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[Gervaise]

I think it is safe to say that no one in modern Thedas knows the true source of the Blight since the Chantry version is clearly far too simplistic and subject to religious bias.   Solas of course is not really of modern Thedas and I'm pretty sure he does know the true origin of the Blight.   It was one of those questions you never got allowed to ask, even though after doing the Descent, reading the stuff about Mythal in her own Temple and in that secret location in Trespasser regarding her war with the Pillars of the Earth, I very much wanted to.  

 

When Solas was beside himself about how we needed to stop the Wardens I got the distinct impression it had far more to it than simply he didn't like their motivations or the repercussions to killing the last of the old gods might not put an end to the Blights.    He KNOWS something but as always he only tells as much as he wants to about anything. 

 

That dwarf commander in the Descent suggested that seeking out and killing the broodmothers would make more sense than killing the archdemons.   I'd agree with him on that since so long as you have broodmothers who can produce thousands of offspring during their life time, there is going to be a never ending supply of darkspawn.    Simply getting tainted does not make a darkspawn; that produces a ghoul, a weaker version of the darkspawn.   Broodmothers are not simply women who became ghouls but women who were kidnapped by darkspawn, forcibly fed darkspawn flesh and fluids and raped.   However, I'm still not clear why this transforms them into a giant slug like creature.  Still if you look at how red lyrium transforms the person it is growing on, it is not such a big stretch to imagine the same with the taint. It was implied in DAO that the Warden was actually the person who made the discovery about the broodmothers, which is surprising the number of years they have been around.     Still if this was only a recent discovery, then the first bit of information that needs to be circulated throughout Thedas is that if you are a woman and look about to be captured by darkspawn, for Maker's sake kill yourself.

 

What we still do not know, but again I'm sure Solas does, is the connection between red lyrium and the Blight.     We know that red lyrium is lyrium infected with the Blight; we know that this causes it to be able to be farmed from living beings by feeding them with the stuff; we know that it can grow off the smallest organisms; we know it seems a more potent source of magical power than can give even non mages magical abilities and produce effects that normal magic and lyrium cannot.    We know that it is clearly very ancient in origin since it was in the primitive thaig.    Solas also stated at the Shrine at the beginning of DAI that the red lyrium was caused by the large magical explosion that took place there (although it was a throw away comment you could miss and were never allowed to ask him about) clearly reacting at the site of a huge amount of lyrium (Oghran pointed this out back in DAO).     The Magisters allegedly behind the Blight were said to have used huge amount of lyrium together a massive blood sacrifice in order to enter the Fade, so it could be the reaction between the blood and the lyrium was what caused the taint in them but not the origin of the original taint.

 

The reason I still have any interest in Solas is because clearly we are not going to get any more answers until we either track him down again or we uncover more clues as to what occurred back before he raised the Veil.    I'm also of a mind that he must have had help; I just can't see him having had the power on his own.   If it was just down to his orb, where did the orb acquire its power?    Also how many others were there?    Dorian claims to have seen pictures of ancient Magisters with similar orbs and I suspect they were scavenged from old ruins.    Many building in Minrathous are said to have been constructed from magic and only stay upright because of it.   What's the betting it wasn't ancient human magic that was used in their construction but elven artefacts?

 

I've just been replaying the early part of DAI and talking with Solas about his origins.    I don't know about the "small village" story; I think that was just a tale he spun, but I do think his recounting about his interest in the Fade as a young elf probably was genuine.    Whilst the Veil has apparently not always existed, the Fade has always been there and the memories in the library seem to indicate that many ancient elves specialised in studying it and journeying to its depths, with the aid of friendly spirits.    It is likely that the majority of these would have been followers of Dirthamen but also may be Falon'Din, as these two are associated with travelling the Fade in Dalish legends.    Now Andruil is said to have gone mad as a result of hunting in the Void.    I wonder if Falon'Din likewise went too far into the Fade and "forgot" himself, hence him coming back and going crazy with blood lust and desire for worship.      

