Here there be SPOILERS for anyone who wants to avoid potential Inquisition details.
In Dragon Age 2, Marethari claims that the pride demon Audacity was guiding Merrill into fixing the Eluvian in order to directly possess Merrill and escape its Sundermount prison. We also know that Merrill, despite completing the Eluvian, was unable to make it function.
Based on details near Inquisition's conclusion, we now know the following:
- The Eluvians, much as Merrill and Morrigan have previously stated, represent a travel & communication network. The ancient elves did not have roads between nations or lands because they had the Eluvians. Some Eluvians, apparently, also go to other worlds. The details of that little tidbit are not spelled out very clearly - it's possible that Morrigan knows even less about this than she professes to know - but in the end, going the through one Eluvian takes you to a hub area where one can then exit through a different Eluvian. This hub exists between worlds - not the Fade but similar to it.
- The Eluvians are useless without a key, and each Eluvian may have a different key. What the key is for each Eluvian is unclear.
- The Eluvians are likely in some way considered alive. This point is left extremely vague and some of this is inference rather than outright fact. However, if Dagna is correct and that the Blight cannot affect non-living material, then a Blighted and/or corrupted Eluvian would seem to have a living component of some manner. Whether this is red lyrium or something as of yet unknown, Dagna's speculation on red lyrium would give us some reason as to why the Eluvian that corrupted Tamlen and/or Mahariel would have had the Blight. It would also appear that particular Eluvian was left unlocked, which is why it reacted to Tamlen's presence without the use of a proper key.
We know now why Merrill was unable to make the Eluvian function. She either:
- Has the key but lacks the knowledge on how to active the Eluvian.
- Has the knowledge on how activate the Eluvian but lacks the key.
- Most likely, lacks both the key and the knowledge on how to activate the Eluvian.
It's also highly unlikely that Audacity itself had a key or that it was trapped within the hub realm. This calls into question, as many of have already speculated, everything that Marethari said during the events of A New Path.
There is no way to know for certain - so much of the lore is yet unknown and there are elements that may be developed to change things, particularly in the light of what happens in the Temple of Mythal, but the way this appears to me is that Marethari's words regarding paying the price for Merrill's blood magic (coincidentally, I think both Dorian and Solas would agree with Merrill's perspective on blood magic) is a reflection of Marethari succumbing to the Pride demon's temptation.
Marethari believes she can save Merrill. Marethari believes that only she can save Merrill. Marethari also believes she knows enough about the Eluvian that she need not have done any further research into it or to whether or not it could truly have been cleansed. It's why she kept the Sabrae Clan at Sundermount years beyond necessity, to the great concern of her charges.
Marethari fell victim to Pride. How much of her belief that Merrill was in danger was of her own imagination as compared to Audacity's urging is certainly questionable, but in my mind, this appears the most logical explanation given the additional information on Eluvians we gained from Inquisition.
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