#solas analysis

On December 20 2019 VGS posted an interview with Trick Weekes about their work on Solas. This whole sentence is a link so its large enough for mobile but also disclaimer this is before they changed their name so deadname warning.

Here's a transcription I found here which is where i took the screenshots above. Since I know not everyone has 40 minutes to listen to an online radio interview.

I however highlighted the main point since most of you are not reading the screenshots anyway but skimming through. Rant under Read-more. Also bc i try to not be too negative on people's dashs but also i wanna ramble some more.

"But he lied a lot more. And it really weakened his character."

HOLD UP…she only technically initiates their first romantic scene together when she accidentally hijacks his dream and plants herself at the center of it.

Their second, third, and fourth are all TECHNICALLY initiated by Solas.

The balcony scene? Started by him when he stops us in our tracks to ask if we “have a moment.” Then HE proceeds to lead US to our OWN bedroom. Lavellan has to hold him back slightly from fleeing from the scene of his own making, but it’s still his scene.

The third is their dance at halamshiral where we will see Lavellan standing far from the crowd, trying to steal a quiet moment for herself before Solas comes skulking out looking for company. Talking about some “I’m not surprised to find you out here.” Shut up, like you ever lost track of her. Then he is the one to offer his hand and suggest that they dance.

The fourth and final we all know is crestwood. They’ll be talking about the well of sorrows, but then the topic will swiftly shift to where the future is taking them. I always choose the “I will have you at my side,” option but no matter which you choose, Solas (once again) will usher you into yet another secluded scene that you yourself can make no conscious decision to trigger. It’s all orchestrated by him.

He can also be the only one to ever say the words “I love you/Vhenan” throughout the entire main game if you choose. Lavellan may tell him she loves him while he’s breaking up with her, and she may call him Vhenan and tell him she “loved” him in Tresspasser, but choosing those specific dialogue options aren’t necessary to keep the romance alive. The only one that IS necessary is the promise she has to make him at the very end; “OUR love will endure.” This is always MY Lavellan’s first time telling Solas she loves him, even if it isn’t exactly direct.

Lavellan really only has to kiss him once in a dream, then treat him with grace and kindness afterward and Solas will eventually take up the lead if you leave it for him. Yes, he stumbles once on the balcony and she has to set him back on track again, but after that? It’s all up to him until the break up.

Afterward he will tell you your anger is justified and that he is furious with himself as well…because he knows; he played more into the relationship than perhaps even you did. He wanted your love more than his higher plans and it was selfish. Foolish because more than he loved you, he hated himself.

But apart from all of that, I think a lot of people forget that Lavellan is this man’s BOSS in inquisition and is well aware of her flirtations with him being inappropriate. She will immediately try to retreat after their first kiss, then again when Solas expresses disapproval/anxiety towards it when they wake the next morning. “If I’m pressuring you…” “If I misread you…I’m sorry.”

She was CONCERNED and more than willing to fumble her cracked mask of professionalism back into place if it meant putting his mind at ease.

Even the gossiping nobles outside will disapprove of the romance, saying they prefer a highborn scandal. A romance with Cullen would still be inappropriate, but a little less scandalous considering his high rank in society. Solas is nobody to the world…an apostate, a servant…and if he’s nobody to them, imagine what he looks like standing next to the Inquisitor. Lavellan is hyper aware of all of this and it makes more sense for her character to constantly be leaving the ball in his court rather than keeping it in her own.

Inquisitor: What made you start studying the Fade?

Solas: I grew up in a village to the north. There was little to interest a young man, especially one gifted with magic. But as I slept, spirits of the Fade showed me glimpses of wonders I had never imagined. I treasured my dreams. Being awake, out of the Fade, became troublesome.

Solas: ...I learned how to defend myself from more aggressive spirits and how to interact safely with the rest. I learned how to control my dreams with full consciousness. There was so much I wanted to explore.

