Today, me and Saria will be EXTENSIVELY delving into the latest Dread Wolf Rises teaser! Exploring a manner of things concerning Dragon Age 4! We’ve spent quite a bit of time piercing this together, researching and speculating, we really wanted to create a full investigation involving this teaser and how it could relate to the next game. So,with no time to waste and plenty of lore and tinfoil to go through, let’s crack on with our breakdown of The Dread Wolf Rises teaser. First up…
The Red Lyrium Idol: Why the significance?
If some people are wondering where this is from, this idol has been ‘first’ seen by Hawke and Varric from DA2, where they find this idol in a thaig in order to raise enough money to get up in the society of Kirkwall.
Bartrand is given this idol to ultimately sell it, but in return, shuts the doors of the room where Hawke and Varric first find it. Which raises into question, is that idol ultimately evil? Or does it represent something far worse, like a crucification of Mythal’s death that happens to have Blighted lyrium.
Certainty: Meredith bought the idol, and somehow it was “forged” and now known as the greatsword “Certainty”. If this idol is truly prophetic, is this the sword that represents ‘A blade that would end the war’. If we look at Dragon Age 2’s art style, there's a huge similarity to the inspiration for this new mural in the teaser trailer.
Relating Dragon Age 2’s red lyrium idol to this new teaser, It’s clearly Mythal with what I believe Solas wrapped around her, just like the scene at the end of Inquisition when Solas absorbs Mythal’s power. The questions that linger here are quite the predicament, this idol was created before Solas absorbs Mythal’s power, so how does it foreshadow to that moment? What’s most conflicting is the fact that this idol was destroyed and reforged into Meredith's sword: Certainty, which after her death, the sword became Samson’s. (maybe it’s a retconned). In this trailer, the idol is seen as a physical item like it once was in Dragon Age 2, when we found it in the Deep Roads. I’ve seen a lot of speculation about Solas acquiring this idol in the next game, perhaps the idol taking centre stage in the narrative. However, I don’t feel this trailer is showcasing this idol serving as a plot point or a macguffin in DA4. I feel this idol was added to the trailer to indicate the theme of red lyrium throughout the narrative, I also feel it’s representing the prophetic death of Mythal, that it was fate for Solas to take her power and continue his scheme to restore the Elven Kingdom.
If we consider the fact that this idol existed before that moment in time, that to me seems like prophecy, so perhaps the idol just represents that prophecy being fulfilled. Is Solas now preparing the next stages of his plan?
I feel the red lyrium idol is just signifying the use of red lyrium, Solas has absorbed Mythal’s power, in my opinion this was prophecy via the idol, on top of that, I feel the idol is a double endra because Solas, from this point on, is going to consume red lyrium in order to become even more powerful, we’ll touch on this much later on. Regarding the idol though, I feel it’s been used in this teaser more as a pathetic fallacy than an actual object existing in the narrative. I could be wrong though, in the comic Knight Errant, Vaea and Ser Aaron are after a shard of Red Lyrium, perhaps it’s a shard from this very idol? Who knows….
Moving away from the idol, and onto the subject of red lyrium as a whole. Given the trailer’s emphasis regarding the blighted material, I feel it necessary for us to understand it a bit more.
What is red lyrium?
Red Lyrium is a substance just like regular lyrium, it is alive, it has a lifespring and grows or ‘multiplies’. It is the blood of the Titans, known as ‘isana’ and it ties power between the waking world and the Fade. As Titans are known for being the first ‘children’ of the Stone, we can coincide that they are in fact coming into the next direction of this new Dragon Age game.
Red Lyrium could be mistaken as the same as regular Lyrium; but it’s not, red Lyrium is potent, and is highly addictive.
What i mean is that red Lyrium tends to leave people or animals in a mad-like state. They become paranoid, and see no reasoning for morality, as Bartrand sabotages his own brother Varric. Red Lyrium tends to consume the mind and take over. Much like the reasoning for the Red Templars in Inquisition, Red Lyrium is very deadly, and grows off of anything living.
Red Lyrium has Blight within it; stated from Bianca when discovering she gives the location of the thaig to Corypheus. Being already threatening of the side-effect of addiction, the Blight is ultimately the real threat. And with two remaining, The stakes of having a Blight in Dragon Age 4 are higher than ever.
Mythal ties to red lyrium:
There is a song that is heard with lyrium, it tends to be depicted as calming, and sometimes haunting. Whether it is from the Old Gods or not, the Calling also has a song to be heard, we have no answers and only speculation to what sort of song there is to be heard. Lyrium gives a sort of hymn, the ‘Titan’s hymn’ according to dwarves. Eventually Mythal is leading to end this world and calls people to do her bidding whether we realise it or not.
Along with Titans; Mythal was credited in one codex for hunting the Titans or “Pillars of the Earth”. Why would she hunt a titan? Apparently it seems darker due to the fact that titans are literally a community of dwarves. In which, like Golems, by infusing the souls of dwarves into metal/rock constructs, would explain who she would be killing. Which in turn, is super horrendous.
