THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD
Thedas is a broken world. No line in the entire Dragon Age franchise encapsulates this more than this Inquisitor line from Trespasser: “We saved Ferelden, and they’re angry. We saved Orlais, and they’re angry. We closed the Breach twice, and my own hand wants to kill me. Could one thing in this f*cking world stay fixed?” Nothing can stay fixed if it’s broken, but before it could even be fixed, the question becomes what broke it?
Dragon Age: The Veilguard gives us answers, or something close enough to speculate upon, to this question. In Solas’ memories, we learn about his regrets, and one of those is the genocide of the Titans. They’re not all dead, some are described as slumbering, but Harding’s questline shows how the Titans’ remnants are still angry that the Elves (at least the Evanuris) thrived on their bones. All of this happens because the Evanuris, including Solas, made them Tranquil with a Lyrium Dagger, a new lore drop from Dragon Age: The Veilguard. But one with far-reaching implications. This is a theory based heavily and as closely to established lore as I can establish it; however, there is plenty of “fill in the blank” and stretching that has to be applied for it to make sense. This is a fun theory, in my mind, and nothing more.
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We’ve seen the devastating effects of Tranquility across the entire Dragon Age franchise, including written works: how it impacts mages, its role in the Mage-Templar War, the numerous Chantry cover-ups of its cure, the secrets of the Seekers of Truth, and how the Dwarves lost who they were. It stands to reason that Tranquility has many devastating effects that we haven’t seen because, despite its semi-prominent role in the franchise, what it actually is has yet to be fully explained. Yes, it separates a Mage from the Fade, but what if it unknowingly did more? We see Mages lose their connection to their Fade, they largely lose their own personality/Will, their bodies effectively become motorized husks, and everything about who they are is taken from them.
Titans were made Tranquil by the same dagger Solas used to create the Veil, which he described as a wound. It is a wound upon Thedas, and because of its effects on Titans, it stands to reason that it rendered the entire world of Thedas Tranquil too. And that’s where those devastating effects could come into play.
Titans and Mages Are Not The Only Ones That Can Be Made Tranquil
When we look at the “building blocks” of Thedas, this becomes so easy to believe. The Titans were made tranquil with a few common descriptions:
- Many are dead, but some are described as slumbering.
- Their power can still somehow manifest in the world.
- The loss of their dreams results in the Blight.
- It’s also worth noting that the Titans are literally the earth and bones of Thedas, a motorized husk since they were made Tranquil.
We can see similar language used to describe the Great Dragons, too. Dragon Age: The Silent Grove reveals that Great Dragons are the oldest, rarest dragons in the world, much more powerful even than a High Dragon. In The Silent Grove, a Witch of the Wilds named Yavana claims that “Great dragon blood is the blood of the world” and suggests that humanity would go extinct without Great Dragons. She also reveals that many of them are dead or slumbering, just like Titans, and only one of them is known to be awakened as of the Dragon Age: the properly titled Queen of Dragons. The Silent Grove does suggest that the High Dragons slumbering in the Hall of Sleepers were hunted to near extinction throughout the Ages, but she is unable to wake the Great Dragons, suggesting that the reason for their slumber is different or requires more power.
This is largely tangential, but if the Tranquility of Thedas’ “building blocks” also create a “Blight,” then there must be some form of “Blight” associated with The Great Dragons. That, I believe, we see in the Qunari. Corypheus and Kieran suggest there is something wrong with Qunari blood, that there is decay in it. I think this is almost literal. Dwarves once warred with “Scaled Ones,” who sound draconic in description. Then there were the Kossith, and now there is the Qunari. Over time, save for a few rare Qunari like Taash – Adaari – they have decayed from their draconic roots. Their ability to “manifest” is warped across centuries, so to speak.
Titans are the body, Great Dragons are the blood, and so it follows that The Fade is the Soul and that there is some “building block” representation of the Mind.
This “building block” concept of Mind, Body, Blood, and Soul is not foreign to the world of Thedas. The Qun Triumvirate, for example, recognizes the Arishok as the body, the Arigena as the mind, and the Ariqun as the Soul. Blood is missing, but that also plays into the “decay theme.” It could be that individual members of
Qun society
are the blood of it, or if represented by a position like the Triumvirate, Adaari like Taash could be seen as the blood.
