Given that Tevinter Nights is just over one month old, and the majority of you have had a decent chance to pick it up and give it a good read, I want to share my full-spoiler predications for Dragon Age 4 based on many new aspects Tevinter Nights brings to the ever-so expanding universe of Dragon Age. As a quick preface, this sort of video is definitely going to be more of an opinion piece, sharing my own thoughts and marvels on everything Tevinter Nights foreshadows for the future game.
I encourage all of your thoughts and theories too, so share them down below! But, without further ado, I’ll start by sharing my predictions on the main tone of Dragon Age 4.
Tone:
The Dragon Age games have always followed a Dark Fantasy approach to storytelling with morally grey choices, excessive gore and truly twisted plot-beats like ravenous Broodmothers, and Hawke’s mother’s macabre death, which was oh so gruesome and a pinnacle example of Dragon Age’s dark fantasy tone.
While some may argue Dragon Age: Inquisition was the weakest in this dark fantasy department, Tevinter Nights revitalises any hope for the return of deeper and darker themes in the next Dragon Age game.
Y’see Tevinter Nights, acting as a prologue for Dragon Age 4, introduces a bounty of dark fantasy storytelling that will certainly push the future plots in a most diabolical way.
Introduced in this book, we had plenty of things that would give even a darkspawn the heebie jeebies!
From: evil twisted human/centipedal/insectoid monstrosities, demon worshipping cults, ancient wicked beings, (“Cekorax”), death and blood magic, murder machinations, eldritch horrors, domestic abuse, inhumane treatment, ghastly apparitions, demonic possession, and plenty more hard-hitting themes that are paving the way for Dragon Age 4’s story.
And if none of those themes satiated your own dark desires for the next Dragon Age game, well, don’t forget about the main narrative focusing on stopping a prideful and powerful elven mage who can take shape into the wicked Dread Wolf attempting to commit mass-genocide for the sake of his long-lost people. Oh, not to mention the fact that this elf could’ve broken up with you too, causing your heart to ache every single second as he tears down Thedas, and the love you once shared together...
With that said, Dragon Age 4’s tone should certainly take the franchise back to its dark fantasy roots if it follows the layout Tevinter Nights has laid ahead. Let’s move on to the next game’s potential locations.
Locations:
First up, The Tevinter Imperium:
From the Capital City Minrathous, home to the Magisterium to Elven tombs lurking in The Silent Planes. There are many prominent locations that could make for a worthy visit within the Imperium. However, with the ongoing Qunari Antaam invasion ransacking many of Tevinter’s northern cities, many of the Imperium’s major holdings will be torn by the current war and preparing for a siege.
Not to mention the other major epidemic on the Imperium and its people - the scheme Solas has to destroy the veil. Not that this pain will be exclusive to the Imperium, as by gum, it will hurt all of Thedas.
But, the entirety of Tevinter’s land was once in possession of the ancient elves during the elvhen times. Solas’s scheme seeks a redemption of his people, and so a reclamation of the land is merely inevitable.
The people of Tevinter are not only evading a brutal religious conquest against their homes, but an elven God’s conflict too.
With so much contention impending, the Tevinter Imperium is critically endangered. Can Tevinter’s most contrived government save its very people, or will we see this once great Empire stumble into chaos?
Next up, Nevarra:
The main ongoing conflict in Nevarra regards the Van Markham, Pentagasht and many other nobles fighting for their own right to the throne, as King Marcus’s reign will soon end with no heir to rule after him.
However, just outside of the Capital; Nevarra City, lies the Mortalitasi’s Grand Necropolis, a stronghold and morgue built into the side of a mountain to hold Neverra’s elite family tombs.
In a very recent catastrophic ritual held in the Grand Necropolis caverns, the Dread Wolf attacked the Mortalitasi, sending demons to stop the ritual and kill the rest of the mages.
In a desperate effort, the surviving mages sealed the caverns with no trace of the invading demons.
Investigating the Dread Wolf’s movements may play a huge part in the next plot, and having the Mortalitasi as allies could change the tide of battle. So, Nevarra’s Grand Necropolis would certainly make for a grand visit.
