#tinfoil-dragon

[ninamodaffari]

re: the little guy

when & how did he get horns! is there any particular meaning behind his forehead design &/or why it changed? how is he doing on a spiritual level, what are his hobbies and his least favorite drink, does the color red have any particular meaning to him (lots of red in his design), and why does he adventure/risk his life on the reg

OH BOY FANTASTIC QUESTIONS.

yuri got his horns from his patron as a 'gift' and a show of his power. preface: he was having an emotional breakdown because of his boyfriend at the time, a tiefling named valour, who was being a bit of a dick. Yuri wanted to return back to his former gangleader (the devil you know), but his Patron was basically like 'lets not do that and as a bonus here's some horns -- you always were horny, hehe)

for his forehead tattoo! the original design of the anchor and dot was put there by his former gang-leader of the Doomed Orphans. it represented the anchor that would all drag them down to the depths of oblivion one day, and the single dot represented the orphan, alone. after he killed said former abuser, his friend took him to a tattoo artist to have it redone, symbolically. it's an abstract shape, but represents expanding wings and rising above previous turmoil!

spiritually...yuri is...in a tough spot. His Patron is a literal devil, wanting to remake Yuri in his image (aka lawful evil). Yuri is decidedly not that. at his core, Yuri's a good kid who has been put through the ringer of bad experiences. he makes bad decisions and is mischievous and chaotic, I would peg him as chaotic good at best and chaotic neutral at worst.

hobbies: woodcarving, worm farming, general arts & crafts, taking care of his pet rat and ferret, sex..........

least favorite drink: water anything too sweet, like hot chocolate, would probably turn him off

red is a primary color I use in him to represent his devil patronage! it's also just Yuri's favorite color (and mine), and he would argue that it's a good color to hide bloodstains

AND to why he risks his life on the regular and do adventures? because he would be dead if not for his friends, and he loves doing this with them. before he was alone and had no one else, but now he has a boyfriend, a career, an education, and a future.

thank you soooo much for all the questions!!! <3 i am truly grateful

[mrs-gauche]

So, I *think* I've calmed down enough to form coherent sentences about this trailer now, after watching this about a gazillion times. 😂 There is just SO much in this and I still can't believe it's all real.. I feel like people have already dissected every single frame anyway, so here are just my poor two cents (that's a lie, it's an essay lol), I'm sure 90% of this has probably already been said lol, but I just had to write my thoughts down, so there you go. 🫠

But first, can I just ask you guys this.. Does anyone else feel SO friggin overwhelmed every time something huge like this drops? 😂😭 Like, I LOVE the collective excitement and freaking out over all this with the fandom together in real time, and maybe it's because I'm not a native English speaker, but I'm watching the trailer live and within like fifteen minutes there are already a bazillion notifications, messages, people have already made hundreds of theory posts, edits, fanart and shitposts, meanwhile I'm sitting here still looking at the FIRST FRAME and trying to process what I'm even looking at. lmaoo Like, it takes me SO long to take it fully in, calm down and look at ALL of it in detail, while I go radio silent for like two hours, making people think I just died watching the trailer, I guess. lmaooo So.. sorry if it takes me forever until I even go on here and look at everything you guys are posting. 💀 <3

Anyway, so first of all, I'd like to just generally say... Everything about this blew. me. away.

Look. After like 20 years of watching BioWare's entire animation catalogue of the same 25 movements in every cutscene, that it would make you jump every time a character but even slightly moved differently than everyone else, we're now getting a game that is SO INCREDIBLY CINEMATIC, SO SMOOTH, unlike any BioWare game before. A game where everyone just moves and expresses emotions like their own person, making everything a hundred times more immersive and impactful!!

Not only that but there's a BioWare game now with PHENOMENAL LOOKING HAIR and REALISTIC HAIR PHYSICS. Guys, do you understand this is HISTORY??? lmao We've been asking for this for YEARS and it's happening!! 😭

And the cinematography? THE CINEMATOGRAPHY?? Just looking at that very FIRST LOCATION SHOT alone. The camerawork, the composition, the fluidity of movement, the shift of focus, the lighting, the use of MoCap, the facial expressions... As someone who spent a *LOT* of time using the flycam to make cinematic gifsets of DAI, where - with all respect to the devs - 90% of the camerawork basically consisted of "zoom in/zoom out"... this. blew. my. fucking mind.

Like, they did it. They mastered the Frostbite engine on all fronts. And it truly hurts my heart seeing people compare this to Fortnite or whatever, when in my opinion this time they actually managed to find a perfect mix between stylized and realism, in favor of making the characters even more expressive and this coupled with the use of MoCap and the incredible cinematography will make these emotional scenes hit SO hard and.. ugh, I just love it so much. 🥹❤️❤️

With this being said, let's dive into it!

Okay, so I know this is super random, but it was literally the first thing I noticed about this trailer. lol Did you noticed that it said "BioWare" *before* "Electronic Arts" in the beginning, unlike that first... controversial reveal trailer, where it was the other way around? 😂 Not reading anything into this of course (or do I? lol), but.. Idk, I thought it was.. interesting. 👀

So we start off with the first of many amazing tracking shots, with the camera orbiting around Rook in this place devoid of color or life. The note at the bottom made me chuckle "Game engine footage with some costum camera angles", I was like "Oh, so they used the flycam to make this?". lol So some shots of these will look different in the final version (what kind of spoilers are they hiding?? 👀👀).

I do hope that next shot DOES end up in the game though, because holy SHIT, that FIRST wide shot already blew. me. away.

Look at the COMPOSITION of this.

Actually, you could probably take every single location/wide shot of this trailer and hang it on your wall. lol But seriously, the way this place just looks... dead. It makes me think of "void" rather than Fade.. like an ancient graveyard. The raw Fade looks generally creepy, but this is haunting even for that. There's no life, no color, no motion. It's all broken and crumbled. Almost like it reflects Solas' feelings. People are speculating if this place might change depending on Solas' state of mind.. This is the Fade after all, but Solas is here physically and this being the place that was supposed to be the new prison for the gods.. It's probably different from the rest of it.

