Today I’m following up with a new entry in my lore mini-series paving the road for the anticipated release of the next Dragon Age game. Last episode I explored Antiva – one of Thedas’s costal nation’s that is best known for its house of assassins, robust trade, and seafaring culture. Continuing from that, in this episode I’m unearthing everything we know about the Dread Wolf and his future scheme.
While I have already done a specific lore video on Solas and his enigmatic course of action, there’s a lot more to delve into regarding the nature of his speculative counterpart and what happened when he sundered the elven empire.
“What would you have had me say? That I was the great adversary in your people's mythology?” (Solas).
In the Dalish lore, there is precious little known about Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf. They share tales of his great trickery, painting him as the elven god of betrayal. The Dalish use his name as a curse and an insult, depicting him as their greatest adversary. And they claim that he walked among two clans of gods that endlessly warred with the other - the Creators and the Forgotten Ones. However, the Dalish share that Fen’Harel belonged to neither clan, and with his treachery he sealed away both clans of gods from the mortal world and then spent centuries in the far corners of the earth, giggling madly and hugging himself in glee.
“Fen'Harel tricked them. Our gods saw him as a brother, and they trusted him when he said that they must keep to the heavens while he arranged a truce. And the Forgotten Ones trusted him also when he said he would arrange for the defeat of our gods, if only the Forgotten Ones would return to the abyss for a time. They trusted Fen'Harel, and they were all of them betrayed. And Fen'Harel sealed them away so they could never again walk among the People.” (Codex entry: Fen'Harel: The Dread Wolf).
While aspects of these Dalish tales hold some truths, the Creators, otherwise known as the elven Pantheon (or the Evanuris), sought out to destroy the world with their hubris. While their ancient conflict with the Forgotten Ones was twisted into Fen’Harel’s own scheme, other tales revealed the evil nature of the Pantheon.
It has been said that the malevolent gods began wars to amass more worshippers, they brought plague to their own lands, and created many giants, monsters, and beasts.
“Falon'Din's appetite for adulation was so great that he began wars to amass more worshipers, slaying countless victims. Only when the rest of the Evanuris blooded him in his own temple did he surrender.” (Solas).
“Andruil put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands.” (Codex entry: Elven God Andruil).
Ghilan'nain herself created giants, monsters, and beasts that spanned across the sky, water, and earth. (Codex entry: The Ascension of Ghilan'nain).
However, none of that compares to the Pantheon’s demise of the legendary Titans - gargantuan beings connected to the dwarves that dwell deep beneath the earth. Revelling in their victory, the Pantheon mined the Titan’s bodies for lyrium... and something else.
"Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!" (Codex entry: Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads).
"The runes say the Evanuris fought the Titans. They mined their bodies for lyrium and... something else. It's not clear." (The Inquisitor, Trespasser DLC).
From that moment, the Pantheon began to institutionalise a system of slavery disguised as worship through blood writing otherwise known as ‘vallaslin’.
Having witnessed the Pantheon’s greed, and in retaliation to their tyranny, Fen’Harel set in motion a rebellion against his brethren. He painted a mural in the Deep Roads that revealed the exact moment he decided to rebel against his fellow gods. This mural depicted the death of a Titan, and since that moment, Fen’Harel began his quest to free and give refuge to elven slaves. He set up safe-havens and told them the truth of the evil gods, and most importantly, he removed their vallaslin, setting many elven slaves free from their bindings, as they joined his revolt.
In spite of this rebellion, the Pantheon were the ones who called him: “Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf” - an insult he took as a badge of pride.
“I was Solas first, Fen’Harel came later. An insult I took as a badge of pride. The Dread Wolf inspired hope in my friends and fear in my enemies.” (Solas)
As Fen’Harel’s rebellion continued, in their growing lust for power, members of the Pantheon plotted and murdered Mythal, the All-Mother of the Pantheon.
“They killed Mythal. She was the best of them. She cared for her people. She protected them. She was a voice of reason. And in their lust for power, they killed her.” A crime for which an eternity of torment is the only fitting punishment. (Solas).
