Rook rummaging through the lighthouse drawers like

I had to. Ever since I realised why the poses of the skeletons in Emmrich’s tarot looked familiar.

This is going to be very ranty and disjointed, probably borderline incomprehensible post, but with the "return" of Dragon Age Discourse (and really, did it ever go anywhere?) and me repeatedly seeing the complaints and dismissals of DA:I as a "chosen one"-type of a narrative, I just.... I keep finding myself thinking about the relationship of truth and lies within the game.

Throughout the course of DA:I, the idea of a malleable, flexible personal identity, and a painful confrontation with an uncomfortable truth replacing a soothing falsehood, follows pretty much every character throughout their respective arcs.

There are some more obvious ones, Solas, Blackwall, The Iron Bull, their identities and deceptions (of both those around them and themselves) are clearly front and center in the stories told about them, but this theme of deception (both of the self- and the outside world) is clearly present in the stories of the others as well.

Like, for example, ones that come immediately to mind are stories like that of Cullen, who presents an image of a composed and disciplined military man, a commander- all to hide the desperate and traumatized addict that he sees himself as.

Dorian grappled with the expectations of presenting the image of the perfect heir to his father's legacy, the prideful scion of his house, his entire life (he even introduces himself as the result of "careful breeding", like one might speak about a prized horse)- all while knowing that his family would rather see him lobotomized and obedient, than anything even just resembling his vibrant and passionate self.

Cassandra calls herself a Seeker of Truth, and takes pride in that identity- only to learn that in reality, she has been made a liar, a keeper of secrets, without her knowledge or consent, and it is up to her to either uproot the entire organization and painfully cut out the abscess it is to build it back from the ground up into something respectable, or let the information she had revealed sit, and continue to fester.

And this theme continues and reframes itself in, among others, things like Sera's own inner conflict between her elven heritage and her human upbringing, or in Cole being caught in this unconscionable space in-between human and spirit, between person and concept, etc.

The Inquisitor isn't exempt from this either.

I feel like this is where the core of the many misunderstandings of this plot come from, why so many people continue to believe that Inquisition is a "chosen one" or "divinely appointed" type of story, because I think many might just... not realize, that the protagonist's identity is also malleable, and what they are told in the setup/first act of the game is not necessarily the truth.

The tale of the Inquisitor is the exact opposite of that of a "chosen one" story: it's an examination and reflection of the trope, in that it is the story of an assumption that all wrongly believe to be the truth, and thrust upon you, even if you protest. The very point is that no matter who you choose to say that you are, you will be known as the Herald of a prophet you don't even necessarily believe in, and then that belief will be proven wrong, leaving you to cope with either a devastating disappointment if you believed it, or a bitter kind of vindication if you didn't.

There's a moment just after Here Lies the Abyss (when you learn of the lie you've been fed your entire journey in the game) that I don't often see mentioned, but I think it's one of the most emotionally impactful character moments, if you are playing an Andrastian Inquisitor who had actually believed themselves chosen (which I realize is a rather unpopular pick, lol): it's when Ser Ruth, a Grey Warden, realizes what she had done and is horrified by her own deeds, and turns herself in asking to be tried for the murder of another of her order. As far as she is concerned, she had spilled blood for power, and regardless of whether she was acting of her own volition at the time, whether she had agency in the moment, is irrelevant to her: she seeks no absolution, but willingly submits to any punishment you see fit.

And only if you play as an Inquisitor who, through prior dialogue choices, had established themselves as a devout Andrastian, can you offer her forgiveness, for a deed that was objectively not her fault- not really.

You can, in Andraste's name, forgive her- even though you, at that point, know that you have no real right to do so. That you're not Andraste's Herald, that Andraste may or may not even exist, and that you can't grant anyone "divine forgiveness", because you, yourself, don't have a drop of divinity within you. You know that you were no more than an unlucky idiot who stumbled their way into meddling with forces beyond their ken.

You know you're a fraud. You know. The game forces you to realize, as it slowly drip-drip-drips the memories knocked loose by the blast back into your head, that what all have been telling you that you are up to this point, is false. And yet, you can still choose to keep up the lie, and tell this woman who stands in front of you with blood on her hands and tears in her eyes, that you, with authority you don't have, grant her forgiveness for a crime that wasn't hers to commit.

Because it's the right thing to do. Because to lie to Ser Ruth is far kinder than anything else you could possibly do to her, short of refusing to make a decision altogether.

There are any number of criticisms of this game that I can accept (I may or may not agree depending on what it is, but I'm from the school of thought that any interpretation can be equally valid as long as there's text that supports it, and no text that contradicts it), but I will always continue to uphold that the Inquisitor is absolutely not- and never was a "chosen one".

They're just as small, and sad, and lost, as all the other protagonists- the only difference is that they didn't need to fight for their mantle, because instead of a symbol of honor, it acted as a straitjacket.

I love how they blindly trust the MC

love that varric's intention was probably to recreate the hawke success formula by recruiting a random guy (gender neutral) in a tavern brawl with hope that they're The One for the job but instead he recreated the hawke disaster formula meaning the guy (gender neutral) indeed was the one for the job but they were also the one to cause world-shattering events completely by accident in the process

i love solas but I always give custody to varric 😭

im not exaggerating when i say i've thought about this dialogue at least once a day since the veilguard trailer dropped

I’m hollering.

-Gavid Daider, 2024.

Hi, I know many people are excited for the new Dragon Age, me too, but just a reminder: DON'T PREORDER IT

No seriously, don't. I advise not preordering any game actually, but especially not one that is from EA. I fully expect it to launch with at least one game breaking bug, not counting the plethora of just highly annoying ones. Nowadays, so many games are released in a barely playable shitty state, but companies don't care since people keep preordering the games so the money is flowing in.

Just wait. A day, two days, see if it's actually playable, then buy it if everything is alright. It's better than throwing away a shitload of money (and it's a 2024 AAA game published by EA, it's gonna cost A LOT) and then feeling shitty when the game is just bad.

i feel like i’ve seen so many people dunking on origins and it’s usually people who were introduced to da through inquisition. similarly there have been origin supremacists (me) saying inquisition is the worst game

that is to say, what dragon age game did you first play and which one is your favourite? i played da:o first and like it the best. (also play origins if you haven’t)

All I'm saying is if you want me to create Rook and Inquisitor before jumping into the game, it would be ideal to release the character creator before launch.

You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me

This was fun!

What mundane items do u think the other companions would be delighted with?

God I forgot what an absolute lunatic blackwall is

Man is just out in the hinterlands cosplaying. Like replaying the game knowing Solas is the Dread Wolf adds all this cool intrigue and double meaning but replaying it knowing about Blackwall is fucking wild. He looks you in the face and lies directly out of his ass. Solas is all doublespeak and careful omission and Blackwall just fully makes shit up. What a madlad. I'm obsessed with him. he's so fake it til you make it. He would kill it on TikTok just like "oh yeah grey wardens can't get COVID it's right here in the treaties" and no one calls him on it because the treaties are old as fuck and boring. Alistair (who is supposed to be able to sense the Blight) is like oh hey blackwall haha we've definitely met I totally remember you. No you Haven't, Alistair. You've never seen this jackass ever in your life. He looks Solas, god of betrayal, in the eyes and says with full confidence "Yes, I am a Grey Warden." And Solas is like Sure. Iron Bull? Buys his bullshit completely. Leliana? Thinks he's cool. Everyone else is like "you smell like shit but I guess that's just how Wardens smell" and he's like "Damn Right It Is Have I Told You My Vietnam Stories" guy was born in '68. You can flirt with him almost immediately. Character of all time. What the fuck.