#dragon age blue wraith spoilers

[spikypauldron]

Blue Wraith

*crying*

da:o

da2

inq

[lylith8writes]

Spoiler for Dragon Age: Blue Wraith

If you haven’t read the Blue Wraith comic for Dragon Age, please stop reading.

The spoiler I’m discussing isn’t anything huge, but it really stood out to me.  Fenris says something to the effect that when people think you have outlived your usefulness, they drop you/abandon you.  It was an expression of bitterness over how the friends/companions in DA2 went their separate ways and you can tell he feels abandoned by his former firends, and has taken it on as cold armor (even though he takes time to scitch a mabari <3).  It really made me sad since I don’t think the others thought they were done with him, etc.  Life gets in th way and boy have their lives gotten in the way.  But for Fenris to think this... it kills me a little.  And it also speaks to feelings I’ve had with friends I no longer keep in touch with, etc.  I was really surprised by that moment in the comic and wonder if this gives further fodder to a possibility of seeing him in the next game.  Like, I’m imagining some nightmare scenario where the pc will have to fight old companions, Fenris being one of them, etc. 

Agh.  Just some thoughts I had to get off my chest. 

[felassan]

Thoughts/wonderings on Dragon Age: The Missing #2, under a cut due to spoilers for The Missing (not just #2) and for the recent leaks:

Overall I think issue 2 was more interesting and more exciting than issue 1. I don't mean this in a bad way about issue 1; it's just that issue 1 had a lot of catching up to do ('here's what's happened since you were last in Thedas') and setup both for Varric&Harding (they should open a detective agency together)'s current quest and for future issues in this series. that was quite a lot of setup and the comic issues only have a few pages. now in Issue 2, the story is properly starting off and the plot thickens etc.

continuing the theme of issue 1 (which is: Varric Is Having A Very Bad And Terrible Time), this issue opens with Varric groaning and cursing. it really is like this huh.. "shit", he says, while.. stepping in shit.. it's eponymous. eponymous suffering.

change in art style and artist from issue 1. if memory serves, Fernando Heinz Furukawa is the artist who worked on some previous DA comics such as Dark Fortress and Blue Wraith. here's Varric portrayed by Fernando in Knight Errant:

and here's Varric now in The Missing #2

it's day and night! he looks Older and more tired, and also maybe redesigned (outfit, scar etc). if this comic is set around 9:52 or shortly beforehand, he's over 50 years old now since he was born in 9:1. according to this tweet of Fernando's, it wasn't Fernando who did a redesign, BioWare had sent along the reference for Varric for this comic. are we looking at Varric's DA:D Era (Dad Era..) Redesign? is this how he'll look in DA:D? if so why did he look the same as usual in issue 1 - was it a recent decision of BioWare's that happened after issue 1 had been illustrated but before 2 was drawn? or is it just differing art styles between issues - I notice that each of the 4 issues of this comic has a different artist. it will be someone else again in issue 3, so I'll guess we'll find out based on what he looks like in issue 3 :) also, a different artist for each issue is an interesting choice - is it to showcase as many different peoples' talents as possible?

We don't see much of Vyrantium in this issue but from what we do see I think it looks cool

Harding's hair is definitely red/orange here. in one leak the person wrote that there was a rogue lady dwarf party member. in another the person implied via emoji codes (hh) that one of the companions that they saw is a lady with red hair. with these in mind plus Harding's presence and appearance in this DA:D lead-in comic, I wanna speculate that Harding is a companion in DA:D. if Harding is and Varric isn't, I'd be down with that! I'd rather he isn't a companion again, and this setup would provide a lady dwarf companion, an ascended extra (see: Cole, Merrill etc), and the familiar returning face/Inquisition representative on the team without filling up a slot with someone who has already had a turn at being a companion. maybe, like Charter says in issue 1, Varric builds the team, but instead of joining it in person himself, it's Harding who joins the DA:D roster and he's around doing some stuff in the background like giving quests or advising or something. Varnick Fury...