 

According to Solas Mythal cared about her people and protected them.    I think time has probably sentimentalised his memory of her reign but nevertheless, if taken at face value, it would seem that it is not inevitable that a having a powerful mage in charge is a bad thing.    After all, for all we know, the Titans were the bad guys.    That said, I don't think releasing the trapped Evanuris is ever going to work out well, either for Solas or anyone else, since after all this time they are going to be royally p***ed off and out for vengeance.

[Almostfaceman]

That is not necessarily related to a caring toward the old gods of whom Solas doesn't seem to care but merely on the fact that he think that the blight can't be stopped only by killing them(there is not even the need for Solas  to know that  DAA is the story of a blight without an archdemon)

I don't even know where this notion of him caring for the old gods or the old gods being important popped up.

 

It didn't come from me, you just started talking about that out of the blue. 

[Almostfaceman]

Well, you don't need to have advanced knowledge of the Blight to think it may not work that way. Any Dwarven codex entry on the Blight can teach us that Orzammar faces a neverending war against the darkspawn every day. If anything, Archdemons make the horde more organized and able to carry out complex strategies, but the power of the darkspawn is in their sheer numbers.

 

I can't remember where, but I think there was a Dwarf codex entry that said that, if Orzammar fell, the surface world would be facing a continuous Blight, Archdemon or not. At best, Clarel's plan would have saved some time to prepare and maybe allow the surface world to pay attention to the underground for a change instead of living in oblivion... but knowing their record, I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

Good points but what I mean is he may know where it originates from and why it seeks out Old Gods and corrupts them. 

[Macha'Anu]

Being a dbag= taking the mages as "prisoners" and not as allies, cuz taking them as the latter completely makes sense seeing how they allied themselves with Tevinter, Fiona's attitude and their general behavior even before that (which ranged from utter stupidity to "please, take us into your custody. PLEASE"). Not allowing an order that has been fundumental to the world to just get thrown around because "HOW COULD THEY- righteous rage of the screw up elven god". The Well, and that whole situation just talks for itself.
In short, ask questions to Solas and he'll be mildly amused by the Inquisitor, do something he doesn't like and enjoy getting judged by someone who, clearly, has the high-ground on everything that is morally right and ethical
 
Also, he woke up one year before Inquisition and in that time he made some kind of organization, made a plan to give the orb to Cory and acted upon it. I'd say that would take something like 6 months, so his schedule once he woke up was something like this, probably:
 
January-March: try to convince some elves of some clan to abandon their centuries old beliefs in favor of the world of good ol' great me. Possibly fail so i can at least say "i tried"
April-September: make a very smart plan and, this is important, absolutely learn nothing of the different factors that could screw it up
October-December: find a wolf pelt to put over my sentinel armor
 
This without considering the time he spent in the Fade, nor his travels to ancient ruins (that he did as a hobby while plotting to kill everyone)
 
ALSO, if anything the Dragon Age games showed me that Thedas, or at lest the South, can and will unite against a common enemy, that the good far outweight the bad. What has Solas' great lost civilization has shown me? That power-hungry, slavers egomaniacs were in power AND that destroying everything was the only to get the world rid of them (and when i say, i try to see it from Solas' POV, since his defition of "only way" is quite arguable)
 

 
Or, it's a clue that he's a major hypocrite, judging people who tried to do good and were twisted by others to do evil, while he twisted himself into doing stuff like that and worse in the name of some lost civilization
 
One or the other, really

To your point one. Seems THAT part of his previous world hasn't changed since. Oh idk it's still exists. Not to mention the outright racism shown by northerners and southerners to people cause le'gasp pointy ears!

