Valmy's ADHD Dragon Age playthrough

[Valmy]

ON TO OUR CLIMACTIC...ER....CLIMAX PART THE SECOND

Ok so now to deal with that Corypheus guy.



'You should talk to Josephine, she seems to have everything set up.'

Lothar's advisors really need to communicate with each other.

But then the sky over the Temple of Sacred Ashes bursts open again signalling that Josephine really did know what was what. So Lothar must rush back to where it all began for the final battle. Only...



'What the hell man? That was two DLC ago!'

Well ok whatever.



'Damn all that work for nothing.'

So it seems they had a few soldiers to send after Corypheus because soon we see Corypheus bullying Inquisition forces.



'Where is your Maker now? Huh?'

Ok I guess Corypheus missed the memo that the Maker turned his back on the world.



'Ah yeah. It is go time!'

Corypheus then calls down his dragon and Lothar sends in the Mythal dragon and they fight. But if you are expecting a grand battle royal...well...



Yeah four levels lower than Lothar and company. This is not going to be a big deal. Note that I still forgot to refill his potions from the Descent(TM) but again it will not matter much.

Lothar beats him up a bit and then Corypheus' dragon takes out Mythal's and comes back for some yummy humans.



'Um...let me check...'

Hey notice they called it an 'Archdemon' here? Weird. Fortunately killing dragons is pretty easy for them by now. Once the dragon is down they move in for the final battle. Corypheus is going crazy and like ripping the ground into the sky and various other stuff. Which, of course, makes me think if he can do that why doesn't he just crush Lothar to death with a rock or something? A situation that reminds me of Meredith's very specific use of animation at the end of DAII.

Anyway time to kick some ass.



'Fear my wrath for it is great indeed!'

As Corypheus falls Lothar grabs the orb and uses it to blast Corypheus into dust and seal the breach once and for all. Corypheus calls on Dumat and the Old Gods.



'Where are YOUR gods now?'



BLAM!

Day saved. All the shit that Corypheus had levitated up into the sky comes crashing down...but everybody is alright. Whew.

Though that would have been a very dramatic way to go.

But the orb got obliterated in the effort. Solas was crushed. Lothar tells him he was sorry the orb got destroyed but Solas tells him it was not his fault. And then things got weird. He said 'it was not supposed to happen this way.' What was not supposed to happen? What are you talking about? But then he says:



'Hey that sounds very similar to something Anders once told Urien...'

But before the conversation can continue the other campanions walk up to Lothar and everybody slowly comes to reallization that final victory has been achieved.



'Well we could do that thing we were doing before Corypheus rudely interrupted us and have a big party!'

So that is what they did...but Solas has vanished.



So that is probably not good. I really liked Solas, and he really like Lothar as well, but there was definitely something weird about him. He did have a sinister agenda after all. But what is it?

[viper37]

The funny part is that for Baldur's Gate they DID scale Sarevok up to take the 'Tales of the Sword Coast' into account.

never reached the end in either BG1 or 2.  Abandonned mid way through after some bad choices, and once, getting locked inside a city.

[viper37]

re: Solas.
Our characters do have strange choices in friends

You'll see more of him in the final DLC.  It is a little more challenging than the end mission of the base game post DLC.

[Valmy]

PARTY TIME! EXCELLENT!

Time to celebrate!



'Sweet. I will just leave the finding the potentially dangerous elf business to you.'

I have to say the party after the breach was sealed was a far better party. This thing resembles more a cocktail social than a VJ Day in New York.

Each of the non-Solas companions has thoughts on what happens next. Man I now know how that coach feels as he is carried off the field after winning the Super Bowl and the fans start chanting 'win it again next year!'.

Cullen is relieved to have a moment to breathe and reflects on the long war behind them. But he notes the soldiers morale is sky high and they cannot wait for the next fight, despite many taking temporary leave home. Man.



'Well to be fair you already were in charge of the army when Lothar was a suspected terrorist in irons...but you are the man Cullen.'

