George R.R. Martin shares some details of his old drafts for the ending to A Song of Ice and Fire, including possibly killing Sansa Stark: “I was going to kill more people,” he muses. “Not the ones they killed [in the show]. They made it more of a happy ending. I don’t see a happy ending for Tyrion. His whole arc has been tragic from the first. I was going to have Sansa die, but she’s been so appealing in the show, maybe I’ll let her live…”
So originally Sansa was supposed to die? Interesting. I guess no Queen plot either, but that was always bogus. What surprises me is that he finds her "appealing" when she was stripped of her every quality in the last couple of seasons. I wonder if he is starting to value what's popular over his own writing and personal choices. That's not ideal.
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Just saw GRRM's interview where he reveals he had planned a more tragic end for Tyrion (ouch) and that he planned to kill Sansa but because she was "appealing" in the show he "might let her live".
I don't think that confirms anything either way on Sansa's survival, but if we consider the timelines of the book and the series, that does mean that everything GRRM wrote in the books was with the intent of her dying. Which confirms all that "foreshadowing" Jonsas/Sansa stans saw for QITN Sansa and Jon and Sansa marrying was all in their head (which we already knew tbf)
Demeter from greek mythology is so based when you think about it.
Persephone is kidnapped by Hades against her will, she screams for help (particularly for her father Zeus who ironically orchestrated the event), the myth says that 'not one of the immortals or mortal man heard her voice'. The only person who witnessed the event was the nymph Cyan, who was unable to stop Hades and who was so distressed that she cried until her body melted into a pool of tears.
the original hymn then reads 'she was sitting in the bed with Hades, her bedmate much against her will, and yearning for her mother' The idea that she's terrified is then emphasized and repeated across the whole poem. This is a girl who was abducted, SAd and forced into a marriage and no one cared or stood her for what she actually wants, not even her own father.
Demeter stood up to Zeus, the ultimate patriarch of the gods and the most powerful one for her daughter's sake. Not even Hera could stand up to him. Not even Cronus could beat him. Hades himself wouldn't go against Zeus and asks for permission before taking Persephone.
Demeter stood up to him. Because she loved Persephone and prioritized her well-being. And she did it with her chest out. She refused to be coaxed, bribed, threatened or coerced, and Zeus finds himself unable to undo the damage that Demeter is inflicting upon the world and concedes. In the end she won and got her daughter out of there.
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in inquisition, when solas starts with, "you show a wisdom i have not seen since..." and changes his thought halfway through, i know he's commonly thought to be talking about mythal, but i really think he's talking about himself here. mythal is not particularly wise, historically speaking. she's clever and intelligent and calculating, but we don't really ever see "wise" from her, imo. that's why she came to solas in the first place, why she asked for his help in all things.
in that moment, i don't think solas sees mythal reflected in lavellan. i think he sees himself, or what he was once. what he still wants to be.
a compilation of the answers trick weekes has given about their intentions with the solavellan ending so far. this was compiled by kalaelizabeth on bluesky and then posted in an album here and then sent to me by @scaryanneee and @cursedhaglette but i wanted to share them on tumblr because there are a lot of things explicitly clarified in these that i have seen people being confused about, including myself so i hope this soothes some of those anxieties <3
solavellan specific TLDR:
solas does not love mythal more than lavellan
it was not their intention to imply solas was under a geas by mythal, the intention of the story is to be about choices
but also remember that author intention is not law and you can do whatever you want with your pookies in your head xoxo
A semi-comprehensive list of every pre-established lore inaccuracy in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Please note, this isnt me saying you cannot enjoy the game for what it is. This is not me saying you shouldnt play the game.
But as a long time Dragon Age fan (started with Origins, has consumed all extra media including books/shows/novellas/etc..) the way Veilguard has fumbled the lore is, to someone who cares, infuriating. I shall keep the list under a read more to avoid spoilers for Veilguard. This will also be added to with more points that are given for people who wish to add
But without further adieu;
Bioware Kind of Forgot...
Bioware kind of forgot...