Point 2 kinda like a lot of people here do with Solas and we'll many other characters with only a half told story (gaider even says half the story was never told) and yet. Here they all are being judgey judgingtons.
thanks for the reply

[Lezio]

Messed up checking the grammar of my previous post, quoted instead of editing

[Mistic]

What we still do not know, but again I'm sure Solas does, is the connection between red lyrium and the Blight.     We know that red lyrium is lyrium infected with the Blight; we know that this causes it to be able to be farmed from living beings by feeding them with the stuff; we know that it can grow off the smallest organisms; we know it seems a more potent source of magical power than can give even non mages magical abilities and produce effects that normal magic and lyrium cannot.    We know that it is clearly very ancient in origin since it was in the primitive thaig.    Solas also stated at the Shrine at the beginning of DAI that the red lyrium was caused by the large magical explosion that took place there (although it was a throw away comment you could miss and were never allowed to ask him about) clearly reacting at the site of a huge amount of lyrium (Oghran pointed this out back in DAO).     The Magisters allegedly behind the Blight were said to have used huge amount of lyrium together a massive blood sacrifice in order to enter the Fade, so it could be the reaction between the blood and the lyrium was what caused the taint in them but not the origin of the original taint.

 

His words in the shrine are: "Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the temple, corrupted it".

 

We know red lyrium is lyrium corrupted by the Taint, not just magic. If he knew the truth behind that, his throw away comment was basically playing dumb, not to reveal he knew the actual source of the Taint in that scenario. Maybe he knows more, maybe he doesn't, but so far we can only guess.

 

Good points but what I mean is he may know where it originates from and why it seeks out Old Gods and corrupts them. 

 

I know. My point is that he doesn't reveal or even hint more about the Blight than what a well-informed person in current Thedas (that is, a protagonist) can know, so we can't judge his knowledge in this matter. From a writing perspective, it may be because Bioware hasn't decided yet how much he knows and they are holding the cards close to their chest.

[Almostfaceman]

I know. My point is that he doesn't reveal or even hint more about the Blight than what a well-informed person in current Thedas (that is, a protagonist) can know, so we can't judge his knowledge in this matter. From a writing perspective, it may be because Bioware hasn't decided yet how much he knows and they are holding the cards close to their chest.

 

My experience is different. Before his skepticism towards killing arch demons, I would have taken the same tactic and thought that killing the remaining arch demons would be a good idea. That's all I remember being told from the previous Dragon Age games, arch demons = Blight. 

 

So I learned something new from Solas. He's skeptical... no he down right shoots down the idea as "good" altogether.

 

Other than that, yes, I think we agree it's just a hint. And certainly Bioware can go in just about any direction with the new game, even throwing out Solas altogether. I don't think it's very likely but yeah anything could happen. 

[Bayonet Hipshot]

Lyin' Solas holds the Orb up high then puts it down and starts lying. 

 

Lyin' Solas is a mess. Sad !

[Almostfaceman]

Lyin' Solas holds the Orb up high then puts it down and starts lying. 

 

Lyin' Solas is a mess. Sad !

 

Obvious troll attempt is obvious.

 

[Gaia300]

My experience is different. Before his skepticism towards killing arch demons, I would have taken the same tactic and thought that killing the remaining arch demons would be a good idea. That's all I remember being told from the previous Dragon Age games, arch demons = Blight. 

 

So I learned something new from Solas. He's skeptical... no he down right shoots down the idea as "good" altogether.

 

Other than that, yes, I think we agree it's just a hint. And certainly Bioware can go in just about any direction with the new game, even throwing out Solas altogether. I don't think it's very likely but yeah anything could happen. 

Since DAA was clear enough that blights could have been triggered even without archdemons hanging around  with the presence of the disciples.

The taint possess an hive mind which operate by connecting each tainted being the archdemons just happen to be able to rach more members of the hive mind they are a part of the blight not the core of it i think most GW already know this.

[midnight tea]

Obvious troll attempt is obvious.

 

 

Don't encourage it May try and use even bigger font and then where we'd be?

[Bayonet Hipshot]

Obvious troll attempt is obvious.

 

 

Solas did lie and Solas is in a messy state. So its perfectly fair to call him Lyin' Solas.

 

[Almostfaceman]

 

Since DAA was clear enough that blights could have been triggered even without archdemons hanging around  with the presence of the disciples.

The taint possess an hive mind which operate by connecting each tainted being the archdemons just happen to be able to rach more members of the hive mind they are a part of the blight not the core of it i think most GW already know this.

