One thing that sparked a theory in my mind happened on my most recent play through, while I was in the Ghil Dirthalen library coincidentally. Morrigan mentions (I don't remember which game) that ancient elves left no trails, and that all that remains of their existence is scattered ruins. We can all assume that the reason they had no Paths was because they used the Eluvians to travel between cities, but I have an expansion to this theory. What if.... The Elven cities were built IN THE SKY! This is why we find scattered ruins through out Thedas, which no earthy reason on why they are there. The Ghil Dirthalen is obviously suspended in the sky. If you look off the edge, you are floating above the mountain tops. The Spirit that guides you there talks about elves screaming "Gods, don't let me fall". At the end of the vanilla game, Cory also raises the ruins of the Temple into the air using the power of the orb. What if this is WHY the Veil destroyed the elves. It was a city so dependent on Magic to sustain itself, that once that flow was severed, the cities came crashing down... literally.
SonAlexander I was thinking that too... I was also reminded in the myth of Atlantis, this advanced civilization that was brought down my their own hubris. There’s a lot of parallels in the stories, and there’s a very large body of water where Arlathan is supposed to be. If the cites came crashing down, what if a good chunk is in water? I can’t connect this to a thing else, but some magical sea exploration is fun!
I think the reason that the “Golden City” was always black because no one other than elves were to see it. Kinda like when you go into the eluvian with morrigan as a Dalish you see the blooms on the trees. Other races don’t see this.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
My favorite theory: Andraste was the Old God Baby of Dumat. 1) She was born the year after the First Blight ended. 2) She was born to an Almarri woman in a Ciriane tribe, which fought alongside Tevinter during the Blight. 3) It's the only Blight that WoT2 doesn't specify that a Warden died to end it. 4) She heard voices. 5) The wiki entry on Dumat says, "Evidence suggests Dumat lives on in some form. There are those who still worship him faithfully, such as Corypheus once did, and it has been shown that those who are faithful to him and call upon him for aid receive it more often than not..." I don't know how "common" this theory is, but I didn't come up with it and don't remember where I heard it first.
Oh wait, here's where I first heard it: fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/153322.html?thread=817215978#cmt817215978 It's all anonymous, but while I wasn't the one who put it forth, IIRC I was the one who pulled out points 2, 3, and 5 from WoT2/the wiki. I think I might also have been the one to pull this together (at the end of the thread linked): "Dumat was the Old God of Silence. The Maker tells Andraste that he had foresaken the world because the people turned away from him to worship false idols--and so he became silent. He first speaks to Andraste when she fails to get any response from the Alamarri gods--in other words, he speaks to her out of silence. But how did he come to be seen as one of the Old Gods? Because the silence of a god is palpable, such as described in the Canticle of Trials (verses 3-4): _I have heard the sound,_ _A song in the stillness,_ _The echo of Your voice,_ _Calling creation to wake from its slumber._ _How can we know You?_ _In the turning of the seasons, in life and death,_ _In the empty space where our hearts_ _Hunger for a forgotten face?_ "
It's a fairly common theory, but I do think its true, at least partially. Another version of it, which I believe a bit more, is that Andraste's half-sister Halliserre was the Old God Baby. While they had the same father, Elderath, not much is known about Halliserre's mother, except that she was Elderath's advisor on Alchemy. It's possible that she could be Flemeth, considering her name isn't known. Further, Halliserre died in a violent, mysterious incident that only Andraste was present for. That impacted Andraste a lot, and afterward she got a lung sickness that lasted for years. Further after seeing her sister die, "she also was known to display strange behavior, such as becoming still for long moments in a trance-like state, after which she would report voices as if from a lost memory and talk of strange auras or the sound of bells. Later on, Andraste came to remember her sister's death as a matter of heresy, suggesting that her alchemist mother had been whispering of the Old Gods"(quote taken from the DA wiki). Note that all of that happened AFTER Halliserre's death. I don't really know what to make of that information, like, did the Old God Soul somehow transfer to Andraste when Halliserre died? I don't know, but it's interesting to think about
There actually is a line of dialogue in Origins that supports the 'Arlathan is the Black City' theory (to which I myself subscribe). During the Dalish Origin, when encountering the Eluvian, Tamlen comments when looking into it that he sees 'A Great City, underground, and then a terrible blackness.' Considering we know the Eluvians were created by the ancient Elves, and that they connected to Arlathan, this association between a great city covered in darkness and the Eluvian is a strong piece of evidence supporting the theory. It's also the line that, upon a replay of Origins, made me come to the theory myself, independent of the others existing out there.
I think this is the part of Arlathan that "has been sunk into the ground" not the part in the fade. Maybe this is where the blight in the deep road came from.
@@andrewcloudy Possibly. It's also possible that Tamlen could have associated the terrible blackness with the city being underground. The fact that both are mentioned as separate factors always struck me as curious. It implies that the terrible blackness is disconnected from the city being underground.
I think he only saw an elvhen city in the Deep Roads, and the terrible blackness was Urthemiel, who we know from Inquisition has the power to activate eluvians and send things through. This is likely how the darkspawn got in.
Also, during The Decent, doesn’t Renn mention something about one of the Legion of the Dead getting lost and then when they come back they talk about a big beautiful city? I can’t quite remember all the details.
@Varga Julian Urthemiel was/is the old god who rose as an archdemon during the Fifth Blight. If you accept Morrigan's Dark Ritual, Urthemiel's soul is preserved within Kieran, who in a later part of Inquisition activates Morrigan's eluvian and travels to the Fade. Thus confirming that Urthemiel knew how to activate and direct eluvians to various locations. So it makes sense that in Origins archdemon Urthemiel activated an eluvian in a Deep Roads location when he saw Tamlen activate the one in the elven ruins. Afterward, archdemon Urthemiel sent darkspawn through the eluvians into the elven ruins. We also know that elvhen ruins exist in the Deep Roads since we visit one in Trespasser.
My theory on the Blight is that the magister's did actually create it. They tore open the Fade itself using a mixture of blood magic, lyrium, and Solas' orb thingy, but because they misused it, they corrupted a section of the Fade, and became corrupted themselves. The "run off" from this event drained down into Thedas, corrupting a Titan and making red lyrium. I've always liked the idea that it was humans that created the Blight, since I've always seen the darkspawn as the physical embodiment of mankind's depravity and corruption.
I find that Andruil finding regular lyrium to be a bit too unlikely and that's mostly because in that same codex entry it mentions that Andruil had crafted weapons of "darkness" Throughout the series we've had people, the greatest culprits being the Architect, Corypheus, Cole, and the Grey Wardens, substitute the blight/taint with the word darkness or dark. This idea of the dark being heavily associated strictly with the blight whether it be the taint itself or red lyrium seems to be a thing that tightly connects the two which doesn't really allow normal lyrium to fit as all train of thoughts seem to keep leading to whatever the armor of the void was made out of, and likely by extension The Void itself, had to house the blight in some capacity. Also I'm starting to believe more and more that the Evanuris (and likely The Forgotten Ones) had attempted to use the blight as that might have been one of the various problems that led to war with Solas, beyond killing Mythal and enslaving the elves of course, and probably be specifically why he's so pissed when anyone tries to use the blight as a source of power or just be connected to it like the Grey Wardens because he would have seen in their own lust for power how much devastation they would have brought to their homeland. In Solas' own words: "The Blight corrupts everything it touches, those that believe themselves capable of using it safely are mad"
My two cents about Arlathan and The Black City is like your companions say in Tresspasser. For anyone who isn't an elf the beutiful and vibrant fade is colourles to them, they don't see the different shades and colours that Sera and an elven Inquisitor does. This could be the reason why they didn't see the city as colourful/golden.
Honestly, the Blight being a magical bioweapon used by Andruil and the Catalyst to Solas creating the Veil would make a lot of sense. I never understood why Solas had such a strong hatred of the Blight and was so scared of the Warden corruption considering (according to the Chantry teaxhings at least) he shouldn't have ever really experienced or seen the Blight at all, except for as a vague empathetic dream in the fade. Him having seen what was really the Blight and it's intended purpose would add some much needed c9ntext to his reactions in inquisition.
Andruil is the missing piece to my theory. Even before Trespasser was released, I theorized, based on a line of Solas' dialogue, that the Veil was an artificial creation, constructed to contain a blighted Arlathan, and that the Blight had been created by either the Evanurus or the Forgotten Ones, as a weapon to be used against the other. It was this action that was the final straw for Solas, prompting him to seal BOTH away to save the Elvhen people. The Andruil theory is a good edition, and fills in the final gap in my theory.
I don't thing it is a weapon.you cann't controle the blight or red lyrium. I thing Andruil got lost and found something really bad. She tried to make a weapon out of it, instead she got mad. Mythal sealed the badthing and andruil forgot about it, but when they fight against the old goods she thing about it. Only Mythal know were it is, so they killed her to know were they can find the power. Solas created the veil to seal the bad things away and save his people and the old goods of the madness. But his plan went wrong, because of the tevinter magister who make the veil thin. the bad thing leak out and the blight were created.
I have three theories 1) Solas was responsible for Bastien’s death If you take Vivienne and Solas with you often enough, you’ll find some interesting banter between the two. Solas basically asks Vivienne if she would prioritize her own power and status over her fellow mages and Vivienne (being Vivienne), says yes which prompts Solas to place what he calls “The most dangerous curse of my people” onto Vivienne. She asks what a little old curse like that would do to her and Solas replies “May you learn”. I don’t know if you can get the banter after Bastien’s death but, it’s something worth taking into consideration 2) Those “things” Solas tells you to activate while you’re exploring Thedas in Inquisition, are somehow drawing magic from either The Fade or ambient magic in general and Solas is gonna use them for whatever the hell he’s planning 3) Solas is gonna tear the veil down using a similar kind of magic as the one we find in the still ruins. Right next to the staff that’s holding time in place (as well as the Vints and Demons), you find a lootable body with a codex entry. I forgot exactly what the entry said but, it eluded to that possibility that the Vints in the still ruins must have torn the veil down (to a slight degree) using some kind of experimental magic and the only way it could be stopped was to place someone inside and use magic to stop it from spreading. I think that Solas is gonna do something similar but, on a far, far larger scale than that.
Bastian's sister confirms he had been sick for a long time and even the Circles couldn't do anything for him (if you say you wish you could have done more for him), and she says it was simply his time. That means he was ill back before the Circles rebelled. Long before Solas met Vivienne. Plus, I don't see why Solas would curse Bastian to get at Vivienne. BioWare planned something bigger for those artifacts, but it was cut from production. I think the experiment in the Still Ruins was all about time magic. They were basically carrying on Alexius' research. They knew magic directly from the Fade was necessary for time manipulation (at least beyond the Haste spell). So they opened a rift. The problem was that the magic was too much to control. It was chaos. Add to that all the demons pouring through and you had a no-win situation. So that one mage used the energies and blood magic to freeze time until others could come along to save the research, destroy the demons, and repair the rift.
@@BelieveIt1051 Well Bioware can implement whatever Solas wants with the Orbs in DA4 if they want. Also maybe Time Magic has something to do with his overall goal remember....Solas entire goal is to genocide everything Non-Elven BUT wants them NOT to suffer, How can they suffer if everyone's frozen in time and can't feel anything or at the least if their frozen he can kill everyone easier and faster. Plus his Stone Magic that's what I'm calling his new trick in Trespasser might be a similar form of magic given it freezes beings in place. So that could be his goal to freeze everything then kill everything taking his sweet time given everything's frozen and minimizing his victims suffering by doing so as long as they can't feel anything. Plus even if it ain't a part of his plan it could very well be a side effect of it given if he takes away the Veil there will most certainly be Chaotic Magic all over the place that could become just like the Time Magic in the Still Ruins.