That Solas, after you choose to drink from the Well of Mythal (whom in Veilguard is confirmed either a lover/mother figure) is fucking pissed
That Solas was not bringing down the Veil to move the Evenuris and put them somewhere else, but to establish the ancient elves once more
The fucking orbs
That the elves were currently, at the end of inquisition, beginning the elf uprising and following Solas
the Elvhen Language
Solas being able to control Morrigan/Inquisitor after absorbing some of Mythal's power
That most of the Elves would be on board with Solas's plan
Brialla and how she controls Eluvians too
That in Inquisition, it is stated that barely any working Eluvians exist and that the one in Skyhold and the one in the temple of Mythal are extremely rare
The Valaslin and how if all of what happened is common knowledge, that the elves arent currently freaking the fuck out that they are wearing slave markings
Solas does not abhor the use of Blood Magic
That the Evanuris were trapped/locked in the Black City specifically and not the fade in general, so Solas would have to open the Veil either at the doors of the Black City or travel. The gods would not be wandering around the Fade
Using the lore/logic confirmed in Veilguard, the ancient elves being spirits that, with the help of lyrium, were made into elven form, that Cole should technically be one of the most powerful creatures known to man since they gave themselves a human body without the assistance of Lyrium.
Bioware kind of forgot...
Slavery in Tevinter (really now there are no slaves shown in Minrathous?)
Varric hates the deeproads/dwarves so why is he so okay with Harding's magic
Hawke in general
Varric is a world famous author so someone would have mentioned his death at some point?????
how the fucking Blight works (seriously the entire party is infected with the Blight)
How spirits work
Morrigan never wanted to become a vessel for Mythal and despises the thought
The Antivan crows bought/tortured child slaves and children from brothels, to be trained as crows, basically nullifying all of the trauma Zevran had gone through
How there are no true half-elves in the dragon age universe, meaning that elves are so inherently different from the other races that something essential gets lost from their offspring when they intermarry.
Then stating that the current elves are the same as everyone else biologically speaking. THEN WHY ARE THERE NO HALF-ELVES? There is a perfectly good reason that you just gave us (elves are spirits that took on a body) but then you threw it away in the same cutscene i can't.
Honestly, with everything that has happened with dragon age veilguard, im really sad to say a part of me wishes this game had been cancelled.
I trusted weekes to write a great ending for solavellan. I defended the devs on Twitter and got called slurs by antiwoke weirdos for it. I bought into the hype and bought the rooks coffers and the artbook. Now i just feel ill, i wish the game had never been released, and then i could have stayed in my little headcanon bubble. So many writing choices left me just thinking, why?!
Spoilers
I knew there wasn't going to be a happy walk into the sunset type ending for solavellan, and there were things I liked about the ending like solas and lavellan going into the fade to be with each other eternally, really tying back to "in another world"
but some of the other choices I just can't get behind. Mythals' relationship with solas just felt wrong. We're they lovers or mother and child? I can't tell, which is not something anyone should have to say, but either way, it was toxic and manipulative, and it's never brought up or confronted in any meaningful way. They could have used this to highlight the difference between lavellan and mythal. How mythal forced him to change to what she wanted while lavellan loved him for who he was.
Mythal should have been the bad guy who had manipulated and corrupted solas, using his guilt and desire to save the elven people, so that she could have her revenge and to change the world how she saw fit. Have lavellan be the one to reason with him, to finally show him that he was wrong, again. That thedas was worth saving. I know some people (me included) wanted the veil down, but I understood for gameplay reasons that couldn't happen.
They could have finally shown solas loving lavellan from his pov. shown us memories of what he thought of her when he first saw the little mortal with his magic in a cell in haven. What he did after the first flirt, what he thought after the fade kiss or the kiss on the balcony, what happened after crestwood or when he left skyhold or the end of trespesser. show him pining for her, show him watching her dreams from his pov, always running when she reached out for him. Apart from one codex and one piece of dialogue, we aren't given any sign that he misses her. They put more effort into the relationship with mythal than the one with lavellan.
I'm not even going to bring up what happened with varric because honestly I still not ready for it, it was such a terrible writing choice not just to varric but to solas ans the player as well, and a terrible send-off for a beloved character.
So many of the lore reveals were thing that we already suspected and they were given to us so quickly.
Overall, I'm a bit heartbroken, angry, and broke. This is ME3 ending all over again.