 

 

I've played DAA and the only thing it made clear was that the Darkspawn were "active" between Blights to varying degrees and after the 5th Blight they were even more active than usual. But nobody was saying any of the Darkspawn activity in DAA was another Blight. 

 

In fact, defeating the Darkspawn incursions in DAA technically didn't have to be achieved by Wardens, since no Arch demons were involved. Neither the Architect nor the Mother were proved immortal like an Arch demon. 

[Almostfaceman]

Solas did lie and Solas is in a messy state. So its perfectly fair to call him Lyin' Solas.

 

 

 

Still not getting that angsty reaction.

 

[Gaia300]

I've played DAA and the only thing it made clear was that the Darkspawn were "active" between Blights to varying degrees and after the 5th Blight they were even more active than usual. But nobody was saying any of the Darkspawn activity in DAA was another Blight. 

 

In fact, defeating the Darkspawn incursions in DAA technically didn't have to be achieved by Wardens, since no Arch demons were involved. Neither the Architect nor the Mother were proved immortal like an Arch demon. 

There are several comments that equiparate the incursions in DAA as a blight given the numbers of darkspawns involved i think it was Varel who said that the number of darkspawns was even worse than the one of the blight.

Disciples can control a large number of darkspawns they imitate the archdemon in this,it does not matter if they can't reborn when they are killed that is not what the blight is about which is a large incursions of darkspawns who are making intelligent warfare.

[Almostfaceman]

 

There are several comments that equiparate the incursions in DAA as a blight given the numbers of darkspawns involved i think it was Varel who said that the number of darksapwns was even worse than the one of the blight.

Disciples can control a large number of darkspawns they imitate the archdemon in this,it does not matter if they can't reborn when they are killed that is not what the blight is about.

 

 

If you can pull up a Codex Entry for the 6th Blight I'll concede this argument. You won't, because the Wardens don't consider anything after the 5th Blight to be a Blight. 

 

Of course the Arch Demon has something to do with it, Alistair even says in Origins that a true Blight is headed by an Arch Demon. The Arch Demon is what makes a Blight an unstoppable force if you don't have the Wardens to kill the Arch Demon. 

 

[Sifr]

The events of DAA do not constitute a Blight since was no active Archdemon to lead the horde... the only reason the Darkspawn activity on the surface was higher than usual was because the Mother and the Architect were leading Awakened Darkspawn, so they were not being compelled to return to the Deep Roads to seek out another Old God like the rest of the regular horde.

 

If we want to argue that large incursions of Darkspawn using intelligent warfare constitutes a Blight, then logically would that not mean the Dwarves are currently dealing with Blight #49,574,638,291 now down in the Deep Roads... or would their never-ending war against them still qualify as the First?

 

It's actually kind of amusing that there's a similar discussion in-universe, where Thedas scholars are furious debating whether or not the Fifth Blight actually counts because it was the the shortest in history, even though the Archdemon was present and leading the horde.

[Gervaise]

The thing is about red lyrium is that while we know it effectively has the Blight, was it infected by something else or is it in fact in some way the source of the Blight?    So Solas throwaway comment could have in fact been close to the mark.   If lyrium is the blood of Titans, it could simply have been corrupted by some outside infection, so the taint comes from somewhere else, or it could have been corrupted by some complication of using excessive amounts of magic.    If it is the blood of a dead Titan that was killed by the magic of the Evanuris, it could be that the means of killing it was what corrupted its blood.     Or it could have been the type of magic that was relevant.      The Last Flight says that the magic of the archdemon does not draw on the Fade.    A similar comment is made about blood magic.    If both actually draw from the Void (a sort of dark Fade) then it is the clash of the two types of magic Fade/Void that twists the lyrium into red lyrium.    If the Evanuris and not the Magisters are the source of the Blight, then it could be their using the power of the Void instead of the true Fade that caused the problems.      

 

So his comment at the Shrine could have been simply misdirection but really if that was the case, why did he feel the need to comment at all?

