#datv theory

[cadaveerie]

Why Lucanis is (probably) an abomination

DATV and general DA spoilers ahead!

As I pointed out earlier today, Lucanis has an ability called "Abominate", which I suggest could be a not very subtle indication that he is an abomination. This has been a theory for some time and I know people have pointed this out before, but I wanted to put together everything I can think of in relation to this and to give my own take as to why I believe that Lucanis is an abomination. Here are some of the indications that this could be the case:

1. He has "uncanny abilities" (and how he might have gotten them)

The fact that he both has spectral wings and that he can feel when someone does magic near him already sound very suspicious... but it becomes even more interesting when you look at this comment about the crows that Zevran does in DAO:

"I wonder... the Crows often made sacrifices of blood, and it game them uncanny abilities".

(thank you irabelas for this post! this is how i found out about this and it's a very good connection)

So one of the theories is that he could have gotten his "uncanny abilities" in that way. We know he was abused by his grandmother, like most crows get abused since they're children, and there's a chance that in order to become a better assassin he was forced to go through one of these rituals, that I suppose involve blood magic, as Zevran calls them "sacrifices of blood".

Another of the theories is that since he "died" in The Wake, he could have been in a situation like Wynne... but against that some people say that he probably just pretended he died, as in The Wigmaker Job he mentions that he'll grow a beard to hide from the people who want to kill him, so some people (and me too) think that perhaps he pretended to die to escape them.

And lastly, another somewhat common theory is that he got these powers at some point after The Wigmaker Job and the beginning of DATV, and that perhaps Zara Renata was the person who somehow made blood magic on him, as a form of revenge. It'd make sense since she's presented as a villain in The Wigmaker Job, and the chapter suggests that she'll go after him. One issue that I have with this, and that admittedly might not be super justified is that I think he could have had the wings before The Wigmaker Job started, as he had that weird itch behind his eyes at that point, and that's basically the reason why he is "the mage killer" in the first place. Basically, I associate the origin of his uncanny abilities, both the "itch" and the wings to the same event... But I'm not super confident about this, because he could have just developed the wings later. I suppose this remains to be seen.

2. He has pride-demon themed clothing and colors.

Lucanis seems to have eye patterns that resemble pride demon's eyes all over his clothing. And both pride demon's eyes and their nervous system-looking thing are purple, like his clothing and his wings.

Also, the fact that his writer, Mary Kirby, replied a black heart emoji to a post that pointed this out (and the original post also included an screenshot that mentions that Magisters refer to him as "the demon").

Which... Yeah, I think it's a weird choice to answer to something like this if it's not true? Either way I suppose it's a bit spoilery if this is the case but... I'm more inclined to believe she's teasing rather than that she would answer to something random if it were not the case.

Aside from this, people also point out the design of his tarot card.

The purple eye motif continues: in his own eyes (which could represent the fact that he gets that "itch" behind his eyes), the inside of his cape, the background (both in the bottom and behind him in those strange orbs), the little vials he has on his belt/harness, and the gems all over his outfit as well. Even some of the little pins in his belt kind of resemble purple eyes. Black is his main color, while purple is his accent color, not only in this art but it's consistent in everything we've seen of him.

His hood kind of looks like he has yet another Pride Demon-looking eye, and what I think could also be interpreted as little eyes to the sides.

The purple orbs around him could also be interpreted as eyes. Or as felassan pointed out on this post, the way they're drawn kind of make the background look like peacock's feathers. felassan also compares that part to Solas' eyes in the Dreadwolf form, which makes a lot of sense.

(first picture is from felassan's post, featuring the peacock feathers. I'm not sure where it's from, though)

I never thought of the peacock thing before, but I think most of us associate peacocks to pride, so it'd make a lot of sense. And the multiple eyes thing as well, it's something that's not only seen in Pride demons but in the Dreadwolf himself... and Solas is closely related to Wisdom spirits and Pride demons (which as he reveals in DAI, are two sides of the same coin: demons are "corrupted" spirits. And to be specific, wisdom spirits become pride demons when corrupted). This connection he has to these beings, aside from the fact that you can observe it in his writing, gets referenced by Cole directly. He calls Solas as both in multiple occasions (not "spirit" or "demon", but by the names Wisdom and Pride) in his vague monologues. And on top of that, at the beginning of DATV it seems like Solas has accidentally summoned a Pride demon, as Varric literally says:

"It is a pride demon! Damn thing probably sensed Solas' ego!"

