Following on from Tevinter Night's release, I've taken up the bold task of dissecting EVERYTHING noteworthy that relates to Solas throughout all of the fifteen stories in this spectacular novel, and believe me when I say, we have so much to talk about! This isn’t going to be a short video, so get comfortable and brew yourself some hot tea! (Or iced tea, if for some reason you like it that way...).
I’ve recently broke down 'The Dread Wolf Take You' as I felt that story deserved its very own uncovering, however, today I'm delving even deeper into Tevinter Nights, investigating everything that will relate to the future of Dragon Age regarding our most powerful adversary.
Before we do though, I must preface that Tevinter Nights is an excellent book, and if you haven't already read it, you should pick it up and come back to this video after. The book truly deserves your attention and I'd hate to be the one to spoil it for you.
I do have timestamps for the following Solas-related topics if you’d like to skip to one at any point, links also in the description.
With that said, folks, let's put our tinfoil hats on and delve into everything Tevinter Nights tells us about Solas. We'll start by exploring what we found out about Solas's Agents & Allies!
Since Trespasser, we've known that Solas has a network of agents working for him behind the curtains. However, in 'The Dread Wolf Take You', we discover the length of Solas’s spies has greatly increased. Many of the Dalish Elves truly believe in Solas's cause and have joined his fight and even the Ancient Elves have been acquired for his schemes.
“And now we know that the Dread Wolf has agents working for him.” (The Bard, The Dread Wolf Take You).
The Ancient Elves decorate themselves in fine sentinel armour, appear bare-faced with no vallaslin, some of them have Dalish accents like Abelas, while others sound more Ferelden, like Solas. They are very much ferocious and hostile to anyone who will get in the way of Solas’s plan and they also use verbiage like: “The Dread Wolf guide your soul to peace, brother.”
"No crap on their face like the Dalish, and they don’t have that little hunch a city elf has, hoping you don’t notice them. They’ve got fancy armor and bows out, and they case the room like professionals. One of them says that the idol must have been moved, and his accent is your normal Ferelden, not like the Dalish, who always sound like they’re talking through a mouthful of toffee." (The Dread Wolf Take You).
So, what’s their mission? Well, the Elven God’s expanded network of agents are chasing down every single source until they find the red lyrium idol, the idol is somewhat required for Solas's plan of action to bring down the veil. It’s unknown what will happen once he acquires it.
"The Dread Wolf wants that idol, and he’s not afraid to get his hands bloody to get it." (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 490). “He intends something for the Fade, and if he wants the idol, then whatever he intends will be terrible.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).
In ‘Half Up Front’, we witness an Agent of Fen'Harel in the flesh. She is an elf who pretended to be a wealthy human taking control of one of Solas’s schemes. She declared that she “acted freely for The Dread Wolf, to bring back what was once there's, and what must be there's again.”
"The agent replies that she acts "freely. For the Dread Wolf. To bring back what was once ours—what must be ours again.” (Half Up Front, page 469).
Her plan was to trick and frame an Altus thief into stealing a (different) powerful and dangerous artefact that was "integral to Fen'Harel's plans."
“One of our agents spoke of Dumat’s Folly. Suggested it was an artifact of great power and danger, integral to Fen’Harel’s plans.” (Half Up Front, page 476).
The agent was seen wearing an unknown symbol that relates to the Dread Wolf, Solas seems to have built a dress code for his spies. Upon inspection, we now have a way to distinguish Solas's spies if they decide to wear this symbol.
“She’d traded her thick winter clothing for a simple robe, embroidered with an unknown symbol." (Half Up Front, page 468).
Irian, the Elven companion in ‘Half Up Front’ calls Solas’s agents - cultists, exclaiming their genocidal plan, and that they tried to recruit her at one point. Showing that not all elves are sympathetic to Solas’s plan, but many of the Dalish are secretly recruited for his scheme.
“Each one of those damned Fen’Harel cultists. ‘Ooh, if we blow up enough people, ancient Elvhenan is definitely coming back.’” She caught my questioning glance. “They tried to recruit me a few years ago. I said no.” (Half Up Front, page 470).
