#nae_theory

"You have waylaid all his other plans. Now, as a petulant child, he will destroy the game board rather than admit defeat. Be ready for anything. He still believes himself a god, and gods do not fall gracefully."

We all presume (likely correctly) that Solas is referring to the Evanuris when he talks about Corytheus after you prompt him; how they acted, and how their actions would have destroyed the world.

What if he was actually referring to himself as the petulant child who destroyed the board instead of admitting defeat, not the Evanuris?

Solas himself described his 'younger self' as a hotblooded and cocky know-it-all. (And given he -presumably- got drunk and pissed magic in his past, that only adds to the not-so-great/immature former self). He wasn't really that great a person.

And then, take into account;

Elgar'nan, Falon'Din, Dirthamen, Andruil, Ghilan'nain, Sylaise, June.

7 Evanuris (the most powerful beings -at the time- in existence), all working against Fen'Harel. What chance did he really have against all 7 of them, especially after they killed Mythal?

Solas was losing the war/rebellion. And we assume he created the veil as a 'last resort' to seal the gods away to protect the world. What if he wasn't motivated by a sense of 'must protect people/the world' and it was more 'if I can't win, neither can you'? I don't think he really intended to survive severing the world's ties to the Fade.

We know from the story about Falon'Din that he spread war to garner more followers, to the point where all the other Evanuris had to step in, and 'bloodied him in his own temple' to get him to stop. It's not so far of a stretch to say they would do the same to Fen'Harel, given he's taking their slaves/giving them freedom and has been a general pain in their asses for ages.

They beat him in all of his plans, backed him into a corner. But he still had one last thing he could do; create the veil, and destroy their world (everything in the time of Arlathan ran on magic, and without that... It crumbled, it died - the board was destroyed).

And Fen'Harel was forever remembered as the god of betrayal, the reason the elves became enslaved and impoverished and mortal. The Dread Wolf fell disgracefully, remembered not for his wisdom, but for his petulance and his trickery.

And Solas had to deal with the consequences for thousands of years "in dark and dreaming sleep", unable to do anything to impact the 'real' world outside the Fade, except speak to dreamers/spirits and experience only memories of what's going on 'outside', knowing that everything he accomplished was torn down, and his people are now going extinct, all while he sleeps with nothing but whispers and his own thoughts - for thousands of years.

Imagine how much that would kill you inside, knowing that all of it was your fault, and those thousands of years of suffering and contemplation were your own doing? You can't even be mad about it, not at anybody but yourself.

Okay, so.

From Tevinter Nights (specifically Genetivi Dies in the End); we know that the Antaam (Qunari) are looking for Solas' true name - because it would allow them to exploit Solas' weaknesses.

And a lot of people (including myself) thought this was a little bit of an anomaly from what we understand of the world of gods/spirits/people etc. It's just kind of weird.

There are 2 ways to look at this, from what I can see;

Knowing his 'true name', it may be possible to track down other iterations of Solas; his past actions/methods to predict his current/future plans.

Knowing his 'true name' will give them some literal power over him, like how we (irl) might understand the summoning/banishing of demons and the like.

Now.

1 sounds a lot more reasonable than 2, but hear me out.

In Origins, there are codex entries concerning things called 'The Black Vials'

Why is this important, you ask?

Every one of them involves a person being bound by using their 'true name' - and we know this was done because you have to kill the people who were bound (who became revenants).

True names and how they relate to binding individuals is not a new concept.

We know that people can be bound (by their true name).

So I'm just going to say, I am very very-veryveryvery- interested to see what comes of this.

My understanding of these entries is as follow;

these were people who were undead bodies possessed by desire or pride demons - that were then bound by phylacteries (vial of blood to track mages) and probably blood magic. These were entities that are considered 'boss level' enemies to fight - therefore, it makes sense that they were bound/sealed away where nobody could find them instead of killed (mmmm fascinating... wonder where we've heard this one before........)

The Antaam must then believe that 'Solas' and 'Fen'Harel' are new names for a person who once was, someone who's body was taken over by a desire or pride demon - and since Solas means pride - I don't blame them one bit for thinking that. Hell, a good chunk of the fandom theorizes that Solas is actually a pride demon (/spirit of wisdom) who took physical form. So; if they found out who the 'original body-owner' was, they could bind him 'for eternity' because realistically; the Qun 1. doesn't really stand a chance of killing him, and 2. they don't kill their mages, that cut out their tongues and bind them. It kind of fits.

Now, this could all be me with my late night tinfoil hat and corkboard mentality stretching the dots with my need for answers, but I very much like the prospect that we'll learn more about Solas, and what his 'true name' is. Knowing the Dread Wolf and his views on the idea of people being 'bound' especially 'bound for all of eternity'.

