I wish Cory had been a better antagonist as well. You can see the potential through the cracks, but then you get stuff like this:
which is silly, and directly leads to comparing him to the Wicked Witch of the West, and other, less savory jokes. In the end, he's an object of ridicule. And we have to trust these same guys not to bungle Solas.
Honestly, I'm happy in wacky headcanon land. 
Corypheus kind of reminds me of Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, a tragic and wounded character with great potential given his backstory, but unfortunately often written as a one note villain instead of a three dimensional character.
(Although I have to admit, the "You weren't there!" scene between Jones and Tia Dalma in At World's End was brilliant, mostly because we finally got some idea of who this guy really was underneath all the tentacles and posturing. It's just a shame there wasn't far more scenes like that).
Inquisition and DA2 really could have done with having some more "Meanwhile in..." scenes like Origins did, allowing us to see the action away from our protagonist and give some more development time to the antagonists. DA2 would have been even more easier to pull this off with, because Varric was narrating the entire thing after the fact, so he can be allowed to have third person omniscience.
I wish Cory had been a better antagonist as well. You can see the potential through the cracks, but then you get stuff like this:
Spoilerwhich is silly, and directly leads to comparing him to the Wicked Witch of the West, and other, less savory jokes. In the end, he's an object of ridicule. And we have to trust these same guys not to bungle Solas.
Honestly, I'm happy in wacky headcanon land.
I must be the only person who didn't bat an eye because that wasn't uncommon dress for men way back when. I just figured, perhaps wrongly, that they were indicating a long phased out fashion style from the earliest days of Tevinter, when he'd have been active. 
The first time Solas messed up, it's possible he was unaware he was destroying the world when creating the veil. And he has not actually executed his action to reverse the veil yet, which makes him one step more redeemable than Anders, who really did knowingly execute his plan which would result in vast casualties. So it's a little different.
And in any event, of course? A lot of women just like sexy troubled villains, no matter how f*cked up they are. The Loki's. The Kylo Ren's. The Fen'Harel's.
sexy troubled villains [...] The Kylo Ren's
Something about this just doesn't sound right.
Art post.
Gorgeous modern AU metal rocker!Solas by nipuni. 
(Yes, this was posted only 2 posts back but I thought I'd share the proper rebloggable source link. 
)
What does Solas' son think of Solas? 
Solavellan sketch.
'Snowwalk'. Solavellan artwork made during Christmas.
Yeah, I can't deny that Solas as a sexy troubled villain definitely comes across as being way more metal than Anders... who let's face it, tends to often be about as metal as a Coldplay album.
Uh, pardon the wall of text. Again. Sorry!
Anders literally killed dozens of people including a Revered Mother and the fans (women especially) give him a free pass.. Solas says he wants to restore the world he messed up, and everyone wants him hanged. This fanbase is all messed up.
God, if I had a dollar for every time I saw complaints similar to this, I'd... well, I'd probably have, like, twenty bucks. But I still see this complaint a lot, substituted with various different character names and various different reasons that "soundly proves" the fandom's hypocrisy.
"Solas lies about his identity and everyone gives him a free pass! Blackwall lies about his identity and everyone hates him! This fandom is so hypocritical!"
"Dorian has shitty opinions on slavery and everyone gives him a free pass! Solas has shitty opinions on the Dalish and everyone hates him! This fanbase is so hypocritical!"
Solas admits to wanting to destroy the world and everyone gives him a free pass! Anders blows up a Chantry and everyone hates him! This fandom is so hypocritical!"
Makes me wonder who this "everyone" is, and how they manage to hold such a wealth of contradictory opinions. Yes, a lot of people don't like Solas, and don't like what he plans to do. But I know a lot of people don't like Anders and what he did, either. I imagine if you compared the number of Solas fans and haters to Anders fans and haters, there'd be generally more positive feelings for Solas, especially since I've seen at least a few people describe him as "Inquisition's Anders, but better-written and a lot less annoying." And there are other factors to account for as well - Trespasser's been out for a few months, whereas 2 has been out for years. People have had time to get over Anders, and since pretty much the entirety of 2 was swept under the rug by the writers, a lot of people have simply put him out their minds. Can't get mad at someone when you hardly think of them - but I'd bet that, if you went back to shortly after the release of DA2, you'd see even more vitriol for Anders than you do for Solas.
(That being said, I've noticed that the reception of DA2 on Tumblr is... bizarrely positive. Nearly every other gaming forum I go to has an overall negative opinion of BioWare in general, and DA2 in particular. It weirds me out every time I get on Tumblr and remember that, oh yeah, people actually seem to like it there. It's even enduring, at that. I mean, look at the Cullen fanbase - it's practically deserted by now. But you can still find new art of Fenris and Hawke and Isabela. It's bizarre. So perhaps that's warping your view somewhat - I can't for the life of me find any negativity about anything in DA2 on Tumblr.)
