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darkfeanix · 3 months ago

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Feanix Reads Dragon Age Comics

#1: The Silent Grove

I'll be posting my thoughts on each series as a whole, rather then individual issues. Below the cut are all the thoughts I had while reading The Silent Grove.

WARNING: It does get a bit Alistair critical, as I feel like this series really brought out the worst in his character, which in turn brought out the worst in me.

Anyway, here they are, my thoughts:

The Silent Grove (I)

So, first thing's first, it's strange seeing young Varric here. It's a bit surprising how quickly I've gotten used to silver fox Varric in The Veilguard promotional materials, with the longer hair and a bit of beard growth. Younger, cleanshaven Varric just looks weird to me now. The art style also doesn't help. I'm pretty sure the art style was one of the things that turned me off the first time I tried to read them when they first came out.

I'll admit, as far as protagonists go, King Alistair wasn't a huge draw for me, and even when the comics were first releasing, I don't think I actually read them until after the final issue of Until We Sleep had been released. I was always more of a Morrigan boy, and even in the first game, there were times when Alistair grated on me. We'll return to that point later.

Now, Isabela on the other hand? Yeah, she's the reason I even started reading these comics. I do love my captain.

I'd forgotten that Zevran is mentioned by name in this story. Apparently he was meant to be in the comic in Varric's place, but was "cut due to concerns about party dynamics", which to me sounds like a skill issue. Zevran has a pre-existing relationship with both Alistair and Isabela, and it's well-established that Varric doesn't like going out (to the point that the entire party will roast him for it in Trespasser no matter who you have with you).

This is baseless speculation on my part, but I feel like they went with Varric because Varric is probably more popular than Zevran.

The Silent Grove (II)

Okay, I'd like to lodge a complaint: Isabela deserved a new outfit. Varric and Alistair both got spiffy new outfits. Isabella doesn't even get pants. And it's meant to be freezing cold. We open with a guard complaining about how cold it is (cold enough that we can see his breath). Then we cut to Isabela climbing out of the sea. Does she not feel the cold?

She obviously feels the cold; later in this very same issue we see Alistair putting his cloak on her. Why didn't Isabela get an outfit upgrade again? (Don't answer that, we all know why.)

I feel like Varric literally questioning what he's doing there proves my point; maybe it's fitting with his luck that he gets dragged into this sort of thing, but his role just as easily could have been filled by Zevran. Of course, that being said, I do enjoy it when he narrates his circumstances out loud. It's a fun character quirk.

I appreciate that we see a Vashoth (or possibly even Tal Vashoth) as a member of the Crows; it emphasises that the Crows really do take anyone into their number. A pity that all the others basically look like human men. Not elf or dwarf in sight, and no women.

I wonder if the intention was for the reader to believe the prisoner was Maric. He says it's too late, and Alistair's narration says that his quest has failed, but I'm trying to imagine reading this for the first time without having spoiled everything for myself. I feel like I would assume that the man Alistair finds is Maric.

The Silent Grove (III)

First shot of Yavana, flashback, from behind. No pants. Pretty sure she is only the second named female character in this series so far, and neither of them have been drawn with pants. I can literally see Yavana's butt cheeks. Ugh.

Lack of pants aside, she does have a really cool design, though.

This part felt like a lot of exposition, some pretty scenery, and Alistair saying that high dragons are worse than darkspawn. Really, Alistair? You fought during the Blight, and you think that high dragons are worse than darkspawn?

"In my life so far, I've taken the sword to three dragons. The big ones, I mean – not the ones that look like scaly, tooth dogs and love horse meat, but the high dragons that make the earth shake. Not even darkspawn are that savage. A dragon feed on anything. A dragon exists only to kill."

This reminds me way too much of Iron Bull's speech about dragons.

"Dragons are the embodiment of raw power. But it's all uncontrolled, savage… So they need to be destroyed."

Ugh. At least right after Alistair gives that speech in his narration, the dragon literally chooses not to kill him. He never gives any indication that he learns from his interactions with the dragon, though – at least, not that I remember. Maybe the next two issues will prove me wrong.

Anyway, we will come back to this later as well.

The Silent Grove (IV)

I love Yavana. No surprise, right? She's Morrigan's sister, and she's written almost like a mix of Morrigan and Flemeth. I do wish we could have gotten to know her more.

"In destroying what it does not understand, mankind would destroy itself."

But gosh, I really dislike the way Alistair is written… well, I was going to say here, but the truth is everything about his interactions with the dragon and Yavana makes him come across as narrow-minded and really unlikeable to me.

"Meaning you don't understand either, but it's what your mother told you."

Yeah, we'll come back to that later.

Claudio is… eh. He's a bit player. His connection to Isabela's past makes for some interesting plot developments, and he's obviously tied to the larger story involving Maric – though, as above, I'm not sure if I would have made that assumption if I hadn't been already spoiled the first time I read this. I probably would have assumed he was just planning on ransoming Alistair back to Ferelden or something. Or, heck, putting him in that prison like Maric was.

I appreciate Isabela deciding on the spot that she's not going to abandon Alistair. She's grown a lot from the women she was at the start of Dragon Age II.

The Silent Grove (V)

Isabela marching back into the Silent Grove and yelling Yavana's name is very funny to me.

I'd completely forgotten about Isabela and Varric making a deal with Yavana. That makes me even more annoyed about the ending of this arc. But we'll come back to that later.

"You wanted me alive. Now you have to try to keep me."

Okay, I'll admit, that's a good line. Some of that charming, funny Alistair shining through. A shame there's so little of him in these comics.

I do wish slut shaming Isabela wasn't something that the writer felt the need to carry over from the game. Even with Claudio being a bad guy, it comes across as really distasteful considering they've designed her character to show as much skin as possible.

Badass final page with Yavana standing over Claudio's body and talking about how getting the truth even with him being dead.

The Silent Grove (VI)

"You almost missed the fun. Evidently we're going to ask Claudio how it feels to be stabbed in the chest."

Oh Isabela, how I love thee.

Yavana's idea of a séance involves a lot more pyrotechnics than one might expect, but it is quite exciting. I am curious if she burned his corpse, or if it was some magic of Titus's to try to keep his name out of Claudio's mouth?

Yavana's explanation of the Hall of Sleepers, and what Maric's deal was, really convinces me that Alistair was wrong and that she does understand what she's talking about. In the same way that Morrigan prioritised sparing Urthemiel's soul from death even after Flemeth is killed. I don't think either one of them (certainly not Morrigan) does what they do simply because their mother told them to.

Which brings us to possibly my least favourite part of this entire eighteen issue series.

Fuck you, Chantry Boy.

It's later, so here we are. I hate this moment. It makes me hate Alistair, for doing exactly what Yavana says mankind has always done and killing what he doesn't understand. And yes, he says he does it because he blames her for everything that happened in Ferelden after Maric left, but here's the thing: Yavana didn't make the fucking deal with Maric! Flemeth did!

And the thing is, two issues ago he accused her of simply parroting what Flemeth told her. He accused her of not understanding what she was doing. Which is it, Alistair? Is she another pawn of Flemeth's, or is she the wicked witch who took your daddy away?

Except she didn't take him away, Maric made that choice on his own. He made a deal so that he would be able to save his country, and then he held up his end of the bargain by travelling to Yavana.

Uggghhh!

Issues ends with Alistair bemoaning his own status as a pawn and saying he's going to kill Titus.

And then his final narrative just feels so shoehorned because it's close to the kind of humour we're used to getting from Alistair in the game, but this isn't that Alistair.

