Sooo I sorta kinda accidentally finished Dragon Age 2 last night. I know, I know…that sounds super weird. You’re probably wondering, “Britt! How does one accidentally finish a game?” Well freakin’ A! I had no idea where the story of Dragon Age 2 was going, and therefore I had no idea the game was about to wrap up until I was balls-deep into the last mission. I’ve said all along that I never understood what I was trying to accomplish in Dragon Age 2. Why was I wandering around Kirkwall, doing good for this city? Who am I trying to defeat? What issue am I trying to resolve? There were the obvious missions of “Kill this guy for this reason” or “Help this person for that reason”, but there was never one continuous, pertinent issue.
But back to the ending. I ended up siding with the mages, but I’m wondering (in the grand scheme of things) if it really mattered who Hawke sided with. Sure, you might lose a few companions depending on which side you choose to assist, but it sounds like Orsino will morph into a fleshy lump of decomposing goo (aka the Harvester. Remember those bad boys in the Golems DLC?!) no matter what, as will Meredith become corrupt by the Idol (I KNEW the Idol was going to come into play at some point).
After pwning Meredith, Hawke and her companions left Kirkwall and ultimately split up (although it sounded like Anders stayed with Hawke). More and more Circles began uprising and the Templars started fighting back. The world is about to go seriously batshit (if it hasn’t already) and the Seeker, Cassandra, needs Hawke’s help to set things right. So. What I gathered from all of this is that Cassandra thought Hawke was the initiator for that Mage/Templar clusterfuck. But as Varric told Hawke’s story, the Seeker realized that she had the story twisted all along and now she wants Hawke’s babies.
Also, it’s mentioned that the Warden is gone as well. As in MY Grey Warden, Elissa Cousland from Ferelden. How cool would it be if the two ended up working together for a unified cause, and characters from Origins and Dragon Age II collaborated? That seems to be the route Mass Effect 3 is taking, isn’t it? Maaan that would make me so happy in the pants. Oh, and Miss Leliana made a brief cameo at the end. She wants to find the Warden and Champion as well. <3.
So let’s say the Warden and Champion team up. Where could the story take them? I could toss theories around left and right, but here are a few loose ends that might be touched upon in Dragon Age 3.
Flemmeth: The last time I saw Flemmeth was when Merill performed that elven ritual in Sundermount. I had been carrying her around in an amulet since our encounter outside Lothering, protecting her crazy ass. But it’s curious that she knew Morrigan would eventually try to kill her, that’s why she protected herself long before the attempt occurred. HOW DOES SHE DO IT?! What is she? In Witch Hunt, Morrigan said she isn’t truly human. Greeeaaat.
Morrigan (and child): This was barely touched upon in Dragon Age 2, sans Flemmeth name dropping once or twice. I thought Morrigan and her demon-god baby would come into play at some point. My best guess is that he’s still hiding somewhere, awaiting his “destiny” as Morrigan would say.
Grey Wardens: There was a few cameos by these guys, one of them being Nathaniel Howe. He said Hawke had ventured further into the Deep Roads than anyone thought possible. It sounds like they were doing some excavations. Why? Also, I came across Grey Wardens in Kirkwall during the Qunari clusterfuck. They could not offer their help, and they said they had more important issues to deal with. Which leads me to…
Orlais: When Alistiar made his cameo *EEEE* he made it sound like several Orlesians want their long lost Ferelden back. Could this be hinting of a future war with Orlais and Ferelden?
The Architect: This dude, although now dead (thanks to yours truly) has to have some impact in one way or another. I mean, he was a prominent character in Dragon Age: The Calling AND in Dragon Age: Awakening. Nathaniel Howe said that The Architect has given a few Darkspawn (known as the disciples) the gift to think and speak. DUN DUN DUN…
Varric and Bianca: I want to know why Varric’s crossbow is named Bianca.
Merrill and the Eluvian: Merrill wanted to activate the Eluvian. Morrigan used an Eluvian in Witch Hunt to teleport somewhere. Did Merrill ever succeed in activating the Eluvian? Or did she flee Kirkwall before she got the chance?
Ser Pounce A Lot: C’mon. You know you miss the damn cat as much as I do.
HMMMMM.
What do you think is going to happen in Dragon Age 3? What did you think of the ending? I now allow spoilers! ;)
personally I did not like the ending to DA2. It felt like they were trying to marginalize your big decisions as much as possible. Like you said if you had sided with the templar different people would have left (and Anders would be dead, unless you still killed him). Everyone would have still turned into bad guys (Orsino what the hell? way to set the cause back like a bajillion years.) Unlike Dragon Age 1 where your choices made huge impacts and killing the archdemon was incidental.
DA2 was clearly meant to emphasize the political turmoil in Kirkwall, because that is one of the cool parts of the Dragon Age universe: its not the darkspawn that is really the problem. Politics really really make the difference between this and other tolkien-esque fantasy’s. But DA2 just feels rushed, Meredith just looks like a total bitch with no sort of motivation other than hate for mages.
And Anders…oh that fucking Anders, what a wasted oppurtunity that guy was. First of all the fact that he blows up the chantry IN SECRET! wait so we don’t any reasoning from him. we don’t get a chance to really see what he sees. he is always just sneaking around and seeing all of this injustice. Second, I have never heard Anders not turn into a total douche on a party member. I have only heard tales of him being fun and him acting all horny.