Snip
I think the issue a lot of people have when it comes to Flemeth is that everyone either puts her as a hero or a villain, with not much in-between. I've noticed too that, no matter what alignment they put on Flemeth, people almost always talk about her like she's inevitably going to succeed at whatever she's trying to do.
But in Inquisition at least, Flemeth seemed extremely falliable to me. Her relationship with Morrigan is a perfect example of this - it seems to me like she genuinely believed everything she said to Morrigan. Truly thought that all the abuse she put on her would help her in the end. That she was being a good mother. And instead, Morrigan breaks from her the first chance she gets. Turns on her and refuses to acknowledge any good she did. Says that she'll never be a mother like her. And you can see how that wounded Flemeth.
She didn't want to hurt Morrigan. She wanted to prepare her. To make her stronger. And she just broke her instead.
Solas says that she was the best of the Evanuris, and sincerely wanted what was best for the People. And I believe that. But I think that, like Solas, she was ruthless and didn't always realize the full consequences of her actions. I think she still isn't great at realizing when she's hurting people, at knowing what their feelings are and how they'll respond to her.
She has knowledge and strength and cunning, and I think her power comes a lot from that. But I don't think she's very good with people. It's another reason why I question the theory that she's been manipulating Solas all along. She was "manipulating" Morrigan and the Evanuris, too. Morrigan called her an abusive mother and basically ran way. And the Evanuris straight up killed her. That doesn't scream "master manipulator" to me.
Snip
I agree that Corypheus could've worked as he was if they put more effort into writing him. But I think he would've made a stronger villain and character if they also gave him some actual credibility. The destruction of Haven was a wonderful gut-punch, but everything after completely undermined any threat he could pose - even the devs admitted he should've had another victory. And he should've, because he could've been fantastic if he had. He's probably the only villain I can think of who can make the "A God Am I" cliche interesting, because the whole tragedy of him losing his faith and trying, in a weird way, to regain it by becoming a god himself is a fascinating twist on that worn old trope. It drives me crazy that the games didn't properly utilize it.
But I don't see that as a reason to strip him of his credibility either. I think he could've been a real threat and still have kept his tragic motivation. And I think he would've been all the more stronger for it. A toothless villain just drains all the tension out of the story, especially in a video game where you have direct player involvement.
To compare to Solas - just look at the end of Trespasser. Going through the various levels, reading letters from the Qunari on some strange agent that's decimated their forces. Finding corpses of soldiers who have been literally scared to death. Stepping through that Eluvian, seeing the stone Qunari, seeing Solas casually petrify the Viddisala (Who was the main antagonist of that DLC) even the way he holds you at his complete mercy, punctuated by how he looms over the Inquisitor as they bow beneath the pain of the Anchor. To say nothing of how cold and low-key sinister he is on low-approval.
That's threatening. And not even in a direct way, either - Solas isn't laying siege to your castle or holding your loved ones hostage. It isn't a direct attack on the player, as Haven was for Corypheus. But it's a plain display of power. A way for the writer to say "Look at this guy. Look at what he does to his enemies. You don't want to be one of them." Imagine if Corypheus had gotten that treatment, consistently, throughout all of Inquisition. Imagine how much more tense it would've been, every time he appeared. Imagine how well-earned your victory would've felt, when it came.
Instead, it's something you almost stumble into.
Yeah, I can't deny that Solas as a sexy troubled villain definitely comes across as being way more metal than Anders... who let's face it, tends to often be about as metal as a Coldplay album.
my opinion in brief is:
Art
Dread Wolf and Prey
http://battleankka.d...-Prey-589900316
Solas Ink Sketch
http://mycks.deviant...ketch-589728912
Awesome Flemeth Cosplay
http://berceck.devia...kster-589803262
I think the issue a lot of people have when it comes to Flemeth is that everyone either puts her as a hero or a villain, with not much in-between. I've noticed too that, no matter what alignment they put on Flemeth, people almost always talk about her like she's inevitably going to succeed at whatever she's trying to do.
But in Inquisition at least, Flemeth seemed extremely falliable to me. Her relationship with Morrigan is a perfect example of this - it seems to me like she genuinely believed everything she said to Morrigan. Truly thought that all the abuse she put on her would help her in the end. That she was being a good mother. And instead, Morrigan breaks from her the first chance she gets. Turns on her and refuses to acknowledge any good she did. Says that she'll never be a mother like her. And you can see how that wounded Flemeth.
She didn't want to hurt Morrigan. She wanted to prepare her. To make her stronger. And she just broke her instead.
