Just found the following blog entry in another DA:O forum and thought it should be posted here as well.
It offers a rather well thought out opinion on Morrigan, Flemeth, Dark Ritual and possible speculation on how these things can continue in the future games.
Recommended read for all Morrigan fans.
The point here isn’t to necessarily spoil the game however, it is to
explain away players’ disappointment with the “Dark Ritual” ending as I
heard and read many players are. It is important to note that the game
does a very good job of ensuring that all rewards have their own
consequences. Saving a life costs a life and eerie balance is at play
the whole game through.
Dragon Age: Origins is a game that
players should be really happy with in that it’s lived up to the title.
It is a wonderful introduction to the world, the lore, and the idea of a
much larger chain of events over the Blight and darkspawn. The very
rich story with many layers and possibilities, converge on the night
prior to the final battle with the Archdemon. Most of the storyline
details aren’t in the character dialogue but in the numerous codexes
found throughout the game. Codexes reveal the past and present on
goings, motives of certain groups, and shed light on the who’s who in
the game world. The main player character (henceforth “PC”) can come
from one of 6 different beginnings and while the meat of the story will
differ slightly, they’ll end up with more or less the same band of
companions. How the companions feel about the PC hinge upon the choices
made in what side-quests the PC embarks upon.
I played a male
City Elf who killed the Arl's son that raped my friend and stole my
betrothed, became the Grey Warden Templar / Bezerker, saved Sten, named
my Dog "Ghengis", spared Wynne, drank some of the Darkspawn blood in the
Warden’s Keep, killed Flemmeth, only took a pinch of ashes from the urn
to save the Arl Eamon, saved Connor, fought with the militia at
Redcliffe, made Shale remember that she was a dwarf, destroyed the
anvil, sided with Harrowmont, removed the curse from the Werewolves and
Dalish, exposed the slavers in the Alienage, let Allister kill Loghain
and imprison the would-be queen, and… performed the Dark Ritual with
Morrigan.
The maturity level of the game plays on the maturity
of comprehension of the player. DA:O reminds me very much of the
emotional plays that Final Fantasy VI (and in some cases Final Fantasy
X)makes - birth, death, love, pain, abandonment, loneliness, self
awareness, friendship, loyalty, betrayal... all of these things aren't
so black and white in terms of right and wrong and many of them require a
sacrifice in areas to obtain or rectify that we're usually unwilling to
do so easily, especially at the expense of others. Young hearts and
minds have a very hard time coming to grips with how unfair these
motions can be once realized, or how unfair getting them in our favor
really is and veterans of these emotional battles grow easily weary
because we understand the tolls they take and witnessed the cost,
sometimes first hand. It's unpleasant, cruel, and devious and that's the
nature of it yet we still search it out hoping that in the end things
will work out fine and any transgressions are justified by the outcome,
because... because we have at least hope.
DARK
RITUAL ENDING AS I SEE IT:
Morrigan is a character
that as an anti-heroine, parallels Loghain – she’s integral to the
overall success of quelling the Blight, but she’s got separate motive
for doing so and with potentially great cost. This raises questions
about Morrigan being a heroine at all, or part of a grander scheme of a
greater evil. Personally I think that Morrigan, is a character torn
between what she is and what she wants to be. Dissociative and callous,
Morrigan speaks her mind, often just to see the reaction of other
people. Some might call her someone with sociopathic attitudes...
perhaps someone who is generally indifferent and apathetic. She has a
dark curiosity that rubs many people the wrong way at the right times,
she's dangerous and much about her is kept secret by her but can she
really be blamed?
There is a lot we don’t know about Morrigan and
even less about Flemmeth, making them two characters that we’re driven
to explore to no conclusive ends (for now). Flemmeth and Morrigan prove
to be secretive characters revealing only what they need to manipulate a
scenario giving them a dark feel. But in time enough can be figured out
that indicate they might both be members of the Dragon Cult.
Raised
by Flemmeth, the shapeshifting witch who allegedly "ate" men after sex
with them and intended to use Morrigan as a host to continue her own
life as she had done with allegedly dozens of previous “daughters”. At
least this is what we’re told. Morrigan's character depths arise from a
lack of information. As players we make assumptions based on what little
info we have. We want her to be one way or another, not very willing to
give into the idea of a tertiary state of mind – she’s trying to hide
her real lineage for fear of rejection or persecution. She's not
dissuaded to be something other than what she is and certainly not
willing to express herself in an open exchange for a period of time to
subdue any previous assumptions. This then makes us as the audience
creates extra space for character persona mobility - Is she this? Does
she intend to do that? Does she want those? All various strings of her
personality that we don't know but want to make room for, so we do.