One of the few characters to feature prominently in all three games. I wonder if he will show up again in DA4?

Thom Rainier is proud he was there in the great war and says he will be there as Lothar tries to put the world back together. But mostly:



Damn straight.

The Iron Bull notes that the Qun is going to be hard at work exterminating the Venitori and that there still is alot expected of him from the Ben-Hassrath. Now that the common foe with the Inquisition has fallen I question how much longer The Iron Bull and the Qunari will remain their friends. But not yet. Now it is time to party.



It was an honor Squishy...er...Iron Bull.

Varric is getting ready to return to Kirkwall to help the city recover from the war. He also is preparing to work on his next great work:



'Um...could you maybe make it something more pompous? Lothar has an image to protect.'

Cole thanks Lothar for letting him stay and notes the Inquisition is just getting started helping to heal the world.



Yet he admits he wants to and even wants to get wasted like alot of the servants and soldiers are. Cole is becoming more and more human.

Sera is having a spiritual awakening and asks Lothar's opinion on what happened. Lothar tells her he was the vessel in which Andraste and the Maker saved the world and she figures he should probably know after all that shit they did. She says she is not in a hurry to go cause chaos and destruction. Still alot to do and besides:



Frankly the name of the game should have been Dragon Age: Big Frigging Heroes.

Dorian is now a beloved figure at Skyhold. The common people are hailing him as a hero when before they spat at him. He is going back to Tevinter soon but first hanging out with his best and only friend: Lothar. Awwwww Dorian

Man so much love in this party.



'Well don't let it go to your head Dorian.'

Josephine is freaking out about making sure the petit fours are adequate. Damn see this is why this party sucks, they should have just broke open those ale barrels from the Deep Roads. Ah well.



But this is just another diplomatic function for Josephine. All of Thedas is talking about the Inquisition now and she is excited about the future. The stately quadrille always dances on.

I think relations are still strained between Lothar and Leliana. They just talk about the food.



'Does it...taste of despair?'

Cassandra will stay here for awhile and is all full of for Lothar.



But duty calls and soon she will go rebuild the Seekers. Damn I guess the only way to live happily ever after with Cassandra is to convince her to neither become the next Divine nor rebuild the Seekers? Sorry Lothar.

Vivienne is not one to dwell on the five minutes ago and is eagerly awaiting her election as Divine, it is not official yet but she is confident.



Good luck Viv. Lothar has full confidence in her.

A little overwhelmed by the future, Lothar retires to his quarters after the party. He remembers his promise to Mother Giselle to disband the Inquisition once their work is done. But how will he know when that might be? Cassandra joins him for some personel time before duty pulls them apart again.



So romantic, with a fuzzy lense and everything.

And amazingly we get another one of those epilogues just like in DAO and Awakenings. And man did they make me ragey back then since they basically told me BS information. But I was forgiving for DAO since I don't think they expected to make a sequel, but Awakenings still puzzles me. Anyway Morrigan narrates and here we go...these things may or may not actually happen:



It almost feels sad to have preserved this mundane world of pettiness but that is how it goes.



Good. I bequeathed the Empire to...the strongest. But seriously solve your own problems Orlais.



Woah...now that sounds interesting as hell. Is it too much to ask that the last DLC be that story? Will Urien Hawke get another great adventure? What is going on in Weisshaupt?



This is pretty much what I was hoping would happen. Well done Vivienne. The Circle is needed but mages need a much larger say in how it is run.



The Templars are going through detox. Huh. Not sure what the implications of that will be.



Morrigan and Kieran leave. The Sword of Damocles hangs over Lothar and his Inquisition. So what happens next? Only time will tell. Like a few minutes or so before I start the last DLC.

But then comes a MIND BLOWING ending. Flemeth/Mythal is hangind out by an Eluvian and...



