Legends of the 'Witch of the Wilds' have persisted throughout the history of Ferelden and, with them, stories of her many 'daughters'. Her children are regarded with fear: infamous figures, apostates living outside the control of the Circle of Magi, many thought to be shape shifters, all dangerous. And none of these daughters is more well known and controversial than Morrigan...
— World of Thedas Vol. 2
This particular dark-haired young woman was not seen until a number of years later, in 9:20 Dragon. Later joining the Hero of Ferelden to fight in the Fifth Blight, the Old God Urthemiel, was an old power beyond the ages, sought to be preserved by Morrigan. A bargain was exchanged, or perhaps not, what became of Morrigan after the Fifth Blight is uncertain. When the Eluvians were discovered, she was rumored to be known as the Scornful Sorceress and served as Empress Celene's special counselor. Morrigan eventually received the position of imperial liaison at Skyhold for the Inquisitor. After the Inquisition's victory at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, Morrigan vanished...though not without drawing the kind of attention, should she appear again, it will certainly be noticed by all...
But you already knew this didn't you? Morrigan is one of the most renowned characters in the Dragon Age franchise. Being the known companion in Dragon Age: Origins, to her sudden arrival to meet the Herald in Dragon Age: Inquisition. But one thing we know is certain, Morrigan's Fate is the biggest Dragon Age mystery within the franchise.
So let's begin:
Master Of Eluvians
Morrigan, as we all know, has a powerful thirst for knowledge. She has a chance to quench it with the Well of Sorrows in Dragon Age: Inquisition, and we witness the extent she is prepared to go for it. This also occurs in the Witch Hunt DLC for Origins, as the Warden is requested to allow Ariane to join them on their own mission to find Morrigan after she steals a book on eluvians from the Dalish.
It is logically concluded that the best way to locate her is to follow her actions in relation to the eluvians. The party will be able to locate Morrigan and the eluvian she intends to use by using a broken piece of eluvian that Ariane informs the Warden about.
When the Warden finally catches up with Morrigan, she stands in front of an intact, functioning eluvian at Drake's Fall. We were told earlier in the course of Witch Hunt that Tevinter stole the eluvian network from Arlathan and tried to make them operate, but only managed to use them as a communication network, so it’s easy to infer that Morrigan found this particular eluvian somewhere else in these ruins, among the paths that the Warden never explored- perhaps as far as into Northern Thedas where Tevinter lies.
However, when one plays "The Last Court" at the Dragon Age Keep, Morrigan (the Scornful Sorceress) appears as Celene's Arcane Advisor and requests access to the Glassworks for study. This is when she works to mend a damaged eluvian and actually succeeds...
Considering there is a surplus of broken eluvians to be found in many ancient ruins, she could have simply picked up one to work on. However the parallel of Morrigan's knowledge to eluvians brings me to quite a big shock as compared to another character within Dragon Age.
Merrill’s whole agony over the recovered eluvian from Dragon Age 2 led her into somewhat of a demise. The eluvian she was constructing from the shard she took from the ruins of the corrupted eluvian that destroyed Tamlen from the Dalish origin within the first game.
Merrill can eventually succeed in fixing/constructing the eluvian but can’t get it activated.
We never learn the exact reason why. Even with the arulin'holm, it is probable that it is not as entirely restored as Merrill believes. Maybe there's a defect in the glass? Perhaps it needs more enchantment or is incapable of holding an enchantment? Perhaps there isn't a keystone or enough power. Whether Merrill leaves the eluvian as is or breaks it again, it is evident that it is not entirely as it should be.
It's possible that this is the mirror Morrigan takes to Serault to repair, both for her own purposes and to maintain her position and approval within Celene's court, but her knowledge and mastery of Eluvians is astounding, leading me to believe this is something related to her fate and perhaps knowledge of Thedas' ancient times with the elvhen. But with all her knowledge of the eluvians, it makes me believe Morrigan could be in dire danger due to us knowing who has full control of the eluvians now. Solas, the Dread Wolf, states that he controls part of the network to the eluvians now, at least the ones for the Vir Dirthara, and the ones connected to Halamshiral.
It's conceivable that given her understanding of eluvians, she'll be able to avoid Solas, but she could be a bigger threat to him than we imagined.
Perhaps Morrigan's destiny is apparent; following her absence at the conclusion of Inquisition, Morrigan escaped back to the crossroads- and may be sheltering from Fen'Harel's threat amid the events of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Old God Baby - Keiran
One thing is clear within the realm of Thedas, the Dark Ritual works. A ritual lost to the ages and Morrigan explains that it is a form of blood magic known long before the Circle of Magi was ever created. This dark ritual will ensure that the essence of the archdemon is lured into an unborn child; bearing the taint rather than the Grey Warden slaying the archdemon and dying from the souls release upon a Warden's tainted vessel.
