So in the first video I was explaining all about Mythal’s identity, and this left a lot of questions and speculation. Which is why some people think it’s confusing, and I agree. There’s just so many rabbit holes that I could delve into, and I blame Bioware for making that so.
Part one was a summary/outline about what I will be delving into, giving brief explanations into each subject; so don’t worry, each of these subjects will be detailed thoroughly; and I’ll be explaining tinier theories that build up the plot within Dragon Age.
So without further ado, I raised the question of Who is Mythal?
From that, let’s now delve into the persona of who Flemeth is, starting with the lore. You will see other lore in this too, a lot of these stories are inspired by real-life lore. Of course, the writers need to get their influences from somewhere!
Flemeth:
Flemeth, known as the Witch of the Wilds, Asha’bellanar, & ‘Mother of Vengeance’
She was born in 3:00 Towers Age, in Highever. On the edge of Northern Ferelden and the ‘Waking Sea’. Highever is also known to be the great ancestral home of the Cousland family. (HOF Human Noble Origin House)
As many know, her legend begins like this:
In the World of Thedas Volume 2,
Ages ago, legend says Bann Conobar took to wife a beautiful young woman who harbored a secret talent for magic: Flemeth of Highever. And for a time they lived happily, until the arrival of a young poet, Osen, who captured the lady's heart with his verse.
They turned to the Chasind tribes for help and hid from Conobar's wrath in the Wilds, until word came to them that Conobar lay dying: His last wish was to see Flemeth's face one final time.
The lovers returned, but it was a trap. Conobar killed Osen, and imprisoned Flemeth in the highest tower of the castle. In grief and rage, Flemeth worked a spell to summon a spirit into this world to wreak vengeance upon her husband. Vengeance, she received, but not as she planned. The spirit took possession of her, turning Flemeth into an abomination. A twisted, maddened creature, she slaughtered Conobar and all his men, and fled back into the Wilds.
Is it false?
According to Brother Genitivi, he says “It’s difficult to say how much of Flemeth’s legend is true and how much is false”, there is no actual evidence of a "Bann Connobar Elstan" or a "Flemeth of Highever" that exists in history.
Some people speculate that the legend might refer to Teyrn Talemal, son of Caedmon, who tried to unite Ferelden before being killed by his wife, whom he'd imprisoned for unfaithfulness but had been released by sympathetic servants.
But this could be pure speculation due to Flemeth probably never denying her existence in anything throughout history. But there’s an actual gap to where she first existed in her era, versus other eras.
If you want to know about messed up history, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs02gFJQdRI
Historical Gap:
Flemeth is known for helping a lot of heroes, but not much of them actually match up with her ‘existing’ time-period. For instance, she’s ‘born’ in the Towers Age but somehow helped people in the Divine Age….
For instance, she helped ‘Dane’ from the legend ‘Dane and the Werewolves. The legend is about Dane hunting a rare white hart through a forest, and when he finally killed it, a werewolf appeared to claim tribute for the hart, which had been killed in woods belonging to his pack. Surrounded by this wolf pack, Dane had no choice but to exchange a bargain where the Werewolf would live as Dane, and Dane lived as werewolf. ‘For a year and a day’.
According to World of Thedas Vol. 2, Flemeth was involved in this legend, but where? There isn’t any record of codex that explains how Flemeth is involved within this story.
This raises some flags, now if you don’t know, this legend was inspired by Celtic folklore, known as the first branch of the Mabinogion, about the story of Pywll and Underworld God Anwn. So it might be a silly reference that Gaider probably took into his own measures. But regarding Flemeth’s involvement shows huge timeline gap is existent between her life and there's. So let’s do some quick math.
Hafter is to be believed the son of this legendary Dane. Hafter fought in the Second Blight united with the Alamarri, which is recorded to be in 1:40 Divine, so I imagine Hafter roughly would be around 18-25 years, making him born in 1:15 through 1:22 Divine. If Dane is speculated to be his father, Dane would go as far into the Ancient timeline, such as Andraste’s lifespan… Meaning Flemeth would already be about 315 years old before her own life is to be recorded in the Towers Age….