last time we checked in on the Qunari invasion of Tevinter, they had invaded Neromenian (Dark Fortress). before that they invaded Carastes (Blue Wraith) and Ventus/Qarinus (Deception). now the Antaam have progressed towards Vyrantium and are laying siege to it. this shows the passage of time between our looks at Thedas and that that the world isn't static, and it keeps building the backdrop in Tevinter of the Antaam invasion as a potential background plotpoint for DA:D (reminds me of the mage-templar war in the background of DA:I). the Tevinters don't seem to be having much luck in this war, losing city after city to the Antaam.

looking at this progress map below, I'm reminded of this line from Dread Wolf Take You in Tevinter Nights: "I fear everything east of Vyrantium will be under their control inside a year, and northern Antiva as well", said by the Mortalitasi at the meeting Charter attended. we're seeing this come to pass now, and if it roughly followed that projected timescale it gives us a bit of insight into when Charter's meeting with Solas in TN took place relative to the effective prologue to DA:D (this comic). if the Antaam keep this up, I guess the next settlement is Marnas Pell and then onto Asariel. Minrathous has famously never fallen to siege or invasion. I guess you could still effectively choke a country by capturing all of its other cities besides the main one though. maybe the plan is to take the rest and Minrathous would be the last hold out? its food supplies in the Catacombs will only last a year

"You think Solas would have crawled through a city's worth of shit to get here?" felt like a bookend to Varric's comment in the previous issue, "It fits, though. A refuge in the ass end of nowhere is exactly Solas’s style". at this point varric sounds like he's talking about an ex who jilted him lmao. and probably not, Varric, he's probably fast-travelling around as it suits him via the eluvian network. I thought the highlighting of sense of timing, how long it took them to get there, how rough the road there was and the obstacles they went through to reach their destination was interesting. maybe it's a precursor (for the sake of creating contrast) to the possible upcoming 'travelling around via eluvians' stuff from the recent leak? to the possible plotpoint of 'here's how the Inquisition remnants have eluvian access now'? it's taken them weeks to walk from Marnas Pell to Vyrantium, which gives a sense of the scale of Thedas and emphasizes travel time outside of in-game 'fast travel' mechanics. Solas is basically leading them on a wild goose chase in this comic series all over Tevinter. given his effective teleportation relative to their having to walk for weeks to get between cities, he has them at a massive disadvantage.

new locations in the lore: Armael Hills, Wava River/Wava River crossing. given that they have travelled from Marnas Pell to Vyrantium, these must be places in Tevinter.

"food poisoning" ye sure okay bud. at the end of issue 1, Varric was after a stiff drink. this panel is a smart bit of continuity from that, and also, BioWare must have fully known what they were doing with this panel lmao.. on a serious note though I hope Varric is doing okay like, and this was just a hangover after a celebration like he says, rather than part of his recent tired/sad/kinda strugglin vibe. otherwise coupled with his older tireder more haggard look it reminds me a bit of Ser Aaron which is sad to think about :( (RIP)

lmao the valet was really like "You? The noble famous Viscount of Kirkwall? but you're so scrungly, stinky and oldlooking.. No. It can't be so. Bye"

if Lady Crysanthus has been 'indisposed' for months it means Solas was here months ago. that's confirmed when they mention about how the bedroom hasn't been used in months. they're so many steps behind him and would continue to be - the walking distance between Vyrantium and Arlathan Forest is even further than that between Marnas Pell and Vyrantium.

I enjoyed how their cover story was "Hi I'm Varric", they walked straight up to the front door, showed themselves and told him who they were, and then broke in talking about how they're supposed to be being subtle lmao. (also that setup for the house going up in flames at the end and condemning the lady's husband to death so dramatically, LOL subtle indeed. I guess it was them being ironic). so knocking on the door was Harding's suggested approach, Varric had initially suggested breaking in and they decided to try Harding's way first. that's nice, it contrasts them as characters and carries on that idea from their discussion in issue 1 about their two different suggested ways for approaching/dealing with stuff/Solas if they found him

so about Varric's redesign, he has speed stripes now/salt and pepper hair, and where/when did he get that big serious scar? also would you take Varric's hand and trust him, even though he's like, a pathological liar? after that panel i would ok

their dynamic is cute

Tevinter architecture is cool (red glass windows) and I like those lil Tevinter wind chime looking things. inside the bedroom there are serpents coiling around the bed posts.

