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[Almostfaceman]

Here is some exploration and my opinion regarding Solas and his mission to restore or save his people. This is not about the righteousness (or lack thereof) of this cause, just about the motivation of Solas and who he wants to restore. I think Solas wants to restore the "modern" elves. Some people are of the opinion that Solas plans to lower the Veil and free some hidden remnant of ancient elves. I don't really agree with this theory since it ignores the points below. 

 

In Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2, the default lore for elves is that they are a lessened and persecuted people. They preserve legends of Arlathan, where once they were mighty and immortal. Humans came, conquered them and infected them with mortality by proximity. There are no remaining immortal elves. They are all mortal, doomed to die like every other race. 

 

Here comes Inquisition and Solas. This is the first game of the series to expand on the Fade and the Elves relationship with the Fade. Using hindsight, we see that Solas is a window into the world of ancient elves and their kingdom. 

 

When an elven Inquisitor first meets Solas, they have an impromptu conversation on the road from meeting one another headed towards the Breach. In that conversation, we catch a glimpse of how Solas sees the Dalish. Solas says he's "crossed paths" with the Dalish. There are two options that I found revealing about what Solas has been busy doing/how he sees the Dalish as a result. 

 

"Crossed paths" option - the Inquisitor asks "What do you mean by crossed paths?" Solas answers... "I mean that I offered to share knowledge, only to be attacked for no greater reason than their superstition." 

 

Now, this is interesting. Solas awakens and goes to the Dalish. Why would he do that? Maybe the answer is somewhat revealed in another option during this same conversation.

 

After Solas says he's "crossed paths" with the Dalish, you can also choose to respond "We're both of the same people, Solas." He responds, "The Dalish I met felt differently on the subject."

 

Notice that he doesn't say at that point "you are not my people." So, here we have a setting of Solas going through Thedas, trying to reach out to the Dalish who treat him as an outsider. He is, to them, a flat-ear. Probably they think he is a city-elf. He is not "their people". 

 

So this breeds some bitterness in Solas at that point. He probably feels responsible, but I would also think he feels disappointed. He gives the elves their freedom from the Evanuris... and this is the best they could do? Scattered tribes of nomads or indentured slaves scattered across the continent. 

 

This sets the tone for "my people". What does an elf consider "my people"? It seems it is beliefs, a societal structure. Shared ancestry, shared genetics... that only goes so far, for many. You can play an elf in which this shared ancestry accounts for more, but this is apparently outside of Solas's experience at this point.  But this societal rift is also well-established between city elves and the Dalish via the previous two Dragon Age games. 

 

This shared ancestry means something to Solas. After all, he's traveled and spoke with the Dalish, and the city elves. 

 

He also speaks with Sera. Even after his experience with the Dalish, he tries to reach out. Even though they don't get along, he tries to reach out. First, he shares his language with her:

 

Solas: Ar dirthan'as ir elgara, ma'sula e'var vhenan.

Sera: Pppbbthh!

Solas: Excuse me?

Sera: Excuse yourself, whatever you said and what I did, same difference to me.

Solas: I'd hoped, well, our people can sometimes feel the rhythm of the language despite lacking the vocabulary.

 

Did you catch that? "Our people". Interesting insight into what's going on in the mind of Solas. Solas feels a kinship for these elves and it transcends the usual societal separations, probably mostly due to the fact that Solas is responsible for just about everything that's happened to the elven people. 

 

He then speaks to her twice more about her unique elven heritage... how intrinsic and inescapable it is:

 

Sera: (shivers) Weird.

Solas: Sera? What are you feeling?

Sera: Ugh, here we go. It’s nothing, it just feels like I've seen this. Exactly this. It happens.

Solas: Not to everyone.

(If Inquisitor is an elf)

 

Sera: It’s not an elf thing. Inquisitor's not shaking.

(Otherwise)

 

Sera: It’s not an elf thing. You’re not shaking.

Sera: I suppose now you’ll switch to how I’m the same but different?

Solas: You are different. You are the furthest from what you were meant to be.

 

And...

 

Solas: What color is the sky, Sera?

Sera: Hang off.

Solas: It is an earnest question. What color is the sky when you look at it?

Sera: You know. Blue, mostly. Except for the Breachy bits.

Solas: And when you looked past the Breach? As perhaps you were drawn to do?

Sera: Greenish? Then clear a long ways, and kind of... felt like falling.

Sera: Ugh! Makes my head hurt. You make my head hurt.

Solas: We are not so far apart, you and I.