"My name is Alistair Theirin, and I'm king of Ferelden. Long live the king, long may he reign! And so forth. Pray to the Maker he doesn't do something stupid…"

You just did! Seriously, fuck you, Chantry Boy.

Final Thoughts

Oof. It had some okay moments, but to be honest, the best part of this comic for me was Yavana and, well… Yeah.

The thing is, I don't feel like I'm familiar enough with Alistair's character to say whether or not he's acting out of character. Is all of this something that a hardened King Alistair would do? Or is it the writing emphasising all the worst parts of him without balancing it with what made Alistair so popular?

Anyway, not a great start to the re-read. I really hope I have more fun with Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep, but I'm done for the night.

#feanix reads dragon age comics #dragon age the silent grove #dragon age comics #dragon age spoilers #i guess?#barely #spoilers for comics from over a decade ago

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lairofdragonagelore · 3 months ago

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Flemeth / Mythal (part 2)

Flemeth is an enigmatic character along the series that seems to be related to the whole plot of Dragon Age since DAO. In the present post I will try to collect all the relevant information about her and about what she says, since she is one of the characters that I think we can rely more when it comes to digging the "truth" behind the DA lore.

The current post has the following bolded sections:

Flemeth in DAO

Story of Conobar and Osen

Flemeth in DA2

Flemeth in DAI

Mythal as an Elvhenan Goddess

Mythal as a Changed Goddess

Flemeth and Mythal

Mythal and the Well of Sorrows

Flemeth and the Music

Flemeth, Mythal, and Motherhood

Artwork of Flemeth

Flemeth in the books (or comics)

Conclusions

Flemeth and Mythal

If Kieran doesn't exist, the Inquisitor who drank from the Well will stop Morrigan from attacking Flemeth when she appears. However, if Kieran exists, Flemeth claims in this situation: "You will endanger the boy" meaning that this power she is planning to use may hurt him. It's hard to know if this is just a comment she does, a display of Mythal's motherhood, or simply a way to piss Morrigan off.

In another fragment of this scene, we have a cryptic explanation of how Flemeth can contain Mythal:

“Once I was but a woman, crying out in the lonely darkness for justice. And she came to me, a wisp of an ancient being, and she granted me all I wanted and more. I have carried Mythal through the ages ever since, seeking the justice denied to her. […] She is a part of me, no more separe than your heart from your chest." [...] "But what was Mythal? A legend given name and called a god, or something more? Truth is not the end, but a beginning.”

It's fair to question if this "ancient being" could not be a demon, as the Inquisitor says at some point. However, the voices of the Well say that Flemeth speaks the Truth. So, can we be [more or less] sure that Flemeth is not possessed by a demon? I personally have some issues about the accuracy and the reliability of the voices of the Well, because we know they are controlled by Mythal herself [read section below].

Flemeth also gives us room to wonder about who and what Mythal was. The fact she is cryptically telling us that Mythal was more than any other Evanuris makes me suspect and support the theory that Mythal is the one with double nature [instead of Fen'Harel], she is Evanuris and Forgotten One, and the Forgotten Ones were dragons that Evanuris and Elvhenan worshipped before claiming Divinity for themselves [details in Attempt to rebuild Ancient Elvhenan History or in The Missing]

Flemeth: A herald, indeed. Shouting to the heavens, harbinger of a new age. As for me, I have had many names. But you... may call me Flemeth. Inquisitor: Flemeth appears in other legends, helping heroes for reasons of her own F: I nudge history, when it’s required. Other times, a shove is needed. [chuckles]

These pieces of information also tell us and reinforce what we saw in DAO and DA2: Flemeth meddles with human history so the events go to a direction she wants. It's not clear what goal is behind all this, but I think it's fair to conclude she is preparing what she promised to Mythal: avenge her, a reckoning that will shake the very heavens.

When Morrigan claims that Flemeth "prolongs her unnatural life by possessing the bodies of her daughters" Flemeth answers

Flemeth: That's what you believe, is it? Morrigan: I found your grimoire, and I am no fool, old woman Flemeth: [chuckles] Yet here you stand, bound into my service. My daughter ran from me long ago. I've let her be... until now, it seems.

Again, we have no clear answer about the process that allowed Flemeth to live so much or if it is this body the one that lived for centuries, but considering the piece of information we obtained from Yavanna in the comic The Silent Grove, I think it's fair to assume that is not Flemeth who is living through different bodies, but Mythal, who is so entangled with Flemeth's soul that now they are one single entity. Flemeth told us before that Mythal and herself are one thing. This concept is also reinforced when we speak with Anders in DA2 about his possessed condition: It's impossible to determine when Anders finishes and Justice starts. They are one now. However, this brings into account a sharp observation: we don't see this same condition in Kieran.

Do Flemeth and Kieran suffered similar possession condition? If Kieran has the power of an Old God, he will be called by Mythal in dreams, activate the Eluvian by his own, and walk into the Fade [The Fade - Flemeth: Part 1, Part 2]. Morrigan will say "To direct the eluvian here would require immense power". This fact shows us that Flemeth/Mythal shares similar powers to Urthemiel [the soul inside Kieran] since she is in the Fade by herself. This would support a little bit the idea I've been exploring long ago about the Forgotten Ones being dragons, and Mythal being one of them; the actual real Evanuris who is Evanuris and Forgotten One at the same time [and not Fen'Harel, as the unreliable Dalish Legends repeat] since in the comic Until We Sleep we learn that the Great Dragons had absolute control of the Fade [dreamer/somniari's powers-like].

Kieran: I'm sorry mother. I heard her calling to me. She said now was the time . Morrigan [to Flemeth]: Then what is it you want? Felemeth, looking at Kieran: One thing and one thing only. Kieran: I have to go, mother. Flemeth: He carries a piece of what once was, snatched from the jaws of darkness. You know this. Morrigan: He is not your pawn, mother. I will not let you use him. Flemeth: Have you not used him? Was that not your purpose, the reason you agreed to his creation? Morrigan: That was then. Now he... he is my son. [Flemeth tilts her head, curious, as if she was surprised of a response she was not expecting]

From this exchange we see again how Mythal is deeply related to the Old Gods. Even though we don't know the reason why she calls Urthemiel nor why or for what there is no time, we can see that Mythal has some level of command over Urthemiel.

We also see once more the concept of "Darkness", as a metaphoric word to mean "The Blight".

And finally, the whole scene seems to encourage the suspicion that Flemeth has been testing Morrigan's sense of motherhood, which again makes some sense: thanks to the Dev's notes in Somewhere in the Crossroads, The Silent Grove comic, and Kieran's words about the inheritor of a new age, we know Flemeth has been raising Morrigan to become the next Inheritor. We can assume it means she will be the inheritor of Myhtal's godhood, who may need some sense of motherhood in her willingly host, maybe?

Morrigan: Flemeth extends her life by possessing the bodies of her daughters'. That was the fate she intended for me. I thwarted her, and now she intends to have Kieran instead. Inquisitor: The way she talked about Kieran... Flemeth: I am not the only one carrying the soul of a being long thought lost. Morrigan: He is more than that, Mother. Flemeth: As am I, yet do you hear me complain? Our destinies are not so easily avoided, dear girl. [...] Inquisitor: If Kieran is so special, why did you wait until now to come for him? Flemeth: I did not know where he was. Morrigan cleverly hid him from me... until now Morrigan: T'was the well... Flemeth: Always grasping beyond your reach, despite all what I taught you.