We also see all seven statues of the pantheon from the ritual site again. Solas "I have the high ground", *literally* talking down to Rook, while standing on two separate cliffs (how did Rook even get there, I wonder? lol), like there is quite literally a rift between them (for now..!) and Solas is keeping a distance, as always. We still don't know how that connection between the two even works, I assume Rook can only contact him while asleep? But to think that this is the place where he is trapped now, where he is even more isolated than ever before, is making me so emotional. ;-;

I love how it's just black and white though. It gives the scene a destinct atmosphere that might be important, if this is where we get to see Solas doing a lot of introspection. In the art of filmmaking, the absence of color is often used to force the audience to focus on the contrast, textures, and tones present in the image, which can evoke a deep sense of emotion.

And speaking of emotions...

"You have no idea what you have done."

We had already heard that line before, but something about that booming, echoing effect they used on his voice sent a shiver down my spine!

"The blighted elven gods walk free. And all because you disrupted my ritual."

To me, he *sounds* much more frustrated here than he *looks* when saying that. lol He looks incredibly worried though, and just so tired. A moment ago, he was SO close to achieving his goal after hundreds of years of preparation and then he failed again... and now there is this completely clueless stranger who got him in this situation, but who he has to rely on now to stop these gods, when he's unable to trust anyone, and yet he can't even yell at them too much, because he *needs* them. He must be so exhausted.

And yes, it is kinda funny how they put "elven gods" in quotation marks. lol

Thank god he still has his freckles though. ❤️ We're actually seeing a lot more texture on his face here than in the gameplay showcase. And yes, not only did he get his eyebrows microbladed but apparently he's also sporting eyeliner and lipstick now. 😌✨✨ The only downside to the lack of colors here is that his super purple eyes are not poppin' anymore. lol

"You battle against gods. They will not rest until you are on your knees. Fearful. Cowering. Helpless in the face of such power."

I love how they play this line so early on in the trailer, that it makes you go "WAIT... IS THAT- NO WAY" and not until the end do we get the confirmation with the most amazing entrance ever.

We then get a shot of what I think has to be Treviso in flames and Ghilan'nain symbolically coiling her tentacles around a crow statue's head, as she's probably about to take over the city. 👀 *falls on my knees the second I meet her in the game* lol

Then there's the shot of this horrifying Blight.. lump.. growth thing that has completely devoured an elf (and several other bodies it seems) with a hair style that has everyone wondering if this could be Felassan! 🥺🥺🥺 As much as I would LOVE for Felassan to make an appearance.. I kinda hope this *isn't* him.. because good god, whatever happened to this persom here must be pretty traumatizing (are they even still alive?) and also, how do we get them out of there? lol Either way, seeing as there are Harding, Bellara and Neve accompanying Rook here, this might be earlier in the game (and this is them dicovering that the Blight is already spreading rapidly?) and yet it already shows us that this Blight is on a whole other level than anything we've seen before, and it's taking every living thing.

Then we see another snowy place (or might this be within the same area?) that's also in huge parts taken over by the Blight. You can also see a dead(?) dragon lying on the ground at the bottom right corner? 🥺

Then Elgar'nan literally pops up right next to Ghilan'nain, and btw, I love how I can't even tell where her body begins or where it ends in this shot. lmao What ARE you, Ghili?? 💀

It looks to me like maybe she was struck by a bolt/spear from a ballista or something? The Grey Wardens tried to take her out maybe? Looks like the power of Elgar'nan's mere presence blows the Wardens away then lol, like they're just insects to him.. and in the blast we can see a person that looks like Evka?? <3333 (please don't die here though 😭)

Then we're getting a first glimpse of a dragon that shows up multiple times in this trailer. Also, to me, it looks so much like the dragon from the Golden City vinyl cover, which has me like 👀👀👀👀

Next there are a few scenes from the prologue we've already seen in the gameplay showcase, but it's coupled with new lines from Varric, that have me super worried. :(

"Rook, you've got this. I've seen your work. You're clever, adaptable. And you don't know when to quit.

My first reaction to this was "Oh god no, that sounds so much like a "passing the torch" kind of dialogue to me" as in Varric either dies (PLEASE NO but it IS super suspicious how he's not seen or mentioned in any other scene so far) or retires his role as the leader of this group and hands it over to Rook. And he just sounds... weary. 🥺 I wonder what he means by "your work" though? Is he talking about things Rook has done before Varric recruited them? Or is it maybe later down the line, after Rook has already proven themselves to be a great leader? 🤔

Then we get another shot of that one dragon and our first look at Harding with the bruised face (whoever did this, come fight me!) and some poor person tangled in.. something, I'm not sure. lol

Then there's a super quick shot of the floating building in Minrathous, followed by Rook opening a gate Aragorn style, which leads me to believe that this is actually somethere IN that floating building maybe?

But the fact that Rook and everyone else seems to be wearing casual clothes in the following shots, plus the architecture in the background has me wondering if they might be at the Lighthouse actually? 👀

Especially because in the very next shot we see Rook, Bellara, Neve and Harding all in casual clothes again in front of a giant eluvian and I wonder if that's the mirror that we've read about in the Game Informer article. The special eluvian at the Lighthouse that can take you anywhere? :o

Speaking of the Game Informer article, it also told us that Rook, Harding and Neve went back to the ritual site after what happened in the beginning, which is probably what we're seeing here!

"You want allies to go after the elven gods. I've got places to look."

Well, good thing we have a clever detective on the team that apparently knows people who would willingly fight some gods. lol Notice how Harding's face is still injured in this scene. 👀 So I assume whatever happened to her must've happened at the ritual site? Btw, I love how the trailer makes it look like they're all in casual clothes and the second they're stepping through the eluvian, they're in full gear? 😂 (I'm sure those two scenes take place at different times though.) It's crazy how much different the Arlathan Forest looks now, without the cataclysmic storm and all. I love the lighting, the colors and the soft rain! :3

Then we get another gorgeous location shot to hang on the wall. <3 My guess here is definitely Anderfels, given the landscape and those "pillar ring" things we've seen before (I still have no idea what those are, the funniest guess is still griffon training flight path 😂 But something tells me those things will be important.).