And perhaps it's reaching, but this whole thing would make even more sense if the theory that elves were originally spirits is true... or at least if they had very strong connections to them, and that much seems to be real. Either way, I suppose that just because he's a mage he could still be close to both spirits and demons, as he talks about often, and at the same time he'd be vulnerable to being possessed by them. Also, even if it's not super notable in DAI, he has purple eyes in DATV, which could also be a connection to Pride. I think Trick implied that they were purple in DAI as well? But it's not as notable... I just wonder if this change only happened for artistic reasons, or if this change will be acknowledge in-game, because it happened in-universe as well. His eye color could be a coincidence I suppose... but it's interesting.

But anyway, this post is not about Solas! It was just a way to point out that Solas is very likely connected to Pride demons and Wisdom spirits, and perhaps Lucanis is as well, since the motifs seem to be so related.

3. He has a "demonic aura"

He is described in the character selector screen as a "Swift and precise assassin with a demonic aura". The demonic aura, paired up with everything else... adds to the suspicion, to say the least, lol. It's a very strange thing to say otherwise? It's one thing to call him a demon as a nickname, which could potentially be a way of insulting him, or reflecting how ruthless he is... But to say he has a "demonic aura" sounds oddly specific if he's not... literally possessed by a demon.

And finally, what made me be like "oh god this is so real", and made me decide to write this:

4. He has an ability called "Abominate"

"I saw my comrades fall, burned by the flaming sky or crushed by debris. The monstrous creature, looking as if a demon were wearing a man like a twisted suit of skin, spotted me and grinned. We had forced it to this, I realized; the mage had made this pact, given himself over to the demon to survive our assault."

- from Codex entry: Abomination.

"Rook is getting attacked on all sides, so you command Lucanis to use Abominate to knock enemies down".

And idk how to explain it, because there isn't a lot to talk about. The explanation is that "Abominate" sounds like it could come from "Abomination", and at the same time that could come from the fact that he is one.

Wynne and Anders were abominations, so it wouldn't be a new concept at all for a companion to be one. So if this is the case... this could just be so sad and tragic.

---

And as a bonus, maybe I'm looking too much into it, but this person played some of the game (since they were part of the Community Council), and they said this:

"would it be in bad taste to drop a Lucanis x Rook fic the day Veilguard releases" "There’s another angst pairing that’s fair game, too. Hmm"

And I think it implies that Rookaris will be an angst pairing, by talking about "another angst pairing". Obviously, this could have nothing to do with the Abomination / weird powers thing, I'm not trying to put words on their mouth. There could be many other aspects that make the ship angsty, or perhaps I'm interpreting this wrong and the ship is not angsty at all... So I'm not taking this seriously, I'm just reaching with this. BUT... imagine. The angst potential... I choose to believe lol.

Before ending this I want to give my take as to why a Pride demon, out of every other kind. I talked slightly about this before, but my preferred theory for how he acquired his powers is that his family made him get them forcefully, which I know doesn't make that much sense, given the fact that there's no mention of wings in the The Wigmaker Job. Perhaps he just didn't show them, perhaps he got them after The Wigmaker Job... but then where did he get his ability to sense magic like that? Could it be that he was born with it? I can't think of any case like this for other characters... it's almost as if he was a mage? But he doesn't seem to have other magic abilities besides that one... (I thought that perhaps all non-mage companions would get some form of magical abilities because everything got fucked up... But I haven't thought about it much so I won't write it here. And I suppose it wouldn't make a lot of sense since that seems like a Harding thing). Perhaps he had this natural sensitivities to the Veil and magic before, and so when everything went down that's when he became extra magical. Perhaps the gods escaping--and whatever happens afterwards--fucked everything up, and he got the wings at that moment, like Harding? Hers is probably Titan magic, but both could be as a result of the gods escaping and/or the Veil getting fucked up. Or something else we don't know yet.

