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We Want Comics: Dragon Age

By | January 18th, 2022
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Over the holidays, I began to hear the Calling: no, not that one, rather, my brain kept reminding me 2022 could be when we finally learn the release year of Dragon Age 4, BioWare’s long in-development follow-up to 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition. Whether the video game comes out next year or (sigh) 2024, hopefully we’ll get enough closure on the major threads and storylines from the third entry, that the licensed comics (and novels) can start exploring past events without worrying about contradicting future revelations in the games. Here are seven possibilities for future literature from the world of Thedas.

Spoilers follow for all Dragon Age media.

Solas:

Solas (voiced by Gareth David-Lloyd) in the Dragon Age 4 trailer

Dragon Age: Inquisition ended with the revelation that the Inquisitor’s unassuming elven magic expert, Solas, was in fact Fen’Harel (the “Dread Wolf”), the elven god of betrayal and rebellion. As Solas explains in the Trespasser DLC, he and the other elven gods and goddesses weren’t deities, but powerful leaders who enslaved most of their kind: Solas was the only one who openly defied the others, and he eventually locked them away by creating the Veil, which divided the spirit/dream realm of the Fade from the physical world. However, this drastic course of action caused the elves to lose their immortality, and eventually fall prey to human imperialism, leading Solas to believe that he must destroy the world to restore what they lost. Whatever fate befalls him in the next game, Solas is a captivating anti-villain with an epic backstory, and it’d also be interesting to show his reawakening in the present day.

Corypheus:

While Solas secretly instigated the events of Inquisition, the big bad was Corypheus (birth name Sethius Amladaris), the ancient Tevinter Magister, who led six other High Priests of the Old Gods in a blood magic ceremony to enter the Golden City (the Theodosian equivalent of Heaven.) For their arrogance, Corypheus and the other Magisters became afflicted with the taint, and were transformed into the first darkspawn, creating a plague that has haunted Thedas for over a thousand years.

Corypheus (David Sterne) in Dragon Age: Inquisition

As good as Inquisition was, Corypheus was an ultimately underwhelming villain, who was hamstrung by a lack of screentime after his electrifying entrance, but a book can explore him in ways the game couldn’t. As cruel and egomaniacal as Corypheus was, there was a sympathetic core there: he had lost his faith and his family, and was unable to die in a world that had moved on — like Solas, he was trying to restore his time, albeit by trying to conquer Thedas instead of destroying it. A comic could literally humanize him by showing him before his transformation, and seeing the other High Priests (including the Architect from Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening) would be great too.

The Blights:

As mentioned above, Corypheus and his fellow High Priests were the first darkspawn (the series’ zombie-esque take on Orcs), and the Blights (the wars begun whenever they find and turn an Old God into an Archdemon) would be natural fodder for an epic prequel story. The First Blight would be the most dramatic, since it lasted for many centuries, and saw the fall of many of the dwarven cities, as well as the formation of the Grey Wardens, the order of dedicated anti-darkspawn warriors, who learned to effectively vaccinate themselves against the taint during the ceremony known as the Joining. Afterwards, it might be more interesting to depict darkspawn attacks in-between Blights: after all, there’s nothing scarier than the unexpected.

Dragon Age: Origins promo art of the darkspawn during a Blight

Andraste:
Andraste is the founder of the main religion in Thedas, which believes her to be the Bride of the Maker (Thedas’s creator.) She was a warrior prophet who nearly brought the Tevinter Imperium to its knees, until she was betrayed by her mortal husband Maferath, which is why men aren’t allowed to serve as priests in the Chantry (the series’ version of the Catholic Church.) Andraste’s tale — and her possible relationship with her elf champion, Shartan — is naturally exciting, as it’s basically a larger scale fantasy version of Joan of Arc‘s life, although it may be difficult to keep her story compelling after her death, as the main players become the men in her life. Still, it would be cool to read, and to see the different versions of her story (akin to Christian and Muslim views of Jesus.)

Continued below

The Rise of the Qunari:

Speaking of religions, the Qunari are easily the most exotic and mysterious empire in Thedas. Mostly consisting but not limited to the minotaur-like kossith (whom everyone else just calls “Qunari”), they follow the Qun, a code based on the writings of the philosopher Koslun, that emphasizes duty over individuality, to the extent they forgo names or families. Regardless of whether we learn more about the Qunari’s history and origins in the next game, a book exploring how a people essentially become a military machine would be really intriguing, especially as what is known about Koslun’s life suggests it was a class revolt, and not imposed from on high. Either way, a Qunari comic would be a great opportunity for a lot of badass art of horned giants in armed combat.

The Bull’s Chargers:

The Bull's Chargers. Clockwise: Iron Bull, Dalish, Stitches, Krem, Rocky, Skinner (obscured) and Grim. Image courtesy of the Dragon Age Wiki

I figured I’d suggest a character who hasn’t appeared in Dark Horse’s comics here: Morrigan? While the Dragon Age comics are happy to ignore player choices (unlike the Mass Effect ones), there’s way too much baggage involving her potential child. Anders? He’s another can of worms. Cassandra Pentaghast? Unfortunately, her backstory was already shown in the anime film Dawn of the Seeker. No, I’m going to pick the Iron Bull: he’s a fun, charismatic and witty Qunari mercenary, and I love his friendship with “Krem” Cremisius Aclassi, his transgender second-in-command, so an ongoing prequel series about their adventures before signing up with the Inquisition would be lovely. (I imagine a lot of fans, who felt represented by the LGBTQ characters, would agree.)

Theodosian Holy Days:

Thedas has five major holidays: First Day, Wintersend, Summerday, Funalis (aka All Soul’s Day), and Satinalia. Funalis could form the starting point of a Halloween-themed anthology, while Satinalia and First Day would inform a Yuletide release; and Summerday could be the basis of a Valentine’s Day book, since it’s described as being a popular occasion for weddings. Given how beloved and diverse the romances in the series are, that feels like a no brainer.

As well as all these, it would be nice to see more of the games’ writers, like Patrick Weekes and Mary Kirby, write new comics installments, just as original lead series writer David Gaider did. As for artists, there’s no shortage of talented Dragon Age fans, but Noah Oliver Hayes (“The Avant-Guards”) would be a really dynamic and expressive pick (check out some more of his fan art here.) Be sure to let us know which creators, and what corners of the Dragon Age setting you’d like to see get explored outside the games, in future; and in the meantime, Maker be with you.


//TAGS | We Want Comics

Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Chris is the news manager of Multiversity Comics. A writer from London on the autistic spectrum, he enjoys tweeting and blogging on Medium about his favourite films, TV shows, books, music, and games, plus history and religion. He is Lebanese/Chinese, although he can't speak Cantonese or Arabic.

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