Not to mention:
She completely jumps throughout time. Helping heroes like ‘Calenhad the Great’, and King Maric.
Plus, the Dragon Age is named so because during the Battle of River Dane in 8:99 Blessed, a High Dragon was seen rampaging. This rampage quickly turned to the Orlesian side of the Frostback Mountains, slaughtering them and forcing them to flee. This likely had a role in the Ferelden victory. Some fans believe that Flemeth was that ‘high-dragon’, which I stand with due to Yavanna mentioning the prophecy of an ‘Age of the Dragons’ just before it was even announced.
...And that’s why she practically sets each hero/event into motion according to her grand scheme, leading each Age ahead upon her own accord, just to let her own plan rule this world as if it were hers, like where is the free-will upon these heroes and protagonists if this were the case?
It’s the little things, a shove that's needed to make sure her machinations will plan correctly throughout history, what’s to stop her from completely making Solas into this ‘marionette’ to do her agenda of destroying the world?
As for Flemeth, who’s already knowledgeable from the wisp of Mythal; through these ages, she has been ‘preserving’ old magic and old god souls. Now where does that knowledge come from? I’d say Mythal; but maybe some of the human tribes who stood before in ancient times….
Avvar tribes and Alamarri:
In the Frostback Basin, where the Avaar tribe resides. We know for certain that the Avvar know a crap-ton about spirits and ‘reincarnation’.
If you played Jaws of Hakkon; you know that they practically have their own Pantheon. ‘Mountain Father Korth’, ‘Lady of the Skies’ and ‘Hakkon Winterbreath’. These ‘Old Gods’ come straight from the Alammari, which is the main tribe where Flemeth is born from.
Now Avvar have a ‘keen’ sense to where and what these Gods do, like a new direction in wind, birds flying in another direction, all believed to be ‘messages’ from Gods.
But regarding reincarnation, the Avvar also believe some of their people are destined to be "reborn,"
If you do a side quest in the Jaws of Hakkon regarding the ritual of skull around the marsh of the Frostback Basin you will receive the codex, A Tradition of Rebirth states:
“Other than invoking the gods, spirits have nothing to do with the process. It is the essence, the soul, which returns clothed in new flesh. The core of the concept is thus: the souls of a few Avvar "favored" by fate "migrate" on death to inhabit a new body destined for them, so they may return and perform great deeds for the good of their hold. These resurrected souls are not expected to remember their past selves consciously, but instead are assumed to be subtly "guided" by their previous experiences, especially through visions and portents. This most conveniently sidesteps the need for proof that one has been "reborn" or that such things even occur.” -Grand Visions of Life and Death, written by Roberto the Skeptic of Antiva in 9:31
If the Avvar know how to successfully withdraw a soul into a ‘new flesh’, this would make sense of how Flemeth knew this kind of magic while growing up. Her legacy never ends, ‘she posses the bodies of her daughters’ along the process of each given Age, at least, according to her Grimoire.
Now regarding Mythal’s ‘wisp of an ancient-being’, it makes more sense to me that when she performed this ritual to claim her vengeance against ‘Ban-Conobar’, she already knew knowledge of how to meander with spirits. But this time, she made a bargain, unlike most Avvars who only seek ‘knowledge for magic’ and later on do a ritual to release the spirit back into its own place. Which is ultimately dangerous...
Flemeth’s Bloodline:
In my ongoing investigation to Flemeth and other human tribes, I feel it necessary for us to attempt to understand her bloodline origin.
Blood of Andraste:
Now I could tell you that Andraste is Flemeth due to similar stories regarding these two; but there’s a problem. She isn’t originally Flemeth because of Andraste and the Maker’s relationship. I cannot prove to you, that the Maker would be ‘Mythal’ or any other spirit. I have to blame Bioware for this because the dev’s have decided to ‘not’ prove the existence of the Maker.
