I do fully believe that Fenris is a SA survivor. Especially if you take into account that the romance scene triggers memories for him and it seems to hurt him. Plus Danarius is a total creep
Wow it makes total sense BUT wouldn’t he remember that cause it probably happened after he was injected with lyrium? The timeline of when he lost his memories is confusing
I still like the implication that Fenris' tattoos are what the Vallaslin are meant to be. Physical enchantments engraved by lyrium used to empower/shackle slaves. Since the sword that was used to make the tattoos on Fenris were an Arcane Warrior's lyrium sword, I could totally see the Evanuris giving their bodyguards Vallaslin that gave them supernatural physical abilities like Fenris. Or the Evanuris could have used the Vallaslin to bound their slaves into obedience much like Flemeth does to those who drink from the well of sorrows.
my personal favourite fenris crack theory to explain away the no-reward bug with the letter from danarius is that fenris killed danarius, and had a forged letter sent inviting hawke to tevinter so he can finish them off for handing him over to danarius. absolutely no basis in canon but it makes my vengeful little fenris-loving heart feel good!
You’d have to be a brave soul with a love of drama to romance Fenris and then leave Hawke in the Fade. I would legit expect him to show up at Skyhold looking for blood.
I did! I didn't know about bringing Anders into the Deep Roads to save your sibling from the Blight. Hawke had no family left. So I thought it made perfect sense that she would sacrifice herself to save everyone. Especially since Fenris isn't there to stop her. I hope big things happen in DA:D because of it.
I just got my girlfriend to play. She romanced both Alister and Fenris. She was pissed, but chose to sacrifice hawke. She just loved Alister too much. This literally happened today
I figured it made more sense from my Inquisitor's standpoint to take a chance at saving the wardens. I chose Stroud over Hawke. That's got to be in a top 5 "least popular DA choices" list somewhere.
I have just left Fenris-romancing Hawke in the Fade a few days ago, because I was stupid enough to make a new game where Alistair is the Warden. I had played that particular Hawke, and I loved her to bits, it's just that Alistair was so happy and head over heels about my Surana Warden, I couldn't kill him. Also, it kinda made sense for my Miriam Hawke to be sacrificial, as I played her as this very protective, responsible older sister, who is willing to put others before herself, so it kinda made sense that she would want to sacrifice herself, especially against the background of the legendary Alistair. Although, despite having decided before ever starting the quest that I would leave Hawke behind, I still spent like 40 minutes reading lore and revisiting my Keep while the choice screen was waiting patiently for me. It was not easy at all(
Fenris is my favorite DA2 romance and my top 3 bc of ris relatable history. Only someone this strong, beautiful, and willing to grow can be born out of nameless horror. That's why it means so much when romancing him and breaking through the scars, it's so real and I wept. I love Fenris.
So, it was confirmed LONG ago in the BSN forums (so you'll have to take my word for this) that, ON PAPER, Elves can be Magisters in the Tevinter Imperium. Not *all* elves are slaves in Tevinter--just most of them, and the few exceptions spend a lot of their time punching down upon other elves (see DA:O's Devera, and she ain't even a Mage)--and when the chips are down, they're expendable. Gaider noted that while there WERE examples of Elven Magisters across history, they were vanishingly rare because you generally inherit your seat, or get it allocated to you by the Archon, or get membership through the circles. It's theoretically possible that Danarius could have assisted Varania in joining one of Tevinter's circle of Magi, obtaining Senior Enchanter status, and then murderating the SHIT out of all her rivals so that the Archon had no choice *but* to appoint her as that circle's representative in the Magisterium. But it's far more likely he would have just gotten her killed in some kind of magical experiment, or (given how gullible she is) that she would have been simply murked pre-emptively by one of the other enchanters who saw this coming. TLDR, it's not IMPOSSIBLE that Danarius could have put her on the path toward a seat, but there's no way in hell he'd have actually been able to deliver on it without a *lot* of luck, and a *lot* of murder.
It would be interesting to see a character in DAD doing that--going to a Tevinter Circle and finding out that the senior enchanters all keep dying in "accidents"/getting accused of something and being executed and digging deeper and finding its an elven mage trying to claw their way up into the Magisterium. Bonus points if they're Lucerni, to show that even the good ones have to play dirty to try to change Tevinter.
I could’ve sworn that magisters took all types of lovers including male slaves. Of course slaves can’t consent so It would make sense that fenris would be a survivor of SA.