@@flamesofchaos13 True. I was just getting at the fact that BioWare did have more in mind for those artifacts during DA:I but didn't finish it. So they could bring that plan over to DA4, or make a new one. Maybe Solas is planning something like that. Maybe those artifacts can be used to amplify spells across entire regions. Maybe he'll use them to sweep the world with petrification. Or maybe they can be used to bring down the Veil. It'll be interesting. On a side note, you made a reply to me in Jackdaw's Tinfoil Tea Party #6. This showed up in my notifications but the post isn't there when I go to the page. It had to do with prior romances showing up in DA4. I can't read the whole post in my notifications tab, but basically all I was saying is that prior romance characters are those BioWare might be too lazy to include since they require more work to plot out all their possible storyline branches. They could still be in DA4, just pointing out that prior romances is an obstacle BioWare has to overcome in order to properly include them.
or it can be something bolder as going back in time, which is also a very viable option, if he wants to eradicate humans and cossiths and prevent the whole fall. i would guess it is the present "tear down the veil, deal with enemies", but i cant even imagine how hated he will be, because what i picked up from his last conversation in dlc, was - there will be lots of deaths from tearing down the veil, and i will only protect elvenan-/going back to past to either prevent veil creation and deal with evanuris another way, or create the veil and lead his people
@@DelphineEraklea Ancient Humans and Dwarves exist before the Veil was ever created and Humans and Elves got into conflicts, Pretty sure it was even hinted at that the Evanuris enslaved some Humans and Dwarves. As for Kossith/Qunari they most likely exist back then too just on another continent. So going back in time doesn't prevent the Races from existing...Plus going back in time would bring back the Evanuris and Solas definitely wouldn't want that. P.S. Also FUCK Time Travel it's an overused plot device that makes a lot of plotholes! That section in Inquisition Mage Quest could even be argued as to much.
maybe with the black city being in the fade people saw it as golden because thats what they believed it was but after the magisters came back bringing the blight and claiming it was black they started to believed that instead
Thought: The black/ golden city was never any of those things. Black is a color of decay and Gold is a color of wealth. I believe both have been used to describe the city's personality rather then it's actual coloring
Or Arlathan was made of gold and became black due to the blight? You got some immensely powerful mages, they might have just created gold using magic, synthesized it.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
I honestly don't think it's too unlikely that the Black/Golden City was never golden. Despite it appearing that many, many people used to see it that way, would it be too unreasonable to think that over time that may have just been a retroactive accepted truth as opposed to a reality? Think about it. The First Blight happens and utterly annihilates the known world for nearly 2 centuries. Everything is shaken, knowledge is lost and people are terrified. People, however, are still able to see the City (likely blackened at this point, if we're to assume it was golden) themselves. Flashforward to the end of the First Blight and the rise of the Chant of Light. For two centuries, the city has been black, people went through hell and survived, but are now divided and lost. How unlikely would it be for this new religious text to claim that this thing that appears black, horrifying and mysterious used to be a shining example of glory of this new god, yet it was corrupted by the very thing that consumed the lands and, by extension the hubris of Tevinter (the enemy of this new-formed religion). Who remains to claim otherwise? Who would want to? As Solas said, "Fear breeds a desire for simplicity. Good and evil. Right and wrong." Sure, there may have been those who knew better and claimed that it was never golden, but it's not impossible these voices were drowned out by the far more poetic tale that was sweeping across Thedas as opposed to the gloomy and boring truth. I'm not saying Andraste just made up the story, either. Maybe she genuinely believed it and spread the word that way. Maybe she found evidence that the Black City used to be this radiant Ancient City (Arlathan) and was corrupted ages ago but interpreted it as the Golden City we have come to know (or maybe the misinterpretation happened over time). Or on the off-chance the more radical theories come true that Mythal was involved in the Andraste thing (which I'm not sure I believe, but I don't discount it either), she may have used that "close to the truth, but not quite" approach of the Golden City/Arlathan/Black City to gain more followers and create an appealing story with enough truth sprinkled in but in a different context. But again, I'm not fully convinced by this.
But then we ask new questions...Who MADE the Black City? WHY is it a Black City? An that means Corypheus was Right there is No Maker the City was Empty BUT then what tainted the Magisters of Old? Black or Gold is the City a Ruin of Arlathan? What about the Spirits and Demons not/can't entering there WHY is that?
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
the more i think about it the more i think "of the void" is probably more a description of *where* the material came from and not what it's made of, the void then perhaps being the unexplored caverns beneath the deep roads. the anvil "of the void" is also found in a distant and uncharted thaig
Question- why is the thought that the "golden city" is referring to the color? the golden city could refer to the most prosperous city and that is why the chantry thought the maker had blessed it. when it turned black it could be the blight disease spreading throughout the golden city and before it could spread it was sealed in the fade. because the city hadn't completely been taken over people still believed the golden city was still as it was, so when the tevinter imperium traveled there they found nothing left but the blight. or is tere specific lore that proves that the word golden is referring to the color?
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
Corypheus had every reason to lie about turning the Golden City black, from not wanting to admit his grave mistake, to reinforcing the beliefs of his loyalists, Cory needed to believe that the evil already existed and was not caused by him. Mother Giselle even explains this after Haven. Cole also has banter with Dorian (I think) about Cory's memories of the Black City. He describes it as something like a damaged painting, burned around the edges. Implying Cory's memory of that event is damaged and incomplete. I think it should also be considered that Corypheus may have fed those bad memories to the Nightmare in order to make it stronger, or perhaps even to twist it into what we saw in the game.
Cory said it the moment he woke up in DA2, while he was confused as fck about what is what and where is where.. It was like the only thing he really believed. He doubted Dumat, and kept calling for him desperately while we kill him, and he kept asking questions about everything. The only answer he gave, is the black city being black from start... This can never be a lie...
But Corypheus was conscious for many years before he was eventually sealed away. That is plenty of time to make up your own "truth". Plus, he was confused when he woke up. He still thought Dumat was alive, even though he should have known Dumat was dead. Also, what Corypheus said in Legacy can be taken either way. "The light. We sought the golden light. You offered... the power of the gods themselves. But it was... black... corrupt. Darkness... ever since. How long?" That doesn't necessarily mean what they found was black. It could mean what they received was black. This is possibly because their presence turned it black. And like I wrote, Corypheus could be misremembering it due to his mind being twisted by the taint. "Dumat? Have you forsaken me? I am your faithful servant..." He should know by this point that Dumat is dead. "The city! It was supposed to be golden! It was supposed to be ours!" The city was definitely golden, this was confirmed by many people before the magisters invaded it. So what Corypheus is likely saying here is that it was supposed to stay golden after they entered it, but it didn't. Same with the statement of it being theirs. It was supposed to be theirs, but they were cast out.
Alternate title: Arlathan/Black City Theory (non plural :P) I do love this theory with a passion, because not only has it not been debunked, on rare occasion something shows up that heavily implies it. Speaking of, since you did discuss this theory before, and this video is clearly a summation of the points, a very strong addition would be the Jaws of Hakkon content, ie the Korth the Mountain Father codex entry and whatnot. It's simply far too important as evidence to this theory to leave it out. But anyways, cheers for the video, you didn't have to push yourself given the sleep deprivation, but it is always nice to see a video show up in my feed :)
All very good points :) I could only possibly contest the first part, as from what little we're told about the visual appearance of Arlathan from Vir Dirthara is that it is totally otherworldly, a perfect representation of the mystic and bizarre nature of magic itself, fitting as it is constructed almost purely of such. The dwarves in particular I have no idea how they'd have an account of it if the theory were true, so that's pretty strong. The meta evidence is simply that most devs make it up as they go, forcing their future selves to mop up the mess and connect the dots :P
I think you are right about Mythal taking the lyrium mine from Andruil and Solas sealing the blight in the black city. Perhaps the other Evanuris didn't want Mythal to have any more power than she already had so they killed her. I'm guessing Solas was originally only going to seal away the city but changed his plan to seal away the Evanuris along with it. The only way he could do that was to seal away the entire fade. He's lamented before how he was hot headed so I'm guessing he did this in a rage without thinking it through.
Makes sense. The fade reflects of reality in most of the lore, especially Solas's talks. So it was golden when aloft and in the sun, yet black when sunken. If it wound up underground, where Titans sleep and their lyrium veins run, 1: perhaps their ill will affected the corruption. We already know the two species had some animosity and that Andruil and the others knew of the void. Maybe they sought it again as a way of breaking the veil or perhaps just in madness. 2: Or the lyrium simply drove them mad and the horrors of the black city Coryphe-butt sees are the resulting creations of their Wonderland magic spree. Spirits are affected by and attracted to powerful magic and mortals, so it's not a far stretch to see their suffering permeate the fade denizens.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
I personally theorize that Arlathan is the Black City in the fade. Though when it is, or was once golden is based on who saw it. If traveling through the crossroads in trespasser, there is a comment where an Elven inquisitor and Sera mention all the colors of the crossroads, and how similar they looked when traveling with Morrigan in inquisition. So maybe to the Elven people before the veil the city of Arlathan looked Golden. I remember Solas mentioning in some of the discussions at Haven that the city had crystal walkways towering high. So maybe when the light hits city during the day the crystal pathways gave a golden or rainbow effect. Any other inquisitor class, or non elven character in trespasser mentions only seeing the crossroads as grey. My only rebuttal on this is that this is only mentioned in inquisition and trespasser that Elves can see different colors on objects Elven built, where everything else sees grey, dull...a void of color. Then again I'm also somewhere in the dark as far as Talmen in origins. When he looked at the Eluvian in the temple, he did mention a great black city. Though how he was able to access it, is very tinfoil for myself. Since all Eluvians require special keys...maybe it reacts to the blood or blood relation of an Elvurian...Talmen was a descendant of Solas, and it recognizes Solas' blood in him to allow passage in origins...again very tinfoilly.
In "The Masked Empire" The crossroads are strictly proven to be easier on the eyes for elves, Briala and the Solas' Agent. Also easier to navigate, they walked easily and comfortably. While all the human who entered felt uncomfortable, walked slower, and just wanted to get out ASAP. They talked about it, and recognized the difference. But that's the crossroads, which is entirely built by elves, and was never navigated by anyone but them until Morrigan happened!
There's dialogue with Solas when you ask him about ancient elves. He begins with Halamshiral being a pale comparison to Arlathan. Then he states imagine spires of crystals within branches and cities floating amongst the clouds. With Arlathan being the capital of elves. I'd assume it's safe to guess Arlathan was a floating city as well home the Evanuras. I'm also guessing the crystals is Lyrium the Evanuras got from the Titans. So I'm guessing when Solas created the veil to imprison the Evanuras he placed the blight within the city's Lyrium to lock the Evanuras there, possibly turning it black as well.
Flames Of Chaos no idea. I think the Qunari are elves tied to the world by dragon blood. The dragon in the desert (I forget the name at the moment) has the same horns as Iron Bull.
I agree because the Chant(That does indeed tell SOME Truths and Facts) spoke about how Spirits are the "Firstborn" BUT Elves lived BEFORE Humans who are the "Second-born" meaning the Elves HAVE to be Spirits, Humans knew about Elves since the beginning yet surprisingly didn't talk about them very little info is known about Elves until the Rebellions and the Dales, Because the Early Humans of Thedas KNEW and SAW that Spirits/Demons and Elves are one in the same creatures and simply called them "Firstborn" or Spirits. BUT what are Qunari? Corypheus said they were a MISTAKE meaning what exactly? Also Titans perhaps created the Dwarves but from WHAT? Are they smaller Titans? Were they not created by Titans and just enslaved BUT then where do they come from?