And then there’s Hunter Fell, a small town just west of Nevarra City, where a tavern called ‘The Teahouse’ appeared to be the last known location that Solas had made a physical appearance. Another worthy place to investigate further plot ties.
Throughout the lands of Nevarra, there are at least elven more ancient elven/dwarven thaigs that are built into Nevarran mountains, to our knowledge, only one has been opened and it contained horrific mutilated creatures followed by a gas that had a stench of the ocean.
Nevarra and its surrounding areas are ripe with plot lines and narrative potential that will need to have a huge impact in the next Dragon Age game.
Following that, we’ve got Antiva:
Just like Tevinter, the majority of Nothern Antiva is under widespread invasion by the Qunari Antaam. However, quite unlike Tevinter, Antiva doesn’t exactly have their own dedicated military forces, instead the country relies on the Anitvan Crows to take action.
The leaders of the Antivan Crows have their own inner conflict as one of the eight major houses leading the crows decided to sign a contract with the Qunari for a peaceful invasion, in which Antiva would be ‘spared’ in exchange for the deaths of every other talon.
The talons discovered this treachery and put the situation to bed with the death of the Kortez family talon. With the peaceful conflict in shambles, a very much hostile Qunari invasion lingers on the horizon for Antiva.
Although the Anitvan Crows may make for a worthwhile trip to Antiva, who can say what will remain of the country when Dragon Age 4 arrives.
Lastly, we have The Anderfels:
To my knowledge, the most outstanding location The Anderfels has to offer is Fortress Weisshaupt, the headquarters of the Grey Wardens.
There’s been a lot of talk regarding the Anderfels Wardens, that they have a secret, or they’ve discovered something, or they’re all dead. henceforth, Fortress Weisshaupt has cut communications to the other Wardens across Thedas, remaining silent and alone.
Could this sworn secret silencing the Wardens from the other groups be the return of Griffons? Have they discovered even more intelligent darkspawn, perhaps another Magister of old, or are the Warden leaders fighting amongst themselves?
The search for this truth could make for a notable quest line in Dragon Age 4.
I’ll shuffle away from Rivan as a prominent location because I believe this country is intentionally neutral for many reasons that I’ll uncover in the next category.
With that, let’s talk about one of the biggest aspects that is going to make or break the next Dragon Age game.
The Protagonist:
Spy.
We’ve known for a fair while that Dragon Age 4’s previous iteration had the player prance around Tevinter as a spy, partaking in high risk, high reward heists. However, before major development picked up, the project was canned and the majority of its ideas were too.
It’s unknown if any of that previous work will make its way into the latest iteration, or if it’s all been scrapped.
But, before we shed a tear thinking about what Dragon Age 4 might’ve been based on the original iteration... If Tevinter Nights has taught me one thing, it’s that this spy role for our new protagonist still has plenty of potential. So, keep your daggers at the ready because I wouldn’t call playing as a spy off the table just yet.
As it stands, a spy is the biggest and best contender we have for our next character - chasing every lead after Solas, attempting to find a crack in his grand scheme, recovering intel and ancient artefacts, all the while being someone completely different than The Inquisitor. We’re a nobody, someone who can slip between the seams without garnering any attention.
Which is the perfect role to defeat Solas because he doesn’t know of both our existence, and weaknesses.
Tevintet Nights builds up a lot of espionage plotlines, introducing brand new factions in Thedas that are particularly interested in subterfuge and trickery. Or as I like to call it hankey-pankey. Each attempting to gather information to defeat Solas before he set’s Thedas ablaze.
So, because many major factions throughout Thedas operate a sole spy network, we have plenty of race origin stories for our next spy, conceptually.
Say we play as a human; we can be a member of the Tevinter Siccari. If we’re a dwarf, we can belong to the Carta. If we choose an elf, we could be an Ex-Fen'Harel Agent, and if we played as a Qunari, we could be a member of the Ben-Hassrath.
Satisfying each race with their own reconnaissance background, allowing the protagonist to have an already established understanding of Solas and his plan, so they can begin their journey of attempting to stop him.
Through heists and other risky missions, we could embark on a fast pace, tense narrative that’s more akin to a suicide mission. Very much different to the previous Dragon Age entries, however, completely logically given the tone of the predicted narrative.
