I think everyone is open to their interpretation of events, and that's cool. If you RP the part of a slighted elf reclaiming her culture and sticking it to the humans, frustrated that they are outplaying your people in elfy things, all the power to you! And if not, still, all the power to you
No, no power to me. That's my point. I'll never be able to play that way since BioWare is absolutely determined to pull the rug out from under elven characters. ![]()
But ... you're ignoring what I said. "The best stories take from experiences and histories we can associate with." -- and all the power to Bioware for invoking that. See how it's stirred you up? You should give them credit, not complaint. As Canadian, Bioware probably has a better understanding of that sort of thing than many other parts of the world.
Erm... Not from where I'm standing.
In Thedas, apparently humans > elves, and Thedas humans are like European Christians while Thedas elves are Jew/Gypsy Afro-Native Americans. Since I was raised as an impoverished Jew and got stepped on by rich white privileged jerks my whole life (the City Elf Origin hits way too close to home), it really frosts my cookies to see BioWare setting up an "underdog rises above the oppressor" narrative but then turns around and says, "Just kidding. You can only rise above if you're already privileged, but you can't escape bone-crushing reality if you're part of a minority. Also, no matter what you try to do to change the unfair system, it will get undone in the long run. Also, all the negative things the majority said about your people turn out to be true after all." (Read: All of DAI's horrible revelations about the elves.)
Remember (was it in the Exalted Plains?) when the Olesians try to master the might of that weapon that sets things afire with its light? Total carnage from their foibles. They don't know how to handle everything, after all. But the Tevinters -did- sack and enslave the elves, remember, even if the elves imploded on themselves before that. So if there were anything left to be sacked, the Tevinters took it. The elves who escaped were cast out and live off of memory and whatever artefacts they managed to retain. So of course humans would have a deeper knowledge over the years. Elves were still outcasts and would likely not be allowed to study these things, they rely on the word of mouth (which of course, became muddied and forgotten over time). The elves regressed, clinging to a memory that changed and shifted over the centuries. Humans advanced. Elves, for all intents and purposes, staled themselves. Or at least, this is how I interpreted it. Correct me if I'm mistaken!
That's my problem. Apparently humans are capable of handling their own affairs, but the elves are so incapable of self-governing that they destroyed themselves when they had their own homeland (Elvhenan, Dales), and are so incapable of rising above the disadvantages that society forced upon them, that they need human characters to do it for them. It reeks of paternalism, and I can't stand it.
But for your Morrigan arguments, remember that she was -raised- by Flemythal. So she has had tutelage by an elven god. Conditioned by her. Of course she'd know more than the Dalish, and she would be open to more than them, too. The Dalish suffer from pride, and would be far from willing to accept conclusions that their Keepers didn't teach them (and which is why Solas is so infuriated with them). Merrill, I felt, likes to go against the grain. Mythal is still what she was. She just possesses the body of a human who is more alike with her and her goals than any other host was at the time. Can't fault her that. Also recall that descendants of humans and elves are still human. For all we know, Morrigan or even Flemeth may be elf blooded. Not that I think it matters.
I think DA:I has made it abundantly clear that elves ARE the most important race in the story. They seem to be at the heart of a catalyst and (in my head canon) they shaped the world. They just aren't what they used to be, and that's understandable given their histories. You can't expect a good story to be free of social flaws and tyranny, can you? Actions and consequences, and all that. Most importantly I think we need to think how the humans absorbed what they could from the elves they overtook, and the elves left over lost all that they were. Expecting elves to know more about elves is a little brash, considering DA:I goes on and on about how LITTLE truth the elves really know these days. But I think they will come in to their own again. They're just uh... going through a thing! ;P





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