I’ve picked out my hot takes from this entire book, that I’d like to discuss. Following the Dwarf’s tale first, we’ve got quite a few things to breakdown:
Solas has a network of agents working for him, many Dalish Elves believe in his cause, and even the Ancient Elves have been acquired for his schemes.
“And now we know that the Dread Wolf has agents working for him,”
The Dalish Elves following Solas believe that he will free the Elven Gods once he acquires the red lyrium idol, they’ve created a potion that weakens lyrium’s effects.
"He’s learned it from a dream. Some old legend of his people says the idol is in her body, and if he gets it out, he can free his gods or something like that.”
The Ancient Elves appear bare-faced; having no vallaslin, they equip themselves with fine gear. Some of them speak like normal Fereldens, while others have a hint of a Dalish accent.
“No crap on their face like the Dalish, and they don’t have that little hunch a city elf has, hoping you don’t notice them. They’ve got fancy armor and bows out, and they case the room like professionals. One of them says that the idol must have been moved, and his accent is your normal Ferelden, not like the Dalish, who always sound like they’re talking through a mouthful of toffee.”
Solas’s agents are chasing down every single source until they find the red lyrium idol, the idol is required for Solas’s next phase of action in his attempts to destroy the veil.
“The Dread Wolf wants that idol, and he’s not afraid to get his hands bloody to get it.”
Solas can, and has the ability to kill his rivals in their sleep. He or his group of agents killed Carta Dwarves as they slept, which is deemed impossible because they have no connection to the Fade. However, somehow Solas made the Dwarves dream in order to kill them.
“And that he has the power to kill those who oppose him as they sleep.”
The red lyrium idol has been on the wildest goose-chase across Thedas. It was carved out of Meredith’s thawed body, sold to Tevinter’s House Qintara, then resold to House Danarius, then taken to Nevvara’s Mortalitasi for an ultimate ritual, then taken back to Tevinter. Its current whereabouts are unknown if we understand that Solas’s tale within the novel was a lie, meaning that he’s still looking for it. Perhaps the Qunari have acquired the idol.
“In the middle of the room, sitting on a satin pillow that rested upon a stone pedestal wrought with protective runework, was the red lyrium idol.”
The red lyrium idol, still enigmatic as heck, apparently belongs to Solas, or more aptly the Dread Wolf.
“YOU USE MY IDOL CARELESSLY TO VANDALIZE THE SEA OF DREAMS. NOW FEEL THE PAIN OF WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED.”
It means something personal to Solas, more than just an object of power, he cares for it, at least understand what it is. Two couples hugging? A sacrificial en-carving? A crowned figure comforting another?
“He whispered something as he picked it up, tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other, but I could not make out the words, for I fear they were elven.”
Whatever it may be. It belongs to Solas, and he wants it back.
Hence The Dread Wolf Rises teaser title for Dragon Age 4 - Solas has already risen in his Dread Wolf form as malicious and evil as he appears. He is truly haunting and is ready to wreak havoc on Thedas.
“The words battered us like storm winds, and the Dread Wolf’s jaws closed upon the Tevinter mage, snapping him up in an instant as he screamed in terror. The lesser demons rushed down upon us, crackling with fire and lightning and our.”
The Dread Wolf has taken residence in the Fade where spirits and demons serve him willingly. If anyone dares bind a spirit to their own will, the Dread Wolf will haunt and kill you, for this is the new law he has declared.
“As the Avvar do. But whatever fear the name Dread Wolf carries, he has earned. While we might visit the Fade, it is his natural home, and the spirits there serve him gladly. They whisper in my dreams now, accusing me of crimes I never.”
Binding Spirits and Blood Mage is forbidden under the Dread Wolf’s watch. This magic disturbs the ritual he has set in motion for the Fade.
“And as clear as the Dread Wolf’s anger at what we had done— the Mortalitasi binding spirits he considered his own, the Tevinter mage using forbidden blood magic— was the feeling that we had disrupted his own work.”
