The Band of Three {Lore/Theory - Spoilers All} 

Solas said that the Evanuris started out as generals in a great war. The Forgotten Ones could simply be the generals on the losing side.

Your channel is going to explode when Dragon Age 4 comes out, more so I think than Ashe and GamerMD83 and the old guard who used to do DA content. Thank you Caitee for keeping the community entertained in the LONG years of DA game vacuum! Regards a Grateful Subscriber.

The part in the beginning where the writer talks about the city being built into a shape for a ritual, with the glyphs, and then mentioning the slaves disappearing… That instantly reminded of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

So here is my theory. This video really helped me tie parts of it together. What if the Forgotten ones where the teachers of Blood Magic. What if the war with the Titans was started by the Evanuris to replace the reliance on Blood Magic. Blood Magic can boost your power, but you must either use your own blood or the blood of another (willing or not). Lyrium (as the blood of the Titans) can be mined, and the Evanuris can keep there slaves without using them in blood rituals. Furthermore, looking at the names of the Forgotten Ones and trying to learn the meaning of them...Lingojam was a Dragon Age DAI translator. Anaris translate to Place. Geldauran can be broken down into three words (geld+daur+Rahn)...literally in Elven (A thing of hatred and malice). Solas translates to Pride. and Daern'thal was the hardest part. Using bother the Dragon Age Wiki and LingoJam the word Da means small, Ern is close to both "enfenim" to fear and "era-harel" which is demon-mage/arcane horror. Though I was also thinking of Eth (safe). The closest to 'thal that I could find was from sources I found on the DA Wiki is Mythal the protector and seeker of justice (the flip-side to vengeance). Dahl'amythal is a tree that Keepers cut their staffs from. Additionally, outside of Elven you have Thalsian who was the First Priest of Dumat who taught blood magic to Tevinter and became the first Archon. Taken all together Anaris daern'thal solas geldauran could quite literally translate to: A prideful teacher for vengeance in a place of hatred and malice. Kirkwall does have a long and literally bloody history of violence and death. So thousands upon thousands of victims to rituals where lakes of literal blood can be found in a place of hatred and malice. Just my thoughts. Love the channel as always.

I've long had the belief that Solas might attempt to tear down the Veil from Kirkwall precisely because it has a particularly weak Veil and it has an interesting association with the ancient elven empire. If it's a giant ritual circle then it would be the perfect instrument for Solas' giant spell, especially if he's using blood magic.

8:59 "the forgobidden ones"

I have a headcanon I'll be using when I rewrite DA2 (cause it's my favorite) involving this stuff, or, more precisely the street glyphs. So, we have Emerius founded in -620 Ancient, by the Imperium that has no qualms with blood magic. And yet the City was still set up in such a way as to allow very secretive study of magic deep under the streets. Perhaps this was because a specific magister or group of them wanted to study something and not be found out by their compatriots. Maybe they were pushing the boundaries of known blood magic beyond even what was considered acceptable then. Perhaps this was where they were attempting to map the Fade, a major advantage, and logical precursor to the attempts to then enter the Fade physically in -395 Ancient. Kirkwall is... pretty central to the known lands of Thedas. Should one wish to map the Fade, such a location seems logical. Start at the center and move outward from there. There was also the need to create a new center for the slave trade. And once again, a central location to Thedas makes Kirkwall a beneficial hub. The port allows for more methods of moving slaves. It's also incredibly close to Orzammar, allowing for ready access to the lyrium trade. And... Sundermont. It's claimed that the location is where a great battle between the elves and the Tevinter Imperium took place, "unleashing horrors into the waking world". We also have our lovely varterral. So... Veil already very thin. A fairly central geographical location for both mapping the Fade (since I don't think we have a clue where and when they were doing that) and collecting and trafficking slaves. Near to Orzammar for the lyrium. And so we have the reason why Kirkwall was picked. And now the glyphs. So much of the Band of Three discoveries point to or allude to a need for secrecy, being hidden, and keeping it away from the city proper. The slaves go missing instead of just being assigned to or bought by the magisters working beneath the city. What they are doing is suppose to be hidden. And you can do a lot of that with paperwork over the centuries, but there's something more happening here. The city is odd. People new to it get lost, a lot. Merrill literally outlines this trait, but it's Merrill, so no one really thinks this is the city doing something weird over Merrill just being Merrill. But the glyphs are just referred to with "what manner of magic is this?" And I believe they aren't part of the ritual or the blood magic or the Fade at all. I believe the glyphs are about the secrecy. I believe they are intended to hide, or dissuade the eye from noticing. I think this is why you can get away with using so much magic in Kirkwall. And yes, if they are going to try to make the dang mirror of transfiguration make sense in lore and not just be a game mechanic, I am going to make sense of using magic all over Kirkwall. And that's because Kirkwall itself is designed to keep these things quiet. Keep these things from notice. And those effects bleed into the mundane as well. I think if someone sees you use magic outright, they see it. By the time they report it to a templar, the details are fuzzy. By the time the templars act on it, the details are gone. Cole, essentially, in glyphs laid out in the streets. I think this also builds Meredith's paranoia and concern even before the red lyrium idol. People reporting magic that leads to nothing. Templars going out to investigate and coming back with nothing. Everything just out of her ability to do anything about it. Yeah, we know that the mercs and smugglers bribe the templars as well, but one would assume they only get paid off if they catch something happening. One would assume a mage wouldn't be worth it for them if they had to shell out a bunch of coin every time a job got done. So, I think Kirkwall "naturally" prevents the notice of things like the use of magic. Sure, eventually everyone and their dog knows the Champion is a mage, if they are one. Or they know about Anders or Merrill. It eventually sinks in, just like Merrill eventually can get around without getting ridiculously lost. But there is this very real, very innocuous vibe through the city, that plays with perception, or sort term memories, or both. I also mainly think the biggest issue with Kirkwall for the other stuff is just the thin veil. More and stronger demons messing with mages during the harrowing, just more demons around that can teach blood magic, and just a zillion demons around that know blood magic from watching SO many Tevinter using the stuff. The demons are shaped by the world they see, and the world they observed was blood magic, sacrifice, and death. I don't think you need anything more for there to be the increases in problems we see in Kirkwall, though boy have I seen a lot of more wild theories. Random Date Issue I Found: If the Tevinter calendar starts in -1195 Ancient, and 203 slaves went missing in its 312th year, we're also looking at -883 Ancient, which predates the founding of Kirkwall by quite a lot. It's possible they intended it to mean in _Kirkwall's_ 312th year, which would put it at -308 Ancient. Which does about half the total number of slaves to go missing. But it's not like we aren't used to date issues in DA lore.