This is once more emphasised when the main character, (the Altus Thief) heard rumors that dozens of elves have gone off to heed the call of “some god."
“Crap. I’d heard the rumors, of course— dozens of elves, off to heed the call of some god. Guess I’d found one of them.” (Half Up Front, page 469).
The artefact that Solas's agents were looking for was supposed to be piece of the Black City called "Dumat's Folly."
“Supposed to be a piece of the Black City itself. A ‘reminder of man’s hubris, and of the unique and glorious divinity of the Maker.’” I snorted. “Seems like a bunch of nug shit to me.” (Half Up Front, page 447).
However, the artefact that was discovered in 'Half Up Front' was revealed to be ingenue, not the real ‘Dumat’s Folly’. The ingenue device still had power, it would allow a mage to draw magic into the object, store it and when full, it became a bomb which was used to destroy the Qunari Ben-Hassrath's new darvaarad.
“It is an ingenious device. Not a piece of the Black City, like the true Dumat’s Folly, but taken from the same time. It draws magic into itself. (Half Up Front, page 469).
The agent of Fen’Harel; acting on behalf of Solas, tried to create and manipulate a calamity feud between the Qunari Ben-Hassrath and Tevinter kinsman, if each party had discovered that an Altus thief attacked Qunari lands using this bomb, it would cause immediate chaos for all of Thedas.
“A Tevinter altus, striking at a Qunari settlement that had yet to enter hostilities? Ben- Hassrath wouldn’t be able to sit the war out anymore. Utter and complete chaos.” I felt nauseous. What I’d almost done, almost been responsible for. (Half Up Front, page 478).
Fortunately, that wasn't the case, and when the Agent of Fen'Harel was found out, she had taken a suicide pill and died immediately before further interrogation. The same happened when the Qunari Ben-Hassrath captured another agent of Fen'Harel. Suicide is the only way out when an agent is held captive - the perfect means of keeping Solas's scheme as secret as possible.
“We captured him, planned to interrogate him, but he killed himself first, rather than be questioned.” (Half Up Front, page 478).
On top of Solas’s agents, he has acquired a spirit/demon army under the guises of the Dread Wolf. They serve him, not bound to his will, but because they want to. In fact, Solas has decreed that if anyone binds a spirit to their own will, or uses blood magic, then your life is his. We’ll touch on this hugely in the next topic.
“FROM THIS MOMENT, SHOULD YOU EVER BIND A SPIRIT, THEN YOUR LIFE IS MINE.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).
So, not only does Solas have highly strategic agents working in the field for him, but he’s acquired spirts and demons in the Fade, unbound, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
“The spirits there serve him gladly. They whisper in my dreams now, accusing me of crimes I never committed and promising vengeance if my wards fail. A weaker mage would be dead already, or mad.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).
I think the juiciest potatoes we have on Solas’s allies is that while Solas is focussed on destroying the veil, his agents are very much creating havoc for the rest of Thedas, trying to start wars by setting up certain groups, taking over any location where the red lyrium idol was rumoured to be, and immediately killing themselves if ever taken captive.
Not to mention avidly recruiting throughout the elven groups, and the hordes of spirits and demons that will appease his will. Solas’s network of agents is expansive, the elves are slippery, manipulative and smart, while the demons are brutal and terrifying. They will make for some worthy adversaries when we come across them in the next game. Moving forward in our investigations.
Since we talked about Solas’s allies, let’s delve into the rivals of Solas that became apparent throughout Tevinter Nights, the factions that may be on our new protagonists' side of the battle, come Dragon Age 4. We’ll start with the Qunari. Since Tresspasser, The Ben-Hassrath have followed suite to Solas’s plans, and now they know the most about Solas's movements across Thedas, according to Charter. This means they are a huge rival against the Dread Wolf, as they continually disturb and intrude on the plans Solas has.
“As did the Ben- Hassrath.” She grimaced. “The latter is especially disappointing. They had more knowledge of Solas’s movements than anyone else.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 485).