Exacting his revenge, Fen’Harel tricked and banished the elven gods away and created a Veil between the waking world and the dreaming world. The Veil sundered the elven empire, splitting their reality. The last words of those who lived past the fall were recorded:
“How could the Dread Wolf cast a Veil between the world that wakes and the world that dreams. The Evanuris will send people, they will save us. When have you last heard from the Gods? When the Veil came down, they went silent. What is this Veil? What has Fen’Harel done? (Archivist Spirit).
“If we get out of here, I will end Fen’Harel. After he held back the sky to imprison the gods, the Dread Wolf disappeared. Lies. We must tear down the Veil, the cities, the pathways, without magic they’re crumbling. You’re wasting your time, Fen’Harel’s Veil has turned our empire to ruins.” (Archivist Spirit).
I have a theory to share later on, regarding the ‘sundering’ that Fen’Harel caused for the elven empire. However, for the moment; after the Veil’s creation, Fen’Harel was weak, perhaps even sundered himself. He walked the walking world alone and rested for many years.
"I lay in dark and dreaming sleep while countless wars and ages passed. I woke still weak a year before I joined you." (Solas).
He arose with a new plan in mind - the restoration of his fallen empire – a scheme to save the elven people even if it meant destroying this new reality. Fen’Harel reconnected with some of his agents who survived the Veil’s creation, then he distinguished himself as a humble apostate mage from the north known as Solas. However, he was still quite weak, at least, as weak as a powerful elven god can be....
As of which, Solas gave his magical orb to an evil-twisted magister in the hopes that the magister would unlock its power, die in the process, and then Solas could use the orb for himself. He would then destroy the Veil with its unlocked power and restore the elven kingdom. Be that as it may, Solas undermined Corypheus. Instead, the twisted magister uncovered the secrets of effective immortality, and the Inquisitor was the one who gained the orb’s power – the Anchor.
As a result, Solas joined the Inquisition with the sole purpose of defeating Corypheus and getting his unlocked orb back - so he could resume his plan to destroy the Veil. During the Inquisition’s conquest, Solas acted as a personal advisor and Fade expert to the Inquisitor. If the Inquisitor was a Lavellan, for the first time in centuries, Solas could’ve taken away the vallaslin of his potential partner as he divulged their slave mark origin.
In this romantic exchange, Fen’Harel revealed his true identity to the Inquisitor, he was showing Lavellan that he was not the villainous Dread Wolf of the Dalish tales, but instead, he was the Rebel God who set slaves free from their chains and banished the evil elven gods for their misdeeds.
If only Lavellan knew that truth about Fen'Harel, and if she recognised this procedure - that Fen’Harel was the only one who banished slave markings and released the elves from servitude. If she knew this - it would've changed everything - it would’ve meant she was real, and by extension, everyone in this world would be real to Solas too. They would have the same capacity to understand his pain and why he created the Veil. But that would change everything, and Fen’Harel doesn’t want that. He has a plan and needs to follow through with it for the sake of the elvhen, no matter the costs.
As of which, Lavellan was left confused, bare and embarrassed.
“He hurts, an old pain from before, when everything sang the same. You're real, and it means everyone could be real. It changes everything, but it can't. They sleep, masked in a mirror, hiding, hurting, and to wake them... (gasps) Where did it go?” (Cole).
While the orb was required for the destruction of the Veil, Solas realised he needed more power so he could rise as the Dread Wolf. He was either sundered from an aspect of his own being, or he was just too weak to rise. He sketched out a fresco of his next plan after Corypheus was dealt with.
“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).
Solas witnessed the ancient elven sentinels who protected the Temple of Mythal, he told Abelas, the leader of the group that there is another place for him and their people yet linger. No doubt, the rest of Fen’Harel’s rebellion.
In the aftermath of Corypheus’s defeat, Fen’Harel’s orb was destroyed by crumbling rocks. Solas fled the scene with great sadness, he then met with Mythal, the All-Mother of the elven Pantheon as an aspect of her endured through the Ferelden Witch, Flemeth.