The Fade feels stagnant in Modern Thedas and unlike the old world Solas wants back, like parts of it are slumbering. If there is a Blight to be associated with it, then it’s easy to look at Demons. After all, Solas himself used spirits of Chaos and Discord in his fight against Elgar’nan, who would seemingly be demonic in nature but aren’t. An exact nature or relationship is hard to speculate upon here; after all, Elgar’nan and Mythal’s corruption from Command and Benevolence to Tyranny(?) and Retribution seem to begin when they took bodies. However, it feels possible there is some unknown connection here.
Based on the similar descriptions, it feels reasonable to think that the Great Dragons and Titans were both made Tranquil, but that poses the next question. Titans were made Tranquil by the Evanuris, but we don’t know that the Evanuris wielded the Lyrium Dagger against the Great Dragons. There seem to be three plausible explanations. First, Ghilan’nain describes the first age of Gods as one of conquest, but a war against just Titans and a rebellion does not equal an age of conquest. Secondly, it could have just been used against the Great Dragons with or without that conquest and we don’t know it yet, as the Evanuris did bind High Dragons to their service. Finally, it’s possible that the creation of the Veil didn’t just separate Thedas from the Fade, but it separated all the “building blocks” and thus rendered them Tranquil as a result.
Thedas is a broken world, but it’s not just The Veil. All of its foundational elements and in-game representations thereof are broken. The Titans and the Great Dragons definitely are, and they clearly represent the body and blood. If we compare a Tranquil mage’s characteristics to the characteristics of these entities as representations of Thedas, the similarities feel like enough to suggest Thedas could itself be Tranquil. Whether I am correct on the Fade or not is the hardest to justify, but there is another “building block” element unaccounted for: The Sea, which likely represents the Mind or Will of Thedas.
The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard
also shows one possible conceptual ending where Solas made himself Tranquil to reclose “the Veil around himself and the Blight.” He also made Ghilan’nain Tranquil in another concept art. While this is
just concept art and nothing more
, it would suggest plausible concepts of Tranquility and the Veil being connected more than fans know. Tranquility does not play a significant role in
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
.
The Powers Across the Sea are Probably Tranquil Too
If The Veil is the reason for the Tranquility of Thedas, then it stands to reason that The Powers Across the Sea were accidentally and perhaps unknowingly made Tranquil too. It feels like their minor representation in the Dragon Age franchise so far supports this.
They went to war with the Evanuris, pre-Veil, but afterward all but disappeared for thousands of years. Their Tranquility would explain why nothing has happened in all this time. Furthermore, the Executors claim to speak on behalf of the Powers Across the Sea and NOT for the Powers Across the Sea. Just like Titans can seemingly reach out to Dwarves like Valta or Harding, it would stand to reason that the Powers Across the Sea could as well.
If we take the Executors as a legal term (which is not a far stretch if accepted as a representation of the Mind), it means they are executing the Will of a deceased. It fits perfectly. It also lines up with the “poisoned fruit” metaphor of Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s secret ending, which is also a USA legal metaphor for illegally obtained evidence. The poisoned fruit seems to be the Executor’s main draw within Thedas, but what that is cannot even really be speculated on at this time. There’s not enough information (and that’s coming from me). Beyond that, the Executors’ amorphous bodily descriptions would fit perfectly with a race derived from the Sea – as a building block of Thedas – just like the Dwarves represent Titans, Elves represent the Fade, and Qunari represents the Great Dragons. It would also imply their Tranquility created a Blight: The Devouring Storm.
Tranquility, Anaris’ Manifestation Attempt, and The Devouring Storm
We don’t know much about the Devouring Storm, but it chased the Qunari off. An actual Blight Storm would also be hard to fight against, especially if its Executors were hard to touch or didn’t have physical bodies as we see happens with Anaris. I’m not entirely convinced that the Executors and the Devouring Storm are on the same side, but they could be. The storm would also be slow-moving, explaining why it hasn’t hit the shores of Thedas yet despite the Qunari believing it would follow.
There is also more support for this theory from Bellara’s questline. Players encounter Anaris, who is attempting a ritual to manifest himself a body. Cyrian will describe Anaris as afraid, and when defeated, Anaris cries that he must escape its “eye,” likely meaning the eye of a storm. There is an obvious connection here, even if the finer details are hard to explain. Something connects the Forgotten Ones like Anaris with the Devouring Storm and Executors, and if you squint enough, there are enough dots to suggest a connection between them and The Veil as a source of Tranquility.