And, Maker’s arse, I could go on with many more ideas for a spy protagonist, but we’ve got other concepts to move on to. If that doesn’t quench your thirst for potential spy dynamics in the next Dragon Age game, well I did create a dedicated video to this topic that you can check out.
Lord of Fortune (Treasure Hunter).
In the same direction as a stealthy spy, but rather quite different and certainly stricter, but has its own unique appeal (..) we could potentially play as a Rivani Lord of Fortune! More apropos, a distinct Treasure Hunter seeking fortune, wealth and any opportunity that pays well enough.
And perhaps the gig that pays well enough is to, without question, recover certain artefacts and idols that may be required in stopping an Elven God that wants to destroy the veil. However, that information is beyond our pay grade, and were not one to question a paid job.
And then, as things escalate, our Treasure Hunter finds themselves in a perilous situation, and they decide to take the hunt against the Dread Wolf, with more reason than just coin, but to fight for Thedas and their new family.
What marks a Lord of Fortune as significant is the fact that they’re from Rivan, a country we’ve not yet seen much of in Dragon Age, and somewhat of a neutral location for our next protagonist. As they make choices that may affect Tevinter or Nevarra, they won’t have a bias based on that being their home, they will be able to make a neutral choice based on the context given, and none other.
There were plenty of nods to the Lords of Fortune in Tevinter Nights. Regardless, if we’re not playing as one, we’ll certainly encounter one or two in the next game.
Executor.
And in a completely obscure, but necessary direction... how about playing as an Executor? A being, or person, or whatever the heck they are, from “beyond the sea.” This character style would grant the players with a new perspective on Thedas, and would allow new players to pick up the series, as you’d slowly learn about the narrative piece by piece, playing as someone who probably doesn’t know much about the world of Thedas, and would need somewhat of an education on the events of this world.
We don’t know much about the Executors at all, so what’s better way to discover them then actually playing as one?
The Inquisitor (Dual?).
As my final protagonist concept for Dragon Age 4, I feel it necessary as an Inquisitor fanboy to reiterate the ancient method many fans would like to see, and that is the dual protagonist mechanic. Allowing the next game to have two protagonists. As a TLDR, because I’ve talked about this before, but let's say we play as the returning Inquisitor for 20% of the game as they find loose ends on Solas, deal with diplomatic and political matters, and have more of a conversational style to gameplay. Then, we switch to our new protagonist who spends the rest of the game exploring Tevinter, building allies and attempting to stop Solas.
Putting this topic to bed, the Inquisitor needs to witness the end to Solas, whether peacefully or vengefully, he’s the Inquisitor’s friend, rival or romance. So, they need to be there to deal with him.
Potential Allies:
Anyhow, we’ve talked about the next protagonist, let’s explore some plot threads and briefly run through the factions we may, or may not have on our side depending on our choices in Dragon Age 4.
The Mortalitasi
Nevarra’s own death mages who’re responsible for mummifying the bodies of elite families using powerful necromancy and binding magic. It is said that the Mortalitasi are so powerful, they influence and sway the king’s decrees and decisions over the kingdom.
The Tevinter Siccari
The Imperium’s best shadow network, made of highly skilled and secretive agents who each come from slave families, they are formidable and honourable warriors.
The Qunari Ben Hassrath
The Qun’s dedicated spies and enforcers, they’re responsible for re-educating those not familiar with the Qun, however, the group are currently fixated on Solas’s movements. Reportedly The Ben Hassrath have the most knowledge about the Wolf than anyone else on Thedas, because of this, they remain a neutral party in Thedas’s war effort.
The Inquisition
Remnants of the Inquisition army continue the mission of their Inquisitor, with many agents enlisting to fight against an opposing threat.
The Carta
This crime syndicate has been investigating all matters concerning the blight that has become ‘bad for business’ in the dwarven kingdom, like the red lyriun idol.
The Executors
Mysterious beings who come from beyond the sea, they would rather not see this world come to an end, and so they too seek a demise to the Wolf.
The Antivan Crows
Antiva’s best and brightest hired assassins, who’ve recently denied the Qunari Antaam’s ‘peaceful’ contract for invasion. Now, they will fight for their country and its people.