"I'll be damned! A griffon!"

Davrin and Assan!! <33333 And the dialogue makes it sound like this might be the first time they meet each other?? 🥹🥹 Followed by a scene of Davrin taking care of business and what might be the return of children in DA?? 😭 Seeing that little girl made me so happy, because that was actually one of the few things on my wishlist for DA4, because I always felt like children make the world feel SO much more real and immersive and besides Kieran, children were completely absent in DAI.

Am I trippin or does it look like this child is smiling here, while running away from a horde of darkspawn?? 😶 Kids in the Anderfels are build different, I guess. lol

"In war, victory."

CHILLS!!

Then we see Assan again, who is pinning down a.. thing I can't identify. lol I'm very curious about all those cages in the background though.. 🤔

We then get one of the shots that made me freak out the most, because it's a flippin *underwater* shot of elven ruins??? 😱😱

We know it's elven because if you look very very closely, you can see a Halla statue in the distance, to the left side. I'm immediately reminded of the stories about Arlathan having sunken to the ocean floor! There's also still all that mention of Ghilan'nain's grey "goop" that smells like the ocean and another shot later on of a dragon (Elgar'nan?) emerging from the ocean! 👀👀👀

And aside from all that, it's just such a sick level design!! 😍 What do these ruins look like if you enter them in the game? How do we get there?? There's an eluvian in the middle of the ocean on the newest map that's included in the Collector's Edition! 👀👀 If that one flippin theory of mine actually turns out to be true and there are somehow two parts of Arlathan, one on the ocean floor and another in the center of the Fade/the Black City, I'll do a triple backflip. lmaoo

Then Lucanis jumps in with some incredibly smooth fighting moves against the Venatori... and PURPLE WINGS!! So we were right with our speculation about the reveal trailer! Why does he have them? Is it some connection to a pride demon that revived him? 😂 I don't know, but it looks SO cool!! And after showing off, we hear his first line "I'm ready" with that sweet sweet accent, which is just the cherry on top!! <333

What the heck is up with the sky in this one?? My first thought was the Lighthouse?? 😍😍 Because if you look closely, there are a few wolf head ornaments on the walls? 👀 And this could be in the Crossroads and just like a real Lighthouse, there's a light on the top..? 🥹

Then there's Bellara using some magical device, that looks super similar to the things that were next to the big eluvian in that other scene!

Which makes me think that this might be where we help Bellara find this artifact in order to get the eluvian at the Lighthouse to work properly (since it doesn't seem to work right without Solas, according to the Game Informer article).

"I've never seen this before. There's something kind of exciting about it!"

Not gonna lie, that line and that weird looking device gave me Peebee flashbacks from Andromeda, which I honestly wasn't the biggest fan of. 😂 But Ghil Dirthalen (member of the community council) responded to me a few weeks back on twitter and confirmed that Bellara is nothing like Peebee at all. lol So that's a relief. 😂 I'm really looking forward to learn more about her and every time I see her magical gauntlet, I'm reminded that we're *definitely* not in Ferelden anymore. lol

Anyway, we then get a few shots of the Deep Roads?? Kal-Sharok??? 👀👀 And of course, there's Harding's big reveal of her new magical powers! The animation on this looks sooo amazing!!

Like many suspect, the Titans' awakening might have something to do with this! I totally agree with what Ghil Dirthalen said on twitter recently and, rather than this being Harding having Solas' petrification powers, it's actually Solas who has the powers of the Titans/stone sense/whatever Sandal did to those ogres back then lol. (I need Sandal to return and be her "teacher" or something 🙏❤️) We know of Solas' orb, which was likely created by obtaining the heart of a Titan. And if the Titans are connected to the Forgotten Ones, Fen'Harel was once considered their ally in Dalish legends. 👀

Also, if you look closely, you can see that the moment her powers are triggered, we see the blue glowy effect all over her body, like glowy lyrium veins almost?

And that in turn could hint at something in connection to her blood? So that big injury we see on her (which is still visible in this scene btw!) was maybe the moment her blood came in contact with something that awakened these powers? (We need Valta back to explain! lol)

"What is happening to me?"

That delivery gave me chills again... She is frightened. Ali Hillis is so good. 🥺🥺🥺

Next up is the Grand Necropolis and people have already pointed out that the ceiling we see at that entrance hall or something looks like a GIANT rip cage?? 💀 (What kind of creature would be THIS big???)

First look of Emmrich in-game!!! And he's wearing a fancy new outfit!! And I paused at the perfect moment to catch Rook already falling in love with him, clearly. lmao

There are two characters next to the gate that could be anybody, really. Myrna from Tevinter Nights or Joanna from the short story "The Flame Eternal"? The guy on the right is actually giving me Executor vibes?? 👀👀👀

Then there's Giant Skeleton Monster (Manfred's mom?), and don't even ask me what this could possibly be. 😂 I just hope we don't have to fight THAT (we totally will 💀). I got flashbacks of the Human Reaper endboss in ME2. 😭😭

"Let the Fade draw close!"

There's something kinda... posh about the way he says this? 😂 Like, he's not really intimidated by Giant Skeleton Monster and it's just another Tuesday in the Grand Necropolis and Professor Volkarin is just doing his every day job. lol

Then there are two shots of what I think is somewhere in the Anderfels but snowy again, like that area in the beginning where Elgar'nan and Ghili showed up? And a destroyed watchtower that is occupied by the Wardens. Then we get a *third* and final shot of this beauty again.

"Draw the dragon out into the open. Then attack."