We have discovered throughout Tevinter Nights that the Qunari are currently divided, the Antaam are invading the south, forcing countries under the Qun’s government, whereas the Ben-Hassrath are fully focused on Solas’s efforts, and stopping him.
“But while the military Antaam had seemed eager to fight, ready to avenge centuries- old wrongs, the Ben-Hassrath had sat it out.” (Half Up Front, Page 462).
Gatt, one of the quote: ‘leaders’ of the Ben-Hassrath shared that the Ben-Hassrath are currently a neutral party in Thedas’ war effort, even as their brethren Antaam invade Tevinter and Antiva.
“The Antaam will still agitate for us to move against you more openly. But we can blunt their strike. The Ben- Hassrath will remain officially neutral. More important, free to act against the true threat.” (Half Up Front, Page 479).
Whereas The Ben-Hassrath are on the case with tracking down Fen’Harel, the Antaam peruse invading. However, the Antaam still are very much interested in chasing after Solas. In ‘Genitivi Dies In The End’, an Antaam female share their interest in discovering Solas’s true name. “Fen Harel,” she lectured, “is a name given by enemies. Its translation, ‘Dread Wolf,’ isn’t true.” She turned, considering one of the tomes now piled on the slab.
“The name given when he lied to us— and to your Inquisition— was chosen by a self- styled martyr. ‘Solas’ is also not true.” (Genitivi Dies In The End, Page 320).
They believe that with Solas “true name” they could exploit his weaknesses and defeat him.
“With this “true name.” You could track a person back through the best and worst of themselves. Find flaws. Exploit weaknesses. Know what they had failed to be.” (Genitivi Dies In The End, Page 321).
So, the Qunari as an entity are very much hostile towards Solas. And as you’d expect, Solas has made himself aware of the Qunari threat, regarding their current invasion. In ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ disguised as a Bard, Solas stated that the Antamm will crush and capitalise over everything east of Vryantium, and northern Antiva as well.
"You all know that the Antaam invaded without permission of the other branches of Qunari government? We had assumed this would hobble them, but it appears the priests and workers were a moderating influence. Without them, the Antaam have crushed the Tevinter opposition in the east, and I fear everything east of Vyrantium will be under their control within a year, and northern Antiva as well." (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 494).
Solas is very much aware of the Qunari forces and their hostile intentions. Which makes them a worthy ally for our next protagonist without a doubt. Question is, will they play nice? We’ll move on to the next rivals of Fen’Harel - The Mortalitasi and Tevinter. I’ve bundled these two factions together because they’ve both targeted by Solas particularly. As I mentioned before, Solas has decreed that if anyone binds a spirit to their own will, or uses blood magic, then your life is his.
“FROM THIS MOMENT, SHOULD YOU EVER BIND A SPIRIT, THEN YOUR LIFE IS MINE.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).
When the Mortalitasi bind spirits in the Grand Necropolis, and Tevinter mages use blood mage, according to the Mortalitasi mage in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’, this undoes the work that Solas has planned for the Fade, and the ritual that has been set in motion. Therefore, he has made himself clear to both groups that this magic will not be tolerated anymore.
“And as clear as the Dread Wolf’s anger at what we had done— the Mortalitasi binding spirits he considered his own, the Tevinter mage using forbidden blood magic— was the feeling that we had disrupted his own work.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).
From what we can understand, perhaps both types of this magic are what need more of - to attempt to stop Solas’s ritual in the Fade. Meaning that Tevinter and Neverra are going to be worthwhile allies, so, having either of them on our side could force the victory we seek against Solas. Whereas Nevarra’s Motalitasi has been outlawed as a whole by the Dread Wolf.
All of Tevinter’s lands used to belong to the Elvhen, Solas’s plan will bring a redemption of the elves, restoring which was once there's, henceforth, Tevinter’s territory is theirs for the taking! If anything, the people of Tevinter are the ones who are in the most danger unless they join the fight against the Dread Wolf. So, that’s their incentive to help our next protagonist.
“Especially Tevinter,” the Mortalitasi said with a sneer, “since most of it is built over where the ancient elves once lived.” She looked around the room curiously. (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 485).