Solas says that she was the best of the Evanuris, and sincerely wanted what was best for the People. And I believe that. But I think that, like Solas, she was ruthless and didn't always realize the full consequences of her actions. I think she still isn't great at realizing when she's hurting people, at knowing what their feelings are and how they'll respond to her.
She has knowledge and strength and cunning, and I think her power comes a lot from that. But I don't think she's very good with people. It's another reason why I question the theory that she's been manipulating Solas all along. She was "manipulating" Morrigan and the Evanuris, too. Morrigan called her an abusive mother and basically ran way. And the Evanuris straight up killed her. That doesn't scream "master manipulator" to me.
Um.... but I wasn't even discussing Flemeth's infallibility/fallibility 
That is a different issue from what I touched upon: whether she's fallible or not, we don't know what her plans for the world and revenge are. Whether she's fallible or not, she's obviously preparing Morrigan for something.
Also - I got a different impression of the Morrigan/Flemeth scene in DAI. Oh sure, I'm not going to argue here that Flemeth is infallible or something; I don't believe she is, but I also think the point of that scene was somewhat different.
Flemeth may have displayed a moment of genuine vulnerability and regret when Morrigan basically accused her of being a terrible mother, but I have a feeling that it was expected from Flemythal's part. After all, Morrigan can later tell to Inquisitor - "she was testing me. And I don't know if I've passed".
Well, from Flemeth's small but triumphant smile shortly before she departs I'd say that she possibly did pass the test (we only get to see that smile in OGB worldstate).
And why wouldn't she be triumphant? Wouldn't she - someone who at one point was a goddess of motherhood and love - be happy that motherhood and love have shone through, despite all odds?
That despite Flemeth being a mother she was for Morrigan, tooling the woman to be as cold as she was for her spawn (which she fully admitted was brought to this world for reasons other than either love for her man or desire to have a child), Morrigan found it in herself to appreciate the value of friendship and kindness (rather than mere survival) and change into someone better - a better person and a better mother?
Basically what I got from that scene is Flemeth being all "HA! My point was proven! This world will make it."
I agree that Corypheus could've worked as he was if they put more effort into writing him. But I think he would've made a stronger villain and character if they also gave him some actual credibility. The destruction of Haven was a wonderful gut-punch, but everything after completely undermined any threat he could pose - even the devs admitted he should've had another victory. And he should've, because he could've been fantastic if he had. He's probably the only villain I can think of who can make the "A God Am I" cliche interesting, because the whole tragedy of him losing his faith and trying, in a weird way, to regain it by becoming a god himself is a fascinating twist on that worn old trope. It drives me crazy that the games didn't properly utilize it.
But I don't see that as a reason to strip him of his credibility either. I think he could've been a real threat and still have kept his tragic motivation. And I think he would've been all the more stronger for it. A toothless villain just drains all the tension out of the story, especially in a video game where you have direct player involvement.To compare to Solas - just look at the end of Trespasser. Going through the various levels, reading letters from the Qunari on some strange agent that's decimated their forces. Finding corpses of soldiers who have been literally scared to death. Stepping through that Eluvian, seeing the stone Qunari, seeing Solas casually petrify the Viddisala (Who was the main antagonist of that DLC) even the way he holds you at his complete mercy, punctuated by how he looms over the Inquisitor as they bow beneath the pain of the Anchor. To say nothing of how cold and low-key sinister he is on low-approval.That's threatening. And not even in a direct way, either - Solas isn't laying siege to your castle or holding your loved ones hostage. It isn't a direct attack on the player, as Haven was for Corypheus. But it's a plain display of power. A way for the writer to say "Look at this guy. Look at what he does to his enemies. You don't want to be one of them." Imagine if Corypheus had gotten that treatment, consistently, throughout all of Inquisition. Imagine how much more tense it would've been, every time he appeared. Imagine how well-earned your victory would've felt, when it came.Instead, it's something you almost stumble into.
I think the major issue with Corypheus is that Inquisitor disrupting his ritual and obtaining the Anchor has basically - and he himself said it to us in Haven - ruined his world-conquering designs that that have been planned for many years prior to explosion at the Conclave.
Because if we really think about it, Corypheus was frightfully close to realizing his plans almost without anyone knowing about it.
He almost descended on the South with his demon-Templar-Southern Mage-enslaved Wardens army, which would make him a terror probably worse than any Blight, even without his delusional plans to reach for godhood by traveling to the Black City. (Solas probably thought he'd troll Corypheus by snatching his victory from him at the very last moment... only for both gentlemen to be trolled by fate).
So what we mostly see is him being put in a position of scrambling in order to rescue plans that have been too delicate and complex to survive such heavy blow.