I assume that's Taash?? Sadly, that shot of her drawing her weapon is all we got from her in this trailer, but she looks awesome!! <333 We're gonna be Lord of Fortune buddies, even though we might disagree on the matter of dragon hunting lol (look, I don't want to *fight* dragons, I want to be *friends* with them 🫠😂❤️ I want to see them live their best lifes.. for the most part (I get to the Elgar'nan dragon and the blighted "twin dragons" in a second lol))

We see the docks of Minrathous for a split second and then a first glimpse at a romance scene between Rook and Neve? 👀 At the Lighthouse maybe?

"You and me Rook. Maybe that's what scares me."

What does she mean by that exactly? Does Neve have commitment issues? lol Or is this more like a "We're a dangerous match, Rook. We'll be too powerful of a couple. Like Bonnie and Clyde." kinda statement? 😂

And THEN... Well, then we get probably THE most badass looking introduction/entrance of any character in DA yet. lol And YES, I freaked out SO hard.

SHE'S BACK. Returning like the QUEEN that she is. 🙏 And of course, she has to come down a flight of "stairs" again. lol (And no, Claudia Black did not lie, she just wasn't contacted at the time. 😁) Gosh, that transformation is so SMOOTH. I could watch that forever, it's so darn beautiful. 😍 Again, the way this is done, cinematically.. just *chef's kiss*.

In retrospect, it seems almost like a given that she would be back because.. well, everything about the way DAI ended. lol Flemeth wanted her to inherit her "godhood", and she looks more than ever like her mother now. Remember the designer notes on that last scene in DAI.

Flemeth intends to let Solas have the power, so long as she can pass the essence of her godhood onto Morrigan, a gift Flemeth had always planned for her daughter yet one Morrigan misunderstood as hostile possession.

So, what exactly is she now? Did she receive whatever Flemeth sent through the eluvian at the end of DAI? Does she carry Mythal now?? If so, does Solas know (I NEED a conversation between those two technically "half-siblings", because Flemeth/Mythal is both their "Mother"? 😂)?? Remember when I said that this one dragon that appears multiple times here reminds me a lot of the dragon on the vinyl cover with the Golden City, which is very likely Mythal? So my very first thought was that the dragon is actually Morrigan?? lol Just throwing that out there.

It seems to me that she is with the Dalish/Veil Jumpers in the Arlathan Forest now? (Btw, if you look closely, you can see elven mosaics in COLOR in the background? :O)

"These are the times in which legends are born or slain."

That line goes so HARD aHhhh. Also, speaking of slain, that new outfit is slaying too. <33 Her return also means that the Well decision and potential consequences are back on the table, which will definitely keep me up at night again. 💀

That moment right there. She is everthing. ❤️❤️❤️ I wonder if we're gonna see Kieran again?? 🥺🥺

We then get the most impressive tracking shot and choreography of what I think is Teia and Viago fighting some Venatori?? <333333 Like, seriously, the way the camera is following his movements in this shot without a single cut, makes me think of something like flippin Games of Thrones' Battle of the Bastards. 😱 And those hair physics on Teia as she's swinging around?? Absolutely amazing.

Followed by Lucanis and.. is that Zara Renata (the character with the best name ever lol)?? Fighting over an ominous glowing staff. lol We know these two still had unfinished business with each other after the Wigmaker Job in TN.

Then we get our first in-game look of my man MANFRED (🎉🎉🎉🎉), proving yet again to be the most fashionable character in the whole game, using his pelvis effectively. lol I love him so much.

Then there's another terrifying shot of Giant Skeleton Monster, which almost looks like it's in command over the crowd of people here, like they're possessed or something? Uhg.. As if this thing wasn't scary enough. 💀

"Our gods are back. Our gods! How do we stand up against that?"

Again, CHILLLLS!! Chills all over. It's gonna be so interesting to hear what the Dalish, Bellara or Davrin think about all these revelations!

Then we see the Wardens again, confronting one of the super duper blighted "twin dragons" we see at the end (more on that later).

We see Neve using a barrier or something against a guy who wears the same armor as her, so maybe the Shadow Dragons are corrupted, too?

Then we see Rook dramatically tossing a sword on a table at Weisshaupt? And holy moly, Davrin in that new armor here looks FINE. 😍

Back in Treviso, we see a cool finishing move from Rook, obliterating a poor Venatori guy. That bow on Rook's back though (I need it)! :O

"I believe in all of us. So let's get it done."

That little pep talk from Rook certainly worked for me. lol Like, whatever it is we're doing here, I'm so pumped, let's gooooo!

Then we get literally a millisecond of a frame, where you can see Ghili lying on the floor.. with the lyrium dagger stuck IN HER CHEST??

EXCUSE ME?? They wouldn't just spoil her death like that, right?? lmao Also, that adds another billion questions about this damn flippin dagger and at this point the list of questions is getting so long that I've completely given up speculating. 😂💀 We see how Rook tries to retrieve(?) the dagger but the power it emanates pushes them back?? What the heeellll.

And then I died. No, really. lmaoo

What can I say.

I cried. I screamed. My soul left my body. It happened. We FINALLY saw him. The Dreaded Wolf, He Who Hunts Alone, Roamer of the Beyond, God of Rebellion. The one everyone's been talking about since flippin 2009. And by GOD, he lives up to his NAME.

He's dreadful, he's horrifying. He's a monster, a nightmare. He's perfect. And just like Solas, he's just a Little Guy and bald. 😭😭😭

...At least in comparison to this dragon!! Look at that friggin SIZE DIFFERENCE. Someone measured the size by comparing them to Rook, who we see for a split second before Fenny leaps in. So, make no mistake, Fen'Harel IS the size of a high dragon, like he was described in Tevinter Nights... It's just that this blighted dragon is HUMONGOUS. lol That dragon, let's call him Elgar'nan, because we all KNOW, right?? Who else could it POSSIBLY be?? He's got the horns, he's the dragon on the vinyl cover with the Blighted Black City, he's ENORMOUS!! I've been saying this forever. Fen'Harel vs Elgar'nan, Battle of Gods was all I ever wished to see and FUCK, I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WISH CAME TRUE. 😭😭😭

And look WHERE they are fighting!! It's Minrathous, you can clearly see the floating building in the background!! Which means the Dread Wolf is OUT. He's no longer trapped, or in the Fade. Remember Sandal's prophecy "When he rises, everyone will see". And he HAS RISEN. lmao And look at the lighting!! It's the same dim, gloomy RED we've seen at the end of the reveal trailer with the eclipse. "AN ECLIPSE AS FEN'HAREL STIRRED". IT'S HAPPENING. Remember the 2020 teaser MURAL.