Is it possible Kirkwall was the seat of Falon’din? "I do not believe they sing songs about Falon'Din's vanity. It is said Falon'Din's appetite for adulation was so great, he began wars to amass more worshippers. The blood of those who wouldn't bow low filled lakes as wide as oceans. Mythal rallied the gods, once the shadow of Falon'Din's hunger stretched across her own people. It was almost too late. Falon'Din only surrendered when his brethren bloodied him in his own temple." - Solas

If you are a mage and discuss blood magic with Solas he mentions that he can't teach you even though he has not inclination against it.

It’s also interesting when you think about the possible connections between elves, red lyrium, and blood magic. When you encounter the wounded red Templar at Suledin Keep, he compares Imshael to a gardener and could seemingly remove red lyrium from those it “infected”-for an unspecified but seemingly huge price. I feel like there’s something there, but I’m not smart enough to connect all the dots. Lol

"If you don't want to listen to my old mic again" oh no, she's aware lol

I think it's reasonable to presume that any account (even Solas') of what went down before the veil is likely to be tainted with a classic case of "history is written by the victors". Knowing what a bunch of narcissistic loons the Evanuris turned out to be, it seems believable that the "evil gods" appellation was little more than propaganda. There's several possibilities, though the two most likely seem to be that the Forgotten Ones were the loosing side of the war Solas mentioned that propelled the Evanuris to godhood, OR they were once Evanuris themselves and got banished and slandered due to some later conflict with the others. Perhaps they were actually the GOOD ones and didn't approve of what the others were doing, and ended up getting banished for opposing them. Or they were equally bad (or worse) and just got into a fight over who gets to be in charge, and the Elgar'nan/Mythal faction prevailed. Whichever the case, I think there's a good chance The Forgotten and The Forbidden are one and the same. If they were indeed of a kind to the Evanuris and where "killed" as Mythal was, or exiled as (presumably) the rest were by Solas, then it's not unreasonably that regardless of how good or evil they may have started out; after who knows how many thousands of years in exile they'd essentially become demons. Indeed there's a mention that 'The Forbidden Ones' were in fact the ones that taught the Magisters blood magic. So if as the Band of Three codices indicate, the knowledge was actually elven in origin, and said demons were in fact ancient elven gods with a VERY good reason to see what was left of Arlathan by that time annihilated, with the Evanuris conveniently off the table all of a sudden, thus unable to stop them, then that all seems to track with how the Tevinter wound up mastering blood magic and enslaving the elves.

Oh thank god another lore video. I was starting to go through withdrawals.

Your Enigma of Kirkwall video is still one of my absolute favorites

Wow! Totally forgot that this quest line existed. Awesome video as always!

Ha! I actually think those codex entries are among my most watched videos from your content. The questions posed by the discoveries lives rent free in my mind.

I love this kind of DA lore, just snippets and pieces that bring up more questions than they answer, and crucially, suggest that the world you're in is *even* *more* grim than you thought

Forever grateful for your content! Thank you 😍

Glad to see DA2 getting more love!

Love your channel. Thank you for hard work.

