#titanmeta

like... how did it start? did elgar'nan begin it unintentionally by taking form and using lyrium? or did he start it intentionally after because he saw them as a threat to his power? or maybe he wanted to take possession of the lyrium?

i also have a lot of questions about the amount of lyrium that is needed to form a body, and the impact it would have on the titans. i mean... is it the ache of a splinter or the brief sting of a bug bite? or is it the shattering agony of a part of one's body being removed?

do they even feel it at all? lyrium is said to be their blood, and a human can lose quite a bit of blood. like a blood sample being taken, that's immaterial (barring certain conditions ofc)

so much is so dependent on things we don't know (and i like that!)

so, perhaps elgar'nan took form and it stirred the titans, either due to pain or due to the disruption itself. perhaps the continued emergence of more spirits taking form exacerbated the issue until it was the titans who made... well, not the first move, but the first move that was distinctly war-like

or maybe taking form just... wasn't a big deal, in some way. fucked up? sure, yeah, it was still using part of someone's body to make your own. but if it wasn't disruptive or painful, perhaps that wasn't the causal issue here. in which case, the war might have come about from elgar'nan. perhaps he saw - directly or indirectly - the power of the titans and saw them as a threat to empire. perhaps he wanted the world for the elvhen, and not for the dwarves. perhaps he did not view the dwarves alone as any particular threat, so went directly for the titans

and this uncertainty leads to additional uncertainty!

did mythal take form to stop elgar'nan attacking the titans? now, if mythal did take form in order to protect the titans in some manner, that sentiment very obviously did not remain - watcher!mythal, the fragment we meet in the crossroads, views the titans as monsters. and while it's possible that view developed over the course of her watching, it's also the closest we have to insight into arlathan era mythal's views. but it could have been less about protecting the titans and more about stopping elgar'nan disrupting the natural balance, or something along those lines; not protecting the titans as independent beings, but as part of the world she was more broadly trying to protect

or it might have been that she took form for the elvhen people (side note: i view the evanuris as spirits, but the elvhen as physical beings who were in existence prior to elgar'nan's emergence. ik not everyone shares this view and that's fine! but that's a cornerstone of my meta). perhaps she did so in order to protect them from the war that was brewing, or because she feared that elgar'nan would abuse them in some manner, control them, or otherwise get them to do his bidding

or perhaps she came because she did not trust elgar'nan. just that. uncertain about what she would be there to quell, but certain that she would be needed, that she should be involved

it is also unclear why, exactly, mythal asked for solas' aid. was it to stop elgar'nan? or was it because she needed his help navigating the war that was on their doorstep? or the war that had been ongoing, elvhen being slaughtered in the wake of an impossibly powerful enemy (even if that enemy had good cause to stand against the evanuris)?

whatever the reason for her request, he clearly participated in helping her "end" the war. so he was a participant in the war between evanuris and titans, and we don't know how long between his emergence and the two of them creating the dagger and his using it. it might have been weeks or months, or it might have been years, decades. hell, it could have been generations, although i find that unlikely

but the evanuris were all extremely powerful mages, and the titans were so vast that each of them is essentially a mountain unto itself, so the damage wrought by their battles would have been... cataclysmic

and if the world is destroyed, well, there's nothing left for anyone: for elvhen, for dwarven; for evanuris, for titan; for mortal, for immortal; for physical being, for spirit

ultimately, there's so much i don't know, and so many lines that can be drawn, but with so many variables that an entirely different line can be drawn right next to it. and that's neat!!!

i mean... elgar'nan came first. but when did mythal come? days later? that year? 5 years, 10, 100? immortality factors in hugely to these considerations, because an assumed nearness in "age" (how long they've been in a physical form) would have a different scale than it would for mortals, or even physical immortals who presumably still grow at least into adulthood

so there's the elgar'nan : mythal gap. did solas come next? or did the remainder of the (known) evanuris emerge first, and solas came last?

mythal's emergence seems deeply tied in with an attempt to control/limit elgar'nan. if she was familiar with his nature as a spirit, this might have been a very early reaction; if not, or if how his nature might manifest itself in the physical world was unclear, it might have taken her much longer to recognize the threat

i don't have an answer, but i do have more questions!