Flemeth seems to compare herself to Kieran in nature and destinies: souls of old creatures that were considered gone, that remain entangled with the soul of the body they inhabit, and have a particular destiny to fulfil [which is unknown to us].

Another curious thing: even though Flemeth has enormous power, specially in the Fade, she was unable to locate Kieran for a long time. Only when someone drank from the Well she was able to do so. We know that Morrigan lived with Kieran in the spaces in-between for a long time [the Crossroads], so we can assume that these spaces are not connected to the Fade and certainly Evanuris can't perceive it. Again, we learnt about the nature of these spaces in-between in The Crossroads [DLC Trespasser]: Elven Mountain Ruins, where the freed slaves tried to recover and hide from the Evanuris while gathering strength against them.

Inquisitor: You're... going to steal the body of a young boy? Flemeth: If my daughter believes it, that it must be so. [...] My daughter struggles. I expected no less of her.

Again, we see Mythal cannot care less to explain, and lets Morrigan to believe whatever she wants to. This coincides with what Flemeth told us in a previous scene: humans don't want the truth, and that's the true nature of their hearts. So, her approach is always “I will let you believe what you want to believe” and does nothing to make you change of opinion. In DAO, however, we find that she claims that the only wise attitude is to doubt about everything [Read DAO section in Part 1].

Mythal and the Well of Sorrows

If Morrigan drank from the Well of Sorrows:

Inquisitor: This meeting was not accident, was it? Flemeth: Clever lad/lass Morrigan: The voices.... came from you? Flemeth: The price of the Well seemed no dire thing when you saw so much gain, hmn?

If the Inquisitor drank from the Well of Sorrows:

Inquisitor: This meeting was not accident, was it? The voices from the well directed me here, and you direct them. Flemeth: Clever lad

This is also an important piece of lore: the Well of Sorrows, which gathers all the knowledge of all the high priests that served Mythal, and left their "will" in it [read Abelas' words about the concept of "will" that he lets transpire in Temple of Mythal-Part 5], are also controlled by Mythal. So this Well is not entirely a reliable independent source of information, it's as reliable as Flemeth wants it to be.

Inquisitor [If they drank from the Well]: So must I serve you now because I drank from the Well? Flemeth [chuckles]: Is that how you see yourself? A servant? I have no command for you. Not yet. Inquisitor [If Morrigan drank from the Well]: did you come here to make Morrigan serve you? Flemeth: [laughs] oh, what a servant she would make.

This piece continues supporting Abelas' words about Mythal's followers not being slave/servants against their will. Flemeth is amused to see how heavily the Inquisitor sees this position towards her, she jokes and laughs about it, and claims that there is no commands for the inquisitor. "Not yet", since she is also Flemeth, who will avenge Mythal, and will use any tool she can use to do so.

Flemeth: I wished to see who drank from the Well of Sorrows. It has been a very long time. [chuckle, if Morrian drank from it] Imagine my surprise to discover it was you. [if the Inquisitor drank it] Now I have, and he/she is free to go. Morrigan: and that's all? Flemeth: A soul is not forced upon the unwilling, Morrigan. You were never in danger from me.

This again shows how Mythal is not really fond of unwilling servants. She lets Morrigan/the Inquisitor free. And then, she claims that souls cannot be forced upon the unwilling. This line, as cryptic as anything that Flemeth says, seems to imply two things: Mythal never wanted slaves, but loyal followers. And if it's true that Flemeth's long life is because she transferred Mythal to her daughters, it should not be a process forced upon an unwilling host. Thanks to Yavanna in The Silent Grove, we suspect that Flemeth wanted Morrigan to be the next carrier of Mythal's fragment. Due to the Dev's note in Somewhere in the Crossroads, we confirm that Flemeth wanted this, and we suspect it is what she places in the Mirror before being consumed by Solas. Although if Solas took that piece of power/godhood, makes little sense to assume the same fragment was placed on the mirror, unless Mythal can divide that divine power [which is something she can do to some extent according to all what she told us about being a fragment of a whole]. In any case, we also know that Flemeth lets Morrigan/the Inquisitor free because she knows she will die soon at the hands of Solas [as the Dev's note in Somewhere in the Crossroads seems to confirm].

In the next scene, when the Inquisitor controls the dragon guardian of the altar, we see that, visually speaking, they use the same power that Flemeth cast on the one who drank from the well. So it seems to imply that the Inquisitor can control this dragon like Flemeth can control anyone who drank from the well.

Flemeth and the music:

It’s in DAO when we start seeing that Flemeth has a soft pattern of a music theme in her speech. When you find Flemeth for a second time, due to Morrigan’s personal quest, she speaks of “Morrigan’s music” as if it were a metaphor for Morrigan's manipulation. This image also brings us an analogy with the Blight and its sweet song, which manipulates blighted creatures into looking for Archdemons to awaken them [or most likely, to open the gates that keep trapped the entity in the Black City, the true origin of the song, according to Avernus in Soldier’s Peak]

Flemeth sounds very “done with” this potential assassination of her, again. This repeated situation where she sees that the ones she helped once return to kill her, may have given Mythal a bad taste in her mouth. In fact, she adds “It’s an old, old story [that Flemeth] even told. It’s a dance poor Flemeth knows well”, referring to Mythal’s. Back then, when we were playing DAO, it was impossible for us to understand the underlying meaning of these words even though we could notice there was something else. Now, thanks to DAI, all these lines are much clearer.

She doesn’t say the truth behind all this situation even if we ask her to do so simply because she knows the heart of humans: they do not want the Truth [this line was said in DAI], and she knows they prefer the comfort of the lies instead. “We believe what we want to believe”. Flemeth, then, turns into a Dragon and fights us if we choose that option. Only when we pick this option we can be sure she becomes a dragon. Up to that moment, we were hinted by Morrigan that Flemeth had polymorphed into a big unspecified creature and grabbed the Warden and Alistair in her talons.

Another reference to music that Flemeth uses appears in DAI:

Flemeth: You seek to preserve the powers that were, but to what end? It is because I taught you, girl, because things happened that were never meant to happen. She was betrayed as I was betrayed - as the world was betrayed! Mythal clawed and crawled her way through the ages to me, and I will see her avenged! Alas, so long as the music plays, we dance.

And considering the post Songs and elements that sing and whisper in DA Lore, we can agree that this line seems pretty curious and it almost allows us to link Flemeth's incoming avenge of Mythal with the Blighted song, specially if we explore all the hypothesis that sprouted in Speculations about the Vinyl Art.

Flemeth, Mythal, and Motherhood

The concept of Motherhood in Flemeth is controversial at best. Without going into a deep judgement of her character, we need to remember particular bits of lore and concepts we know about Mythal.

Mythal was always related to motherhood. It's not only something that is present in the unreliable Dalish legends, it's something we see clearly in the Temple of Mythal, and in her Mosaic [read Myhtal's section in the post Evanuris] and in Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal or Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara.

In DAO, Flemeth--as the owner of a fragment of Mythal--is presented too explicitly as a witch that will possess Morrigan, questioning her genuine sense of motherhood. I think DAO had a poor presentation of a "misinterpretation", clarified later in DAI, simply because in DAO, at the end of Morrigan's Quest, there are two questionable items: Flemeth's Grimoire and "Robes of Possesion",

The grimoire doesn't say anything relevant in its description and all what we learn about it comes from Morrigan's perspective, who understands it very wrongly. But the robe has a straightforward description:

"The original intent of these robes is clear: a "welcome home" present from Flemeth, designed to sap Morrigan's will and ease the ancient sorceress's possession of her daughter. With Flemeth dead, these robes no longer pose a danger to Morrigan--but Maker help those who get in her way."