Fen’Harel, with Mythal willing, absorbed an unknown quantity of her power so he could rise as the Dread Wolf - fulfilling the plan he had sketched out at Skyhold.
Two years later, Solas and his agents helped the Inquisition by stopping an imminent Qunari invasion. He lured the Inquisitor to the Qunari threat having manually overturned control of the eluvian network, Solas then helped fix the Anchor before it killed the Inquisitor.
With a single thought, Solas was able to petrify Qunari Ben-Hassrath agents, proving that he has the power he needed. He warned the Qunari and told them to trouble him no further.
“Backs hunched, eyes wide open. They were scared shitless when they died.” (Iron Bull).
The Qunari Ben-Hassrath excavated a mural that was described as a self-portrait of Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf.
Another agent of the Qun wrote their findings of Fen’Harel, they unearthed statues of Fen’Harel guarding Mythal in the Deep Roads, questioning why the ancient elves were in dwarven territory. The agent wrote about dwarves fearing the sun because of Elgar'nan's fire - a metaphor for the elves of Arlathan driving the dwarves underground? They ended their notes with a poem about Mythal giving the dwarves dreams.
Codex entry: Torn Notebook in the Deep Roads, Section 1
If Fen'Harel truly has agents working against us, then the Dread Wolf must be laughing at me. The Blight takes my clan, so I go to Kirkwall. Kirkwall goes to ruin, so I flee to the Qun. Now the Qunari bring me down into the lightless depths, and for what? Because the nursery rhymes I remember from childhood make me an expert on ancient elves.
These statues are old. Better shape than anything I've seen on the surface. Many of them are for Mythal, though. And Fen'Harel. Not in a spot of honor, but guarding, attending.
Protector and All-Mother, why are you honored here, so far from the light of the sun? And why was the Dread Wolf at your side?
Codex entry: Torn Notebook in the Deep Roads, Section 2
These statues are older than anything I saw in my days with the clan. The area's dwarven, though. What were the ancient elves doing down here? Mining? Where were the dwarves? Easier to have them mine it. Not a trading post. You don't go into a friend's home, knock over their gods, and put up your own.
War? I don't remember any legends about our people fighting the dwarves. Though I remember my Keeper telling a story about how the dwarves fear the sun because of Elgar'nan's fire. A metaphor for the elves of Arlathan driving the dwarves underground? The Qunari like metaphors. I should share that.
Codex entry: Torn Notebook in the Deep Roads, Section 3
Trying to remember that old bedtime song about Mythal. My mother sang it the night before the darkspawn came for my clan. It's the last time I ever heard her voice.
I am empty, filled with nothing(?),
Mythal gives you dreams.
It fills you, within you(?),
Making our leaders proud.
My little stones,
Never yours the sun.
Forever, forever.
Hahren said we had lost some of the old words. What if they have changed? Durgen'lin from durgen'len? Little dwarves, never yours the sun? What did Mythal do here?
The Qunari Ben-Hassrath continue to pursue after Fen’Harel, intending on stopping his plan. They have remained officially neutral in the Antaam’s open invasion of Tevinter, so they can focus on their true threat. So far, across all of Thedas’ intelligence factions, the Ben-Hassrath have the most information on Fen’Harel’s movements.
“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).
“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).
“They call me the Dread Wolf, what will they call you when this is over?” (Solas).
At least a year later after the Exalted Council, in a desperate attempt to understand what the Inquisition and a few other high-profile factions knew, Solas disguised himself as an Orlesian bard and infiltrated a meeting of Thedas’s best spies. The group discussed their experiences with the Dread Wolf and his red lyrium idol.
Whether a separate being from Solas, or his own shapeshifting form, the Dread Wolf appeared in the Fade with wings of fire that resolved themselves into a horde of lesser demons. He’s lupine in appearance, but the size of a high dragon, with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a pride demon. The Fade is his natural home, and the spirits there serve him willingly.