 

Now, the story is trying to stress that there is something special about Elves and the Fade. Even though Sera is the first to make fun of Solas about the Fade, she can feel it. She can see it. Like only they and other elves can. Why would the story make this point? To point out there is a connection between Solas and the elves alive around him. He is interested in them. He wants to share knowledge, he wants to restore, he wants them to believe that they are not so far apart in nature. 

 

Why? The simplest answer is because he wants to fix his mistake and restore them. 

 

In Trespasser, Solas tells his story. This restoration makes sense in the context of this story. 

 

But I'll get to that. 

 

Inquisition, again, points out the elven perspective on "our people"/"my people". The story introduces an ancient elf... sustained throughout time by a magical duty to Mythal in one of her temples. His name is Abelas. 

 

Here, a Dalish Inquisitor takes the role of Solas and Abelas is in the role of the Dalish, like when Solas tells of his encounters with the Dalish before. Like the Dalish, Abelas doesn't see the Inquisitor or Solas as "his people" because of culture.

 

Inquisitor- the elves need you: Our people have lost everything. They need you. They could learn from you!

Abelas: "Our" people? The ones we see in the forest, shadows wearing vallaslin? You are not my people.

 

Whoa... if you're a snobby Dalish elf who's turned up their nose at the flat-ears... well... this is karma kicking you in the booty. 

 

I say culture, because Solas himself acknowledges that the ancestry is shared, when asked to aid in the conversation with Abelas. Solas emphasizes that "the world" of Abelas is gone, destroyed. So if it's not a matter of ancestry, it's a matter of culture.

 

Solas says: What shall I say, Inquisitor? Shall I sway him from a millennia of service by virtue of our shared blood? He clings to all that remains of his world, because he lacks the power to restore it.

 

Need more evidence that Abelas is referring to culture? To Abelas, elves are what they are because of knowledge. Not shared blood. This is revealed as the Inquisitor and Morrigan speak with Abelas regarding the Well of Sorrows. 

 

Morrigan: Fool! You'd let your people's legacy rot in the shadows!

Abelas: Do you even know what you ask? As each servant of Mythal reached the end of their years, they would pass their knowledge on... through this. All that we were. All that we knew. It would be lost forever. 

Inquisitor: Look around you. Everything your people were... it's already gone. 

Abelas: It is. 

 

And with Abelas yet again (as with the Dalish and Sera) Solas tries to bring elves together. Abelas sees the Inquisitor and Solas as the Dalish who are, remember, culturally "not is people"...

 

Abelas: You have the features of those who call themselves Elvhen. You bear the mark of magic which is... familiar. How has this come to pass?

 

Yet Solas reaches out to Abelas.

 

Solas: There are other places, friend. Other duties. Your people yet linger. 

Abelas: Elvehn such as you?

Solas: Yes. Such as I.

 

I'll repeat... this makes three examples of Solas reaching out to elves in Thedas. Why? The simplest answer is because he wants to restore his people. Again, this makes sense to Solas and how he sees his story. He reveals it all in Trespasser. 

 

Solas took away what he considers made elves, elves. 

 

Inquisitor: How did creating the Veil destroy the world?

Solas: You saw the remains of Vir Dirthara. The library was intrinsically tied to the Fade, and the Veil destroyed it. There were countless other marvels, all dependent on the presence of he Fade, all destroyed. Your legends are half-right. We were immortal. It was not the arrival of humans that caused us to begin aging. It was me. The Veil took everything from the elves. Even themselves. 

 

So, in the eyes of Solas, what makes an elf an elf? Is it age? Nope. Is it knowledge? Partially. What really does it, is their natural connection with the Fade. 

 

This is why Solas has been reaching out to the elves of Thedas...

 

Solas: I lay in dark and dreaming sleep while countless wars and ages passed. I woke still weak a year before I joined you. My people fell for what I did to strike the Evanuris down, but still some hope remains for restoration. I will save the elven people, even if it means this world must die. 

 

and...

 

Inquisitor: What would have happened if Corypheus had died and you'd recovered the orb?

Solas: I would have entered the Fade, using the mark you now bear. Then I would have torn down the Veil. As this world burned in the raw chaos, I would have restored the world of my time... the world of the elves. 

 

Again, some people are of the opinion that Solas plans to lower the Veil and free some hidden remnant of ancient elves. I don't really agree with this theory since it ignores these points of the story. Solas wakes up, reaches out to his people, sees they have fallen, then plans to restore them. 