I get that they had to showcase the Mythal relationship because the game couldn't be Solavellan centered, but did they have to make it seem like Lavellan was a rebound or a replacement goldfish for Mythal?
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is the Crestwood scene, but with reversed roles. Solas is the rejected one, Mythal is the one who walks away, leaving him alone in what I presume was a glade at night, judging from the environmental sounds and hushed tones we can hear.
And, to be honest, I don't know how I feel about it - it feels like it cheapens the Crestwood scene, repeating an abusive pattern, stripping away the romance and softness of that scene. It's, once again, something Solas already went through with Mythal, not something he shares with Lavellan only. It's Weekes saying yet again that Solas saw Mythal in Lavellan, and that's why he fell in love with her. Not because she was Lavellan, but because she reminded him of Mythal and gave him hope that all elves could return to that "level" of wisdom.
What we learn in this game also ruins the kiss scene on the balcony, where Solas say "You have showed wisdom I have not seen since... since my deepest journeys into the ancient memories of the Fade."
Most of us believed he meant "Wisdom I have not seen since my ancient days in Elvhenan", but it's basically confirmed at this point that he meant "Wisdom I have not seen since Mythal".
A month ago, someone here mentioned how Weekes had said there was a specific reason why Solas had falled for Lavellan. I never found the interview where they said so, but I saw many believed it had something to do with reincarnation, lost soulmates finding each other again etc., but once again, it's clear what Weekes meant, and it's bad, cheap writing.
They could have written a god finally learning the error of his ways thanks to his love for a mortal - a love completely different from that of who was basically an abuser, a parent-like figure forcing him to take form and serve -, but instead they went for the easy route: a god still loving another god, feeling love for a mortal who reminds him of her, and changing his mind only because his god finally gives him permission to be free.
The mortal who supposedly "changes everything" serves no purpose - she actually tells him "There is no fate but the love we share" after he's been "freed" from his service, which in this context, in this situation, sounds more like a punishment, another yoke, some sort of "I finally got you, you can't run from me anymore".
I don't know what happened to Weekes' writing - either they were forced to make these decisions due to various constraint, or they completely changed their style/ideas during development, because this is not the Solas, this is not the Solavellan romance, we got in DA:I.
The Inquisitor should have just been the main character in Veilguard. I'm standing on that bridge firmly even more now with the ending they gave us involving them.
For a sequel to Inquisition, it just would have made more sense.
A number of men and boys have been kidnapped by the occupation from Kamal Adwan Hospital in besieged northern Gaza. Including seventeen-year-old journalist Aboud Batah
Update: Just seconds after I reblogged the original post, I saw a notification from RNN; they posted that Aboud Batah is free, after many hours of being abducted by the IOF.
ID: Photo of Aboud Batah sitting in an armchair on top of rubble and smiling. He's a young boy with light skin and short, straight, dark brown hair with shaved sides, wearing a black jacket, green shirt and blue jeans. /End ID
He mentioned in a video that he made after being released that the soldiers recognised him after having asked him to take off his hat. He said that they were playing his TikTok videos among each other to basically show one another who they were about to eliminate. They literally told him that "we will kill you here in this hole" and referenced the videos he makes as the reason.
These deranged psychopaths told him as he was being released that they were going to eventually come for him.
Abood and others like him didn't have to pick up their phone and risk their lives to document this genocide for you to click through from the comfort of wherever you are, but here we are. So elevate Palestinian journalists voices, share their stories and advocate for their safety.
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people surprised that mythal might’ve groomed solas as if mythal didn’t attach herself to flemeth, a woman who groomed her daughter into seducing men for power. “it sounds icky” yes it is icky mythal is not supposed to be a character you see as morally righteous. solas says “she was the best of them” HE’S TALKING ABOUT SLAVERS YA’LL THE BAR IS IN HELL??? idk i feel fucking insane rn. the duet is clearly about him and mythal. it doesn’t mean that the duet is inherently romantic, and maybe there is nothing romantic between them, but if there is how is that in any way shape or form ooc for her? the way this fandom has retconned mythal/flemeth into being some girl boss is crazy. this is not an anti solavellan post btw im talking purely about solas and mythal.