One of the biggest, speculative questions I, like many of you have going forward for the next Dragon Age is what will Solas’s fate be? Not what will his next move be, I’ve talked about that enough, but what exactly is going to be the conclusion to Solas? And the questions don’t just end there. Will the next hero be able to rival such a foe? Is Solas really going to be the main villain? What about that final Trespasser choice? And how about some closure between the Inquisitor and Solas?
Many of these questions and more is exactly what I’d like to explore in this video as definitively as I can. As a preface, we obviously don't know what role Solas will take in the next game, we assume he'll be the main threat for the majority of the story, but even that is just speculation. Nevertheless, we do know that the next game will heavily involve him and his scheme to destroy the Veil. Therefore, he's most certainly going to be antagonistic in some regard, whatever that may be.
The Trespasser DLC's setup for the next Dragon Age has paved a simple motivation ahead for the Inquisitor and their affiliations - do they want to attempt to redeem Solas or seek his demise? While it’s questionable if an elven god can even be defeated, by this very player choice, the next game needs to fulfil this final desire from the Inquisitor - whether the next hero picks this objective up from the Inquisitor, or the Inquisitor personally ensures this choice reaches its conclusion. Whatever the case, dictated by Trespasser’s ending, Solas's fate requires some closure in the next game.
While I'm certain the Inquisitor’s final choice will have some sway in the follow-up title, I don't think Solas's fate will be bound to the two different approaches deemed by the Inquisitor, I think (and hope) that Solas’s ending will be much deeper than that, this is BioWare after-all, just think of their record when it comes to player choices. For example, in Origins, the Hero of Ferelden could literally recruit one of the antagonists.
BioWare has a history of being quite generous with their player agency. So, I’m hoping for Solas’s sake that this will continue with the next Dragon Age. In any event, let’s put on our tinfoil hats and explore many avenues I’ve come up with for our favourite elven apostate in the next Dragon Age.
The Inquisitor & Solas:
One of, if not, the loudest conclusions the fandom would like to see for Solas is a happy ending for him and Lavellan.
While I, personally, would love Doctor Who: Stolen Earth/Journey’s End levels of fan service for Solas and Lavellan, specifically like Rose Tyler and the human tenth Doctor's romantic ending which was just beautiful, if you know what I mean drop a "Bad Wolf" comment down below and I will instantly love heart your comment. Yeah, something like that would be bloody spectacular, but I would still temper your expectations. I think the Solavellan community, myself included, needs to take a look at the Ander’s stans before getting their hopes too high for a happy, romantic ending with their genocidal boyfriend.
I wouldn’t say diminish all hope for a lovey-dovey ending because I know that Patrick Weekes is a sucker for a good, happy ending, but even so, I would just guard your heart just in case it doesn’t happen. Solas is walking the journey of death and doesn’t want his lover to see what he will become, both figuratively and literally. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean Solas will not get a happy ending. I am expecting Solas and the Inquisitor to gain some closure with their Trespasser choice in the next game, whatever shape that may take.
This confrontation doesn’t have to be Solas’s ending, like I said before, I think he’ll have a much more dynamic fate than either kill or redeem him. But besides the point, I would very much like the Inquisitor and Solas to speak again in a pivotal moment - does the Inquisitor still think he deserves to die? Or can Solas redeem himself? I’d love to see these questions explored again with more development since.
With that said, I think the most tricky element going forward is going to be how much the new hero plays into the Inquisitor and Solas’s dynamic, because despite what my Inquisitor said to Solas at the end of Trespasser, my new hero may completely disagree with their choice, and seek a different avenue. It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how much that final Trespasser choice affects the next hero if it even does.
The Next Hero:
Speaking of which, considering we are playing as a new hero, how will they even rise against Solas in the first place? It seems like an impossible task with the assumption that Solas is the main threat that needs to be handled.
This time around, it seems like we’re not going to have an army or that much power or influence in the world. Yet the stakes are the worst they could ever be in Thedas. How exactly is our new hero going to face up against such a task? Well, maybe they won’t, which I’ll come to later, but for the moment, I can only speculate on a way to defeat the Dread Wolf, and that would involve the red lyrium idol.