Solas tells his fake tale of how the Bard had witnessed the Dread Wolf acquire the red lyrium idol, though this may not be true, this is true in his story. For instance, Solas shares a very useful insight regarding the Qunari invasion, stating that the Antamm will crush and capitalize over everything east of Vryantium, and northern Antiva as well.
“You all know that the Antaam invaded without permission of the other branches of Qunari government? We had assumed this would hobble them, but it appears the priests and workers were a moderating influence. Without them, the Antaam have crushed the Tevinter opposition in the east, and I fear everything east of Vyrantium will be under their control within a year, and northern Antiva as well.”
Solas, as the Bard in the story, shares prominent, influential faces throughout all of the Dragon Age games, like Isabella, Amund the Avvar, Sebastian, Tallis, The Divine, and a most intriguing Warden Commander. Solas knows about all of our previous characters, he’s made himself aware of potential threats which could mean that not many characters will be returning as companions in the next game.
“An Avvar augur laughed loudly at a Rivaini pirate captain’s dirty joke. A soberly clad noble from Starkhaven glared at an auburn- haired elf whose dagger- knot gave her away as an agent of the Qunari spies, the Ben- Hassrath. A Warden- Commander spoke with a woman who was robed and masked, but as I passed her, I recognized the voice of Divine Victoria herself.”
When the Bard is revealed to be the Solas, it’s made aware that before the Executor could share their knowledge on the Wolf, Solas spoke first, and killed the Executor.
“Before the Executor could answer, the Bard raised his hands. “I believe I know where the mage carrying the lyrium idol went next. S’il vous plaît, allow me to continue its tale.”
He later called the Executors “dangerous”, meaning that they pose a threat to Solas, out of everyone in the room, Solas killed the Executor. They must know something or have something that can rival Solas. Therefore they will be a most worthy ally in the future.
“I would caution you in dealing with those across the sea,” he said. “They are dangerous.”
What was mentioned at the start, was that the Qunari Ben-Hassrath know the most about Solas’s movements across Thedas, making them a huge rival against the Dread Wolf, and potentially a grand ally for anyone against Solas.
“As did the Ben- Hassrath.” She grimaced. “The latter is especially disappointing. They had more knowledge of Solas’s movements than anyone else.”
And finally, Solas tells Charter to let the Inquisitor know that he’s sorry once more, explaining that he is not a God, he’s simply a prideful, hotheaded fool who is doing what he must.
“I know that feeling well. I am not a god, Charter. I am prideful, hotheaded, and foolish, and I am doing what I must. When you report back to the Inquisitor …” His voice faltered. “Say that I am sorry.”
That’s it for this breakdown on 'The Dread Wolf Take You’, there’s been so much to uncover and this was just one story in Tevinter Nights. I am working on a separate post/video that will look at everything Tevinter Nights tells us about Solas going forward, so don’t worry, the Solas speculation has just begun, I’ve merely just given you all the facts for now. But there’s plenty of tinfoil ahead!
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Following on from Tevinter Night's release, I've taken up the bold task of dissecting EVERYTHING noteworthy that relates to Solas throughout all of the fifteen stories in this spectacular novel, and believe me when I say, we have so much to talk about!
(SOURCES LINKED IN THE VIDEO, OTHERWISE, THIS WOULD BE TOO LONG).
We'll start by exploring what we found out about Solas's Agents & Allies!
Since Trespasser, we've known that Solas has a network of agents working for him behind the curtains. However, in 'The Dread Wolf Take You', we discover the length of Solas’s spies has greatly increased. Many of the Dalish Elves truly believe in Solas's cause and have joined his fight and even the Ancient Elves have been acquired for his schemes.
The Ancient Elves decorate themselves in fine sentinel armour, appear bare-faced with no vallaslin, some of them have Dalish accents like Abelas, while others sound more Ferelden, like Solas. They are very much ferocious and hostile to anyone who will get in the way of Solas’s plan and they also use verbiage like: “The Dread Wolf guide your soul to peace, brother.”