Please let this come up in DA:D, please.

Long post - evaluation/exploration of Solas and a more negative-leaning take of his character. (coming from a diehard solavellan fan)

Something I've not really seen in the DA fandom, is the fact that, regardless of approval level/romance, Solas must just really hate Inky.

Allow me to explain, my dear lovelies:

Looking at it from Solas' pov; his plan for the orb at the beginning of the game goes to hell real fast. Hundreds, if not thousands of people die (horrifically, painfully, screaming) because of a situation He created.

But it's not just his fuck up/miscalculation - it's Inky's. The one survivor of the explosion, the one who foiled the plan to tear down the veil, the one who stole his power (we can consider it was an accident/coincidence, and Solas probably recognises it as that, but damn. If it were me in his shoes, I would be rather malcontent about that).

Yes, we may also consider this is a lucky break for Solas - he has another option laid out before him, and all he has to do is make himself appear useful and relatively harmless to keep close by for the eventual snatcheroo of the foci.

There's a messed up connection between Solas and the Inquisitor there - every death, every ounce of suffering and heartbreak is both of your faults. You're bound in blood, as it were - for an catastrophic event neither of you anticipated.

I imagine he has a great deal of guilt over this throughout the game - he's fucked over the world again - and he's got some random person caught in the middle, someone he's forced into a position of power (someone who is either a horrible person ready to take power, or a perfectly fine person who is likely to do horrific things that will tear them apart inside and out). He's corrupted you, essentially. He's not only harmed/killed countless people. He's made you the one responsible, he's making you into a puppet, puppeteer, and a monster. -- Again, from his perspective, he fully expects that power corrupts absolutely - he's hurting you on multiple levels.

Additionally, we're going to have to look at this on a broader level to get a grasp on the scale of this.

The events of the Conclave - tearing open the veil, causing rifts across Thedas - it's damaging the world and the Fade (sending animals into a frenzy, bringing demons through, making whole areas uninhabitable). Physical beings are being put in mortal peril, but we have to consider that so are spirits.

We know Solas favours the Fade/Spirits to the waking world and mortal beings. He outright states it on several occasions.

And we know that the Breach and the rifts force spirits and demons through, and drive them insane as a result (even Cole appears to have panic attacks over the rifts on occasion).

Allow me to put it more tangibly;

Wisdom, Solas' friend.

I think that chapter of the story is what highlights his bitterness/guilt the best - if not his entire character.

All I can ever think during this scene is this; if Inky hadn't been at the Conclave, his friend wouldn't have died. If Solas hadn't given his orb to Corypheus, his friend wouldn't have died.

It's his fault she's gone, and it's your fault too.

I'm always reminded of this scene at the end of the game when I think of Solas and his mentality. In this scene, he's- well- this man is fucked up.

He says 'it is not your fault' and you can tell he's meaning it's his. But I can still see it in there; he wants to blame Inky, he wants it not to be his fault, and the voice acting really convinces me of that (bless you Gareth David Lloyd). But he can't, because it all comes down to him and his countless mistakes (and terrible luck, like seriously, I think the universe has a personal grudge against this man).

That expression says guilt, shame, regret, bitterness. This is a man whose every effort has proved in vain- all the suffering, death and irreparable destruction. Everything he's done to you, it's all his fault - because he thought he was the smartest guy in the room, he's the only one who can fix everything because he's so prideful and experienced.

Now consider if you were his friend, if you were his goddamn vhenan. It cuts real deep.

Solas is a man who's been tested time and time again, and every time he's been found wanting.

He's a complex, compelling character (that I love absolutely), and he's objectively a terrible fucking person, and he knows it. Everything he touches burns, everything he tries to fix he makes worse, any advice he offers eventually turns bitter, and he knows it.

I'll leave you with this;

I've seen many people discuss and speculate on the nature of the Harrowing during the Mage Circle origin - specifically concerning the spirits/demons you encounter and what was actually planned/going on.

I would simplify the beliefs into 2 factions; those who believe it was like the Circle tossing a net into the Fade and drawing in whatever spirits/demons they could catch, and then those who believe the Circle was in league with the spirits/demons to some degree, as a way of testing those undergoing the test.

I think it was rather an inbetween, honestly.

I think each spirit/demon was there to test different aspects of your character's abilities;

Valor tested your will, and ability to hold your ground against an enemy.

Sloth tested your problem solving/reasoning.

Rage tested your ability to fight and kill an enemy.

It can't just be me who thinks her outfit/mask is... pride demon-y, right?

Her mask has multiple eye-looking carvings in it, then the curling horns, and big, sharp shoulders.

I'm just having fun replaying and noticing little things like character design.

for reference, in case I'm just going crazy waiting for da:d and absolution (i really am at this point).