The
“Dark Ritual” is what I think really sets the tone for a sequel. The PC
has the option to refuse the ritual, refuse to try and talk Allister
into the ritual and given that it’s completely turned down Morrigan will
leave, bitter and cold. Either way, Morrigan will leave but if the
ritual is performed she’ll fight and then leave as opposed to leaving
before the big fight. Morrigan was one of my main party members through
the game anyway so she was helpful in the fight and keeping the PC ‘in
game’ I felt it made sense for the PC to keep her around for as long as
possible, hoping to convince her to change her mind and not run off as
she promises after the Dark Ritual.
No matter what the PC does,
Morrigan leaves - it is unavoidable and the player has no control over
it. We must simply watch helplessly as she walks away.
Still, why
put a lot of work into building a relationship with Morrigan if it’s
known that it will ultimately end in heartbreak and disaster? Morrigan
insists on several occasions that the player will regret being close to
her in the end or regret leaving her in the end (foreshadowing that
Morrigan is integral to the plot irrespective of choices, and that no
matter what you do, it's going to 'hurt'). Both cases have regret and if
the player chooses Morrigan and Morrigan has a high level of affection
towards the PC, the Epilogue states that with Morrigan’s Ring, the
player senses when Morrigan thinks of him and feels her regret and
sorrow (assuming Morrigan strongly ‘loved’ the PC).
What we do
know of them is what we’re told by their characters and what we read in
the codex as myth and legend, so we never really do know what to
believe. Thus, we’ve got to experience it for ourselves. We only assume
that Morrigan and Flemmeth are human witches because they look like it,
but they’re both shape-shifters and their characters constantly point
out that things are not as they appear. Morrigan tells the PC that she
shape-shifts by living as the creature she’s taken form. If Flemmeth is
also a shapeshifter and shifts to a High Dragon, then it’s apparent
they’re part of the Dragon Cult (since they have to be among that to
which they shift). She also tells the PC that she’s ventured from the
woods before and walked among people in the. Morrigan is the only
character to have unnaturally colored eyes, like that of a reptile and
the Dragon Cult codex explains that cult members who drink of the dragon
blood are sometimes affected physically. The codex also explains that
cult members turned to worship dragons because their Old Gods failed
them. The plot thickens and we can begin to see that Morrigan in terms
of the Dark Ritual may be more complex than what she’s telling us.
Players
are left unclear as to who was lying about whom (or if at all) between
the two - they could be in cahoots or they could be at odds. If players
embark on the quest to kill Flemmeth she explains that if allowed to
live she'll eventually find Morrigan and deal with her in an undisclosed
manner but that players can take the Grimoire. Maybe it’s a case of "A
teacher teaches a student everything the student knows, not everything
the teacher knows." If the players kill Flemmeth (who seemed to fully
expect the players to return and try to kill her and hints that it isn’t
the first time Morrigan has tried this), Morrigan expresses her
uncertainty that Flemmeth is really dead and that if she’s not, will
have to find some way to take care of it later. It brings the idea that
Flemmeth is a lot more powerful than we know. The conversation with
Flemmeth indicates that the story of possession is something to motivate
the PC, but ultimately untrue. Morrigan also states that getting
pregnant is part of why Flemmeth sent her with the PC – and never talks
about anything other than what the Black Grimoire contained, not what
Flemmeth's Grimoire contained so, if Flemmeth is truly dead why continue
with Flemmeth’s order to conceive?
The only two logical reason I
can come up with is that Morrigan and Flemmeth are as I talked about
earlier, part of the Dragon Cult. The Dragon Cult codex explains about
their practices,a nd Morrigan says she wants to get the Old God soul
from the Archdemon and transfer it to the unborn child and teach it the
good of things. I think that this is Morrigans way of doing exactly
what the Chantry is: working to get their God to come back their people
once more. The other reason is that Morrigan IS Flemmeth - if you go
through all dialogue options in the Dark Ritual conversation and have
taken on the killing of Flemmeth quest then you'll notice that Morrigan
says some of the exact phrases Flemmeth did in your conversation with
her. So, either Morrigan got possessed in studying the grimoire or
Flemmeth wasn't dead and possessed Morrigan. I mean really... the "Robes
of Possession" weren't all that hard to find, and if you don't kill
Flemmeth, she gives them to you to give Morrigan anyway.
WHY THE DARK RITUAL ENDING NEED NOT
DISAPPOINT:
Perhaps the greatest frustration
players felt with Morrigan stems from the consistent pattern of game
stories to give the game players explanations of other players’ motives.
Players have to accept that Morrigan is secretive and doesn’t owe the
player anything in her own mind. People are selfish, secretive, and
manipulative and that doesn’t always make them bad people. Morrigan was
all of these, but she was also someone that was worth saving because
despite her damaged persona, players could see tiny slivers good, and
tiny seeds of hope. The game however, presents the story in a way that
nothing is free and heroes make sacrifices, sometimes unwillingly.
