14909 replies to this topic

[Astrolabe]

How come one of the spectators in the background is wearing the mage armor dlc from DA2? The one associated with Malcolm and Legacy? Random? 

[Johun]

How come one of the spectators in the background is wearing the mage armor dlc from DA2? The one associated with Malcolm and Legacy? Random?

It's probably just the Orlesian custom of wearing masks. The background blurb for that armor was that Malcolm wore it as a disguise to an Orlesian styled ball in Kirkwall in order to secretly meet Leandra.

Why do people assume he beat up the guards? They look plenty dead to me.

As to his motivations, I'm fairly sure I've heard Laidlaw say in some interview or demo that the Grey Wardens aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing. Perhaps it's something more mundane like getting mired in politics, or more sinister such as Corypheus or the Architect manipulating them. BeardWarden could be a Warden loyalist mindful of their duty, and is resigning in disgust because of it.

[goat_fab]

It's probably just the Orlesian custom of wearing masks. The background blurb for that armor was that Malcolm wore it as a disguise to an Orlesian styled ball in Kirkwall in order to secretly meet Leandra.

Why do people assume he beat up the guards? They look plenty dead to me.

As to his motivations, I'm fairly sure I've heard Laidlaw say in some interview or demo that the Grey Wardens aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing. Perhaps it's something more mundane like getting mired in politics, or more sinister such as Corypheus or the Architect manipulating them. BeardWarden could be a Warden loyalist mindful of their duty, and is resigning in disgust because of it.

I don't have the quote either, but I think Laidlaw was more referring to the First Warden at Weisshaupt Fortress. It seems like he's getting a little too into the politics of the Anderfels as of late, and he was pretty keen on getting the Warden's a position in the Amaranthine. The Wardens aren't as unified as people are led to believe, though. I'm starting to follow the train of thought that the Wardens are dividing.

[Divine Justinia V]

God he's hot lol, I don't even usually go for the muscley type but wow .

Yeah, I'm excited to learn about him and then sob because I can't make him my LI

 

But in all seriousness, I'm excited to have a Grey Warden companion.

[Ashelsu]

Actually, it seems like someone freed the bald guy. The noose around his neck has been cut.

I meant the bald guy hands are still tied. What's the point of getting someone from the nook but not freeing them? And Orlesians in masks just stand there, doing nothing.

Why do people assume he beat up the guards? They look plenty dead to me.

Well, there is no blood on the guards and on the Warden's sword.

[Fiery Knight]

What if, with the Wardens taking more political power, he was called upon to execute someone and he objected? The politicizing of the Wardens could have disillusioned him, especially when it appears they are no longer protecting the people.
 
This is just speculation, of course.

Something like that I imagine as well. Whether the reason, it seems he is in a disagreement with the wardens, which will be interesting to explore

[Milady]

I really really really want him as companion and possible LI. That man is just.. drool   It will be also interesting to know what role the Wardens play in this game and what they are about to do with the torn veil. I am also very interested in the consequences of letting the Architect live (or die).

God, I can't wait.

 

[goat_fab]

I meant the bald guy hands are still tied. What's the point of getting someone from the nook but not freeing them? And Orlesians in masks just stand there, doing nothing.


Well, there is no blood on the guards and on the Warden's sword.

For starters, how about stopping him from dying? With the guards down, the guy can free his own hands. Meanwhile, the Warden, in all likelihood, just took out two guards and freed a prisoner. He needs to leave.

Keep in mind, it's concept art. They may not have drawn blood simply because it's just concept art.

[Johun]

It's hard to make out since the image quality isn't optimal, but there is blood on both of the guards. They're meat.

 

The exact turn of events still eludes me.

• Was the Warden a prisoner himself? He's dressed very lightly, not unlike the prisoner. He isn't rocking his sweet padded blue coat he wears in all the other concept art.
• Was he in the crowd? The sword is very reminiscent of the one wielded by the Warden in the DA:O cinematic trailers, and has since been seen in many concept art pieces as "THE Warden sword".
• Was he the executioner? A test of loyalty that he failed? Not unlike a certain scene in Batman Begins.

[TobiTobsen]

I want to Bromance that dude so hard it's not funny anymore!