Anyways, this ‘song’ is intrically led darkspawn to seek out and create archdemons, hence, corrupting Old God souls, and then preserving them to ‘this new Age’. Whatever that may be, after the veil breaks?
With red lyrium and the idol fully explored, let’s delve into the next segment of this teaser, this being the mural and the secrets it may hold.
First of all, there are two different murals… one that actual artist, and one used for trailer uses. They have very distinct looks.
The mural, what secrets does it hold:
The Emergent Compendium is a book found in the Black Emporium in Dragon Age 2, it was rumored to explain some future prophecy in future upcoming Dragon Age games, some fans cracked out the code, and we are left with sentences that might give complete explanations for the mural given.
“For one moment there is a vivid image of two overlapping spheres; unknown flowers bloom inside their centers. Then it fades.” -Codex in the Vir Dirthara
“Two Shadowed Spheres, An eclipse as Fen'Harel stirred”
Sandals prophecy: “The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see”
Stir - rise or wake from sleep.
Also, the whole 'earth blooming' thing... Things grow when two worlds overlap. Red lyrium? Imshael, one of the Forgotten Ones from the Void, does call himself the 'gardener.' But red lyrium was found by accident. I wonder if it surfacing sooner than 'planned' is setting things in motion a lot more quickly than expected - hence Solas's sense of urgency.
Hence the Dread Wolf Rises, means that ‘he’ is going to be Solas.
There’s a lot of circles and symbolism with circles throughout Inquisition, but honestly, I’m just as confused or more now. Could an eclipse rise and ‘awake’ the Dread Wolf? Or maybe it has to do with two Blights being born at the same time, but to “among stars” raises that there’s a period of time that would cause an uproar, like we only have three days until the moon falls down on Thedas, although highly unlikely.
And also there’s a threat from Solas questioning the factor of what the Order could potentially do if there’s ‘no more Archdemons’ to kill, hence no more Blight. Could he actually being slaying the last of these Archdemons, and would this potentially kill him? Or is there a huge aftermath of defeating these ‘Old Gods’ that can make things rise worse than ever before.
Here’s another spectrum to the spheres; 2 worlds do coexist, such as the Fade and the Waking World of Thedas, and lyrium potentially brings the effect of having the connection to both, hence bringing them together as one? We don’t know honestly...
But if we look closely, there are two ‘golden’ half circles around the bigger centerpiece, and 5 ‘grey’ half circles. Which leaves into question, are these the ‘two’ remaining left to look out for? They also look the same to the titan-slaying mural, so it might seem like this sphere would represent the core of a Titan.
The tree can represent many things, like Mythal. However I feel it could represent the vhendhaal which is the communal tree in every alienage, sacred to the common eleves, as well as the dalish. With that context, this tree could simply represent the Elven people behind this elven figure.
Could the tree even represent the location of this mural? It’s a huge, dead tree, from what we can gather the mural looks like it’s set in the mountains, perhaps it’s showcasing the journey towards the destruction of the veil? Or Is the veil already destroyed? The flames and chaos, the fact that the Dread Wolf has arisen? It’s complete chaos throughout the mural, with the splashes of red colouring to represent red lyrium.
What’s been most concerning for me and Saria was the male elf to the left, initially we did think it was Elgar’nan, the mural plays tricks on the mind, and where I saw grey hair, others saw a bald elf. I figured at first, perhaps Elgar’nan would be rivialling Solas as he rises up as the Dread Wolf, however this is mere tinfoil. The elf has been confirmed to be a bald elf, most likely Solas.
If this is the case, this lends us to ask, who is the Dread Wolf?
Who is the Dread Wolf?
Is Solas not the Dread Wolf? Well, we don’t really know, Solas only took the name of the Dread Wolf, to strive fear in his foes and hope in his friends. He basically stole the title, meaning it can belong to anyone. And as it seems, it may not relate to Solas. If that’s the case then who is the Dread Wolf, or perhaps what is the Dread Wolf? Other than the fact that this beast’s eyes glow bright with red lyrium, we can really only speculate who else the Dread Wolf’s identity could be.
There’s a history of Mythal’s suspect of a ‘sinner’ amongst the crowd. I believe that this wolf has the resemblance of this codex mentioned below:
"His crime is high treason. He took on a form reserved for the gods and their chosen, and dared to fly in the shape of the divine. The sinner belongs to Dirthamen; he claims he took wings at the urging of Ghilan'nain, and begs protection from Mythal. She does not show him favor, and will let Elgar'nan judge him."
For one moment there is an image of a shifting, shadowy mass with blazing eyes, whose form may be one or many. Then it fades.
This ‘shadowy mass with blazing eyes’ does seem to resemble the Dread Wolf as a whole, and although it might not be the ‘sinner’ mentioned above, it does show similarities, and Red Lyrium is known to have threatened the Gods, epecially Mythal. When Mythal and Andruil fought for 3 days and 3 nights. This is a longer codex, so I will just be reading the main points and paraphrasing in this text:
One day Andruil grew tired of hunting mortal men and beasts. She began stalking The Forgotten Ones, wicked things that thrive in the abyss. Yet even a god should not linger there, and each time she entered the Void, Andruil suffered longer and longer periods of madness after returning.