They still required Inquisition to do a tremendous job of untangling his plans, especially in face of most Thedosian institutions or countries being undermined or weakened to the point of ineptitude - and either assassination of Celene or creation of demon army could still tip the scale on Coryhpeus' side; but the fact remains that we see Corypheus being mostly on defensive.
Question is: did we always see Solas on defensive? He and Corypheus might have began the same - having their plans thrown into chaos by something unexpected - but Solas' fate and perception began diverging ever since Solas has decided to join the Inquisition. Then there's Trespasser, where he's shown to be a clever and adaptive schemer - different in that regard from Cory, who just pushed with his plans, either due to his hubris or just sheer momentum (or both) and also different in a sense that he entirely expects Inquisitor to go after him and even tells befriended Inquisitor that he'd be treasuring the chance to be proven wrong. So, depending on how things go and very unlike Corypheus, he'd probably welcome his failure with relief.
Still... him being a failure is sort of an issue.
I mean... no wonder the general impression of Solas is that he's a failure, when he himself seems to think so about himself as well - that all his actions brought is pain and misery, even if at a time it was the only viable solution at hand. That he can only make countless mistakes. He sees the Veil as his worst offense against the world, hence he's set out to fix it - and is probably the only one who can do that, being Veil's creator - and he fully expects to pay for it with fate he wouldn't wish even on an enemy (and considering that he condemned his enemies to eternity of torment means his own fate must be... pretty gruesome).
So what we set out to do is apparently to either condemn Solas or - as description of redeem option tells us - convince him to change his plans. And whatever his modified plans are (but I assume they're much more preferable than current plans), I don't see him realizing them or changing himself without shedding the conviction that he's a failure.
I find it interesting that the Veil codex from Origins says it isn't a literal barrier but merely a metaphor for how difficult it is for a spirit to adapt to the unchanging nature of the physical world.
Of course, that clearly isn't true as we can tell from the way Solas describes it. The Veil really is an actual barrier between the two worlds and it can be brought down.
...I don't see how Solas saying that it's a barrier somehow makes it an actual barrier. He also says that spirits are people even though they don't have physical bodies - so for him the concept of "it must be physical to be real" is irrelevant. Whether it's physical or metaphorical, it still has very real effects on the world - but it's a world in which willpower and belief have real, physical effect, hence whether it's indeed physical or metaphorical barrier may as well be entirely pointless.
Still, we can find the same codex in Inquisition, and in Trespasser - if we have Arcane Perk - we can have Inquisitor (someone who has spent years studying the Veil, seeing he/she is the one who's in charge on fixing it or now) say that it's not a physical thing, but sort of a magical vibration that repels magic; magic which - prior to being brought on physical plane - appears to be a power that is pretty much entirely incorporeal, hence the Veil itself is likely mostly incorporeal.
Cole in Trespasser even calls the Veil "fake" - so it's likely something more akin of a concept enforced on people, kind of like an idea implanted in people's dream in "Inception". The Veil is therefore both something real, as well as something stemming form minds fooled into generating it - hence tearing it down isn't anything easy, or may be the reason why mortals may have to perish: for the Veil to be entirely torn, either mortals have to die or be forced their way out of a concept that for generations was pretty much always defining their reality, which may shatter many minds.
Such concept isn't just in tune with the way we know Thedas works (its natural state is one where will and intent shapes reality, and where collective consciousness appears to exist) and some themes in the story - it's also very much in tune of Fen'Harel position in story as an actual trickster: the one person who fooled everyone into believing in what is basically a massive group illusion; his finest and most tragic trick.
Art break. 
Beautiful art of young Lavellan looking at the statue of Fen'Harel.
Solas and two Lavellans.
Winter and summer. (Solas and Lavellan)
Trespasser Solas.
Still, we can find the same codex in Inquisition, and in Trespasser - if we have Arcane Perk - we can have Inquisitor (someone who has spent years studying the Veil, seeing he/she is the one who's in charge on fixing it or now) say that it's not a physical thing, but sort of a magical vibration that repels magic; magic which - prior to being brought on physical plane - appears to be a power that is pretty much entirely incorporeal, hence the Veil itself is likely mostly incorporeal.
Cole in Trespasser even calls the Veil "fake" - so it's likely something more akin of a concept enforced on people, kind of like an idea implanted in people's dream in "Inception". The Veil is therefore both something real, as well as something stemming form minds fooled into generating it - hence tearing it down isn't anything easy, or may be the reason why mortals may have to perish: for the Veil to be entirely torn, either mortals have to die or be forced their way out of a concept that for generations was pretty much always defining their reality, which may shatter many minds.
Such concept isn't just in tune with the way we know Thedas works (its natural state is one where will and intent shapes reality, and where collective consciousness appears to exist) and some themes in the story - it's also very much in tune of Fen'Harel position in story as an actual trickster: the one person who fooled everyone into believing in what is basically a massive group illusion; his finest and most tragic trick.