So Solas was Fen'Harel all along and he gave the orb Corypheus because after he woke up from whatever suspended animation he was in he was too weak to activate it. But then things went wrong and Corypheus I guess did it a bit too well? But then it gets even MORE weird. Solas claims the Elves need him now and Flemeth/Mythal embraces him and calls him friend. So wait I guess the ruining of the world and the revenge Mythal wanted was NOT on Fen'Harel? Then Solas somehow absorbs Mythal, Flemeth, and the Old God soul and lays Flemeth's lifeless body down. NOOOOO not Flemeth

But call me crazy but it kind of seemed like this was what Flemeth and Mythal planned all along. Like Solas/Fen'Harel is the one who is going to deliver the vengeance. Or maybe Fen'Harel straight up murdered her but Flemeth is too cagey for that. It makes me wonder if saving Urien and Lorcan was all about leading up to this moment. Woah. So suddenly Corypheus seems like a real side show to the true issue: the Dread Wolf is out to revenge the fall of the elves or something else. But what woke the Dread Wolf up to begin with? And notice it almost lines up perfectly time wise with the end of Dragon Age II. So maybe Urien did something else to screw shit up.

Speaking of Urien Amell Hawke, the adventures in Weisshaupt better be freaking playabe Bioware!! THIS MUST HAPPEN. Don't leave us hanging.

Ok so let's talk about the ending: weak sauce. I mean I am really surprised because the endings of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II were really good and intense with shit really falling apart and going down. You really felt like this was the ultimate battle. Here I mean you finish the Arbor Wilds and the game is pretty much over. There is no mad dash through enemies to reach Corypheus, no race against time while he destroys the world or anything like that. Not to mention the fact the fights were easy. Granted the Archdemon and Meredith fights were not exactly ball busters either. Just WTF Bioware? We just *poof* in front of the boss and fight it out? What kind of level design is that? Here is hoping the DLC gives us something a bit more epic.

So stuff Lothar did:



All hail to Divine Victoria!



The Inquisitor recruited everybody, even dangerous Tevinter mages and Avvar spirit bears.

He did not learn the secrets of Samson's armor, nor ever met Samson, so I hope the old dude enjoys being a Red Templar horror with freaky armor.

Sutherland and company became a great B team party of adventurerers.

That couple married for love, but still need to be responsible nobles.



Ok I know I have done some of these before so many character ones unlocked at once I just figured I would do all of them.

Cassandra was Lothar's Twoo wuv. Though knowing what I know now I should have been a lady elf and romanced Solas. That would have been so much better of a love story. Cassandra was alright but both Morrigan and Isabela and the big betrayal/reconciliation arcs this one lacked a certain conflict I guess. After Morrigan and Anders it just goes to show if you want the craziest love story always romance the craziest mage. I will have to keep that in mind for DA4.

Dorian is returning to Tevinter

Dorian reconciled with his dad.

Dorian is best buds, and distant cousin it seems, with Lothar.

Blackwall recruited.

Blackwall returned to being Thom Rainier.

Blackwall is buds with Lothar.

Iron Bull recruited

Iron Bull saved the Dreadnought and remained loyal to the Qun.

Cassandra rebuilt the Seekers.

Sera recruited and stayed.



Cassandra discovered the Seeker book.

Lothar and Cassandra were friends. Friends with benefits.

Harmond was conscripted into the Inquisition

Lothar and Sera were friends...because Lothar is not suicidal.

Cole was recruited and stayed with the Inquisition.

Cole became more of a human.

Lothar and Cole were buds.

Solas freed his friend from Kirkwall douchebaggery.

Lothar and Fen'Harel were buds. Which is pretty wild.

Varric discovered his one true love gave the Red Lyrium to Corypheus.

Varric and Lothar were buds.

Vivienne Recruited.

Lothar got the snowy wyvern heart for Vivienne...not that it did any good.

Lothar and Vivienne were friends.

[viper37]

Re: Orlais.
Wrong choice, pal.  Orlais is now an unstable mess poised to erupt in rebellion all over again.