Bummer, there are so many similarities… with betrayal of men and producing daughters, speaking of daughters….
Andraste did have two daughters, named Ebris and Vivial.
‘Ebris partnered and had children young but was physically weak. She died of plague in her late twenties. Her daughter, Alli Vemar, married young, but died in an accident during a voyage to Denerim, ceasing an end to that part of Andraste’s bloodline.’ - World of Thedas Vol. 2
Sadly, Ebris’ offspring do not exist in the end. They die tragically just as much as Andraste did… But,
“The younger daughter, Vivial, was more controversial: a strong-headed woman who defied her family by falling in love with a mage of Tevinter, Regulan. Vivial and Regulan went into self-imposed exile as the Exalted March began, and into hiding following Andraste's betrayal and murder. What became of Vivial and her descendants is largely unknown for one primary reason: she had only daughters. Each of those daughters only had daughters. They married into other families and took other names, and in the chaos of the Second Blight, all traces of survivors were lost… Andraste's true bloodline, if it exists, lies solely in the descendants of Vivial.”
So Vivial is most likely the descendant of Flemeth, which explains the Witches are her daughters according to the Chasind Wilders. Who ends up in the Kokari Wilds planning her next threat, which is to wrought the justice of Mythal that was denied to her when she was murdered.
This would explain how most of Flemeth’s daughters already have the affinity of magic of not just Avvar, but Tevene. Either way; it just seems fishy to me that they would point out Vivial’s daughters only had daughters. So no wonder we cannot track much of her names because she would eventually marry into families changing the name lineage throughout the past Ages. And now finally becoming Flemeth; starting her tragic backstory, and maybe a little bit of vengeance against men along the way...
As we all know now, Flemeth did have daughters, we know two of them. Morrigan and Yavanna, and we know that they are also preserving things that were forgotten in this new post-veil world.
Such as Morrigan becoming the main purpose of potentially saving wardens from the tragic outcome of taking the final blow of the Archdemon. By having a child that would eventually be born with Urthemiel’s soul. Where Keiran prophesied she’d be the inheritor, who awaits the next age, whatever that may mean...
Yavanna obviously preserved dragon’s into the next ages, but sadly, dies in the Silent Grove from Alistair in the name of ‘Justice’, which is pretty ironic if you think about it..
Apparently there is another witch in the Planesene Forest; which we might be able to see her in the upcoming Dragon Age….
Abilities of Flemeth:
Shapeshifting
Flemeth is known to shapeshift into the notorious dragon form. She also states in Dragon Age 2 that ‘bodies are such limiting things’. I assume she just fancies her dragon form more…
Prophecy
In the Stolen Throne:
She tells Maric that a Blight will occur one day in Ferelden, she gives him a cryptic warning about Loghain; "Keep him close and he will betray you, each time worse than the last." Now the most intimidating thing about this statement is; can Flemeth prophesize?
To prophesize means ‘to see the future’ - this is something that witches are known for in real-life legends and mythology, such as norse lore. Which does not come to surprise me…
Mythal’s essence
Meaning the control of either Morrigan or the Inquisitor drinking from the Well of Sorrows. They are bound to the will of Mythal, and Flemeth, and she is a part of her.
Body jumping
Now it might not be like Corypheus, where she puts her essence of her soul in a dragon, but probably an Eluvian. She might of given her essence to Morrigan, but then again, if Morrigan isn’t willing then who’s to say that’s going to happen in the next Dragon Age. I mean all it takes is a little ‘piece’ for her to survive.
Now that we know about Flemeth, ‘a woman of many years’ who cheats death each Age. Solas and someone else have her remaining power. And that ‘someone’ might be one of her daughters, or maybe herself once again.
Have any questions or comments, leave them below, and we can discuss them together, and thank you for watching part two of my ongoing series! Like and subscribe for more Dragon Age content like this, as I will be making more theories on other subjects later on, and See you in the next video.
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