The choices and consequences you make as a player contribute significantly to what makes the Dragon Age series so popular and entertaining. Every player has a unique experience based on their choices, which range from what race and gender their character is to who they choose to rule an entire nation.
The series has provided its players with hundreds of options, three games, and a large number of DLCs. Hell, there's a whole website to upload your world state called the Dragon Age Keep (which I love to use constantly)
So which decisions from Dragon Age were the most difficult to make? Here are the top 5 Hardest Choices You’ll Have to Make in the Dragon Age franchise.
The King of Orzammar
Many players in Origins were perplexed by Orzammar's decisions. The most important is the choice of Harrowmont or Bhelen as king. Although Harrowmont is the morally correct choice,
In retrospect, Bhelen is the better choice: he helps the casteless, improves relations with the surface, etc, however, unless you are a casteless dwarf, there is no reason why you would support Bhelen over Harrowmont without knowing the future.
In the epilogue, it is revealed that if Harrowmont is chosen, Orzammar will become a breeding ground of revolts and unrest.
Regardless of your personal choice, it kind of breaks the roleplay aspect, no one in the game can see the future (including you), and if you limit yourself to only making decisions that you would make at that moment without knowing the outcome, it's very difficult to justify making Bhelen king in the heat of the moment.
And, of course, in the Descent DLC from Inquisition, whatever your world state was in Origins, she tells you how she became a Shaperate, and how each king wanted their information forged/taken away from the Memories of Orzammar. She denies doing the task and ends up forced to become a Legion of the Dead, which is both bizarre and unsurprising in politics.
And while you should hate Bhelen if you're a dwarf noble, which is totally justified. So the "good" choice you thought isn't always the best choice, go figure...
Anders' Fate
Of course, another famous apostate betrayed us right at the end.
Whatever your relationship is like with Anders, in the end, he lies to you. By convincing you to accompany him on a journey to create a magical potion capable of extracting Justice from him, he ends up providing the key ingredient for the Chantry's bomb.
At the end of the second game, Anders blows up the Chantry, sparking the Mage & Templar Rebellion. And, whether you agree with Anders' actions or not, his fate is what made players question their own morals.
Some members of the party, most notably Sebastian & Fenris, want Anders to be executed for his terrorist act. You are faced with a major decision in the game; Anders has reached his breaking point of rebellion and does not believe you will end his life as a result of his actions.
Many players struggled with this, including those who romanced Anders. I personally remember sitting at my desk just shocked about what to do. Of course, Anders will not be present for the final battle if you kill him. And if you save him, he will join the mage's rebellion, and Sebastian will abandon you.
This is, once again, a morally grey area for many players to choose from, and I know it sparks debate within the fandom. While this isn't ideal for a fandom, it does show how good the writing in Dragon Age is, because it challenges those morals, as well as different perspectives on our personal lives.
So did you kill Anders?
The Landsmeet
If Dragon Age: Origins was your first Dragon Age game, the lore, plot, and setting of Thedas may be difficult to grasp at first. And the Landsmeet decisions didn't help either. While planning for the meeting can help you interview who is the best fit for the monarchy of Ferelden, the cutscene makes it difficult to understand why some of the characters agree with you.
The Warden is once again at the center of all of this (unsurprisingly), but we know from Thedas' history that Wardens are not supposed to be involved in world issues that do not involve the Blight. And, for some reason, monarchy must be claimed before we fight the Archdemon Urthemiel.
I remember playing the first time with the Landsmeet and got so nervous, it was like I was judged by a whole panel. The cutscene is also very fast-paced in comparison to other major choices, which made the decision even more nerve-racking than necessary.
And I'm sorry, but the cutscene if you have Loghain duel with Alistair just makes me laugh so much. I think it looks so awkward in it's own form. Regardless, there are multiple outcomes to the Landsmeet, including who fights with Loghain, what consequences Loghain can face, etc.
Making Alistair, Anora, or Eamon king has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and of course, you Couslands have the option of becoming royalty yourself!