Harding was right after all, and had the smarts to check under the sheet. she looks shook when they discover Crysanthus. and no wonder, of course the only person they know who can turn people to stone is Solas. from the lady's outstretched 'Stop!' arm and scared facial expression, it doesn't look like she and Solas were having a pleasant conversation when he did this.

that wall mural... lmao. the dog looks kind of like a mabari, which I guess I could see since they originated in Tevinter. my random obscure headcanon is that this ~Decadence~ mural is supposed to, by in-universe artists, depict the golden age of the Imperium when it ruled most of Thedas and before the mabari defected to the 'barbarians' of the south hh

shoutout again to Harding's cool looking cape

Teia and Viago!!!! as the front cover prophecy foretold!! man we knew it was coming but i still went OOOOOO at them appearing. their entrance and they in general was/are so cool. they look amazing!!

wing-like motif on their outfits, fitting for Crows :) hh, Harding knows immediately that they are Crows. also "subtle".. :)

lmao he's so done

I enjoyed the banter back and forth at this point, it was fun :)

Harding's freckles 🥺

The question is, who put out this contract on Crysanthus to the Crows and why? it must have been a pretty big deal (the person who took out the contract and/or the reason for taking it out), otherwise what are two Talons from two different Houses doing on a job in Tevinter when the Antaam is currently invading Antiva and we know from TN that the Crows including Teia and Viago (Eight Little Talons) were going to be taking the defense of Antiva seriously?

So the Inquisition remnants are still basically "The Inquisition" when it comes to name-dropping, and Varric 'my cover is hi I'm Varric also I'm gonna break in now' Tethras has no qualms about telling a pair of Crows they've just met that they're working with the Inquisition. whereas he omits mentioning Solas specifically by name. I guess "Inquisition" is an easier sell than "The Dread Wolf"

also interesting, why are the Crows concerned about a Tevinter mage possibly working with the Venatori, or about the Venatori planning a possible concerted move against the Imperium, or about stopping that? I'm reminded of TN where we learned that a mysterious patron had contracted the Crows to kill a bunch of prominent Venatori (Lucanis' story). some of the Venatori were scared about that, particularly of the aforementioned notorious Crow, "The Demon", who had been doing a lot of these contracts. the Venatori said that they wouldn't cower to foreign mercs like the Crows. and it was implied that the anonymous hirer was elfy, as they gave Lucanis assistance/info about a magic secret passage inside a statue of a vhenadahl, the passage of which was lit with veilfire and guarded by an elf, Athima, who was sent by their patron. then Lucanis died or "died" and we saw his wake, which Teia and Viago were at. and now here are Teia and Viago in Tevinter on a contract job to take out yet another Venatori/Venatori collaborator. are they continuing where Lucanis left off? Crows, the Venatori, and Solas... curiouser and curiouser

the fight scenes in this comic were cool. Varric at one point doesn't even draw Bianca, he just socks someone in the face like POW

Viago with his poisoned rapier/poisons again, ice cold but also like, what a nerd

when the secret door opens Harding is like > :) hhh

when the valet says "You've killed us all just by being here", is it Lady Crysanthus' husband that he's thinking about or someone else? the Venatori? the person who turned the lady to stone?

so Lady Crysanthus was a spymaster who had records and notes on many known Venatori agents, as well as maps and papers relating to their plans to get a magical artifact/magical weapon called the Crucious Stone out of Arlathan Forest. she was also helping Venatori operate in Tevinter. given this, why would she invite Solas to come and talk to her? their mutual interest in the Stone? was the invitation even for Solas, or did he or whoever was using the room in the Deep Roads get it from the person it was actually supposed to be for after he/they got wind of this scheme?

the Stone can bring the Imperium to its knees. that would explain why the Venatori, who are apparently plotting a move against the Imperium (to.. make it great again? I guess they have to take it down or take it over before they can make it great again?), would want it. Solas isn't a fan of the Imperium - is he interested in this Stone because he'd also like to impact Tevinter, or because he needs to use the Stone's powers for his plans relating to the Veil or similar? (I'd think more the latter than the former) Any relation to, or how does it tie in to, the Orb or the idol?

