Who says Shartan was Andraste's lover? Why is that even a thing?
Girlfriend had a lot going on I guess but geez. Husband, god lover AND elf bit on the side?
Still mesmerized by that screen shot... the cinematic designer deserves a lot of credit for getting them to walk-snuggle and hold hands and then kiss and butt grab without any clipping. Kudos. I think. Rotten bastards.
That would actually be two god lovers if Solas=Shartan given we know Solas=Fen'Harel
Who says Shartan was Andraste's lover? Why is that even a thing?
Still mesmerized by that screen shot... the cinematic designer deserves a lot of credit for getting them to walk-snuggle and hold hands and then kiss and butt grab without any clipping. Kudos. I think. Rotten bastards.
I've actually never heard this mentioned in a game, but apparently it started making rounds in the Masked Empire? I've only read The Calling and Asunder so I can't verify. According to the trivia on the wikia page for Shartan, it seems to be popular heretical gossip fodder among certain Andrastians.
Orlesians. Hmph.
Current DA Status:
After trying to make a whole PT with a non-Lavellan char five effing times, I gave up and throw another elven girl.
To prevent the Solas romance, I made sure to play her as a real chicken - afraid of her own shadow, just wants to go home as soon as possible, and only leading the Inquisition because she'd rather have an organisation between her and Cory than to face him on her own. She's also afraid of magic and demons, so she went for the templars and is best buddies with Vivienne and Sera. It's a very strange run!
And then there's the obvious fact that Solas hates her guts. It's somewhat heartbreaking, to be honest. No cutscene in Skyhold, no fade-tounge...
Can you imagine that?! No. Fade. Tounge.
But it's interesting to see different aspects of his character... For my Coward Lavellan, he's just a creepy apostate mage that sadly lives in one castle with her.
At least she'll never know the p a i n ...
I've actually never heard this mentioned in a game, but apparently it started making rounds in the Masked Empire? I've only read The Calling and Asunder so I can't verify. According to the trivia on the wikia page for Shartan, it seems to be popular heretical gossip fodder among certain Andrastians.
Orlesians. Hmph.
Ah, well I'm only halfway through TME myself, but that explains it. Orlesians think the only reason their prophetess would ally with an elf is that she was banging him.
I can't say I really like the idea of Solas being Shartan. I can't say he's not with all the similarities, but I don't know if that's the best direction for the story to go. I suppose we shall see!
I didn't know if this is worth to start an new thread over, so I thought this is the most appropriate place to make this post. I have developed an entire thought out theory about Solas and his involvement with historical events.
Spoiler
Sorry for the wall of text, but I really wanted to vent this out.
That is definitely one such theory! It seems likely that the elven gods are still alive. A dialogue with Cole and Solas certainly implies as much, where Cole suggests that Solas had done the right thing in trapping them.
I am really thinking more and more that red lyrium/blight is responsible for the bloodlust that came over the elven gods. The description of Andruil's armor and how she would hunt in the void and return infected with a madness seems to point the finger at some sort of corrosive influence beyond just the corruption of power. Even if Solas himself does seem to blame the influence of power on their downfall.
I have a theory, personally. We know that one of the 'final' gods to ascend to the pantheon was Ghilan'nain. This suggests that at a certain point in Arlathan's history, "mortal" mages were getting power to rival that of the gods. I use mortal as a term just to separate them from Fen'Harel's peers, she would have still been immortal. Just not as powerful.
Imagine being a god, and suddenly you are starting to have rivals. Normal rivals. Rivals that throw doubt that you might not truly be a god at all. Perhaps the elven gods reacted with a kind of terror to that thought, and searched out alternative means of magic such as red lyrium. Perhaps they fell into a bloodlust as a mixture of the influence of red lyrium, and their own paranoia that the empire was slipping out of their control. You preform human sacrifices and war against your fellows both to exert power and control over the people, but to also eliminate those who might be getting too much power over their magics.
Hey there, longtime lurker (I mostly post at Reddit, these forums have way too much whining for my taste, but this thread seems fine, thankfully).