So, what’s their mission? Well, the Elven God’s expanded network of agents are chasing down every single source until they find the red lyrium idol, the idol is somewhat required for Solas's plan of action to bring down the veil. It’s unknown what will happen once he acquires it.
In ‘Half Up Front’, we witness an Agent of Fen'Harel in the flesh. She is an elf who pretended to be a wealthy human taking control of one of Solas’s schemes. She declared that she “acted freely for The Dread Wolf, to bring back what was once there's, and what must be there's again.”
Her plan was to trick and frame an Altus thief into stealing a (different) powerful and dangerous artefact that was "integral to Fen'Harel's plans."
The agent was seen wearing an unknown symbol that relates to the Dread Wolf, Solas seems to have built a dress code for his spies. Upon inspection, we now have a way to distinguish Solas's spies if they decide to wear this symbol.
Irian, the Elven companion in ‘Half Up Front’ calls Solas’s agents - cultists, exclaiming their genocidal plan, and that they tried to recruit her at one point. Showing that not all elves are sympathetic to Solas’s plan, but many of the Dalish are secretly recruited for his scheme.
This is once more emphasized when the main character, (the Altus Thief) heard rumors that dozens of elves have gone off to heed the call of “some god."
The artefact that Solas's agents were looking for was supposed to be piece of the Black City called "Dumat's Folly."
However, the artefact that was discovered in 'Half Up Front' was revealed to be ingenue, not the real ‘Dumat’s Folly’. The ingenue device still had power, it would allow a mage to draw magic into the object, store it and when full, it became a bomb which was used to destroy the Qunari Ben-Hassrath's new darvaarad.
The agent of Fen’Harel; acting on behalf of Solas, tried to create and manipulate a calamity feud between the Qunari Ben-Hassrath and Tevinter kinsman, if each party had discovered that an Altus thief attacked Qunari lands using this bomb, it would cause immediate chaos for all of Thedas.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case, and when the Agent of Fen'Harel was found out, she had taken a suicide pill and died immediately before further interrogation. The same happened when the Qunari Ben-Hassrath captured another agent of Fen'Harel. Suicide is the only way out when an agent is held captive - the perfect means of keeping Solas's scheme as secret as possible.
On top of Solas’s agents, he has acquired a spirit/demon army under the guises of the Dread Wolf. They serve him, not bound to his will, but because they want to. In fact, Solas has decreed that if anyone binds a spirit to their own will, or uses blood magic, then your life is his. We’ll touch on this hugely in the next topic.
So, not only does Solas have highly strategic agents working in the field for him, but he’s acquired spirts and demons in the Fade, unbound, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
I think the juiciest potatoes we have on Solas’s allies is that while Solas is focussed on destroying the veil, his agents are very much creating havoc for the rest of Thedas, trying to start wars by setting up certain groups, taking over any location where the red lyrium idol was rumoured to be, and immediately killing themselves if ever taken captive. Not to mention avidly recruiting throughout the elven groups, and the hordes of spirits and demons that will appease his will.
Solas’s network of agents is expansive, the elves are slippery, manipulative and smart, while the demons are brutal and terrifying. They will make for some worthy adversaries when we come across them in the next game.
Moving forward in our investigations. Since we talked about Solas’s allies, let’s delve into the rivals of Solas that became apparent throughout Tevinter Nights, the factions that may be on our new protagonists' side of the battle, come Dragon Age 4. We’ll start with the Qunari.
Since Tresspasser, The Ben-Hassrath have followed suite to Solas’s plans, and now they know the most about Solas's movements across Thedas, according to Charter. This means they are a huge rival against the Dread Wolf, as they continually disturb and intrude on the plans Solas has.
We have discovered throughout Tevinter Nights that the Qunari are currently divided, the Antaam are invading the south, forcing countries under the Qun’s government, whereas the Ben-Hassrath are fully focused on Solas’s efforts, and stopping him.
Gatt, one of the quote: ‘leaders’ of the Ben-Hassrath shared that the Ben-Hassrath are currently a neutral party in Thedas’ war effort, even as their brethren Antaam invade Tevinter and Antiva.