[Mistic]

If we want to argue that large incursions of Darkspawn using intelligent warfare constitutes a Blight, then logically would that not mean the Dwarves are currently dealing with Blight #49,574,638,291 now down in the Deep Roads... or would their never-ending war against them still qualify as the First?

 

Indeed, that's what Dwarves think:

 

"The surface declares the fourth Blight, a number that means nothing to the Stone. In the depths, the events are inverted, our Blight spanning the interim years."

[Almostfaceman]

Indeed, that's what Dwarves think:

 

"The surface declares the fourth Blight, a number that means nothing to the Stone. In the depths, the events are inverted, our Blight spanning the interim years."

 

Solas points out some oddities about the Dwarves... like how they sell lyrium.

 

Solas: Is it true that the entire dwarven economy relies upon lyrium?

Varric: Mostly. We've got the nug market cornered as well.

Solas: And the dwarves of Orzammar have never studied lyrium?

Varric: If they have, they certainly haven't shared anything up here. Why?

Solas: It is the source of all magic, save that which mages bring themselves.

Solas: Dwarves alone have the ability to mine it safely. I wondered if they had sought to learn more.

Varric: The folks back in Orzammar don't care much about anything but tradition.

 

Solas: I find the fall of the dwarven lands confusing.

Varric: What's so confusing about endless darkspawn?

Solas: A great deal, although that is a different matter. Dwarves control the flow of lyrium. They could tighten their grip on it.

Varric: It's hard to get the attention of the humans when the darkspawn aren't up here messing with their stuff.

Solas: You're active in the Carta. You know your people could tug the purse strings. You could claim sovereign land on the surface, or demand help restoring the dwarven kingdom, but you don't.

Varric: You're not saying anything I haven't said myself, Chuckles. Orzammar is what it is.

 

One not pointed out by anyone (that I've seen) is... where have been the calls for aid from the Dwarves? Why didn't they ask humans or elves to come down and fight when things got really bad? Lord knows they've made all their doorways, buildings and roads large enough to accommodate just about everyone. Varric mentions it being hard to get the attention of humans... but there's no record we're made aware of that there's been any real attempts to do so. And if there were attempts and the dwarves were constantly being turned down... there would be serious bitterness between the races and dwarves. There would be no lyrium trade and probably no treaties with the Wardens either. 

 

I think Solas's conversations and then the Descent DLC are hints about why things are so odd with the Dwarven mentality. 

 

To put it simply, I think they're kinda broken in the head because of something screwed up with the Titans. 

[Sifr]

It really does make the people of Thedas seem a little dense for believing the Darkspawn were gone for good. I know it was wishful thinking, but did no-one in four hundred years ever have this conversation, not even drunk in a tavern one night?

 

Sid: I'm telling you, the Darkspawn are gone.

Bob: How do you know?

Sid: Them Wardens killed them all.

Bob: Yeah, but shouldn't we.... I dunno, ask some Dwarves? They live underground, they'd know right?

Sid: I have. The Dwarves looked at me for a minute, shook their head and walked away. See, it's that much of a stupid question.

Bob: Stupid because they are still around?

Sid: Nah, stupid because everyone should know they're gone.

Bob: Didn't you check?

Sid: Nah, they seemed busy.

[Mistic]

One not pointed out by anyone (that I've seen) is... where have been the calls for aid from the Dwarves? Why didn't they ask humans or elves to come down and fight when things got really bad? Lord knows they've made all their doorways, buildings and roads large enough to accommodate just about everyone. Varric mentions it being hard to get the attention of humans... but there's no record we're made aware of that there's been any real attempts to do so. And if there were attempts and the dwarves were constantly being turned down... there would be serious bitterness between the races and dwarves. There would be no lyrium trade and probably no treaties with the Wardens either. 

 

I think Solas's conversations and then the Descent DLC are hints about why things are so odd with the Dwarven mentality. 

 

To put it simply, I think they're kinda broken in the head because of something screwed up with the Titans. 