 

Also, this theory weakens the whole of the Dragon Age story thus far. Dragon Age has bonded us... well I can only speak for myself... bonded me to the plight of the elves. They're second class citizens. They're slaves. They've lost immortality and a magical kingdom. I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels that humans shouldn't treat the elves as they do. There's much more of an emotional investment to see these downtrodden elves uplifted, compared to some hidden cache of ancient elves that we can't relate to stepping out of a stargate somewhere during Dragon Age 4. 

 

There is no point to Solas reaching out to the Dalish, to Sera, to Abelas... if Solas only cares about some hidden remnant of ancient elves. 

 

So, why doesn't Solas take along the Inquisitor? Why doesn't he offer to restore our Quizzy? The Inquisitor, for Solas, is a champion of a world he is going to destroy. 

 

Solas: I walk the Din'Anshiral. There is only death on this journey. I would not have you see what I become. ... It is my fight. You should be more concerned about the Inquisition.

Solas: But the return of my people means the end of yours.

 

That is all he will offer, he is evasive about anything more.

 

Inquisitor: Why does this world have to die for the elves to return? 

Solas: A good question, but not one I will answer. You have always shown a thoughtfulness I respected. It would be too easy to tell you too much.

 

Clearly, choices are limited because Bioware is setting up another confrontation between the Inquisition and Solas. Both choices at the end of the Solas conversation are worded in a way that leaves an "end state" between Solas and the Inquisition. The first is a redemption/save option (if you're friends/romance) and the other is a conflict/kill Solas option. 

 

 

 

At the end of Trespasser, we see an exodus of elves presumably headed to join Solas. This makes sense, he's reached out to them three times. He's reaching out again. He cares about them. He is willing to sacrifice even himself (I walk the Din'Anshiral. There is only death on this journey) to undo his mistake. What mistake? 

 

Solas: I sought to set my people free from slavery to would-be gods. I broke the chains of all who wished to join me. The false gods called me Fen'Harel, and when they finally went too far, I formed the Veil and banished them forever. Thus I freed the elven people and, in doing so, destroyed their world.

[Pokemario]

Interesting reading. I agree with you.

[Patchwork]

I'm not really sure what your point is?

 

Solas seems to reach out to modern elves like someone poking at a sore tooth, he wants the reassurance that they are still less, that he did something horrible to this once mighty race that has to be fixed at any cost. 

 

I don't think he's trying to save the few remaining ancient elves exactly his aim is to make sure any elves born in the future, in his Veil-less world, will have the full connection to the Fade like elves of Arlathan had. 

[Almostfaceman]

I'm not really sure what your point is?

 

 

My point is that Solas wants to restore the "modern" elves, not some hidden unexplained remnant of ancient elves. The OP contains the evidence for my position. 

[Almostfaceman]

Interesting reading. I agree with you.

 

Thank you. 

[AEve]

Thank you for this post. I've never played elf in Inquisition, and the  very first lines of the game playing an elven inquisitor :

 

Spoiler

 

"Crossed paths" option - the Inquisitor asks "What do you mean by crossed paths?" Solas answers... "I mean that I offered to share knowledge, only to be attacked for no greater reason than their superstition." 

 

Now, this is interesting. Solas awakens and goes to the Dalish. Why would he do that? Maybe the answer is somewhat revealed in another option during this same conversation.

 

After Solas says he's "crossed paths" with the Dalish, you can also choose to respond "We're both of the same people, Solas." He responds, "The Dalish I met felt differently on the subject."

 

 

were already crucial story wise, leaving more hints to consider. Interesting.

[Patchwork]

My point is that Solas wants to restore the "modern" elves, not some hidden unexplained remnant of ancient elves. The OP contains the evidence for my position.

Solas tells you that your people are going to die even to a dalish elf and that the the world is going to burn in raw chaos so I highly doubt his secret plan is that all dalish and city elves will suddenly become immortal mages. This world is going to die and everyone except for maybe those like Mythal's sentinals is going to die too.

[Almostfaceman]

Solas tells you that your people are going to die even to a dalish elf and that the the world is going to burn in raw chaos so I highly doubt his secret plan is that all dalish and city elves will suddenly become immortal mages. This world is going to die and everyone except for maybe those like Mythal's sentinals is going to die too.

 

I didn't say all Dalish and city elves will suddenly become immortal mages. I'm very certain any that don't follow him will probably die and probably some of those who do join Solas will die as well. 