Whereas The Ben-Hassrath are on the case with tracking down Fen’Harel, the Antaam peruse invading. However, the Antaam still are very much interested in chasing after Solas. In ‘Genitivi Dies In The End’, an Antaam female share their interest in discovering Solas’s true name.
They believe that with Solas “true name” they could exploit his weaknesses and defeat him.
So, the Qunari as an entity are very much hostile towards Solas. And as you’d expect, Solas has made himself aware of the Qunari threat, regarding their current invasion. In ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ disguised as a Bard, Solas stated that the Antamm will crush and capitalise over everything east of Vryantium, and northern Antiva as well.
Solas is very much aware of the Qunari forces and their hostile intentions. Which makes them a worthy ally for our next protagonist without a doubt. Question is, will they play nice?
We’ll move on to the next rivals of Fen’Harel - The Mortalitasi and Tevinter.
I’ve bundled these two factions together because they’ve both targeted by Solas particularly. As I mentioned before, Solas has decreed that if anyone binds a spirit to their own will, or uses blood magic, then your life is his.
When the Mortalitasi bind spirits in the Grand Necropolis, and Tevinter mages use blood mage, according to the Mortalitasi mage in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’, this undoes the work that Solas has planned for the Fade, and the ritual that has been set in motion. Therefore, he has made himself clear to both groups that this magic will not be tolerated anymore.
From what we can understand, perhaps both types of this magic are what need more of - to attempt to stop Solas’s ritual in the Fade. Meaning that Tevinter and Neverra are going to be worthwhile allies, so, having either of them on our side could force the victory we seek against Solas.
Whereas Nevarra’s Motalitasi has been outlawed as a whole by the Dread Wolf. All of Tevinter’s lands used to belong to the Elvhen, Solas’s plan will bring a redemption of the elves, restoring which was once there's, henceforth, Tevinter’s territory is theirs for the taking! If anything, the people of Tevinter are the ones who are in the most danger unless they join the fight against the Dread Wolf. So, that’s their incentive to help our next protagonist.
Not to mention, the Tevinter Siccari are the Imperium’s best network of spies. strong and formidable, surely, they too would make for worthy allies in the Imperium.
Moving on, one of the most enigmatic rivals of Solas that was pointed out in Tevinter Nights are ‘The Executors’, although we still don’t know much else about them, we gain an understanding that they mutually seek a demise to Solas and his plan.
What’s most interesting about this shady organisation, is that before the Executor in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ could speak and share their knowledge on Solas’s movements, in disguise, Solas silenced the Executor and killed them when the group was arguing. Solas sees them as a threat to his plan, either they know something that can rival him, or equal his power, or some other intriguing factor that Solas finds intimidating. Out of every agent in a major faction of Thedas, Solas only killed the Executor, which is most mysterious.
Ironically, Solas goes on to say that the Executors’ are dangerous. And that Charter should proceed with caution when dealing with them.
So, there’s definitely something more to the Executor’s that Solas truly fears, or sees as a threat. In my opinion, this makes the Executors the most crucial ally to be had in defeating the Dread Wolf. If they even want to ally and work with us - that’s going to be a good question going forward.
Following on from the Executors, let’s shuffle to the last, but certainly not least rival that awaits Solas based on Tevinter Nights, and that is, of course, the Inquisition. (or what’s left of it). Since Trespasser, we know that no matter what the Inquisitor chose in the end - remnants of the Inquisition still remain to pursue and catch any scent of Solas.
This small group of spies has been specifically tailored towards the plot of Dragon Age 4, this explains why in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ Charter is taking the charge, seeing to all matters that concern the Dread Wolf, hence she’s gathered all of Thedas’ best spies to delegate the Wolf’s ongoing plan. The Inquisition is still heavily involved in chasing after Solas, even if the Inquisitor isn’t present at the moment.
And judging Charter’s actions, we know that the Inquisition are sharing and gathering as much knowledge on Solas as possible with other factions in Thedas. Connecting bridges and making allies for the war to come.
