Hi guys, I'm a little excited and I want to share something Solas-y with you lot but I haven't read the passed few dozen pages to see if it's already been talked about so I apologise if it has and, if it has, I'd appreciate a general gist of how many pages back it was talked about so I can look at it.
Anyway, I'm referring to a tumblr post I've found where Solas could still possibly be an evanuris (an idea that I basically dropped once I finished Trespasser), it's too big to copy and paste here so I'll link the post so you can have a looksie: http://corseque.tumb...st/132445529742
What do you guys think about it? I'm kind of all over the place about it right now and I'm not sure how to process how I feel about it. I mean, I kind of just assumed Solas was apostate hobo even in ancient elven times, close friends/whatever with Mythal, and he aquired Mythal's orb after her death and took it as his own. But if what that post refers to is true, then does that mean Solas is still sort of lying to us? Even after Trespasser? Yes, he explicitly states he was never Fen'Harel in the same way people thought he was, but if he was still one of the evanuris?...
Argh, my head!
It's okay! We were only discussing it a page ago, actually, I wrote a response:
I think that argument relies on that line being mistranslated.
I question why 'make Solas an evanuris' would be in a lullaby in the first place. From the translation it seems to be a propaganda song which has been reinterpreted by the dalish as a lullaby - I imagine it'd probably be directed at the dwarves, the 'little stones' who are allowed dreams, so why they would care who is or who isn't an evanuris? I am skeptical you'd see such a sentiment in a song.
The line itself:
Him Solas Evanuris.
translate individually as:
Him = Become
Solas = Pride
Evanuris = Leaders.
So we have: become/becoming/to become + pride/Solas + evanuris/leaders.
This is from quickly checking the elven wiki, I'm not a linguist and not an expert in elven either, but the order of words is usually interpreted from context and it is sometimes difficult to ascertain what's the subject and what's the object? I mean it could translate as several things:
[Mythal] becomes Pride's leader. (re. Mythal holds dominance over pride).
Becoming the pride of our leaders (similar to 'making out leaders proud').
Pride [Solas] becomes a leader. (where Solas becomes an evanuris).
These are just off the top of my head.
I think the evidence she provides about the orbs is much more convincing, however - why would Fen'Harel have a separate orb if wasn't considered one of them, in some form? I think a lot of the symbolism in Trespasser - the eight-sided star, for instance - points to eight gods, and that propaganda codex piece which says 'Beware of Fen'Harel!' depicts the Evanuris surrounding him as if he was never considered one of them - points to the idea that if he was ever an Evanuris, it would only be a very, very recent addition.
My current theory, I think, is that Solas was once a spirit, bound by Mythal, and served her for many years, eventually becoming one of her top generals in the war against the Titans. I think she recommended him to the Evanuris as a candidate to join them - which wasn't without precedent at that point, Ghilan'nain had joined with Andruil's recommendation, likely. There are a couple of reasons why I reckon this could be true:
1. If Solas was present in Mythal's battles against the Titans, then he probably has expertise to deal with the growing threat of the blight. That knowledge would be supremely useful. Solas, however, betrays little knowledge of such things in his dialogue except in a few of his banters with Varric.
2. Dalish stories say that Fen'Harel was able to walk between the Evanuris and the Forgotten Ones. If these have a grain of truth to them, it's possible that there was a lot of political tensions between these two groups at the time, and Mythal hoped that by promoting Fen'Harel she'd be push the Evanuris towards reform and diplomatic solutions, as someone who stood in between those two groups. Likely she wanted to strengthen her own voice as well by positioning herself as a moderate in relation to him.
I reckon Mythal died during, or shortly after the process, completely breaking off any deals. There was little chance of Fen'Harel being able to push the Evanuris in a direction of reform without Mythal's voice, even if he felt they were worth saving as a group - which he likely didn't after she died. He left (if he ever was an Evanuris) and probably formed a group of rebels, or helped existing ones, to take them down.
Though I hadn't considered the idea that it was Mythal's orb that was stolen, and presented as his own here, in which case there would be little evidence indicating that he was an Evanuris. He does mention in Trespasser, in one of the dialogue options:
Inquisitor: How were you able to control the anchor?
Solas: The mark you beat was bestowed upon you by the Orb of Fen'Harel. My Orb.
There is really not much reason for him to lie here, I think? I'm not sure what he'd lose by telling Inky that it was Mythal's orb, so I think there's some truth to what he says here. Unless Mythal's orb was left to him after her death - it became his orb naturally, because he was her second, perhaps?
Retour en haut
)
Back from BlizzCon, replete with random swag. Off to catch up on some chores for now.