..." Well, aren't we aggressive today. No hard feelings because I said Solas solves his problems by playing god, I hope. 
Hmm. My issue with this is, there's already a general feeling that Solas is a failure who screws up every time he tries. Not the best quality to have in a villain, you know? Not if you want your audience to take the villain seriously, at least. At some point they're going to have to give him some serious and resounding victory, if only to avoid the exact same issue they had with Corypheus.
I don't know. I hope they've actually learned from that mistake. And people seem to forget that Solas' plan in Trespasser went off without a hitch. But the fact remains that if they undermine him further, people are just going to call him the same thing they called Corypheus - pathetic.
As a fan of the guy, I think you can understand why I'd want to avoid that.
So, I can see Mythal knowing what Solas will do. I can see her planning around that in order to achieve her own ends. If they want to maintain Solas' credibility as an antagonist and a character, though, I think having Mythal stringing him along and maliciously using him would be a misstep, writing-wise. Call me biased.
True.
But then again, they gave Solas enough phenomenal cosmic power to turn people to stone with a thought, and Eluvians and elven spies all over Thedas. That's even better than Corypheus' "ancient darkspawn magister" powers (which allowed him to control the Grey Wardens and High Dragon) and Venatori and Mage/Red Templar followers. Like Corypheus, if Solas actually uses his gifts competently, the protagonist wouldn't stand a chance.
I think that's a trap many writers fall into. They give the villains insanely awesome powers and followers to make them intimidating to the reader/viewer/player, but shoot themselves in the foot because then they have to make the villains too incompetent to use them properly, because if they weren't the protagonist wouldn't stand a chance. But then, by making the villains too incompetent to use the insanely awesome powers and followers and resources at their disposal, they wind up looking even more incompetent and pathetic than a villain that had less fantastic power but more competence in how they used it.
Not unless the writers worked really hard to balance on that knife's edge of making Solas sufficiently competent and challenging, while still giving him and his forces enough plausible blind spots and weaknesses for the protagonist to exploit without making him look insanely incompetent.
"Oh my god, Solas is friggin' Anders!"
Also Morrigan because he's the mysterious non-Andrastian hedge mage who joins you at the beginning, turns out to have his own agenda, breaks your heart and leaves at the end.
I just found this on Pinterest and it made me laugh so hard.
I think the major issue with Corypheus is that Inquisitor disrupting his ritual and obtaining the Anchor has basically - and he himself said it to us in Haven - ruined his world-conquering designs that that have been planned for many years prior to explosion at the Conclave.
Because if we really think about it, Corypheus was frightfully close to realizing his plans almost without anyone knowing about it.
He almost descended on the South with his demon-Templar-Southern Mage-enslaved Wardens army, which would make him a terror probably worse than any Blight, even without his delusional plans to reach for godhood by traveling to the Black City. (Solas probably thought he'd troll Corypheus by snatching his victory from him at the very last moment... only for both gentlemen to be trolled by fate).
So what we mostly see is him being put in a position of scrambling in order to rescue plans that have been too delicate and complex to survive such heavy blow.
They still required Inquisition to do a tremendous job of untangling his plans, especially in face of most Thedosian institutions or countries being undermined or weakened to the point of ineptitude - and either assassination of Celene or creation of demon army could still tip the scale on Coryhpeus' side; but the fact remains that we see Corypheus being mostly on defensive.
This bothered me a great deal, the sort of antagonist that was capable of weaving that tangled of a web of deception for years without detection, would have to be extremely cunning, patient and adaptable, able to come up with contingencies should one or more parts of his plans fail to fall into place.
Yet Corypheus never comes across that way once we finally meet him. Instead he's more like a petulant child throwing a cosmic temper tantrum and it makes you wonder how someone so badass on paper could be so lame when it comes to how easily we are able to thwart him post-Haven.
Haven is the only time he came across as threatening and something resembling the otherworldly menace, that had sprung up from nowhere to descend upon and destroy Thedas, that he was supposed to be.
It's why I always thought he should have been revealed to be just the top lieutenant of the real Big Bad of the game, albeit not without his own goals and designs for godhood. Having Nightmare be revealed as the true Elder One would have made far more sense, as it would have given us an antagonist that we were unable to combat directly because of his location deep within the Fade, as well as explain why someone so powerful needs Corypheus to be his pointman, as it's the only way to enact his will and orchestrate the means for him to try and enter Thedas.
"
Regardless, the only flaw in your explanation is that it doesn't go both ways. The physical world isn't governed by ideas, so how does a metaphorical Veil hold any power in Thedas?