Loghain was an integral character in context to this theme. He became
ultimately treasonous for the love of his country, left with a reckless
daydreaming King Cailan to defend against the impending Blight, having
suffered through betrayal and loss of his own past loves… Loghain forced
the idea of dealing with harsh reality in harsh ways that often
contradicted the altruistic nature often associated with heroes and
exemplified the phrase, “The road to hell is paved with good
intentions.” - Which means that you can plan on doing good, simply
wanting to do good doesn’t mean it’ll end up that way.
We come to
expect equal exchange between the characters. Leliana expresses her
concern for people openly and is revealed to possibly retell stores of
her vision to garner attention, no matter how negative; Allister
eventually tells us of his lineage, and why he keeps it secret (which
contrasts Morrigan's own secretive nature) and even Loghain has the
fortitude to tell the Landsmeet he felt his evils were just with and
objectively valid reasoning in context to his ultimate goal.
If
partying with Allister and Leliana in tow alongside Morrigan we can hear
the contrast of virtues between the three. Leliana and Morrigan debate
in much the same way an atheist and theist debate the existence God,
both with rational explanations for their belifs as they pertain to
their individual viewpoints. Allister and Morrigan often squabble over
morality from their individual standpoints, again with very valid
rationale. It sheds light on Morrigan's egocentric style brought about
by a life of isolation, prompting the PC to work to alter that and offer
a perspective from someone we assume she respects and hopefully trusts -
making the eventual 'betrayal' all that much more hurtful.
Ultimately
the PC runs from death, thus Morrigan runs from the PC. Something
gained and something lost, and it is important remember that Morrigan
states in the conversation about the conception of a child that if the
PC chooses to take the killing blow and not partake in the dark ritual
therefore sacrificing yourself, that she'd mourn for you. What do we
believe? We know she’s hiding something, we know she’s no issue with
lying and often seeks an end for personal gain or power… but she’s not
evil, just chaotic.
We can't simply assume that Morrigan will be
'ours' just because we made her happy or that she 'should' see that we
care thus so she should also. Simply being willing to be transparent
with someone is no reason to assume they'd be equally transparent,
especially with someone like Morrigan who, has depth based on what we
don't know as opposed to what we do know. The most painful love is
unrequited love, yet it is one of the many facets of love that is very
real - if not the most real because it stabs us in the front and not the
back, and we have to deal with the anxiety of watching it all happen
without being able to control it. Perhaps the pain of it comes from the
idea that Morrigan is ultimately professed to be a friend and a lover,
and we'd rather be stabbed in the back, totally unaware, never having to
deal with watching the perceived betrayal unfold and that backstabbing
never has a good reason therefore no reason to search it out. Was she
wrong for being forthright and telling us to avoid her? No, at least she
cared enough to be honest and it now becomes our choice to be hurt in
the end. It challenged our own worldviews in the game and contrasts them
against the background experiences of the other characters with which
we interact. Morrigan is the prime example of this and the only
character that we can't just kill, abandon or force to leave. She's like
a fresco - unique and ornate but not without serious flaws that detract
from overall sense of total perfection. Her character is well written
and she's supposed to lead us on -that's her role, and she ultimately
does what we as players struggle to do through the entire game - deal
with the reality of the situations no matter who it hurts or why, even
if it also hurts herself. Layer this with overtones of emotions like
love and there needs to be less explanation because there is less reason
for explanation to be given.
When I got married my wife would
sometimes ask me "Why do you love me?" and at that time I could go on
for days explaining it, giving examples of reasons. Five and a half
years later there needs to be no reason other than I simply do - there
are still reasons, but they're nothing more than accessories to it and
not reasons for it. In this case, love becomes the strongest of
intangible emotions only equaled by hate. Spend enough time with it, and
it is just what it is. We've got to accept that from Morrigan as a
character and know that in the sequel there will be much more revealed
about her motives and whether or not she truly did love the PC or were
we just a tool for her own ends (and then consider that over time,
things change and she may realize that she did love us more than she
thought - you know, that whole distance makes the heart grow fonder
thing?). The point is, that Morrigan disappointed many people because
they either know someone like Morrigan or they, deep down inside, are
Morrigan. We long for people to work to open us up and we feel that if
they did then we'd go to them, like some fantasy romance novel yet we
know we wouldn't. Fear wells up and... we choke. We're comfortable in
that pain and loneliness because we've know it for so long. Conversely,
those people who we know who are like Morrigan we've taken time to learn
who they are... but not having been in a situation like in the game, we
can only assume that they'd reciprocate and 'love' us back. Anything
less is unfair, but love isn't fair. Someone always loses even if we
don't see it.