Again, this vision is after reading the grimoire and trusting Morrigan's interpretation. This item has -1 will, which seems to be very contradictory to what Flemeth claimed in DAI: "A soul is not forced upon the unwilling, you were never in danger from me" which means, in my opinion, three situations happened in all those years in between games:

Or DAO had a different idea about what to do with Flemeth originally and it changed over the years [very likely],

Or this robe is a bad designed red herring [they are lying to the player to avoid spoiling the concept of Mythal in Flemeth]

Or there is a real lore-wise explanation of this that needs a re-interpretation of the grimoire without the biases that Morrigan had acquired along her life. Maybe a re-read of this item with the Well of Sorrow's wisdom may enlighten us differently. However, this is speculation and we can't do it ingame.

We know that Yavanna in the comic The Silent Grove claims that Morrigan doesn't understand what Flemeth is doing, and apparently, what she will receive from her is a "gift", not unwillingly possession.

Kieran, if he has the old soul, will claim that Morrigan is the "inheritor" of the new age, which aligns with what Yavanna implies and the Dev's notes in DAI say: what Flemeth was trying to do is to give Morrigan the "essence of godhood, a gift that Morrigan misunderstood as hostile possession", read Somewhere in the Crossroads [Ending] for details.

The presentation of this issue in DAO makes us wonder a lot about Flemeth's sense of motherhood. On the other side, thanks to DAI, we know that Mythal was changed in a way that she abandoned her Children [the People she always seems to be so fond of], because "things happened that were never meant to happen". In DA2 and DAI we find that Mythal is also presented and perceived as a goddess that protects, with some degree of Motherhood, but also abandonment [especially in DAI]: She also abandoned Abelas and his people, as the new generations of guardians lose they deep devotion to Mythal [read Untranslatable Elven Writing, from Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal] .

On the other hand, we lack of context. We don't know how Mythal was killed, if it was due to a betrayal from the Evanuris because she trusted them, and why she raised Morrigan harder than she should have.

Even though this Mythal is changed and has a questionable sense of motherhood, we see in DAI a motherhood test: when Morrigan tells Flemeth to leave her son and take her instead, Flemeth takes Urthemiel's fragment and leaves them both alone. Later, Morrigan will claim this was a test she was not sure she had passed.

[Kieran looks at Flemeth] Flemeth: As you wish. [She looks at Morrigan] Hear my proposal, dear girl. Let me take the lad, and you are free of me forever. I will never interfere with or harm you again. Or, keep the lad with you... and you will never be safe from me. I will have my due. Morrigan: I will take my chances. Flemeth: I found you once, girl. What makes you think I will not find you again? Morrigan Take over my body now, if you must. Just let Kieran go. He will be better off without me, just as I was better off without you. [Flemeth seems to make a face of hurt, as if those words reached her. Then, she looks at Kieran, and it seems to look like they can communicate in silence. Then she smiles at him as a blue glow passes from Kieran's body to Flemeth's] Kieran: No more dreams? Flemeth: No more dreams. [As Kieran returns to his mother] A soul is not forced upon the unwilling, Morrigan. You were never in danger from me. Listen to the voices. They will teach you... as I never did. Flemeth: [...] I will have my due. Morrigan: He returns to me. Flemeth: Decided so quickly? Morrigan: Do whatever you wish. Take over my body now, if you must, but Kieran will be free of your clutches. I am many things, but I will not be the mother you were to me. [Flemeth seems to make a face of hurt, as if those words reached her.]

So, what seems to transpire in both scenes is that Flemeth ends up hurt by Morrigan's words about her bad motherhood. Another detail is that those who have ancient beings in their body seem to have "dreams", hard to understand what that means. We can't say if these dreams are, in truth, walks through the Fade, or something else.

Another thing that stands out is that these scenes seem to show that Flemeth has been testing Morrigan's sense of motherhood. And if the player doesn't suspect this earlier, the next scene is explicit about it:

Returning from the Fade: Morrigan: Are you alright, Kieran? You are not hurt? Kieran: I feel lonely. [kieran leaves] Morrigan: she wanted the Old God soul all along. Is it worth reminding myself that perhaps I do not know everything after all? My mother has the soul of an elven goddess—or whatever "Mythal" truly was—and her plans are unknown to me. [...] I knew she kept the truth from me. I even suspected she was not truly human... but this? I always thought the so-called "elven gods" were little more than glorified rulers, now I have doubts. And doubt is... an uncomfortable thing, Inquisitor. Just be thankful you did not drink from the Well. I am evidently tied to my mother for eternity. Inquisitor: So Kieran had... the soul of an Old God? Morrigan: [...], yes. He has never known anythign else. I am uncertain what effect this will have on him. [...] I told you at the temple. The magic of old must be preserved, no matter how feared. Kieran had a destiny, and now it is in Flemeth's hands. I suppose we shall see what she does with it. Inquisitor: For what it's woth, I think you did the right thing. Morrigan: Did I? She was testing me, and I cannot tell whether I passed.

Kieran's sense of loneliness brings immediately to our mind the case of Sigrid Gulsdotten in Frostback Basin [DLC]: Stone-Bear Hold Avvars - Part 1, who did not want to be separated from the being she was possessed by because she would feel lonely. What we can see in this scene is that removing a soul from a possessed body is possible and won't leave them scarred as the Dalish believe [Marethari Talas tells us this in DA2 and in Merril and the Eluvian].

We see that Morrigan continues in keeping and preserving magic of old times, as Flemeth told her to do all her life, and at the end of the scene, we are assured, if we had some doubts up to that moment, that Flemeth has been testing Morrigan in something she doesn't understand. We can suspect it may be related to her sense of Motherhood given the overall scenes, as Mythal is a mother before anything else. Maybe Flemeth is preparing Morrigan to be a better host for Mythal, with a better sense of motherhood, since she is the "inheritor" of a new age [could it mean the inheritor of an age that came after the revenge was taken?].

Artwork of Flemeth

Artwork of flemeth is broad and varied and may hide some extra details about the figure of Flemeth.

One of the pieces that brought my attention the most belongs to the Book of Thedas Volumen 1:

We see Flemeth in her dragon shape. The dragon has a beautiful foreshadowing detail: it has some swirls that we can find in Mythal's dragon shape statue in DAI. This dragon is not only telling us that it's Flemeth in her shapeshifter form, it's also Mythal [not only the shape of the horns is similar to the statue's; it has a central spike, read the Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The single spike].

Then, we find Flemeth in her war attire, depicted with a yellow sphere that coincide with the curvature of her staff. This ball can be interpreted in many ways: a mere design effect to make it look like glow, a sphere that can represent the orb power we see as an asterisk in many murals [Murals in DAI], the symbol of Mythal destroying a Titan [The Death of a Titan], or a sphere related to those red sphere explained in the Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal and Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara. The sphere combined with the shape of her staff also seems to create an effect of an eye, also related to Mythal [at least in concept art]. The extreme of this Staff also appears in DA2, in Merril's loadscreen when we see the eluvian being broken [skim over the post Merril’s Eluvian to find the image].