Um... are you sure you're not just looking for something to accuse me of being aggressive, simply because there are points you bring on which we sometimes disagree? I mean... who's exactly holding a grudge here? Me expressing something of a confusion (an emote I've used in many different posts to many different people over many different and ordinary topics, with no malicious intents) - or you, jumping at me for it and bringing up disagreement from a topic I've let go pages ago (and wasn't the only one to disagree with you there)?
Also - I think you may be conflating our physical world with Thedas and its physical plane: the physical plane that we know was once interacting freely with the Fade and was shaped by will and imagination either way, according to Solas. Thedas' physical plane, or Earth, or Stone or "unchanging world" is certainly not as easily shaped by magic, it's more solid and stubborn and unchanging - but it still appears to be, in great part, a construct of someone's will.
I mean... what about the Titans? The fantastical beings whose blood is, as Solas said it, "the source of all magic, save the ones mages bring themselves" and which can shape the world just by snoring, apparently?
Then there's the fact that despite the Veil blocking most of the magic from entering the world, it doesn't do so in 100% - this is how there are still mages and why any person capable of dreaming is able to contact spirits or even become possessed by demons. And that's entirely not mentioning the fact that the Fade appears to be the very source of person's emotions and perhaps even identity.
Even Cole tells us in Skyhold (after we turn him more spirit-y, I think) that the Fade is still 'here', only Veiled - constricted.
Um.... but I wasn't even discussing Flemeth's infallibility/fallibility
Also - I got a different impression of the Morrigan/Flemeth scene in DAI. Oh sure, I'm not going to argue here that Flemeth is infallible or something; I don't believe she is, but I also think the point of that scene was somewhat different.
Flemeth may have displayed a moment of genuine vulnerability and regret when Morrigan basically accused her of being a terrible mother, but I have a feeling that it was expected from Flemythal's part. After all, Morrigan can later tell to Inquisitor - "she was testing me. And I don't know if I've passed".
Well, from Flemeth's small but triumphant smile shortly before she departs I'd say that she possibly did pass the test (we only get to see that smile in OGB worldstate).
And why wouldn't she be triumphant? Wouldn't she - someone who at one point was a goddess of motherhood and love - be happy that motherhood and love have shone through, despite all odds?
That despite Flemeth being a mother she was for Morrigan, tooling the woman to be as cold as she was for her spawn (which she fully admitted was brought to this world for reasons other than either love for her man or desire to have a child), Morrigan found it in herself to appreciate the value of friendship and kindness (rather than mere survival) and change into someone better - a better person and a better mother?
Basically what I got from that scene is Flemeth being all "HA! My point was proven! This world will make it."
No, you weren't talking about Flemeth's falliability, but you mentioned her preparing Morrigan as "the inheritor of the next age," and it just got me thinking about that relationship and how the fandom views her. You can just ignore my non-sequitur rambling if you want, though. I probably should've put a warning about it being unrelated.
But to get at the point you made here - while Flemythal may have been testing Morrigan, I don't think she at all expected Morrigan to turn on her so completely. She was genuinely wounded. Even that line she gives as she departs - "You were never in danger from me." And said with such solemn regret, too. Like she's saddened that it even needed to be pointed out. That Morrigan didn't know. That's not a reaction I'd expect from someone who know they did wrong and saw retaliation coming. It's the reaction I'd expect of someone who thought they were doing a good job and were honestly astounded to be told otherwise.
I don't think Flemeth was at all testing Morrigan for... I dunno, emotional resilience. Remember, everything Morrigan tells you in the Origins, all that she says about the meaninglessness of love and beauty and friendship - that was all drilled into her by Flemeth. The idea that only power and survival matter, and everything should be sacrificed on that altar - those are Flemeth's values, instilled into Morrigan, and repeated back to the Warden. I find it very, very hard to believe she told Morrigan all that just to see if she would break from it - especially since, for someone who secretly wants to see love and idealism to prevail, she doesn't hesitate to break out that geas on her. I think Flemeth honestly believed everything she told Morrigan, and honestly believed that the cynicism and coldness she gave her daughter would prepare her for the world. Like, Flemeth never comes off as warm. Even the stories about Mythal, she never comes off as warm. It makes me wonder if her designation as the patroness of motherhood is meant to be ironic - "Here's the elven goddess of mothers and, whoopsie daisie, she's actually really terrible at it." (You could draw some interesting parallels with Hera here, actually.) It'd be an interesting twist to me, at least. And even if that's not the case, Mythal's primarily the goddess of revenge, and has obviously been stung by betrayal (Which inspires a great deal of revenge, naturally) so I wouldn't be surprised to learn that even values she once championed - good parenting, for instance - have been twisted by this desire. Maybe Mythal really was warm and caring and the picture you'd expect of the paragon of motherhood. Flemythal, however, was not. She says it was her betrayal and vengeance - not her love - which drew Mythal to her. (And doesn't Morrigan say she was alright with her husband basically selling her to some lord for power? Also not a stunning display of love and idealism.) She just doesn't strike me as a champion of love, or as someone who'd be particularly thrilled with it's victory.
