#solas thoughts

I was just thinking about the state of the Lighthouse when Rook and Co. first arrive. The broken slabs of stone, dead vines, grey skyline, random crates, and scattered books. Then finding the note from Felassan stating the Lighthouse provides for the wants, needs, and comforts of its inhabitants. Which made me think of Solas. And how the Lighthouse became a reflection of his broken spirit. The disrepair, the chaos, the lack of provisions, the absence of color, and the inability for life to thrive. Which just really drives home the idea that Solas felt he lacked the decency of a clean, clutter-free environment that inspires hope. And it makes me sad for Solas and his very clear depression and desperation. While I have never, you know, tried my hand at world destruction as a large scale project…I do live with depression. And I have destroyed my world over and over and over again. I think of how hard it has been to come back from that each and every time. And, I dunno, I feel even more empathetic toward Solas. A man determined to be The Dread Wolf at this point.

"I have drafted a proposal...."

Do you think it was nice for a time for Solas to act the part of a highly skilled employee of a large organization? Did he like having a boss and coworkers?

Also, as a fandom guess, he probably hates tea because he was under uthenera for so long after creating the Veil.

Give the elf a past coma or chronic illness that made him drink tea that he fucking hates and reminds him of that time so he stalwartly refuses to drink it.

Someone pointed out that, according to Solas' wiki:

"Solas disdains tea, particularly caffeinated tea, as it is a stimulant and helps prevent crossing into the Fade during sleep."

"His dislike of tea also reflects writer Trick Weekes' hatred of tea. Solas's distaste for tea is known around Skyhold."

This is kinda supported by the Veilguard artbook that has concept art for a mission with Rook and crew out in the Crossroads to "free the Dread Wolf spirit" and frustratingly no additional context.

BUT, but, but....

I don't really think Solas saw himself as badass but I def think he saw himself as better then, humans/other races/city elves. Which is also why I think he initially has issues with Dalish inkys and why he's so set on bothering Sera lmao.

But also, if you think about it, these two have a lot to learn from each other. Sera is acting rather similarly to many people who grow up to be somewhat I guess, ashamed of their heritage/race etc. She wants to be nothing like "other elves" and wants to act as human as possible because to her there is no difference... When yes, there is a difference. A difference Solas tries to show her. She doesn't have to be Dalish to be proud of being an elf or to be comfortable with who she is. And she shouldn't have to feel like she has to push down a very essential part of who she is, because elves bad.

I'm still confused as to whether the "gods" were imprisoned in the Black City if Solas was then trapped in the same prison, because I saw no evidence of the blight there, but perhaps it was sequestered elsewhere? Or blocked off from his portion? *shrugs*

I *do* think Solas, despite the fact that "he burned her off his face," was under some kind of geas of Mythal, until/unless you use her fragment to dissuade him. I did a couple different endings, just to see, but this:

Tell me that this is not a geas release, considering how much everything prior (if you weren't an ass inquisitor) pointed to him wanting to be stopped, but being unable to stop himself. Plus the Crestwood scene for a romanced Lavellan.

Anyhoo... that's my two cents.

I am obsessed with Solas since DAV, happy to say, in fact, and still sifting through the why and how of it because I never got into him in DAI but

The redemption arc? The slow revealing of his past and just how he was used and abused, and how one line, one line that made me scoff and tilt my head in wonder, one line set him free somehow?

"I release you from my service"

Not the line I was expecting. Mythal seems so calm and kind, but she isn't kind. Sad that she got killed and all, but the depths of Solas' loyalty are absolutely insane?!

Our Dread Wolf just got used as a chew toy by an arch demon, looks the worst he has ever looked (and it suits him btw, in a let me take care of him kinda way), and somehow her presence makes him look even more wretched?! Leave our wolf alone. I mean, she does, she releases him from her service and

His body language, the way she just vanishes after those words, and he bends and bows and breaks. This is beyond tragic, beyond the bounds of the narrative they try to push (revealing Varric is dead so shortly before that is such a clear attempt to make us angry and want to punish him), and it folds so perfectly into the belief I've seen on here and in some circles more often

The one that our reflex to want to punish "bad people" serves very little purpose other than to give the illusion that not all of us could turn into something like what Mythal turned Solas into when pushed and hurt and manipulated sufficiently, all for the sake of love - whatever form that love takes.

(I don't know if they were lovers. They were literally spirits, kindred ones in some ways. Nor do I really care. He did what he did for her, stayed by her side even when he tried to ask her to leave with him and adapted his behaviour with Inky based on these experiences. I. Can't. I never even played through a romance and my heart is breaking.)

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;