Always assumed the ownership -and abuse - was total. It fits the character's behavior. Especially the fact that he weakens and considers going back; every survivor knows what it feels like to have to struggle to throw off the submission. I could also see the Sarcophagus ritual having an elaborate prep where the glyphs are first hand-inked, then the lyrium is added in the coffin and basically seals into the inked places.
It would be REALLY great to have him come as a companion on DA:DW. But it would be equally as interesting to have him as an adversary... But either way I'm sure that his VA would love doing it!
As fun as it would be (i personally also kinda hope Kieran can be a companion), since there are world states where Fenris (and Kieran) is dead (doesn't exist), i dont think we can hope for a companion. A cameo, however, or maybe a prominent role in a main quest, would be very cool!
as somone who does have their main canon worldstate with a Hawke who romanced Fenris and was left behind in the Fade this has me absolutely BUZZING, that cancelled novel, the plotlines that might carry over into Dreadwolf, the drama and tragedy of it all...
@@GhilDirthalen oh you mentioned your Valid Victorian, I thought you meant YOUR class But hey the compliment stands, I will routinely listen to your videos and often re-listen to several all the time (Alistair is an all-time favorite)! This one was very enjoyable as well! Fenris is like the definition of "mood"
@@GhilDirthalen Dragon Age lore and Elder Scrolls lore will always be my top favorites. I am particularly fond of Ferelden because it reminds me of my home country and Morrowind because i always thought Dunmer (Dark Elf) history is fascinating.
@@Spiketrooper OHHH- that’s from my charity stream that I held last year, where I made a ‘Dragon Age 101’ class, hahaha. Nina got the highest score in my DA101 class! The stream is somewhere on this channel!
I don't think those comics as "canon" in any way... they're written by non-BW authors for Dark Horse. I don't think DA writers are necessarily involved in any of the ideas in it (but a very few) and I don't think they'll use too much of them in Dreadwolf. A romanced Fenris alone *for 4 years*, *in Tevinter* and *killing random mages* is not very coherent with his arc in DA2 or what Varric said about him in DAI... We'll see, I suppose.
Great vid. Funnily enough the one trilogy playthrough that I have saved right now that has the Hawk/Fenris romance is one of the few where I sent Hawke into the fade lol. Regardless, I could see Fenris working with the Dreadwolf... I mean they both have a horrid hatred of slavery and if Fenris does need help to reach the fade than Solas is the best option. Keep up the good work and thanks for what you do.
I have been binging all your videos. There is a distinct lack of dragon age lore videos on RU-vid and you’re filling that void. I’m on my 3rd run of inquisition and glad I found this channel!
I actually think that the Blue Wraith comics make a decent case for romancing Fenris in DA2 and then leaving Hawke in the fade, because Fenris is just so bitter and lonely. Most of the elves (maybe except Zev) we've had as companions are going to jigsaw in interesting ways off of Solas's plans. I'm keeping my expectations low for a full curtain call of past companions in DA4 but I always thought that the DA2 elves would be the most interesting to see as cameos/sidequest in DA:D because there's just so much room for how they've grown as characters in DA2 alone. Merrill I could see go either way as either blindly following Solas to restore Elven heritage, or being so traumatized by what happened to her clan that she's since run the other way. Fenris could also tip either way: Solas can free the slaves and remove his painful slave markings, or you know... "all the world is magic now."
it would be interesting if Merril's ending in DA2 would decide what she feels about Solas's plans. Mayhaps a friendship'd merril could support Solas while a Rival'd one would be skeptical about Solas.
I'm working with the assumption that Solas is lying to his followers about a lot of the salient details about his plans and kinda being vague with "restoring what was for elves" and leaving out the "destroying the world" part for all but his most loyal followers, and the problem I have with either Fenris or Merrill blindly following Solas is that....why wouldn't Varric tell the DA2 crew what's up? And I can't see either of them willfully joining with the "destroy the world" part of the plan.
@@christinefarrell6438 It's a tricky one. Varric ends DA2 talking about how all of the companions but the LI scattered to the winds after the evens of DA2, and it's further reinforced by both Sebastian and Fenris's appearances in the comics that the friendships didn't survive after Kirkwall went to crap. But we also have Varric banter in DAI indicating he's still at least somewhat in touch with other companions, and I think they're setting him up to be an advisor in DA:D .I guess it just comes down to "Sometimes people believe the wrong person."