So witch came first red lyrium or the blight. So witch originally carried the taint? I also think the elven "God's" know about regular lyrium already. Thanks for the video as always.
I think since lyrium is the blood of the Titans, red lyrium is like the white blood cells, attacking invaders in the body. When the elves started killing titans and taking the lyrium for themselves, probably not treating the dwarves very kindly in the meantime either, the red lyrium developed to defend the system. So in this theory, the blight came from the red lyrium rather than the blight tainting the lyrium.
I think the Blight was probably some kind of biological weapon created by the Elvhen to combat Tevinter, but the veil was constructed before it could be used. Then, at some point, it got out in the part of Arlathan that was sent to the fade, and that’s what turned the Golden City black.
Awesome Video. I have another theory though I can't exactly claim it to be mine b cause there's a lot of people who have thought of this too. What do you think of the possible connection between Elves, Qunari, Reavers., Dragon blood and ancient Tevinter Blood Magic.
I don't know if there was any specific video about that but I'm pretty sure that she talked about it in the episode about Thedas' races in the podcast Split the Veil
Just a little theory about the gold city ,what if it was an illusion from the outside hiding the mysterious inside seen as nobody had seen in at that point and when the tevinter mages stepped in ,it shattered the illusion and the corruption spread out with them ,seen as the blight appears a desiese born of magic .
I had not realised all of these were such common theories! I had come to these conclusions by myself, independently. Neat! This by itself suggests a strong basis for believing them.
My theory is that Evanuris were corrupted by the taint Andruil brought back from the Void, probably in a slow and insidious fashion (similar to how the Wardens are slowly taken by the taint they take in during the Joining). This is why their personalities grew worse and worse as time went on, and why they eventually turned on their own and killed Mythal. Solas may have come to see this himself, which came to form his views on the taint he later espouses in DA:I. The Golden/Black City is the location where the Evanuris were imprisoned by Solas, and I also think the Old Gods were spirit-guardians that Solas installed to prevent the Evanuris from leaving. Over time the taint spread from the Evanuris to the city itself, blackening it, and eventually even corrupting the Old God guardians which became conduits the maddened Evanuris could use to commune across the Veil and exhort people to try to come to them and free them. The Magisters Sidereal happened to be the ones who finally gained enough power through Blood Magic to rend the Veil and cross into the Golden City, but they were immediately tainted and thrown from the City, perhaps by whatever defenses remained to ensure the Evanuris stayed trapped. The taint spread from the Magisters Sidereal to give rise to the Darkspawn, who were now able to ravage the world across the Veil and find the living anchors of the Old Gods (their physical draconic forms) and taint them directly, further destroying the fetters binding the Evanuris to their prison. This is why Solas is so deadset on the Wardens preemptively destroying the Old Gods in their slumber - he knows doing this will unlock the Black City and free the Evanuris before he is positioned and ready to deal with them as part of his plans to bring down the Veil. That is my unified theory, in any case.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
I have some ideas that I thought could be worth merit, so, the Gold City is named as such, or was named, due to it not looking gold but being gold, meaning that due to it being the center of the elven people it was the richest city and some of the statues and other architecture was gold or gold plated, nothing magical, just literal. My next idea is kinda based in nothing but I think it would be interesting either way, the blight is magic gone wrong. The amount of magic in the black city suddenly not being able to flow as it used to kinda fell in on it self perverting it and turning bad. So yeah. They are probably dumb and they aren't really backed up by anything but they just seem cool, and I could go into further depth but I'm still not sure on everything. Xo
Do you think youd be able to do another common theories video??? I love these and am super hyped right now, especially with the little bits of news weve gotten about da4 lately, rumor though they might be lol, congrats on your wee baby btw ❤
Recently found these videos and I wanted to point out a very simple answer on why the “Golden” City turned Black. The magic died out. If it’s Arlathan and that city was mostly magical, it would have been decimated from losing the magic connection. I also don’t think it’s the whole city. Maybe just the palace or a temple for the trapped elven “gods”.
I hadn't heard of the theory about Arlathan being the Black City but now it seems perfect sense. I feel more like its possible Solas intentionally released the Blight into the Arlathan to stop what was essentially the Elven slave empire and slammed the Veil down after he got a chunk of people out. We know the elves built in places separated from reality but not exactly the Fade like the crossroads using the Eluvians to travel between and the other isolated Eluvian chamber full of corpses in The Masked Empire. I guess we'll find out when more Dragon Age material comes out. ....I also think these abusive elven gods made the dwarves
Solas mentions that the fade looks like what you expect it to look like: spirits of wisdom/pride, etc. So maybe for some people the city looked golden but the act of getting to the city changes their perception so it became black?
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
I personally don't subscribe to Arlathan being the Black City. I have some lore reasons why, but mostly I don't like it because I think it lessens the mystery considerably. Not every single piece of mysterious lore has to be connected to the ancient elves. Also, the way Solas reacts to seeing the Black City during Here Lies the Abyss, he seems almost giddy about being so close. I doubt he'd react like that if he was familiar with its origin. What makes the most sense to me is that the Black City only appeared once the Veil was created, and it's party why Solas is so fascinated with it, since he can't explain where it came from.
Could the black city, a point seen high above all points of the fade, be the main anchor point for the veil? The place where the veil is strongest? The place where Solas raised the veil? Skyhold? I've wondered if the kernel of truth that started the Maker myth was Solas raising creating the world as it is by creating the veil then looking over his creation in despair only to retreat from the world into dream, and that everything else from the Maker myth came after, from other sources, as they seek to manipulate it and use it for their own power. I've thought this because of the theory that the trapped Elven gods were the old gods of Tevinter. The humans start worshipping these beings that whisper to them of power, but some people still remember a different story, about one who made the world the way it was and then turned his back on his people when he was displeased with them. When they rebel, it his his story that they use to shape their protest to the followers of gods that would enslave them. Why would we venerate someone who turned their back on us, they might think. Maybe he left us because we turned our backs on him, and worshipped these false gods? You only need to give people one small kernel of a story for them, if it suits them, to interpret it in their own way, so that it grows over time. I feel like I've seen or heard this theory before somewhere, but I don't know where, sorry. Where does this leave the magisters that physically entered the fade, seeking the golden city? Did they get to the right place? I got the impression that they entered the fade physically, and all records of the black city only refer to its appearance in dream. They entered to free the old gods, and in a way, they succeeded. The fade when the inquisitor physically enters it for the first time isn't the black city, but covered in blighted lyrium.
Ghil Dirthalen .. As you are asking why did the golden city was Golden .. there is a shinny spirit hovering in the background with a bright golden aura lol.. If before the Veil spirits roamed freely then it was their light that was golden. Arlathan was golden with spirits hence The Golden City.. I never thought of this till now, but think about the "Sun God" . That must have been one shinny spirit.
Though he doesn’t mention the Elven gods by name, Solas says that those who unleashed the blight were striving for godhood. I find it curious that when he says this, he doesn’t mention Tevintor at all.
What if... the golden city used to be silver, but the greenish yellow glow of the fade made it look yellow, and it turned black over time since that's what silver does as it ages.
Idk why but I have this feeling that Solas is much more sinister than he appears. He seems to regret what he has done and is trying to fix it but I think this might be a ruse. I have absolutely no proof I just have this feeling that there's more to him and his motives than he said.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
Don't know if someone else has said this first: What if the blight was caused by the elven gods killing a titan? The titan blood (lirium) turned red (blighted), the elves brought the red lirium to Arlathan and corrupted the city. The Dread Wolf creates the veil sealing the blight, the magisters break in and boom, blights back on Theadas
Side note; The red lirium could of made Elgar'nan's rage to great for Mythal to quell as she did countless times before, resulting in Mythal's death. Fen'Harel in his grief and anger creates the veil to seal the remaining gods in Arlathan and separates it from the rest of the fade to keep the corrupted elven gods from doing any harm to mages as the sleep. Mythal isn't sealed away because she was dead before the veil was created
What if the golden city was some magical city on the other side of the planet that was built by an unknown race and Solas creating the veil seriously screwed them over and threw them into barbarism, so they had to flee their homes and eventually they settled onto a set of islands... Yes I'm talking about the Kossith
I have a theory for why the black city was once golden and is now black When Solas was fighting the Evanuris he locked them away, right? So to do that he'd need a banging prison - and what better prison is there than the veil? The black city is always visible in the fade because it's the centre point the veil was put up around - the pretty prison of the Evanuris. But the Evanuris would not be content to sit in prison for an eternity and would start scheming to get out. Perhaps these magics got so dark and so evil that THEY created the blight. The blight then went on to infect them and their prison, but remained contained by the veil (and the city's distance from the rest of the fade). Then the magisters tear the veil down to walk in the fade, and in doing so they release the blight into the world. And so what happens to the Evanuris? Well, why does Flemeth want the souls of the old gods? I don't think those are old god souls at all, but perhaps the souls of the Evanuris. There are a few things that might have happened here: 1) The Evanuris possessed the bodies of the old gods much like Mythal possessed Flemeth and became the archdemons. 2) The archdemons ARE the Evanuris - when the blight overtook them, it changed them into the mindless beasts that exist today. 3) The archdemons ARE the Evanuris (v2) - shapeshifting is perhaps dangerous - perhaps, if you spend too much time imitating a creature, you forget you were ever anything else. Perhaps, after their attempts with magic failed, (now blighted) the Evanuris switched into dragons to idk brute force it? Impress people? (tbh I prefer 1 and 2 lol) and forgot they could ever go back. I know there's the theory of fokai and Titans leading to red lyrium, ie. the blight, which I 100% think is possible, but I'm not going to subscribe to one theory and forget all other possibilities. That theory does leave the question of the black city entirely open. (Obviously I'm not saying my theory answers all questions I'm just saying I like to keep a more open mind about things :) )
Question, you know Coryphius had the orb, was looking for a way into the fade after the Inquisitor stole the mark, and was looking for an eluvian, or rather the well of sorrows, to go into the crossroads and tear down the veil between that and the fade. In Origins, mainly the Dalish elven story, they find an eluvian that was already tainted with the blight, and when Tamlen got close to it, he saw a black city. What if Coryphius was looking for that particular eluvian that could've been a shorter and easier way to go into the fade? Even though It was shattered by Duncan, what if the key could be the same orb he carried and may have a connection between the two. It may not b relevant, or doesn't make it plausible, but it's just something that I've been thinking for awhile now. Good video, love all your videos. Happy Holidays!
Maybe having accidentally creating the blight. The Elves seal it in the Golden City then escape to Thedas. And the Magisters let it out when they break in to the Golden City, tainting themselves and the city black.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
Arlathan could be the black city, which is were the elven gods could be locked. Perhaps they got pissy and bored, went all blood magic. Make the taint, spread it to the magisters. As corypheus said the city was already black.
can someone explain to me the elf mirrors from my understanding from DA2 it was somthing so ancient that it cost Merial from DA2 everything to restore just 1 i would note it involved blood magic demons and her clans leader. and it is somthing that Morrigan was interested in 1 for the chance to find her child if they had 1 with the warden? my point is this the trespasser dlc has us using them like they are just teleportation portals and i feel it takes away from their grandness so to speak.