Re: The Grey Wardens.
We don't know anything about them, the DLC does not mention them.

Re: Vivienne.
Best choice is Lelianna.  She gives mages freedom and she stops rebellions before they even happen

But call me crazy but it kind of seemed like this was what Flemeth and Mythal planned all along. Like Solas/Fen'Harel is the one who is going to deliver the vengeance. Or maybe Fen'Harel straight up murdered her but Flemeth is too cagey for that. It makes me wonder if saving Urien and Lorcan was all about leading up to this moment. Woah. So suddenly Corypheus seems like a real side show to the true issue: the Dread Wolf is out to revenge the fall of the elves or something else. But what woke the Dread Wolf up to begin with? And notice it almost lines up perfectly time wise with the end of Dragon Age II. So maybe Urien did something else to screw shit up.

You know, at first, I wondered if it wasn't Flemeth who absorbed Fen'Harel.
But then, I wondered something else.
In DAO, you can kill Flemeth.  But it is revealed in DA2 that she gave someone an amulet containing a piece of her so she can be reincarnated.  Now, whomever bathed in Mythal's temple is her eternal servent.  And she was doing something with the boy, in the Fade/Crossroads (that should give you a hint of something).

What if Mythal is still alive somewhere, inside something or someone?
The Dragon Age series is known to change protagonist every game, unlike Mass Effect 1,2,3.
What if the Inquisitor or Morrigan becomes Mythal in #4 and a new protagonist arises?   It would be cool to see the old lady again



DLC very minor spoiler:
[spoiler]
It is about what you do with the Inquisition once Cory is dead&gone[/spoiler]

[Valmy]

Re: Orlais.
Wrong choice, pal.  Orlais is now an unstable mess poised to erupt in rebellion all over again.

Eh. Business as usual.

Re: The Grey Wardens.
We don't know anything about them, the DLC does not mention them.

I figured. Quite the set up for something though.

Re: Vivienne.
Best choice is Lelianna.  She gives mages freedom and she stops rebellions before they even happen

Given everything that has happened over three games what kind of fucking psycho would just let the mages free to terrorize the world? This strikes me as a better compromise.

You know, at first, I wondered if it wasn't Flemeth who absorbed Fen'Harel.
But then, I wondered something else.
In DAO, you can kill Flemeth.  But it is revealed in DA2 that she gave someone an amulet containing a piece of her so she can be reincarnated.  Now, whomever bathed in Mythal's temple is her eternal servent.  And she was doing something with the boy, in the Fade/Crossroads (that should give you a hint of something).

What if Mythal is still alive somewhere, inside something or someone?
The Dragon Age series is known to change protagonist every game, unlike Mass Effect 1,2,3.
What if the Inquisitor or Morrigan becomes Mythal in #4 and a new protagonist arises?   It would be cool to see the old lady again

Maybe. But it sure seemed like Mythal and Fen'Harel were friends and co-conspirators there.

[viper37]

 

Eh. Business as usual.

Prior to DA:I, Orlais was quite stable.

I figured. Quite the set up for something though.

Maybe #4, if we're lucky.  Otherwise, just some boring book.

Given everything that has happened over three games what kind of fucking psycho would just let the mages free to terrorize the world? This strikes me as a better compromise.

Anders felt terrorized and oppressed by Templars, and we've seen first hand how cruel they can be in DA:I and DA2.
Any other option than freedom is just delaying the inevitable.  And the return of the boomerang will hurt 10 times more.

Maybe. But it sure seemed like Mythal and Fen'Harel were friends and co-conspirators there.

Friends, yes.  Co-conspirator, not really sure.  Flemeth is able to see the future, or rather a possible future.  Something Fen'Harel seems unable to do.  Flemeth knew Morrigan would send someone to kill her.  She knew where Hawke would end and what he had to do then.  She knew the Hero of Ferelden had a very important role to play, enough to warrant saving him while she usually does not meddle with humans' affairs.