Those are all possibilities, but coming back to my personal preferred theory: perhaps he got his powers through a blood-magic ritual performed by the Crows (whether only the magic-sensing ones or the wings too, I don't know). And to my main point: if that were the case, perhaps the pride is not exactly his, but from his grandmother, Caterina Dellamorte. It seems like his story will revolve around expectations from family vs. one's own desires and individuality, so my theory is that perhaps that's the origin of this "Pride". Lucanis is the heir to the Antivan Crows, so could it be the Pride that Caterina has for her preferred grandson and heir? The Pride of the Dellamortes? The Pride of Antiva? A lot of pressure, a lot of people to disappoint, and someone very important in his life to disappoint (and well, we should probably add Illario to the equation... But for an hypothetic Pride demon, I think Caterina is probably the proudest of all the Crows).

And if not that, even if this ritual didn't happen at all and the demon just happened to find him for some reason, perhaps the anxieties he feels about his family and making them proud was what attracted that spirit to him. Perhaps a demon managed to trick him, and the being possessed him. All options could be interesting, in my opinion.

But who knows. Perhaps it's nothing like this, perhaps he's not even an abomination at all! I just think there are a lot of indications of it, and it'd make a lot of sense. And I think my theories make some sense at least! :]

And that's all! Long-ass post. I don't know if I missed anything else, but this is why I believe that he is an abomination, and in particular he was possessed by a Pride demon. To be honest I wouldn't mind being wrong because... this would be so, so sad, and I don't know if I'm ready lol. But I'm excited at the possibility! No matter what I can't wait to meet and romance the hell out of him.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your opinions :D

Edit 1, Edit 2 (SPOILERS)

[bingsoo-jung]

CALLING THIS THEORY AHEAD OF TIME. Taash is a dragon. She “breathes fire with draconic fury” according to Bioware, and all her skills are about breathing fire or dragons. It would also explain the lack of info about her.

[knife-eared-jan]

Anyone else think, that if Illario really did kill Caterina, it was something like this?

I read the theory that Illario is a red herring, but I also saw this analysis of Illario’s undeniable villain vibes. And I just think that both can sort of be true, if he didn't initially betray Lucanis but did kill Caterina now under the influence of the gods.

Especially because the gods can manipulate negative feelings that characters have but would never let themselves be led by under normal circumstances. Like that mayor presumably having always been greedy but normally just being a harmless mayor doing mayor things and genuinely also wanting to protect his people. Like Illario definitely feeling envious of Lucanis and his potential future position even though he also deeply cares for him and his well-being. So I think Illario would be a prime target for them. Either way, I think the resolution to Lucanis' possession by Spite is going to revolve around whether he can let go of resentment towards Illario and therefore the game intentionally makes him appear as shady as possible to lead us astray. I think there will be a good ending where Spite becomes Love or something similar or one where he embraces Spite by chosing to enact a character-defining spiteful deed himself, if you are of the same pursuasion as Bellara with the mayor that he should suffer for what he did despite being compelled by the gods. (So unfortunately, our desire to kill Caterina or anyone who ever hurt Lucanis is the exactly wrong energy to bring to his romance probably. An eye for an eye is never the way etc etc)

I read somewhere that the VA used his own relationship with his brother when voicing Lucanis, so I definitely think that Illario is going to provide the canvas for that choice and that there will be something that we need to forgive Illario for but that is also potentially forgivable depending on your own morals and not 2-dimenionally evil, so that D'meta's Crossing scene just really made me think of what I suspect the road their relationship will go down looks like, if that makes sense.

[bloedewir]

Three weeks left and I'm hyped and delusional so here's another stupid DATV idea to proceed.

If -IF- the theory about Solas' not being actually trapped in the Fade is correct, I'd like to add something to it.

The Veil isn't a material curtain but it does separate Fade from the material world. What if a person needs to be on both sides at one time to destroy the Veil properly?