An alternative theory for the Blight being in the Black City in fact I'll give 2. One ties in with the theory that the healing spirit that was in Wynne is infact the maker, though revered as an omnipotent being the Maker itself is life, the ultimate spirit in scope and effect but simple and not strong in and of itself the Maker is life and blessed all the world with its gift and thus made the world and all in it. Where there is life however there is death and the blight which can in many ways be connected to all the false gods and such through the series could itself be a corruption of life and manifestation of death. Through some means in an ancient war perhaps with the help of the first children etc the maker sealed away the blight in the black city perhaps it was golden once the original home of a little spirit that birthed an entire cosmos and desires no more then to sit quietly aside and watch its children live, but has on occasion made small acts that have had huge influences and are all perhaps to combat forces that would destroy all life forces which are ultimately tied to the Blight. Second theory is the the Blight IS the old Elven gods, that when Solus sealed them away and cut the Fade off from the material realm they had to adapt in order to survive and mages of that kind of power have options not available to others, so in order to not only survive the fade but thrive in it they cast off their physical bodies and became something more like spirits but different. They desired however a return to the world that was denied to them and as mages experience the Fade in their dreams so in dreams did they reach out. Finding human mages who were so like themselves in life they cast out one message to them and inspiration to plunder divinity, Open the gates. That one message sent the Magisters Sidreel to open the way the old Elven Gods who offered them power undreamt of but at a price which I believe is supported by some of the things Corypheus says at times. I believe that they became the Blight which at times seems as much of a spiritual infection as a physical one, I think The Magisters were infected by the spirits of the old Elven gods through the Blight and this will or was intended to be a means by which they could return but hus far the Blight has been held back and the culmination of the Blights true purpose with it.
Interesting theories, I really like your one about the maker. Its possible that he was just a very powerful spirit of life back when reality was just the raw fade, and that he created life (and by extension, the universe as we know it). Perhaps the Evanuris (just spirits at this time) saw the world the maker had created (on the backs of the titans) and wanted a piece of that, so they touched down and became flesh, leading other like minded spirits to do the same, creating the People. When the maker saw this, he viewed them as tenants in the apartment he owned, and Elgar'nan violently disagreed with this, leading to the story of how he fought his father the sun, spattering his blood across the night sky. Perhaps this event darkened the maker, turning him from a spirit of life into one of death, creating the blight to spite the Evanuris (this probably happened over a very long period). Some Evanuris saw this as a new tool they could wield (some even combining it with lyrium), while others were against the idea, leading to the civil war that cost Mythal her life, and eventually caused Solas to create the veil, turning the fade into a prison containing Arlathan, the Evanuris, and the Blight at its unreachable centre. That links into your second theory. The Evanuris whispered through the old gods (perhaps they were their bodies, or high priests of them, its hard to say, but they're definitely linked somehow) and started to turn the most powerful empire at the time (Tevinter) into puppets, teaching them the magic and the method of breaking into their fade prison. This unleashed the blight into the world, which they used as a tool to corrupt the old gods for whatever reason. This act caused the maker to exert what influence he still had to direct Andraste against Tevinter, to try and stop the Evanuris turning his own weapon against 'his' world, inadvertently creating the Andrastian faith in the process. Perhaps if the fade is the Evanuris's prison, then the veil is the bars, the titans are the chains, and the old gods are the pins holding it all in place (keeping the titans comatose, while their power is tapped to keep the veil up)
What if "The Golden City" was never actually golden? Corypheus says the city was already black (during both initial DA2: Legacy and DAI meetings with him, if memory serves), when he and the other ancient Magisters entered. Something he mentions with frustration, as well as sorrow. A partly separate theory: perhaps "The Maker" Blighted his own city, as he turned away from his mortal creations, perverting all that would enter.
Everything and everyone in Dragon Age lore that's framed a god turns out to be created, not a creator.. So it all falls to the writers/developers in the end. If they follow the original concept that Andraste is Jesus but female, and old gods are Greek Panethon .. etc .. They might end up writing the maker as above all and all creator of everything, and he was before veil, or fade, or earth, and the golden city could be left vague to make you guess whether it was his seat or he's beyond realization and bigger/older/mighter than that.. because Andrastian religion is Christianity twisted. Or if they want to deliver their atheist (dis)believes they would just prove everything is false and be done with it. Either way, the golden/black city will have its own story revealed, but only the latest story, of magisters and elves. Not the very beginning of it, before elves and Tevinter.
@@nawawii3750 They already stated a few times they DON'T wanna reveal whether the Maker exists or not....But the Golden/Black City MIGHT have NOTHING to do with the Maker, So it's secrets can be revealed but the Maker is always gonna be left for the Player to decide. Though that conversation with Cole and Solas about the Maker kinda seems like yeah he exists BUT he's either a Dick/Evil OR simply a Watchful NOT Enforcing/Intervening kind of God. "Cole- Where is the Maker? I don't sense him. Solas- Gone" is something like the convo they had. In other words he exists but he really did leave his creation behind to deal with itself....Seemingly is the Truth IF we believe the words of a False God and a Confused Spirit becoming Mortal. "Everything and everyone in Dragon Age lore that's framed a god turns out to be created, not a creator." If this is the Truth then WOULDN'T the Maker turn out to be created not creator he's another "God" that's in doubt and is in the same series. I personally can see it turning out either way BUT I'd like for them to keep their word and have it be completely ambiguous in the end.
Wait is the natural state of lyrium? Is red lyrium the natural state of it? We've kind of always assumed the blue stuff was the naturally occurring form and that was reinforced by finding it in Titans but what if the blight originates from red lyrium and not simply lyrium becoming tainted?
I think the two different names, Black/Golden, simply stem from modern people confusing the timeline and mixing lore together. It was golden before the Veil and the Blight and black after it got corrupted/the Veil went up. Ergo, it was never golden in the Fade, that's just old lore carelessly mixed with new. (Although Corypheus does call it the Golden City right before he dies, which I always found curious since his whole story is about him denying that it was ever golden. Might just be a slip-up on the writers' side, though.)
@@AulisVaara Ah, I didn't even remember that one, good catch! Maybe it's possible that they saw it as golden in their dreams before actually entering the Fade because they expected it to be golden, and once they were actually there it turned out that nope, it was black.
To the "Arlathan is the Black/golden city" what if the evanuris created the blight with blood magic and that's why Solas sealed them and Arlathan in the fade after creating the veil?
I swear if the black city is the ancient elven city. Then the archdemon are possibly the old elven gods trying to escape Solas trap. It makes a little sense but for DA 4 it feels anticlimactic.
What IF the Golden City and the Black City AREN'T the same city at all their Two Separate Cities that are being confused together? One is the Source of the Blight and Prison to the "Elven Gods" while the other is Arlathan NEITHER were/are the Makers Seat (Has it ever been confirmed that the Magisters didn't fuck up their ritual or that the Maker lives in a City besides Chantry Propaganda?).
Then WHY was it Black? When did the Maker Live there and When did he leave? Did he really Curse the ENTIRE World for the Sins of 7 Men? Seems like a pretty Evil God if so.
I'd urge everyone to not take Corypheus's word for the Black City already being there. (Or anything, really.) Quite simply he, by definition, hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt. (Nor, for that matter, has Solas.) Villains have lied since humans told stories, and forgetting about that is an error. Further, is there really a way to tell if his mere presence was what changed the city? That would make the theology literally true, except it's not like he'd perceive the change. As far as he was concerned, it'd always been black because he always saw it that way.
I don't really believe in the black city = Arlathann theory. Solas describes it as "spires of crystal twining through the branches palaces floating among the clouds" and it looks nothing like the black/golden city. The clouds part fits but where are the crystal and the trees?
Remember, the theory only states that the City is a chunk of Arlathan, not the whole thing. And we are prone to recollect the best sides of things. If you have a deceased loved one, you tend to remember the positives of their personality and not as much the negatives. Solas is being nostalgic; he's probably choosing to remember/mention the most baller parts of Arlathan only.
@@bigfatcarp93 Yeah maybe you're right. And it's not just nostalgia, there is guilt too I'm sure. Though I'd like to say that I have lost a few people, I know grief and I definitely remember their flaws ;-). I think I just don't like all these theories that mix everything, like "Solas is the maker", It doesn't mean that it's not true of course, I just don't really want it to be true.
@@cornibusette I think Arlathan = Black City makes the most sense out of any explanation we have. Not just because it works with the story and lore we already have, but because it fits with the direction Bioware is taking this series.
The black city was the prison of the elven god's spirits. The elven god's made it look golden so the humans would break open the veil so they may escape. Escaping however took a lot out of them so they went for a nap inside their dragon bodies. The process of escaping corrupted the fade around the prison this creating the blight. The blight is all the hatered and pain of the elven god's manifest by the fade and turned into sth real. Like cole was. The fade appears to be able to create sth out of nothing . The darkspawn are blighted this they go after their creators . The elven god's in dragon bodies. The elven pricks though are sleeping and haven't noticed the darkspawn yet
Damn if any of those are true that the City being Elven that would shatter and break the world of Andrastians Since basically their faith is a lie born of misinterpretations and misremembering.
With everything in a magical world, it could be real. But this is based on religion, and that needs to be taken with a grains of salt. We all know the real world parallel is Christianity to the Chantry with heaven and the famous golden gate and the Golden City. Both can be turned dark with sin if I’m correct (I’m an atheist, tell if I’m wrong). Like I said the perceptive truth is veeeeeeeery different in this magical world.
![[4K] Watch SpaceX Catch A Starship Rocket From Space!!! #IFT5](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pIKI7y3DTXk/mqdefault.jpg)
One thing that sparked a theory in my mind happened on my most recent play through, while I was in the Ghil Dirthalen library coincidentally.
Morrigan mentions (I don't remember which game) that ancient elves left no trails, and that all that remains of their existence is scattered ruins. We can all assume that the reason they had no Paths was because they used the Eluvians to travel between cities, but I have an expansion to this theory. What if.... The Elven cities were built IN THE SKY!
This is why we find scattered ruins through out Thedas, which no earthy reason on why they are there. The Ghil Dirthalen is obviously suspended in the sky. If you look off the edge, you are floating above the mountain tops. The Spirit that guides you there talks about elves screaming "Gods, don't let me fall". At the end of the vanilla game, Cory also raises the ruins of the Temple into the air using the power of the orb.
What if this is WHY the Veil destroyed the elves. It was a city so dependent on Magic to sustain itself, that once that flow was severed, the cities came crashing down... literally.
SonAlexander I was thinking that too... I was also reminded in the myth of Atlantis, this advanced civilization that was brought down my their own hubris. There’s a lot of parallels in the stories, and there’s a very large body of water where Arlathan is supposed to be. If the cites came crashing down, what if a good chunk is in water? I can’t connect this to a thing else, but some magical sea exploration is fun!
this would also explain how the fade and vail act like cutting the sky in half
I think the reason that the “Golden City” was always black because no one other than elves were to see it. Kinda like when you go into the eluvian with morrigan as a Dalish you see the blooms on the trees. Other races don’t see this.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
@@i8dnovawolf469 source?
@@azarishere6442their rectum.
My favorite theory: Andraste was the Old God Baby of Dumat.
1) She was born the year after the First Blight ended.
2) She was born to an Almarri woman in a Ciriane tribe, which fought alongside Tevinter during the Blight.
3) It's the only Blight that WoT2 doesn't specify that a Warden died to end it.
4) She heard voices.
5) The wiki entry on Dumat says, "Evidence suggests Dumat lives on in some form. There are those who still worship him faithfully, such as Corypheus once did, and it has been shown that those who are faithful to him and call upon him for aid receive it more often than not..."
I don't know how "common" this theory is, but I didn't come up with it and don't remember where I heard it first.