“It was no elf, no mortal mage. It was a beast unlike any I had ever seen. Lupine in appearance, but the size of a high dragon, with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a pride demon, and it came to us on wings of fire that resolved themselves into a horde of lesser demons as the Dread Wolf landed before us.” (…) “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.” (The Dread Wolf Take You).
The Dread Wolf opened its jaws and snapped up a Tevinter mage from House Danarius who tried to use the red lyrium idol in a ritual that would’ve sent the Qunari back home.
“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 Dread Wolf Take You).
The red lyrium idol belongs to him and he wants it back. The Dread Wolf declared that if anyone ever binds a spirit, or uses blood magic, then your life is his. This is particularly difficult for the Mortalitasi considering their entire culture is dependent on binding displaced spirits to corpses.
“YOU USE MY IDOL CARELESSLY TO VANDALIZE THE SEA OF DREAMS. NOW FEEL THE PAIN OF WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED.” (…) “FROM THIS MOMENT, SHOULD YOU EVER BIND A SPIRIT, THEN YOUR LIFE IS MINE.” (The Dread Wolf Take You).
From this moment, the Dread Wolf has an enigmatic ritual in the Fade, binding spirits and using blood magic undoes his work, therefore, he has abolished these types of magic and will eliminate anyone who dares attempt them in the future.
"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).
It’s unclear if Solas, or his agents have successfully retrieved the red lyrium idol, however, it seems their possession of it is merely inevitable, as agents of Fen’Harel are in full-pursuit of the sodding thing.
“That is all I know of the Dread Wolf, I am afraid. The idol’s journey is now complete, and it has found its master. He will destroy anyone in his way without regret or hesitation, and whatever he intends, I do not believe we can stop it.” (The Dread Wolf Take You).
In any event, the Dread Wolf has risen and has a plan set in motion to restore the elvhen empire - even if that means destroying Thedas. We have many other plot points to explore regarding the nature of the Dread Wolf, his agents and his plan going ahead.
Sundered Beings
So, bear with me for this one, but I think it’s a valuable theory for the Dread Wolf’s true form.
The Archivist Spirit in the Vir’Dirthara shared that the waking world and the Fade were sundered due to the creation of the Veil – this means they were split apart and separated from each other like the fractured Thedas we experience today.
The Spirit goes on to say that when the worlds were sundered - so was the elven empire. Parts were broken, knowledge was fragmented, and many elves were trapped. The last words of the elves in the Vir’Dirthara were recorded:
“What happened? Where are the paths? Where are the paths? Gods save me, the floor is gone. Do not let me fall, do not let me.” (Archivist Spirit).
When pressed for more information on the Veil, the Archivist Spirit regretted to inform that they cannot share more because they are sundered from themself. The Inquisitor needed to locate the spirit’s other parts to learn more knowledge. Once they did, the Inquisitor discovered specific memories that each spirit clung on to.
So, let’s give that lore drop more context. When Solas created the Veil, he sundered the worlds and the elven people, splitting reality itself. He split the elves’ spirits into many different parts as proven by the Archivist Spirit. Even Solas himself said that the Veil took everything from the elves, even themselves.
With that in mind, given Solas split the Evanuris, did he also sunder himself? If so, was the Dread Wolf split as a separate entity from Solas when he created the Veil?
“The Wolf chews off its leg to escape the trap.” (Cole).
Without getting ahead of myself, this would explain how the Old Gods could be connected to the elven Gods, they could be sundered forms of the Evanuris that have forgotten their original purpose.
More importantly, it would explain why Solas was so weak when we woke up, he was sundered from another part of himself. And that’s why he needed Mythal’s power so he could un-sunder himself, and become united with the Dread Wolf once more.
If this theory is true, well, it fundamentally explains the true nature of the Dread Wolf, the Evanuris and, perhaps, the Old Gods.
It could also offer a way to defeat Solas without killing him, perhaps the Dread Wolf could be sundered from himself again? But how could we even do that in the first place? Maybe the red lyruim idol could be the Dread Wolf’s greatest weakness if used against him? I’m not sure. Even so, this theory has ample room going forward.