 

It can't be something tied to Dwarven nature when the Merchant Guild is one of the most progressive, audacious and influential groups in the whole Thedas. And check an important detail: Solas asked (and Varric answered) about the Dwarves in Orzammar. However, we know that Dwarves from the Merchant Guild research about lyrium. Our information about the true nature of red lyrium comes from them, in fact.

 

Solas, as a very progressive elf himself, and a mage, is logically baffled by Orzammar's lack of interest. But as Varric points out, that's Orzammar's doing, not the Dwarves' in general.

 

I find it more interesting that Solas finds "endless darkspawn" very confusing. Maybe he suspects (or knows) that the time between the Magisters supposedly bringing the Taint to the world and the massiva fall of the thaigs (15 years, according to WoT) is too short for the darkspawn to create such vast armies. The Dwarves suspect it too:

 

"They settle in to breed, the Memories say, as happened twice before, and likely in the darkness before that."

[Almostfaceman]

It can't be something tied to Dwarven nature when the Merchant Guild is one of the most progressive, audacious and influential groups in the whole Thedas. And check an important detail: Solas asked (and Varric answered) about the Dwarves in Orzammar. However, we know that Dwarves from the Merchant Guild research about lyrium. Our information about the true nature of red lyrium comes from them, in fact.

 

Solas, as a very progressive elf himself, and a mage, is logically baffled by Orzammar's lack of interest. But as Varric points out, that's Orzammar's doing, not the Dwarves' in general.

 

I find it more interesting that Solas finds "endless darkspawn" very confusing. Maybe he suspects (or knows) that the time between the Magisters supposedly bringing the Taint to the world and the massiva fall of the thaigs (15 years, according to WoT) is too short for the darkspawn to create such vast armies. The Dwarves suspect it too:

 

"They settle in to breed, the Memories say, as happened twice before, and likely in the darkness before that."

 

I agree about your points regarding Solas and the Blight, but I think the game has also hinted that there's a difference between the surface dwarves and the rock dwellers. Maybe it is a hint that something is interfering with their minds. We already have hints that dwarves true nature's are being messed with, according to Descent. This proximity to the stone seems to keep the... let's say "stone" dwarves...  mired in a loop that even hinders basic impulses for self-preservation. They have HUGE leverage over the surface kingdoms and yet don't use it to even try and slow down the destruction of their vast kingdom. 

 

I say "stone" dwarves because it's not just Orzammar... there were many thaigs once and they all had one thing in common... refusal to go to the surface for help. 

Again and again the game beats it into our heads that dwarves with "stone" sense don't like the surface, they don't like surface dwarves. At first it comes across as simple prejudice and tradition but now I'm beginning to see it as something more. 

 

As I said, these are just hints and I don't pretend to know for sure that the hints will go anywhere or that they mean what I think they may mean. But it was odd enough to be brought up in the game through Solas. I think they might be bringing it up for a reason. 

 

Or not. Dark energy was mentioned ad nauseam in ME2 and it went nowhere because the dev's changed the story for ME3 and the motivations of the Reapers.  

[Gaia300]

The events of DAA do not constitute a Blight since was no active Archdemon to lead the horde... the only reason the Darkspawn activity on the surface was higher than usual was because the Mother and the Architect were leading Awakened Darkspawn, so they were not being compelled to return to the Deep Roads to seek out another Old God like the rest of the regular horde.

 

If we want to argue that large incursions of Darkspawn using intelligent warfare constitutes a Blight, then logically would that not mean the Dwarves are currently dealing with Blight #49,574,638,291 now down in the Deep Roads... or would their never-ending war against them still qualify as the First?

 

I disagree,the dwarves aren't facing intelligent darkspawns that are leading with strategies and intelligent warfare they are merely facing incursions of savage beasts.

An archdemon can trigger a blight,several disciples  can call enough darksapwn on the surface to trigger a blight and even command them like an archdemon do.

The events of DAA show us that an Archdemon is not required to lead the darkspawn in the surface into an intelligent way which is what the blight is about.

[Aren]

Both the city of Amaranthine and the fortress were attacked by a massive number of darkspawns who were perfectly coordinated by two disciples and i don't think the dwarves ever faced something like that.