I've long wondered if the world of Dragon Age could take place in the same universe as Mass Effect, and it was that pondering that really got me thinking on the subject of whether or not qunari were actually aliens. I know this sounds strange, but bear with me (and keep in mind that when I say 'qunari,' I mean the people with horns rather than those that follow the Qun).
Reason 1: Using our planet as an example (since it's the only known planet with an example of life to work off of), it is fairly clear that there can really only be one dominant race at a time.
There may be many rival races vying for power and control (humans, elves, dwarves), but eventually only one will emerge victorious (humans). In Thedas, human numbers are strong while dwarf population is in a terrible decline. The same can be said of elves, although their situation differs somewhat from the dwarves. Either way, humans are the ones that are definitely prospering while their counterparts suffer. Qunari seem to be exempt from this rule, however, which doesn't make sense based on what we know of our own planet. They are an incredibly strong and formidable force that show no signs of slowing down. As a side note, this also seems to be true in Mass Effect: nearly every planet has only one dominant race on it.
Reason 2: Humans, elves, and dwarves are all pretty similar to one another despite the diversity of each race. They definitely do have their differences between them, but they certainly have more in common with one another than they do with the qunari. Why are the qunari so different from them, then?
Qunari do not really share any traits with the other races outside of pointed ears and being bipedal. They also lack diversity. Qunari are all supposed to have eyes of the same color, and the hair on their heads is meant to be white. And, unlike any other known race in Thedas, they have horns. Qunari claim this is because of their "dragon blood," but is that is hardly more plausible than them being from another world. Going back to Mass Effect again: most of the alien races in the game also lack diversity, with only slight color variations.
Reason 3: Qunari practice selective breeding.
They say it's for job purposes, but it might also be in part because of reason 2. Maybe they are all so similar to one another because they have a fairly small gene pool? Perhaps this is why they are so conscious of who is paired with who- to prevent a bottleneck in the population?
Reason 4: No one knows where they came from.
We know that they came from somewhere in Thedas, but nothing much more specific than that. It's also theorized that they have not had contact with the "mainland" for quite some time. Could it be that they may be the surviving spawn of an alien ship that crashed on the planet some time ago? A divide in their ranks might mean that part of the survivors of the crash went one way while the rest stayed put, and perhaps it is those that stayed put on "the mainland" that died. Could this be why the qunari no longer have contact with them? If they did come from a crashed ship, this may also be another reason why #3 is so important to them.
Reason 5: Qunari mages don't really enter the Fade.
They're seen there sometimes, it's true, but qunari claim that the Fade is a very different place from the one humans and elves enter. This seems to be true, as human and elf mages report that qunari are very rarely encountered in the Fade. And yet qunari get their magic from somewhere, don't they? Where would that be, if not from some special Fade-like place that only they can access? If only they can access it, why would that be?
Reason 6: Their technology is advanced and of a different 'sort' than the other races.
Each race can build some pretty awesome stuff, and although it is said that the dwarves are the most technologically advanced, the qunari create things of an entirely different caliber. They have black powder, which means it's likely they have cannons. Iron Bull's original concept art also shows him with what is basically a gun, which means that the qunari probably have firearms in their near future if they don't have them already. Dwarves have yet to figure out how to make black powder. They have clocks and golems instead, which isn't really the same sort of technology, I'd say, as what the qunari are producing. Is it possible that their advances are relics of their alien past? Assuming they did crash land on the planet Thedas, it's possible that much of their original technology was lost and forgotten over the generations. Cannons and warships and guns could just be the scary leftovers.
These are just some of the reasons I was able to think up in favor for the idea, but I'm sure more will eventually come to me. Anyway, what do you guys think? Does it still sound crazy and impossible?
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