@@MPonygirl There are definitely ways to make it believable that Fenris would join Solas, but I think they'd have to put in the legwork to make it so. I think it's not something that most people would necessarily be prepared to swallow as default, you know? Especially in a scenario in which a former love interest is an antagonist (he is in one of my three world states I'll be using in DAD). Whereas someone like Sten, well, the Antaam have been set up as antagonistic through most of the pre DAD materials, including Trespasser, so if Stenishok was an opposing force to the party (though one unlikely to be allied with Solas) I think a lot of people would probably buy that, more so than Fenris just being with the bad guys with no other explanations.
thank you so much for mentioning his friendship with sebastian it frustrates me that people hate and dismiss sebastian so much when his friendship with fenris is so sweet. i totally believe that he helped hawke teach fenris how to read 😌
I happen to be doing a Fenris romance playthrough for the first time, and the particular type of trauma discussed in the video put the first romance scene into proper context for me. I can't believe I didn't make that connection O_O
I watch all your streams and all of your videos but its been over 4 years since I last did but I'm so so glad you are still doing this. Your content brings me join and knowing that you are still at it also makes me happy. Thank you so much!
bit of a spoiler but my favorite fenris scene is when you side with the mages and he leaves then when you convince him to rejoin you its just like "Never Mind Templar Lady ima stick with my homies" and Meridith is just like "Who are you again?" and then you fight
Fenris is my main in Dragon Age 2. And my go to Romance Option.....and only romance option that I always go for to be honest.......I have a type in the Dragon Age franchise: Male Elves........Zevran, Fenris, and Solas(despite what he has done). Gideon Emery is awesome, especially because of that bit where he read it.
Nice summary of Fenris. He is probably the only past companion that I would like to have back. Maybe Zevron to help hate on the crows. I really hope they don't try to whitewash the crows into being 'neutral/good' in the next game. I don't know if you said but that sword in the comic that kept healing appeared to be red. Is it a red lyrium sword? Maybe the process made the person bigger, etc. because they used red lyrium.
Even before it was mostly confirmed that Fenris had been a survivor of sexual abuse, I still thought that he told an amazing story about living though a period of trauma and learning how to survive from it and to build a life after it. Even if the abuse wasn’t sexual in nature, there was definitely a mental abuse and maybe a physical component as well. So perhaps it’s alright to headcannon the sexual abuse out because it is only a part of Fenris’ experience as a slave and, imo, his character arc still makes sense as a survivor without it.
This was nice! It's been so long since anything has come out about my man Fenris. I prefer to think of Fenris being in direct opposition to Solas though. I would love to see him appear in the next game working in the shadows against Solas. No, I never romanced Solas. His ideas were just too radical for me. I plan to kill Solas in the next game if possible. I just don't like that dude.
I like to think Fenris in Solas team because Solas promises to free the slaves but then Fenris sees Solas lies and help the main character in DA: D to fight Solas.
i played dai first knowing literally nothing about hawke, like truly could not have cared less about him, so i left him in the fade. then i played da2 and boy have i ever felt so guilty. man did not deserve that.
I found this channel only recently and I'm surprised it doesn't have like a million subscribers. The videos are amazingly edited and they're very interesting to watch. Keep up the good work!
Hmmm… that’s a good question. As much as he hates the markings since they are daily reminder of what he went through, they gave him the ability to escape and how he survived for so long. I think he would be willing to keep the markings as long as he’s fighting slavers and to stay alive.
FWIW, my headcanon is that elves “can’t be magisters” in the same way that some other ethnic minorities “can’t be” in positions of power in deeply-but-not-overtly racist societies. Namely, if there was a really powerful elven mage, there wouldn’t be any legal reason why they couldn’t become a magister, but everything would be that much harder for them to the point that their rivals will inevitably tear them down, making it de facto impossible, even if more Tevinter-sympathetic characters like Dorian might use the de jure possibility to deny that fact. This seems most consistent with what we currently know about Tevinter, but I can’t outright point to anything confirming it. This is also my headcanon backstory for the Surana family: an elven Tevinter mage tries to break into the magisterium, gets backstabbed, decides to run off to Ferelden and settle down, a decade or so later they have a kid who grows up to become the elven mage warden.
(oop i think my previous comment got deleted, probably bc i included a link -- sorry!) i just wanted to add to fenris, and especially his jump in character design and rhodes comment, that already some time ago, DA fans and the modding community have suggested that bioware (allegedly) ripped off fenris' design from a fan mod fo origins called "Dark Times". the mod also features a white haired elf with brown skin from tevinter that's trying to escape a magister. the characters name was "thazulok". of course, this is all alleged. a tumblr post on this topic is by tumblr user orsino, in case you want to look more into it. regardless, thank you for the great video!!
