#I won't finish the game if I have to kill Solas I just can't do it

[kcwriter-blog]

Defeating the Big, Bad Wolf

The always amazing corseque has theorized that a boss fight with the mutant dragon/wolf Fen’ Harel is inevitable. The default world state on the Keep has the Inquisitor choosing to stop Solas. In other words, BioWare wants our new protagonist to kill Solas. That’s the plan. That’s what they’ve been leading up to. That’s what they think game players want. 

I’m not saying most players don’t want to “scramble the egg” as they put it. There is enough hated for Solas on the fan sites for that to be believable. At the end of the day though, BioWare is supposed to be about choices. We were given a big one at the end of Trespasser and it would suck if BioWare chose not to honor that. 

If all choices lead to us having to kill Solas, that isn’t a game I want to play. Not because I personally love Solas (I do) but because I consider it lazy writing to turn such a nuanced character into Thanos or Corypheus. He deserves better if that is what some of us want for him. 

I don’t think Weekes is a lazy or boring writer. However, if they were told by others on the team to make it so, that’s how it will go. 

How could BioWare give us the “redeemed” ending some of us asked for and still ensure the big boss fight they have been leading up to happens?

One theory is that this is all a distraction. There is a bigger boss out there that we will have to defeat. Maybe. Another option is the old trope “The villain decided he was wrong and died saving the world.” Boring, but also plausible. It’s also possible that Solas dies but is reborn in the Fade as a Wisdom spirit. He won’t remember anything about his past self, but he will at least be at peace.

I have another option. I don’t think we will see it, but I felt I had to throw it out there into the void. I just finished reading Asunder. In it, Wynn gathers a couple of mages and heads out to Adamant to save a Tranquil who has been researching how to reverse the Rite of Tranquility. When they arrive, they discover that the Tranquil managed to reverse the Rite but in doing so became possessed by a powerful demon. 

Wynn believes the situation is salvageable. She enacts a ritual that rips a huge hole in the Veil. She and the mages enter the Veil (not physically) with the goal of fighting the demon on its own turf. It takes the mages, Wynn and the spirit of Faith she carries with her to defeat it. Once they do and return to the waking world, the Tranquil is alive and no longer possessed. 

What would this mean for a good ending? Solas and the Dread Wolf seem to be separate creatures. In banter, Cole remarks that Solas is in two places at once, meaning the waking world and the Fade. Solas brushes it off by saying that he wanders the Fade a lot and that is probably what Cole is sensing. What if it isn’t? What if Solas is separated from his demon by the Veil?

If so, our protagonist can enter the Fade, do the boss fight most players have been salivating over and instead of killing Solas save him. Free of the Dread Wolf, Solas can become whatever he was before his spirit was twisted into a Pride demon. That might still result in him “dying” a la Wisdom in his personal quest, but maybe he will have enough sense of self left to “push through” and become mortal. 

I like this ending for several reasons. One, everyone gets what they want. Two, Solas has a chance to start undoing the damage he caused. A sacrificial act, while dramatic, does not really equal atonement. You can’t atone if you are dead. 

As I said, that is a very unlikely scenario. All foreshadowing points to Solas’ death at the end of DAD. It makes me sad because the ending could have been much more interesting. 

#solas #dragon age inquisition #solas dragon age #solavellan #solasmance #dragon age #fen'harel #solas dread wolf #I won't finish the game if I have to kill Solas I just can't do it

[lordbhreanna]

I need to YELL about this because I am feeling not just the BG3 brainrot, but the Tav/Dream Visitor brainrot happening.

Some Act 2 spoilers and stuff about the DV's real identity. And a lot of fangirling and nonsensical squealing.

Let me preface this by saying that I did get spoiled about the DV's identity. I know he's a mindflayer, and The Emperor at that. I don't know anything else about why he's inside the Astral Prism, what his title entails, or how he got the dirt of Vlaakith or anything about his role in the story with the Absolute cult and such.

And me being me, that makes me ship them *EVEN MORE*. Seriously, the dynamic between them speaks to me in a way I can't describe yet, I find it so fascinating and I can't put into words why yet. Maybe it's the "he's in your head and visits you in dreams, and seems to have chosen you in a way", the phenomenal performance, the small bits of intimacy. But IDK, there are just a lot of checked boxes.

Also Larian letting you choose his appearance??? Galactic brain move!!! Brilliant, geniuses!! It works perfectly because it allows for you, the player, be swayed more easily because your DV directly caters to you and what you may find attractive/trusting.

One thing I find very compelling about the relationship is that the shadow of doubt is ever present, but he truly comes off as an honest ally that is trying to help you. It's probably gonna be something along the lines of Solas Dragonage, in that he's keeping a big secret from you and "lying" but not overtly, and whatever he's planned it's NOT GOOD and it involves a certain deal of treachery, but it does seem that he... cares? Genuinely? AM I FOOLING MYSELF?

But seriously, when you meet him in the Astral Plane he sounds so sad believing you have accepted Vlaakith's orders and are going to kill him 😩

Is this the face of a oniric presence in your brain that it's just manipulating you? (This might come back to me in the ass later on). It broke me a little.

I am so looking forward to more interactions. I know they are fewer than actual companions, because I have seen some fans asking Larian for more, and even though I have still a long way to finish my first playthrough, I hope they listen!!

Seriously, there is so much untapped potential here!!!

I am loving every minute of the Astarion romance, and I love him as a character, and how everything is unfolding, and he checks a LOT of boxes on what I like in a romance story/character development - but... I think I'm gonna be partially a mindflayer girl by the end of this game because I won't be strong enough not to smooch the Emperor, tentacles and all, when the option shows up.

The fact that he's monster romance material sparkled with a lot of interesting dynamic is just too appealing and I am weak. We're not given this chance that often.

Like!! He get on his KNEES TO HAND YOU THE SWORD SO YOU CAN KILL HIM!!!

I am also expecting this to be a minor ship in the fandom, which... I'll be honest, may drive me more to do fanart/fic when I finish the game. I hope so, at least, because I need that hyperfixation kick to get more creative.

#baldur's gate 3 #dream visitor #bg3 spoilers #baldur's gate #bhrea plays bg3 #bg3: morgana