In summary, Morrigan represents everything we
dislike about ourselves and others. The shallow mental judgmental
narratives that underline the day to day conversations between people,
our lack of faith and values in ourselves, the short sighted self
involvement and over/under analytical propensity to see things that are
not there or never were to satiate our curiosity and quell the thirst
for knowledge and understanding, and our desire to give meaning to
things that have none or redirect off handed comments from others about
parts of our lives they’d never understand - all come to the single
character, Morrigan. Some players want her to go away but she won't
(well… you can kick her out, but she comes back), she's too important
and self exposing to be written off as a cheap feral floozy while others
move to embrace her in a futile attempt to change that which we have no
control. She's what we love to hate and hate to love about ourselves
and society. And yet one last possibility remains that the emotional
jolt Morrigan gives us is covered by the natural reaction of denial.
Perhaps Morrigan is a heartless shrew, and we choose to not admit it
given our emotional investments; that we played into her and Flemming's
hand - Morrigan may not have liked it, but like Loghain, dealing with
the reality of it takes precedence over the fantasy world our emotions
have created to shelter us.
SEQUEL
PREDICTION:
Given that the story generally
pushed to make the PC to live on (there are more choices to allow the PC
to live than die), and that the “Dark Ritual” ending is the most
developed and revealing I’m betting the following basic plotline will be
in Dragon Age 2.
The plotline of the second game would be
about Flemmeth, the Dragon Cult, and a possible showdown between members
of the Chantry and the Dragon Cultists. All of that while a political
battle between Ferelden and Orlain possibly igniting a minor war, The
Circle of the Magi, Blood Magic, the possible need to resurrect the
Anvil and the reuniting of both City and Dalish elves as a single
sovereign nation would be integral plotlines as well.
I think
if Flemmeth is alive then she would seek revenge on Morrigan and reveal
that ultimately the story of possessions are untrue in the fashion
they’re told. That, the name “Flemmeth” is used in conjunction with the
legend to better conceal and throw doubt as to the existence of the
Dragon Cult (though that could be a DLC quest and not part of the sequel
I suppose… discover the truth behind Flemmeth and afford yet another
possible ending).
Ultimately what I'd like to see is the
sequel take the work that the PC did to gain the approval and affection
from Morrigan get rewarded. Flemmeth’s (replacing Loghain in terms of
character purpose) return to corrupt the child would prompt Morrigan to
seek help from the PC, if even for selfish reasons, thus giving
opportunity to rekindle the lost relationship, but also put the two at
odds given that Morrigan was the one who walked out despite the protests
of the PC. Morrigan would have to show bits of humanity and admit
wrongs and submit to the weakness that is love - and at what cost? The
answers would be in the sequel. This isn't to say that along the second
journey the PC couldn't have relationships with other men or women, but
the ultimate goal with Morrigan would be to get closure and continue the
relationship or move on. A nice touch would be placed in a situation
where you have to choose to kill her or defend her from death at the
hands of some of your companions (or convince them to also defend her)
I
think it would be neat if not perhaps too complicated in the mechanical
process to have the sequel look at the save game files of the first
game and allow the player to unlock main and plot dynamics based on
which of the endings players achieved. It may be too intricate for the
developers to worry about but Bioware is really good with complex
storytelling and plot lines, so who knows?...
CLOSING THOUGHTS:
Overall, the
game can be played out many different ways and has a few variations to
the ending, but the 'real' ending in my opinion is the Dark Ritual where
you're forced to suffer the loss, realize in time that your own
selfishness may end up causing a catastrophe thus proving part of
Morrigan's point about how love is a weakness to be avoided at all
costs. Dark, engaging, and thought provoking I think Bioware has set
themselves up for a short franchise that can be considered an instant
classic in the RPG area for multi-faceted characters, wealth of dynamic
outcomes with static plot underpinnings. Unfortunately, I feel that game
may be too deep for a lot of modern players and am somewhat afraid that
the sequel may end up having to get watered down to bring a lot of even
superficial questions to light. Leliana was a good character as were
all of them, and while I half expected Shale to mention 'meatbag' even
she was well done given her circumstances and background. It still
remains that Morrigan was the central character through every ending
thus, the subplot that carries into forming the core plot of the sequel.
Only three other games in the history of my gaming have
left me feeling the way I do about the story in context to how it's told
and where it takes us on an emotional level - Advent Rising, Final
Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy X (The Astyanax is in there somewhere,
but... that was a happy ending all around). Still I remain hopeful that
like Final Fantasy X-2, Dragon Age 2 will provide us will some multitude
of closure on the relationship between the PC and Morrigan while
retaining the mature emotional concepts and the things entailed with
them. Nevertheless, as the PC we've more or less asked for and walked
into the emotional trap set for us by the storytellers even though we
know it's coming - we feel we can at some point change it and make
things 'okay'. Bravo Bioware, bravo.
Retour en haut
Funny how history repeats itself. I'd say you got off easy with Morrrigan, Barbarossa 
.