Oh wait, here's where I first heard it: fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/153322.html?thread=817215978#cmt817215978
It's all anonymous, but while I wasn't the one who put it forth, IIRC I was the one who pulled out points 2, 3, and 5 from WoT2/the wiki. I think I might also have been the one to pull this together (at the end of the thread linked):
"Dumat was the Old God of Silence. The Maker tells Andraste that he had foresaken the world because the people turned away from him to worship false idols--and so he became silent. He first speaks to Andraste when she fails to get any response from the Alamarri gods--in other words, he speaks to her out of silence.
But how did he come to be seen as one of the Old Gods? Because the silence of a god is palpable, such as described in the Canticle of Trials (verses 3-4):
_I have heard the sound,_
_A song in the stillness,_
_The echo of Your voice,_
_Calling creation to wake from its slumber._
_How can we know You?_
_In the turning of the seasons, in life and death,_
_In the empty space where our hearts_
_Hunger for a forgotten face?_ "
It's a fairly common theory, but I do think its true, at least partially. Another version of it, which I believe a bit more, is that Andraste's half-sister Halliserre was the Old God Baby. While they had the same father, Elderath, not much is known about Halliserre's mother, except that she was Elderath's advisor on Alchemy. It's possible that she could be Flemeth, considering her name isn't known. Further, Halliserre died in a violent, mysterious incident that only Andraste was present for. That impacted Andraste a lot, and afterward she got a lung sickness that lasted for years. Further after seeing her sister die, "she also was known to display strange behavior, such as becoming still for long moments in a trance-like state, after which she would report voices as if from a lost memory and talk of strange auras or the sound of bells. Later on, Andraste came to remember her sister's death as a matter of heresy, suggesting that her alchemist mother had been whispering of the Old Gods"(quote taken from the DA wiki). Note that all of that happened AFTER Halliserre's death. I don't really know what to make of that information, like, did the Old God Soul somehow transfer to Andraste when Halliserre died? I don't know, but it's interesting to think about
im at the point now where i think Andraste was or is Flemith
There actually is a line of dialogue in Origins that supports the 'Arlathan is the Black City' theory (to which I myself subscribe). During the Dalish Origin, when encountering the Eluvian, Tamlen comments when looking into it that he sees 'A Great City, underground, and then a terrible blackness.'
Considering we know the Eluvians were created by the ancient Elves, and that they connected to Arlathan, this association between a great city covered in darkness and the Eluvian is a strong piece of evidence supporting the theory. It's also the line that, upon a replay of Origins, made me come to the theory myself, independent of the others existing out there.
I think this is the part of Arlathan that "has been sunk into the ground" not the part in the fade. Maybe this is where the blight in the deep road came from.
@@andrewcloudy Possibly. It's also possible that Tamlen could have associated the terrible blackness with the city being underground.
The fact that both are mentioned as separate factors always struck me as curious.
It implies that the terrible blackness is disconnected from the city being underground.
I think he only saw an elvhen city in the Deep Roads, and the terrible blackness was Urthemiel, who we know from Inquisition has the power to activate eluvians and send things through. This is likely how the darkspawn got in.
Also, during The Decent, doesn’t Renn mention something about one of the Legion of the Dead getting lost and then when they come back they talk about a big beautiful city? I can’t quite remember all the details.
@Varga Julian Urthemiel was/is the old god who rose as an archdemon during the Fifth Blight. If you accept Morrigan's Dark Ritual, Urthemiel's soul is preserved within Kieran, who in a later part of Inquisition activates Morrigan's eluvian and travels to the Fade. Thus confirming that Urthemiel knew how to activate and direct eluvians to various locations. So it makes sense that in Origins archdemon Urthemiel activated an eluvian in a Deep Roads location when he saw Tamlen activate the one in the elven ruins. Afterward, archdemon Urthemiel sent darkspawn through the eluvians into the elven ruins. We also know that elvhen ruins exist in the Deep Roads since we visit one in Trespasser.
My theory on the Blight is that the magister's did actually create it. They tore open the Fade itself using a mixture of blood magic, lyrium, and Solas' orb thingy, but because they misused it, they corrupted a section of the Fade, and became corrupted themselves. The "run off" from this event drained down into Thedas, corrupting a Titan and making red lyrium. I've always liked the idea that it was humans that created the Blight, since I've always seen the darkspawn as the physical embodiment of mankind's depravity and corruption.
I find that Andruil finding regular lyrium to be a bit too unlikely and that's mostly because in that same codex entry it mentions that Andruil had crafted weapons of "darkness" Throughout the series we've had people, the greatest culprits being the Architect, Corypheus, Cole, and the Grey Wardens, substitute the blight/taint with the word darkness or dark. This idea of the dark being heavily associated strictly with the blight whether it be the taint itself or red lyrium seems to be a thing that tightly connects the two which doesn't really allow normal lyrium to fit as all train of thoughts seem to keep leading to whatever the armor of the void was made out of, and likely by extension The Void itself, had to house the blight in some capacity.
Also I'm starting to believe more and more that the Evanuris (and likely The Forgotten Ones) had attempted to use the blight as that might have been one of the various problems that led to war with Solas, beyond killing Mythal and enslaving the elves of course, and probably be specifically why he's so pissed when anyone tries to use the blight as a source of power or just be connected to it like the Grey Wardens because he would have seen in their own lust for power how much devastation they would have brought to their homeland. In Solas' own words: "The Blight corrupts everything it touches, those that believe themselves capable of using it safely are mad"
My two cents about Arlathan and The Black City is like your companions say in Tresspasser. For anyone who isn't an elf the beutiful and vibrant fade is colourles to them, they don't see the different shades and colours that Sera and an elven Inquisitor does. This could be the reason why they didn't see the city as colourful/golden.
Honestly, the Blight being a magical bioweapon used by Andruil and the Catalyst to Solas creating the Veil would make a lot of sense.
I never understood why Solas had such a strong hatred of the Blight and was so scared of the Warden corruption considering (according to the Chantry teaxhings at least) he shouldn't have ever really experienced or seen the Blight at all, except for as a vague empathetic dream in the fade. Him having seen what was really the Blight and it's intended purpose would add some much needed c9ntext to his reactions in inquisition.
Andruil is the missing piece to my theory. Even before Trespasser was released, I theorized, based on a line of Solas' dialogue, that the Veil was an artificial creation, constructed to contain a blighted Arlathan, and that the Blight had been created by either the Evanurus or the Forgotten Ones, as a weapon to be used against the other. It was this action that was the final straw for Solas, prompting him to seal BOTH away to save the Elvhen people.
The Andruil theory is a good edition, and fills in the final gap in my theory.
Yea, I'm a subscriber to the bioweapon interpretation as well. Highly plausible.
@@mduckernz or a curse as - the binds of the city are broken, shit happenned, here you go, a parting gift
I don't thing it is a weapon.you cann't controle the blight or red lyrium. I thing Andruil got lost and found something really bad. She tried to make a weapon out of it, instead she got mad. Mythal sealed the badthing and andruil forgot about it, but when they fight against the old goods she thing about it. Only Mythal know were it is, so they killed her to know were they can find the power. Solas created the veil to seal the bad things away and save his people and the old goods of the madness. But his plan went wrong, because of the tevinter magister who make the veil thin. the bad thing leak out and the blight were created.
I have three theories
1) Solas was responsible for Bastien’s death
If you take Vivienne and Solas with you often enough, you’ll find some interesting banter between the two. Solas basically asks Vivienne if she would prioritize her own power and status over her fellow mages and Vivienne (being Vivienne), says yes which prompts Solas to place what he calls “The most dangerous curse of my people” onto Vivienne. She asks what a little old curse like that would do to her and Solas replies “May you learn”. I don’t know if you can get the banter after Bastien’s death but, it’s something worth taking into consideration
2) Those “things” Solas tells you to activate while you’re exploring Thedas in Inquisition, are somehow drawing magic from either The Fade or ambient magic in general and Solas is gonna use them for whatever the hell he’s planning
3) Solas is gonna tear the veil down using a similar kind of magic as the one we find in the still ruins. Right next to the staff that’s holding time in place (as well as the Vints and Demons), you find a lootable body with a codex entry. I forgot exactly what the entry said but, it eluded to that possibility that the Vints in the still ruins must have torn the veil down (to a slight degree) using some kind of experimental magic and the only way it could be stopped was to place someone inside and use magic to stop it from spreading. I think that Solas is gonna do something similar but, on a far, far larger scale than that.
Bastian's sister confirms he had been sick for a long time and even the Circles couldn't do anything for him (if you say you wish you could have done more for him), and she says it was simply his time. That means he was ill back before the Circles rebelled. Long before Solas met Vivienne. Plus, I don't see why Solas would curse Bastian to get at Vivienne.
BioWare planned something bigger for those artifacts, but it was cut from production.
I think the experiment in the Still Ruins was all about time magic. They were basically carrying on Alexius' research. They knew magic directly from the Fade was necessary for time manipulation (at least beyond the Haste spell). So they opened a rift. The problem was that the magic was too much to control. It was chaos. Add to that all the demons pouring through and you had a no-win situation. So that one mage used the energies and blood magic to freeze time until others could come along to save the research, destroy the demons, and repair the rift.
@@BelieveIt1051 Well Bioware can implement whatever Solas wants with the Orbs in DA4 if they want. Also maybe Time Magic has something to do with his overall goal remember....Solas entire goal is to genocide everything Non-Elven BUT wants them NOT to suffer, How can they suffer if everyone's frozen in time and can't feel anything or at the least if their frozen he can kill everyone easier and faster. Plus his Stone Magic that's what I'm calling his new trick in Trespasser might be a similar form of magic given it freezes beings in place.
So that could be his goal to freeze everything then kill everything taking his sweet time given everything's frozen and minimizing his victims suffering by doing so as long as they can't feel anything.
Plus even if it ain't a part of his plan it could very well be a side effect of it given if he takes away the Veil there will most certainly be Chaotic Magic all over the place that could become just like the Time Magic in the Still Ruins.
@@flamesofchaos13 True. I was just getting at the fact that BioWare did have more in mind for those artifacts during DA:I but didn't finish it. So they could bring that plan over to DA4, or make a new one.
Maybe Solas is planning something like that. Maybe those artifacts can be used to amplify spells across entire regions. Maybe he'll use them to sweep the world with petrification. Or maybe they can be used to bring down the Veil. It'll be interesting.
On a side note, you made a reply to me in Jackdaw's Tinfoil Tea Party #6. This showed up in my notifications but the post isn't there when I go to the page. It had to do with prior romances showing up in DA4. I can't read the whole post in my notifications tab, but basically all I was saying is that prior romance characters are those BioWare might be too lazy to include since they require more work to plot out all their possible storyline branches. They could still be in DA4, just pointing out that prior romances is an obstacle BioWare has to overcome in order to properly include them.
or it can be something bolder as going back in time, which is also a very viable option, if he wants to eradicate humans and cossiths and prevent the whole fall. i would guess it is the present "tear down the veil, deal with enemies", but i cant even imagine how hated he will be, because what i picked up from his last conversation in dlc, was - there will be lots of deaths from tearing down the veil, and i will only protect elvenan-/going back to past to either prevent veil creation and deal with evanuris another way, or create the veil and lead his people
@@DelphineEraklea Ancient Humans and Dwarves exist before the Veil was ever created and Humans and Elves got into conflicts, Pretty sure it was even hinted at that the Evanuris enslaved some Humans and Dwarves. As for Kossith/Qunari they most likely exist back then too just on another continent. So going back in time doesn't prevent the Races from existing...Plus going back in time would bring back the Evanuris and Solas definitely wouldn't want that.
