New concept art for Dragon Age 4 was revealed on the first night of Gamescom 2020. This included an image of Solas that appeared to confirm one big thing many fans had suspected about the Dread Wolf’s role in the new game.
In Dragon Age: Inquisition, players saw the spirit of the old god Urthemiel and the power of the Anchor transfer through several characters, but it remained somewhat ambiguous which character had ultimately gained control of either, if it existed within the story (like Urthemiel). The new concept art appears to confirm what many fans of the series had suspected: Solas will likely be an incredibly powerful adversary in Dragon Age 4.
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In Dragon Age: Inquisition, it is revealed that Solas is in fact the ancient elven god, the Dread Wolf, who trapped the Creators and the Forgotten Ones beyond the mortal world, and created the Veil between it and the Fade. The Dread Wolf was also the original owner of the Anchor, the glowing mark on the Inquisitor’s hand.
In Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC, the Inquisitor loses their marked arm, and it is implied that Solas takes the power of the Anchor, although it wasn’t exactly confirmed. The glowing hands Solas is shown to have in the concept art BioWare has now released appears to confirm that Solas has acquired that power, so the Anchor and its relationship to the rifts that appear in Inquisition could potentially tie in to Solas’ plan to tear down the Veil. Basically, the new plan could be the old plan, with extra steps.
Flemeth also absorbs the soul of an old god from Morrigan’s child Kieran, assuming her ritual was performed in Dragon Age: Origins. It is also revealed that Flemeth was never possessed by a demon as in the folk legends, but was possessed by the elven goddess Mythal. When Flemeth later meets with Solas, a power transfers between them, but the exact results were ambiguous. The concept art released at Gamescom (as seen above), where Solas has glowing eyes just as he does after the encounter with Flemeth, but also has a wolf at his side, makes it more likely than ever that the Dread Wolf did in fact come out on top.
This means that Solas has likely taken the power of both Mythal’s soul and the old god soul that Morrigan trapped in the ritual at the end of Origins. This makes it extremely likely that the Dread Wolf will be an very powerful foe in Dragon Age 4.
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The Dread Wolf desires to the destroy the Veil, and between the powers of three different gods and the Anchor, many players will be curious to see what sort of chaos Solas is able to unleash in Dragon Age 4. The developers also hinted in the video that the Dragon Age 4 protagonist would explore “what happens when you don’t have power.”
This could lead to an interesting outcome where Solas is more powerful than ever, but the player, likely not the Inquisitor, has no pre-existing relationship with the Dread Wolf in the story. It remains to be seen whether the Solas that appears in Dragon Age 4 will even be recognizably the same person as appeared in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Loose Dragon Age story threads like Flemeth’s ultimate fate also remain up in the air.
While BioWare’s new teaser has made rumors about the importance and power of Solas in the story appear more likely to be true, it also left many more important questions. Many fans will be hoping the Dragon Age developers tease more details during the remainder of Gamescom, or at least that more is shown later this year.
Dragon Age 4 is in development.
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