This staff has a similar shape to the original design of Andraste's helm in her statue version of DAO, and it is also related to Flemeth several times in DA2 [in the background] or in other pieces of art where we see her holding this staff. We find in Patterns and Styles: Tevinter that some concept art seem to show a Tevinter staff inspired in this one, which again, makes a link between Tevinter and their dragon worshipping, with the Evanuris in a very indirect way.

However, this staff never made it into any game; I cannot say it was due to lore-wise reasons or simply it was hard to design in the games.

Finally, we see at the very right corner of the image an old woman with an apron that has a shape of an eye. This eye is the same one we find in the concept art of the Mythal's Temple guardians that did not make it into the game but we can see in the artbook of Inquisition. We can associate Mythal with a deep knowledge of the future that this eye may represent. We know Flemeth has been nudging history and [through the books], we can even suspect she has some foresee ability [read, for example, the meeting with Maric and Loghain in The Stolen Throne, several sections below].

The Eye may also be related to some presence in the dreams/Fade [let's remember that the Fade is a reflection of the Waking World, and you just need to "read and observe" the right way to have the information you need, according to Solas and several unreliable sources of Enchanters' codices]. In posts like Andrastian Design: Stained Glasses, the comic Until We Sleep or in Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The Sun, I've talked about the impressive and yet easy to miss event of an elf in Val Royeaux who claims to have been visited by Mythal in dreams and after that conversation, he has his face burned with her vallaslin [Elven Servant Dreams of Mythal, another videos here]. The fact that Mythal can be related to the symbol of the eyes may show her relationship with foreseen powers and her ability to visit people in dreams and change reality through them. This is, so far we learnt in Feynriel quest [Feynriel - Somniari and Fade], the powers of the dreamers, and thanks to the comics Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep we know these powers also belonged to particularly powerful dragons.

In DA2, Flemeth's art can be found in the game itself in one of the Varric's narrations [Act 1]. In it, she looks like a mountain, with details of veins that make us suspect some relationship with titans and lyrium [design and visual detail discussed in Design of Kirkwall]. It's only in DAI where we learn through the codex and the mural “The Death of a Titan” that she was able to destroy a titan and, probably, took a unique power from it that may have encourage the Evanuris to kill her. It could also be the mere use of lyrium that the Evanuris started to implement in their magic to acquire more power and divine status. We can see in this image that the symbol of her staff is also in the background, cutting her in half: below the mountain, above the humanoid-dragon-like woman.

In this image, we see Flemeth wearing her war attire, which has a lot of parts that reminds us the statues of the Emerald Knights in Emerald Graves: Din'an Hanin or in the warrior version of Andraste herself. She is surrounded by dark smoke that reminds me the power that the elvhenan displayed in DAI: Abelas when he is killed by Morrigan, Flemeth when she is summoned as Mythal in her Altar, and Solas when consumes Flemeth's powers. In all these cases, they use dark smoke around them or in their powers. Read Somewhere in the Crossroads [Ending] to see the visual details of this. We see again the importance of the staff placed at the almost centre of the piece of art.

The "yellow mosaic" possesses a strong assumption: it has four shapes at the corners that may represent eluvians or something related to Mythal.

In the mural of “the Temple of Mythal” from “The actions of the Inquisitor”, we see that Solas draw a particular star of 8 points inside a door frame that resembles this “eluvian outline”, but it’s also the shape of the doors of the Temple of Mythal which represents Mythal herself in her dragon shape. All these symbols seem to reinforce the idea we explored in “The Death of a Titan”: Mythal seems to be related to the core power of a Titan represented by an asterisk that evolves into a golden ring and into a sun. However, it's curious to highlight that the sun was always a symbol related to Elgar'nan.

As I repeated several times in Speculations about the Vinyl Art, at times, we find some hints where stars or balls of fires [also understood as suns] are related to Mythal and Elgar’nan, making us suspect that, maybe, Mythal and Elgar’nan share a nature similar to Falon’Din and Dirthamen’s: apparently, the same creature with two different aspects from them. If this were the case, associating Mythal with the Sun would make sense, and it would also explain why, if Elgar’nan was so central in the Elvhenan culture, there are so few representations and statues of him, while Mythal overwhelms it.

The center of the mosaic displays the Asterisk Symbol [made of 8 points], which may be related to the core of a Titan [asterisk of 8 points too]. The link is immediate when we see that this asterisk is outlined by a shape that looks like a star or a Sun, inside a big ball with triangular-shape ends. This same symbol appears in the Trailer of DA4, behind Solas, when he is presented like an Hermit, mysterious, apostate mage. Around this “sun” we can make out several concentric lines that may refer to a “Golden Ring”.

The Asterik symbol also appears in murals such as “The Creation of the Veil” or “The Death of a Titan”, which allowed us to relate them with the core of a Titan and its immense power of “making real what you imagine by reinforcing the reality”, but this symbol also appears in a corner of Solas’ tarot card. For more details, read Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The Sun .

Her art in Heroes of Dragon Age shows her more like a chasind mage, with a painted fave [1,2], and a curious staff of an appostate [1,4], which is also depicted, sometimes, in Solas' art. This staff made it into the game, and was reused many times in DA2 making it a bit meaningless. We can clearly see the similar design in her dress as a chasind mage [1,2] as well as in Flemeth's war attire [3]. In [3] we see again the staff that looks like an eye.

The vynil: I made a whole post about the potenciality of understanding the dragon we see in the Vynil as (a fragment of) Myhtal. Since it's a strong hypothesis, I will leave it there, so you can read more about it in Speculations about the Vinyl Art.

Flemeth in the books (or comics)

The Stolen Throne

In this book, we see Flemeth when Maric Theirin and Loghain are captured by Dalish that delivered them to her. As an exchange to leading them out of the Wilds, Flemeth requests Maric to make a promise we don't know about it, as well as giving him the knowledge that a Blight will occur in Ferelden. She also gives him a cryptic warning about Loghain: "Keep him close and he will betray you, each time worse than the last." These details reinforce the idea that she has foreseeing powers that were implied in the art through the symbol of the eye.

Flemeth is presented as a decrepit woman: " She was the very picture of a witch, wild white hair and a robe formed mostly of thick black furs and dark leather. Hanging down her back was a heavy cloak trimmed in fox fur, quite striking and delicately stitched. She carried a basket filled with large acorns and other items wrapped in red cloth".

She also uses sylvans. At some point, Loghan is attacked by a sylvan, what forces Maric to beg forgiveness to Flemeth. She is surprised, and once again, we see that she really appreciates "good manners":

Sweat trickling down his brow, Maric cleared his throat and carefully lowered himself to one knee. “I beg your pardon on behalf of my companion, good lady.” His voice was quiet, but the old woman appeared to be listening, fascinated. “We have been running for days now, and after the Dalish attacked us . . . we expected more of the same, despite the fact that you have offered no provocation. I apologize.” He bowed his head, trying his best to remember the courtly manners so painstakingly taught to him over the years by his mother. To think he had rolled his eyes at those lessons, assuming that he would never have an actual use for them. The witch laughed shrilly. “Manners? My, but that is unexpected.”

We also can see again Flemeth's foresee abilities:

“So you are he,” the witch said, nodding with approval as she studied Maric. “I knew you would come, and the manner in which you would come, but not the when.” She let out a sharp guffaw and slapped her knees. “Isn’t it marvelous how very capricious magic can be with its information? It’s like asking a cat for directions—consider yourself lucky if it only tells you where to go!” She howled with laughter at her own joke.

