Evanuris, unfolded over long arcs of time.  He could carefully plan rebellions, build alliances, and execute long-term strategies without concern for immediate deadlines.  If a decision led to disaster, he could step back, reevaluate, and take a century to rebuild if necessary.  Imagine how long it would have taken him to plan the ritual to banish the Evanuris – and then execute it?  

Solas had centuries to adapt to change, to plan.

But in modern Thedas? Mortal time? Solas is thrust into a world where time moves quickly. The lifespan of these mortals means alliances and relationships are fast and fleeting, and any delay risks losing key opportunities or allies - as well as risks of unforeseen curveballs.

I imagine the pace of change in a mortal-dominated world compared to the cadence of an immortal existence would feel relentless.  For someone accustomed to thinking in terms of centuries rather than a year or two, this rapid tempo could be dizzying, even destabilizing. It sheds light on some of his mistakes and misjudgments - he simply doesn’t have the centuries he’s used to for recalibration. The constant need to react and adapt could prevent him from fully processing his doubts or mistakes, like seeing potential future consequences or that there might be another way forward. And it seems he wants to work fast to tear down the Veil, in the beginning he probably can't stand living in this new world.

Since tearing down the Veil isn’t a millennia-long goal but a relatively recent mission, and because he is now operating within a faster-paced, mortal timeframe, it becomes entirely plausible for Solas to be thrown off course - and for his mind to shift. And we see him being thrown off course repeatedly. He is forced to recalibrate and remain fluid in the face of unpredictability: 

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way"  "I could not foresee..."  "I had plans..."  "When he survived, my plans were thrown into chaos." 

This compressed timeline robs him of the luxury of infinite time and careful deliberation. The immediacy of interactions and its pace force Solas into a reactive state, disrupting his certainty and positioning him to being open to changing it. 

Other factors at play? 

He is physically vulnerable now, weakened and far from his full power. This vulnerability forces him to rely more heavily on strategy, manipulation, and alliances - skills he mastered but now must deploy with urgency and limited resources. 

For the first time in his existence, Solas must also conceal his identity. In the ancient world, he had no reason to hide who he was. In modern Thedas, however, his initial attempt to reveal himself to a Dalish clan ended badly. What would this have felt like for him? To see the stories about him so twisted, his people fragmented and hostile, and to realize that he must now hide who he is? 

Solas has to now operate from the shadows, finding agents and using the Fade to manipulate minds and make connections. He orchestrates getting the orb into Corypheus’s hands to unlock it. Corypheus’s survival and the Inquisitor gaining the Anchor throw everything into chaos - again - forcing Solas to react - again.  

He recalibrates, pivots. He investigates the explosion, offering his services, but now, after the Dalish incident, he knows he can’t reveal his true identity. Solas must understand the situation, study the Inquisitor who holds the Mark, and observe the world he now inhabits. This leads him to join the Inquisition. 

Life for this immortal continues to move at a fast speed. The chaos and unpredictability of modern Thedas - and the mortals who inhabit it – seem to continuously throw him off balance. It’s no wonder we meet a Solas who is guarded, observant, thoughtful, and careful. He even admits to the Inquisitor, “You throw me so easily,” - an acknowledgment of how unsettled he is. 

Solas in a Constant State of Flux 

From Inquisition to Veilguard, Solas seems to be in a constant state of flux, and this ongoing reaction and disruption can become fertile ground for change. It forces adaptability, disrupts entrenched beliefs, and opens pathways to new perspectives. Constant flux pushes someone to operate outside their habitual framework - else they succumb to despair. But Solas never crumbles. He is nothing if not resilient and persistent in his goal (pride is stubborn). 

A reactive state is also usually emotionally charged. Being reactive demands constant observation and quick decision-making, while a state of flux necessitates collaboration and communication with others. For Solas, this means engaging and working with mortals in crisis - and crisis forges bonds. 

You know what I find hilarious? Solas telling Rook it took him centuries to build bonds during his rebellion, but when Rook asks about the Inquisition, Solas is like, “Yeah, I made friends, created bonds and grew fond of a bunch of them despite myself (maybe even fell in love) - IN A GODDAMNED YEAR". Don’t tell me this constant flux didn’t affect him. 

Perhaps this is why he goes into isolation after Trespasser (addressing the shift from agents flocking to his cause to him suddenly being alone). He knows he can’t have anyone around who might create further disruptions or entanglements - because those connections threaten to throw him off course yet again. 

And this whole time in the 10 years after Trespasser, he knows he's being hunted – so he needs to stay one step ahead to get to his ritual.  But then Varric and Rook show up, bringing more disruptions and forcing Solas to react once again. Killing Varric, Rook throwing his plans into chaos - forced into a literal prison where he can't do anything. Rook's appearance pushes Solas further off balance. The improvisation of Rook is great because it continually derails Solas’s efforts to dig in, as external forces keep dragging him out of the certainty he’s trying to cling to. 

And then, at the very end, Rook delivers the final blows: reminding Solas that he doesn’t get to choose for the entire world, throwing the Inquisitor at him - a respected friend or love from his recent past (and to an immortal, 10 years might as well be a year) - and then Mythal (and we all know his reaction there – UGH). He’s thrown again, raw and exposed. 

His 12–14 years of certainty that the Veil must come down, lived amidst the constant flux and disruption of mortal lives, filled with heightened emotions and entangled relationships, gradually wore away at that conviction. We see this unravel throughout the games - his evolving thoughts and shifting perspectives.