Is this the Black City or is it the floating building?? Either way, it's BLIGHTED. In the trailer, Minrathous has clearly been completely taken over by the Blight. "All the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign", that's what Elgar'nan said at the end of the 2023 teaser, and what better way to take over the world than to start with the biggest capital in Thedas, a nation which built their own empire over the ruins of Elvhenan, ruled by the most powerful mages!

And I am SO scared. You can see Elgar'nan snapping Fenny. The dragon is blighted, and maybe so is Fen'Harel. He's also clearly been through so much. "The Wolf chews his leg off to escape the trap.", is what Cole said in Trespasser. I don't think he always looked like that. In the murals and the 2022 cinematic, he has a lot more fur. And I can't help but think about the devs saying that Solas wasn't always bald either. lmao How are they connected.. are they one and the same.. are they bound to each other.. we still don't know. But I'm SO. F*CKING EXCITED. TO FIND OUT.

Those few seconds of this scene were breathtaking and whoever made this trailer knew exactly what they were doing, because the editing is so perfect as Fen'Harel charges at Elgar'nan in slow-motion and the music cuts out completely while that beautiful wolf howl can be heard and you can almost HEAR everyone's jaw dropping on the floor. lmao THAT's. how. you. do it. *standing ovation* *sobbing*

Okay. Breathe. Moving on. We gotta get to the end. lol

The very next shot is SO funny to me, because we literally just got to see Elgar'nan, the biggest flippin dragon we've ever seen in DA and it's followed by a shot in which Elgar'nan looks SO tiny next to Ghilan'nain. lmaooo

His ego doesn't allow to appear small though, I guess, so he f*cking levitates to top her in height. lmao These two ancient clowns are already killing me.

What's interesting though is that this is the exact same angle from which we left off in the gameplay showcase. And Solas is nowhere to be seen, so... did he literally just "poof" away right there into that Fade prison?? lmao

We get a quick montage of all the lovely monsters we will face. Like I mentioned, there's the Elgar'nan dragon taking a swim in the ocean, I guess? (I hope he drowns. lol) And a shot of what I think is Irelin (from TN and The Missing) doing.. something with some magical device. Someone fighting a magical "automaton" in the Arlathan Forest. lol Harding doing her THING again, acting like Toph from Avatar, literally bending the flippin earth, like a true Child of the Stone!!

And right before the end, there's one of my personal favorite shots, Rook basically bitch slapping a Pride demon into full K.O.?? lmao

The trailer ends with a final beautiful shot of Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire. lol No, seriously. A SUPER blighted pair of angry dragons, seemingly at the same snowy place that Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain popped up earlier in the trailer. 👀👀👀

So, they might have something to do with this? There was a dead dragon lying on the ground in an earlier shot, so maybe the elven gods revived them? If I see Blue and Red, I'm of course immediately reminded of lyrium.. whatever that means. Or, given that they seem to be attacking Grey Wardens in this place... maybe we are looking at an altered form of Archdemons?? Or something similar to Corypheus' dragon? 👀 There is an interesting theory floating around that Ghilan'nain might look like *that* because she somehow merged with her lover Andruil. As I mentioned in the beginning, Ghilan'nain seemed to have been struck by a spear or something.. and in this shot, you can see that the red dragon is pulling a spear out of its body! Sooo... maybe that actually IS her?? And she somehow transformed into two different blighted dragons, representing herself and Andruil??? The tinfoil hat is strong with this one. lol

ANYWAY. The release date is revealed to be 31st of October, making this the best Halloween of all time!! Not only is it perfect because of its origin, Samhain, the thinning of the Veil between the living and spirits.. But also because we all get a chance to dress up as Manfred, walk into the store, buy the game and then go Trick or Treat (but mostly trick) in the name of Fen'Harel, the Trickster God. 😂😂💜💜💜

And that's it!! Now we only have to wait two months before we can all lose our collective shi— NO WAIT, OF COURSE WE'RE NOT DONE YET.

WHAT THE HELL

IS THIS

EXCUSE ME, how do you throw this in there in the background at the very last second, HELLO??? A rocky object, split in half. HUH, WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THAT BEFORE.

Oh, you sneaky sneaky people. The mural depicting a Titan's death.... Remember the description of this place in DAI's files.

"A final eluvian is situated in a beautiful bolt-hole where Solas has painted murals. Fen'Harel was here and wanted to make sure nobody ever found what the other gods were doing. This place was the breaking point for him that turned him against the gods."

Whatever this is... I think it might be the very reason why all of this is even happening. The Evanuris mined the Titans' blood and "something else" before they collapsed and sealed the Deep Roads with stone and magic.

"Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast."

"What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."

I'll leave it at that. I'm so so so flippin excited. I want to thank all the devs involved, I'm so full of joy and can't wait to finally return back to Thedas in October. 🥹🥹🥹 (And if anyone wants to get me that "Rook's coffer" collectibles thing for my birthday two days after release, my address is— naah just kidding!! ..or AM I?? 👀😂😂)!! 💜💜💜💜💜

[stabhag]

Hey peepaw where’d you get that staff

No really

Where’d you get it, it doesn’t match your outfit at all. I find that weird.

Where’d you

Get it

Sir

Where

So who does this one belong to??? Oh

PEEPAW PUT IT DOWN NOWWWWW

[mogwaei]

Everyone is always asking where is Solas and what is Solas doing

but no one ever asks about that stick he's been carrying around. It's clearly very important to him. Wolf has favourite toy ball and stick?