That's not going to happen but imagine this:

Fen'Harel is mostly ready to destroy the Veil but he needs some random rookie to unwillingly assist him. We (the players) get "oh no you disrupted my beautiful ritual unknown mortal hero and now I'm trapped!!", and Fen'Harel get Rook who doesn't understand what's going on. And while Rook thinks they're trying to save the world from evanuris, Fen'Harel uses their connection that create a bond between the real world and the Fade to tear down the Veil.

That's a sick idea but also a win-win situation because it includes: Fen'Harel being actually smart enough to plan something bigger than breakfast; Rook who eventually realizes they're a pawn (ah, metaphorical paradise); plot twist; mind blowing act 3; and sweet magnificent drama that breaks hearts and burns out souls.

21 days left

[babe-a-yaga]

So I just finished replaying origins for the first time in a long time, right?

And going through the Deep Roads, in particular the Dead Trenches where the darkspawn are nesting, I start seeing this

Statue

Over

And over

And over

And I'm really struck by a resemblance here, because -

I mean it's a pretty damned distinctive silhouette. Why would the darkspawn be creating effigies of Elgar'nan over and over? Anyway, this, alongside the album art, and the dialogue in the Witch Hunt DLC ("Did she [Flemeth] have something to do with the Blight?" "More than you know") are all really lending to my theory that the Evanuris were the ones who either created, or unleashed the Blight to begin with.

Anyway, this has probably already been beaten to death, I've only just come back to Tumbr, but I've been lurking for at least a month and I haven't seen it discussed, but I can't get it out of my brain.

[vlaakithstits]

So Ghilan'nain has horrifying brine pools under mountains where creatures are transformed into new monsters... The Halla in the Hormok murals look more insectoid... I'm sort of concocting here but listen.

It's likely with that information and Ghilan'nain being called "Mother of the Halla" She made the first Halla to begin with.

Theory: Halla evolved into more deer-like creatures hundreds of years after the Veil creation, mostly due to deer being a more welcome animal to have around than giant bugs.

This leads me to my main question though; what other creatures of Thedas are original Ghilan'nain creations?

Personally I think Deepstalkers are a likely candidate.

[higheverweave]

Hold up…

Y’all are talking about the Blight like its gonna kill entire cities and gods and stuff

But are we forgetting The wardens will have a cure for the taint that could l in theory be used on curing or Re purifying blighted lands as well?

[kissingwookiees]

seeing people theorize ghilan'nain might actually be an experimented on by ghilan'nain andruil despite being told its ghilan'nain pretty explicitly because of the concept art of the freaky centipede with ghilly's horns and the big fucking spear and to that i raise you this...

andoral of course being the tevinter old god of slavery and if we're to believe solas' word (suspect but hear me out) that andruil was a goddess of sacrifice, and the theory that the old gods were simply the blighted evanuris (less suspect at this point), i think those two motifs can very easily be connected in dragon age.

plus with all of the weird goop and mutated darkspawn the wardens had to deal with in tevinter nights and ghilan'nain and andruil being very closely tied to the blight... all that is to say that my theory is ghilan'nain is actually probably ransacking weisshaupt for the last remains of her evanuris girlfriend and its likely the veilguards job to stop her from getting them.

[dragon-age-here]

What if Andraste (or a demon/spirit calling themself that) possesses Red!Meredith in a new “holier than though” crusade and that’s the final BBEG for Veilguard?

[cadaveerie]

DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD MILD SPOILERS !!! (from the Q&As)

-

First Q&A:

Q: Can we kiss or romance Manfred the skeleton? A: I would say, 'not that skeleton', but we're not saying 'no skeletons'.

Second Q&A:

A: This time romances for Rook are strictly within the companions.

interesting............. VERY interesting.......

[your-kneecaps-are-mine-now]

I’ve seen theory’s that dwarfs used to have stone magic, and that before the veils construction this stone magic was a normal thing for dwarfs that was lost, historically, after they had to flee the deep roads b/c of the first blight. In theory, this connection to magic and/or the fade is going to return to the dwarfs now that the veil has changed, hence why Harding can use it in one of the trailers. It could be possible that things which were blocked before, like fire breath, by magic or some sort of selective breading in Qunari could be influenced by the fluctuation of magic in the mortal realm. Taash’s occupation and closeness w/ dragons (eating them, consuming dragon blood, etc) could have triggered a latent fire breath gene that is being spurred on and fueled by the change in the veil.