There are several possibilities here. Either Solas is still lying, having invented a backstory for himself, or he is distorting the truth. I lean more toward the latter, since Solas is a terrible liar who prefers to hide behind half-truths and metaphors. The "north" he speaks about is certainly Arlathan Forest or its surroundings. Solas manifested in this world before the building of Arlathan as a city and the future center of Elvhenan. After he created a body for himself, he obviously spent some time trying to adapt to life in a physical form, which is a hard and complex process itself. It is quite likely this happened in that very village he mentions, because Leliana found confirmation that it did indeed exist, but was destroyed centuries ago. This was so-called process of "growing up" as a person. He "grew", learning about himself, the capabilities of his body, his newfound emotions and preferences. We know, Solas did not want to create a body for himself and live in the physical world, and his words partly cover hints about it. He missed the Fade, which he could now only reach through dreams, so he quite likely indulged excessively in that state, initially disappointed with the waking world. He slept, studied the Fade, cherished his dreams, and learned to control them. Plus, he was learning how to protect himself from being possessed by unfriendly spirits, as he now needed to be able to do so due to his physical form, which could be easily taken over.

But the most interesting part begins here.

Inquisitor: Have you always travelled and studied alone?

Solas: Not at all. I have built many lasting friendships. Spirits of wisdom, possessed of ancient knowledge, happy to share what they had seen. Spirits of purpose helped me search. Even wisps, curious and playful, would point out treasures I might have missed.

Inquisitor: I don’t know of any spirits by those names.

Solas: They rarely seek this world. When they do, their natures do not often survive exposure to the people they encounter. Wisdom and purpose are too easily twisted to pride and desire.

Do you see? Once we learn who Solas really is, all his real backstory, how differently it all resonates. I know some have criticized Solas because when you ask him to tell you about himself, he practically says nothing personal, delving into philosophy instead. In reality, he tells everything. He is literally telling us about himself, as he was asked, just in a veiled manner.

Inquisitor: You’re saying that you became friends with pride and desire demons?

Solas: They were not demons for me.

Inquisitor: Meaning?

Solas: The Fade reflects the minds of the living. If you expect a spirit of wisdom to be a pride demon, it will adapt. And if your mind is free of corrupting influences? If you understand the nature of the spirit? They can be fast friends.

And here, he essentially hints at the future development of your relationship with him. With Solas, it is actually very simple to earn his friendship. He may start calling you "my friend" already in Haven. The steps to achieve this are easy enough:

• Be inquisitive by asking questions (seriously, he approves of nearly every question; he encourages any attempt to understand the lore of the world, to learn about current events, to thoughtfully study the situation we find ourselves in);

• Help the people around;

• Support ideas of freedom;

• Reject senseless cruelty;

• Do not abuse the power given to us;

• Speak respectfully of spirits and elven culture.

The result: that very "they can be fast friends" (implying a quick and natural bond).

Conversely, if you see Solas as an arrogant and boring elven apostate, that is exactly how he will behave toward you with low approval, mirroring your own perception.

This is research NO.2 for my fanfic, if you interest, you can find my fanfic here. Since I’m writing about the story of Solas’s lyrium dagger, I’ve been revisiting details about elven artifacts Solas used from past games. It’s been 4-5 years since I last played them (before DATV), so I’ve forgotten a lot. Summarizing my findings has been pretty interesting, starting with the history of the lyrium dagger itself.

Lyrium Dagger

Here’s a direct quote from the Wiki: "When the elves were losing the war, Mythal had Solas craft a Lyrium Dagger which Fen'Harel used to sever the Titans' connection to the Fade, rendering them Tranquil."

Death of a Titan

Notably, the Death of a Titan mural doesn’t feature the dagger. Perhaps the mural depicts the moment a Titan was killed rather than when it was Tranquilized. We’ll revisit this mural later.