I fell in love with Fenris the moment i met him. Im a sucker for tragic, suffering characters. And he was just...perfect. him and Cullen and Allister are my main boys for my fem chars. Of course, when i play male, i go for best boy, Dorian. (I always try to make Dorian and Bull a thing when im fem, tho, cause they are my otp fight me) Also, i play SWTOR, so a lot of actors in these games are in there. I think the guy who plays cullen i found, but a more important swtor character is played by Fenris' va, and when i saw and heard him for the first time, i was so mad that i was romanced to somone else, so i couldnt flirt, but he's also not (yet) romancae himself! Edit: also, for some reason im deaf, cause i kept thinking you were saying MI-DO, not LE-TO, caue for half a second i forgot fenris' "true" name
Not me accidentally leaving hawk in the fade after romancing fenris. I wish they would have released that comic because they could have made it cannon that he was friends with whoever or close with whoever was left in the fade
I think I and many others believe Fenris would not ally with Solas because of their difference with magic. From what I can tell, Fenris views magic as a corrupting force. So logically, if Solas' plans were to succeed, then to Fenris, it would not be a world free of Tyranny ut a world where anyone could become a Tyrant, for, in Solas' world, magic is everywhere and in its purest state.
Initially this makes sense, however: Solas lies. He's a manipulator, a trickster. Who's to say he wouldn't hide the parts of his plans that would make Fenris shy away? By the time of Blue Wraith/Dark Fortress, Fenris shows no major disagreement with magic as a concept. He comments that he is called magekiller, but it is conveniently left out that all the mages he kills are slavers. He only fights Francesca because she seems suspicious immediately, not because she is a mage, and he later shows no dislike or distrust for her due to being a mage. This leads me to think that his views have evolved from magic being a corrupting force, to _magisters_ being a corrupting force.
@@beep3242 Yes, Solas is a manipulator, but he isn't one to hide away the fact that he is a mage and has a deep appreciation for magic; going to be hard to hide the "I want magic to be free flowing." when one has that view. I wouldn't say Fenris has no significant disagreements; more tolerating of magic, sure, but I doubt he would be chill about more magic coming to the world.
I have subtitles on for almost all videos and thought you would find it funny that any cursing is transcribed as [__] and it keeps calling "magister" the hilarious "manchester." The great manchesters of Tevinter! It tried right??
I jsut wander how Fenris and the Dreadwold will interact. Considering how much Fenris hates magic, I can't see Fenris heling Solas at all, but he would ceratinly be at risk of Solas forcing him through the lyrium--but that would be out of character for Solas.
Thanks for condensing this info, Ghil! Don't have it in me to venture beyond games, so this was really interesting. Hopefully we'll see our elven friends in DA:D, I wonder how both Fenris and, in my case, romanced Merrill would handle Solas and his plans
romance Fenris, have the choice to either leave Hawke or Alistair (as the Warden's lover) in the fade. why go for a little sadness when you can maximize your sadness productivity
I've never loved any man, real or fictional, more. My mate, my husband...met him in 2011, fell hard in love. And nothing has touched it since. Thanks for the work you do, Ghil
Obligatory comment that I was one of those people that romanced Fenris and then had to kill him in the final battle. I was not good at point distribution.
lol I was one of the maniacs that romanced Fenris and left Hawke in the Fade. my logic was (after like 20 minutes of agonized deliberation): better to have Alistair reunited with his love (my PC from DA1) than Hawke with his. I, the player, loved Alistair more than I loved my own Hawke - and sadly, I'd rather have the Fenris the NPC suffer than my own DA1 PC. Sophie's choice, man T_T (plus I also love the idea of enraged Fenris on a shit-kicking mission) edit: I also LOVE the idea of Fenris eventually working with Solas. I sure do love the idea of the protagonist fighting Fenris in Dreadwolf :') oh god kill me this whole series is pain
Honestly, I hope we get him in the new game, and if not, at the very least. I want to have the ability to get the tattoos and make learium. Wraith become a class for the fighter. I am so tired of the simple fighter trees that we've had in every single game being basically the same ones
Glad im not the only one who could see Silas and fenris were similar poetically you could say solas is a wolf that was always free and fenris a caged one with no understanding of how to be one 🤔 well I don't blame them I never really cared for the Dalish kind of snooty city elves I do like but I feel like they definitely need a French revolution to get shit done and be taken seriously
I romanced Fenris and left Hawke in the Fade, but my version of Hawke was possessed by a spirit of compassion (before Cole was written into cannon, even!), and so he would have survived and popped out of the closest rift that the inquisitor hadn't sealed yet 😆