It's possible she knew what Fen'Harel would do and she took steps to prevent it.

Or, it is as you say, they were co-conspirator.  She took the boy's Old God soul and allow Fen'harel to take both souls to better accomplish his/their revenge.

[Valmy]

Well at the end of the day man we both know all the choices get us to basically the same place

Oh I am sorry did Templars attempt to rule the world as Gods and bring near apocalypse multiple times? Or was that the mages?

In any case putting mages in positions of power in the chantry and the circles is supposed to be a check on that Viper. Try to keep up.

It's possible she knew what Fen'Harel would do and she took steps to prevent it.

I don't know. It seemed like they planned on meeting and planned on merging like that. We'll see.

[viper37]

Well at the end of the day man we both know all the choices get us to basically the same place

The end of the last DLC hints at something different, but I guess you are 100% correct.

Oh I am sorry did Templars attempt to rule the world as Gods and bring near apocalypse multiple times? Or was that the mages?

Actually, yes they did.  Templars and Seekers both alike in my game
They force tranquilize mages over the years, they force fed red lyrium to their brothers, they willingly served an evil mage, just the kind of people they are supposed to protect us from

Mages have the excuses of their untamed nature, but Templars and Seekers were downright traitors I say
No way I'm leaving the destiny of this country with religious zealots.

By the end of DA4, you will see I was right all along!

In any case putting mages in positions of power in the chantry and the circles is supposed to be a check on that Viper. Try to keep up.

Doesn't really matter who does the oppression.
Give me liberty of give me death, they used to say.  How have times changed

[Valmy]

Actually, yes they did.  Templars and Seekers both alike in my game
They force tranquilize mages over the years, they force fed red lyrium to their brothers, they willingly served an evil mage, just the kind of people they are supposed to protect us from

Mages have the excuses of their untamed nature, but Templars and Seekers were downright traitors I say
No way I'm leaving the destiny of this country with religious zealots.

Well I destroyed all the traitors and left the non-traitors alive. So that problem was taken care of. Under normal circumstances the Templars do not have any special powers that makes them troublesome when a few of them go nuts.

There is nothing inherently evil about having an organization designed to ensure magic does not dominate and rule over society. It is just a matter of figuring out how it should function. I have been saying since DAO that mages who are not total sociopaths should have most of the say in how it works. So we will see how it goes.

Doesn't really matter who does the oppression.
Give me liberty of give me death, they used to say.  How have times changed

I thought you Canadians liked gun control. Now you are saying every nutcase should be able to run around with a nuclear bomb unchecked or it is "oppression"

By the end of DA4, you will see I was right all along!

Actually by the beginning of DAO you saw that I was right

Well actually I do not even really care about being right. If I just created a dystopia to adventure in in DA4 that will be pretty awesome 

[Valmy]

No way I'm leaving the destiny of this country with religious zealots.

By the way you favor an actual dangerous religious zealot with psychopathic tendencies while I favored a completely secular political operator so this is just a bizarre criticism to throw me way. Just saying.

But even so religious zealotry is a perfectly fine roleplay choice. This is not a real country. And besides if I did everything the exact same way you did you wouldn't get to see any new shit 

[viper37]

Well I destroyed all the traitors and left the non-traitors alive. So that problem was taken care of. Under normal circumstances the Templars do not have any special powers that makes them troublesome when a few of them go nuts.

Templars have the potential to be big bullies.  In the past, there was an organization to watch over them watching mages.  It did not work that great.

There is nothing inherently evil about having an organization designed to ensure magic does not dominate and rule over society. It is just a matter of figuring out how it should function. I have been saying since DAO that mages who are not total sociopaths should have most of the say in how it works. So we will see how it goes.

I thought you Canadians liked gun control. Now you are saying every nutcase should be able to run around with a nuclear bomb unchecked or it is "oppression"

The equivalent would be to force all gun users to register themselves in a barrack and stay there all the time, watched over by people with the ability to suppress gunfire.