Now, you have to admit, the dagger is an incredibly powerful artifact. Someone as wise as Solas would surely think of countless ways to secure it. Yet, after he left for rebellion, the other Evanuris somehow acquired the dagger and used it to murder Mythal when she confronted them.

Here’s another Wiki quote: "Solas recovered the Lyrium Dagger from Elgar’nan and from it extracted a fragment of Mythal that had lain hidden within its depths. For unleashing the Blight onto the world and murdering Mythal, Solas imprisoned the Evanuris in the Fade and used their lives to sustain the Veil by connecting their blood to his Lyrium Dagger."

This weapon is incredible. It can Tranquilize Titans, kill Evanuris, and even trap or bind their life forces. How could Solas, the Dread Wolf, be so careless as to let it fall into enemy hands? Surely, he would have taken it with him during the rebellion—or at the very least entrusted it to Mythal for safekeeping. Did the Evanuris steal it? Did someone outsmart Solas? There’s definitely a story here! (In my fanfic, I kept it simple and just assumed he abandoned the dagger.)

Regardless, Solas ultimately recovered the dagger, likely through some cunning plan. Felassan’s notes confirm this.

On a slightly unrelated note, Mythal never support Solas’s rebellion. No wonder he avoids seeing her fragments. Sure, he was overwhelmed by regret, but that same regret didn’t stop him from visiting Lavellan repeatedly in the dream. He must be disappointed at Mythal to the core. On the other hand, Lavellan never stopped to reach him.

Now, back to the dagger. Felassan’s notes clearly implied that Solas intended to use it to imprison the gods, but the ritual required additional artifacts.

Creat the Veil

Binding the gods

Take a look at these two murals. The fandom has already thoroughly analyzed details of murals since Trespasser, so I’ll focus only on the artifacts. It seems like the artifact used to create the Veil and the one used to bind the gods might be different. Aren’t they part of the same ritual? I’m confused.

The orb and the square artifact have similar star patterns in their centers. One could argue they’re the same artifact, but I’m not convinced. Also where’s the dagger in all this?

It’s likely a complex ritual involving multiple steps:

Use the dagger to draw the blood of the Evanuris, binding their power to the would-be Veil. (Again it would be an epic story to tell!)

Use the square artifact to weaken them (?)

Use the orb to banish them to the Black City and seal it with the Veil.

Steps 2 and 3 might overlap depending on interpretation.

Another possibility is that the square artifact was only used to seal the Blight (note the black tendrils). If so, it wasn’t part of the actual ritual but placed in the mural’s center to show its importance in containing the Blight along with the gods.

(Also, Solas still has his beautiful long hair in the murals. Did the ritual make him lose it all? Poor thing.)

In conclusion, the ritual likely involved at least two artifacts, though the mural doesn’t give us all the details. The lyrium dagger remains an enigmatic and central piece of the creation of Veil.

After the ritual: "Somehow the Lyrium Dagger was transformed into a Lyrium idol and kept in a Primeval Thaig. The Lyrium idol changed hands several times in the Dragon Age, bringing madness wherever it went."

Dear Solas, you lost the dagger again?! Do you have zero safety protocols for rituals? You’d make a terrible lab researcher. And how on Thedas did this dagger-turned-idol end up in the Deep Roads?

If the dagger (and the orb) had been securely placed beside Solas while he was sleeping, none of this would’ve happened. So, my guess is it got left at the ritual site. Did scavengers or darkspawn stumble across the site—possibly Skyhold—and think, “Wow, what a pretty dagger/idol! Let’s take it home for Christmas decoration!” Lucky for us, they didn’t accidentally rip the Veil while transporting it.

Now, speaking of Solas post-ritual: how did he even make it to a safe place to sleep? I haven’t read The Masked Empire yet, so I’m not sure if Felassan found him and carried him to safety. Or maybe Solas, half-asleep and utterly drained, stumbled into some random ruins. Just imagine him, doing his best to stay awake while searching for a cozy corner.