Anyway, my 2 cents about DLCs and future content:
I think it's rather unlikely we'll get a major story expansion, at this point. Probably the most we could hope for is a coda-like DLC that hints more at Solas/Flemythal situation and his plans, but I wouldn't even count on that. Most likely, the DLCs will be unconnected with the stinger and expand on different stuff. I won't even be surprised if none of them will be post-game, simply because of how many characters many become unavailable - I mean, aside from Solas, we may lose Cass/Vivienne (for Divine) and Blackwall (depending on your decision during his quest). Dorian also alluded to going away if unromanced (maybe even if romanced, I dunno) soon. It would feel contrived if any of them came back just for a DLC.
I also feel like even if we get some clarification on Solas, it's possible there won't be any closure until his whole mission is resolved (probably in the next game). The most realistic situation is probably him mentioning he's going to set out to find a certain someone if left alive at the end (I doubt he'll be the ultimate big bag who's going to die no matter what - a Loghain and/or Architect situation is more likely) if your import says the Inquisitor romanced him.
It would suck a bit to be robbed of a big talk between him and Lavellan, though. I didn't mind the tragic ending (I probably wouldn't have liked the romance as much in the first place if not for the ending and the stinger reveal), but his story, and the story of the romance, do feel unfinished. I actually wouldn't even mind tragic outcomes, like the Inquisitor having to kill him (I mean, I've spent my formative years watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer), as long as it's well-written and makes sense.
Random thought: The dragon in Crestwood is so pretty!! I hate killing dragons!!
I wish there was some kind of amulet you could put on like the wolf one and be friends with the dragons. I'd love to get up close to them and just watch their animations for a bit or something. They're all so pretty.
Just chatting with my good friend Dorian, and he reminded me of Team Optimism.
"An optimist! Such a rare breed. I've stumbled upon a unicorn!"
So Team Optimism is full of unicorns! We're just that awesome.
I love Dorian so friggin much. I think he's probably my favorite DA character overall. Also the prettiest.
I did not feel the romance was any less poignant as a rogue archer. I prefer playing rogues anyway and after going back to my human mage, the gameplay felt sluggish - so from a purely 'fun' standpoint I liked it more. Also archer assassin is ridiculously op. The AI in the game is too stupid to figure out where you disappear to when you cloak. Solas craves affection - that much is clear. He finds a foothold with Lavellan due to her strength of character and intelligence and just jumps in. The other stuff is ancillary. Cassandra isn't a mage but he clearly respects her very deeply - so I don't think that stuff matters much to him.
I like romancing Solas as a rogue. Probably because of the part in the beginning when she goes "Are you trying to suggest I'm graceful"..."I'm declaring it".....I admit....her and I were both a puddle at that point and were pretty much useless..... 
Which I like more than the mage response that suggest he would be interested in seeing her dominated... O.o I know he didn't mean it that way...but it certainly could be taken that way....
So, I just managed to get the cookies-on-the-rooftop scene with Sera on my m!Trevelyan playthrough. It's... strange. I actually like her better here than in my Lavellan playthrough. Probably because I'm no longer an elf and I don't get to hear her insult my character as much. xD
Also, my m!Trevelyan gets along well with Vivienne. It's strange seeing her all nice compared to the cold reception she gave my Lavellan.
And I just made Cole more like a spirit in this playthrough too. Whether he is more human or more of a spirit, it seems he is happy either way.
Sorry, I just found all this to be very interesting. 
I still don't have the heart to make Solas hate me though.
Who says Shartan was Andraste's lover? Why is that even a thing?
Still mesmerized by that screen shot... the cinematic designer deserves a lot of credit for getting them to walk-snuggle and hold hands and then kiss and butt grab without any clipping. Kudos. I think. Rotten bastards.
It just keeps coming up. I honestly didn't delve much into it since Andraste never interested me /cough.
Anyhow, timeline-wise it fits, plus Shartan & Solas seem to share several things in common (not only baldness).
I think it's rather unlikely we'll get a major story expansion, at this point.