Jokes aside, I'm genuinely curious about the story behind it--like the jawbone amulet! As far as I know, that staff doesn't appear in the game anywhere, but it's in a lot of important imagery. And we know the artists are insanely meaningful and intentional with everything they do, so there is a story.

My basket of little headcanons & more below the cut

>Branch from an important tree, maybe related to the Tree of Mythal (seen in the vallaslin design)

>It looks vaguely wolf shaped, or halla shaped, and maybe he was literally like "this is hilarious" and went with it. Because he would. imagine if Felassan had been there when he got it and it was an inside joke and now he can't throw it away

> We know Skyhold isn't the original structure (at least, there are few pieces of the OG remaining if I recall) but I also entertained the Peace Tree.

There could have been several Peace Trees, idk. BUT, could it be possible the War Table is actually old as fuck and Solas took a branch for himself?

>Solas stole/took the branch from someone. Maybe from Andruil since she has a lot of Tree-themed stories (lol)

>It was a gift from someone important to him.

>Some headcanon from my fic:

"It was an old thing with a natural shape and a gnarled head, little more than a bough that looked as though he'd simply prised it from the roots of a tree and decided no other weapon could compare. There was no telling whether its length had been weathered smooth under the path of his hands or if the magic focused through its grains for years had changed its composition. It looked out of place with all the silver and gilded metal he was otherwise clad in. No one knew where he'd gotten it, or the story behind it—only that he'd had it the day he freed the first slave and every instance after. It had been in his hand the day of her liberation too. All accompanying him knew the staff. Along with the wolf, the bough had become a symbol known amongst them as one of peace, friendship, and freedom. And all of them had been in bondage—a handful of healers and ex-sentinels—but now they were liberators. They followed Fen'Harel with his staff, fearless and proud."

Okay I'm gonna stop myself there because I can and will go on forever and then I will never do art or writing again.

BUT WAIT: bonus on the Peace Tree thing, cause this is fucking hilarious to me:

[an-actual-attack-helicopter]

I saw a tiktok comment stating that Aaravos blushes when picking up Viren’s statue. I had to find out even though I figured they were probably lying/joking. BUT I WAS WRONG. HE DOES ACTUALLY BLUSH.

I increased the sharpness and definition on both images EQUALLY to make it easier to see. It still might be hard if you’re a bit colorblind or something. Sorry about that.

I’m not the only one who sees this right? He clearly has more of a blush when he picks up Viren. I doubt it’s on accident because both scenes clearly use the same animation for Aaravos. Same mouth, eye, eyebrow, and hair position. But not the same blush. Like why would they randomly decide to add blush on that scene? The intros are so important. The team saw them so many times, they had to have noticed it. But idk.

[nirvanacuga]

WoF OCs but anthro-ish (mfs with long necks). Clipped their wings so their drip fits 👹

[addaerontruther]

every time they've shown addam on screen, it's been accompanied by a daeron mention. we meet addam, daeron gets mentioned for the first time. we see seasmoke following addam, otto mentions daeron a second time. we see addam claim (or get claimed by) a dragon, and then we hear how wonderful, talented, kind, and different daeron is with very specific wording about him being the subject of ladies fantasies with no mention of him being interested or reciprocating. addam claims seasmoke, daeron flies for the first time. addam swears for rhaenyra, the greens announce daeron is ready to fight for them. and now clinton liberty posted the part of tonight's trailer where they're talking about daeron specifically,,,,, not even the clip with him facing rhaenyra,,,,, the voices in my head are winning

[thedreadblog]

Crazy.solas.lady on TikTok (whose content I really enjoy and highly recommend following) did the Myers-Briggs test for Solas which has interesting results!

[fallen-knight]

My sci-fi nerd ass trying to make sense of the Zonai and extrapolate their history from the crumbs of lore we were given:

Yeah, I believe the Zonai came from outer space, fight me. >:)

I'm currently working on a TotK rewrite fic (working title: The Dragons Ascent) that incorporates this idea, and if I don't share my thoughts in the meantime I will literally explode, so here's a (very rough) timeline of events, and many worldbuilding headcanons and theories of varying degrees of canon compliance.

In the Beginning - The Zonai are a magically and technologically advanced civilization living among the stars, their origins shrouded in mystery. All is well for their species, until a group of artificers create the first secret stones, relics channeling immense power, in an effort to unlock their species' full potential. Unfortunately, the Zonai are playing with powers they don't fully understand, and horrors of cosmic proportions ensue…

The Secret Stones - When it's discovered that consuming a secret stone will transform one into an immortal dragon, a being that constantly sheds magical energy while mindlessly pursuing their last conscious thought without regard for lesser beings, and there's no known way to reverse the process, draconification is forbidden and knowledge of it suppressed. The secret stones are seized by the Zonai rulers and worn by their trusted allies as a display of power, with further official research shifted to focus on their less drastic amplification properties when worn outside the body.

The Draconification War - Inevitably, war breaks out over the power of the stones. Hundreds are draconified in a mad scramble for power and enlightenment, as many believe the dragons to be their species' ultimate form, not caring that they sacrifice their minds in the process. Others sacrifice themselves purposefully, their dragon forms guided by the last sole thought to destroy their enemies, an eternal kamikaze. The world is devastated by warring dragons and empowered Zonai alike, the mindless conflict leading to near-global extinction.

The Zonai Refugees - Their homeworld now a barren wasteland haunted by draconic husks and polluted by magical fallout, the surviving Zonai escape in a fleet of ships fueled by soul energy from their dead. They mark their faces with tears in remembrance, using the remaining secret stones as engine power, in collective agreement after the horrors they've witnessed that no more dragons will be born. Ages pass as they wander the void, adapting to their new way of life as self-sufficient nomads. Inevitably, though, they run low on soul energy fuel, their technology begins to fail, and they are forced to descend on the nearest world.

