#dragon age 2 spoilers

[silent-words]

Bioware criticism and HEAVY SPOILERS FOR DRAGON AGE II under the cut.

Bioware can't release a remake of Dragon Age II now, because this game clearly shows people how a fucked up society makes a terrorist out of the kindest and most compassionate person.

I think right now, in 2024 people finally realise how it may happen. How it's happening right now.

Like, when I was playing the game, I knew exactly how the characters felt when the pressure of templars became worse and worse. And that always brings a counterattack. I only wished I could do this WITH Anders. My Hawke would even burn the whole city to the ground.

That's why no company would draw attention to DA2. And that's why it was so good to play now.

[nerywen]

little terrorist activist

[possessiveandobsessive]

When people ask me what's so special about Dragon Age 2, I like to remind them that it's the most hard-core and unhinged game in the Dragon Age franchise. This game has:

A serial killer

A major act of terrorism performed by a main character

A hostile takeover/occupation of a city

Corruption amongst the city guards

Corruption amongst the templars

Slavers/slave trade

A slave confronting the trauma and pain inflicted on him over his entire life

Overt racism against elves

Gang violence

Attempted genocide of every mage in the city

Intense grief and loss over every person in the main character's family

Oh and I almost forgot:

FINE DWARVEN CRAFTS DIRECT FROM ORZAMMAR

[lagebu]

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad it’s you. It was nice to be happy… for a while.”

[the-northern-continent]

Now we know what would have happened in Kirkwall if everyone involved was pounding coffee instead of wine.

(periodic reminder to check around the back of the Arishok’s throne in DA2. No one goes there because it seems kind of rude, but it’s one of my favorite subtle bits of environmental storytelling)

[flowertot-s]

i’m sorry i left, but it was for the best though it never felt right

can we pls talk about how horrifying leandra’s fate is

[i-think-i-should-go]

There’s been a tragedy in the club Kirkwall community

[sscaredssheep]

Hawke turning to look at Fenris after defending Anders the whole game and Hawke sees Ander's big surprise goes to flames.

I love Hawke

[libartz]

Carver: Anders saved my life in the deep roads. If he hadn’t been there and known what to do, I would’ve died of the darkspawnitis I caught down there. Still hate the guy, he’s super annoying

Blackwall: *furiously taking notes*

Later…

Blackwall: Best be careful fighting these darkspawn. Don’t want anyone to catch darkspawnitis. You can die from it.

The others: ???

Blackwall: What? It’s an official Grey Warden term.

[silent-words]

*end of Dragon Age 2, Chantry exploded, Anders is sitting miserably on a crate*

Sebastian: How can you forgive him? You should kill him! What if I was in the Chantry? I thought you were my friend! Hawke: Who are you, again? Varric: It's the DLC guy, who you never took anywhere apart from his quests. Don't bother yourself.

[lostiel]

catching up with fenris in the veilguard x

[jazzajazzjazz]

I always find discussion of All That Remains to be super interesting. I see so many people describe it as the saddest moment in DA2 or even the whole series but I couldn’t disagree more.

[rielzero]

My thoughts on DA2 ending

Anders blew up a church. What the fuck, Anders?

Anyway... Sided with mages.

At least game didn't make me kill Carver or Cullen, woo!

Think at this point Valentine was 100% done with the Templars, Chantry, and Religion- As well as Kirkwall itself, fuck this entire town, it took his mother and put him through hell seeing Mages turn to their worst selves.

He's probably conflicted about Anders for a while, or about his morals in general. Think Fenris would follow him still.

Not sure what my ''canon'' ending is yet, definitely with the mages, but I intend to replay this game at some point.

I felt pretty disappointed at a lack of epilogue with companions, but maybe baldur's gate spoiled me rotten on that.

What I do think is that Valentine is probably going to be off the grid for quite a while, just hanging with the boyfriends and figure out how he could help Anders recover from this.

He's probably staying the fuck away from the chantry conflict even as the Seekers are trying to find him.

So, Merrill was forced to kill her entire clan.. That sucked. Fun fact: Sparrow would probably not care. To him, his clan was dead to him for a long time. When Tamlen dies, and they kind of exile him to become a Grey Warden, he blames them for it. Then, when he's finally killed the archdemon, only one elf visits him. The rest moves out of Ferelden and don't even send a letter or anything. They don't care. So neither does he. He's not given closure on his parents, and he's honestly too used to living in the rest of the world that he can't care enough to go back to living in tents among people he can barely call family.

