Mainly, what did you think about the revelation that the humans and Teventer did not destroy the elves, but instead the elves destroyed one another and that the facial markings were actually slave markings?
If you played Dalish Wardens/Inquisitors, how would they react?
I think the concept that the blood marking being widely revealed to be slave markings and that elven society in fact wasn't much different from Tevinter would likely similar to what happened to the Aiel when rand revealed their past to them. It will make them either stronger or break them and some of the dalish might still break from the revelation even if the society as a whole doesn't break, not to mention how it might affect their already complex relations with the city elves.
It was a pretty surprising reveal to say the least. I think many Dalish would be completely in denial about the whole thing. They built up their entire group identity around being the only remaining "real" elves, so finding out they're descendants of Arlathan's slaves will probably result in a profound identity crisis for some.
On the other hand, I think all in all it doesn't really matter that much. The past is the past, and even though they may have gotten their far-away history wrong, it doesn't change the fact that the Dalish went their own way and carved out their own place in the world. Besides, aren't they more about continuing the traditions of the Dales, i.e. their country after Arlathan? (Not sure about that, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)
In a very weird way, I also think it's good Arlathan more or less imploded. It casts a whole new interesting light on Tevinter. Basically they've now been reduced to upjumped scavengers 
Edit: One of my pet peeves with this part of the story: Sera's reaction to this whole reveal when in a romance with a Dalish inquisitor could've been written a whole lot better. You have to take an extreme stance on the subject no matter what. Either you're a raging elven supremacist, or you have to say "screw my whole life before now, I wanna be human". Slightly off topic, but I just played through that part and I wanted to share my disappointment. 
The reveal surprised me. It was nice to see the Imperium's past made a little less evil and i believe it ties in nicely with what we saw in Origins when we visited the temple full of werewolves. As you might recall when you find the arcane warrior locket it mentions some great darkness. I suspect the elfs opened up a portal to somewhere and let something horrible in. Then there is the mentioned of how the elven gods were betray and indeed the entire world. This brings up thoughts in the codex and mention of the hurlock alpha that spoke to the magister. It seems talking dark spawn aren't entirely new.
Now let's look at the cross roads. What are the odds that the golden city wasn't made by the maker but is another in between place made by the elfs? Perhaps they opened a portal to somewhere and let something horrible in, whatever intelligence is behind then blight, but managed to seal it within the golden city so that it didn't get out or perhaps only a very small amount got out. Then the Magisters come along and release the ancient evil the elfs brought into the world and sealed so long ago. Just a theory but maybe.
I'm not sure if Bioware really wants to make it the elfs fault but they do predate the dwarf empire if I'm not mistaken. How bad would it look though if it was confirmed the Imperium didn't release the blight they just sped up its progress?
They seemed to be the nice guys. But after every revelation i personally believes that the elfs of Arlhatan were the real tevinters.
It made the lore concerning the elves even more fascinating to me.I always got a laputa vibe from the ancient elves for some reason and that revelation just made me even more curious about what happened and lead Arlathan to it's doom.Particularly,after hearing the dialogues between Solas and Cole and the new info we get about Mythal and her murder.As for the vallaslin,the revelation that they' were originally slave markings made me more sympathetic towards the Dalish.
As far as I'm concerned,I'd be really interested to read a novel set in Arlathan or even play a DA game that takes place just before it's fall and Fen'Harel's so called "betrayal" of the gods,although we know that he probably lead some short of rebellion or smth).
I just let whatever Sera says wash over me since I've got used to her by now. I did point out that some of it was true because by then I'd met Mythal but you weren't allowed to point that out to her which was a pity.
As for the whole history reveal, well I took the view that at least it explained a lot. The biggest punch in the gut for my Lavellan was when Abelas said to him emphatically "You are not of my People". It made him revise his outlook on a lot of things, in particular the attitude of the Dalish to the City elves. He felt quite bad about that since now he knows how it feels. As for the slave markings; I didn't get that from the Temple. (May be I didn't choose the right dialogue option). The only time it was mentioned to my male Lavellan was when Corypheus was taunting him in the final battle. It would have been helpful if Solas had told him before but to be honest, when you're fighting for your life you don't really pay much attention to what the bad guy says. Afterwards he may have thought Corypheus was mistaking them for Tevinter slave markings; may be the elves continued to mark their faces when slaves of Tevinter for all we know, so it didn't unduly upset him. Since Cory was also taunting Dorian with being a traitor to Tevinter, it was clear he was just ranting.