The Descent - The Zonai come down from the heavens (aka crash from outer space) onto Hyrule in three great ships, paralleling the Golden Goddesses of myth. This event leads the native Hyruleans to worship them as descendants of their gods, and the Zonai use this to their advantage as they regain their footing and explore the newly discovered land. From the ships, the last of their fleet, come the warrior tribe of Boars, the scholar tribe of Owls, and the royal tribe of Dragons, who each travel to central Hyrule to regroup.

The (Re)Founding of Hyrule - The native Hyrulians have been recovering from an apocalypse of their own that left their societies in a primitive state (AKA a timeline crash… but that's a theory post for another time). Seeing these apparent demigods as powerful potential allies for the future, Sonia's ancestor, a priestess and queen of the Hylian people, allies with the Zonai rulers, exchanging protection and knowledge for the Zonai's offerings in kind.

Into the Sky - Despite the Hyrulians' welcome, the Zonai aren't content to be bound to the strange, primitive land, and seek to return to their spacefaring existence. As they scout the sky above the Great Plateau aboard their flying machines, they discover a cloud barrier, hiding the middle and upper atmosphere of Hyrule from the lower - and above it, the remains of an ancient island group, spoken of in the oldest Hylian legends as the birthplace of their people. The islands once known as Skyloft are abandoned and eroded, no longer stable, but they offer a platform for those who seek to return to the stars - and once enhanced by antigravity tech, they become the Great Sky Island. The Zonai quickly branch out, finding other abandoned islands raised by Hylia in an era long past, and raising even more of their own. Storehouses, forges, and observatories alike are lifted into the sky by their own godlike powers.

Into the Depths - Seeking to replenish their energy and rebuild their ships, the Zonai first turn to luminous stones found on the surface of Hyrule, but the soul energy they contain is too weak for their needs. While exploring around the crashed ships that have sunk into the Depths, however, they discover a metamorphic ore that has distilled the essence of Luminous Stone into a powerful energy source. Going further into the Depths, they enlist the help of their new allies among the people of Hyrule to mine and process the ore they discover, and share the wonders they can create with it in return. To them, stripping these resources bare and disturbing the dead are but a small price to pay for progress…

The Labyrinths - As the Hylian civilization experiences exponential growth thanks to the new technology, the Zonai assign top-secret construction crews to build concealing structures - labyrinths, or Lomei - over the crash sites of their three ships, to hide the bulk of their knowledge. The top sections of the Lomei are lifted into the sky once the remaining usable tech has been brought into them from the Depths, and a low-gravity field is created around these skybound platforms to facilitate rebuilding - and launching - the ships from atop them. Evil Spirit armor, discovered in the Depths, is stored in the lower part of the labyrinths, and the old ships' construct intelligences - the so-called rulers of Boars, Owls, and Dragons - are assigned to keep the true purpose of the Lomei a secret from any unauthorized beings, using the armor as a red herring if need be.

The First King of Hyrule - To strengthen the alliance between their people, Zonai prince Rauru marries Sonia, heir to the Hylian throne. Previous male rulers of Hyrule in this era were regarded as prince consorts, due to their lack of divine powers compared to their queens, but Rauru's light powers and demigod status elevate him to the official position of first king of Hyrule. Alongside Sonia, he works tirelessly to create Shrines of Light, sealing demons and protecting the land.

The Three Dragons - The Springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage have traditionally been protected by oracles named after the half-forgotten gods of old. Three Zonai are elevated to the roles after their elemental powers manifest at the springs. Taking the titles of Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh, they swear to protect the land as long as they live. When they learn that the Zonai plan to return to the stars, they refuse to leave their new land and gods, and commit the forbidden act of draconification, their last thoughts to watch over and guard Hyrule forever.

The Return to the Stars - Using the low-gravity sky Lomei as launch platforms, the remaining Zonai - all but Rauru and Mineru, the chosen guardians of their legacy - take off for space in secret. Their sudden disappearance and Rauru's reluctance to speak on the subject fuel heavy speculation, with the spiritually inclined claiming they returned to the Sacred Realm, and the more cynical Hyruleans believing they must have gone to their deaths.

The Imprisoning War - Not all Hyruleans are happy about the Zonai's sudden appearance and far-reaching meddling. The independent Gerudo are wary of the Hylian-Zonai expansion and attempted assimilation of their territory, and their king Ganondorf uses their concerns to his advantage. Lured by the whispers of an ancient evil, he leads dissenters in secret attacks on Hyrule, his eyes on the power of the Secret Stones. When he finally acquires one, the power consumes him, and the noble ambitions he once held are lost in the destruction that ensues. The majority of the Gerudo distance themselves from their mad king - some holding out in desert strongholds, while others see an alliance with Hyrule as the only way to stop him. With the new Gerudo chief joining the other peoples of Hyrule, the Sages are formed, and fight the Demon King and his army until Rauru manages to imprison him.

The Aftermath - With Rauru locked in an imprisoning seal, Mineru reduced to a spirit, and Zelda having undergone draconification, the remaining Sages draw on the power of their secret stones to send the Zonai Temple of Time skyward, and aid the hero to come. In the place where it once stood, a new Hylian Temple of Time will later be constructed, resembling its predecessor from the Era of Myth. Hylian survivors create glyphs around the Light Dragon's tears and leave records of their history in the back of the Forgotten Temple, then move the Mother Goddess statue to conceal the entrance.

The Ancient Hero - After Rauru and Mineru are gone, one Zonai still lives in Hyrule, their existence a secret to everybody. A warrior of the Tribe of Boars, they sleep in a hidden stasis chamber for thousands of years, until Sheikah researchers investigating the ruins discover and awaken them. This last Zonai will go on to wield the Master Sword alongside Sonia and Rauru's heir, four champions, and the mechanical Sheikah army, and help defeat the Calamity born of Ganondorf's seeping hatred. Their deeds will be immortalized in a legendary tapestry, while their aspect lingers on, even after death...

