Reviewing Origins in Dragon Age: Origins - Dalish Elf Origin
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- čas přidán 16. 11. 2022
- Hello, everyone! I'm Cole form The Kingdom, and today we're continuing to look at the origin stories in Dragon Age: Origins. So we'll talk about what I like and don't like about each of them.
The Dalish Elf origin is pretty good! Good characters, good level design, good story, good setup for the darkspawn. Not much from it impacts the game later, but it does give you personal reason to care about what's going on. It accomplishes a lot in a short amount of time. It still has some flaws, but all things considered, I still really like it!
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TAGS: Dragon Age, Inquisition,Origins,Dreadwolf,Bioware,Classes,Fan Theory,Lyrium,Magic,Mage,Hawke,Inquisitor,Warden,Blight,Mythal,Flemeth,Skyhold,Grey Wardens,Dwarves,Dwarf,Elves,Elf,Qunari,Qun,Tevinter,Kossith,Templar,Solas,Fen'Harel,Dread Wolf,Idol,Trespasser,Evanuris,Titans,Tranquil,Sandal,Darkspawn,Emissaries,Disciples,Eluvian,Crossroads,Morrigan,Romance,Companions,Dalish,Warden,Elvhenan,Arlathan,Forgotten Ones,Andraste,Maker,Spirits,Demons,Ancient,History,Dalish,Tamlen,Merrill,Mahariel, - Hry
I think you should have been able to be the keepers first as a mage. I understand Merril’s presence and the tie in to DA2. Maybe Merril could have been second to the keeper and takes our (the wardens) place after the events of origins. It could have made that tie in with DA2 that much better.
True, or make you keeper of the dalish clan you meet in the Brecillian Forrest or make you the keeper of merril's clan but you get the blight and have to go to the wardens then Merril takes over
Duncan is pretty cold in a lot of the Origins. IMHO, it's a defining part of his character - and it gives a good introduction to the Wardens being all "be willing to do anything if it combats the Blight" mentality.
I think this is actually my least fav origin mostly because this is the one in which the warden feels less involved with the rest of the world (during this game).
Human noble is very involved with the world and gives you a personal vendetta against Howe, Dwarf makes you feel more involved in all the events of Orzammar, Magi makes the events of the tower more personal, and City Elf does the same with the events of the alienage, but with dalish elf when you seek the aid of the dalish you go to a completely unrelated clan where there is really no one you know or care about, there is really no personal connection there.
This to me makes the dalish elf feel a lot less involved with the plot and the world that all the other origins.
The irony of this is that it's probably the most relevant origin for later games with the introduction of Merrill, the rest of the clan, and the eluvians.
I never thought about the possibility of our mom becoming a werewolf, but damn... that would have been so interesting!! And would have given the dalish character the connection with the story that I find so lacking. Now that you mentioned it I can't stop thinking about what a missed oportunity!! 😱
Ah man, I really like the Dalish cheerleader outfit...
I think this Origin is the Origin story that is the most directly tied to the plot throughout all the games. Human noble, I think, is the most directly tied to this game
The Dalish origin is my personal favorite. It ties in a lot more to the story.
You either die of the taint or -might- die during the joining. You don't get to choose, whereas with the other origins you could technically refuse. It adds a deeper meaning to my warden, in a sad but powerful way. It's what makes her so good at what she does as commander.
Duncan says that 'there are not many of the Dalish who join their ranks, but when they do they serve with distinction,' and I think that makes a Dalish Warden-Commander very valuable.
I'd like to think that during the 10+ years my warden has been off-screen she's learned of the elven mysteries and secrets of Thedas. Morrigan gives her a lead which she has been following for all these years. I hope we get some type of special interaction in DA:D, in reason with her Dalish origin and status.
Ah my favorite origin lol. Honestly this feels like the best origin to use for a reluctant hero which is really compelling to me
I think this is the origin that makes the most sense.