This also makes sense with the image of the temple of Mythal and its guardians in the concept art, with eyeball tattoos or armour. We can assume this comes from her ability to present herself in the dreams of some people, as it happened with the elven man in Orlais. This symbol of eyes, also presented in the first art piece of the section of Flemeth Art, can be considered a way to represent her omnipresence due to her ability to visit everyone in dreams, or foreseen powers.

“Fortunes change.” The witch’s gaze shifted to far off in the distance. “One minute you’re in love, so much in love that you can’t imagine anything wrong ever happening. And the next you’re betrayed. Your love has been ripped from you like your own leg, and you swear you’d do anything—anything—to make those responsible pay.” Her eyes focused on Maric, and her voice became soft, caressing. “Sometimes vengeance changes the world. What will yours do, young man?”

This part seems to reinforce the concept that Flemeth and Mythal are allied in order to perform a revenge. Through the tales of Conobar and Osen, we know that Flemeth may have been avenged thanks to the help of Mythal, and now it's the turn of Mythal: for which Flemeth has been changing and modifying the events of the world in order to accomplish this so long-awaited reckoning.

Loghain stepped forward angrily. “Leave him alone.” The witch turned to regard him, her eyes delighted. “And what of yours? You’ve rage enough inside you, tempered into a blade of fine steel. Into whose heart will you plunge that one day, I wonder?” “Maric and I are not friends,” he growled, “but I don’t want him dead.” Her chuckle was mirthless. “Oh, you know what I speak of.” Loghain paled, but regained his composure almost immediately. “That . . . doesn’t matter any longer,” he stated evenly. “Doesn’t it? Have you forgiven them already, then? You no longer remember her cries as they held her down? The laughter of the soldiers as they held you back and made you watch? Your father when he—” “Stop!” Loghain shouted, his voice filled with as much terror as fury. Maric watched in shock as Loghain launched toward the witch as if to strangle her. He lurched to a halt before he reached her, hands clenched tightly into fists as he struggled against his impulse. The trees around the hut seemed to creak in anticipation, like coiled springs. The witch merely rocked and watched him quietly, unconcerned. “You see too much, old woman,” he muttered. “In fact,” her tone was dry, “I see just barely enough.”

We can see here Flemeth's powers: she sees Loghain and can see when he had to watch Orlesians rape and kill his mother in front of him, who was a mere powerless child at the time. She sees into a person and sees the most traumatic events in their past. And probably this is why she can see the future as well. Hence, another reason more why her original concept implied an eyeball.

Loghain also didn’t want to think about what sort of promise the witch had elicited from Maric. He had gone into her hut and had remained there for hours, long enough that Loghain grew concerned. He had been trying to peer in through its one filthy, grit-covered window when Maric walked out the door, alone. The man seemed shaken and quiet and was resistant to even the most casual efforts Loghain made to inquire about what had gone on. So it was to remain a secret, after all.

Later we can suspect that Maric was in shock because Flemeth told him the destiny he had to fulfil in the next book: The Calling.

The hut was empty of everything but dust and rot, as if nobody had lived there for years. They searched about, but there was no sign of the witch. There was also, he noticed, no sign of Dannon’s body or his makeshift grave. It seemed they were free to go. It took them four days’ travel to leave the Wilds. Supposedly, the witch had told Maric they would see the way out once they left her hut, and sure enough, not an hour away a bluebird appeared in the trees before them. It was so out of place, and sang so sweetly, that both Loghain and Maric took instant notice. As they approached, it flitted to the next tree and to the next until Loghain realized it was leading them. So they followed. When it reappeared the next morning, there could be no doubt. The only thing Maric didn’t talk about was the witch.

Loghain and Maric are guided out of the Wild, showing the powers that Flemeth had in the Kocari Wilds.

[As they returned to Ferelden and out of the Wilds] It wasn’t long after leaving the ruins that they encountered wolves again. For the first time, Loghain was truly beginning to believe that the old witch had called on greater magic to aid them than just summoning a bluebird guide. Loghain stood with his bow at the ready, eyeing the wolves warily, while Maric remained breathless beside him. The entire pack, however, maintained its distance and watched, but did not threaten. Loghain and Maric moved cautiously through the trees, with perhaps twenty large wolves sitting and staring at them silently with their feral yellow eyes. Still, nothing happened. As soon as they were out of sight, Loghain let out a long breath. He swore that he never wanted to encounter magic again as long as he lived, and Maric murmured agreement. [...] When the sun went down that day, the bluebird vanished.

Interestly enough, Flemeth also uses the help of wolves to guide Maric and Loghain out of the Wild. The curious detail I liked to highlight is that they all share the yellow eyes, a feature that has been very unique of certain characters: Flemeth and her daughters [Morrigan and Yavanna], Abelas, some Qunari [we can notice this in more detail in the comics], and Titus [a Magister who performed dragon blood drink rituals]. All of them related to Mythal and/or dragons. However, in DAI, the feral wolves always appeared with Fade-like coloured eyes.

Dragon Age: The Calling

Fourteen years later, Flemeth's words inspire Maric, now King of Ferelden, to accompany the Grey Wardens on their expedition into the Deep Roads. He later relays her words to Loghain, who disagrees with them and points out that she may have been deceiving them.

Maric steepled his hands together and considered. He hadn’t wanted to tell Loghain, but it seemed like he had no other choice. “Do you remember the witch we met in the Korcari Wilds?” he began. “Back during the rebellion, when we were fleeing the Orlesians?” Loghain appeared taken aback, as if he hadn’t expected a rational explanation. He hesitated only a moment. “Yes. The madwoman who nearly killed us both. What of her?” “She told me something.” Loghain looked at him expectantly. “And? She babbled many things, Maric.” “She told me that a Blight was coming to Ferelden.” He nodded slowly. “I see. Did she say when?” “Only that I wouldn’t live to see it.” Loghain rolled his eyes and walked a step away, running a hand through his black hair. It was a gesture of exasperation with which Maric was well familiar. “That is a prediction that almost anyone could safely make. She was trying to scare you, no doubt.” “She succeeded.” He turned and glared at Maric scornfully. “Did she not also tell you I was not to be trusted? Do you believe that now, too?” There was a tension in that look, and Maric knew why. The witch had said of Loghain, “Keep him close, and he will betray you. Each time worse than the last.” It was the only one of her pronouncements to which Loghain had been privy, and obviously he remembered it well. Perhaps he thought that if Maric believed one, he believed the other. Loghain had never betrayed him, not to his knowledge. It was something to keep in mind. “You think it’s a coincidence?” Maric asked, suddenly uncertain. “I believe this witch was serving her own purposes, and would lie about whatever she thought convenient. Magic is not to be trusted, Maric.” Loghain closed his eyes and then sighed. He shook his head slightly, as if what he was about to say was madness, but he opened his eyes anyhow and spoke with conviction. “But if you truly believe that the witch’s warning has merit, let me be the one to go into the Deep Roads, not you. Cailan needs his father.” “Cailan needs his mother.” His voice sounded hollow, even to himself. “And he needs a father who isn’t . . . I’m not doing him any good, Loghain. I’m not doing anyone any good here. It will be better if I’m out there, helping the kingdom.” “You are an idiot.” “What you need to do,” Maric ignored him, “is to stay. Look after Cailan. If something happens to me, you’ll need to be his regent and keep the kingdom together.” Loghain shook his head in frustration. “I can’t do that. Even if I believed this cryptic warning, I would not agree that it was worth placing you in the hands of these Orlesians. Not without an entire army to surround you.” Maric sighed and sat back in the throne. He knew that tone. When Loghain believed he was in the right, there was no dissuading him. He would sooner call the guards in here and attempt to have Maric locked up in the dungeon than see him do this. In Loghain’s mind, the Grey Wardens were Orlesian. The First Enchanter was Orlesian. This had to be some manner of plot—not that it would be the first. There had been several assassins over the years, as well as more than a few attempts by disaffected banns to overthrow him, and while Loghain could never prove that the Empire was behind them all, Maric did not disbelieve his theories. Perhaps he was even right about this. But what if he wasn’t? The witch had been crazy, almost certainly, but Maric still found it impossible to discount her words entirely. She had saved their lives, put them on the path out of the Korcari Wilds when otherwise they would have died. He had almost forgotten her warning about the Blight, but the very instant First Enchanter Remille had told him of the Wardens’ request for an audience, he had remembered. The thought of a Blight here in Ferelden was almost too much to bear. [...] Surely such a disaster was worth risking almost anything to avert. Loghain could dismiss the idea, but Maric was less convinced. What if the witch was correct? What if the whole point of receiving such a prophecy was that it gave you a chance to try to prevent it?