Charter mentions Vaea, Ser Aaron and other Inquisition agents that are behind the scenes in the comic books working to find the idol. Showing that their network of spies has grown, and continues to grow.
Vaea and Ser Aaron were also mentioned in the story ‘Herold Had The Plan’. In which Vaea spoke on working with a renowned Lord of Fortune, and her journey to Tevinter. As we know, working on behalf of the Inquisition.
And at the end of ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’, Charter nods to the fact that the Inquisition still runs on the motive of what the Inquisitor decided they’d do with Solas in Trespasser, whether that be to attempt to redeem Solas or stop Solas.
In Genetivi Dies In The End, Remnants of the Inquisition send 3 writers on an expedition in the north of the Silent Plains, to find the history of the elven pantheon. They uncover Elven tomes in an elven Library beneath the Imperium, sending their research to the generals of the Inquisition. Their findings are sent to Varric Tethras.
Finally, in ‘Luck In The Garden’, Dorian and Maevaris Tilani are making waves in Tevinter, located in Minrathous, they both helped severely in defeating an evil, ancient monster in the sewers of the city. Dorian even managed to hire employed servants instead of having slaves, so he’s certainly doing well, and endorses the Inquisition.
It’s been made very clear throughout Tevinter Nights that there’s still plenty of Inquisition involvement going forward. I still hope we can witness the Inquisitor in the flesh one day, but we’ll hopefully see soon enough. It is awesome to see how many factions truly oppose the Dread Wolf, going forward, it’s going to be a matter of - can we actually build enough influence and defuse enough situations to have many of these factions work together to defeat an ultimate evil? I’m optimistic.
With that, we’ve touched upon Solas’s allies, and those who would not see him succeed, let’s look at what Tevinter Nights showed us about the character of Solas, and how he’s changed since the last time we saw him.
Firstly, Solas can now kill people while they sleep, even dwarves. We discovered in Trespasser; he can freeze multiple people at the same time. But now we know he can freeze Executors (whatever they are) and even golems, who’re already stone!
Solas lies! A lot in his fake bard tale. It’s hard to tell what’s true and what is not. I personally believe that the Bard’s tale spun by Solas was a complete ruse, with only a few aspects of the truth that I’ll touch on.
The table was booked under the name ‘Gauche’. Which is an Orlesian name, the fake name that Solas had taken for his disguise.
It’s safe to say that Solas is desperate going forward, I mean come on, he’s dressed as an Orlesian Bard with a blonde wig, jewellery, rings, the whole shebang, and he’s mimicking an Orlesian accent. I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. Anyhow.
Under his ruse, he shared witnessing prominent faces throughout all of the Dragon Age games, like Isabella, Amund the Avvar, Sebastian, Tallis, The Divine, and a most intriguing Warden Commander. Whether he met them or not, doesn’t matter, I feel that all Solas is doing here, is proving to Charter that he knows about significant characters in the Dragon Age, that he’s made himself aware of each of them as potential threats.
This could mean that not many characters will be returning as companions in the next game, or even cameos, because as we know, the Inquisition is looking for people that Solas doesn’t know, so we can have a chance at defeating him.
And, thanks to Charter, he knows about the comic book agents who’re looking for the idol in Tevinter, which puts them at a huge risk. Fortunately, none of them were mentioned by name.
Out of disguise he’s tired and sad, and knows that many oppose him and that they are not fools. Telling the Inquisitor what he intended to do in Trespasser was a moment of weakness.
He admits he’s prideful, hot-headed and foolish. He says to tell the Inquisitor that he’s sorry.
Changing the pace, in ‘Callback’, a Regret Demon finishes the eighth Fresco panel in Skyhold’s Rotunda. The demon was attracted to, and born from the regrets Solas had while he stayed at Skyhold with the Inquisition.
Originally, the eighth panel was only drafted out by Solas before he left Skyhold, the initial impression of the fresco was that it showed the mighty battle against Corypheus and the victory of the Inquisition.
However, what the Regret demon reveals is something far more ominous. It appears the Fresco shows an outline of a beast stood over a stabbed dragon; two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass with confused forms. The beast is shown to be a horrifying wolf, having absorbed the dragon’s power, stood crooked over all.