Anyway, the next chapter in the dagger’s story unfolds in DA II. Hawke and Varric stumbled upon it during their Deep Roads expedition—though by this point, the Lyrium Dagger had been transformed into the Lyrium Idol. It then Meredith into a creepy crystal statue.

The story didn’t end there, though. Comic books published after Dragon Age: Inquisition, along with Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights, shed more light on how Solas eventually reacquired the idol.

13/01/25: just want to add an very interesting post that sparked some thoughts. The post suggested: 1) DV sort of confirmed that the red-lyrium idol manifastes Solas's guilt (though it leaves questions unanswered about the "third person" in the idol's creation, given that the idol predates the events of the Inquisition); 2)Solas uses Jun's fragment of a soul to purify the idol – a truly intriguing concept that adds another layer to Solas's actions.

While I love this idea, but I also believe the Evanuris shared a sense of kinship, as evidenced by Elgar'nan's protective attitude towards Ghilan'nain. This makes it hard to imagine Solas destroying the last remnants of his kin—even for his cause. Yet, at the same time, Solas is Solas. He has shown that he can be merciless when he deems it necessary.

Orb of Fen'Harel

I won’t go into great detail about the Orb because DAI is centered around it, and countless theories have already been written on the topic.

I can’t help but be amused at how skilled Solas is at creating artifacts. That definitely outshines June, the so-called god of craft.

Remove Vallaslins

Interestingly, there’s no story behind the Orb’s creation—at least, not one revealed yet. But take a look at the strange ball depicted on the left side of the Remove Vallaslins mural. Its pattern is very similar to the Orb. Was it crafted specifically to remove Vallaslin?

Many lore discussions and fanfics suggest that the Orb is the same one used to create the Veil. On top of that, several discussions have pointed out that the Death of a Titan mural hints at the Orb being made from a Titan’s heart. The same star-like shapes appear in both the Orb and the Titan-related imagery.

But it’s also possible that we’re looking at two different types of Orbs. The round artifact depicted in the Remove Vallaslin mural definitely looks more similar to the original Orb than the other spherical artifacts shown in the Death of a Titan and Create the Veil murals. Could they be separate creations for distinct purposes?

Honestly, Solas, how many magical toys do you have?! Were you just stockpiling artifacts during your spare time?

The Elven artifacts for measuring the Veil

It’s not entirely clear if these artifacts were designed or created by Solas, but they are definitely related to the Veil. Solas himself says, “The wards are helping to strengthen the Veil.” If we take his words at face value, he must at least know a great deal about these artifacts and how they function.

Some theories suggest these artifacts do the opposite—that they actually weaken the Veil—and that Solas lied to manipulate us into helping him tear down the Veil. Personally, I don’t think Solas would outright lie like that (except when it comes to hiding his identity). Instead, he’s more likely to mislead with half-truths.

In Tevinter Nights, there’s a moment that sheds light on this. One of the Veil-related artifacts is described as being installed in a Venatori workshop to fortify the Veil against the pressure of demons. After the artifact is destroyed, the Veil weakens significantly, and demons are able to tear it apart and cross into the physical world. This strongly supports the idea that these artifacts do indeed strengthen the Veil, as Solas claimed.

That said, the Inquisition’s actions in activating these artifacts may not have weakened the Veil, but they did reveal a network pointing to the weakest points in the Veil. Solas, being as cunning as he is, could have used this network to map out where to begin dismantling the Veil.

After reading @nadas-dirthalen's insightful post on Rook and the Inquisitor’s collaboration and the Inquisitor's role in Veilguard, a chess theme arose and I started thinking about the redeem ending through the lens of chess. 

Excited by the idea, I reached out to my brother, an avid chess player. What began as a simple idea grew into the detailed breakdown you’ll find below. 

This post explores how Rook, Inquisitor Lavellan, Morrigan, and Mythal align with certain chess pieces, followed by a move-by-move analysis of the redeem ending.