Also I wonder about the specifics of the stone's powers. to bring the whole Imperium to its knees.. we must be talking blood magic? I'd guess? plus some Veil wibbly-wobbly Fadey stuff too, if the last page of the comic is anything to go by. also, the shape of the stone reminds me of the sarcophagus from Dark Fortress. that artifact was of unknown origin but built to fit an elf and there were some possibly elfy aspects to its design..

"Monologue about it, who knows?" // "Is this a contract or an old flame?" // "Well..." killed me hhhh

Viago asking the Important Questions

Stone Fist

Teia is badass

nice group takedown, again a party with majority dwarves and elves :)

Varric's one liner while the guy stabbed through the wrist crushed by a broken statue of his beloved departed wife while he burns to death is. stone cold.

this time around there's a reason why they didn't gather up a bunch of papers/books from the Secret Den, it was going up in flames and they had to escape. makes sense. I still wonder why they didn't take those books with them from the Deep Roads room in issue 1 hh.

in the panel where they are back outside on the streets of Vyrantium, the column of smoke from the burning house can be seen in the background going up into the sky, and off to the right in green is the figure that Teia clocks in the next panels.

Cat

presumably the possible Venatori assassin is the Venatori we saw tailing Varric&Harding at the end of issue 1.

Varric and Harding leave Teia and Viago on a positive note which is nice. I hope we meet them for a bit in DA:D :)

also since it was confirmed that the characters in this comic are Teia and Viago, I think again about the 'this comic is introducing us/re-introducing us to various factions/groups who are players on the chess-board or otherwise of note in DA:D' idea. Issue 1 had Wardens, 2 the Crows, 3 looks to be the Veil Jumpers. also since it was Teia and Viago, I'm also once again wondering if the two Veil Jumpers will be Strife and Irelin, who we know are in a Dalish clan that lives in/near Arlathan Forest. (also I enjoyed the confirmation in this comic that a few/multiple Dalish clans live in Arlathan Forest. those clans, like Morlyn, sound super interesting due to the magical/ancient nature of the Forest)

About the last page of the comic, the tree branches give an elfy vibe, and that structure in the distance being upside down gives a Fadey and/or Arlathan Forest's current time/space topsyturvyness vibe. could the archway in the structure be an eluvian? is this how they get eluvian travel? is this what's in the heart of Arlathan Forest, or is it somewhere in there where the Veil is thin and the time/space reality warping has influenced things? did Dalish elves build those walkways?

the synopsis for Issue 3 is as follows:

Following their adventure in Vyrantium, Varric, and Harding travel to Arlathan Forest in search of the crucious stone. When the duo finds themselves face-to-face with a pair of Veil Jumpers, they decide to team up. Finding what they seek will have them up against puzzling obstacles, and their success could depend on the allies they can gather.

this is the issue in this comic that I'm most excited about. I'm so hyped to meet the Veil Jumpers AAAAAA!! [cat.yodeling.png]

[vigilskeep]

if you don't mind i would like to share some of my personal velanna madness.

on the wiki under blue wrath comic (this is kind of a spoiler zone?) it says that apparently originally the person trying to replicate fenris' tattoos was going to be velanna, but they scrapped the idea.

and so i made up my own version of the events in which velanna is actually on the team with fenris instead, investigating this whole thing together. because that would be insane. and im a dragon age fan, so clearly im sane and normal.

im really just saddened by velanna erasure by bioware since they seem to keep coming up with ideas for her and then scrapping them :(

i would love to respond to this thoughtfully despite never having read blue wraith but im instantly paralysed by what an intensely bad team velanna and fenris would be under any circumstances. can you even imagine. the sheer amount of bickering. good lord

[weirdefilippis]

I recently began playing Elden Ring, and reread the Blue Wraith comics as well. Now I can't stop thinking about how Shirallas would probably sound like Scott Arthur, who voiced Blaidd...its my personal headcanon now. I had remembered how you guys once adressed your headcanon voices for the comic characters/who would be their actors, thought I might add.

