#veilmeta

the veil:

another unintended consequence of a deliberate action. solas was right to try and end slavery in arlathan, and he was right to stand against the tyrannical evanuris. imprisoning them for eternity is another uniquely brutal solution, but it, as with the titans, also exists in a very particular context: immortal beings who are extremely powerful. solas was unable to kill them. he couldn't even stand against elgar'nan without being so wounded he needed to retreat. so imprisonment was likely the only way he found to actually stop them

and this was extremely important as they had begun to access the blight. they were already powerful, already tyrannical... with the full power of the blight - of the titan's rage - they would have been eternally unstoppable. the entire grey warden order can barely hold back one blight, and the entirety of the blight within thedas is but a tiny fraction of that which exists. had they not been stopped, likely thedas would not exist, or would not exist in any remotely recognizable way

(again, not the meta for it, but worth acknowledging that the evanuris claiming the blight as a source of power was yet another way they used the titans for their own ends... it's awful)

the original prison:

while it is not entirely clear where the blight is located, there's a chance that it is somewhere within the original prison that solas formed, although certainly separated from the evanuris. but even if not, even if it is sealed elsewhere, the simple fact is: with his prison eroding, the evanuris (blighted tyrants with a centuries-long grudge and a desire to return to their time of rule) would have been released onto a thoroughly unprepared thedas. and they would certainly have pursued the rest of the blight, wherever it was stored

if they found and unleashed it - which is likely, given both their original power, the power from the blight itself, and the canonical recognition between blighted beings which may have helped them track it - then thedas, already under threat, would have been destroyed. no ifs, ands, or buts about it

evanuris and the veil:

the evanuris were bonded to the veil and to their prison. had they all been killed as the grey wardens slayed their dragon thralls, the prison and the veil would have come down with them. this would have been a sudden and almost certainly catastrophic event... and there is a very real possibility that it would have unleashed the entirety of the blight as well

veilfall:

now, this is murkier. in the murals, flemythal agrees that the evanuris must be dealt with, but disagrees with veilfall. this could easily imply that creating the new prison and transferring the evanuris to it is not dependent on veilfall

however, it is unclear

personally, i think the most plausible explanation, given what we know of solas' magic during the time of veilguard (magic which had been taken from flemythal, who had been slowly accruing it over centuries; thus, presumably, not the same strength it was during arlathan era), is that the veil itself is essentially... raw power

solas' orb has been broken. the anchor was recovered and he experimented on it until it, too, was destroyed. he learned a great deal but was presumably unable to recover much if any of its power. his own magic had waned significantly while in uthenera, although it built up in his orb (perhaps actually drawing and storing his magic, now that i think about it...)

so all his resources have been destroyed, used up, or (possibly) rendered unusable by him (in the case of the anchor). all he has is his own meager magic and that which he gained from flemythal. while considerable, it is likely nothing near what he had when he created the prison and unintentionally created the veil alongside it

and since the physical world and the fade originally coexisted in some manner - they were separate locations, as the mural with solas' spirit worm confirms - and were easily transversed, it's clearly not a situation where two planes exist at, idk, different frequencies, different speeds, or some other fundamental difference that cannot be crossed

given that reality, the veil must be powerful. this is not an oil and water situation where power is required to connect the two - they might not connect fully, but certainly they interrelated with ease. thus, the veil has to be a power in order to keep them apart

given all that, i think it's safe to conclude that the destruction of the veil would also have released power... power which could be harnessed and used in order to transfer the evanuris from the old prison to the new one (it might also be less that the veil held power which could be harnessed, and more that it's destruction would react, producing power which could be harnessed)

now, did solas want to tear down the veil even when he anticipated having access to his orb and all its accrued power? yes, he did. that was his plan. and at that time, i would not say that the power released by veilfall would have been necessary. i might be wrong on that, perhaps it was always necessary, perhaps the veil held more suspended magical energy than anything else... but it is unclear, and i won't assume that it was necessary