 

Beards ftw!

[Ispan]

 

It's hard to make out since the image quality isn't optimal, but there is blood on both of the guards. They're meat.

 

The exact turn of events still eludes me.

• Was the Warden a prisoner himself? He's dressed very lightly, not unlike the prisoner. He isn't rocking his sweet padded blue coat he wears in all the other concept art.
• Was he in the crowd? The sword is very reminiscent of the one wielded by the Warden in the DA:O cinematic trailers, and has since been seen in many concept art pieces as "THE Warden sword".
• Was he the executioner? A test of loyalty that he failed? Not unlike a certain scene in Batman Begins.

 

 

My first gut reaction when I saw the way he was dressed was that he was not a prisoner.  His gloves are like those worn by various soldiers in a few pieces of concept art, so I got the feeling he arrived at the scene with his weapon.  Bare-handed batting practice gave me blisters, so I can only imagine what swordplay without gloves would do!  Also, since rolling ones sleeves up idiomatically implies going about some difficult task I can't imagine he randomly rolled them up before they hung a noose around his neck.  It seems more deliberate than that.

 

Again, that is totally based off of my instinctual feelings toward the picture, but I feel like concept art is put together very thoughtfully so I don't feel too silly speculating about minor details like that.

 

And I'm willing to stare at these details forever because I so desperately want to know more about this guy!!

[ElvaliaRavenHart]

I love the look of this hopefully new companion.  The old concept art of him has me a bit worried. I've thought a lot about that picture. 

 

I'm speculating here; but, the thought occurred to me....we know there has been talk of our live Wardens or Hawke being in the new game and Bioware has said they will do as they wish with them once we finish our game.  I've been thinking; what if this Warden left the order because our live Warden was hanged for surviving the fifth blight and he/she won't tell the order how they survived?  I"m sure this would cause a lot of Wardens to leave the order, it would me.  Since I was lied to from the very beginning about becoming a Grey Warden and what it really means.  Or did the Templars hang our Warden and Hawke for what happened in Kirkwall with Anders?  It will not surprise me if this happens.

 

You are given that choice of answer to the king/queen during the final scene of DAO where they ask what to tell the Wardens.  I know it comes up with Alistair and it's been so long since I played my character who made Anora queen. I really don't remember if she asked the same question.   I think my queen Anora is where Loghain redeemed himself.  

[Cylan Cooper]

I want this guy to be a companion for a number of reasons. I love characters that are grizzled/older and visually he fits that bill perfectly. Assuming makes an ass of u and me but I don't think he'll suddenly turn out to be some high pitched naive man child with a beard that magnificent.

 

In the concept art as a lot of people have said, he seems to be tearing the warden necklace off in disgust. This kind of implies he's disgruntled with the wardens. While it could just be philosophical differences over how the wardens are supposed to act, I'm kind of wary of the implications that they might be going the Cerberus route. I hope not, because I love the idea of the wardens. Either way, I bet he'll open up about aspects of life as a warden we didn't get to see with our Warden/Alistair considering their first year as a Grey Warden was highly unconventional.

[fiveforchaos]

I want this guy to be a companion for a number of reasons. I love characters that are grizzled/older and visually he fits that bill perfectly. Assuming makes an ass of u and me but I don't think he'll suddenly turn out to be some high pitched naive man child with a beard that magnificent.

 

In the concept art as a lot of people have said, he seems to be tearing the warden necklace off in disgust. This kind of implies he's disgruntled with the wardens. While it could just be philosophical differences over how the wardens are supposed to act, I'm kind of wary of the implications that they might be going the Cerberus route. I hope not, because I love the idea of the wardens. Either way, I bet he'll open up about aspects of life as a warden we didn't get to see with our Warden/Alistair considering their first year as a Grey Warden was highly unconventional.

I doubt it will go Cerberus route, we've already got the Red Templar's to fill that role. The Wardens however, have always been rather morally grey, and I can see how some of their actions could be a bit too much for certain members. Perhaps this Grey Warden couldn't handle the conflict between his own personal morals, and the actions he was required to do as a Grey Warden. 