As we know the red lyrium idol belongs to Solas. His current quest has been to locate the idol for whatever reason. Perhaps Solas cares about the idol so much because it is one of the only things that can be used to defeat him.
For further context, in “The Hunt of The Fell Wolf” codex, Inquisitor Ameridan killed a great canine beast with a mysterious ‘fade touched’ idol. This idol was the only thing that ‘could prove the monster’s doom.’
“The wounded knight in darkness
Found within the cavern's gloom
An idol of fade-touched stone,
Which could prove the monster's doom.”
(The Hunt of the Fell Wolf, Stanza 15)
Perhaps this idol from Ameridan’s story is the very same red lyrium idol, and Solas is looking for it because the idol is one of the only things that can stop and kill him, just like the beast in the codex. If Solas were to find the idol before anyone else, he’s got full security over his own victory, and no one could even stand against him.
In effect, the red lyrium idol could be like a ‘Horcrux’, or the ‘One Ring’, if destroyed or used against Solas, it could defeat or sunder the Dread Wolf, exactly like how Solas sundered the elven empire and split the elves reality in two. What if we used the idol to split Solas’s reality in two, sundering the Dread Wolf from him.
It’s an incredibly tinfoily concept, but to me, it’s out there enough for it to potentially work, and it’s almost justice given that he split the elven kingdom in the first place.
If that’s not even close to defeating Solas, then I honestly have no clue how we could defeat because even Solas couldn’t outrightly kill the Evanuris, and as proven by Mythal, when they have been slain, they don’t just stay dead. So, considering that, sorry vengeful Inquisitors, but I don’t actually think we will be able to kill Solas, unless we had, I dunno, like a pantheon of evil gods who have beef with Solas?
Vengeful Allies:
Bear with me for this one, but what if we teamed up with a few members of the Evanuris to put an end to Solas. Let’s say, for whatever reason, they seek the next hero out because of their quest against the Dread Wolf, and they too want to put a demise to Solas. So, the next hero and a few elven gods team up together to face the Dread Wolf, sealing him away in a separate realm for the rest of his days.
As I’m saying this, I realise the gravity of the situation. You’re suggesting we team up with the evilest, horrific elves to ever walk Thedas’s surface. Truth be told, we don’t know their side to the story, why they sought out Mythal’s murder and what happened with the Forgotten Ones and the Titans.
I don’t believe that they’re innocent in any part of that story, but at the same time, I also have a bad feeling about Mythal’s reckoning, so it’s hard to say who is actually worse than the other? As we know, one of the plot descriptions of the next Dragon Age regards evil gods having their sights for Thedas. So it does sound like they’re certainly going to be involved in the next game’s narrative.
Even so, I wanted to throw that one out there because I think defeating Solas isn’t going to be an easy task given the next heroes position. As another tinfoil suggestion, perhaps Felassan from The Masked Empire could return with another way to defeat Solas, joining our new heroes party for some old-fashioned revenge. Felassan is an ancient elf, so maybe he knows of a different way to put an end to the Dread Wolf?
Subverting Solas:
In a completely new and fresh direction, what if the wool was pulled from under our eyes entirely and Solas needed the next heroes’ help. And therefore requests that we join him to deal with the blights, the Evanuris, the Titans or any other major threat that faces Thedas. Like the plot description said, evil gods have their sights on Thedas, what if Solas needs assistance in dealing with those evil gods and decides to offer a hand to the next hero.
In a way, it would be a massive subversion of Solas’s potential fate. I know for a fact no one sees him truly as a villain because deep down he isn’t. He’s just trying to restore the elven kingdom to its glory considering he was the one responsible for their desolation. Yes, his actions are horrendous, and what he’s willing to do is unthinkable.
But, what if through this route, we could stop him from destroying the Veil and redeem him a different way. With this in mind, the story would be about teaming up with Solas to defeat the Evanuris, a cataclysmic battle against would-be gods. It would be sick and again does relate to the early plot description of the next game.