By keeping mages aside from society, you reinforce the view that:
a) Mages are superior to the rest of the population and should rule over them
b) Mages are inherently dangerous just for what they are and should be prehemptively locked up
c) Mages are not normal humans

All kind of humans can commit atrocities, even in DA's world, we've seen it.  Remember that guy who was convinced he was posessed by demons and that pushed him to hurt children?  He was no mage, just a regular human, protected by another human.

Having mages follow mandatory training on how to use their power is a good thing.  Having them locked up in towers, preventing contact with their families and having some weirdos, totally distant and acting, at the very least, snobbish with them is not the way to go.  It's like prehemptively jailing gays because they are more likely to get AIDs and transmit it.  Even Reagan never dreamed of that

By the end of DA4, you will see I was right all along!

Actually by the beginning of DAO you saw that I was right

Well actually I do not even really care about being right. If I just created a dystopia to adventure in in DA4 that will be pretty awesome 

I kinda feel your earlier comment was the right one, i.e. it won't change anything
There is hope that last DLC will contain something for the next game, with the final choice you make, but it's all up in the air for now.  I don't even know if they use the same engine or another.  I believe they use this engine for Mass Effect 4 though.

[viper37]

By the way you favor an actual dangerous religious zealot with psychopathic tendencies while I favored a completely secular political operator so this is just a bizarre criticism to throw me way. Just saying.

But even so religious zealotry is a perfectly fine roleplay choice. This is not a real country. And besides if I did everything the exact same way you did you wouldn't get to see any new shit 

we're just talking and joking man   I'm in no way telling you how to play. I'm just telling you how I played it and why

I'm just as eager than you to see if our choices will really matter in the next game.  Will Orlais be a stable ally of the Inquisition?  Will it falter under a Qunari invasion?  Will Elves launch a full scale, bloody rebellion against Orlais and Ferelden?  Will Solas morph into a dragon?

[Valmy]

Templars have the potential to be big bullies.  In the past, there was an organization to watch over them watching mages.  It did not work that great.

Not watching the mages has 100% of the time resulted with the Mages ruling everybody else

We just have to work out the bugs Besides the mages will help.

By keeping mages aside from society, you reinforce the view that:
a) Mages are superior to the rest of the population and should rule over them
b) Mages are inherently dangerous just for what they are and should be prehemptively locked up
c) Mages are not normal humans

Mages are not normal humans. They are incredibly dangerous. "locked up" is rather strong. They should simply be trained and regulated.

All kind of humans can commit atrocities, even in DA's world, we've seen it.  Remember that guy who was convinced he was posessed by demons and that pushed him to hurt children?  He was no mage, just a regular human, protected by another human.

Yeah? The non-mages are not exactly living in an anarchistic state of nature either

Having mages follow mandatory training on how to use their power is a good thing.  Having them locked up in towers, preventing contact with their families and having some weirdos, totally distant and acting, at the very least, snobbish with them is not the way to go.  It's like prehemptively jailing gays because they are more likely to get AIDs and transmit it.  Even Reagan never dreamed of that

But if the mages are in the chantry and running the circles then people will understand they are responsible and important parts of the culture and society. Besides having the circles does not preclude them doing work outside of the circles.

I kinda feel your earlier comment was the right one, i.e. it won't change anything

Well yeah Lorcan could have freed the Ferelden mages after DAO, he didn't but he could have, and would it have made any difference in the mage rebellion? Nope. Though that choice never got saved.

Let me see how the DLC plays out and we can revisit this later

Lots of time to babble before the next game.

[viper37]

The DLC was spoiled to me (ok, I read Bioware's friggin' forum, my own damn fault ), but I feel that, story-wise, it was really interesting.
Combat wise, it's closer to Descent.  Some fights are a tad insane.  Fucking ... ah, well, you'll discover it for yourself