 

Solas considers Sera "his people" (see OP). Clearly, he wants to save those like her. How then do you say Solas will only restore Mythals temple remnant of elves? 

 

And how would that small number of elves even begin to restore the elven world? 

[Qun00]

His most passionate fans believe he is extending an invitation to all modern elves to be part of a beautiful new world.

Truth is, these elves travelling to meet him are fools. Solas hasn't called them.

The only people he cares about are elves like Abelas. The ones that "yet linger" in different corners or the world.

I didn't say all Dalish and city elves will suddenly become immortal mages. I'm very certain any that don't follow him will probably die and probably some of those who do join Solas will die as well.

Solas considers Sera "his people" (see OP). Clearly, he wants to save those like her. How then do you say Solas will only restore Mythals temple remnant of elves?

And how would that small number of elves even begin to restore the elven world?

It takes Solas a good 5 seconds to make the association between modern elves and himself when the Inquisitor brings it up.

"My people...? Ohh, you mean elves!"

[Tidus]

Solas is not the first.. Briala helped her people through her lover Queen Celene for years and upon there discovery  Briala claimed the Eleven Eluvians for her people. Were I a Elf I would trust Briala over Solas.

[Almostfaceman]

His most passionate fans believe he is extending an invitation to all modern elves to be part of a beautiful new world.

Truth is, these elves travelling to meet him are fools. Solas hasn't called them.

The only people he cares about are elves like Abelas. The ones that "yet linger" in different corners or the world.


It takes Solas a good 5 seconds to make the association between modern elves and himself when the Inquisitor brings it up.

"My people...? Ohh, you mean elves!"

 

And? Like I illustrated before, he still reached out to them, and according to my evidence presented in his conversation with Sera, still considers them his people. All this proves is that he's not happy with them. I wouldn't be either, if I had gotten that reception he talks about at the beginning of the game. 

[Almostfaceman]

Solas is not the first.. Briala helped her people through her lover Queen Celene for years and upon there discovery  Briala claimed the Eleven Eluvians for her people. Were I a Elf I would trust Briala over Solas.

 

Based on what? 

[Qun00]

And? Like I illustrated before, he still reached out to them, and according to my evidence presented in his conversation with Sera, still considers them his people. All this proves is that he's not happy with them. I wouldn't be either, if I had gotten that reception he talks about at the beginning of the game.

Solas merely pitied their ignorance and offered history lessons free of charge.

Now, if his current goal ever had anything to do with building schools I could agree that one thing is related to the other.

[Nonoru]

His most passionate fans believe he is extending an invitation to all modern elves to be part of a beautiful new world.

Truth is, these elves travelling to meet him are fools. Solas hasn't called them.

The only people he cares about are elves like Abelas. The ones that "yet linger" in different corners or the world.


It takes Solas a good 5 seconds to make the association between modern elves and himself when the Inquisitor brings it up.

"My people...? Ohh, you mean elves!"

 

He doesn't consider them his people at that point. He says as much in Trespasser, doesn't mean he didn't change his mind about them. Which he does and admits in Trespasser again. The call he sent to the elves though Thedas is most likely the same process he went through when he liberated slaves under the Evanuris. He was worshiped as a God and reached out to these slaves. He does the same with Abelas.  There's no reason to let the modern elves die with the world if by tearing the veil apart they would end up whole. They are still the people, even though he compares them to Tranquils. Plus, it's his own fault they ended up like this. 

 

Now, I don't know about you but Solas never stroke me as someone who wouldn't take responsibility for his actions. 

[Almostfaceman]

Solas merely pitied their ignorance and offered history lessons free of charge.

Now, if his current goal ever had anything to do with building schools I could agree that one thing is related to the other.

 

Right, a game that features an elf who destroyed elven civilization has that elf visit the surviving elves to offer them a history lesson. 

[d1ta]

That's an interesting idea, OP. I'm glad there are so many interpretation to Solas's motivation.

I really enjoy reading that.

[Ieldra]

Fantastic post, OP. I think there are different statements that partly contradict each other about Solas and whether he cares for the current elves, but even if the picture isn't quite as clear as you claim, having all those pieces of dialogue and lore in one place is really nice. 

 

Here's a piece of evidence you missed: in the epilogue of Trespasser, we hear about elves vanishing, the implication being that Solas has something to do with it. If those elves go to join him, they must hope to gain something from that. Do they, perhaps, hope to be restored, and Solas said it was possible? If so, then either he cares, or he's deceiving them. While he's clearly capable of the latter, at this point I'm more inclined to believe the former.