There also has to be some connection between The Forgotten Ones, The Blight, and The Abyss, and I think that’s explainable within this theory. I think The Abyss is somehow tied to Manifestation, but specific details are hard to sort out and match my theory.
This is the most paper-thin and hardest to support part of my theory, which I must admit also comes from a desire for Executors to not just be a simple enemy force, but I think the Powers Across the Sea want the world to be fixed, not simply a return to the old world like Solas, but a restoration of balance among the various “building blocks.” Perhaps balancing these fundamental elements could “fix” the broken world of Thedas, not by tearing down the Veil but by healing the Wound. It’s worth noting that not even Solas understands everything about The Veil. Not only does he describe it as a wound and a desperate accident, but Veilguard confirms Solas kept the Inquisitor’s arm to research and better understand the Anchor. It’s entirely possible that Solas does not realize he rendered the entire world and its “building blocks” Tranquil. He is the Trickster of Thedas, after all, and he has seen his fair share of unintended consequences so far. One more would only be fitting.
The Executors, in their interactions with the Inquisitor and Rook, are not hostile. Their actions with Loghain and Bartrand can be seen as such, but it is unknown why they are manipulating the events of Thedas. It’s also impossible to know if they’ve been manipulating events for ages or if it began with the Fifth Blight and Dragon Age: Origins. Answering the “why” here is so difficult right now because you usually know the why after something happens, and their overall plan hasn’t been executed yet. However, their interactions with Thedas results in three key outcomes:
- The Veil is considerably weakened. They describe Solas as “defanged.”
- Heroes emerge to defeat the threat.
- Thedas, as a whole, is also weakened.
It seems any of these three could play a vital role in the Executor’s plans, but this is still paper-thin territory. However, the Veil being the focus seems more than possible with everything that has come about in recent games. Dragon Age: The Veilguard ends on the note that “The Veilguard Remains Vigilant,” which would also tie them to all three of the above, but as importantly, it would imply that the dangers to the Veil are not over. Perhaps it’s not necessarily in danger, though. I don’t really want to see the Executors simply be another threat trying to destroy the Veil to bring back an ancient world, even if that would “cure” Thedas’ Tranquility.
No, instead, I think it’s The Powers Across the Sea’s Will to fix the world, and the Executors’ actions are an elaborate plan to do just that: reverse the Tranquility of Thedas.
Curing Tranquility for Thedas
Because of the Seekers, we also know that Tranquility can be cured. It’s actually a rather simple process: a spirit reaches across the Veil and touches the Tranquil’s mind. I’m aware that the Spirit “touching the mind” kind of throws a wrench in my “The Sea represents the Mind” theory, but I digress. It’s not a perfect theory, but it is a fun one. There is something possibly different I want to point out though. This is the only way known to reverse Tranquility on a Mage, and it clearly hasn’t been replicated on a massive scale like a Titan, much less the entire world of Thedas. Chances are, of course, that curing Thedas’ Tranquility would not be so simple, requiring certain conditions, powers likely representing all the “building blocks,” and Heroes to face the dangers presented by it all. But what those are or what else could be needed, well, perhaps only the Executors know.
Dragon Age 5 is years away, and of course, fans should be celebrating the victories of Dragon Age: The Veilguard for now. BioWare has confirmed no Dragon Age: The Veilguard DLC is currently in the works, as the company shifts focus to Mass Effect 4. What this means is I have years to stew over this theory, what I’m sure about and what I could easily be wrong about, and I could be wrong about all of it. But that’s the beauty of fandom. I love connecting dots that may or may not be connected, and I love being proven wrong about a world I love. If there is something I am sure of though, it’s that Thedas is a broken world, and its shattered fragments are quite lovely on their own.
Enter the world of Thedas, a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities – steeped in conflict and secret magics. Now, a pair of corrupt ancient gods have broken free from centuries of darkness and are hellbent on destroying the world.
Thedas needs someone they can count on. Rise as Rook, Dragon Age’s newest hero. Be who you want to be and play how you want to play as you fight to stop the gods from blighting the world. But you can’t do this alone – the odds are stacked against you. Lead a team of seven companions, each with their own rich story to discover and shape, and together you will become The Veilguard.
- Franchise
- Dragon Age
- Released
- October 31, 2024
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
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