I would have to disagree with this! Just because we aren't getting an 'expansion', doesn't mean we won't be getting major story content. Bioware always has had a habit of having DLC with fairly huge consequences on the next few games. Corypheus, for example, came as a result of DLC. Then you have Lair of the Shadow Broker and Levithan for Mass Effect.
The gaming world in general is moving away from calling additional content 'expansions'. An expansion tends to suggest an entire game's worth of content. A DLC can be anything. They aren't being held to any sort of expectations. DA:I is essentially mass effect in how it is built. Instead of a galaxy map, we have an actual map with map markers that open up on the board. That means that anytime they want to add DLC, all they need to do is just add a little self contained map marker- and poof, you are there.
Previous DA games were a bit more tricky to engage the DLC or expansion, and usually you had to select from the main menu.
I would expect DA:I's DLC to follow ME3's trend. A fairly sizable mission, with a target playtime around 5-10 hours. But having DLC content go up to even 20 hours isn't unheard of. Skyrim's DLC fell just below expansion level content.
I am not saying for certain we'd get a Solas DLC, or anything like that. But I do think DLC will continue to be meaningful, and that just because they aren't shooting for an 'expansion' doesn't mean that we won't be seeing some substantial additional content.
I like romancing Solas as a rogue. Probably because of the part in the beginning when she goes "Are you trying to suggest I'm graceful"..."I'm declaring it".....I admit....her and I were both a puddle at that point and were pretty much useless.....
Which I like more than the mage response that suggest he would be interested in seeing her dominated... O.o I know he didn't mean it that way...but it certainly could be taken that way....
Her focus, not her. There's a big difference there.
I don't know....I would have to see how they do it. It would be sad if it was post-game type content and I was left to run around without Solas. But I guess it could be like the other DA dlc, where some of the content may change depending on when you choose to work on it. Be it mid or post-game.
Her focus, not her. There's a big difference there.
I know this, but when hearing it for the first time, I went "wut". I understand that he was curious to see her distracted by something. But my first reaction was not that response....I totally took it as something else. And I still find being told she's graceful is much more satisfying....but that could be due to me being a clutz.
I don't really buy into the whole Solas is Shartan thing, and especially not the Solas is Shartan was lovers with Andraste since he isn't into humans(if Trevelyan can't have him no human can have him). I think it would be a bit much to have Andraste have a husband, a god, and a god anyways. Also, I don't particularly want to meet anyone who personally knew Andraste, to be honest. I'd rather a lot of mystery be kept to her story, just like I'd rather have the Maker be kept a mystery.
Also, the indomitable focus comment...does he mean he wants to see her caught off guard/flustered? That's how I took it.
I really hope we don't have to wait until the next game, but I fear you may be right since it seems like they're setting up a new direction for the DA universe that cannot be covered in a DLC. Maybe an expansion on par with Awakening?
I like romancing Solas as a rogue. Probably because of the part in the beginning when she goes "Are you trying to suggest I'm graceful"..."I'm declaring it".....I admit....her and I were both a puddle at that point and were pretty much useless.....
Which I like more than the mage response that suggest he would be interested in seeing her dominated... O.o I know he didn't mean it that way...but it certainly could be taken that way....
I have done both and it seemed like he grew to like my mage a lot faster than my rogue, though I played them mostly similarly (the rogue was a little more pro-circle so maybe that's why?) I personally like the dominated line more than the graceful line. I think it shows his naughty side 
Wasn't there an interview where they stated they wouldn't be doing something like Awakening again? Like it wasn't worth the effort? (I could be wrong)
Neither mage nor rogue had any problem getting Solas to approve her. Though I do main a mage in their relationship, but mostly so they can be fade nerds together. Though my rogue was great because if someone so much as dared to go for her boo, she was on him like a fat kid on cake. No one hit Solas. Ever. Dare to walk in his direction and she'd be bathing in their bloooood.
I really enjoy being a mage more...not because of relationships...but just because of game play. I enjoy hitting my enemies with fire and lightening and shattering their bodies with ice. My human rogue just wasn't as much fun...though I did enjoy sneaking up on people.
