In a search for what the Taint is exactly, I began to ponder the nature of magic in Thedas and I came to a theory that I thought was at least worth sharing. Maybe it's wrong, but who cares about that anyway?
There are discrepancies in the nature of magic in Thedas, at first this seemed like bad writing to me, but perhaps it's not as contradictory as once thought and this might point at a deeper truth. Let me explain.
According to Cole in Dragon Age: Inquisition, a firespell is cast by summoning semi-sentient fire wisps from the Fade. Wonderful, except that Darkspawn emissaries can cast exactly the same spells and they don't even have a connection to the Fade. In fact, they are so far removed from the Fade that the Fade's denizens are utterly perplexed when the Taint is used against them. The Taint itself then, carries the power needed to cast spells, which are shaped, presumably, by the emissary's will.
So the Taint is a power source that can allow you to cast spells without access to the Fade. This means that the Fade is not a necessary component in magic. Actually, that the Taint is a power source is probably not accurate. The real power source is Blood of course, and what we usually describe as "the Taint" is actually a Tainted version of that power source, just as Red Lyrium is a Tainted version of Lyrium.
On top of that, there is another kind of power source, probably the most ubiquitous one, namely Lyrium. Lyrium is mighty indeed. Not only does it provide mages with fuel for their magical spells, it also bestows the power to negate magic to Templar, it allows the creation of magical runes, over time it builds up an immunity to magic. And, last but not least, it gave magical abilities to Fenris. Perhaps more like an enchantment than like a mage, but still the power was given. No connection to the Fade needed for these effects, no need to convince wisps to burn in order to have a flaming sword.
It should be said however, that those effects can indeed be replicated by a mage. Magic cancelling powers? Can be done. Putting swords on fire? Yup, that's a spell too. There is nothing unique about the powers Lyrium can bestow, but the power source is definitely Lyrium and not the Fade.
So, here we have two power sources for magic with which we can cast spells for which the explanation thus far has usually been "the Fade". So what is the Fade good for then, if it's not needed for magic? Well, for a large part it's a power source for magic just like Lyrium and Blood. It provides the power needed for a spell. Further similarities are there, if you want to power more potent spells with Blood magic, you can sacrifice someone else for their Blood; if you want more power with Lyrium, you simply need more lyrium; if you want to overcharge a spell with the Fade, you need more Fade. How? By summoning a spirit or a demon. Want to be a decent healer? You need a spirit to empower you! Spirits don't just live in the Fade, they ARE the Fade. This is why when Anders channels Justice, that there's suddenly no more barrier to the Fade for the Tranquil in his quest in Dragon Age 2, the Fade is actually in that room, ready to be drawn on by the mage.
Perhaps we should also mention at this point that Solas also told us that it's harder to enter the Fade by using Blood magic, not entirely unlike Lyrium eventually also cutting you off from the Fade. Why this is I cannot guess at this point. Maybe I'll come up with something later.
It should be noted at this point, that if we consider Blood to be red, Lyrium to be blue, and the Fade to be green, as they are each usually depicted, we have actually covered all three primary colors (and, unfortunately, the endings to Mass Effect 3). It seems like a Bioware thing at this point.
Now that we've established that the Fade is another power source for magic, it's time to begin to ask ourselves how and why.
We know that the Veil has not always existed, but what if the same is true for the Fade? What if it was created by someone for some purpose? To find that out, let's look at the other properties of the Fade.
The Fade is shaped by will and emotions. When you try to escape the Fade in 'Here Lies The Abyss', Solas tells you as much, urging you to will your way to the exit and surely a path can be found to let you exit. We also know that the Nightmare demon has grown massive due to countless ages of nightmares. Desire demons are fuelled by desire, and Pride demons by pride. We even know that spirit become demons because that's how people perceive them and will them to be. The Fade has no will of its own, it's fuelled by the will of those that interact with it. Hence the in universe observation that spirits have no creativity.
This also handily explains why denizens of the Fade cannot possess an unwilling host. The spirit or demon, even should someone else drive it with its will, cannot overcome the will of the person it is interacting with, because said person's will drives the Fade just as much as whoever wills the possession.
