'What is this Vir'Abelasan, exactly?' — Inquisitor
'It is a path, one walked only by those who toil in Mythal's favor, more than that you need not know' — Abelas
I was shown vast oceans, containing not water, but memories, drawn from the minds of dreamers. I drifted through frozen moments, like paintings, perfect in each detail.
— Walking the Fade: Frozen Moments
The Well is a reminder of what was lost, a sorrow that cuts their heart, a dead god who no longer hears their call. They are only left with their memories of her glory, her wisdom, and her justice. The Vir'Abelasan.
'Do you even know what you ask? As each servant of Mythal reached the end of their years, they would pass their knowledge on through this. All that we were, all that we knew, it would be lost forever.' — Abelas
In the ancient elven text, the direct translation to the Vir'Abelasan is broken down like this:
Vir = Path/Way
Abelas = Sorrows
An = Place/Home
Vir'abelasan = Path to the home of sorrows: “The place/path of the way of sorrows.” Refers to the Well of Sorrow
Hello Thedosians and welcome back to my channel. Today we are talking about the consequences of the one who partook in drinking this Well of knowledge, that contained all the collective wisdom and understanding of the ancient priests of Mythal.
For the sake of this video, I obviously don't know what will happen to the one who drank from the Well going forward in Dragon Age 4, despite that, there's still plenty of lore and speculation to be unearthed surrounding the future of this Well and its consumer.
'What will you do with the power of the well once Corypheus is dead?' — Solas
Of course, that statement is why we are here today. What will we do with the power of the Well?
The implications and potential impacts on Elven culture are enormous, especially if the Inquisitor who drank is a "Dalish First." How has the Inquisitor used the knowledge of the Well in the last two years? How have Elves and society at large reacted to its existence? Will this Well provide an advantage in the future, or will it be lost?
It's been quite the mystery regarding what will happen to the one who drank from the Well, and how our choices will produce enormous consequences going forward. So let's break down the information we receive from Inquisition:
Corypheus' Motivation:
According to the War Table, Corypheus began searching the Arbor Wilds for elven artifacts. Morrigan assumed that he was searching for an eluvian to physically enter the Fade, but when she and the Inquisitor overheard him talking about the "Well of Sorrows," and potentially a 'vessel' to claim this Well, they doubted that this eluvian was the Magister's true goal.
The 'Vessel' was turned out to be either Calpernia or Samson, Corypheus's plan was to use someone as a vessel, then wipe their mind and control them using blood magic thus circumventing their connection to Mythal while retaining the knowledge gained from the Well. The game doesn't specifically recall Corypheus personally wanting to drink from the well himself, but to rather use someone as his blood magic controlled vessel.
So why does Corypheus need to take the well? The best answer is lost knowledge and it being the key to the eluvian crossroads. However, in further codices read in the game it seems that Corypheus knew about the orb's origin and plan to use the Well as a source of knowledge to ancient elvhen times. However, Corypheus' motivation seems less explained about how to use the Vessel, it's just assumed he really needed the eluvian to enter the Fade...
Corypheus says the elves call themselves "Sentinels." We were going over the plan for the final assault on their temple, and he told me the elves we're fighting are the last "true" priests of their Old Gods. Before I could stop myself, I asked how he knew. I felt like a damn fool the moment the words left my mouth, but the Master just looked at me, then opened his hand. A second later, that magic orb was floating over it.
He told me it was elven, that events made him believe it came to him for a purpose. The Master turned, and I thought I was dismissed, but his voice stopped me before I left. He said, solemn as I've ever known him, that there were many things he couldn't tell me, that he hid them so I would stay focused on the Well. He said that while I'll sacrifice much, there will be no secrets once I've become the Vessel. — The Sentinel Elves
Morrigan:
'Knowledge begets a hunger for more' — Morrigan (get the preserved line)
Morrigan explains that the Eluvian and this Temple are a reminder of what was lost and how it needs to be preserved. Morrigan believes that she is alone can handle using the Well to it's best potential and therefore will sacrifice herself for this task.
However, it leaves room to let BioWare control the aspect of your World State, Morrigan never changes her opinion of drinking the Well, but the sacrifice becomes much more dramatic after she is controlled by Mythal.
When Morrigan drinks it feels like she's reached her potential, in Origins, she could shapeshift into a Spider, a Bear, a swarm, and their upgraded forms. But she never reached the point of Flemeth, who could transform into a dragon. By drinking from the Well, it feels like she's become what she was meant to be, the heritage-d form of Flemeth, the Dragon.
It seems pretty clear that the desired canon is for Morrigan to drink, however, if Keiran is in the picture, it might not be the best decision. The risk of drinking from the Well is very irresponsible in this world state because she has a young child dependent on her.
For instance, the dramatic change if Kieran is involved splits the circumstances between her and her son. Flemeth says that since she's Mythal she will need Kieran in order to fulfill her purpose. Morrigan is stuck between picking her life or her own son...
This is where the world state becomes harsh against Morrigan, she is bounded against her mother for the lust of power, and in return, leaves her no choice but to accept Flemeth's promise to her daughters, which is Mythal and her reckoning.
Inquisitor:
If the Inquisitor drinks from the Well, it seems to perplex many companions due to the danger inside the Well. And when studying the arcane knowledge in the War Table, your dialogue option makes you aware of this danger.