By that I mean - in the mage origin, if you told Irving about Jowan you act on his behalf and thus are commanded to break the rules of the circle and ultimately don't have a real reason to leave the tower other than just curiosity about the world outside but you could do that at a later time as well without Joining another obscure organization. Only if you actually wanted to help Jowan it makes sense to immediately leave the circle and use the protection from the Templars from the status of being a Grey Warden.
In the Dwarf "Commoner" origin it makes sense to leave Orzammar, but again, as a casteless you could just slip away to live a more or less normal life on the surface.
It's similar for the City Elf origin - you're wanted for a crime and while it does make sense to use the protection of the status of being a Grey Warden, there would probably have been a way to leave Denerim and perhaps even Ferelden without Joining the Grey Wardens.
In the Dwarf Noble origin you already leave Orzammar anyway and when you meet Duncan in the Deep Roads he could just have showed you a way to the surface without any obligations to Join the Wardens, and again, could have lived a more or less normal life on the surface.
The same goes for the Human Noble origin. You could just escape the castle and hide with friends of the family, perhaps find allies against Howe or call for a Landsmeet. No real need to join the Grey Wardens.
Only here in the Dalish Elf origin are you confronted with being tainted and thus your only options are to undergo the Joining to even having the chance of extending your life for a couple more years or die or become a ghoul in short time.
Nah. All of them make sense for completely.
I think the confusion on the part of the elves and Duncan is one of the strong points of the whole series. NPCs have stories about their histories, but those stories are pretty consistently incomplete or wrong through the story. Mark Darrah talked about "the unreliable narrator." Players get to build up their own narrative and the games and dlcs are played, and, at least in my case, those narratives also end up being shown to be incomplete or wrong.
Cheerleader armor is such a vibe
I did a little nose exhale laugh when you said "taint," and then you called me out for it, bloody brilliant
Warning some Headcannon/conjecture ahead.
The thing I find interesting about Tamlen is his Valleslin. After a long time nerding out on these, I've come to the conclusion that this one is an open Book with mysteries or magic flowing out of it, for the of god of Secrets and knowledge Dirathmen. His brother Falondin had a statue outside the door. Then theres the Eluvian, with two identical statues linked by vines, around a mirror spewing darkness. We've since learned this might have been on purpose.
In refrence to Falondin and Dirathmen.
(The oldest stories never even name them directly, referring to Falon’Din as “Dirthamen’s shadow,” and Dirthamen as “Falon’Din’s reflection.” )
We also know Fen'harel locked them into the Black City through Eluvians. How ironic, the Dalish Warden may have gotten tainted by the city after finding them trapped in a mirror. Even worse, Tamlen may have been held there in an attempt for said god to try to break free.
Only to fail and turn him into a ghoul instead.
Yay! My first origin! ❤️
It’s not the strongest in terms of writing, but it’s still my favorite.
This is actually one of my favorite origins. I know I used mods for the vids I have using my Mahariel, but with them, it strengthens of how close he was with Tamlen and his funeral was touching. // I kinda wish we knew more about Mahariel's parents before he was born; I was gonna suggest that the mother was turned into a werewolf too or became something similar to the Lady of the Forest. But who knows. || Anyway, good video, Cole! ❤️
I became an elf that hates humans and seeks to restore elven kingdom...I hope warden has a chance in veilguard to team up with solas. I sacrificed Alistair to the archdemon and tricked morrigan by letting her know I killed flemeth and kept zathrian alive so relations with humans remain bad.
I often feel this origin has some of the greatest ties into the 'deep history' of Thedas, with the Aluvians, ancient ruins made by humans but with eleven artefacts that connect to the deep roads most likely with the Dwarves. The ruin is definitely important, and could allude to the Alluvian connecting to the black city, which may be the elves old capital or the chamber of the Old God from Origins.