P.S. Also FUCK Time Travel it's an overused plot device that makes a lot of plotholes! That section in Inquisition Mage Quest could even be argued as to much.
maybe with the black city being in the fade people saw it as golden because thats what they believed it was but after the magisters came back bringing the blight and claiming it was black they started to believed that instead
The blight can spread like moss and is black. Maybe the Black City was the Gold City before it was covered with the blight.
"Is it blue with black stripes, or white with gold stripes?"
@@aliceangel2799 The damn dress turns to a city!
This makes sense because the Fade is a subjective reflection of the real world!
Thought: The black/ golden city was never any of those things. Black is a color of decay and Gold is a color of wealth. I believe both have been used to describe the city's personality rather then it's actual coloring
Or Arlathan was made of gold and became black due to the blight? You got some immensely powerful mages, they might have just created gold using magic, synthesized it.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
I honestly don't think it's too unlikely that the Black/Golden City was never golden. Despite it appearing that many, many people used to see it that way, would it be too unreasonable to think that over time that may have just been a retroactive accepted truth as opposed to a reality?
Think about it. The First Blight happens and utterly annihilates the known world for nearly 2 centuries. Everything is shaken, knowledge is lost and people are terrified. People, however, are still able to see the City (likely blackened at this point, if we're to assume it was golden) themselves.
Flashforward to the end of the First Blight and the rise of the Chant of Light. For two centuries, the city has been black, people went through hell and survived, but are now divided and lost. How unlikely would it be for this new religious text to claim that this thing that appears black, horrifying and mysterious used to be a shining example of glory of this new god, yet it was corrupted by the very thing that consumed the lands and, by extension the hubris of Tevinter (the enemy of this new-formed religion). Who remains to claim otherwise? Who would want to? As Solas said, "Fear breeds a desire for simplicity. Good and evil. Right and wrong."
Sure, there may have been those who knew better and claimed that it was never golden, but it's not impossible these voices were drowned out by the far more poetic tale that was sweeping across Thedas as opposed to the gloomy and boring truth.
I'm not saying Andraste just made up the story, either. Maybe she genuinely believed it and spread the word that way. Maybe she found evidence that the Black City used to be this radiant Ancient City (Arlathan) and was corrupted ages ago but interpreted it as the Golden City we have come to know (or maybe the misinterpretation happened over time).
Or on the off-chance the more radical theories come true that Mythal was involved in the Andraste thing (which I'm not sure I believe, but I don't discount it either), she may have used that "close to the truth, but not quite" approach of the Golden City/Arlathan/Black City to gain more followers and create an appealing story with enough truth sprinkled in but in a different context. But again, I'm not fully convinced by this.
But then we ask new questions...Who MADE the Black City? WHY is it a Black City? An that means Corypheus was Right there is No Maker the City was Empty BUT then what tainted the Magisters of Old? Black or Gold is the City a Ruin of Arlathan? What about the Spirits and Demons not/can't entering there WHY is that?
Dude I seriously have thought the exact same thing
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
There's a poetic irony in fan theories about lost lore that are documented in lost forums
We’re like the Dalish trying to piece it all back together 😔
the more i think about it the more i think "of the void" is probably more a description of *where* the material came from and not what it's made of, the void then perhaps being the unexplored caverns beneath the deep roads. the anvil "of the void" is also found in a distant and uncharted thaig
Question- why is the thought that the "golden city" is referring to the color? the golden city could refer to the most prosperous city and that is why the chantry thought the maker had blessed it. when it turned black it could be the blight disease spreading throughout the golden city and before it could spread it was sealed in the fade. because the city hadn't completely been taken over people still believed the golden city was still as it was, so when the tevinter imperium traveled there they found nothing left but the blight. or is tere specific lore that proves that the word golden is referring to the color?
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
Corypheus had every reason to lie about turning the Golden City black, from not wanting to admit his grave mistake, to reinforcing the beliefs of his loyalists, Cory needed to believe that the evil already existed and was not caused by him. Mother Giselle even explains this after Haven. Cole also has banter with Dorian (I think) about Cory's memories of the Black City. He describes it as something like a damaged painting, burned around the edges. Implying Cory's memory of that event is damaged and incomplete. I think it should also be considered that Corypheus may have fed those bad memories to the Nightmare in order to make it stronger, or perhaps even to twist it into what we saw in the game.
Cory said it the moment he woke up in DA2, while he was confused as fck about what is what and where is where.. It was like the only thing he really believed. He doubted Dumat, and kept calling for him desperately while we kill him, and he kept asking questions about everything. The only answer he gave, is the black city being black from start... This can never be a lie...
But Corypheus was conscious for many years before he was eventually sealed away. That is plenty of time to make up your own "truth". Plus, he was confused when he woke up. He still thought Dumat was alive, even though he should have known Dumat was dead. Also, what Corypheus said in Legacy can be taken either way.
"The light. We sought the golden light. You offered... the power of the gods themselves. But it was... black... corrupt. Darkness... ever since. How long?"
That doesn't necessarily mean what they found was black. It could mean what they received was black. This is possibly because their presence turned it black. And like I wrote, Corypheus could be misremembering it due to his mind being twisted by the taint.
"Dumat? Have you forsaken me? I am your faithful servant..."
He should know by this point that Dumat is dead.
"The city! It was supposed to be golden! It was supposed to be ours!"
The city was definitely golden, this was confirmed by many people before the magisters invaded it. So what Corypheus is likely saying here is that it was supposed to stay golden after they entered it, but it didn't. Same with the statement of it being theirs. It was supposed to be theirs, but they were cast out.
Alternate title: Arlathan/Black City Theory (non plural :P)
I do love this theory with a passion, because not only has it not been debunked, on rare occasion something shows up that heavily implies it.
Speaking of, since you did discuss this theory before, and this video is clearly a summation of the points, a very strong addition would be the Jaws of Hakkon content, ie the Korth the Mountain Father codex entry and whatnot. It's simply far too important as evidence to this theory to leave it out.
But anyways, cheers for the video, you didn't have to push yourself given the sleep deprivation, but it is always nice to see a video show up in my feed :)
All very good points :) I could only possibly contest the first part, as from what little we're told about the visual appearance of Arlathan from Vir Dirthara is that it is totally otherworldly, a perfect representation of the mystic and bizarre nature of magic itself, fitting as it is constructed almost purely of such.
The dwarves in particular I have no idea how they'd have an account of it if the theory were true, so that's pretty strong.
The meta evidence is simply that most devs make it up as they go, forcing their future selves to mop up the mess and connect the dots :P
I think you are right about Mythal taking the lyrium mine from Andruil and Solas sealing the blight in the black city. Perhaps the other Evanuris didn't want Mythal to have any more power than she already had so they killed her. I'm guessing Solas was originally only going to seal away the city but changed his plan to seal away the Evanuris along with it. The only way he could do that was to seal away the entire fade. He's lamented before how he was hot headed so I'm guessing he did this in a rage without thinking it through.
Makes sense. The fade reflects of reality in most of the lore, especially Solas's talks. So it was golden when aloft and in the sun, yet black when sunken. If it wound up underground, where Titans sleep and their lyrium veins run,
1: perhaps their ill will affected the corruption. We already know the two species had some animosity and that Andruil and the others knew of the void. Maybe they sought it again as a way of breaking the veil or perhaps just in madness.
2: Or the lyrium simply drove them mad and the horrors of the black city Coryphe-butt sees are the resulting creations of their Wonderland magic spree. Spirits are affected by and attracted to powerful magic and mortals, so it's not a far stretch to see their suffering permeate the fade denizens.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
I personally theorize that Arlathan is the Black City in the fade. Though when it is, or was once golden is based on who saw it. If traveling through the crossroads in trespasser, there is a comment where an Elven inquisitor and Sera mention all the colors of the crossroads, and how similar they looked when traveling with Morrigan in inquisition. So maybe to the Elven people before the veil the city of Arlathan looked Golden. I remember Solas mentioning in some of the discussions at Haven that the city had crystal walkways towering high. So maybe when the light hits city during the day the crystal pathways gave a golden or rainbow effect. Any other inquisitor class, or non elven character in trespasser mentions only seeing the crossroads as grey.
My only rebuttal on this is that this is only mentioned in inquisition and trespasser that Elves can see different colors on objects Elven built, where everything else sees grey, dull...a void of color.
Then again I'm also somewhere in the dark as far as Talmen in origins. When he looked at the Eluvian in the temple, he did mention a great black city. Though how he was able to access it, is very tinfoil for myself. Since all Eluvians require special keys...maybe it reacts to the blood or blood relation of an Elvurian...Talmen was a descendant of Solas, and it recognizes Solas' blood in him to allow passage in origins...again very tinfoilly.
In "The Masked Empire" The crossroads are strictly proven to be easier on the eyes for elves, Briala and the Solas' Agent. Also easier to navigate, they walked easily and comfortably. While all the human who entered felt uncomfortable, walked slower, and just wanted to get out ASAP. They talked about it, and recognized the difference.
But that's the crossroads, which is entirely built by elves, and was never navigated by anyone but them until Morrigan happened!
There's dialogue with Solas when you ask him about ancient elves. He begins with Halamshiral being a pale comparison to Arlathan. Then he states imagine spires of crystals within branches and cities floating amongst the clouds. With Arlathan being the capital of elves. I'd assume it's safe to guess Arlathan was a floating city as well home the Evanuras. I'm also guessing the crystals is Lyrium the Evanuras got from the Titans. So I'm guessing when Solas created the veil to imprison the Evanuras he placed the blight within the city's Lyrium to lock the Evanuras there, possibly turning it black as well.
I still think that the Elves were spirits who took physical form.
Because Kiern says "I dunno why you want to look like this" ?
@@nawawii3750 Exactly. They CHOSE to look like that way back before Solas sundered the Fade from the real world.
Flames Of Chaos no idea. I think the Qunari are elves tied to the world by dragon blood. The dragon in the desert (I forget the name at the moment) has the same horns as Iron Bull.
I agree because the Chant(That does indeed tell SOME Truths and Facts) spoke about how Spirits are the "Firstborn" BUT Elves lived BEFORE Humans who are the "Second-born" meaning the Elves HAVE to be Spirits, Humans knew about Elves since the beginning yet surprisingly didn't talk about them very little info is known about Elves until the Rebellions and the Dales, Because the Early Humans of Thedas KNEW and SAW that Spirits/Demons and Elves are one in the same creatures and simply called them "Firstborn" or Spirits.
BUT what are Qunari? Corypheus said they were a MISTAKE meaning what exactly? Also Titans perhaps created the Dwarves but from WHAT? Are they smaller Titans? Were they not created by Titans and just enslaved BUT then where do they come from?
Flames Of Chaos Dwarves are a mystery.
So witch came first red lyrium or the blight. So witch originally carried the taint? I also think the elven "God's" know about regular lyrium already. Thanks for the video as always.
I think since lyrium is the blood of the Titans, red lyrium is like the white blood cells, attacking invaders in the body. When the elves started killing titans and taking the lyrium for themselves, probably not treating the dwarves very kindly in the meantime either, the red lyrium developed to defend the system. So in this theory, the blight came from the red lyrium rather than the blight tainting the lyrium.
That's a very good question about which came first....Now I wanna know so curse you!
I think the Blight was probably some kind of biological weapon created by the Elvhen to combat Tevinter, but the veil was constructed before it could be used. Then, at some point, it got out in the part of Arlathan that was sent to the fade, and that’s what turned the Golden City black.
