Symbols and Signs: More Thoughts on the Dread Wolf Rises

Wow!  Thanks for all the comments, reblogs, and asks!  It’s great to read all y’alls thoughts on our posts.

And looking at how many of said comments, reblogs, and asks have to do with whether the figure in the new picture is Solas and if the orbs around the idol represent the Old Gods it looks like we need to share some of the method to our madness.  Now that our initial flailing about DA4 being a reality is under (mostly) control, I’ll try to break down our thinking.

We immediately believed the figure, the central circle, and the wolf represented Solas given his Inquisition tarot cards, the Heirophant, the Hermit, and the Tower.  There were just so many visual similarities and elements from these cards incorporated into the design of this new mural that we were pretty confident about saying the figure was Solas.  Nick Thornborrow later confirmed that the figure was bald directly, and that it was Solas indirectly (sort of), on his twitter account.

So we know visual elements associated with Solas were carefully incorporated into the new image to echo the symbolism of the earlier tarot cards.  It therefore stands to reason that other symbols in the Dread Wolf Rises mural could be found in “Solas’ art” throughout the games.  The one below, in particular, caught our eyes:  

In this mural, a Titan has been felled and its heart taken.  Notice that the asterisk symbol representing the heart or orb is the same as the half circles in the Dread Wolf Rises mural.  

This is what led us to conclude that the half circles represented orbs, like Solas’, rather than the Old Gods.  If they represented orbs, then seven orbs suggested the possibility that they represented the seven Evanuris imprisoned in the Fade.  We also think that the large circles represent the Veil, cutting off both Evanuris and Titans from waking world.  `

(Side note: Doesn’t the “eye” above the Titan look like the Inquisition’s original sigil?  The Inquisition of Old’s goal was to control Fade magic.  The symbols presence in this mural makes me wonder again if the mages and templars are just the newest recruits in an age old war, one first fought by the Evanuris and the Titans.)

The presence of the idol definitely suggests a connection to the taint, but perhaps not to the Old Gods.  The idol is actually way older than the Blights, suggesting it is tied to the origin of the taint, not necessarily the Old Gods who are untainted until they are found and awakened by the darkspawn.  

Symbols, however, often have multiple interpretations depending on the point of view of the audience.  (Decima is working on a post about exactly this in regards to the tree behind the figure in the Dread Wolf Rises.)  Could the orbs represent the Old Gods?  It’s certainly possible.  Especially if the Old Gods are connected to the Evanuris.  

Setting the half orbs along side Solas and the red lyrium idol suggests a connection between all of them.  Solas definitely has strong feelings about the Blight, Grey Wardens, and beings like Corypheus who delve into tainted magics.  He expresses concern about the Blight and the methods the Grey Wardens employ to combat the archdemons several times in Inquisition so it is a logical premise that these orbs could also represent the two remaining Old Gods.  

The Wyrd Sisters have always hesitated to infer that the Evanuris and the Old Gods are one and the same.  With that being said, however, we do think they are connected.  We just think it’s more likely that the Old Gods are the Forgotten Ones and/or the Champions of the Evanuris rather than the Evanuris themselves.  Connected, but not the same beings.  Cassandra’s thinking follows similar lines when she discusses Corypheus’ dragon with Solas:

After Here Lies the Abyss:

The Old Gods could be part of what is tethering the Evanuris to the Black City.  If the Old Gods were their Champions (“pets”), they would be bound to the Evanuris in a similar manner to how Morrigan or the Inquisitor is bound to Flemythal if they take on the geas from the Well of Sorrows.  Perhaps the Old Gods have to be killed in order to sever those bonds and allow the Evanuris to be escape the Black City.  Bonds to the mortal world make it damn near impossible for spirits (and elves who can take on spirit forms) to return to drop their connections to the mortal world and travel the Fade uninhibited. 

How do you bind a god?  Use the chains they created for others against the gods themselves.  

This would explain why Solas shits a proverbial brick when he thinks about the Grey Wardens slaying the Old Gods.  They are “freeing” the Evanuris of one of their bindings.  This might also explain why the Old Gods are not corrupted until the darkspawn find them.  The Evanuris are “singing” to them through their agents.  They can then control the archdemons through their bond with their champions.  Anyway, thoughts for another day and a more coherent post.

-MM

Post scripts (because I can’t stop thinking about all this!)

-An interesting point that Decima brought up as we were talking about this post is that the innermost circle of the Dread Wolf Rises mural looks like it has eluvians crossing the Veil circle.  Some of these “eluvians” are dark and dormant.  Others are active and in use.  Could symbolize Solas’ use of the eluvian network as well as the potential for eluvians to breach the Veil allowing access to the Fade (a la Kieran).  Great catch on her part, me thinks!

-The Old Gods’ song calls to the darkspawn, Titan song on the other hand repels them.  The darkspawn are compelled to find the archdemon, but they never set foot in the Primeval Thaig.  Why?  

-Several of the Old Gods seem to have been imprisoned near Titans.  Were they “standing guard” over the Titans?  Or were they their jailers?  Prepared to give warning if they ever woke up?

-Are the Titans asleep...or tranquil?  Did Corypheus’ actions at the Temple of Sacred Ashes “reconnect” the Varta’s Titan to the Fade?  So many possibilities, so little time!

-Last thought (because I have to undermine myself).  If the Old Gods were the Evanuris then they are “fragments” similar to how Flemythal can separate pieces of herself in order to escape death and destruction.  When the Darkspawn find an Old God, the taint creates an instant connection between the imprisoned (and likely mad with Blight sickness) Evanuris and this fragment of their former selves.