Haven't played it, but will check out clips and see.

We don't always need to hear voices in our head to write dialogue, but on Dragon Age it was more important, because some characters had voices already cast and when we wrote them, we would need to make sure it fit the voice acting we knew and loved. So since we were doing it for Varric, Fenris, Dorian, and Sebastian, we had to start doing it for Vaea, Aaron, and company.

[mascindulgence]

understanding

[simonjadis]

very important dragon age lore

[spandexinspace]

Fenris in Blue Wraith #1

[princess-ali-rose]

[crystalbull]

Everyone:*draws Leto/Fenris with black or brown hair*

Actual Leto/Fenris: BLONDE

[dalishious]

I love Francesca’s new look in Blue Wraith #1! 

I also feel like the abandonment of her fancy dress for travelling clothes is a good physical representation for her apparent desire to steel herself to find and impress her father?

[loquaciousquark]

[felassan]

About the Dragon Age: The Missing #3 plot synopsis (under a cut due to spoilers) -

Following their adventure in Vyrantium, Varric, and Harding travel to Arlathan Forest in search of the crucious stone. When the duo finds themselves face-to-face with a pair of Veil Jumpers, they decide to team up. Finding what they seek will have them up against puzzling obstacles, and their success could depend on the allies they can gather.

the "crucious stone" sounds like another macguffin. will it be comic-exclusive, or one that will be of relevance in or that crops up during DA:D? and what is its function, what are its powers? the first thing it reminded me of was the Cruciatus curse (Crucio) from HP, the Torture Curse which inflicts excruciating physical pain on the target. 'crucio' apparently means 'I torture' and 'Cruciatus' apparently takes its name from the Latin for pain or torture. but I don't go here (to languages, word meanings and etymology hh) so those words might not even be related at all x) it also sounds like "crucial", important.. crucious.. in-world it sounds like it could be derived from Tevene stuff? in the comic issue prior they've travelled from Vyrantium after having spoken to who sounds like a Tevinter magister, so maybe the Lady Chrysanthus gave them this lead?

and what's Varric&Harding's (they should open a private detective agency together hh) interest in the stone? do they want to get it to use its powers to help their cause, or do they need to get it to stop those they're trying to act against from acquiring it for their plans? they're on a quest to find Solas in this comic series right, so what's his relation to the stone? is he trying to find it, does he want it? have they been told that he's (or his agents) after it or that they should get it because it could help stop him? I also wonder what it's doing in Arlathan Forest? maybe rather than Tevene its ancient elven? last time we got a look in there, Strife had noticed something had gone wrong in the forest. time and space was stretching and folding weirdly, reality warping, and he and Irelin saw echoes or mirages of themselves running around. mysterious entries had begun appearing in the relic journal of the Morlyn clan describing sacred ruins in there guarding a powerful fabled artifact, a halla figurine that Irelin grabs during that story. when Varric&Harding arrive, will they also be facing this sort of thing (mad sylvans, reality& time/space warping)? is the crucious stone similarly guarded by sacred ruins? could it have something to do with what's gone wrong in the Forest? even when Irelin succeeds in grabbing the figurine, Strife still feels that something has gone wrong in there.

also really excited to see inside Arlathan Forest in general, thistime with lots of images due to it being in comic format. we went in there in a short story in TN, there's an accompanying image to the Strife/Irelin short story, and part of Blue Wraith was set near it, but to see inside proper with many images.. (๑*ᗜ*) last time we heard from Strife and Irelin they were there too, my idle daydream is that we get to meet them in this comic :D

btw from marnas pell to vyrantium to arlathan forest Varric&Harding have been on a eastward track. if issue 4 continues the trend and has them leaving the Forest, maybe in issue 4 they'll hit the White Spire or Brynnlaw?