 

Not that I agree with his methods. That has to be said, too.

[Tidus]

Almostfaceman,Based on the information gathered from reading 'The Masked Empire'. These DA books enlighten the games by giving background. The big difference Briala wants freedom and respect for her people which they need.. Not sure of Solas final goal.

[kimgoold]

Thank you and I do agree with a lot of your views, but with Sera I'm not so sure. It seems there will be more revealed about Sera and her nature in future games, she is special is some way to every other modern elf and I for one would love to know how. I always play an elf and a mage, but I never felt that Solas considered her one of his people, perhaps thats only my impression, but thats what I felt when I played the romance arc, especially when he drops her for not removing her vallaslin. I believe the elves that join Solas may be evacuated to another astral plain thru the eluvians to escape the veil/catastrophe but I don't see all being saved.

[UrdnotJuevos2.0]

Interesting idea, but I would lean more towards inconsistent writing by Bioware to explain the inconsistencies with Solas

[Dai Grepher]

Good work on all the effort you put into creating the thread.

 

However, I think you are overthinking a few things. I don't think Solas' words during the main game can be trusted. He was posing as a random but gifted nomad elf mage in the main game. So of course he will say things that match that background.

 

What Trespasser says is completely different. According to that, Solas had servants even soon after he awoke. He had his own agents, and they led Corypheus to the orb. It's likely that they reached out to Dalish elves on his behalf. Though I'm sure Solas witnessed Dalish who rejected their advice. I don't think they would reject Solas as easily though. Not only did Solas know ancient elvhen, but he knew the common tongue as well. So he would be the more persuasive elf. This is seen with Mihris and Jana. Solas may have also had Felassan working for him, though I don't know if that's ever made clear.

 

After Inquisition there are elves in Val Royeaux talking about someone calling out to them in their dreams. Solas might have something to do with that.

 

So I don't think it's that Solas isn't convincing. I think even in his weakened state he had enough knowledge and magic to convince most elves, who I have always found quite gullible actually. "The people bend their knee too quickly", comes to mind. I just think Solas is pretending that Dalish pushed him away because that fits his cover of being a non-Dalish apostate.

 

I think his dialogue with Sera is nothing but curiosity. He wonders how much of the old magic she can sense. Sera is basically a genuine pig to him. She is a measure of how much the Veil has disconnected the people from the Fade, and also an example of the people's potential in regaining that connection.

 

As for why he doesn't reach out to the female Dalish Inquisitor, I think that's because he doesn't want her to see the monster he must become. It's also possible that Solas is actually in love with Mythal, and knows he can't have both. The female elf almost got him to give up Mythal, but he realized that she would die eventually, while he would live on. So Mythal is the only real option for him. Just a theory.

 

Basically, don't take what Solas said during the game as proof of what he did. We know he was lying about many things. In my opinion, I think this makes his statements in Trespasser suspect as well.

[Medhia_Nox]

There is no way Solas is just an old elven mage. 

 

I am convinced he is a Spirit.

 

Funny... he equates the world to being Tranquil... and we know what happens when Tranquil get their minds back (hint: They go mad).  So - I don't think Solas wants what Solas thinks he wants.  

 

I look forward to saying:  Yeah, you're like a "Bad Life Choices" Spirit or something aren't you Solas...

 

Fortunately, I don't care what he "Hopes" to do... I care about what it's actually "going" to do... and I'm not trading modern Thedas so elves can sparkle (Hint:  Neither is Bioware... this isn't going to go well for Solas.) 

[Ghost Gal]

Beautifully written. You said everything I've been wanting to say far better than I ever could. =')

 

Again, some people are of the opinion that Solas plans to lower the Veil and free some hidden remnant of ancient elves. I don't really agree with this theory since it ignores these points of the story. Solas wakes up, reaches out to his people, sees they have fallen, then plans to restore them. 

 

Also, this theory weakens the whole of the Dragon Age story thus far. Dragon Age has bonded us... well I can only speak for myself... bonded me to the plight of the elves. They're second class citizens. They're slaves. They've lost immortality and a magical kingdom. I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels that humans shouldn't treat the elves as they do. There's much more of an emotional investment to see these downtrodden elves uplifted, compared to some hidden cache of ancient elves that we can't relate to stepping out of a stargate somewhere during Dragon Age 4. 

 

There is no point to Solas reaching out to the Dalish, to Sera, to Abelas... if Solas only cares about some hidden remnant of ancient elves. 