Also while I did side with the mages it was because my Character was a mage…and he was just about the only Mage who didn’t turn into a Maleficar inspite of using blood magic…and that counts for… nothing.you should have taken another year on it Bioware.
as for Dragon Age 3 I still have faith in bioware and this reply is already too long XD
I <3 long replies! I agree with your points. I think the motivation behind blowing up the Chantry was that he felt there could never be a happy medium between the Templars and Mages, and the Chantry kind of stood for that. So, by destroying the Chantry (aka the grey area), you are forced to pick one or the other.
My feeling is that Dragon 3 will continue with Hawke
I really can’t imagine going back to the grey Warden from DA:O
I would imagine Hawke becomes a Warden
Probably. But don’t you think the Warden will have something to do with DA3?
I felt DA:2 is what most 2nd stories are in a trilogy- a setup for the finale. No, you don’t see massive impact from your actions within this game, but DA:3 will be vastly impacted by the combined lists of your choices between 1 & 2 to create very different outcomes as to who is fighting, what you’re fighting for, and how the ultimate finale rolls along.
I mean, just from reading your summaries, I can spot quite a few major choice differences that would cause our DA:3 experiences to be completely different- how we dealt with Alistair, the Architect, Anders, etc.
I believe DA:3 will have several of the DA:1 and several of the DA:2 companions (still living) available to be in your party, as well as a few new ones. I believe, though it’s a guess, that you will return to playing as the Warden (or A Warden) for the last game- I think the point of the Champion was to be the catalyst for the war between the mages and templars. I think the champion will be in DA:3, but only as a player in the story, not as your character or anyone in your party.
Again, I’m just guessing. However, as a writer one thing I can bet much on: You’ll never get the story about Bianca. That is a traditional “tease” to make the character unique- he’s a storyteller, but there’s one story he’ll never tell. It adds mystery to him, but it’s just a character point.
Anyways, I enjoyed 2- although not as much as 1. I’ve played through 1 11 times now, because there’s so many combinations. 2 removed so much of that by forcing you to be human and removing unique dwarf/elf experiences. I’ve only been through DA:2 twice now, and stalled during the 3rd go because there’s not enough different ways to play. I do enjoy the combat system more, now that I’m experienced with it.
Regardless- Bioware can never do wrong in my book. They still make the best games around, and I’ll take a DA:2 over 99% of the stuff released any day!
Agreed! I was just telling my friends about this. I think the story of Dragon Age 2 had to be told as it will prove to be significant to the series. The game itself could have been executed an eentsy-weentsy better in my opinion, but it was still a good game.
There is so much they can do in Dragon Age III. There’s a lot going on after DA II and the potential is grand. You have the Mage uprising and the Templar rebellion. The possible war with Ferelden and Orlais. Possibly Tevinter could always step in to make a move with the current turmoil or the Qunari can make another return. You get where I’m going. There is just so much potential.
It’s hard to see where they are going to go and what moves they are going to make. They did say DA II set the ground work where they wanted to go with the franchise, so I can see them going 180 with new characters and bringing back some existing if they play a relevant role. Hopefully both Bioware studio’s ping pong off one another and they handle the companions like they are doing in ME 3. Have some come back full time while others play a role where they fit.
I remember them saying way back before game release to have Cassandra the seeker looking for Hawke play a major role in DA III. I also want to see what they do with the Grey Warden bit since they were investigating something intense through out DA 2.
Long post is long but basically the way they set it up they have a lot of room to breathe. Though must signs point to Orlais. I believe the Chanty homebase is there, the possible war, Leliana and Cassandra hailing from there as well. Bohdahn and Sandal are moving there.
Hopefully they can take the time to flesh it out. Unfortunately DA II was rushed out the door so they could set the foundation for where they wanted to go with the franchise and possible EA leash as well(We’ll never know)
Your reply made me giddy. There are SO many ways DA III can go, and so many loose ends from both DA:O nad DA:II. It’s gonna be a massive game. Either that, or they may have to develop DA4, DA5, DA6….(yesplz)
They may not do DA4 5 6 (I do hope so tho), but I’m sure that EA will push Bioware to create a whole bunch of game set in the DA Universe
Could you Imagine playing a Dragon Age game where you are actually invading a country as a Qunari, that would be retarded :P
Dragon Age: Invasion
I could see DA:III go something like this:
In the DA:III you’ll be a new player in charge of finding both the hero of Ferelden and the Hero of Kirkwall. As you progress along the story, you would be thrown into a flashback sequence, in these sequence you would follow the path of the Hero of Kirkwall and/or Ferelden and the action they took during the time they went missing. As more the story went forth, the closer the time gap would get between the flashbacks and the actual time line. All of this would end up in one of the biggest, Epic, badass, battle Uniting the Hero of Ferelden, of Kirkwall and your hero to end the War that is going on between the chantry and the Mages only to find out what Morrigan and Flemeth had really been up to. Then Bioware would release 3234523 DLC to milk the hell out of the story.
Thats where I’m at in my Imaginary sequel to DAII lol
LOL! Hey, that would be cool and is definitely a possibility. Especially with the DLC part ;)