Not to mention, the Tevinter Siccari are the Imperium’s best network of spies. strong and formidable, surely, they too would make for worthy allies in the Imperium.
“I have heard many things of the Tevinter Siccari,” the Mortalitasi added, “but I have never heard them called cowards or traitors. (The Dread Wolf Take You, page 503).
Moving on, one of the most enigmatic rivals of Solas that was pointed out in Tevinter Nights are ‘The Executors’, although we still don’t know much else about them, we gain an understanding that they mutually seek a demise to Solas and his plan.
“We across the ocean care only for his goals and means of accomplishing them.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 485).
What’s most interesting about this shady organisation, is that before the Executor in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ could speak and share their knowledge on Solas’s movements, in disguise, Solas silenced the Executor and killed them when the group were arguing. Solas sees them as a threat to his plan, either they know something that can rival him, or equal his power, or some other intriguing factor that Solas finds intimidating.
Out of every agent in a major faction of Thedas, Solas only killed the Executor, which is most mysterious. Before the Executor could answer, the Bard raised his hands.
“I believe I know where the mage carrying the lyrium idol went next. S’il vous plaît, allow me to continue its tale.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 499).
“Second, that the Executor has not moved since you touched his hand while he and the Assassin argued.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 505).
Ironically, Solas goes on to say that the Executors’ are dangerous. And that Charter should proceed with caution when dealing with them.
“I would caution you in dealing with those across the sea,” he said. “They are dangerous.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 506).
So, there’s definitely something more to the Executor’s that Solas truly fears, or sees as a threat. In my opinion, this makes the Executors the most crucial ally to be had in defeating the Dread Wolf. If they even want to ally and work with us - that’s going to be a good question going forward. Following on from the Executors, let’s shuffle to the last, but certainly not least rival that awaits Solas based on Tevinter Nights, and that is, of course, the Inquisition. (or what’s left of it).
Since Trespasser, we know that no matter what the Inquisitor chose in the end - remnants of the Inquisition still remain to pursue and catch any scent of Solas. This small group of spies has been specifically tailored towards the plot of Dragon Age 4, this explains why in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ Charter is taking the charge, seeing to all matters that concern the Dread Wolf, hence she’s gathered all of Thedas’ best spies to delegate the Wolf’s ongoing plan. The Inquisition is still heavily involved in chasing after Solas, even if the Inquisitor isn’t present at the moment.
“Beyond that, the Inquisition knows little about what Solas intends. Much of his research involves the Veil that separates our world from the world of the spirits. He claimed to have created it, and he asked the Inquisition for help activating artifacts to strengthen the Veil.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 486).
And judging Charter’s actions, we know that the Inquisition are sharing and gathering as much knowledge on Solas as possible with other factions in Thedas. Connecting bridges and making allies for the war to come.
“Tevinter’s intelligence network declined to answer our request,” Charter said.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 485).
Charter mentions Vaea, Ser Aaron and other Inquisition agents that are behind the scenes in the comic books working to find the idol. Showing that their network of spies has grown, and continues to grow.
“Charter smiled. “I had agents involved with House Qintara before it fell.” Or more accurately, while it fell, but that was more information than the room needed. “The idol was sold or traded to the Danarius family.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 491).
Vaea and Ser Aaron were also mentioned in the story ‘Herold Had The Plan’. In which Vaea spoke on working with a renowned Lord of Fortune, and her journey to Tevinter. As we know, working on behalf of the Inquisition.
“He contacted me and said a job of his had turned into a charity run. Asked me to bring the amulet back north with me, to Tevinter. The chaos there has left many in desperate need, a lot of families torn up.” (Herold Had The Plan, Page 360).
And at the end of ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’, Charter nods to the fact that the Inquisition still runs on the motive of what the Inquisitor decided they’d do with Solas in Trespasser, whether that be to attempt to redeem Solas or stop Solas. She shook her head helplessly.
“Because you told the Inquisitor that you were going to destroy this world,” she said. “Did you expect us not to try to stop you?” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 506).