Of course, another idea I've always really liked in regards to Mythal is the idea of a traditionally good concept (Motherhood) twisted and corrupted into something nasty. We think of mothers as affectionate and supportive. But all throughout the games Flemeth has been nothing but secretive, cryptic, and authoritative. Which is another aspect of motherhood, isn't it? It's the "Sit down, shut up, and do as I tell you" aspect. I think it'd be incredible if it turned out that that's the type of motherhood Mythal embodies - not maternal affection, but parental authority. It'd be such a subversion on the idea that motherhood is an inherent good.
And it'd even make sense, given that there's such a theme of good corrupting into evil in this series. Justice into vengeance. Wisdom into pride. Compassion into despair. And with Flemythal, love and motherhood into cruelty and tyranny. That's way more interesting than "Goddess of love really loves love" to me.
...I dunno, I feel like I'm not explaining myself real well. But there you go.
This bothered me a great deal, the sort of antagonist that was capable of weaving that tangled of a web of deception for years without detection, would have to be extremely cunning, patient and adaptable, able to come up with contingencies should one or more parts of his plans fail to fall into place.
Yet Corypheus never comes across that way once we finally meet him. Instead he's more like a petulant child throwing a cosmic temper tantrum and it makes you wonder how someone so badass on paper could be so lame when it comes to how easily we are able to thwart him post-Haven.
Haven is the only time he came across as threatening and something resembling the otherworldly menace, that had sprung up from nowhere to descend upon and destroy Thedas, that he was supposed to be.
It's why I always thought he should have been revealed to be just the top lieutenant of the real Big Bad of the game, albeit not without his own goals and designs for godhood. Having Nightmare be revealed as the true Elder One would have made far more sense, as it would have given us an antagonist that we were unable to combat directly because of his location deep within the Fade, as well as explain why someone so powerful needs Corypheus to be his pointman, as it's the only way to enact his will and orchestrate the means for him to try and enter Thedas.
I'm actually not sure if the Nightmare wasn't the one pulling strings for someone bigger - for what we know, Corpheus was always a pawn in someone else's schemes, albeit with enough agency and unpredictability to add his two cents to the pile. Oh sure, the Nightmare coming to help the one person that has brought so much pain to the world and promises to bring more sounds plausible, but I've always found that motivation... as not being all there was.
I mean... there's a lot of deal made to show how Nightmare influences people through fear: we see that with Wardens as well as many codex entries we find in Nightmare's domain. One of these codexes actually happens to focus on Corypheus:
This bothered me a great deal, the sort of antagonist that was capable of weaving that tangled of a web of deception for years without detection, would have to be extremely cunning, patient and adaptable, able to come up with contingencies should one or more parts of his plans fail to fall into place.
Yet Corypheus never comes across that way once we finally meet him. Instead he's more like a petulant child throwing a cosmic temper tantrum and it makes you wonder how someone so badass on paper could be so lame when it comes to how easily we are able to thwart him post-Haven.
Haven is the only time he came across as threatening and something resembling the otherworldly menace, that had sprung up from nowhere to descend upon and destroy Thedas, that he was supposed to be.
It's why I always thought he should have been revealed to be just the top lieutenant of the real Big Bad of the game, albeit not without his own goals and designs for godhood. Having Nightmare be revealed as the true Elder One would have made far more sense, as it would have given us an antagonist that we were unable to combat directly because of his location deep within the Fade, as well as explain why someone so powerful needs Corypheus to be his pointman, as it's the only way to enact his will and orchestrate the means for him to try and enter Thedas.
Yeah, I really gotta agree with this. Corypheus is a great villain on paper, but his execution was terrible. Everything up to Haven made a big deal about how scary and powerful he was, and between Haven and the Redcliffe future, it actually did a good job of communicating. After Haven though, he just decays into this... nuisance. It's hard to find him threatening when he fails at every turn.
It also ties into a complaint I brought up previously, in that I feel like the writers wanted Corypheus to be some incredibly brilliant mastermind, but couldn't figure out a way to really make it work. So instead of him being brilliant, everyone else (Clarel, Fiona, Florienne, even Solas) just act really dumb and make stupid mistakes for Corypheus to exploit. And that because of this, the Inquisitor doesn't feel like a triumphant hero who's overcome impossible odds so much as a janitor cleaning up the mess a bunch of children made on the floor. By bringing Corypheus down, they also bring down all the characters he successfully outwitted. Instead of him coming off as brilliant and his victims coming off as making honest, understandable mistakes, he comes off like an idiot who managed to outsmart other, even bigger idiots.