And maybe those sobs at the end aren’t just about the culmination of everything or the release of being free. Maybe they’re also because he finally sees it - the truth he’s been blind to. A truth revealed through one chaotic moment and mortal relationship at a time. Blind, because the compressed timeline of mortals forced him to act so quickly, leaving little room for the reflection he once had in abundance: that another path could exist.

Lisbette pokes at a skull on a shelf. Examines a bottle. Her attitude is irritatingly overfamiliar, as though she feels she has a right to both examine his things and ignore his presence. She was never rude to him during her student days. Lisbette had been rebellious and provocative on paper occasionally, but in his classes, tutorials, and private meetings in his office, she’d always behaved with manners and respect. 

Emmrich sits back in his high-backed chair and watches her with what he thinks of as his chilliest gaze. Though her student days are over and her relationship with him is quite different, he still expects manners and respect.  

Finally, she saunters over to him, though she still doesn’t look at him. Her fingertips trail across the surface of his desk. “ Coming in here reminds me of being called into your office, professor.”

“How so?”

“I can feel waves and waves of your disapproval, just like the old days.”

“What do you believe I disapprove of?”

Lisbette laughs softly. “Always a teacher, aren’t you?”

“Lisbette. If you don’t want me here...”

“I need you here,” she says with a careless shrug, and perches on the edge of his desk. 

Emmrich opens his mouth to tell her not to sit on his desk, but then closes it again. She wants to provoke him, and he feels certain that he mustn’t be provoked. He supposes she wishes she didn’t need him. Needing someone from the Mourn Watch upsets her after she was unofficially banished from the faction. He feels nothing in particular about that. He wasn’t there when the decision was made, and it’s good for a young person to learn that their actions have consequences.

“You have gathered together quite a team,” he tells her, hoping to change the subject to a topic they can both enjoy. 

“Yes, they’re like family. It’s good to have family around me again.”

Family?

He feels his heart sink. 

Lisbette was found abandoned as a baby in the Necropolis. Like him, the Mourn Watch raised her, and just as it does to him, the Mourn Watch means family. Home. Love. 

Or it did until they banished her.

How would he have felt if the only family he’d ever known shut him out and told him to leave? Has she had one kind word or letter from anyone at the Mourn Watch in the year since?

But Lisbette has landed on her feet, he reasoned. She’s a talented young mage and she’s navigating these unfamiliar waters with confidence and apparent ease. 

All the same, him being here hurts her. Angers her. She doesn’t want anything from the Mourn Watch, but she has no choice. 

He can find a way to win her over, surely.  

In a kinder tone, he begins, “Lisbette, what happened a year ago...”

She scoots around his desk toward him, and then reaches for a book on the far side of his desk. Doing so, she splays herself across his lap in a bewildering manner. His fingers flex on the arms of his chair as he stares down at her. 

Lisbette sits up and pushes her red curls out of her face with a breathless smile. “ Alvarus’ Treatise on the Undead . I’ve always wanted to get my hands on this.”

There’s better light from the window if she’s facing the other way, and she perches on the arm of his chair. Emmrich finds himself with his arm around her, but pulled back as far as he can so as not to touch her inadvertently. She wriggles back, closer to him, making that task difficult for him.  

“ Lisbette, there are chairs for both of us.”

As she turns the pages, she slides further from the arm of the chair until she’s half sitting in his lap. “I’m fine here, professor.”

“Lisbette.”

“Hm?”

“ Lisbette .”

She looks up at him with a dazzling smile, her face just inches from his. “You’re handsome when you’re annoyed.”

“I know what you’re doing. You dislike that you need help from me. You’re provoking me because you’re angry with me. If we could have a mature conversation...”

She blinks innocent eyes at him. “Don’t be silly, professor. I’m provoking you because it’s amusing me.”

Slowly, she sinks even further into his lap. Her bottom feels soft against his bony thighs and very warm. Lisbette rests against his chest, licks her fingertip, and turns a page of the book. 

He grits his teeth. If she won’t speak seriously, he will. “I will speak with the Mourn Watch. You’ve been punished long enough and you should be allowed to return to the order .”

The smile fades from Lisbette’s lips. She reaches up and touches the silver strands of his hair, and then combs her fingers through the locks. Her touch feels surprisingly sweet. 

Then she boops his nose with her forefinger. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve had better adventures since being told to leave, and now I have a Mourn Watch professor all to myself. He’s going to help me save the world.”

He gazes at her, feeling unimpressed by her arch tone and the way she’s touching him. She might be their leader, but he was not her pet.

“How may I be of service?” he asks icily.

She muses on this for a moment. “Do you have any advice for me, professor?”

“Your spells were ragged today. Your staff work was sloppy, and your incantations poorly aimed.”

“You called out Beautifully done, Lisbette at least three times.”

He had, hadn’t he. He was delighted to be invited onto the team, and he’d been impressed and inspired by the leadership his former student had shown. The way she smiled at everyone. Her warm confidence. He’d congratulated himself that he’d been responsible in part for the young woman she’d become, the old fool. 

Emmrich clears his throat. “I must encourage as well as correct.”

She tilts her head teasingly toward his. “Ah, so you encourage me in public and correct me in private?”

“You’re trying to provoke me, young lady.”

Lisbette reaches up and ruffles his silver hair. “I am provoking you. Thank you for the book.” 

She snaps the volume closed, gets up from his lap, and saunters out of his room with an maddeningly hypnotizing sway of her hips. 

Emmrich opens and closes his mouth. Too late, he thinks of something to call after her. “Lisbette! I was reading that book.”

But the door closes behind her, and he thinks he hears her laughter in the corridor. 

__

Oh, Lisbette and Emmrich, you're both in so much trouble. Not the same bit of trouble, but definitely a lot of it, and together. Thank you for reading!