In Genetivi Dies In The End, Remnants of the Inquisition send 3 writers on an expedition in the north of the Silent Plains, to find the history of the elven pantheon. They uncover Elven tomes in an elven Library beneath the Imperium, sending their research to the generals of the Inquisition. Their findings are sent to Varric Tethras.
“We can’t say what we found, that’s for the generals. This is for the people.” He looked down at his pages.”(Genitivi Dies In The End, Page 331).
Finally, in ‘Luck In The Garden’, Dorian and Maevaris Tilani are making waves in Tevinter, located in Minrathous, they both helped severely in defeating an evil, ancient monster in the sewers of the city. Dorian even managed to hire employed servants instead of having slaves, so he’s certainly doing well, and endorses the Inquisition.
“It’s relatively recent, I’m ashamed to say. Someone I met in the south . . . changed my mind on the matter.” (Luck In The Garden, Page 150).
It’s been made very clear throughout Tevinter Nights that there’s still plenty of Inquisition involvement going forward. I still hope we can witness the Inquisitor in the flesh one day, but we’ll hopefully see soon enough. It is awesome to see how many factions truly oppose the Dread Wolf, going forward, it’s going to be a matter of - can we actually build enough influence and defuse enough situations to have many of these factions work together to defeat an ultimate evil?
I’m optimistic. With that, we’ve touched upon Solas’s allies, and those who would not see him succeed, let’s look at what Tevinter Nights showed us about the character of Solas, and how he’s changed since the last time we saw him. Firstly, Solas can now kill people while they sleep, even dwarves. We discovered in Trespasser; he can freeze multiple people at the same time. But now we know he can freeze Executors (whatever they are) and even golems, who’re already stone!
“{..} and that he has the power to kill those who oppose him as they sleep. Useful information.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 492).
“The elf’s eyes blazed once with glowing light, and every one stopped, petrified by strange and terrible magic. Even the golem was living stone no more, its crystals dead and gray as it froze where it stood.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 503).
Solas lies! A lot in his fake bard tale. It’s hard to tell what’s true and what is not. I personally believe that the Bard’s tale spun by Solas was a complete ruse, with only a few aspects of the truth that I’ll touch on.
“That’s a good story,” the Assassin said, cutting into the silence, “but I’d rather hear the truth. (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 503).
The table was booked under the name ‘Gauche’. Which is an Orlesian name, the fake name that Solas had taken for his disguise.
“I came to meet friends,” she said. “Gauche, party of five.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 483).
It’s safe to say that Solas is desperate going forward, I mean come on, he’s dressed as an Orlesian Bard with a blonde wig, jewellery, rings, the whole shebang, and he’s mimicking an Orlesian accent. I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures.
Anyhow. Under his ruse, he shared witnessing prominent faces throughout all of the Dragon Age games, like Isabella, Amund the Avvar, Sebastian, Tallis, The Divine, and a most intriguing Warden Commander. Whether he met them or not, doesn’t matter, I feel that all Solas is doing here, is proving to Charter that he knows about significant characters in the Dragon Age, that he’s made himself aware of each of them as potential threats.
“An Avvar augur laughed loudly at a Rivaini pirate captain’s dirty joke. A soberly clad noble from Starkhaven glared at an auburn- haired elf whose dagger- knot gave her away as an agent of the Qunari spies, the Ben- Hassrath. A Warden- Commander spoke with a woman who was robed and masked, but as I passed her, I recognized the voice of Divine Victoria herself.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 500).
This could mean that not many characters will be returning as companions in the next game, or even cameos, because as we know, the Inquisition is looking for people that Solas doesn’t know, so we can have a chance at defeating him. And, thanks to Charter, he knows about the comic book agents who’re looking for the idol in Tevinter, which puts them at a huge risk. Fortunately, none of them were mentioned by name.
“Charter smiled. “I had agents involved with House Qintara before it fell.” Or more accurately, while it fell, but that was more information than the room needed. “The idol was sold or traded to the Danarius family.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 491).
Out of disguise he’s tired and sad, and knows that many oppose him and that they are not fools. Telling the Inquisitor what he intended to do in Trespasser was a moment of weakness.