Succession:
In the complete opposite direction of a subversion, what if Solas actually succeeds and gets his Thanos moment, where he can sit down and relax having fulfilled his scheme. Of course, that would mean that the Veil would be destroyed and Solas will have dealt with the Evanuris and whatever else that would be released in the Veil’s destruction. Thedas will have seemingly burned away, while the elves who followed Solas will have survived. Solas could then lead a new generation of elves that will be able to rise up in this post-Veil world, redeeming and restoring the elven kingdom.
I’m sure a lot of Solavellan’s would be happy with this conclusion, that Solas can succeed. But may I remind you that Solas wouldn’t have Lavellan join him because of what he will become in the process of achieving this reality. Lavellan would be left with everyone else in Thedas to burn, he’d rather she die than see the man he will become. While I think Solas will succeed in some ways, like potentially the destruction of the Veil, I don’t know if he’ll achieve everything he wants, but it’s certainly a possible outcome given how ambitious and motivated he is to his cause.
Mythal’s Vengeance:
In another direction, something else that may conclude the rebel god’s demise is Mythal. So much about their relationship is unknown, yet we do know that he cares for her enough to literally sacrifice his kingdom in exchange for sealing away the other elven gods who “killed” Mythal. Most recently, we know that he cares for her and her opinion, yet he stands alone and is not bound to her, for example, she disapproved of Solas giving his orb to Corypheus and shared that disappointment in their final exchange.
Even so, Solas has only risen as the Dread Wolf to continue his scheme because of Mythal, if she wasn’t willing to sacrifice an aspect of her power, then Solas would be seeking other ways to follow on with his plan. But Mythal seemingly would like Solas to succeed to some extent, otherwise, she wouldn’t have given him her power. The questions are, what exactly does she want from him? And which part in his scheme does she want him to fulfil?
We know that Mythal seeks a reckoning that will shake the very heavens, she has a conquest of vengeance to wrought. I imagine she’s referring to the Evanuris and granting them a final death, if so, perhaps she wants the Veil to be destroyed. I’m not quite sure, regardless, she is enabling Solas to follow up with his plan. But, given her vengeful ambitions, I wonder if eventually, her motivations will become a hindrance to Solas.
All we know right now is that Solas is following a scheme with the best intentions for his people, whereas Mythal hasn’t been coy about her plan of sheer vengeance. Perhaps, their motivations will become entangled and we’ll see both gods contradicted. In any event, Mythal certainly has a key to play in Solas’s fate.
Rebirth:
As foreshadowed in Solas’s loyalty quest, All New, Faded for Her, what if somehow Solas was defeated, yet instead of dying his purpose changed or he was reborn exactly like his Wisdom spirit friend. In this regard, Solas would still live on, yet fundamentally he’d be a different person.
While not the same, this reborn Solas could settle down with Lavellan, or they could realise their plan of mass genocide maybe isn’t the best route to restore the elves. Maybe they could focus on the modern elves and rebuilding what they can be going forward instead of being stuck in the past.
I feel like this approach would be a happier solution quite like the human tenth Doctor in the ending of Journey’s End. It is Solas, but at the same time, he’s different, and that way, he can change and become a better person.
Dying Alone:
If fan service isn’t on the table, well, perhaps Solas should succumb to his greatest fear and just die alone. I feel like if Solas is going to become a scary, impossible threat with the intention of saving the elves and destroying Thedas, and if there is no redemption or forgiveness for him, then perhaps dying alone is the best fate for Solas. He said it himself, he’s walking the journey of death, this means that death awaits those who surround him, eventually, that should catch up to him, and he should die alone having attempted or succeeded with his scheme. It’s the most poetic justice for someone who wants to commit genocide.
Conclusions:
Be that as it may, there are many things that could be in store for Solas. Will he become red-lyrium possessed in the process and live out his days as a recluse? Will he become too prideful to the point where he’s naive and reckless? Could the old gods or the untainted old gods have a part to play in his fate? Will his trust for Mythal get the better of him? Let me know all of your potential fates for Solas in the comments down below.
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