Anyway, hope you don’t mind my two cents on this theory. It’s certainly an interesting one and I’m looking forward to seeing where it leads when the game comes out.

Taash (and by extention Vashoth/the Qunari in general) theory I've been yelling about since 9am when the lore dropped and I'm just now moving all my yelling here...

So Taash breathes fire.

Bull talks about how it is a theory within the Ben'Hassrath that the Tamassrans mixed in dragon blood.

Corypheus tells Adaar that their race isn't even a race but a failed experiment.

Old God Baby Keiran mentions that the blood in Adaar isn't their own.

In the comic Until We Sleep, Magister Titus says that dragonfire might be the Vashoth/Qunari's birthright. He is able to use it due to being powered by the blood of Maric Theirin, which the Theirin bloodline has Great Dragon blood in their veins.

Taash isn't a mage, but just an individual who got access to a lost ability that was previously the birthright of her people. Something that was standard.

My big question is how Taash gained this ability?

Is it a rune?

Is she born from a line that was created using specifically great dragon blood?

Is she a reaver and drinking the dragon blood had the side effect of unlocking the ability?

Or did she just eat enough dragon meat?

As far as the Vashoth/Qunari in general, this implies they are a manufactured race, likely one from Tevinter as they captured the Kossith that landed in Thedas and then proceeded to change them. We see in the murals we find in Inquisition that the horned race was in Thedas long before the Storm Age when the Qunari (those of the Qun) landed in Par Vollen.

Koslun speaks of leaving his homeland, and it is a generic description that easily fits Tevinter in its prime, and would explain why the Qunari came from the north when they sailed into Thedas. And why they continued until recently to keep sending ships back there.

A quick aside I have very nervous feelings on this last part, and it will depend on how they write this reveal. Considering the coding and just the general implications of this. Context and execution are definitely going to impact the landing of this.

[an-established-butt-dent]

"What have they done to you,

Old friend."

Trapped in the fade, Solas comes face to face with the remnant of his spirit.

The Dread Wolf was his wisdom, mirror to his pride. In the wake of the wrathful Evanuris, it too, has succumbed to their taint.

Or, where I'm making wild plot speculations surrounding Solas trapped in the fade. while turning my brainrot into art pieces and gifs. I'M PACING MY ENCLOSURE. Looking for crumbs and scrabs of Veilguard. Please Bioware I'm begging, feed me. 😭

[thessaralka]

the lighting in DAI was weird but Solas's eyes were always purple and i'm soooo happy they made DATV so saturated and the colors so pretty bc now we SEEEEEE 100% that his eyes are purple and not the desaturated grey-violet we saw in DAI (mostly due to the lighting)

🤓☝see scientific images adjusted scientifically to amplify the true colors of the scene vs the scene itself using science:

original:

(credit to @lavendarr00's post for the original pics)

(also a potential artist palette if u need one for solas's eyes)

[calwyne]

From the new ‘Making of Dragon Age: the Veilguard’ behind the scenes video: 👀

“As we’ve gone through DAO, DA2, Inquisition… magic has become more and more present, and part of that is because Solas has been slowly preparing this ritual for longer than anyone in the Dragon Age universe is really aware of.”

[vlaakithstits]

Yes, Lucanis could have faked his death, that's certainly an option I'm not discounting.

However, it could also be that Down Under The Dead Men in Tevinter Nights was also an introduction to a strange sort of condition.

In that story, a guardsman dies suddenly, but gets up from where he was laying and returns to work the next day, unaware he was far more than injured the day before.

And since Lucanis is described as treating his assassin job as a 9-5... Well, if he faked his death to let Illario take over as First Talon, he wouldn't be described as having a job as an assassin; nor could he seriously be considered a member of the Antivan Crows as a faction. It would severely limit how much involvement he could have with them if he faked his death.

But if he just got up the next day and seemed to think everything was fine? Would the Crows mind that much? If he was still just as effective as he was before he "died", would they care?

[fascinationstreetmp3]

OSWIN "ROOK" INGELLVAR Dragon Age: The Veilguard