“He sighed. “It was a moment of weakness. I told myself that it was because you all deserved to know, to live a few years in peace before my ritual was complete. Before this world ended.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 506).
He admits he’s prideful, hot-headed and foolish. He says to tell the Inquisitor that he’s sorry.
“I am prideful, hotheaded, and foolish, and I am doing what I must. When you report back to the Inquisitor . . .” His voice faltered. “Say that I am sorry.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 506).
Changing the pace, in ‘Callback’, a Regret Demon finishes the eighth Fresco panel in Skyhold’s Rotunda. The demon was attracted to, and born from the regrets Solas had while he stayed at Skyhold with the Inquisition.
“I am the regret of a god, you— !” (Callback, Page 128).
Originally, the eighth panel was only drafted out by Solas before he left Skyhold, the initial impression of the fresco was that it showed the mighty battle against Corypheus and the victory of the Inquisition.
“The eighth and final panel of the fresco, meant to commemorate the battle against the blighted magister Corypheus, was unfinished. It showed only rough shapes, outlines that the mass of color crawling around the room now rushed to fill. And as detail and depth emerged, something was wrong.” (Callback, Page 121).
However, what the Regret demon reveals is something far more ominous. It appears the Fresco shows an outline of a beast stood over a stabbed dragon; two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass with confused forms. The beast is shown to be a horrifying wolf, having absorbed the dragon’s power, stood crooked over all.
“But here, unfinished, was the outline of a beast that stood over both dragon and sword. This was not the battle, or the victory. This was after. And the beast was not a dragon. The outline alone might have allowed that assumption, but now, filling with black and red, it was something other. The creature was reptilian, but also canine. The snout was blunted and toothy, but edges came to a point in houndlike ears. As the mass of plaster filled the shape, it began to rise, revealing scales and tail, and paws with talons. It looked like two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass, then viewed together, their forms confused. A wolf that had absorbed a dragon, and now stood crooked over all.” (Callback, Page 122).
This, of course, relates directly to Solas having taken Mythal’s power at the end of Inquisition, and rising as the Dread Wolf thanks to Mythal’s sacrifice. This fresco explains the entire end credit scene, and why Solas needed to absorb Mythal’s essence. As we know, just before Solas took her power, Mythal placed a piece of herself (or an Old God) into an eluvian for safe keeping. So, perhaps she isn’t truly gone. Regardless, that explains how the Dread Wolf has risen since Inquisition’s events, he is truly a haunting and terrible creature.
“The words battered us like storm winds, and the Dread Wolf’s jaws closed upon the Tevinter mage, snapping him up in an instant as he screamed in terror. The lesser demons rushed down upon us, crackling with fire and lightning and our.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).
“Lupine in appearance, but the size of a high dragon, with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a pride demon.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).
In his Dread Wolf form, Solas can speak, quite frighteningly. A lingering question I have is, does his mouth actually move as he articulates as a Wolf? Or is it more like his voice is a presence like Mono in Princes Mononoke?
“YOU MEDDLE PAST YOUR UNDERSTANDING, FOOLISH MORTAL MAGES, AND IN DOING SO, YOU THREATEN ALL CREATION.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).
The Dread Wolf has taken residence in the Fade where spirits and demons serve him willingly. He has a ritual for the Fade that has been set in motion, however, he requires the red lyrium idol to continue this ritual further, plus surpluses of lyrium in order for it to work.
“As the Avvar do. But whatever fear the name Dread Wolf carries, he has earned. While we might visit the Fade, it is his natural home, and the spirits there serve him gladly. They whisper in my dreams now, accusing me of crimes I never.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).
The red lyrium idol is still quite the mystery today. However, we do learn a few things about the idol in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ that may help us understand it more. The idol is described as: “a couple hugging, too thin to be dwarves; glowing softy like a lit ruby; heavier than you think, even for lyrium; when hefted it seems like it wants to keep moving, like it’s got liquid inside; seeming to show 2 lovers; or a god mourning her sacrifice; it whispers in the minds of mages and made some dwarves scream/run off/go mad; a crowned figure who comforted the other; people hear music around it. Solas strokes it reverently and says something to it in elven when he finds it. Its effects can be negated by protective runes and double-shielded chests.”