 

I agree. I think this cannot be stressed enough.

 

So, why doesn't Solas take along the Inquisitor? Why doesn't he offer to restore our Quizzy? The Inquisitor, for Solas, is a champion of a world he is going to destroy. 

 

Solas: I walk the Din'Anshiral. There is only death on this journey. I would not have you see what I become. ... It is my fight. You should be more concerned about the Inquisition.

 

I think it's worth noting that those who've read The Masked Empire know of Felassan, an implied ancient elf who was working for Fen'Harel. He was sent to get the password to Briala's Eluvians; at first he looked down on her and all modern elves as shadows of what they once were, but he grew to respect her over the book and ultimately decided to let her keep the Eluvians, to "give them a chance." At the end of the book, he went to confront a mysterious boss (which we now know was Solas), who was furious and killed him for his insubordination. 

 

This is further hinted in Trespasser, when Solas tells the Inquisitor about "an associate of mine" (or something along those lines) was supposed to get the password to Briala's Eluvians, but "I had to override the magic myself," and now after defeating the Qunari "all the Eluvians are mine now."

 

This is further damning by a potential line by Cole if you bring him along in Trespasser: "His friend had to die, because he saw them as people. A slow arrow [the meaning of the name "Felassan"] breaks in the sad wolf's jaws."

 

Solas cares about the elves very deeply, but when he's in Fen'Harel mode, he is not a nice person. He can be cold, cruel, calculating, and ruthless. It's possible that he doesn't want a befriended Inquisitor (or even a beloved one) to see that side of him. And to be honest, given the horrified and disgusted reactions you can find in even in the Solas discussion thread, he probably has every reason to fear.

 

Solas: But the return of my people means the end of yours.

 

[snip]

 

At the end of Trespasser, we see an exodus of elves presumably headed to join Solas. This makes sense, he's reached out to them three times. He's reaching out again. He cares about them. He is willing to sacrifice even himself (I walk the Din'Anshiral. There is only death on this journey) to undo his mistake. What mistake? 

 

Solas: I sought to set my people free from slavery to would-be gods. I broke the chains of all who wished to join me. The false gods called me Fen'Harel, and when they finally went too far, I formed the Veil and banished them forever. Thus I freed the elven people and, in doing so, destroyed their world.

 

I find it amazing how many people use the top line ("the return of my people means the end of yours") to discard everything you said in the above post to interpret Solas' plans to be "help only a few dozen sleeping ancient elves, then discard all modern elves once it's done." While Solas does say "the return of my people means the end of yours" to an Elven Inquisitor, I interpreted it to mean culturally, not literally. The city and Dalish elves are not "his people" right now because they are neither connected to the Fade nor culturally tied to the ancient elven culture.

 

By restoring modern elves into ancient elves, it will be the return of the ancient elves as the dominant elven culture and the "end" of the city elf and Dalish elf (not connected to the Fade, clinging to scraps of the past) as the majority/dominant culture of the elven population. And I think that's something most modern elves are fine with; most of them don't like living in slavery or poverty in human cities or being homeless wanderers on the outskirts of human lands. They only do so because they're making the most of the poor hand humans have dealt them in a human-dominated world. By restoring their world and their people to what they once were, they won't have to do that anymore.

 

I do find it amazing how many people choose to interpret the mass exodus of elves joining Fen'Harel as "suicidal end-of-the-world cultists who want to destroy the world and die in the blaze to restore ancient elves knowing they won't benefit from it" and I'm like, "What game have you been playing??? Solas has stated so many times in so many ways that he wants to restore the modern elves to their former status and most of them want to join him because they want to make a better world for their kind because they're tiring of languishing in slavery, second-class citizenry, and homeless wandering." Criminy...

[Wulfram]

But after Halamshiral he can say "Our people? Who are- oh, you mean elves! I'm sorry, I was confused. I do not consider myself to have much in common with the elves."

He is clearly poking at Sera to see how much "elfyness" there is left in her, but I don't think he finds much.

He uses "our people" quite a bit when talking to the Inquisitor after the sing-song, but I'd put that down to manipulation - his objective there is to encourage the Inquisitor to accept their place as leader.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

Solas cares nothing for the well-being of modern elves. Not only does he not see them as his people, he doesn't even see them as people at all. He only reaches out to them because for his plan to work, he needs subordinates to be sacrificial pawns to achieve his goal, and the modern elves are the most likely to listen to his lies of a better world for elves. It may be a better world for elves, but not their kind of elves but his kind of elves.