Ever since my many play-throughs of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II (not to mention my readings) I have firmly believed in a link between Flemeth and Andraste. The events of Dragon Age: Inquisition combined with the Dragon Age book series has further strengthened my belief. Feel free to de-construct and re-construct at will!!
I will be using the Tevinter calendar as reference (TE) up until the founding of the Chantry in 1195TE (1:1 Divine), where I will switch to Chantry calendar for ease of understanding.
NOTE: Tevinter calender starts at year 0TE when the Imperium was founded; this is approximately 1905 years after humans arrived in Thedas.
**The Chantry tells that the First Blight begins in 800TE and ends ~1000TE and is known by Andrastians as “The First Sin”**
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I will begin with the basics of Andraste’s tale, totally disregarding 'gods' as a factor (I believe spirits are the beings capable of the greatest acts of power in Thedas):
- It is said Andraste was born in 992TE in Denerim, when it was just a village
- As a young woman, has dreams of “the Maker”
- Escapes and marries an Avvarian warlord names Maferath
- She cries every night for her enslaved people, until “the Maker” responds
- 1015TE-1020TE Andraste leads the first Exhalted March to free her people from the Imperium.
- She allies with elven slave leader Shartan, it is believed the two were lovers
- 1014TE Shartan is killed before Maferath betrays Andraste to Archon Hessarian, it is said, in order to end the Avvarian invasion and to keep the southern lands out of Tevinter hands
- Andraste is burned at the stake in this same year alongside her faithful generals, the Chantry considers this “The Second Sin”. (NOTE: Hessarian ends Andraste’s pain in the fire by thrusting a blade through her chest)
From this information we can make a few calculated assumptions about the REAL Andraste.
- She was a mage, as only mages remember their dreams of the Fade upon awakening. The belief that she was also powerfully gifted in these arcane arts is held by the Tevinter Imperium (who converted to an Andrastian state in 1195TE)
- Maferath betrayed Andraste due to both political and personal motives. It is widely believed by many Andrastians that Shartan and Andraste were lovers. In DA:O, the Warden seeks the Urn of Sacred Ashes and encounters Maferath’s (acclaimed) spirit and his riddle is as follows:
o “A poison of the soul, passion's cruel counterpart; from love she grows, till love lies slain. Of what do I speak?” – the answer being jealousy
o The rejected ‘Canticle of Mafareth’ tells of his feelings towards his wife and her lover:
§ “Spite ate away all that was good, kind, and loving till nothing was left but the spite itself, coiled 'round my heart like a great worm. And in my darkest hour, I turned from Her and vowed that I would destroy Her.”
- Shartan was killed BEFORE Andraste, likely through Maferath’s jealous rage. Maferath then went on to betray his beloved to the Magisters, vengeance being one of the primary motives.
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We now move on to what little we know of Flemeth/Flemythal’s history:
- She is born in Highever 3:00 Towers
- 3:10 Towers is the year of the Third Blight, Toth, Old God of Fire, awakens to lead the Darkspawn
- Leliana’s tale says she was the wife of Bann Connobar of Highever
o She was discovered to be a mage (but I’m sure we all figured that)
o She lived happily until a poet named Osen came to the castle and she fell in love with him
o They fled together to the Korcari Wilds, and were harboured by the Chasind, and lived for a time
o Flemeth then heard word Connobar was dying and wanted to see her face, she went to him alongside her lover
o It was a ruse, and both were captured upon entry to Highever, Osen slaughtered before her eyes
o She was imprisoned in the highest tower, there she summoned a demon and was possessed. She fled and slaughtered Connobar’s men, in the Korcarri Wilds she plotted and also had many daughters (we know Morrigan and Yavana).