It's why I always thought he should have been revealed to be just the top lieutenant of the real Big Bad of the game, albeit not without his own goals and designs for godhood.
Well... that is kind of what happened. He just didn't realize he was someone else's pawn, probably because he pretty much immediately went off the rails.
(Although I personally like the idea that Nightmare could've been the real big bad, too. But given how even Weekes admitted to putting very little effort into Nightmare's writing, I highly doubt he's anything more than supporting antagonist like Florienne.)
Some before dinner thoughts...
So we've established Solas' parallels to Anders are pretty strong. The more I think about it though, the more I believe that Solas is going to turn out to be in the end, not "Anders up to 11", but more like both Anders and Fenris up to 11. Though that only works if its true that he really was Mythal's servant/slave, was her wolf, the powerful creature she kept on a leash to threaten the other magistersgods with, like Fenris was Danarius' "little wolf", and the parallel is that like Fenris, Solas' chains aren't completely broken, though how these chains would/could manifest, emotionally or physically, is yet to be shown.
Some before dinner thoughts...
So we've established Solas' parallels to Anders are pretty strong. The more I think about it though, the more I believe that Solas is going to turn out to be in the end, not "Anders up to 11", but more like both Anders and Fenris up to 11. Though that only works if its true that he really was Mythal's servant/slave, was her wolf, the powerful creature she kept on a leash to threaten the other
magistersgods with, like Fenris was Danarius' "little wolf", and the parallel is that like Fenris, Solas' chains aren't completely broken, though how these chains would/could manifest, emotionally or physically, is yet to be shown.
I wouldn't go so far with parallels - technically there are multitude of parallels between Solas and every DAI companion, yet we won't be calling him Iron Bull, or Cassandra up to 11th (though I do see potential to be Leliana up to 11th).
Truly, the biggest chains Solas has on himself seem to be the ones he himself has put on his own fate - not necessarily because of just bad decisions, or any sort of personal downfalls, but also his better qualities: the want to help people, the deep internal need to trust and do right things. Pair that up with near-impossible odds, or at the very least strong opposition and a good share of sheer bad luck and you get yourself a very compelling tragedy.
Truly, the more I think about it, the more he reminds me of this series' Ned Stark (or Jon Snow, or Dany, alternatively). Arrogant and grouchy as he can be, he wants to do things right: he wants to be fair and compassionate, he wants to believe people are better than they are... only for a-holes to prove him wrong and cripple his faith in people, himself and world in general.
At this point of the story it seems mostly as if he's 'chained' by his past's tragic momentum - he helped to re-shaped the world many times, only for it to blow it in his face and deepen his guilt. He very likely helped the Evanuris establish themselves and gain power in order to win the war, only for most of them to betray their ideals (no differently than any other organizations we know of) for the sake of gaining more power for themselves. He rallied people against them when things went bad, which probably had his mentor and the only person that could realistically keep Evanuris in check killed. He created the Veil to save people from Evanuris, only for his invention to leave the world in diminished state, which he can't forgive himself for.
Really, we don't even need Mythal in this equation for Solas to either act, or just Be Tragic ™. We'll pretty obviously see some interesting things between them, but the chains Solas has on himself appear to be mostly of his own making.
Though that only works if its true that he really was Mythal's servant/slave, was her wolf, the powerful creature she kept on a leash to threaten the other
magistersgods with, like Fenris was Danarius' "little wolf", and the parallel is that like Fenris, Solas' chains aren't completely broken, though how these chains would/could manifest, emotionally or physically, is yet to be shown.
I still really struggle with this. On one hand, if Solas is being manipulated and used/forced into what he is doing, that probably would make him "less evil" in the eyes of many. But that just feels cheap when he's been worked up to be what, so far, looks like an incredible anti-hero. I like the idea that he is fully responsible for his choices and accepts the consequences. Not someone's puppet, or a tragic victim of someone else's manipulations. Just a person that accepts who he is and won't hide from the reality of his faults, flaws, and decisions. That's what makes me such a fan of his. I respect that in an individual like nothing else.
That's also what makes him so different from Blackwall, by the way -- Solas accepts and admits to the terrible things he did or will do. Blackwall tried to pretend himself away from it, at least until Trespasser. He can be redeemed, sure, and I liked him fine after that, but before he was just a phony who refused to own what he'd done. Lame. (Not the character or story, just the person Blackwall was living as.)
But... the idea that Solas gave himself totally to the cause with the belief he was doing what was necessary and then it turns out he is betrayed, geased into something he would never have done? That would be an incredible moment to see. Done well, it would be heartbreaking and tragic and perfect. Done as a matter of course, here's Solas' "get out of evil free" card, I'd be very disappointed.
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