Let’s start with a breakdown of the pieces and who they align with.

*still works for a high approval friend Inquisitor, I operate in a Solas/Lavellan world state so this post reflects that.

here's my sad morning thought as I distract myself from work: why did Solas' friend Wisdom die in DA:I, if you otherwise rescue them from the binding circle?

as a reminder, here's the transcript

the answer is that, in the most technical and literal sense:

Solas killed them

it's shown as a mercy kill, from a place of pure love, and the friend encourages it ("I'm happy. I'm me again. You helped me. Now you must endure. Guide me into death" and Solas' response of "ma nuvenin" which is loosely "I want what you want")

Solas doesn't think there's another way, but I'm not so sure about that!

did this friend need to die at all? or was this a moment between two traumatized Wisdom spirits, one of them still bound, aligned in mutual hopelessness, mirroring each other's flawed perspectives?

with the Inquisitor too ignorant about wtf is going on to intervene?

we see in DA:TV that (to Felassan's horror) the bound/corrupted Fen'Harel believes that it's better for spirits to die "pure" than to be corrupted from their purpose. it's not dissimilar to the fears Solas and many other DA characters over the years have about the Blight, many PCs and NPCs alike opting for killing people who are tainted, instead of attempting to manage the illness or other options (which do exist). it's also a mindset Cole sometimes expresses, and Cole really needs to be tangibly shown that he can trust his friends and trust himself before his fears calm down. before that, Cole literally begs people to kill him if there's even a chance he could become Despair again and hurt people!

as if we need more tragedy, I'd like to suggest that it's possible Solas' Wisdom friend was not dying and did not need to die, and was simply terrified and suicidal after the trauma of being forced to become a monster/a killer

and Solas was too traumatized and trapped in his own binding to have the wisdom to say, hey, I know this was devastating and death seems like it'd be a blessing right now, but we'd like to help you get through this alive if you're willing to give it a try

I love the fact that in the art book Solas wanted to transform his followers into spirits without them knowing, because he saw it as giving them freedom he himself was denied to have, yet in doing so he only would’ve repeated the cycle of abuse.

That is what Inquisitor must’ve show him - that he must give his people a choice, whether it for better or for worse.

I care so much about Rook and Solas' platonic dynamic because it's like, a dark mentorship where Solas uses Rook as a cudgel to self-flagellate. His actions are not about disliking Rook as a person and he Genuinely means it when he apologizes to them! Putting them in an anywhere near status to Elgar'nan on his shitlist...WILD!

I don't want to call this a solavellan thing because SO many solavellans and solas fans loved seeing his dynamic with another character because, they like Solas! They want to see that back and forth, and insisting his only dynamic that matters and is not him putting up a front is a romantic one, makes you come off as not caring about the character at all beyond the ship with your self-insert, idk.

Also the Inquisitor CANONICALLY speaks to Rook so respecfully and like a caring older sibling!

Also to debunk your touching Rook gotcha, Rook takes the lyrium dagger from him differently when they meet in endgame Minrathous depending on which conversation option you pick. The 'purple' one very much has their hands touching! It's a fascinating scene and so much is said nonverbally: Solas extends the dagger and after some hesitation Rook reached out and the dagger is gently passed from one hand to the other. The stoic option in contrast has Rook snatching it quickly from Solas. And you can't convince me that taking it gently from him and actually being willing to TOUCH him after everything doesn't get to Solas at least a bit!

There's hints in animations that Rook expresses affection physically through touch often. That they are willing to touch Solas here has so much weight. In Trespasser, an Inquisitor Solas dislikes gets a quick pulling motion whehn their anchor is taken, whereas a romanced or befriended Solas holds their hand gently. All pointing to this being a man who DOES NOT like being in physical contact with people he dislikes.

He gives ROOK the space to pull away but doesn't if the dagger is taken gently from him!