#mac and chee

[planckstorytime]

Your Journey Ends: A Parting Retrospective on Dragon Age (Part Three)

III. In Death, Sacrifice

Perhaps owing to the strengths of its roleplaying mechanics and the degree of agency afforded to the player to craft the story, Origins might be the most thematically tenuous of the first three entries. Disparate outcomes to scenarios confound most attempts to synthesize some sort of deeper meaning (if you believe in that sort of thing). However, recurrent themes, motifs, and conflicts still persist as the basis for many of the events that otherwise unfold at the player’s discretion.

Chief among these ideas is the tension between the inevitability of death and how characters go about defying it. The threat of death looms throughout Origins, as the impending Fifth Blight prepares to ravage all of Fereldan. It’s palpable as soon as you enter the village of Lothering: Death is on his way; he’s just waiting to get his travel papers stamped.

The story’s major agents are those that have contended with, or currently are contending with, their relationship with death. For some of them, the threat of death is a constant companion. Fan favorite Morrigan espouses a strict survivalist mentality, believing that the weak are not worth saving, and that a person should take advantage of every opportunity to strengthen their position in the face of a hostile world. She’s not the only one with a brutal worldview. Sten lives with the shame of losing both his sword (without which he will be slain on sight upon returning to his homeland) and his temper, having butchered an innocent family of farmers. With a disgraceful death awaiting his homecoming, he chooses to seek a more virtuous end by fighting against the Blight. Similarly, the Legion of the Dead among the dwarves holds preemptive funerals for its soldiers before marching them into the Deep Roads to face certain doom at the hands of darkspawn. The perky dwarf companion Sigrun embraces this fate, seeking to face her predetermined death head-on. Death’s allure also calls to Leliana. She danced with death regularly in her former life as a bard and spy for the Orlesian court, reveling in the mortal thrill of the fanged pageantry. However, after being betrayed and tortured, she was miraculously blessed with a second chance at life, which she uses as an opportunity to start over as a kinder, gentler soul.

Others seek to bargain with death, to avoid their fate at all costs. To save the poisoned Arl Eamon of Redcliffe, desperate son Connor conjures a demon to prolong his life. After vanquishing the fiend, the party must seek out the legendary ashes of Andraste in order to fully restore the arl to the world of the living. Not everyone needs a grail quest in order to be saved, however. Zevran Ariani, a dealer of death by profession, can be spared by his own target – thereby making him a target for his former masters. Similarly, the player can choose to spare the main antagonist, Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir, despite everything he’s done, so long as he pledges himself to the party’s service. At this point, his death itself becomes a currency – one he intends to cash in during the final battle with the Archdemon, thereby restoring some semblance of his honor.

Negotiating with death looks like child’s play next to those outright cheating it. If there’s an old wizard in Dragon Age: Origins, chances are they’re using their magic to prolong their existence. Flemeth, the infamous Witch of the Wilds, has survived centuries by stealing the bodies of her daughters. Even if the player chooses to slay her, it’s far from the last we see of her. Locked in his tower for two hundred years, Avernus maintains his body through unspeakable experiments. Zathrian of the Dalish elves has bound his life essence to a werewolf curse, allowing him to live for centuries. And Wynne, the wizened mage of the party, survives only because of a Spirit of Faith dwelling inside of her. A similar entity, Justice, props up the corpse of Grey Warden Kristoff, granting the body a second life (albeit not the soul). Among the dwarves, the need for tireless vanguards against the darkspawn prompted the smith Caridin to turn himself and others, including party member Shale, into immortal golems – souls affixed to stone bodies.

And yet, all of these examples eventually need to pay the toll. Wynne lives on borrowed time, doomed to expire at some point after the journey. Caridin will die one way or another regardless of the player’s choices. Even Flemeth would eventually meet her end – albeit, not for another two entries. With the others all potentially dying based upon player choice, Origins seems to be commenting that death cannot truly be cheated.