and he readily admits that he wants to return that which he took: elvhen/elven power. he did not want to give them arlathan back. he fought against arlathan. but he wants to empower the modern elves, literally and figuratively. they are a deeply oppressed people, but also ones who have a history of profound magical ability which they have lost with the creation of the veil

conclusion:

some people paint solas as someone who is only doing what he is doing to soothe his own conscious. while there is certainly an element of that, this interpretation entirely fails to consider the canon these behaviors are standing within

at the beginning of dai, i would say this read of solas is accurate. he of course does want to seal the evanuris in a new prison, but he also wants to tear down the veil, and there is no inherent, canonical connection between the two (at least, none that i know of - mind you, i am sticking to in-game canon [including plot-heavy dlcs], so it might have been mentioned elsewhere and i wouldn't know about it/am not particularly interested in spoilers)

but the events of dai changes him. the time between dai and trespasser changes him. trespasser changes him. the time between trespasser and veilguard changes him

and, yes, veilguard changes him. veilguard changes him significantly

but it is not until the very end of veilguard, with ghilan'nain dead for a time and elgar'nan dead just now, that the inherent, underlying threat to the world finally ceases. or at least, ceases being so immediately threatening

solas has been committed to this course for so long. has sacrificed so much in the pursuit of it, for reasons both selfish and selfless, both cold and caring, both analytical and emotional

i think the fact that he can be stopped at this point says a great deal about his fundamental nature. and, yes, it takes everyone. just as it took everyone to beat the evanuris, just as it took everyone - in origins, in 2, in inquisition, and now in veilguard - to stem the tide, to help mitigate destruction, to save the world. so too did it take everyone who was there to stop solas

but he stopped. he was not made to stop, not forced to stop. he did not lose. he had the dagger. he had the ability. all the pieces in place

and he chose

Solas as Wisdom: "I have the Fade."

One sentence threw everything I thought I knew about the Fade, what I call the waking world, and the Veil into absolute chaos and it is fascinating.

Because all this time - 10+ years - I've viewed the Fade as being a direct result of the Veil. That it did not exist in any form prior to the Veil. The way I interpreted it, what is now the Fade was a fundamental, inexorable part of the world; that magic, spirits (and demons, if you want) were as much of a core element of the world as wind or water.

But Solas, as a spirit, had the Fade. The Fade was a place, even then, before he'd ever taken form. It was a place for spirits, somewhere that was natural for them to be, even though they could interact with the waking world.

Of course the pre-Veil world had much more magic and spirits(/demons) were presumably able to access it much more easily, but not once did I interpret them as even slightly separate entities. There was no division. If I was to draw it, my interpretation of the pre-Veil world was a single circle.

All this time, I've thought Solas was trying to essentially bring water, or sunlight, or wind back to the world. Instead, he is trying to rebuild a bridge.

This is still important! No doubt about that. The way spirits(/demons) are pulled through to the waking world, the way mortals struggle to comprehend and interact safely with the Fade, presumably harm and risk could be mitigated on both sides by having a more open connection. More bleed-through, yes, but also a more organic and less traumatic route between the two.

But it is different than what I thought. Wildly different.

Were I to draw it now, it would be two equal circles with a connecting pathway - that's the ancient world(s) and what Solas wants to restore. And the 'now' would probably be something like a venn diagram with the tiniest overlap in the center, and that is where mortals dream and spirits slip through cracks.

It just... it changes things in my head. And I can't quite put it into words right now, but this absolutely blew my mind. I totally missed it when I watched this scene (I was too focused on Wisdom being the absolute cutest spirit in the whole wide world okay) but now I'm just... wow.

To a degree, I think my original view still holds water. A joined world - one with the 'bridge' intact - would have more magic, more spirits(/demons), and likely, more mortals in the Fade (this is a little less certain though). But it's not quite the same as returning something that was always a core part of the living planet back to it.