The Grey Wardens
The legendary heroes of old are long gone, the group continues with incompetent leaders who stain the title Grey Warden. However, those who linger in Fortress Weishaupt have a secret, one that has not yet left the premise. Whatever that may be...
And I’m sure plenty more factions will arise; however, these were my main hot takes based on Tevinter Nights. With that, let’s discus the rivalling factions that will most likely be out for our blood in the next game.
Enemies:
The Qunari Antaam
The Qun, under the leadership of Sten as Arishock, stands divided. The Antaam, the Qun’s dedicated military branch has decided for themselves to invade Thedas without authorisation from the rest of the Qun. The zealot army sieges cities across Northern Tevinter and Antiva, continuing to rampage all of Thedas’s land until the people either kneel to the Qun or pay the price with their own blood. They will not stop until their mission is complete, and no one will get in their way, not even their own people.
Solas/Dread Wolf
Solas seeks to destroy the veil, destroying Thedas. He’s absorbed Mythal’s essence so he can rise as the horrific Dread Wolf, a creature who has taken residence in the Fade, with his own demon army whom serve him willingly.
Ancient Elves
Ancient and Dalish Elves have joined Solas’s ranks, known as the Cult of Fen’Harel, they abide by Solas’s every scheme and have begun to cause chaos for Thedas, like attempting to set up a calamity feud between the Qunari Ben Hassrath and Tevinter Kinsman. Who knows what they may do next?
Venatori Remnants
They tried to summon an ancient demon in Tevinter’s capital city, surely, they aren't over that plan just yet.
Main Story/Plot Points:
Now we get to the juicy story predications, where I get to speculate the heck out of many key plot aspects of Dragon Age 4’s narrative. So, hold on tight to your tinfoil hats!
The Red Lyrium Idol
The whereabouts of the Red Lyrium Idol are still quite the mystery, we’ve learned a great deal about this device, however, we still don’t know what it represents, and how significant it will be regarding Solas’s plan to destroy the veil. So, will we be embarking on a McGuffin style questline to find this idol before Solas gets it?
Let’s say we’re a spy journeying into epic heists, attempting to beat Solas to the finish line and destroy this idol before he gets it. Or, maybe this idol plot-point may be wrapped up by the time of Dragon Age 4’s launch, and we’ll be doing something else?
The point is, this idol is still a mystery and it needs solving, so by that measure, it’s probably going to have some involvement in Dragon Age 4.
Solas/Dread Wolf Antagonist
Based on what we know about the story going forward, Solas will most certainly be the next antagonist, that’s a given at this point unless the plot drastically changes and Mythal or The Titans, or a new evil takes that position. As it stands though, Solas seemingly is the big bad of Dragon Age 4.
And, he’s has already risen as the Dread Wolf, so that’s just grand, we’re already doomed! The plot will most likely focus around stopping Solas before he destroys the veil... if there even is a way to stop him.
As another obvious predication, I believe we may follow between two main choices throughout every action in the next game, those choices are: do we want to redeem Solas, or stop him. If our intention is to redeem Solas, then perhaps he’ll listen to what we’ve got to say, however, if we pursuit his death, then perhaps we’ll only be greeted by The Dread Wolf.
Allies
Regarding the main plot of defeating Solas, I believe we’ll be gathering more intel on the Dread Wolf by teaming up with many dedicated factions across Nothern Thedas. While some groups may join our ranks more willingly like the Mortalitasi, I believe we may have a few decisions between choosing one faction over another because of their own quarrels. Like choosing between the Tevinter Siccari and Qunari Ben Hassrath, each providing agents and intelligence in their own way against Solas, however, completely hostile to the other faction.
We’re going to need allies to stop Solas, there’s no way around that. Not every faction is going to get along, and magically unifying every divisive faction under one banner would be unrealistic and feel cheap in my opinion. If we can choose between key factions, there’d be a sense of contention throughout every single choice we could make.
As well as gathering and helping as many allies as possible who support our cause against the Dread Wolf, I have a few more main mission predictions like embarking on epic heists stealing and claiming Elven artefacts and Evanuris runes. And stopping key agents of Fen’Harel and their destructive plans for Thedas.