This driving will reminds me of what is arguably the best part of Dragon Age: Inquisition, the Well Of Sorrows. Much like the Fade remembers whispered secrets and is shaped by the will of those attached, the Well Of Sorrows is filled with the secrets or memories of a god and is shaped by the will of said god, thus binding the person who partakes of it also to said god's will. It stands to reason that apart from Mythal, the other elven gods had such Wells. On top of making a Well, we know the ancient elves could also make their own explorable realms, as the world of the Eluvians demonstrates.
Now, why would they make the Fade? Well, most of the elven gods wouldn't. They were fine with the required blood sacrifices, because they already had an enslaved population completely willing to do as these gods required. There is one, though, one who had at least the capabilities of a god, but envisioned freedom for his people, Fen'Harel. Because that is the big difference between the Fade and a Well, the Fade is not driven by one entity's will, it is a collective dream that every living being is connected too. It is a sort of democracy of shared power. To lessen the need of blood sacrifice, the Fade collects a little magic from every person, both to fuel itself and so others can draw upon this power. The idea was likely for all elves to have equal access, since elves have a stronger connection to the Fade, on average, than humans do.
Dreamers are likely those mages who had the type of overriding will that allowed them to actually have a Well. Likely the gods were not as free from counter influence as they thought, and thus were attributed their primary characteristics through the well, making them have spirit like personalities, not unlike someone who is possessed, and not unlike Hakkon who gained a personality because enough Avvar believe in him.
So, that's the main part of my theory.
Apart from that, I think that one of the consequences of the existence of the Fade is the mortality of the elves. Mortality is imposed on the elves because they are now mentally connected to the will and subconscious of the more numerous human beings who cannot even imagine immortality. The only elves that escaped this fate were those who were still bound to Mythal and not to the Fade. Their immortality is intact because mortality was never willed on them.
Secondly, the Black City. Once it was the place in the Fade that held the Wells of the other gods. Or at least the wills attached. Maybe the Fade was built around the Wells, or maybe the Wells became connected because the Wells were connected to the minds of some of the elves who became connected to the Fade. Regardless, we know that some of the elven gods had already gotten corrupted before, it is possible that they became corrupted again and thus turned the Golden City black. Why do I think that the Wells reside in the Black City? Because there must be a cause to the song that the Darkspawn hear. We know that the Wells whisper to those who have absorbed it, several superimposed whispers may sound like a song, or maybe there's a metaphysical effect (like Lyrium sings to Fade spirits) is combined with the whispers to create the effect.
The theory that the Old Gods are the elven gods already exist, and combined with the above explains why the Darkspawn seek the Old Gods. The reason then that Corypheus is free of that influence is that his Old God, Dumat, is no longer around to enact his will. I would also raise the possibility that the Old Gods are not at all corrupted by the Darkspawn upon being freed, but that they were already corrupted and that this explains their Tevinter names. Afterall, a corrupted spirit also usually changes its name.
It could also explain how Corypheus knew about the Well Of Sorrows. He'd already absorbed the knowledge of another one, and while he may not have access to all the knowledge contained within, it would have been enough to figure out the location of the missing Well. Just a random guess.
What about the Forgotten Ones? I have linked the elven pantheon to everything in Thedas at this point, but what about their evil gods. Well, they weren't so much evil as elves who weren't going to take their gods bullshit. I think there's a codex entry in The Jaws Of Hakkon that reinforces that. Instead they went on to create their own alternative to blood magic and created Lyrium. Because it can be used to make you immune to magic and cuts you off from the Fade, or perhaps even all Wells. Not much to support this of course, too little is known about the Forgotten Ones.
That is all for now, except maybe, on an unrelated note:
The Red Lyrium at the Temple Of Sacred Ashes... is it possible that Lyrium gets Tainted when the Fade is breached? It seems unlikely that Corypheus could plant a lot of Red Lyrium around the site without being noticed and all the blue Lyrium that was supposedly at the site seemed to have disappeared. We also know that the Magisters who entered the Black City came back to Thedas in the Deep Roads. If that was near the Primeval Thaig and Fade Breaches do corrupt Red Lyrium, that might explain a lot.
Well, I hope this was at least an entertaining read.
Retour en haut
