Definitely ALL of this. I think it's an intriguing idea, I love the research that went into it, but it's just a hit too much. It's why once it was revealed via Dev Notes that Flemeth only gave Solas/Fen'Harel her power not her godhood I felt instantaneously relieved. If late 90's era Marvel Comics about Rogue taught us anything, having several powerful multiple personalities hanging out in one person is bad news. And bad storytelling - it makes things too complex to comprehend for the reader and through that lack of understanding dehumanizes them and their motivations.
But they threw in time travel... so maybe they haven't learned enough?Time travel is sticky in narratives and never explained/ resolved in a way that is truly satisfying. It's like clones in the 90s and Spider Man. That was just one huge hot mess. Secret to success? Avoid clones and time travel... unless you're Chrono Trigger.
Honestly, I agree with all of this. My first reaction when the pieces fell in place was a resounding NOPE.
NOPE. *toss the computer out the window* NOOOOPE.
It can't be right. I reasoned. I know Solas. Falon'Din was a monster, the antithesis of what I believe... no, what I know he is. Solas is compassion. He is fairness. He is a stubborn, bull-headed champion of free will, tolerance, kindness, and faith in the human spirit. (ok, yes, "elven". You know what I mean.)
How can I possibly reconcile this with Falon'Din?!
There is a way. Let me explain. Our Solas was not an illusion. He was not "faking it" with the Inquisitor, not presenting himself as fundamentally different from what he was. What we understand of his nature and his motivations were always, and continue to be, his true and honest beliefs.
The critical thing to remember is that it is his perspective, not ours, that shapes our understanding of Falon'Din's crimes. He is telling his own story, coloring the events with a degree of self-recrimination and guilt that is not, if were we to examine it objectively, necessarily deserved.
The "followers" that he describes in his story were not mindless worshipers. What he's actually describing was a social rebellion, a failed one that Falon'Din led and encouraged, which swept through the lands of Arlathan. In his telling he twists this into an act of pride, making the deaths of those who died a personal sacrifice to him- to ideals that he identifies so strongly with that he's blind to the fact that they were not for him. The elves who gave their lives in the attempt fought and died because they believed in the same ideals. They died for their own beliefs, not to vindicate his.
Solas thinks they died because he was too proud, too certain, that the world should change and that he could change it. This, I believe, the primal sin of Pride that haunts him. But it's not true.
"You didn't do it to be right. You did it to save them."
Cole can see it, even if Solas can't. He didn't lead the rebellion to be right. He did it because it was right. Ages of guilt and sorrow have blinded him to his own motivations.
Weeeeekes. Weekes, I swear to god. If anyone deserves a happy ending- if anyone has fought for it harder or sacrificed more- just please. Please? Pain is great, it is useful, but there is a point when nothing more can be learned from it. Solas is there. The only thing he has left to learn is how to let it go.
*lies down on the floor*
*waits for DLC*
Retour en haut
However, given that Patrick said he actually cried while writing some of Solas's romance scenes, that tells me how much he cares about the character and his relationship with Lavellan. Just hope that carries over into something eventually good and not ETERNAL SADNESS BECAUSE IT NEEDED TO BE SEQUENTIALLY SADDER.
), but I like some of the points she makes. +1 for including a Terry Pratchett anecdote. +2 for the phrase "I want to see Solas ass."