Side Plots:
Alongside our main story content, we’ve got plenty of side plots and threads that need to be explored. So, here’s a rapid list of some extra conflicts I think we’ll see in the next game:
> The Grey Warden’s sudden silence at Fortress Weishaupt.
> Aiding the Mortalitasi.
> The Qunari Antaam’s invasion against Northern Thedas.
> Uncovering Ghilinan’s Creations, Pre-Veil Monsters and Ancient Thaigs.
> The Remnant Venatori Cult threat.
> The mysteries concerning the Titans.
Companions:
And, now we get to the most subjective list, the roster of companions we may share this journey against Solas with.
Rogues:
I want to see Vaea, she’s my favourite character in the comics and she appeared in ‘Harold Had The Plan’. I know I speak for even the comic writers that she deserves a spotlight in the next game. The only problem is, she doesn’t kill, but heck, she could perform a support role in the group.
Next up, Scout Lace Harding. She’s been teased, but she deserves a comeback as a bigger role, and she can serve as a reminder of the Inquisition, filling the new protagonist in on previous events correlating to Solas.
And, Lucanis Dellamorte, an Antivan Crow assassin introduced in ‘The Wigmaker Job’. Although he has no interest in becoming First Talon, he’s said to be his grandmother’s favourite, and she intends on making him her heir.
Mages:
Vadis, an Altus Thief introduced in ‘Half Up Front’. She was disowned by her father because of her relationship with an elf. As of which, she’s a wayward traveller who came across a calamity scheme of Fen’Harel’s which would’ve caused an incredible feud between the Qun and Tevinter. Since stopping those responsible, and making herself known to the Dread Wolf, she’s headed to Kirkwall to meet Varric Tethras so she and her partner can strike back.
A Female Qunari. Patrick Weekes tweeted back in 2017 that this sort of character style would be a biggie because it’s someone they haven’t done before. I don’t have any character in mind because there were no significant female Qunari’s in Tevinter Nights, however, that doesn’t mean we can’t have a guess. We’ve had two previous warrior Qunari, and I think we’d all love to see an ex-sarrabas, wielding powerful Fade magic.
Philliam, a Bard! Is a scholar responsible for collecting and curating many texts in Thedas. His knowledge and penmanship would certainly be a large help, not to mention his dashing personality, he’s a Bard for Andraste’s sake!
Warriors:
Fenris, as a returning character from Dragon Age 2, I think Fenris is one of the most viable characters to return as a companion. His lyrium tattoos provide for a very unique combat style, and he’s got plenty of substance in Tevinter as he continues his blood trail of magisters. Not only that, he’s been setting slaves free and is personally involved in a red lyrium plot conducted by the Venatori remnants.
Grey Warden Ramesh is a man who has seen some true horrors in his life. Introduced in ‘The Horror of Hormak’, Ramesh has seen one of the many ancient thaigs that contain ancient elven nightmares, as he witnessed his partner sacrifice her life so he could escape. His mission stands to warn the rest of the Wardens of the remaining eleven thaigs.
“Hollix” is a Lord of Fortune introduced in “Luck in the Gardens”. They defeated a great tentacle monster lurking in the gardens of Minrathous, with the assistance of Dorian Pavus and Maevaris Tilani. Not only can they perfect the fine arts of theft, but “Hollix” makes for a great hunter and tracker.
Silly:
As for some sillier, but very much necessary companion predictions, I have a few more that I need to share:
A Nevarran Mortalitasi Skeleton, in the Grand Necropolis, the death mages have actual skeleton servants who do pretty much anything for their masters, being bound by a spell to serve for the rest of your days will do that to you. I say, if they’re already bound, why not have one too?
In the opposite direction, I’d like to see my Mabari Dog return. That is all.
How about an Executor? They’re such a mystery, if we’re not going to find out what’s behind their vyrantium robes any other way, then we may need to take a gander and see for ourselves.
And, lastly, I’d be silly not to ask for an Elven God companion.
In truth, these are just a few of my companion predications very much based on Tevinter Nights, I believe the next game will have a variety of different companions. The main takeaway from this section going forward is to expect the sort of character we haven’t already had, as Patrick Weekes stated.