And that's the gist of it! I have so many thoughts about this game and its lore, trying to get them organized has taken a lot out of me. But I'd love to engage in any and all discussion, and hey, if you've read this far, hear your own thoughts on the Zonai mystery too.

[captain-jalapeno]

Pieper is a noble knight that comes with built in little guys

[leftboob]

Rayla being the one who helps Claudia onto her path of redemption is the unreasonable thing I want so badly to happen and THIS moment between them is what's keeping me hoping.

Seriously aside from the both of them having abandonment issues, Rayla has no idea why Claudia did this! Every time prior (and still actually) they were face to face, they fought each other without a single word between them except for when they barteredfor Terry and her family. Granted, the most recent occurrence Rayla charged in the fight to defend Callum and Ezran underwater, no questions asked, but perhaps this moment in s4 was purely to plant a seed of doubt in Rayla to consider Claudia is not 100% bad. Why else? Just to for plot purposes to get the coins back in Rayla’s hands, tbh that would be pretty lazy writing if just for that and at the cost of Rayla’s Character because she literally stopped everything she was doing and go against everything she was raised to believe to save Zym's eggs. So in the hope of this leading to something later on, and for Claudia to later be redeemed, I have faith Rayla will be the Aang to Claudia's Zuko redemption arc.

At the moment, the list of people that could reach Claudia at her current state is shrinking - her brother couldn't, her father couldn't, and Terry won't be able to. Potentially, Kruha might make an appearance to help remind her of the kindness she showed him, or Lissa could if Claudia somehow gets to Del Bar and can confront her at last. However if a new character appearance is out of the budget (cause fuck Netflix), then the only characters left to lead Claudia on to her path of redemption are the people who are her enemies (crazy right!? Bare with me here.)

It's unknown how willing Ezran may be to forgive Claudia after everything, and idk what could he say to convince her that he didn't already say during their talk in s2, but he is promoting forgiveness and peace w/ Xadia so if that doesn't apply here somehow that would be upsetting.

Callum is likely leaning towards not wanting to risk another chance w/ Claudia, so it's less likely, but still not impossible considering they were close once before, and Aaravos is a common threat to both of them, even if Claudia currently believes otherwise.

So really that leaves Rayla to be the likely candidateto help Claudia. Not save her out right, but help her path to redeeming herself. After all, Rayla was the catalyst that began Callum and Ezran's path, so it would be narratively poetic for her to be Claudia's catalyst to her redemption arc. All that has to happen is a moment where they can't fight each other; Rayla without her weapons, and Claudia without her magic. A moment were they can't do anything to each other but talk. How would that happen, I don't have an answer.

(It's all purely my own reasoning for myself anyways, not for arguments sake.)

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, I'm in a raydia mood today.

[carabas]

still thinking about the DA4 gameplay reveal, now with wild speculation about the Evanuris:

So, i think thedinanshiral's breakdown of which Evanuris is which is probably right, based on everything we've seen so far. The circle-shaped headpiece almost certainly belongs to Elgar'nan and the bow-shaped headpiece is very possibly Andruil. (Also this means Elgar'nan's statue is the one that fell on Solas.)

And Andruil and Elgar'nan aren't exactly an intuitive pair, they don't have much in the way of myths linking them together - if you (the game devs) want to unleash two and only two elven gods, why them? Wouldn't the lovers Andruil and Ghilan'nain be a more natural pair? Or the twins Falon'din and Dirthamen?

But. Assuming there's a link between the seven Old God archdemons and the seven trapped Evanuris.

I tend to believe that Elgar'nan corresponds to Dumat, and that Andruil who hunted in the Void and went mad and "howled things meant to be forgotten" corresponds to Zazikel the Dragon of Chaos.

In other words, the archdemons of the very first and second Blights. The very first two archdemons to die, in order.

Which makes sense if, as previously suspected, the archdemons were part of Solas's method of keeping the evanuris sealed, and that's why he was so upset about the wardens killing them. There are a whole lot of ifs piled on top of ifs here, but. If the order the archdemons were killed in is the same order the elven gods are breaking free, then Elgar'nan and Andruil are exactly the first two gods you'd expect to see.

[mrs-gauche]

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet and I also don't want to fuel the "is it a tear or is it the rain" debate 😂 (and really, I have no idea, and we may never know, anyway lol), but, having watched that scene over a trillion times now…... am I trippin' or does it look like Rook is ALSO flippin crying in that same moment???

And BOTH on the right eye, too??

So, whether it's the rain or not, what are the odds of BOTH of them having a raindrop looking like a tear on their right eye and why do I just KNOW this is deliberate and how this might set the stage for the, quote, "connection between the two of them" that the devs talked about in the Game Informer article, Solas seeing himself in Rook/Rook identifying with Solas as the story unfolds?? And doesn't this feel almost poetic in a way?

[bluefire-axolotl]

Fun thing to discuss with your DnD group: your campaign is getting a Muppet movie. Who in your party is the sole normal DnD humanoid in the Muppet-filled party?

[visenyaism]

Any thoughts/hcs/musings on our beloved bug loving doomed Cassandra queen Helaena? 👉👈

i’ve written about helaena in the past but there’s something so crazy compelling about the way that she is just so completely saturated in the doom. like tfw everyone keeps telling you who you are your entire life: you are a daughter and a sister and a wife and a mother and a queen and a madwoman. you are a person, and what you actually are is a bomb, the spark lighting the fire that will burn your House to the ground. you set it off. augh

[raayllum]

Bait loves the water, but he should be afraid of it. You wanna know why he’s called Bait? Ugh, not really. Well too bad, I’m gonna tell you anyway. It’s kind of a sick joke, I guess. Glow toads? They’re apparently delicious. Gross. Deep sea fishermen use them to catch giant fish, stuff like that. That’s why he’s named Bait. Get it? Ah, that’s my stepdad’s sense of humour. But yeah, that’s why we have to be extra careful about not getting him in the water.