Highlights
- Solas trapped in the Fade, communicates with Rook.
- Solas’ trust issues explored, reliance on Rook.
- Relying on others, key to changing Solas’ mind and saving Thedas.
This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
The gameplay trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard revealed twenty minutes of the game’s prologue. Since the trailer drop, more story details have since emerged about the purpose of Solas’ ritual, and his role moving forward in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. After the ritual scene, it’s revealed that Solas is trapped within the Fade, presumably within the very prison he had locked the Evanuris who have now escaped.
Because of Rook’s blood link, Solas can communicate with Rook from the Fade. While the details of this connection are not known yet, it’s likely that Rook is the only person Solas will be able to speak to for some time and be unable to exert any other influence on the material world. This could become incredibly important for the story and Solas’ motivations, particularly because one of his core character flaws is that he struggles to trust others. By being forced into a position where he must rely completely on someone else, Solas’ perspective on the Veil may change.
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Solas’ Trust Issues Throughout Dragon Age Games Explained
The details of the link that Rook and Solas share haven’t been revealed yet but, at its core, it means that while Solas is powerless to affect the material world where he is trapped, he is forced to rely on Rook to follow his advice and plans, and trust the decisions that Rook and the Veilguard make for themselves. This directly engages with Solas’ trust issues that led to his isolation and leaving in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Solas admits several times throughout Dragon Age: Inquisition that he has trust issues, particularly during his romance path. In the aftermath of his personal quest, he confesses to a romanced Inquisitor that it’s been so long since he could trust someone and that he’d “work on it”. In Trespasser, the angry response from a romanced Inquisitor prompts her to say to Solas, “I would have had you trust me.” While every other response prompts an argument from Solas, it’s this response where he has no counterpoint to make.
The Key to Saving Thedas in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Aside from Solas’ comments, Fen’Harel as the elven god is also known as He Who Hunts Alone. Despite the fact that his greatest fear is dying alone, he continually pushes others away and insists on doing everything himself, often to the detriment of both himself and everyone around him. The outcome of Dragon Age: Inquisition may have been very different if Solas had decided to trust the people he had grown close to, especially the Inquisitor, and trusted that others might have insight and solutions.
While Solas has agents and has worked with others before, as seen in The Masked Empire, it’s clear he keeps his distance from them emotionally and professionally, and he is always ready to step in when needed to make up for any missteps they may make. Trust goes both ways, and if Solas wants Rook to trust him, he’s going to have to extend the same trust to Rook. This will require Solas to be vulnerable with Rook, and possibly require Solas to open up to Rook about his past.
With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Solas will be in a very different position. Rook and the Veilguard already know who Solas is, so there is very little room or reason for deception on Solas’ part. Solas will also have to rely on Rook to stop the Evanuris and will be unable to do more than watch for at least part of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This is likely a position that Solas has never been in before, and will force him into an uncomfortable role as observer, relying on others for the first time. This will likely be key to changing Solas’ mind about the state of the Veil, and his relationship and possible trust in Rook may be the key to saving Thedas from Solas’ plan.