Awesome Video. I have another theory though I can't exactly claim it to be mine b cause there's a lot of people who have thought of this too. What do you think of the possible connection between Elves, Qunari, Reavers., Dragon blood and ancient Tevinter Blood Magic.
She has talked about theories that claim that the Qunari come from reaver ancient elves that drank dragon blood.
@@DidaxS oh neat. Could u link the video?
@@DidaxS I'd like to find the link as well
I don't know if there was any specific video about that but I'm pretty sure that she talked about it in the episode about Thedas' races in the podcast Split the Veil
Just a little theory about the gold city ,what if it was an illusion from the outside hiding the mysterious inside seen as nobody had seen in at that point and when the tevinter mages stepped in ,it shattered the illusion and the corruption spread out with them ,seen as the blight appears a desiese born of magic .
I had not realised all of these were such common theories! I had come to these conclusions by myself, independently. Neat! This by itself suggests a strong basis for believing them.
Rewatching this after the current wave of Veilguard promo is wild lmao
My theory is that Evanuris were corrupted by the taint Andruil brought back from the Void, probably in a slow and insidious fashion (similar to how the Wardens are slowly taken by the taint they take in during the Joining). This is why their personalities grew worse and worse as time went on, and why they eventually turned on their own and killed Mythal. Solas may have come to see this himself, which came to form his views on the taint he later espouses in DA:I. The Golden/Black City is the location where the Evanuris were imprisoned by Solas, and I also think the Old Gods were spirit-guardians that Solas installed to prevent the Evanuris from leaving. Over time the taint spread from the Evanuris to the city itself, blackening it, and eventually even corrupting the Old God guardians which became conduits the maddened Evanuris could use to commune across the Veil and exhort people to try to come to them and free them. The Magisters Sidereal happened to be the ones who finally gained enough power through Blood Magic to rend the Veil and cross into the Golden City, but they were immediately tainted and thrown from the City, perhaps by whatever defenses remained to ensure the Evanuris stayed trapped. The taint spread from the Magisters Sidereal to give rise to the Darkspawn, who were now able to ravage the world across the Veil and find the living anchors of the Old Gods (their physical draconic forms) and taint them directly, further destroying the fetters binding the Evanuris to their prison. This is why Solas is so deadset on the Wardens preemptively destroying the Old Gods in their slumber - he knows doing this will unlock the Black City and free the Evanuris before he is positioned and ready to deal with them as part of his plans to bring down the Veil. That is my unified theory, in any case.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
I have some ideas that I thought could be worth merit, so, the Gold City is named as such, or was named, due to it not looking gold but being gold, meaning that due to it being the center of the elven people it was the richest city and some of the statues and other architecture was gold or gold plated, nothing magical, just literal. My next idea is kinda based in nothing but I think it would be interesting either way, the blight is magic gone wrong. The amount of magic in the black city suddenly not being able to flow as it used to kinda fell in on it self perverting it and turning bad. So yeah. They are probably dumb and they aren't really backed up by anything but they just seem cool, and I could go into further depth but I'm still not sure on everything. Xo
Do you think youd be able to do another common theories video??? I love these and am super hyped right now, especially with the little bits of news weve gotten about da4 lately, rumor though they might be lol, congrats on your wee baby btw ❤
Recently found these videos and I wanted to point out a very simple answer on why the “Golden” City turned Black.
The magic died out. If it’s Arlathan and that city was mostly magical, it would have been decimated from losing the magic connection.
I also don’t think it’s the whole city. Maybe just the palace or a temple for the trapped elven “gods”.
I hadn't heard of the theory about Arlathan being the Black City but now it seems perfect sense. I feel more like its possible Solas intentionally released the Blight into the Arlathan to stop what was essentially the Elven slave empire and slammed the Veil down after he got a chunk of people out. We know the elves built in places separated from reality but not exactly the Fade like the crossroads using the Eluvians to travel between and the other isolated Eluvian chamber full of corpses in The Masked Empire. I guess we'll find out when more Dragon Age material comes out.
....I also think these abusive elven gods made the dwarves
Dragon Age 4 should show flash backs of Mythals death and other things that should be explained through ancient flashbacks would be awesome
Solas mentions that the fade looks like what you expect it to look like: spirits of wisdom/pride, etc. So maybe for some people the city looked golden but the act of getting to the city changes their perception so it became black?
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
What is the maker refers to the maker of the Veil. Just something that popped into my head
I personally don't subscribe to Arlathan being the Black City. I have some lore reasons why, but mostly I don't like it because I think it lessens the mystery considerably. Not every single piece of mysterious lore has to be connected to the ancient elves. Also, the way Solas reacts to seeing the Black City during Here Lies the Abyss, he seems almost giddy about being so close. I doubt he'd react like that if he was familiar with its origin. What makes the most sense to me is that the Black City only appeared once the Veil was created, and it's party why Solas is so fascinated with it, since he can't explain where it came from.
Could the black city, a point seen high above all points of the fade, be the main anchor point for the veil? The place where the veil is strongest? The place where Solas raised the veil? Skyhold?
I've wondered if the kernel of truth that started the Maker myth was Solas raising creating the world as it is by creating the veil then looking over his creation in despair only to retreat from the world into dream, and that everything else from the Maker myth came after, from other sources, as they seek to manipulate it and use it for their own power.
I've thought this because of the theory that the trapped Elven gods were the old gods of Tevinter. The humans start worshipping these beings that whisper to them of power, but some people still remember a different story, about one who made the world the way it was and then turned his back on his people when he was displeased with them. When they rebel, it his his story that they use to shape their protest to the followers of gods that would enslave them. Why would we venerate someone who turned their back on us, they might think. Maybe he left us because we turned our backs on him, and worshipped these false gods?
You only need to give people one small kernel of a story for them, if it suits them, to interpret it in their own way, so that it grows over time.
I feel like I've seen or heard this theory before somewhere, but I don't know where, sorry.
Where does this leave the magisters that physically entered the fade, seeking the golden city? Did they get to the right place? I got the impression that they entered the fade physically, and all records of the black city only refer to its appearance in dream. They entered to free the old gods, and in a way, they succeeded. The fade when the inquisitor physically enters it for the first time isn't the black city, but covered in blighted lyrium.
Ghil Dirthalen .. As you are asking why did the golden city was Golden .. there is a shinny spirit hovering in the background with a bright golden aura lol.. If before the Veil spirits roamed freely then it was their light that was golden. Arlathan was golden with spirits hence The Golden City..
I never thought of this till now, but think about the "Sun God" . That must have been one shinny spirit.
Though he doesn’t mention the Elven gods by name, Solas says that those who unleashed the blight were striving for godhood. I find it curious that when he says this, he doesn’t mention Tevintor at all.
Do you have any videos on Corephyeus?
What if... the golden city used to be silver, but the greenish yellow glow of the fade made it look yellow, and it turned black over time since that's what silver does as it ages.
Idk why but I have this feeling that Solas is much more sinister than he appears. He seems to regret what he has done and is trying to fix it but I think this might be a ruse. I have absolutely no proof I just have this feeling that there's more to him and his motives than he said.
What if instead of looking golden because of a trap, what if it was golden because it used to be? A memory.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
Don't know if someone else has said this first:
What if the blight was caused by the elven gods killing a titan?
The titan blood (lirium) turned red (blighted), the elves brought the red lirium to Arlathan and corrupted the city. The Dread Wolf creates the veil sealing the blight, the magisters break in and boom, blights back on Theadas
Side note;
The red lirium could of made Elgar'nan's rage to great for Mythal to quell as she did countless times before, resulting in Mythal's death. Fen'Harel in his grief and anger creates the veil to seal the remaining gods in Arlathan and separates it from the rest of the fade to keep the corrupted elven gods from doing any harm to mages as the sleep. Mythal isn't sealed away because she was dead before the veil was created
What if the golden city was some magical city on the other side of the planet that was built by an unknown race and Solas creating the veil seriously screwed them over and threw them into barbarism, so they had to flee their homes and eventually they settled onto a set of islands... Yes I'm talking about the Kossith
It's also possible that flemeth is the real andraste or at least a fragment of her. Or even that andraste never spoke to the make but a demon instead
I have a theory for why the black city was once golden and is now black
When Solas was fighting the Evanuris he locked them away, right? So to do that he'd need a banging prison - and what better prison is there than the veil? The black city is always visible in the fade because it's the centre point the veil was put up around - the pretty prison of the Evanuris.
But the Evanuris would not be content to sit in prison for an eternity and would start scheming to get out. Perhaps these magics got so dark and so evil that THEY created the blight. The blight then went on to infect them and their prison, but remained contained by the veil (and the city's distance from the rest of the fade).
Then the magisters tear the veil down to walk in the fade, and in doing so they release the blight into the world.
And so what happens to the Evanuris? Well, why does Flemeth want the souls of the old gods? I don't think those are old god souls at all, but perhaps the souls of the Evanuris. There are a few things that might have happened here:
1) The Evanuris possessed the bodies of the old gods much like Mythal possessed Flemeth and became the archdemons.
2) The archdemons ARE the Evanuris - when the blight overtook them, it changed them into the mindless beasts that exist today.
3) The archdemons ARE the Evanuris (v2) - shapeshifting is perhaps dangerous - perhaps, if you spend too much time imitating a creature, you forget you were ever anything else. Perhaps, after their attempts with magic failed, (now blighted) the Evanuris switched into dragons to idk brute force it? Impress people? (tbh I prefer 1 and 2 lol) and forgot they could ever go back.
I know there's the theory of fokai and Titans leading to red lyrium, ie. the blight, which I 100% think is possible, but I'm not going to subscribe to one theory and forget all other possibilities. That theory does leave the question of the black city entirely open. (Obviously I'm not saying my theory answers all questions I'm just saying I like to keep a more open mind about things :) )
Question, you know Coryphius had the orb, was looking for a way into the fade after the Inquisitor stole the mark, and was looking for an eluvian, or rather the well of sorrows, to go into the crossroads and tear down the veil between that and the fade. In Origins, mainly the Dalish elven story, they find an eluvian that was already tainted with the blight, and when Tamlen got close to it, he saw a black city. What if Coryphius was looking for that particular eluvian that could've been a shorter and easier way to go into the fade? Even though It was shattered by Duncan, what if the key could be the same orb he carried and may have a connection between the two. It may not b relevant, or doesn't make it plausible, but it's just something that I've been thinking for awhile now. Good video, love all your videos. Happy Holidays!
Maybe having accidentally creating the blight. The Elves seal it in the Golden City then escape to Thedas. And the Magisters let it out when they break in to the Golden City, tainting themselves and the city black.
the original writer is the same as mass effect and originally The Golden city Was the captiol of the prothean empire , it's turned black when The Reapers exterminated all of the protheans, via scorching the golden city . The protheans are the ancient Elven god's That inhabited the city . that's why when solas sees elves he doesn't see them as the same species , and often comments on this . there is also an ancient Magic That is Described as magic that the ancient Elven god's used , they are referring to biomasseffect Fields aka the force essentially , manipulation of the environment shape changing etc . the dragons you see in the game are the ancient Elven god's .The embodiment of raw power , they stayed this way and it became permanent , when they talk of the elves forcing everyone to worship them , They worshipped them as gods bc they could Turn into dragons , anything they could dream of they could do . the orb chorypheous uses is seen in Mass effect same as The planet , statues of dark spawn , even Krogan heads in dragon age mounted on a wall , in the ball . solas is a prothean even thou his skin is dirrfent same skeletal structure head n everything that's why he could shape shift into a Fenrir sized wolf . and this was all fact and was going 2 happen until the original writers of dragon age and mass effect were fired , they have a site where they talk about it . they even Talked about the original dragon age 4 and how Shepard was gonna be the main character and it would've blended Beautifully . The original ending of Mass effect 3 Was a cutscene when you got the synthetic ending where you landed on Thedas , mass effect legendary changed it . dude even in the game They talk about how solas created the dwarves and how mythal was sacrificed on the heart crystal of the planet by tevinter in an attempt to mimic The ancient gods powers and her blood (being an elder god) Tainted The earth and created the blight . Part of her blood remained pure And poured into the clay And created life , solas shaped and molded them and this is mentioned in dragon age inquisition in great detail . Solas gave purpose to the dwarves , they would harvest raw blue lyrium To power The eluvhians and the ancient Elven empire .