Here we have the mystery explained: Maric was told about the incoming Blight and that he would be dead by that time.

[...] “And here I thought it was the Commander’s charm,” Duncan quipped. Maric ignored him. “After my mother died, Loghain and I were lost in the Korcari Wilds trying to get away from the Orlesians,” he began, his voice solemn. “We met an old woman, a witch who saved us. She gave me a warning. She told me that a Blight was coming to Ferelden.” There was something more to his story, Fiona could see it. But he stopped there, snapping his mouth shut. Genevieve pondered the tale, and looked at Maric curiously. “A witch hiding in the Wilds? And you believe what she said?” “There were . . . other things she said that were true.” “Magic cannot see the future, Maric,” Fiona told him. “But there are visions. Mages can see them; you said so yourself.” He let out a long, ragged breath. “I don’t know if I trust her. I paid a high price for the witch’s words, however, and it just seems like too much of a coincidence if it isn’t true.” Fiona saw the shadow behind the man’s eyes. She didn’t know the full story of this witch, but she could see that its implications disturbed him. And he believed in what he had been told. But that was not so incredible, was it? Fiona believed in Genevieve’s vision. They all did. It was not difficult to believe that at the root of these visions lay the Blight, warnings against the coming disaster.

We learn that Maric was disturbed by the warning of the Blight, but also that he had paid a high price to be saved and informed of these things. The only thing I believe he was locked in a promise is what Yavanna says in the comic: He had to awake greater dragons that were sleeping, but somehow, he failed to his promise due to the kidnapping under Titus. Read the details in The Silent Grove .

Dragon Age: The Silent Grove

Flemeth is mentioned by another daughter, Yavanna, the Witch of the Wilds in the Tellari Swamps of Antiva, who reveals that Flemeth made Maric promise to come to the Silent Grove once his children were grown. She also says that Flemeth's ritual of possession that Morrigan feared is, in fact, a "gift."

Yavanna: I had no idea you had met my sister Alitair: Then you'll be shocked to hear how I encountered your mother. Flemeth likes sunsets, turning into things, and talking about how clever she is. I'm also told she possess her daughters. Y: Is that right? Ha! Alistair: What's so funny? Morrigan found out what Flemeth planned and we stopped it Y: That poor, confused child. It is a gift.

This coincide with the notes that Gaider shared few time ago about the planning of the scene of Flemeth's death or with the dev's notes inside the game [read Somewhere in the Crossroads [Ending]].

Conclusions

If we gather all the bits of information along the games, we have a more complete picture of Flemeth, her relationship with Mythal, and some degree of enlightenment about her goals:

She polymorphs into a Dragon [DAO], but we have a good amount of reasons to suspect she is a dragon, and probably one of the Greater Dragons that only are mentioned in the comics [The Silent Grove]. Since we find in Elvhenan ruins her mosaic as a mother of many [see Evanuris] but also as a dragon in the shape of a gate, we can suspect a double nature in her: Dragon and Evanuris/elvhen. This duality is one of the main reasons why we could suspect that the Evanuris who was Forgotten One and Creator [according the unreliable Dalish Legends] was her instead of Fen'Harel [since Solas told us he never was a god, and he has always been this elvhen we see, read Solas sharing Lore: Part 1 - Part 2 for refreshment]

She has a set of beliefs that justify and make her behaviour more understandable:

She believes that we have to doubt all what we know, which makes sense since the repeated theme in DA series is how unreliable history and stories are due to the nature of the political, social, and religious conditions in which they develop. She also reinforces a level of disinterest in trying to push the "truth" onto others. She is so tired and worn-out, and understands the "nature of humans" too deeply, that she knows that they will believe only in what they want to believe. It doesn't matter the truth, hence she does not put energy in sharing it, not even in those who are willingly to stay open minded for it ["They do not want the truth"]. When it comes to the truth, she claims it's not the end, but the beginning.

For her, names are useless. She is known across history by many names, and gives them no importance. This detail may say a lot: elvhenan put their goal and purpose in life in their own name; if she keeps part of this tradition in her Mythal mind, having no name is almost an equivalent of not having purpose.

Bodies are useless too: Mythal can take different bodies and be in different places at the same time. Flemeth has put a fragment of her in an amulet that allowed her to be raised in DA2 after potentially being killed in DAO. When you talk to her, you are informed that bodies are things that annoy her. This makes sense when we think in the shapeless culture that the Elvhenan had long time ago. Flemeth is a piece of a bigger thing, a bit lost and wandering in Thedas, a shadow that dies slowly under the sun, but also a flotsam to cling to in a chaotic storm. All images of someone broken, diminished, tarnished, agonizing, that still tries to survive because has one thing to accomplish: a destiny to fulfil. This terrible change in her was product of “things that happened that were never meant to happen" .

Flemeth has a clear goal and purpose, deeply related to the Revenge of Mythal. For that reason, she has been meddling in the History in order to orchestrate a big plan, which we, as players, have no idea about.

Betrayal and Revenge: Flemeth has this concept deeply attached to her persona. It's not only the Betrayal of Mythal by those "who attacked her Temple" and assassinate her, it's also Flemeth and a Betrayal from one of the men she was involved with, according to the unreliable tale of Conobar and Osen. If Mythal changed after the assasination, and her motherhood and Justice purpose were twisted and changed into Revenge, we may have conflicting lore about Elgar'nan and her [both with the same purpose of revenge]. This point is never clear with the games up to DAI.

However, via the Altar scene, we know she used to be called for revenge, even before the assasination, so Myhtal always had this aspect related to her.

"She was betrayed as I was betrayed - as the world was betrayed! " This line, so iconic, and in combination with all the proofs gathered in these posts, makes us suspect that the Betrayal of Myhtal is her assassination [at the hands of those that attacked her Temple, according to Abelas' words]. The Betrayal of Flemeth is also unknown, but we know it is related to a mixture of the several versions of her story with Conobar and Osen. But the betrayal of the world could mean the creation of the Blight that required brutal measures to be contained: hence the creation of the Veil and the destruction of the Elvhenan empire with it.

Flemeth remembers promises: According to Marethari, Flemeth always keeps her word, and has a good memory about those who made a pact and a promise with her. This is confirmed when Flemeth is surprised that Hawke kept their word.