Should they meet, Sparrow would probably laugh, but also kind of look down on her for resorting to blood magic to repair the item that killed Tamlen and forced him to eventually become a Grey Warden.

I'm not sure yet if this is the only outcome for Merrill, I might change my canon when I replay this game.

[elvish-root]

Varric: so got any plans after the deep roads?

Hawke: just looking after my mother

Varric: guess you gotta hold on to what you got after carver, huh?

Me, knowing what happens at the end of Act II:

[maintitle]

I’m a big fan of the dialogue option in Inquisition where you talk about Orsino with Varric.

Inquisitor:  “In the book, you say that First Enchanter Orsino turned himself into a giant monster made of corpses.  How?  Why?”

Varric:  “Do I look like an expert on magical weirdness to you?”

VARRIC SLIGHTLY DISAPROVES.

Now, this could be read in a few ways by Varric himself, but I don’t see it like that at all.  It’s always felt like the writers tilting their head toward the camera and staring directly into the lens.  At the time people were entirely confused by Orsino’s actions, forcing a confrontation with the guy you’re siding with for what can be amounted to as no reason.  

Now, granted, there is in fact an in-game letter that can be found during your chase after your Mother that infer’s Orsino is dabbling in more than he lets on.  

My dear friend, I have obtained the books you requested. I'll leave them at our usual hiding spot. Please collect them as soon as possible. I would hate to see them in the wrong hands! Your last letter was fascinating! You have proven me wrong, once again, by doing the impossible. I shouldn't have doubted your resolve, and I hope you will keep me apprised of further progress. Your friend and colleague, O

This is a Codex found just before the confrontation with Quinton in Act 2, one that’s overshadowed by the horror Hawke goes through in that quest.  I, personally, feel like it was an afterthought put into the game in order to explain why the seemingly straight arrow First Enchanter is suddenly using necromancy to make a person meat shield.

The biggest thing that makes me think this is the Inquisition writing team acknowledging this, however, is Mark Darrah’s wrap-up video on his memories and the lessons he learned leading the project.  

Mark Darrah:  “We’ve talked about the level reuse, which I think is probably one of the weakest things in Dragon Age 2.  The thing that actually makes me feel the most regret for Dragon Age 2 is the way that the endings go.  So, I guess spoilers... but you get to the end of Dragon Age 2, and you have to deal with the mages and the Templars, there’s the whole question of the mages and the Templars.  But regardless of the choice that you make there, you end up fighting both Orsino and Meredith and the mages end up going all crazy regardless.  You’ve made a different choice, you’ve come down on this decision in a very different way... and yet the game has you play through basically the same content, in a slightly different order, but it’s basically the same content.  I think that’s a mistake... I mean, I’m pretty sure that was my decision, but I think that’s a mistake because it undercut the mage/templar question quite a bit.”

Mark Darrah:  “Now the reason why it is that way in Dragon Age II is that the games under incredibly tight constraints.  Orsino isn’t worthy of being an end boss all on his own, so the decision is that you gotta fight Meredith no matter what.  Okay.  So... that’s actually, I think, defensible, you could say.  Meredith has been corrupted by red lyrium, you gotta fight her no matter what.  You can still make the choice.  I think the place where Dragon Age 2 crosses the line is that we also make you fight Orsino no matter what, and I think that’s the mistake.  And the reason we do that is, it’s content, we want players to consume as much of our content as we can, because it feels like waste if we have content that isn’t seen by a player.  And I think that is a mistake, and I think that’s a lesson that maybe video game studios are just waking up to now, that actually it’s NOT waste, content that isn’t consumed by the player ISN’T a problem, that actually you should WANT that.”

Now, that summarization to me covers a lot of DA2, and I’m glad he’s had that reflection, even as the man that pulled the trigger.  DA2 deserves a bit of grace considering they had to take an idea for an Origins DLC and make it a full game because EA demanded it, and I’ve certainly been far more forgiving of the game as time has passed.  But that’s STILL a decision that drives me bonkers.

Now, that leaves us back at where we began.  It’s a FASCINATING moment with the writers, when we get that disapproval at the question.  It almost feels defensive.  Had they learned the lesson Mark Darrah later learned at that point, or where they still a bit upset by how badly that fight was received by folks who sided with the mages?  I’m really not sure, but I love it just because it has such sass attached to it.  It’s a moment in Inquisition where Varric once again becomes the voice of the writers, telling the plot of their previous game in a really defensive manner.  It’s a unique little moment that stands out so much to me.