Morrigan thinks that the kid will live and possess the soul of an Old God- specifically the Old God Urthemiel, the Dragon of Beauty, this ritual will make it free of the taint from its darkspawn corruption. Morrigan says that this ritual is why Flemeth saved the Wardens and why Morrigan had to follow them. Flemeth's reasons for this are unknown until Dragon Age: Inquisition.
If the Warden performs the Dark Ritual, the ritual is successful. Morrigan notifies the Warden that an Old God baby has been born, and she must nurture this infant and raise this child alone, at least, for some time. Keiran is said to be around 10 years old during the events of Inquisition. And while his remarks can be unsettling and eerie for some, his knowledge of Thedas is immense with this Old God soul, and he may provide many clues regarding Morrigan's inheritance and the periods of ancient Thedas.
But since we are talking about Morrigan's Fate I have to delve into the mystery of Urthemiel, while it states Morrigan might not know the plan of Keiran's creation. Kieran will enter Morrigan's eluvian into the Fade and Morrigan chases after him. Joined by the Inquisitor, they find Kieran with Flemeth. When Morrigan attempts to attack, Flemeth magically commands whoever drank from the Well to make her stop, revealing herself as a vessel of Mythal.
She then offers a deal: Flemeth keeps Kieran and Morrigan is freed from her, or Kieran returns to Morrigan but Flemeth will keep hunting her. Morrigan refuses her offer, willing to sacrifice her own body to her mother to spare her son. With that, Flemeth only takes the Old God essence of Urthemiel from Kieran. Before departing, she tells Morrigan that she was never in danger, because an unwilling host cannot be possessed.
While this wraps up the fate of Keiran elegantly, it means that Solas could theoretically have possession of just Urthemiel’s soul. It's not within Flemeth's nature to be deceived, and although Fen'Harel does seem to deceive the Evanuris with their imprisonment, perhaps Mythal isn't too keen to be betrayed once again by her own kind. It is very clever for BioWare to let us see a piece of herself going into the Eluvian within the credits scene. Perhaps Flemeth knew of Solas' return and knew that her power would be sapped due to the destruction of his orb. If the Evanuris are truly the Old Gods, then how much of a difference would it be to give Solas something he ultimately wanted? The power of an Evanuris, which is the uncorrupted wisp of Urthemiel.
I believe Morrigan will take Mythal's essence in this manner, after physically begging to be the vessel of the well; we know that whoever drinks from the Well is Mythal's final priest. Morrigan is also blood-related to Flemeth, thus it's not out of the question that Morrigan is the only one who may claim Mythal's inheritance, to stay true to their bloodline. Morrigan's fate was to always be Mythal's inheritor: which brings us to Morrigan's final fate:
Inheritor of the New Age
"Mother is the inheritor, she who awaits the next age"
— Keiran, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Keiran states that Morrigan is the inheritor of the new age, which I believe is her ultimate fate within Thedas. Dragon Age's whole central time is revolved around ages, a new age is born every 100 years according to the Orlesian Calendar. Or perhaps a new age is to come earlier, the age where maybe the Veil is successfully torn, and Solas restores the elves of his time, the world of Arlathan.
That is Morrigan's fate, she could be the inheritor of Mythal to lead her people back into restoration after the destruction of the Veil. We see her character development throughout the Dragon Age games, and its super interesting to see that Morrigan is the perfect essence of Mythal when faced with strife from her own Mother. While bargaining Keiran's fate, it seemed like a test, to prove her motherhood and willingness to fight for her own son. Mythal is the goddess of Motherhood, which gives Flemeth confidence in her decision to pass on this ancient power to Morrigan.
It's obvious Morrigan is fully ready for whats to come upon her, and the question rises, will she be on Solas' side? I truly doubt that knowing there was a little bit of regret in her eyes when seeing her mother Flemeth for the last time. Morrigan has no need to band up with Solas to break down the Veil, her purpose was to always preserve the old power of the elvhen. It leans on to say why? Why would a human apostate recover the elvhen? Well perhaps that is Dragon Age's mystery, maybe Flemeth saw this world redeemable while Solas could not.
Regardless, Morrigan waits for this ultimate Age of Transition, and Flemeth's words echo across Thedas.
“We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment… and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly.”
— Flemeth, Dragon Age 2
But with that we are going to wrap up, the fate of Morrigan is just as strange as the Void itself. What do you think of Morrigan's future? Let me know in the comments below.
And if you'd want to help support my channel, there's a link to my patreon in the description below. There is no need to pledge, but I always appreciate the help in keeping this channel a full-time thing. Thank you for watching, and I will see you in the next video.
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