The Dragon Age franchise is built on a rich tapestry of lore. The different civilizations have lengthy histories with their own mythologies. Much like the real world, different religions exist as people debate what or who created the world. Some explore monotheism or polytheism while others are more philosophical. Going into Dragon Age: The Veilguard, one of the most important religions to discuss is the pantheon of the Elven Gods. Built up in importance since the first game, the Elven Gods are set to feature heavily in the upcoming game. Let’s go over what we know to be completely caught up with the story of Dragon Age.
Myths Lost to Time
Dragon Age is, like many other fantasy franchises, inspired by Lord of the Rings at its core. Elves play a big role in both stories as the most ancient and important of peoples. However, Dragon Age‘s Elves are in a much worse place than they are in a lot of similar media. The Elves lost their nation long ago, being overtaken largely by Humans as the more dominant cultures. Some Elves have integrated into Human society while others try to live out their independence in the wilds as groups called Dalish Elves. The Dalish try to keep their ancient culture going, which is where much of the early lore about the Elven Gods was presented to players.
The Dalish will tell the tales of a time when the Ancient Elves were immortal beings, masters of magic, and rulers of the land. They followed in the footsteps of the Elven Gods, a pantheon of protectors who gave them purpose and led them to their greatest heights as they formed a tremendous empire. The Elven Gods led their people into war with the Forgotten Ones, an evil pantheon that sought to bring an end to the Elves. One god, called Fen’harel (meaning Dread Wolf in the common tongue) was said to dwell amongst both pantheons. Considered a trickster deity, he eventually locked both pantheons away and weakened the Elven Empire, allowing it to be overtaken by Humans.
By The Dread Wolf
Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third main game of the series, delved deep into the Elven Gods and shed light on the truth. While previous games had shown us the cultures that venerated the ancient Elven ways, it was clear that much of the truth was lost over the years, with the Dalish Elves telling a simplified story mutated by oral tradition. Ancient Elven relics dotted the landscape, seeming important but impossible for modern Elves to truly grasp. Eluvians, for example, were ancient mirrors that seemed to hold secrets of the past. In Inquisition, we’d learn that they could be used to traverse a specialized network that would shorten travel across the world.
Far more would be revealed as the game drew to its conclusion. The villain of the game, Corypheus, wielded an orb that seemed to allow him to bridge the gap between the material world and the Fade, the source of magic, spirits, and demons. Upon defeating him, the orb was destroyed and the player’s Elven companion Solas seemed distraught. Afterward, Solas would disappear. A post-credits scene would show him meeting with Flemeth, an old witch who was revealed to hold a fragment of the Elven God Mythal within her. Solas, in turn, was Fen’harel, revived somehow after all these years. He consumed Mythal’s power and left us all shocked.
Return of the Gods
Thankfully, a year after Inquisition’s launch, the DLC package Trespasser gave us more answers. We caught up with Solas, now fully empowered as Fen’harel, and he told us what we wanted to know. The Elven Gods were real, but they were not deities. They were powerful magi who grew to rule over their peoples and came to be worshipped as gods due to their strength. Fen’harel, at first among them as an equal, came to see them as mad and power-hungry. He determined they must be stopped, and began trying to find a way to defeat them. When they betrayed their fellow deity Mythal, Fen’harel’s closest friend, he decided he had to take action.
The true nature of the Forgotten Ones remains a mystery to us still, but we do know what happened next. Fen’harel, or Solas as he is more known to us, sealed away the Elven Gods. At the same time, he also pulled magic away from the people and created the Veil. This locked away spirits and magical energy into the realm we now know as the Fade, leaving those on the material plane (mostly) without that power. Solas believed it was the only way to save his people from their cruel overlords. However, this exertion took much from him, and he entered into a slumber for hundreds of years. When he awoke, he was shocked to see that without magic, the Elves had fallen to the Humans.
Conclusion
Solas revealed to us in the Trespasser DLC that he would tear the Veil back down to give magic to his people again. His initial plan to use Corypheus to do this had failed, and now he was taking measures into his own hands. This plan is dangerous and he admits it may destroy most of those currently living in the world. His former allies were not so content to let him proceed with this, however. In promotional material for the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it seems Solas is ready to try to tear the Veil down. As the footage reveals to us, however, this may give his old enemies the Elven Gods a chance to be freed. They seem to be our villains in this soon-to-release game, where we may learn even more about them than we’ve already had the chance to.
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