Andruil put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands. She howled things meant to be forgotten, and the other gods became fearful Andruil would hunt them in turn. So Mythal spread rumors of a monstrous creature and took the form of a great serpent, waiting for Andruil at the base of a mountain.
When Andruil came, Mythal sprang on the hunter. They fought for three days and nights, Andruil slashing deep gouges in the serpent's hide. But Mythal's magic sapped Andruil's strength, and stole her knowledge of how to find the Void. After this, the great hunter could never make her way back to the abyss, and peace returned.
Eventually we figure out there’s a reasoning Andruil went down and hunted the Forgotten Ones; the thing is, Andruil brought this ‘plague’ and ‘madness’ up into the surface, and eventually made armor from the Void, hence lyrium is a huge suspect, and, pictures also bring
IS there duality in this mural?
There ultimately can be. Reason is because Dragon Age is all about choices, there are so many outcomes and consequences that Bioware always brings in their form of storytelling. So the black-shrouded wolf, and the Bald elf can just be the same, both potent of red lyrium, and consumed by it. But we obviously know what would be deadlier, which would be that intimidating wolfy. And that makes everyone happier, for people it’s all about killing that egg-hole, and for some, like Saria, is redeeming that bloody elven Loki. ;)
Is The Dread Wolf the real antagonist?
Undoubtedly at least one of the many antagonists in Dragon Age, I feel we need to understand more of motivation from them.
What we really need to think about is the factor of strength this antagonist has, I mean, anyone that says so casually about ‘destroying the world’ must know that doesn’t take a snap of fingers to do it.
Eventually, it all comes down to the reasoning of these drastic reactions from Mythal’s death. Everything went to complete chaos when Mythal died, being the deity she is. So if there’s anyone to blame Solas going through this whole fiasco it’s because of the good ol’ “All-Mother”.
Assuming the elf is Solas, then what’s going on with him in the next game?
Solas is consuming red lyrium avidly to defeat the Dread Wolf, we look at the red circle covering his face, whenever we’ve seen a red circle over someone in a mural, they’ve been deeply affected by red lyrium, like Meredith. Is Solas harbouring as much red lyrium as possible to gain more strength to defeat the Dread Wolf, or to equal its power. Does he need to use the Dread Wolf to help destroy the veil, or are we long past this point, the time frame within this mural looks like end-game material, as we speculated this could be within the veil’s very destruction.
Perhaps it was tearing the veil that awoke the Dread Wolf… since it’s destruction, is his new task now to kill the Dread Wolf relinquishing the war between the elven gods once and for all? Other people think the Dread Wolf may be a combination of spirits, bound to this wolf. Perhaps the Dread Wolf is many manifested elven god spirits, or an elven pantheon mage, if it’s not Solas, then who is the Dread Wolf and is it Solas’s scheme to cease an end to its existence.
Will he consume red lyrium to the point of death, in order to use it against the elven pantheon and to kill the Dread Wolf, red lyrium thins the veil and is an anti-god killing material. Is Solas going to become mad in this process of killing the elven gods, could he even end up like Meredith, a rotten ‘still living’ corpse. What we do know is, red lyrium has many powers, in Dragon Age 2 we see Merridith use it to bring statues to life, the substance has a unique power, by this mural, we can tell Solas is consuming red lyrium to become stronger, perhaps this will allow him to seek a victory, however he may just go mad in the process.
We’ll have to see. If this mural is a self-reflection of Solas evolving into the Dread Wolf, it does coincide with him taking red lyrium, as the Dread Wolf’s eyes glow bright too. So the Dread Wolf could still be Solas, perhaps he needs so much power to rise up as the Dread Wolf and consuming so much red lyrium allows him to do that, since his orb’s destruction, he needs a new way to destroy the veil, red lyrium seems to be the key to that… it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if Solas dies in Dragon Age 4…
Shuffling away from the mural, Solas speaks in this trailer.
Who is he talking to?
In terms of Solas’s dialogue, he says:
You’ve found me at last, I suspect you have questions. Pure speculation, but by the way he phrases this, he’s talking to someone he knows. The emphasis on ‘You’ve found me’ like oh, it’s you, I remember you.
He could have met our previous protagonist before this moment, and that’s who he’s talking too. But as fan service, I’d love it if this was our Inquisitor, that they led our new hero to him and Solas points out our Inqy. However, it could be anyone! Obvs.
End on Solas being an anti-hero
Solas is going to die killing the idea of godhood with him
Solas is going to kill all the Gods, goodbye cruel world. XD Honestly, I believe is going ‘back into the world of his time’ and let Mythal be the voice of reasoning to not destroy the foundations of the world; the Titans.
So, this has just been our ‘quick’ thoughts on this trailer and everything lore wise that surrounds it, we’re going to delve into even more tinfoil on our next podcast, we’ve definitely got more to say on this, we just wanted this video to be manageable for y’all. Anyhow, tell us your thoughts down below, but for all your things Dragon Age, as you can tell, Saria and Jackdaw have got you covered, you’re already in the right place for the finest content! Until the next one, we should goo!
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