setting solas aside for the moment... when dirthamen/falon'din emerged, it was as a single spirit who split during emergence. there's a lot to be inferred about the independent and self-contained nature of any aspect of the evanuris from this, but it's also worth considering how that impacted the evanuris-to-be. did this emergence slow the process? were they frightened?

if we're judging by the apparent age of the evanuris as represented in dalish legend, andruil would have come next. is this because she was brave enough to risk it, even after a "failed" emergence?

also, why did it fail?

they were drawing from the lyrium, from the blood of the titans, in order to create their bodies. this "failure" would have required twice the amount, one for each body. but why did they split? could it have been due to the titans, somehow? trying to destroy a spirit upon emergence and only succeeding in spliting them and doubling the cost in their own blood? if so, it would go a long way towards explaining why none of the other evanuris were split upon emergence

or was the technique itself faulty, still being perfected? were they not as strong, as self-contained, as either elgar'nan or mythal? or were they too strong, unable to be contained within one lyrium figure?

please do not add hate to this post, bring up the art book, or bring up the books/comics. thank you!

solas is going to them in order to try to soothe their anger, but we know that tranquility can be reversed. no, it's not an easy or clean process, and yes, it comes with its own myriad consequences, but it can be reversed

solas - wisdom - is the man who understood magic deeply enough that:

a) ghilan'nain complimented him on it b) he worked with mythal - among the best/strongest of the evanuris - in order to create a dagger of pure lyrium c) their plan worked and the titans were sundered d) he was able to create a prison that held the evanuris, the strongest mages in the world e) he was able to examine the anchor and derive a plan for a full restoration f) he was able to cleanse the blighted lyrium dagger g) he was seemingly able to tear down the veil

and he has the potential to work with: dorian; alexius; maevaris; emmrich; bellara; lucanis; neve; ashur; merrill; vivienne; cole; lace; valta; dagna; taash & isabela; morrigan; mythal; the inquisitor - more details about this under the cut

given all that, and all the potential deep partnerships and the wealth of knowledge all of them would have at their disposal, i think being able to restore the titans is entirely possible. again, it will not be easy. it won't! and it might be uniquely dangerous, too. what we know of reversing tranquility implies that the individual can experience intense emotional volatility afterwards (incredibly understandably), and that would be incredibly dangerous for beings as large as mountains. there might have to be safeguards of some sort in place. it might be its own kind of cruel. i don't think any part of it is going to be simple or straightforward at all

but it is possible

and it's not about restoring ancient orzammar. it's not about rolling back the clock. it's about freeing sentient beings

in regards to this gifset

i am now thinking about how that bad future is specifically covered in red lyrium

look, my stance remains the same: we do not know what tearing down the veil would have done. solas himself did not know! he only had his best assumptions and deepest fears about it. would it have been as cataclysmic as he and others feared? perhaps! and perhaps not! i was pro-veilfall. but after having played veilguard, i'm deeply pleased with the direction they took. but i think the uncertainty and complexity and possibility remains, and remains interesting to consider

solas - the one who actually experienced that year, the one who you (can) meet in redcliffe castle - appears horrified by what has happened. and this can be interpreted as the consequences of removing the veil! i won't deny that possibility

but what's particularly striking to me rn is the red lyrium

solas, more than anyone else - save mythal - knows what red lyrium is. because he and mythal created it, in a way

corypheus used red lyrium, was imbued with it, so, again, one can argue - with cause! - that the red lyrium was only present because of him, and because of his push for others to consume it. and going with the mages means that the templars continued to take red lyrium, and must have, at least for a time, existed in this bad future, spreading the lyrium

but what i'm thinking about now is... what if the piecemeal destruction of the veil in that future allowed the imprisoned titans more access to the world? this may not be conscious access, mind, it may just be that lyrium is more... energized, i suppose. more potent, more connected with its source. there's 0 implication that the titans are sealed away in the same prison that holds the evanuris, so i don't think that part is relevant, but if they were stored anywhere within the fade itself? then even the piecemeal destruction of the veil would allow a possible tether between the titans and the lyrium to strengthen (relatedly, the breach and tears in DAI could also be seen as strengthening the red lyrium in this view)

so what i'm rotating now is the idea that one part of solas' fear and horror in that timeline was about the red lyrium being strengthened, the disembodied rage of the titans trying to take over and destroy the world, a part of which had destroyed them