The true origin of the Darkspawn is one of the biggest mysteries in Dragon Age. The Andrastian Chantry claims that Tevinter's Magisters Sidereal were turned into the first Darkspawn as punishment for breaching the Veil and entering the Maker's Golden City. The Imperial Chantry refutes this account, while the Dwarves, who have the most contact with the Darkspawn between the Blights, have no account of the creatures' origins at all. Dragon Age 4 seems set to answer at least some of the questions surrounding the Darkspawn.
There's one theory that makes a lot of sense based on lines from Dragon Age: Inquisition and the setting and premise of Dragon Age 4. Here are the reasons that the ancient Elven gods—known as the Evanuris—might be one of the most likely culprits behind the creation of the Darkspawn, why their motivations might make sense, and how it could all tie into the plot of Dragon Age 4.
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The Evanuris oversaw a vast Elven empire in Thedas named Elvhenan, which existed before the Fade and the material world were separated by the Veil. Back then, the Fade was simply known as the sky, and the Elves enjoyed access to great magical power and even immortality. Elvhenan, however, was far from a paradise. The Evanuris took many slaves from their own people, marking their faces with different tattoos known as vallaslin to demarcate which member of the Evanuris the slave or their master served.
When one of the Evanuris, Mythal, tried to oppose this slavery, the other Elven gods killed her. Though her spirit would linger and eventually possess Flemeth, Mythal's murder led another of the Evanuris, Solas, to lead a rebellion against his fellow gods. For this act of betrayal, he was named Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf. Solas led a campaign to free the Elven slaves and remove their vallaslin. This war eventually ended when the Dread Wolf created the Veil, trapping the Evanuris in the Fade.
Unfortunately, the exertion also caused the Dread Wolf himself to fall into a long sleep. From the Fade, he saw the dire consequences of his actions. Long after the creation of the Veil, human tribes began settling northern Thedas from an unknown land to the north. These tribes eventually joined together to create the Tevinter Imperium. Determined to dominate Thedas, the Tevinter Imperium used blood magic and slavery to destroy the Elven empire. By the time of Dragon Age, the Tevinter Imperium still practices slavery, and many of its slaves are still Elves. Even the Elven capital, Arlathan, was razed using blood magic. When some Elves tried to take refuge in an abandoned Dwarven Thaig, the Dwarves destroyed the Thaig rather than risk their alliance with the Imperium.
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In light of this lore, it's easy to imagine why the Evanuris would want to take revenge on the non-Elven races of Thedas and the Elves who rebelled against them alike. For a long time, however, the Evanuris remained trapped behind the Veil, unable to influence Thedas directly or take advantage of their powerful magic in the way they once had. That all changed when the Magisters Sidereal breached the Veil.
The Magisters Sidereal were the seven high priests of the Tevinter Imperium, back when they still worshipped the Old Gods, AKA the dragons which the Darkspawn would later turn into Archdemons for each of their Blights. The Old Gods convinced the Magisters to make huge blood magic sacrifices to break through the Veil and enter the Fade. Once they succeeded, the Chantry's account claims that the Magisters entered the Maker's Golden City, turning it black and cursing humanity with their hubris. Inquisition's Corypheus, however, claims that the Maker's throne was already empty when the Magisters arrived, suggesting that the Maker was not in fact the force behind the creation of the Darkspawn, if he exists at all.
It makes a lot of sense that the force that created the Darkspawn was in fact the trapped Elven pantheon. Turning the Magisters Sidereal into the Darkspawn and unleashing them on Thedas would be the perfect way to enact revenge on the Tevinter Imperium, and all the races of Thedas that had taken over since the collapse of the Elven empire. Not only that, but it's possible that the Evanuris might have some connection to the Old Gods who convinced the Magisters to breach the Veil to begin with.
There were seven old Gods, five of which have been discovered by the Darkspawn and turned into Archdemons, hence the five Blights so far. There were nine members of the Evanuris, but only seven were ever trapped behind the Veil during Solas' rebellion while the Dread Wolf and Mythal were not. It's possible that the Old Gods were in some ways avatars of the Evanuris and tricked Tevinter's Magisters into releasing their revenge upon Thedas. Connections between the Elven gods and dragons have been seen before. Flemeth is possessed by Mythal but takes the form of a dragon in combat.
Although the Dread Wolf is no friend of the Evanuris, this could have big implications for his plan to tear down the Veil he once put up. It could be that Solas plans to unleash another Darkspawn Blight as part of his plan to restore the Elven empire. Dragon Age 4 is set in Tevinter, where the First Blight was defeated in the Silent Plains, which is also where the Dread Wolf is said to have contacted the Dalish clans from the Fade.
Concept art and character dialogue recordings also suggest a Grey Warden companion and an important role for the Wardens in Dragon Age 4, which could be connected to Solas' plan if he hopes to weaponize the Darkspawn. It's also possible that, once again, Solas' greatest flaw will be his inability to predict the cascading consequences of his actions, and by hoping to free the Elves he will risk inadvertently releasing the Evanuris and the Darkspawn on Thedas once again.
Dragon Age 4 is currently in development.
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