Agents of Fen’Harel
As we know, Solas has always had a network of agents working for him behind the curtains like the ancient elf Felassan who appeared in Masked Empire. However, since Trespasser’s ending and Tevinter Nights, the length of Solas’s agents has greatly increased.
“And now we know that the Dread Wolf has agents working for him.” (The Dread Wolf Take You).
Many of the Dalish have joined Solas's cause. However, not all Dalish are sympathetic to Solas’s scheme, some of them have started to call those who join his rebellion - “Fen’Harel cultists.”
“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).
It seems many of the Dalish are secretly recruited, rumours have spread among the populace about dozens of elves running 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).
The Ancient Elves who’ve joined Solas’s rebellion decorate themselves in fine sentinel armour, appear bare-faced with no vallaslin, and are very much ferocious and hostile to anyone who will get in the way of Solas’s plan.
"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).
Some of them use verbiage like: “The Dread Wolf guide your soul to peace, brother.”
An Agent of Fen’Harel who declared that she acted freely for the Dread Wolf to bring back what was once theirs, and what must be theirs again tried to manipulate a war between the Qunari Ben-Hassrath and Tevinter. She placed a Tevinter rogue on Qunari lands as a bomb destroyed the Qun’s new darvaarad.
"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).
Fortunately, Ben-Hassrath agents discovered this plot before it was too late. However, if this plan was successful, it would’ve caused immediate chaos for all of Thedas - this goes to show that Solas’s agents are very nonchalantly creating catastrophe under the guises of their master.
“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).
Either Solas doesn’t care, or that level of respect he had for the people of Thedas when helping the Inquisition against the Qunari threat in Trespasser has gone. It seems he’s embracing what’s to come - the decimation of this new world for the restoration of elvhenan.
Another agent of Fen’Harel known as Gaius impersonated as the head of House Qintara for years. As Magister Qintara, Gaius traded a weapon imbued with red lyrium stolen from Kirkwall – the infamous red lyrium idol. Gaius traded the idol to House Danarius for information, this exchange is something that Solas disapproved of. However, Gaius was killed by invading Qunari during the siege at Ventus. We assume Solas’s agents are still looking for the idol.
The Dread Wolf Rises
The Dread Wolf Rises mural is one of the biggest indicators we have on the Dread Wolf’s scheme going ahead, the mural showcased the red lyrium idol in the middle as Solas confronted the Dread Wolf. The tambourine in the middle has five greyed out semi-circles with two still lit, probably referring to the remaining sixth and seventh blights. The representation and meaning behind this mural has been meandered by myself and many others for years, put simply, this mural could have many meanings.
It could show Solas’s transformation into the Dread Wolf - this could reflect the moment he physically and literally transforms into the Dread Wolf, potentially to deal with threats against his plan.
Or perhaps the mural shows that Solas needs the red lyrium idol and the two old gods for his scheme?
Even further, on a more metaphorical level, the mural could showcase Solas’s internal conflict like pride vs. wisdom, he might not be ready for what comes next, the Dread Wolf in this mural could showcase what Solas needs to become in order to restore the elven kingdom. The question is, can he do it?
The Dread Wolf Unveiled
And finally, the recent Game Awards 2020 trailer revealed a new mural, one that I’ve decided to call - “The Dread Wolf Unveiled.” It has plenty of indicators towards Solas’s intended destruction, and what else may be involved.
In this mural, the Dread Wolf is bursting through the Black City which is imbued in red lyrium.
We can see the Dread Wolf has destroyed the Veil by the representation of the spheres that have exploded with a roaring fire. With its destruction, the Fade and the waking world of Thedas have become one. With the world burning in the raw chaos, Solas could then restore the time of the elves.
There are two “evil gods” on either side, potentially two members of the elven pantheon, the old gods, or they could be untainted old gods. It’s anyone's guess, regardless, once the Veil has been destroyed, many threats will be unleashed onto Thedas like the Evanuris. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get to that point, right?
With that explored, that’s everything we know so far regarding the Dread Wolf, his true nature and his plan going ahead.
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