This, of course, relates directly to Solas having taken Mythal’s power at the end of Inquisition, and rising as the Dread Wolf thanks to Mythal’s sacrifice. This fresco explains the entire end credit scene, and why Solas needed to absorb Mythal’s essence. As we know, just before Solas took her power, Mythal placed a piece of herself (or an Old God) into an eluvian for safekeeping. So, perhaps she isn’t truly gone.
Regardless, that explains how the Dread Wolf has risen since Inquisition’s events, he is truly a haunting and terrible creature.
In his Dread Wolf form, Solas can speak, quite frighteningly. A lingering question I have is, does his mouth actually move as he articulates as a Wolf? Or is it more like his voice is a presence like Mono in Princes Mononoke?
The Dread Wolf has taken residence in the Fade where spirits and demons serve him willingly. He has a ritual for the Fade that has been set in motion, however, he requires the red lyrium idol to continue this ritual further, plus surpluses of lyrium in order for it to work.
The red lyrium idol is still quite the mystery today. However, we do learn a few things about the idol in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ that may help us understand it more.
Most people, (like you and me) believed that the red lyrium idol was forged it into Meredith’s massive sword, and so, when Meredith went crazy with power and almost destroyed all of Kirkwall, her sword exploded, and so did the idol with it. At least, that’s what we thought, however, that’s not the case.
According to the Carta Dwarf, a Dalish Elf came to Kirkwall asking for help in retrieving the idol, he claimed that he ‘”learned of this in a dream and that an old legend of his people says that the idol is in Meredith’s body and that if he gets it out, he can free his gods or something like that.”
Before Kirkwall’s Carta Dwarves could silence the elf for good, he pulled out a potion and said it would soften the raw lyrium, so they could retrieve the idol safely.
Using the potion, they retrieved the idol from Meredith's chest. The Carta Dwarves killed the Dalish Elf, and then proceeded to sell the idol to Tevinter contract by the name of ‘House Qintara.’
An agent of Fen’Harel impersonating the head of House Qintara, traded the red lyrium idol to House Danarius for information. This was not something Solas would have approved of, the agent was later killed by the Qunari invasion on the city. This was discovered in Dragon Age: Deception.
A mage from House Danarius made their way to Nevvara's Grand Necropolis with the red lyrium idol for an ultimate ritual to push the Qunari forces back north. Using blood magic, bound spirits and the red lyrium idol, the Mortalitasi and Tevinter mage attempted the ritual, upon impact of the red lyium idol, it revealed a ritual blade.
The ritual (accidentally) summoned the Dread Wolf’s attention, as he killed the Tevinter mage and ordered his demons to attack the Grand Necropolis. A noble’s son grabbed the red lyrium idol, with its ritual blade either shattered or retracted and ran off into Tevinter.
I personally believe that Solas lied about the idol’s whereabouts, and everything he said in his bard’s tale, therefore I think he actually doesn’t have the idol and is still looking for it, that’s one of the reasons he came to the meeting in the first place – to have a better understanding where the idol went since Nevarra.
That means that the red lyrium idol is still somewhere in Tevinter with this noble’s son and it’s yet to be discovered by Solas. So, perhaps the Inquisition, or any other opposing force may have a chance to grab the idol before Solas does.
And that puts an end to everything I discovered regarding Solas throughout Tevinter Nights. Thank you for sticking through this for so long, I really do appreciate it. In summary, Tevinter Nights has sparked so much for the future of the next Dragon Age game, as you can tell, we have more of an idea of where the plot is going next. I feel ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ acts as a small prologue for Dragon Age 4, as it opens up the next narrative in so many ways as discussed throughout this video. Of course, I have just started the Tevinter Nights content, we’ve got plenty more videos to go!
Be sure to let me know if there’s anything I missed that relates to Solas in this novel, tell me your thoughts on Solas’s plan going forward - where do you think the red lyrium idol is, and do you believe that everything Solas said in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ was a lie? Let me know down below.