Which leads us to the true Death Houdini of the game: the player character, The Warden. Each of the six origin stories sees the protagonist facing death, be it the Harrowing, the Howe massacre, or the blighted Eluvian corrupting their body. The game implies that every origin story canonically occurs, but the one that the player picks just happens to be the character that Duncan rescues from certain death. Inducted into the Grey Wardens, the main character emerges as the sole survivor of the often fatal Joining ritual. Nevertheless, absorbing darkspawn corruption through the Joining destines them to a shortened lifespan, fraught by nightmares and eventual madness. After escaping death at Ostagar with fellow Warden Alistair, the two discover that they are the last remaining members of their order in the country, with the others all having perished in the battle. Repeatedly, the Warden beats the odds where so many others meet their ends. By the eve of the final battle, the Warden discovers that the only way to kill the Archdemon, which insidiously subverts death by hopping to the bodies of its underlings, is to sacrifice the life of a Grey Warden. Yet Morrigan offers the Warden an alternative, wherein they can conduct a ritual to save their life, at the price of her bearing the Archdemon’s soul as a child. At this juncture, I’m not sure which choice is more narratively satisfying. Sacrificing the Warden’s life, solemnly accepting the death that they’ve avoided until this time in order to end the conflict, seems like a perfect finale for the character, especially considering all we’ve learned about cheating death from the other examples. On the other hand, Morrigan’s own arc in Inquisition feels much more satisfying if you take her up on her bargain. But I suppose that’s the beauty of Origins – there aren’t always clear-cut answers, either on moral grounds or dramatic ones.

I believe Origins effectively utilizes the dreaded inevitability of death to highlight the struggle of life, to show that living, even for a little bit, is a blessing. It allows you to grow, meet people, and make a difference. Without the sense of impending doom, those final goodbyes at the gates of Denerim wouldn’t hit as hard. The Warden might not make it out at the end, but their repeated defiance of death, even if ultimately futile, enables them to forge meaningful relationships and live an important life.

After Origins, I couldn’t wait for what the series had in store. I eagerly anticipated the follow-up, where I expected to visit distant Orlais, find out what happened to Morrigan’s potential god-child, and uncover more truths behind the mysteries of the Blight.

I had no idea how wrong I was.

Full article: https://planckstorytime.wordpress.com/2025/03/29/your-journey-ends-a-parting-retrospective-on-dragon-age/

[scummy-writes]

Had that odd moment of "i need to work on my descriptions", zoned out at work, then suddenly had 500 words of gilbert sex with descriptions I was very happy about. What spirit posessed me.

[cr0ws-cha0t1c-c0llect10n]

i wamt dinosaur nuggets and mac n cheese :{

[impulsesv-but-everywhere]

thank you for impulseSVing everywhere im giving a hug (unless mod doesn't want one)

Thank you Anon just for you I accept ^_^

[awephooey]

Aw, look at those arms your arms look so fucking cute they look like 'lil cigarettes I bet I could smoke you

[g33kyr0b0t]

gonna attempt making pasta sauce. wish me luck

[clumsyhusky06]

too.. much.. macaroni..

[semiferalstreetcoyote]

just big enough for one (1) meaty head

[habitual-creatures]

I L0V3 H0T D0GS IN MY MAC N CH33S3. IT WAS TH3 G0-T0 QUICK DINN3R F0R TH3 FAMILY WH3N 3V3RY0N3 WAS F33LING A LITTL3 LAZY.

*DISC0RD nabs a cup of coco*

THIS SM3LLS W0ND3RFUL, FR0ST.

~CHA0TICALLY, DISC0RD/🕕

Oh my god it does-

[baaaa-king]

I wish to be burned at the stake.

[startersword]

Had the most scrumptious chicken sandwich earlier btw :3

[evengirlierballs]

DIVORCIO!!

I don't really care about Pokemon, but I can't not share this clip after seeing it

[aurelius-food-inspiration]

[jadipose]

She doesn't just need the carbs. She cherishes the carbs. Lives by the carbs.

this bo+dy in particular is built by carbs

[the-kneesbees]

any recommendations for some food I can keep in the freezer/cabinets and heat up real quick if I get hungry?

[smollbean12637]

IM MAKING FUCKING MAC AND CHEES AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!!!!