SO I finished The Masked Empire (surprised it took me so little time).
Firstly: Felassan noooo 
(I mean, I read some spoilers, I knew this was coming, but he's even cooler than I expected - I would honestly go as far as willing to trade an existing companion so as to have him in DA:I. How could they kill Best elf? Urgh.)
Secondly, it's caused me to largely rethink my approach to Wicked Hearts - I'm not sure that I could reunite Briala and Celene in good conscience now. Not that I ever particularly trusted Celene, but I don't think she really ever valued Briala and was absolutely awful to her. I was surprised at the scholar in her - but her approach to suffering is so academic, it's so restrained, it's so lacking in empathy, and it's all something she'd sacrifice in order to hold power when threatened. I have a much higher opinion of Briala than before - she's constantly aware of the weird class & race politics of her position, and constantly questioning what she's doing (in a good way - like, she's highly conscious of the fact that she could slide into becoming a hypocrite, that she could lose touch).
Thirdly, given the amount of stories Felassan tells about Fen'Harel, in proper reverence of his reputation, and the amount the novel discusses who 'the people' are - it punishes (perhaps unfairly) the Dalish for having such a narrow view of 'us' and 'we', and celebrates Briala's attempts to fight for all elves - in that light, Solas' dismissal of Briala after Wicked Hearts becomes even more disappointing. Briala took so much from Fen'Harel of the stories - particularly, the one where he is captured by Andruil (to bed her, no less), and then is fought over between Andruil and Anasis, where he escapes only by outwitting them both, is such a strong metaphor for how Briala intends to deal with Celene and Gaspard - and the real Fen'Harel could not give a toss.
I actually want to slap Solas. What could possibly be more important than freeing the elves from poverty, from slavery, from the chokehold human nobility has over them? How else could you make things better? What other people could there possibly be? Urggghhh. It reminds me how much I hate how snobby Solas can be - like, he has so little faith in most elves, like they're beneath him, it's insulting. It makes me wonder how much better the elven nobility were than the human nobility were - and that the problem here is less so elves vs. humans, and much more so class.
Which does make me think - Felassan makes a point of saying that the elves had an entire empire once - and everything that comes with having an empire, including the servants who had to scrub the floors. His support of Fen'Harel, presumably, comes from the fact that he's a member of the nobility who cared less about the nobility, if not openly supported the lower classes in revolt (most of his stories are about tricking his social peers rather than starting mass revolutions, but I digress). I wonder if Felassan is reading too much into the stories - judging by Solas' contempt towards contemporary elves' attempts at freeing themselves - and perhaps Fen'Harel was much more in support of the nobility than Felassan supposes? After all, Solas does have an amicable relationship with Mythal, and holds great regret about the fate of much of the pantheon - likely, his involvement was reluctant. Perhaps he romanticises some of that, now that so much time has gone by, now that things are so much worse in his eyes?
Which in turn makes me scared if Solas' actual goal is to restore the Elvehan Empire as it was. I think that's a terrifying prospect and I think even my Lavellen would pause before considering it.
Retour en haut
I don't like to bash VAs, but ugh. 
