It May Not End in Ruin

if rook has one fan then I'm THAT ONE

...but unless and until one of the devs corrects me, I've come down on the side of the opinion that while Solas was able to make Rook forget that Varric had died, Varric as an entity is entirely made up of Rook's memories and feelings - a lingering impulse in the Fade because of Rook's love and grief, even - and nothing he says is because of Solas. Not even the things that seem to be excusing or forgiving him.

I've been chewing on this for a while for no particular reason except that I went through Here Lies the Abyss on my DA:I replay.

I really am fascinated by Cassandra both for her own character (seeking and telling truth vs the implications of her namesake) and the fact that even when she's talking about becoming Divine, she mentions Varric being Andrastian. The two of them *cannot* keep each other's names out of their mouths.

The Inquisitor wondered if the spirit they met in the Fade really was the ghost of the Divine, and with the hindsight of Veilguard, and the way Cassandra talked about how we do not know what happens after death and the way souls travel through the Fade, and the way Emmrich talks about souls and feelings lingering on in the dead, I can't help but think that Varric somehow "lives on" in Rook.

I think Solas wanted Rook to forget because he thought the shock of it, the regret, would bind them to the prison. But Varric had changed in the 8 years since the Inquisition (and Solas had not) and had been too good a friend to Rook. What lived on inside of them was...something else. Not regret. Real grief, and kindness, and a willingness to help.

Even when Varric had regrets, he always had kindness and he always stepped up. And when you allow yourself to change, time can temper regrets.

Both Varric and Harding have an infinite source of compassion for Solas. I think that's why it feels like they're forgiving him, and why it might seem like Solas is manipulating Rook through Varric. But Varric started the game insistant that Solas needs another option, another story, a reason to change his mind.

Maybe he was thinking of that dialogue all the way back in the Hinterlands, when Solas told him that his stories were bringing peace in dark times, and the impulse that's left clings to the hope that a Rook that can talk down the First Warden, that can convince the fragment of Mythal, can also give Solas the story he needs to hear.

Solas can't manipulate Rook quite that way, because Rook isn't "haunted" by Varric. Varric was part of Rook all along (as corny as that is to say). Or at least, his teachings were. (remember Rook and the Inquisitor sharing his little "sayings"?)

All of the expressions of grief we see in the game and the ways Rook navigates them are meant to help show how the dead live on through us, through love, and memories, and the things they taught us, and the hope they gave us.

please excuse me while i yell because according to the file names the pawns symbolising companions Rook places around during the Last Gambit cinematic were actually carved by Davrin...

OMG!

I have some screenshots.

"I just… don't have Illario's gift for flirting."

Veilguard isn’t getting rid of trauma or struggle—it’s just shifting the focus. Instead of telling a story where the PC is explicitly victimized because of their race or status, it’s exploring grief, loss, and the way people hold onto each other through suffering. And yeah, maybe that’s not the same power fantasy as "you called me a slur so I’m going to stab you in the town square," but does that automatically mean it’s bad.. What it does mean is that Veilguard is asking different questions.  

Origins threw you into a world where the first thing you did was fight back against the system that tried to break you. Veilguard is looking at something else: what happens when fighting back isn’t an option? When your world has already fallen apart? How do you rebuild? How do you find strength in kindness instead of just revenge?  

veilguard recognises that oppression isn’t just big, dramatic acts of cruelty; it’s also the slow erosion of hope, the systems that make resistance feel impossible, the way grief isolates people and makes them vulnerable. And what Veilguard seems to be doing is giving the player a different set of tools to push back.  

Because let’s talk about mechanics for a second. Veilguard is letting you build alliances, resolve conflicts, and use emotional intelligence as a tool and that’s not a weak approach to oppression. That’s a different kind of power fantasy. One that says, hey, maybe dismantling oppression isn’t just about vengeance. Maybe it’s about survival. Maybe it’s about finding people who won’t let you fall apart. Maybe it’s about healing.  

Like, yes, I understand why people loved the City Elf origin. It was cathartic! It was painful and messy and let you tear down the people who hurt you. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only valid way to explore oppression in a game. Power isn’t just swinging a sword—it’s also choosing to be kind in a world that tells you kindness is useless.