This. Is. Awesome. Thank you! Putting aside how it might potentially map to the universe at large, I would love to dig deeper into how it seems to map to Solas.
We have a parallel for the persona- the god "masks" of Fen'Harel, Dirthamen and Falon'din.
The ego- literally Solas = "Pride" = Ego. Not in the literal sense perhaps, but as a secondary layer of meaning, I'm almost certain it's intentional.
The shadow: his partner OGS Falon'din, still connected but now repressed/relegated to the subconscious/Fade. We know Solas harbors a fair bit of self-recrimination for the "cocky, brash" youth he used to be, back when Dirthamen and Falon'din shared a conscious mind. He blames the Shadow side of himself for the conflict and misery that followed the failed rebellion, forgetting that it was objectively justified. And given the hinted cyclical/fractal nature of the universe, I don't think it's coincidence that his Shadow is a fragment of the Sun: impulsiveness, anger, ambition, propensity for war, etc. Push it down, try to suppress it, and Bad Things Happen.
Do you think Lavellan's role as a potential Anima might explain divergence in the romanced/non-romanced Solavellan path? (ie: does the Anima factor into the individuation process?)
Given the larger picture, it seems like in order to fix the world, we might want to start with fixing Solas. =w= Pushing him to reconcile more completely with his Shadow side, this sublimated right brain with its (super useful!) empathy, abstract morality, and unrelenting drive to take action when faced with social injustice, could be key.
*bows* You are very welcome.
I like this idea! Solas is god-territory, so it totally makes sense that he represents a fundamental element of the psyche and your analysis is spot on. In fact, you could say that his transformation from the cocky youth into his wiser, older self is a good indication that he has undergone at least part of the individuation process (and there are more steps required, I should think, going on the Lavellan romance being an option). Being who he is, he is also representative of individuation on a larger scale, too, if we look at the fate of the elves (and other races of Thedas, for that matter, but elves in particular); they have had to set aside their ego and have gone through a very painful process of learning humility, which purifies them as a collective until they are able to fully mature into a truly healthy body of existence. I think that this actually explains why he is so disenchanted with the Dalish, because they are literally clinging to pride, which he already knows is an inferior complex.
I do definitely see a connection between Lavellan and the anima; logically, as a mere being Solas' anima would be personified by her. The anima in individuation is the soul-image; i.e. in men it is the feminine aspects of his being and in women the masculine aspects; in Western culture we are largely taught to suppress these sides of ourselves, which causes a lot of disjointedness all around (e.g. in men it is behind fear and hate of women, among other things). To translate this aspect of the individuation process, this is the point where a man would descend into his shadow to confront the beast within, i.e. the neglected/feared/hated aspects of himself that are left to run wild, and his task is to slay this beast, yet the only way that he is able to accomplish this is to learn to love and accept these aspects and thus "tame" them. (Think Theseus and Ariadne's thread.) Both the "slaying of the beast" and the acceptance is necessary to truly work through the shadow realm and find your way out again. (I'm summarizing here, but in essence, this is a representation of the fundamental balance of genders in the psyche, one cannot exist without the other and similarly one cannot function without the other within a psyche.) To project this onto a larger scale, we see that Lavellan has the ability to sway Solas' beliefs about the world to a degree because she can influence him on a level (the anima level) that no one else can, and from her he accepts it. He listens to friends, too, of course, but it becomes a much more personal question for him I think if Lavellan is in a romance with him.
I agree, since Solas is who he is, it makes sense that the psyche of a god has such an influence on the world that he needs to be fixed (or reconciled with his shadow, as you say) in order for anything good to come out of his actions. Although he is a complete psyche unto himself with all the aspects of the anima within him, I tend to think that his is one of those psyches that has difficulty embracing this aspect of existence. Though, as a god, he would represent a particular aspect of people in particular with heavy emphasis on that aspect, and since all gods have a complete existence, it is almost required that there be an imbalance; this is why the pantheon exists in the first place, i.e. he by himself is not enough, or rather, he is not much without the rest of the pantheon (and here I would include the Forgotten Ones). In essence, I think this is at the heart of his catastrophic actions, because he eliminated the one element that gave him (and the people) a basic, working order of things, regardless of how violent or sour it had turned. I.e. his solution to seal away both the gods and the Forgotten Ones was the wrong way to go about it, especially seeing as he offered no alternative for the people to turn to, which lead to complete chaos and the eventual downfall of the Elvhen.
Of course, we don't really know what went down; I get the feeling that he acted out of necessity and he is possibly trying to free the pantheon, but what I don't know is whether this is a decision borne of regret that he developed after seeing the results of his actions, or whether he regretted doing what he did originally and only did it because even a bad plan is better than having no plan.
In general, I think a Lavellan romance would be very much canonical to the future events of DA if Solas is going to keep on doing whatever it is that he's doing (and we basically see that he is up to something still). Of course, this being a game of choices, there has to be an implementation of influence for other Inquisitors, too; I would imagine that there has to be more emphasis on the romance, however, regardless of this fact.
Come Thursday, the gaming marathon shall begin. And then I imagine it'll be a while before I get around to Jaws of Haakon.
Spoiler tags or a giant bolded JUST MOVE ALONG CADDIUS would still be appreciated, of course.
Retour en haut
Was that the price they paid to 
Of course, it's difficult to know without playing Wild Hunt first, to know what actually shows up again in the story.
Richmond, CA.......... may no package of mine ever darken your doorstep again.