Mythal, the elvhenan goddess: We know that Mythal is the embodiment of motherhood thanks to the unreliable Dalish legends, but also thanks to the only mosaic that shows her as an elvhenan [see Evanuris]. In this mosaic, she is depicted with a flaccid breast and five small creatures in her arms, as a symbol of breastfeeding babies. This version appears in the Temple of Mythal [Part 3], in the Emerald Graves: Din'an Hanin, and in the last platform where we fight Corypheus in DAI [Frostback Mountains: Somewhere North, although it's focused only on her elvhenan face]. However, there is another depicture of her: the dragon one, usually present in her Temple where she imparted Justice.

Motherhood and Justice: We know that Mythal represented these two concepts, and they were kept in the unreliable legends of the Dalish, as well as her "terrible" side, related to a certain degree of Wrath. The Dalish seem to justify this side as the "angry mother" side, but as we explore the games and focus on Flemeth, we discover that she always had a Revenge representation. Solas even confirms it in the Altar scene. This Revenge may be an interpretation of Justice, so it would still make sense. But it all depends on the degree of rationality that this revenge has in itself. Otherwise, it would have been crossing the same paths that Elgar'nan [if we can trust the representation that we have of him, since most of it comes from unreliable Dalish sources and elvhenan ones]. However, we always need to keep in mind Solas' words: Mythal was always a complex creature [hence more reasons to suspect her duality as Elvhenan/Evanuris and Forgotten One]

Blight and Grey Wardens: She seems to be aware of all the rituals and treaties related to the Grey Wardens. She also has enough power to always keep the darkspwan away, even when she lives in the place where the main outbreak happened [Kocari Wilds]. This is also implicity seen in Solas`case, in the comic The Missing; thanks to these powers that he absorved from Flemeth, he can hide in the Deep Roads overwhelmed by darkspawn while keeping himself safe from Venatori and other human dangers. This makes us suspect that Flemeth and/or Myhtal have a certain degree of command over the Blight. That Solas and Flemeth have a deep knowledge of the Blight and the Joining ritual of the Wardens is not surprising if we rememeber that these things may have come from the knowledge of ancient Arlathan elves [read Tarohne, the Fell Grimoire, and Xebenkeck for details]. Like Solas, she explicitly says that there is a bigger Evil behind the Blight, and it's what humanity should be worried about, not so much about the darkspwans [DAO].

Magic and powers that once were: Flemeth taught Morrigan a great deal of ancient magic related to forbidden rituals [DAO ending] or blood ancient magic. She encouraged in her daughters to preserve the powers of the Old at all cost [Morrigan] as well as give them the position of guardians of Dragons [Yavanna]. This makes us suspect that a lot of the ancient magic that Flemeth was always interested on preserving is related to ancient Dragons. Maybe this is a potential hint about the Forgotten Ones and the hypothesis that they may have been ancient powerful dragons that ruled the skies once [this was informed by Yavanna in The Silent Grove]

Foreseen powers: She seems to have a certain degree of foreseen powers, letting her know that Maric and Loghain will visit her in the Wilds, that our Warden in DAO was key in the survival of Ferelden, and that Hawke was useful for her due to a potential death at the hands of the Warden. Related to these powers comes the well known line "It's fate or chance? I can never decide". She also foresees a radical, inevitable change of the configuration of the world: "We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss." These powers don’t seem to be triggered at will; it seems she sees it in the moment she interacts with the person. She sees Loghain’s betrayal in the moment she sees him directly, as well as she sees Hawke’s usefulness in the moment she speaks to them face-to-face.

Via small hints in the concept art, we can relate Mythal with eyes that may represent her foreseeing abilites as well as her power of changing reality throuh dreams, giving us a clue that she is a dreamer, powers that we know via the comics Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep were part of the original powerful dragons that ruled the sky in the begining of the times.

Music: Flemeth talks about songs and music as a metaphor of the concept of "manipulation". Morrigan's song is the manipulation of the Warden to kill Flemeth. At other times, the concept of music is merely a metaphor of facts: Flemeth also is "dancing the same song", related to be killed by those who she helped or had some dedree of her trust [this may be a reflection of Mythal's story as well as Flemeth's with Conobar and Osen].

Dalish as the young, bright, and vibrant People: Flemeth, unlike any other elvhenan we saw in the series, has respect for the Dalish. She always claims they are vibrant and young, and they do not need to bend the knee before her [Merril] unless they truly know who she is [Elven Inquisitor].

We also know via Solas that the Evanuris are hard to kill [reason why he trapped them instead of killing them long ago], so we can assume the same characteristic applies to Mythal. If Mythal was “killed”, we can assume that whatever it happened had a big power considering how hard is to kill an evanuris, and even more so a powerful one as Mythal. Maybe this is the reason why she changed so much: death itself or the event that killed her changed her radically because it was too traumatic and extraordinary.

Worshipping of Mythal: Via Abelas, we know that Mythal does not like slaves; serving her has to be an act of volition; the person has to work on in order to acquire the "right to serve her". However, she abandoned her followers after the assassination. It seems that she changed so much that she could not or do not want to answer the prayers of her people [Abelas] nor the Dalish ones [Elven Inquisitor]. Even though it is not explicit, it seems to imply that answering those prayers would have been disastrous because she stopped being the Mythal they believe in, and now she is the embodiment of a terrible thing [maybe Vengeance itself? Maybe corruption? Hard to say]. If it's because she is now too related to Vengenace, it would bring some conflict to the lore and the representation of Elgar'nan. However, we were already warned that Mythal took Elgar'nan's place long time ago to pass judgement upon The People [The judgement of Mythal].

Mythal can use and activate eluvians to walk into the Fade, and this is a testament of her immense power. Apparently, Mythal and Flemeth are the strongest when they are in the Fade, or at least, in that part of the Fade when we meet her with Kieran [DAI]. This could be because the evanuris-elvhenan nature of Mythal, as a creature of the Fade, but it could also be due to her dragon nature. If we remember the comic Until We Sleep, we find out that dragons and their blood had a particular power in the Fade, they are basically Somniari or Dreamers, able to modify the Fade and turn it into reality.

Regrets: Flemeth claims she is so filled with regrets that they poisoned her [DA2]. Unfortunately, there is no more information about this aspect of her in other scenes.

Possession process: Flemeth describes her relationship with Mythal in a similar way that Anders does with Justice: they are one, hard to separate one from the other. We can suspect that the tale of Flemeth using her daughter’s bodies to extend her life may be a lie. Yavanna seems to laugh at that idea, as well as Flemeth does, but following her philosophy of “let them believe whatever they want”, she doesn’t clarify the idea. The strange thing in this piece of lore is that we don’t see this process in Kieran, who has a similar condition, in principle: an ancient being was hosted in his body. In his case, Flemeth is able to remove it without hurting the boy. The only other case we see in lore about de-posessing a person without harm is with the Avvar: the spirit is willing to leave the host without scarring them. Maybe this is what happens with Kieran, and thus his following commet after the process: he feels alone, like in the case of Sigrid Gulsdotten [read Stone-Bear Hold Avvars - Part 1]

Urthemiel piece: it seems that Flemeth has some level of command over Urthemiel to the point to ask him to reach for her in the Fade via the Eluvian. Both of them have a destiny to fulfil, whatever that is. We may suspect it is related to the revenge/justice of Mythal.

The Well of Sorrows is a device made of the will of all the high priests of Mythal. Despite being shown in the game as a reliable source of information, I would consider to treat it carefully since we are told it can be manipulated by Mythal herself.

#flemeth #mythal #elvhenan #yellow mosaic #high speculation #well of sorrows #evanuris

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