It ties very well into the more deep lore, but because all of this requires later games to understand or suspect it often falls out in terms of content, but I feel this works as it alludes to a lot, without telling you anything: though it does tie nicely into Witch Hunt, with you starting with a Aluvian and ending with one. Still it does make it my favourite lore.
This origin sorta reminds me of the first act of Princess Mononoke
Dalish cheerleader armor 😂 accurate
Our mom is a werewolf!
If you're running a rogue, I like this Origin best because of the Dalish armor and weapons. (I can neither confirm nor deny that I did all the fighting and looted my companions things to barter with Master Ilen.)
Definitely the best origin, and my favorite.
take a look at the room with the coffins/sarcophegi. There are elgarnan head skull decals on the wall. (atleast origins elgarnan skull things that you match in the dalish camp) there are a total of 10 coffins. how many dead corpses do you fight? the number comes up to 13 or so. My head cannon is that.....the ruins were an old uthenera place from before the veil. Once the veil was made the uthened elves couldnt get back to their bodies to wake up.....if thats what they wanted, so the bodies died. Other spirits found their way (or maybe the real body spirits that were sleeping) the spirits were looking for any way to stay in the mortal world. the extra bodies that are above the coffin numbers are just the explorers who got tangled in the spider cave webs..... and voilla corpse beings. duncan felt the blight of the mirror because the magic cloaking device thingie was thinning....so he came just in time to save the elvin warden recruit. and my head cannon is done.
Lol "dalish cheerleader armour", I love DAO but I've used mods to replace most of the armour.
The dalish is honestly the only origin I ever played and enjoyed personally. I tried a few others but they always felt less interesting if that makes sense? Tho to be fair maybe it's just because I'm a sucked for playing elves
The mirror itself is definitely tainted. Duncan destroys it because it is transmitting the taint, but the mirror itself is also tainted, which Merrill confirms in DA2 when she tells us she cleansed the broken shard of the taint using blood magic.
As for the origin, I think it's pretty lame. The only thing it has going for it is its connection to Witch Hunt, and later to DA2 and that particular clan. Though they don't quite look the same in DA2.
Which leads to my next point. I don't like how Merrill looks here. It wouldn't be so bad if she had just been a one-off character, but bringing her back in DA2 makes her appearance in Origins look worse by comparison. BioWare obviously prettified her for DA2, whereas in Origins she doesn't even have eyebrows. They also changed her vallaslin to be more complimentary to her face. A mod for Origins is the answer, but the fact this origin needs a mod shows that it wasn't that good to begin with.
There's also not too many story options for players to choose from. Letting the humans go or killing them has no bearing on the outcome. You can't really sway anyone aside from perhaps the craftsman to give you a special bow or something.
There aren't that many options to use cunning/persuade either, and if you lack enough of it, that adoptive mother or aunt or whatever won't tell you the story of your parents. I mean, seriously? And the only other real option is to trick Merrill into thinking you already spoke to the Keeper about Fenerrel coming along.
Also, there's no indication that Merrill actually took a shard of the smashed eluvian, so you'll have to manually control her and act like she is. That means choosing to look around and not going back with Duncan.
Another problem with the origin is how they hand-wave away your infection. "Dalish magic" just happens to be able to slow the infection long enough for you to not only survive for two days, but also go back to the ruin (Merrill states you look visibly ill at this point), then return, and then set off for Ostagar which would take weeks to get to, and then you still survive while at Ostagar and while kicking around in the Kokari Wilds. Yet in DA2, there is nothing Merrill can do for Hawke's sibling in the Deep Roads.
Ultimately, the origin doesn't make sense, for this reason. The only thing this origin has to present is Dalish lore, connection to Witch Hunt and the clan in DA2, and maybe some interesting lines if you play a Dalish Inquisitor and your Dalish Hero lives to send a letter.
Death or transformation into darkspawn is not mathematical. That the protagonist lasts several days makes sense because he was slightly contaminated (unlike Aveline's first husband in the prologue of 2). The Dalish was at a distance from the mirror.
Baaangerrr of a video