'Looking at it, listening to it, that's not just knowledge from the ancient elven priests, it's their will... The collective will of the priest puts anyone who drinks under a compulsion, a geass, can't you feel it?' — Inquisitor
You figure out that the Well will indefinitely put you in the same will as the priests had. The inquisitor lets Morrigan know that this Well will still put anyone under their compulsion and become a priest of Mythal like in the ancient times.. However, the term Geass isn't used too often in Dragon Age but all Geass abilities' are related to the mind, influencing such aspects as will, thought, memory, emotion, and perception.
So at the end of the dialogue, you as the Inquisitor are fully aware that this Well will control your mind and perception, and that this will be the boon of Mythal. So if you do drink, your Inquisitor will become overwhelmed by many voices and potentially lead you to do things out of your own volition.
'So many voices... You do not want them in your head' — Cole
That is another reason why Solas has a reaction to the Inquisitor drinking from the Well. He was angry at the Inquisitor who surrendered their free will, something Solas despises as displayed by his attitude towards the Qun, but his vehemence in this scene makes it seem like there's something more going on.
'You gave yourself into the service of an ancient elvhen God!' — Solas
You gain the memories that have been put in there by Mythal's priests, but it also contains their will. Whoever drinks from the well is bound to Mythal's will for eternity and Solas knows you can be a part of that:
'You are Mythal's creature now, everything you do, whether you know it or not, will be for her, you have given up a part of yourself... and you are bound to one of them now' — Solas
However, if the Inquisitor says they'll share power and they trust their friends, Solas says something like "a mistake I know so well I can still see her face." As I could imagine, that 'she' is definitely referring to Mythal and putting her trust in the Evanuris with any sort of power.
I know some people might have gone further stating that Solas could be one of those servants that bestowed his knowledge in the Well of Sorrows. As for me, however, I would have to disagree, I believe he kept his own knowledge to himself personally. And I also feel like that Well is a reminder of what once was lost, all because of Fen'Harel creating the Veil, and Mythal's death, putting the ancient elves in eternal hiding and sorrow throughout the ages.
Maybe part of it is that he doesn't want to hold the voices of hundreds of elves who he condemned to eternal suffering/sorrow in his head all at once. The last person to drink from the Well would be Solas, he would never be able to control himself after that, it's against his very nature and view of free will...
To finalize on the Inquisitor, it is not encouraged through BioWare's scripting to drink but allows us as a player to control our option and make use of the Well to what we see fit to defeat Corypheus and even throughout Trespasser...
Solas/Flemeth:
Here is the big part of why I am making this video, there has been a lot of theories and I mean ALOT that discusses Solas being the new vessel of Mythal.
I will not deny that idea, but I personally believe if that were to happen Solas could be lying about free will in that sense if this becomes true, but let's add on to why this is not the case:
Solas isn't "taking in" Flemythal in the same way that one who drank from the well is, that's why she leaves behind the husk that looks like anthracite coal, an identical look to Solas' orb when depleted. His action was to simply draw power from her, not her essence/memory /being or inheritance of Solas.
'Callback' confirms this, it revealed the mural's final form: an outline of a beast stood over a stabbed dragon; two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass with confused forms. The beast is shown to be a horrifying wolf, having absorbed the dragon’s power, stood crooked over all.
“But here, unfinished, was the outline of a beast that stood over both dragon and sword. This was not the battle, or the victory. This was after. And the beast was not a dragon. The outline alone might have allowed that assumption, but now, filling with black and red, it was something other. The creature was reptilian, but also canine. The snout was blunted and toothy, but edges came to a point in houndlike ears. As the mass of plaster filled the shape, it began to rise, revealing scales and tail, and paws with talons. It looked like two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass, then viewed together, their forms confused. A wolf that had absorbed a dragon, and now stood crooked over all.” (Callback, Page 122).
This mural relates exactly to Solas absorbing an aspect of Flemeth's power. This was always his intention, regardless of the orb's destruction. And with Flemeth's power now invested since the end of Inquisition, Solas has risen as the Dread Wolf, to seek justice to those who betrayed Mythal.
It is very smart for BioWare to allow us to see Flemeth let a piece of herself that looks identical to what we saw with Kieran into the eluvian. Solas is not the right person to claim Mythal's essence, that was always a promise Flemeth has never broken to her daughters...
Flemythal made it very clear that she intended that gift for Morrigan. I don't see Flemythal as being caught off guard by Solas before she accomplishes her goals, and she seemed to give up whatever was left of herself willingly. So the next to claim Mythal would be Morrigan, who could control the inquisitor.
But for the sake of this video, I will attempt to delve into Solas controlling the Inquisitor if they drank from the Well - Honestly, for an Inquisitor who romanced Solas, it'd be such a strange and probably beautiful prospect. Mostly just because of the lore aspect between what we might see in the next game, and the relationship Solas had with Mythal. The inquisitor could align to that as well, and could almost be free from being bound by him due to his nature of being against the binding.
However, I'm not sure any relationship in history could be considered healthy when one person has literal complete control over the other entire being. So if this were to happen, Solas would need to be consistent with his free-will ideas and let the Inquisitor go freely as they please.
To finalize, it is really up to BioWare to control the aspect of the Well's powers and how it will resolve in the next game. The Well of Sorrows is an ancient pool dedicated to the last priest of Mythal, whether you or Morrigan drink from it is going to be prevalent in Dragon Age 4.
So what did you think about the Well of Sorrows? Did you let your inquisitor drink from it or let Morrigan drink, tell me why? What is your opinion about how drinking from the well will affect the next game?
Thanks for watching, if you have any questions or comments please leave them below. If you want to follow me on any other social media, check out my blog or Tumblr for the written portion, all of those links are in the description down below.
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