Whether the Dalish will accept this revision of their history is another matter. I suppose he could point them in the direction of the Temple if they doubt his word. Even though Abelas and company are not longer there, the statues, mosaics and inscriptions are. What my Inquisitor hopes is that they will accept it and start to look forwards and build their own lives rather than trying to recapture something that never was. The situation of his own clan in being part of the ruling council in Wycombe together with city elves and human commoners, is a pattern he would like to see repeated across Thedas. With Orlais under the control of Briala, if the Dalish are sensible they can really improve their situation in the world but that involves co-operating with their human neighbours and building a future together. It remains to be seen if this can be achieved, particularly if Solas starts trouble involving ancient elves but the modern ones also get the blame, or worse still side with him.
The elves that ruined their original home land are long dead. Well most of them. The Dalish exist because they want another home land.
The Temple of Mythal confirmed what I already suspected.
That the Dalish are full of crap.
It's Thedas, pretty much everyone is full of crap...But at least the Dalish legends are amusing.
Although I do give props to the writers, the fact that Theda's habitants no matter their background misinterpret history makes them feel more "real" and me as the player more fascinated to learn the truth behind the legends.
The Temple of Mythal also confirmed what I knew all along: that the ancient elves were s**t, their gods were s**t, and the modern elves need to be looking to the future instead of constantly wailing about "lost glories."
So, y'know. Pretty pleased overall. Though I do feel a bit sad for Merrill.
For some weird reason I have this feeling that the fact that the markings were slave marks was mentioned before DAI. At any rate I always thought that elves were snobs stuck in the past, so that didn't changed
The Temple of Mythal also confirmed what I knew all along: that the ancient elves were s**t and the modern elves need to be looking to the future instead of constantly wailing about "lost glories."
Nah,I think the ancient elves were pretty cool despite how obviously flawed their society was.My opinion obviously, but I'd take "corrupted powerful empire,full of ancient forbidden secrets" over the idealised version of the Dalish anytime.
Nah,I think the ancient elves were pretty cool despite how obviously flawed their society was.My opinion obviously, but I'd take "corrupted powerful empire,full of ancient forbidden secrets" over the idealised version of the Dalish anytime.
For some weird reason I have this feeling that the fact that the markings were slave marks was mentioned before DAI. At any rate I always thought that elves were snobs stuck in the past, so that didn't changed
Everyone can be a dick even if they lack one. The ancient elves probably had wide ranges of opinions about life, with the biggest dicks winning like tiger blood until the entire race fell to their hubris. It's a wonderful cautionary tale, too bad no one knows their language to tell it.
;-)
Merril says that Fenris' tats look like vallaslin. That might be it.
Hmm..could be, but I think it was something in DAO, somehow i'm associating it with Dalish origin or camp, or something similar not Fenris related.
The ancient elves were dicks, but at least they were honest about it.
To be perfectly honest,I doubt I'd like them in the first place if they weren't such.They seem to have had an edge and that's hardly boring.
i found the reveal rather fascinating and interesting and i really want to know the whole truth, especially concerning mythal's murder and where the other creators went. i agree with those who said that the dalish will likely be divided over this. some dalish are so full of hatred and disdain of other races that it would be hard for them to accept that the ancient elves they romanticised were actually pretty awful people and no better than tevinter. i can only imagine how merrill would feel. it breaks my heart at just the thought that she could be one of the ones who would be in denial, not after all she went through with her clan and losing marethari.
Not much changed for me, really.
It was pretty well established that they didn't know their own history, and were cobbling it together as best they could. And generally, no culture in the Dragon Age universe is fully understood, since the writers have always left room open for interpretation, as well as the ability to expand or tinker at a later time.
As for the dramatic reveal part of it, well... in spite of my best efforts to avoid spoilers before I finished it, those two details had long since been spoiled for me via different mediums, so there wasn't really anything to be surprised by.
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