@maia0407: It is interesting that you are an atheist - and here is why I think why. As an atheist - you refuse to appeal to authorities which you cannot independently verify. Is that correct? You do not base your opinions on belief - but of fact - yes? You cannot believe a priest, Pope, guru, swami, Imam, Rabbi, etc. simply because they tell you "this is so". Is that correct?
I would suggest that, because you have an inkling that what Solas says is true. Because you feel like what he says: "Makes sense." Because you have imbued him with authority over your character's development - that you are simply exploring what it is to be faithful. To be part of a belief based group that does not search for facts independently, but relies instead on a singular authority.
I am not an atheist - though my "religiosity" is of no importance here - and I actually have the opposite reaction. Having been a student of the "Cult of Personality" - I am, I believe, more inoculated against authorities.
Solas is an authority on nothing to me. His actions are not those of a wise being to me. He shows, to me, none of the qualities of any great messianic, prophetic, spiritual being I have ever studied (and I have studied many). He is - to me - an elf out of time struggling in all the worst ways to deal with his culture shock.
And I think - that is the key. To me, Solas is a man. Not an "ancient and mysterious elf roiling with vast repositories of esoteric knowledge".
It is this decision - the decision to elevate him - that would, in my opinion, make his actions, though leagues worse than Blackwalls, more palatable to you. Blackwall is "just a man" - a man who has committed the horrible actions of a man. You can see, with clarity, the gravity of his actions because you are comfortable with his status.
With Solas - your opinion of his "status" is higher than your own character. Ergo, he must be "wise" and know more than you. Yet, his constant failures suggest the opposite. He is not a god. He is not even really ancient... because he never "lived" the 3000 years that have passed.
Try looking at Solas as just a modern City Elf trying to do what he's doing... do you see him differently?
This illustrates what I was conveying.
May I ask why you think he has more authority?
- Felassan was, presumably, an ancient elf - and we know through meta that he didn't want to kill all of Thedas.
- Flemythal has all the memories of an ancient elf goddess... and there's no indication that she wants to destroy modern Thedas.
- Aside from duping most Inquisitors (and railroading the rest into not being able to deal with him) - what plan of his has succeeded thus far? Your wise elf does acts on passion - not fact. Had he acts on fact - he may have known what the thing he was making (the Veil) would do. Had he acted on fact - and not passion - he may not have given his orb to someone who had achieved "effective immortality". Had he considered acting on fact - not passion - he might now be considering other possibilities than destroying Thedas.
NOTE: Yes, I'm aware - some players will get to be Solas' "voice of reason" - another of Bioware's power fantasy explorations. People will get to "fix him" - which, is pure fantasy of course, since you can't fix other people - but I digress.
How many times does Solas get to say: "Whoops, I didn't see that coming?" and still retain his "wisdom"?
More importantly... Blackwall shows that he's actually learned from his terrible mistakes and doesn't want to repeat them. So - what damns him so much more in your eyes?
I actually think that this is the biggest distinction between someone who likes and dislikes Solas.
Someone who dislikes Solas, views him as an ordinary man who made plenty of mistakes and therefore, has to be held accountable for what he is doing. On the other hand, someone who likes Solas, views him as a special snowflake, a messiah figure, a prophet of sorts who is above conventional ethnics and morals which justifies his actions.
As for non-religiosity, you have to understand that there is more than one type of religion.
To me. religion is the anthropomorphication of reality by H*mo Sapiens***. It typically involves the apotheosis of something that is ordinary or normal or indifferent. For example, putting blind faith or enormous amount of hope or elevating someone or a concept to the point that a person or a team or a concept should not be questioned is also a form of religion or cult-like mentality.
The typical religion like the Abrahamic religions, polytheistic religions, Andrastianism is part of what I like to call the metaphysical religions. However, a hardcore fanboy exhibits many traits of someone who is deeply religious. So are people on the far-left / extreme left and the far right / extreme right.
Fyi, I am an atheist agnostic because to me the evidence we have so far shows that either there are no deity-like figures or there are deity-like figures out there but they give zero f*cks about us and since I cannot say which one is true, I am an atheist agnostic (because I don't believe in deities but not sure if they are real or not ) but because of this, I personally find organized religion pointless. I am also on the center when it comes to political issues.
One thing that I have noticed is this :- There are many people who are very highly skeptical of the nature of god and the metaphysical religion but at the same time, blindly support one side of the political spectrum or a political philosophy. For example, there are many atheists who are hardcore leftists (some are even staunch marxists) but if you ask them why that's the case or why are they not conservative or find conservative principles such as being fiscally responsible attractive, they don't know how to explain it and typically respond in a hostile manner. The behavior is quite similar to a staunch religious responding in a hostile manner to foreign ideas.
My point is that just because someone is an atheist in the metaphysical religious sense, it does not mean that they are not "religious" or cult-like in other matters of life. They may be staunch hardcore far left or far right folks who can't really be reasoned with or they might be a hardcore fanboy or fangirl of a band or a football club or of a person, real or imaginary or they might be people who believe so intensely in things like utopia of some form even though utopias are impossible to achieve.
Oddly enough, Solas cannot be a voice of reason in the conventional sense. Here's why:-
1) He has shady credentials. In the base game, we know next to nothing about him or his origin. You don't trust a professor-like person who has shady credentials.
2) His sources are based on dreams, not real documents or artifacts. Try submitting a paper or a report for peer review where your evidence is by dreaming - you would get metaphorically crucified by everybody. In fact, Solas himself points out that the Fade is highly biased but that does not stop him from dreaming and learning from that biased source.
3) A voice of reason believes in rules and ethics. Solas gives next to zero f*cks about ethics and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.
4) He lies. A lie by omission is still a lie. You can't lie and expect to be the scholar or the voice of reason. However, you can be an artist. To quote Evey Hammond from V for Vendetta - "My father was a writer. You would've liked him. He used to say that artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up."
***Why the f*ck is the word "H*mo" censored ?! Are Bioware a bunch of wimpy snowflakes that the mere mention of a latin word will trigger them so they censor it ?! SMH.
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