[Cylan Cooper]

I doubt it will go Cerberus route, we've already got the Red Templar's to fill that role. The Warden's however, have always been rather morally grey, and I can see how some of their actions can be a bit too much for certain members. Perhaps this Grey Warden couldn't handle the conflict between his own personal morals, and the actions he was required to do as a Grey Warden. 

I like the idea of this warden being one of the good guy companions. It'd make for interesting party dynamics between Varric and him in the situation from the demo. I could see him advocating saving the town over your fortress and I could see him being more actively pissed about you choosing the keep over the town than Varric was.

 

And I can't wait for the banter between him and Varric. There'd better be a conversation about what happened in Legacy and the Hawke sibling if they became a Warden!

[ladyofpayne]

100% he is orlesian. I suppose he is formed chevalier. 

[Eveangaline]

Damn I love how classy characters look when they're grey around the temples.

[Lambdadelta]

In addition, take a look at these possible armor combinations!

At one of the PAX Prime Bioware Panels, they mention that every companion has their own "flavor". You can put any armor on your companions, but they all "make it their own" and they have their own style. It looks like this guy's style is Grey Warden heraldry.

 

This is something I find extremely interesting-- this, and how the armor (or, at least, clothes, not sure it's armor) he wears in the Tavern concept art also seems very much Grey Warden-style. I mean, obviously, all his armor till now has been Warden style because that's mostly how we figured out that he's some kind of Warden before the execution concept art. But anyway, I think that this is interesting considering that very execution concept art and what has already been discussed here and how it implies he's got some of disillusionment/disgust or perhaps some sort of... rebelliousness, towards he Grey Wardens? Plus if he's a companion, that in itself implies that he either left or was forced to leave them. But he still wears their armor and heraldry, purely out of his own free choice, so from that we can take that still considers himself a Warden to some degree. 

 

My theory so far is that he's essentially rebelling against what the Wardens of now have become because he believes that they have lost hold of their true/original purpose, but still believes in that purpose and in what he feels they are meant or supposed to be. Like, he believes in the idea and the role of the order, but not the Grey Wardens themselves. His story quest might be accepting that his original perception of the Order was in the first place a little idealized and that they've always had dark secrets and were always more than a little unscrupulous. You know, that they were always all about Doing What Needs To Be Done™ For The Greater Good™ and such.

[Helios969]

Any chance this guy is Stroud?  Now with full beard.

[TheLittleBird]

Any chance this guy is Stroud?  Now with full beard.

 

Possible, though that would be quite funny, considering everyone seems to love this guy for now and I don't think a lot of people liked Stroud.

[Helios969]

What's to like or not like?  You meet him 2 or 3 times very briefly in DA2.

[Mistic]

My theory so far is that he's essentially rebelling against what the Wardens of now have become because he believes that they have lost hold of their true/original purpose, but still believes in that purpose and in what he feels they are meant or supposed to be. Like, he believes in the idea and the role of the order, but not the Grey Wardens themselves. His story quest might be accepting that his original perception of the Order was in the first place a little idealized and that they've always had dark secrets and were always more than a little unscrupulous. You know, that they were always all about Doing What Needs To Be Done™ For The Greater Good™ and such.

 

 

That makes sense. Ok, the art implies he may have a grudge against the Wardens, but since those armors look very Wardenish, he can't have broken completely with the order.

 

He should have asked a transfer to Amaranthine, or at least my Wardens' Amaranthine. However, Alistair implies in DA2 if he's a Warden that the rest of the order didn't like what our heroes did very much.

 

What's to like or not like?  You meet him 2 or 3 times very briefly in DA2.

 

I think people disliked his total neutrality when the Qunari attacked, but that was to be expected, really.

[TheLittleBird]

What's to like or not like?  You meet him 2 or 3 times very briefly in DA2.

 

Enough for a first impression, I'd say. To me he kind of came accross as an ***hole.

[Giubba]

What's to like or not like? You meet him 2 or 3 times very briefly in DA2.

*cough*Cullen*cough*

[Giubba]

Enough for a first impression, I'd say. To me he kind of came accross as an ***hole.

Really? Stroud gave me the "veteran sergeant" vibe. You know the old soldier who tutor the scrubs until they are able to walk with their own legs