- Morrigan’s tale:
o The bard Osen was Flemeth’s husband, and Connobar, as lord who was jealous of their love
o Connobar promised Osen wealth and power in exchange for Flemeth, Osen agreed as did Flemeth
o Connobar lied and Osen was killed. Flemeth learned of this and swore vengeance, begging the spirits to slay Connobar – and they did.
o Flemeth was chased in to the Wilds where she met a demon that made her strong
We can draw a few assumptions about Flemythal from these scarce few pieces of information, and from events that play out in games, comics and books:
- Upon Sundermount in DAII, after summoning Flemythal with the words of the poem, In Uthenera, Flemythal speaks to Hawke “So refreshing to see someone who keeps their end of the bargain”. I feel this is a little hint, confirming the tale told by Morrigan in DA:O to be the truest.
- Flemeth appears to see in men, greed and blindness, and in women capacity for expansion of knowledge. For one, she has only daughters and makes many comments about female warden's different/superior opinions. Refers to men in DA:O as silly and seems to hold the male Grey Wardens in contempt.
- Spirits like to make deals as we have seen with many mages (Anders, for one). I believe in exchange for the destruction of Connobar, the ancient spirit Mythal requested Flemeth’s body play host and carry out her whims.
o In DA:I Flemeth explains the beginning of her relationship to Mythal, "Once I was but a woman, crying out in the lonely darkness for justice". Directly referring to her betrayal at the hands of Connobar, I believe.
o Flemythal also says to the Inquisitor, "She was betrayed, as I was betrayed, as the world was betrayed"
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Conclusions:
It is in using this quote from Flemythal (""Once I was but a woman, crying out in the lonely darkness for justice"), that, I believe, greatly strengthens the link between all three beings in question: Andraste, Mythal and Flemeth. The stories of Andraste speak of how she cried many nights in the hope of justice for her people, and Flemeth mentions her own lonely cry for justice as she was betrayed. It is important to mention that mankind, almost universally, blames the Tevinter Magisters for the Blight – and it is believed Andraste used this as reasoning for her Exhalted March. Both Flemeth and Andraste are betrayed by those with whom they made contract with, Flemeth’s promise to Connobar and Andraste’s marriage to Maferath. As such, I believe Mythal inhabited the corporeal forms of both Andraste and Flemeth.
This leaves questions for Mythal, if she is the original victim of vengeance, then who was the perpetrator? It is mentioned by Abelas, guardian of Mythal’s temple, that she was murdered. The acts against both Andraste and Flemeth were motivated by jealousy, towards the women and their lovers. I, personally, believe the culprit to be Elgar’nan, as his nature and personal involvement with Mythal (at least in legend) fits in best with what we know of the tales of the other two women – and, naturally, Elgar’nan’s name literally meaning “Spirit of Vengeance”.
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Strangely, the Towers Age saw the Blight of the Archdemon Toth, Old God of Fire. Toth was killed 3:25 Towers by a Grey Warden’s blade and split in to 3 pieces – later formed in to 3 daggers, each known as the ‘Thorn of the Dead Gods’. The link between Andraste and her death by blade whilst burning, and the death of the Old God of Fire by blade seems to be very strange coincidence. The blade splits in to 3 (Mythal, Andraste and Flemeth) ‘Thorns’. Not to mention, of course, Flemeth was born in the Towers Age.
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One thing that continues to baffle me is the relationship between Andraste, Shartan and the “Maker”. The Canticle of Maferath: “Spite ate away all that was good, kind, and loving till nothing was left but the spite itself, coiled 'round my heart like a great worm. And in my darkest hour, I turned from Her and vowed that I would destroy Her.” Seems to indicate a much more tangible jealousy than that caused by Andraste’s relationship with the “Maker”, rather it seems to be jealousy borne of the knowledge of Andraste being the lover of Shartan.
However, the “Spirit of Maferath” replies to the Warden at the Temple of Sacred Ashes:
“Yes, jealousy drove me to betrayal. I was the greatest general of the Alamarri, but beside Her I was nothing….They loved Her, as did the Maker. I loved her too, but what man can compare with a god?”
This reply appears to indicate Maferath’s jealousy and seemingly defeatist attitude when placed in competition with a god.
Scholars of lore please analyse and critique!
Thanks for reading! 
(I also find very heavy links between dragons and LITERALLY EVERYTHING. But that’s a post for another time 
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