That would actually be two god lovers if Solas=Shartan given we know Solas=Fen'Harel
I would have to disagree with this! Just because we aren't getting an 'expansion', doesn't mean we won't be getting major story content. Bioware always has had a habit of having DLC with fairly huge consequences on the next few games. Corypheus, for example, came as a result of DLC. Then you have Lair of the Shadow Broker and Levithan for Mass Effect.
Yes, but they are all stand-alones. Corypheus was basically a set-up for the next game, he had nothing to do with DA2 itself. I can't speak about ME because I haven't played it past 1, though, but my understanding is a different team made them, for the most part.
The biggest reason why I don't think there will a Solas-heavy DLC is because somebody from Bioware had said there would be no Awakening-style expansions and DLC would be focused on new areas with contained stories. Obviously, it was a few months back, but it seems legit. Also, the elven gods stuff seems to be too big of an event to be resolved in a DLC. There was just too much set-up in Solas' character and the endgame with Temple of Mythal.
I do think it's possible to get a Witch-Hunt like coda (but without a happy ending, because I really don't believe there could be a happy ending before Solas' mission is resolved in any way, it would just be very inconvenient from the technical standpoint). But I'm not sure how exciting it would be for the majority of players. Morrigan got her DLC because she was a much more marketed character who had a lot of fans. I'm sure 20 times more people romanced her than Solas, and even those who haven't were at least interested in her. For Solas, of course, there are fans, and many people enjoyed the romance, but there are lots of people who basically haven't even noticed him. There are very different reactions. While I think the reception overall is good enough to give the romance a belated happy ending in the next installment, I'm not sure the producers would consider the character himself popular enough to get a DLC just about him.
I'd love to be proven wrong, of course. I seriously want the Inquisitor, any Inquisitor, to learn the truth and have an opportunity to react to it. The narrative logic just demands it. Plus, there's the unresolved thing with the Fade hand, which technically is connected to Solas, too.
Playing an assassin is broken beyond compare. No one ever sees her coming. She auto-crits from stealth. Does X more damage from stealth. And killing removes cooldown on her stealth. So....she would go around the entire battlefield shanking everyone. Most died from her first hit. If not, definitely from her second. Hubby watched me play and couldn't stop laughing at how broken I had built her. I love my mage, but nothing is so funny as watching the rogue run crazy everywhere in stealth killing everything.
Hey there, longtime lurker (I mostly post at Reddit, these forums have way too much whining for my taste, but this thread seems fine, thankfully)...
Seeing more people step out of the shadows in this thread, it occurs to me I never actually thanked you all for pulling me out of lurker status myself. Until I posted here I thought my time at BSN would be very brief. So many of the threads out there feel like troll bait, or desolve into arguments and hateful garbage. Not to mention, I felt lost and alone with my sudden but inevitable addiction to Solas.
But then I found this thread. And...
I've found my home here. I barely venture out into the other threads now.
Sorry for interrupting the conversation for sappy sentiment. I just wanted to let ya'll know.
I also wanted an excuse to use that gif.
Wasn't there an interview where they stated they wouldn't be doing something like Awakening again? Like it wasn't worth the effort? (I could be wrong)
They did say something like that, but then again didn't they also plan an expansion for DA2 that got dropped? Didn't they plan for DAI to be human only, but broadened that due to extended development time? I don't know how old the interview is, but sometimes things change so I won't give up hope until it doesn't happen or I find out the interview is recent.
They did plan an expansion for DA2, The Exalted March. I'm still bitter it got canceled. I assume its cancellation has something to do with this decision to avoid any big story DLCs in the future.
A Solas DLC would not need to be focused on romance though for it to be important. We also don't know how important Solas actually will be to the overall story- my personal thought is that Solas's actions are going to have more ramifications than his actual presence.
So, for example. We could have a DLC where we are attempting to stop [or help] Solas release the elven gods or some other sort of calamity. This calamity sets up the elven story line for the next game.
I do think there will be some resolution, just because ending the game on a stinger is basically jingling keys in front of the player and saying: "Keep playing! There will be more story stuff! Look! DLC!"
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