Most people, (like you and me) believed that the red lyrium idol was forged it into Meredith’s massive sword, and so, when Meredith went crazy with power and almost destroyed all of Kirkwall, her sword exploded, and so did the idol with it. At least, that’s what we thought, however, that’s not the case.
According to the Carta Dwarf, a Dalish Elf came to Kirkwall asking for help in retrieving the idol, he claimed that he ‘”learned of this in a dream and that an old legend of his people says that the idol is in Meredith’s body and that if he gets it out, he can free his gods or something like that.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 487).
Before Kirkwall’s Carta Dwarves could silence the elf for good, he pulled out a potion and said it would soften the raw lyrium, so they could retrive the idol safely.
“The elf pulls out a potion and says it will soften the raw lyrium and weaken its magic for a bit, so they can get to the idol inside safely.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 487).
Using the potion, they retrieved the idol from Meredith's chest. The Carta Dwarves killed the Dalish Elf, and then proceeded to sell the idol to Tevinter contract by the name of ‘House Qintara.’
“There were no templars. You sold the idol to the Tevinter contact yourself, getting more money than the elf could offer, and then when your men were dying in their sleep and arrows came through the windows, you slit the elf’s throat yourself to ensure he could not finger you as the one to blame.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 504).
An agent of Fen’Harel impersonating the head of House Qintara, traded the red lyrium idol to House Danarius for information. This was not something Solas would have approved of, the agent was later killed by the Qunari invasion on the city. This was discovered in Dragon Age: Deception.
“The Magister still wields influence and receives important communications. And my true master needs all the information he can gather about the shemlen... pardon me, the human world.” (Dragon Age Deception).
A mage from House Danarius made their way to Nevvara's Grand Necropolis with the red lyrium idol for an ultimate ritual to push the Qunari forces back north. Using blood magic, bound spirits and the red lyrium idol, the Mortalitasi and Tevinter mage attempted the ritual, upon impact of the red lyium idol, it revealed a ritual blade.
“The Tevinter mage raised the idol before him, and I saw a spike of lyrium spring from the base of the idol, so that all at once, it was not merely an idol, but a ritual blade.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 495).
The ritual (accidentally) summoned the Dread Wolf’s attention, as he killed the Tevinter mage and ordered his demons to attack the Grand Necropolis. A noble’s son grabbed the red lyrium idol, with its ritual blade either shattered or retracted and ran off into Tevinter.
“FROM THIS MOMENT, SHOULD YOU EVER BIND A SPIRIT, THEN YOUR LIFE IS MINE.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).
I personally believe that Solas lied about the idol’s whereabouts, and everything he said in his bard’s tale, therefore I think he actually doesn’t have the idol and is still looking for it, that’s one of the reasons he came to the meeting in the first place – to have a better understanding where the idol went since Nevarra.
“We searched for the noble’s son and the stolen idol, but he had fled into Tevinter, and with so much of the Imperium in chaos from the war, it was not safe for us to give chase. I fear that is where my knowledge ends.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).
That means that the red lyrium idol is still somewhere in Tevinter with this noble’s son and it’s yet to be discovered by Solas. So, perhaps the Inquisition, or any other opposing force may have a chance to grab the idol before Solas does. And that puts an end to everything I discovered regarding Solas throughout Tevinter Nights.
Thank you for sticking through this for so long, I really do appreciate it. In summary, Tevinter Nights has sparked so much for the future of the next Dragon Age game, as you can tell, we have more of an idea of where the plot is going next. I feel ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ acts as a small prologue for Dragon Age 4, as it opens up the next narrative in so many ways as discussed throughout this video.
Of course, I have just started the Tevinter Nights content, we’ve got plenty more videos to go! Be sure to let me know if there’s anything I missed that relates to Solas in this novel, tell me your thoughts on Solas’s plan going forward - where do you think the red lyrium idol is, and do you believe that everything Solas said in ‘The Dread Wolf Take You’ was a lie?