The Architect's Fate
The intelligent Darkspawn appears in the Origins DLC Awakening and is a memorable part of it (even if the writers haven't followed up on him yet).
Obviously, like Anders, have the option of killing the Architect as a result of his Blight research. This is another morally ambiguous situation because the Architect's personality and intellect make it appear that killing him just because he's a 'darkspawn' is pointless given what he's trying to do for the Blight.
I know more fans favor killing him because there is too much risk in letting him live; after all, he did awaken Urthemiel and cause the Fifth Blight (& I can just hear him screaming I WAS AN ACCIDENT I SWEAR), but if he can potentially end blights, that knowledge would be fantastic...
Darkspawn are unnatural creatures that destroy the habitability of their surroundings. Tortured beings, wrecked shells of who they once were, in what appears to be constant discomfort, if not outright misery. And the Architect is the typical immoral scientist who doesn't give a damn about how he frees the darkspawns from the Calling.
Unlike in Awakening, where he simply asks for your blood to free his fellow darkspawn buddy, according to the Dragon Age book The Calling. According to the book, his true plan to rid Thedas of the Blight and the Calling was to turn the entire population into Grey Wardens.
Given the sterility of Grey Wardens, I doubt that plan would be implemented in Thedas and become successful.
And if you do spare the Architect, he keeps his word, according to the epilogue of Awakening. However, the BioWare writers stated that Awakening was created as a result of the developers debating whether there would be any more Dragon Age games.
According to Gaider, "[Dragon Age: Origins] was the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate at the time. And since we had the epilogue slides at the end of Baldur's Gate, it seemed appropriate."
Many characters and plot threads were left "dangling" for Dragon Age 2 and later Inquisition, according to David, who adds, "I think ultimately I came to regret exactly how we had done [those epilogues]."
So far, this decision does not appear to have had any effect on the story, but who knows what will happen next? After all, the character bears a striking resemblance to Corypheus, and fans are aware that other magisters joined him in entering and defiling the Golden City.
He'd also be a great ally in the fight against the Dreadwolf, but it's really up to the BioWare writers to bring him back in the new game.
Here Lies the Abyss
Based on what I've seen in the fandom, this was one of the most gripping moments in the series thus far.
Here Lies the Abyss is a questline where the final decision leaves you perplexed, and it forces you to leave someone behind in the Fade. Your Dragon Age 2 protagonist, or the mysterious Warden from Crestwood, who is decided from your specific World State.
Whatever decisions you made in previous games, Hawke is always with you in the Fade. You have Alistair, Loghain, or Stroud depending on your Origins choices. Stroud, of course, is the default World State in Dragon Age, however, he appears for only 15 minutes in Dragon Age 2 gameplay...
The most difficult decision for some players was whether or not they had Alistair as the Warden. You must choose between the lives of the second game's protagonist and a fan favorite from the first. If you abandon Hawke, whoever she or he romanced will be heartbroken, as will Varric. And if you abandon Alistair, the wardens will be without a major leader. Needless to say, this is especially difficult if you dated Alistair in Origins.
I remember when Inquisition first came out, so many let's players were sitting on that choice for easily more than 30 minutes because it is such an excruciating decision! You are left with someone sacrificing their live, and it feels like will be the end for them forever.
However, some fans hope and plead to BioWare that they should bring back whoever you leave in the Fade. Surviving in the Fade isn't breaking any lore rules, so it could be certainly possible, it would remind me of a scene similar to Shepard in Mass Effect 2...
Whatever the case, this is one of the most difficult choices in the series, but if you're like me, and Inquisition was my first Dragon Age game, you'll easily choose Stroud to get the hell out of your party. However, for Dragon Age veterans, it may not be the easiest, so please accept my sympathies for all of you out there.
But with that, we are going to wrap up, the 5 Hardest Choices You’ll Have to Make in the Dragon Age franchise. Which on this list was your favorite? Also, what difficult decisions have you faced throughout Dragon Age that others may not have? I'd like to see that comment down below - go write it down, or I'll choose Alistair to remain in the Fade...
Thank you for watching/reading, and I will see you in the next video!
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