now, the most interesting part of the plot blurb is of course the Veil Jumpers!!! my immediate thought was that maybe these are the Triangle Guys? they're mysterious and new, they have weapons and gear with floating bits on them (Fadey and obviously Fade - Veil), they're elfy, they've been shown in landscapes with floating rocks (Fadey), their weapons glow Fade-green, they appeared in a DA:D trailer (archer), going by the art piece accompanying the Strife and Irelin short story Strife may be connected to them.. maybe the two Veil Jumpers Varric&Harding meet are Strife and Irelin, and it turns out that's why Strife & Irelin are kinda mysterious and seem to know stuff (got that feeling from them in TN), because they belong to this group. the blurb makes it sound like Varric and Harding decide to team up with the two Veil Jumpers, which means Veil Jumpers are people/people-like beings that have the capacity to make decisions and the like, not just a new kind of mob or something.

this comic series is an official lead-in to DA:D. are the Veil Jumpers a new faction we will meet in DA:D? are they pro-Solasplans or anti-Solasplans? where do they fit into all this? can Solas, the Fade Walker, Veil Jump himself? is "Veil Jumper" the name for the mages of the faction, and are those that can jump all mages, or for the faction as a whole and they can all jump? if they're mages could it be a mage specialization in DA:D? if they can all jump is it innate power they all have or have gained, or tied to something like their triangle floaty gear?

in X-Men, Nightcrawler teleports himself by displacing himself into the Brimstone Dimension, travelling through it, and then returning to his own dimension at a certain distance from his point of departure. "Jumper" implies speed, as opposed to like, slowly opening a portal and entering it like you're walking through a gateway at an airport, or the Inquisitor, holding up the Anchor and pointing it at a rift for a while to close it. so this is what it reminds me of. blinking in and out of (seemingly) existence. maybe it works like this: they effectively jump back and forth across the Veil, to someone in the mundane world appearing to vanish in front of them. they then travel some distance through the Fade (time seems to be of less import there), then jump back across the Veil, materializing somewhere else in the mundane world? maybe they're elves who've gotten control of part of the eluvian network, or have their own similar means of travel, and they travel around Thedas by using the Crossroads? where do they usually live? in Arlathan Forest somewhere or in a pocket dimension? there are enclaves of ancient elves kicking about Thedas ("your people yet linger") somewhere.

Fenris' lyrium tattoos give him the ability to phase through solid objects and this is somehow connected to the Fade. Danarius' work was based on his research on an ancient treatise which described the process. it's theorized that the treatise was ancient elven, it's also theorized that there's some connection to vallaslin. maybe the Veil Jumpers are like Fenris power-wise, but dialled up and aware of how to use the power fully (since it's their own art, not something someone not of them recreated based on a scroll and then imposed on someone else, with neither the imposer or the person he did it to being aware of what it fully/really is), to the extent that they can jump back and forth across the Veil at will? there are also skills like Fade Step ("You let invisible waves of magic carry you forward, blurring ahead a short distance") and Fade Cloak ("You surround yourself with the magic of the Veil itself. You are briefly invulnerable and can pass through enemies unharmed"). it's easy to imagine a new type of person/class/faction based on this sort of thing, especially if it was a group of people who have ancient magic and know more about Fade stuff. or maybe Veil Jumping can only be done in places where the Veil is thin? Arlathan Forest is one such place. that could be a nice way of limiting the power, so that if we had a Veil Jumper squadmate and there's a locked door in an area we're exploring, they wouldn't be able to Jump to the other side to unlock it unless we were specifically in a place where the Veil is thin. and whats their interest in the stone?

this was a brainrot ramble but I'm rly excited to meet the Veil Jumpers, whoever they are :)

[faerunandferelden]

I was not emotionally prepared to see Fenris get his tattoos in the newest Blue Wraith installation 😭

[weirdefilippis]

Hey question cause I wanna title something right, does your guys's comic saga have a name other than the names of the different comics? Like the story from Magekiller to Dark Fortress, does it have a title? Thank you for your time.

Some people have taken to calling them the "Post-Inquistion Comics" and shortened that to "Postquisition."

We have occasionally called them the Knights Errant saga, since it ultimately is about Ser Aaron getting to a place where he offers Vaea a chance to follow his path, the path of the Knight Errant.

But the last three miniseries, the ones set in Tevinter, have a name. We had to wait to divulge that one, though. Now that the collection is out, we can say it: Wraiths of Tevinter

[visceralcoma]

The many faces of Fenris in issue 2 of Blue Wraith