Arlathan could be the black city, which is were the elven gods could be locked. Perhaps they got pissy and bored, went all blood magic. Make the taint, spread it to the magisters. As corypheus said the city was already black.
Thank you for these videos lately!! I feel so dragon age deprived. Can the just release dragon age 4 already lool
can someone explain to me the elf mirrors from my understanding from DA2 it was somthing so ancient that it cost Merial from DA2 everything to restore just 1 i would note it involved blood magic demons and her clans leader. and it is somthing that Morrigan was interested in 1 for the chance to find her child if they had 1 with the warden? my point is this the trespasser dlc has us using them like they are just teleportation portals and i feel it takes away from their grandness so to speak.
An alternative theory for the Blight being in the Black City in fact I'll give 2.
One ties in with the theory that the healing spirit that was in Wynne is infact the maker, though revered as an omnipotent being the Maker itself is life, the ultimate spirit in scope and effect but simple and not strong in and of itself the Maker is life and blessed all the world with its gift and thus made the world and all in it. Where there is life however there is death and the blight which can in many ways be connected to all the false gods and such through the series could itself be a corruption of life and manifestation of death. Through some means in an ancient war perhaps with the help of the first children etc the maker sealed away the blight in the black city perhaps it was golden once the original home of a little spirit that birthed an entire cosmos and desires no more then to sit quietly aside and watch its children live, but has on occasion made small acts that have had huge influences and are all perhaps to combat forces that would destroy all life forces which are ultimately tied to the Blight.
Second theory is the the Blight IS the old Elven gods, that when Solus sealed them away and cut the Fade off from the material realm they had to adapt in order to survive and mages of that kind of power have options not available to others, so in order to not only survive the fade but thrive in it they cast off their physical bodies and became something more like spirits but different. They desired however a return to the world that was denied to them and as mages experience the Fade in their dreams so in dreams did they reach out. Finding human mages who were so like themselves in life they cast out one message to them and inspiration to plunder divinity, Open the gates. That one message sent the Magisters Sidreel to open the way the old Elven Gods who offered them power undreamt of but at a price which I believe is supported by some of the things Corypheus says at times. I believe that they became the Blight which at times seems as much of a spiritual infection as a physical one, I think The Magisters were infected by the spirits of the old Elven gods through the Blight and this will or was intended to be a means by which they could return but hus far the Blight has been held back and the culmination of the Blights true purpose with it.
Interesting theories, I really like your one about the maker. Its possible that he was just a very powerful spirit of life back when reality was just the raw fade, and that he created life (and by extension, the universe as we know it). Perhaps the Evanuris (just spirits at this time) saw the world the maker had created (on the backs of the titans) and wanted a piece of that, so they touched down and became flesh, leading other like minded spirits to do the same, creating the People. When the maker saw this, he viewed them as tenants in the apartment he owned, and Elgar'nan violently disagreed with this, leading to the story of how he fought his father the sun, spattering his blood across the night sky. Perhaps this event darkened the maker, turning him from a spirit of life into one of death, creating the blight to spite the Evanuris (this probably happened over a very long period). Some Evanuris saw this as a new tool they could wield (some even combining it with lyrium), while others were against the idea, leading to the civil war that cost Mythal her life, and eventually caused Solas to create the veil, turning the fade into a prison containing Arlathan, the Evanuris, and the Blight at its unreachable centre.
That links into your second theory. The Evanuris whispered through the old gods (perhaps they were their bodies, or high priests of them, its hard to say, but they're definitely linked somehow) and started to turn the most powerful empire at the time (Tevinter) into puppets, teaching them the magic and the method of breaking into their fade prison. This unleashed the blight into the world, which they used as a tool to corrupt the old gods for whatever reason. This act caused the maker to exert what influence he still had to direct Andraste against Tevinter, to try and stop the Evanuris turning his own weapon against 'his' world, inadvertently creating the Andrastian faith in the process.
Perhaps if the fade is the Evanuris's prison, then the veil is the bars, the titans are the chains, and the old gods are the pins holding it all in place (keeping the titans comatose, while their power is tapped to keep the veil up)
What if "The Golden City" was never actually golden? Corypheus says the city was already black (during both initial DA2: Legacy and DAI meetings with him, if memory serves), when he and the other ancient Magisters entered. Something he mentions with frustration, as well as sorrow.
A partly separate theory: perhaps "The Maker" Blighted his own city, as he turned away from his mortal creations, perverting all that would enter.
Everything and everyone in Dragon Age lore that's framed a god turns out to be created, not a creator.. So it all falls to the writers/developers in the end. If they follow the original concept that Andraste is Jesus but female, and old gods are Greek Panethon .. etc .. They might end up writing the maker as above all and all creator of everything, and he was before veil, or fade, or earth, and the golden city could be left vague to make you guess whether it was his seat or he's beyond realization and bigger/older/mighter than that.. because Andrastian religion is Christianity twisted.
Or if they want to deliver their atheist (dis)believes they would just prove everything is false and be done with it.
Either way, the golden/black city will have its own story revealed, but only the latest story, of magisters and elves. Not the very beginning of it, before elves and Tevinter.
@@nawawii3750 They already stated a few times they DON'T wanna reveal whether the Maker exists or not....But the Golden/Black City MIGHT have NOTHING to do with the Maker, So it's secrets can be revealed but the Maker is always gonna be left for the Player to decide. Though that conversation with Cole and Solas about the Maker kinda seems like yeah he exists BUT he's either a Dick/Evil OR simply a Watchful NOT Enforcing/Intervening kind of God. "Cole- Where is the Maker? I don't sense him. Solas- Gone" is something like the convo they had.
In other words he exists but he really did leave his creation behind to deal with itself....Seemingly is the Truth IF we believe the words of a False God and a Confused Spirit becoming Mortal.
"Everything and everyone in Dragon Age lore that's framed a god turns out to be created, not a creator." If this is the Truth then WOULDN'T the Maker turn out to be created not creator he's another "God" that's in doubt and is in the same series.
I personally can see it turning out either way BUT I'd like for them to keep their word and have it be completely ambiguous in the end.
Wait is the natural state of lyrium? Is red lyrium the natural state of it? We've kind of always assumed the blue stuff was the naturally occurring form and that was reinforced by finding it in Titans but what if the blight originates from red lyrium and not simply lyrium becoming tainted?
I think the two different names, Black/Golden, simply stem from modern people confusing the timeline and mixing lore together. It was golden before the Veil and the Blight and black after it got corrupted/the Veil went up. Ergo, it was never golden in the Fade, that's just old lore carelessly mixed with new. (Although Corypheus does call it the Golden City right before he dies, which I always found curious since his whole story is about him denying that it was ever golden. Might just be a slip-up on the writers' side, though.)
@@AulisVaara Ah, I didn't even remember that one, good catch! Maybe it's possible that they saw it as golden in their dreams before actually entering the Fade because they expected it to be golden, and once they were actually there it turned out that nope, it was black.
To the "Arlathan is the Black/golden city" what if the evanuris created the blight with blood magic and that's why Solas sealed them and Arlathan in the fade after creating the veil?
I swear if the black city is the ancient elven city. Then the archdemon are possibly the old elven gods trying to escape Solas trap. It makes a little sense but for DA 4 it feels anticlimactic.
Have you seen the new DA vinyl set?
Good video keep it up
What IF the Golden City and the Black City AREN'T the same city at all their Two Separate Cities that are being confused together?
One is the Source of the Blight and Prison to the "Elven Gods" while the other is Arlathan NEITHER were/are the Makers Seat (Has it ever been confirmed that the Magisters didn't fuck up their ritual or that the Maker lives in a City besides Chantry Propaganda?).
I still think that The Golden City was Golden and the seat of the Maker, but that's just me.
Then WHY was it Black? When did the Maker Live there and When did he leave? Did he really Curse the ENTIRE World for the Sins of 7 Men? Seems like a pretty Evil God if so.
@@flamesofchaos13 I would argue most gods turn out to cunts.
I'd urge everyone to not take Corypheus's word for the Black City already being there. (Or anything, really.) Quite simply he, by definition, hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt. (Nor, for that matter, has Solas.) Villains have lied since humans told stories, and forgetting about that is an error.
Further, is there really a way to tell if his mere presence was what changed the city? That would make the theology literally true, except it's not like he'd perceive the change. As far as he was concerned, it'd always been black because he always saw it that way.
I don't really believe in the black city = Arlathann theory. Solas describes it as "spires of crystal twining through the branches palaces floating among the clouds" and it looks nothing like the black/golden city. The clouds part fits but where are the crystal and the trees?
Remember, the theory only states that the City is a chunk of Arlathan, not the whole thing. And we are prone to recollect the best sides of things. If you have a deceased loved one, you tend to remember the positives of their personality and not as much the negatives. Solas is being nostalgic; he's probably choosing to remember/mention the most baller parts of Arlathan only.
@@bigfatcarp93 Yeah maybe you're right. And it's not just nostalgia, there is guilt too I'm sure. Though I'd like to say that I have lost a few people, I know grief and I definitely remember their flaws ;-).
I think I just don't like all these theories that mix everything, like "Solas is the maker", It doesn't mean that it's not true of course, I just don't really want it to be true.
" I know grief and I definitely remember their flaws ;-)." Yes, that's fair, grief affects different people in different ways.
@@cornibusette I think Arlathan = Black City makes the most sense out of any explanation we have. Not just because it works with the story and lore we already have, but because it fits with the direction Bioware is taking this series.
solas: magic can draw up the lyrium underground，corrupt it
The black city was the prison of the elven god's spirits. The elven god's made it look golden so the humans would break open the veil so they may escape.
Escaping however took a lot out of them so they went for a nap inside their dragon bodies.
The process of escaping corrupted the fade around the prison this creating the blight.
The blight is all the hatered and pain of the elven god's manifest by the fade and turned into sth real.
Like cole was.
The fade appears to be able to create sth out of nothing .
The darkspawn are blighted this they go after their creators .
The elven god's in dragon bodies.
The elven pricks though are sleeping and haven't noticed the darkspawn yet
I don’t think Anora is barren. I think she’s a lesbian.
Well shit. Makes sense to me.
Damn if any of those are true that the City being Elven that would shatter and break the world of Andrastians Since basically their faith is a lie born of misinterpretations and misremembering.
love your work, but you're a bit too close to the mic! makes for some uncomfortable ASMR for headphone users
With everything in a magical world, it could be real. But this is based on religion, and that needs to be taken with a grains of salt. We all know the real world parallel is Christianity to the Chantry with heaven and the famous golden gate and the Golden City. Both can be turned dark with sin if I’m correct (I’m an atheist, tell if I’m wrong).
Like I said the perceptive truth is veeeeeeeery different in this magical world.
Theory leliana is a descendant of andraste