I wonder if in teaching Blood Magic, there was some sort of implication that Elven blood was somehow better and more powerful than other races, and that is one reason that Elves specifically are more subjugated and enslaved than any other group. That it isn’t just circumstance, but it is by design via the Tevinter Magisterium to use them as power banks.

I always find myself coming back to your channel to sequester all your knowledge and wisdom in matters of dragon age. A question I’ve been trying to pursue to little success is the existence and practice of scientific discipline. Magic-centrism is the forefront of dragon age society. But I’m very interested in the science that is used by the population of Thedas or some sort of scientific explanation to the physical and fade world. Would you consider tackling such a topic? I loved your Astronomy video!

I just love that Kirkwall is canonically the worst city ever. Like I'm sure many refugees after living in it for some time go "Damn, should've taken my chances with the Blight. The Blight can at least end at some point".

Maybe the Forbidden ones didn't fight the Titans because they didn't want to? Maybe they saw the Titans importance to the world and didn't want to upset the balance?

These videos remind me why I love this game so much and is the best story ever

8:02 I am also not a math person, though it may be helpful to add that it may not have been straight up good ol' fashioned blood? Like other things could have been mixed in it and water through any form of natural just rainfall or whatever could have gotten through to saturate it and also blood magic, like we established in the blood magic video, isn't necessarily about the blood itself but the pain of the letting if that makes sense? So idk I feel like even if like 200k people got fully de-blooded there I feel like they didn't just have a straight up river of artery juice

What if the Forbidden ones are to the Forgotten ones the same as Solas to Mythal, spirits who took bodies and became respected generals? What if they were originally serving the evanuris but then changed sides in the war?

All of this is interesting information. As fan fiction writer this is basically writing fodder. Thank you for all of this info.

In DAI doesn't Solas say in conversation that blood magic would cut him off from magic as he knows it? Or was that lyrium?

I always thought the Enigma of Kirkwall was going to pay off as much more of a thing, and head canon'd that it was leading to the REAL issue in Kirkwall that we were going to deal with, or at least a major 2ndry challenge to finish before the problem with the Mage/Templar problem.

What if this was the start of the DA version of full metal alchemist philosopher's stone ritual.

I'm glad that these explorers got recognized

love your videos

Hey how are you? Glad to hear from you as always and hope your doing well

Another great video on interesting hidden secrets :). Curious if you've heard the rumors from GrubbSnax on DA 4 possibly coming out next year? You are the voice I know and trust on DA speculation...

Could u do a video about how u think the tevinter imperium manage to survive the first blight for so long I believe it lasted 200 years I’ve been wondering how they manage to do it like we’re there areas and fortresses the dark spawn couldn’t just Zerg rush through that they could hold them off for decades before falling

I believe people mistake Evanuris for evil gods too easily. They used to accept the Dalish version about good elvens gods just as easily. But we know exactly who the Forbidden Ones are. I don't believe they were good rebels fighting the evil Evanuris.

Potentially dumb question, but was Kirkwall specifically the site of those countless slave sacrifices? If they were sacrificed to summon.... something.....wouldn't it make more sense to do so far enough away from a massive population center?

🤘🤘

Could kirkwall be arlathan? Or like build on top of it?

Could it be that Kirkwall was used to Unbind the Forbidden Ones: Gaxkang, Xebenkek, Imshael, and Hybris (the formless one)? Unbind them in order to gain knowledge of some sort, or to have them do some specific task? Knowledge of what? To do what task? Or did Mythal use Kirkwall to bind the Forbidden Ones. Maybe the tunnels under Kirkwall weren't built by the Tevinters, Kirkwall was built over them. The tunnels were part of Arlathan like Sundermount?

The Last Court isnt around anymore?!

Do you have a TikTok we could follow?jw

I could listen to this girl all day, there is something about it.....I would SIMP for her voice!

0:07 For a moment i thought you were gonna make a "we don't talk Bruno" joke there

OK so I tweeted you, but I really wanna make sure you see this, because I love your content and the podcast, so if I see at any point that you have liked a tweet or thumbs up something or acknowledge that you’ve seen it, then I promise I’m going to stop because I don’t want to get on your nerves and I’m sorry. But I am playing through Dragon Age Inquisition again and I honestly might not have been the 1st person to notice this and I doubt I’m the 1st person who’s theorized it, but I believe Dalish from Bull’s Chargers is from a clan of ancient elves, like the ones you encounter at the Well of Sorrows. Her backstory reads, “Dalish was born with magical talent. She says that her Keeper sent her away to see more of the world. However, according to the Iron Bull, she had to leave her clan because Dalish clans can't have too many mages at once. However, she insists that she is not a mage, but an archer instead, and that her staff is actually a bow, and the glowing crystals on it are an old elven trick designed for aiming. Ironically, she wears the Vallaslin of Dirthamen, Keeper of Secrets.” Now alone it’s nothing, but after the concept art and release of the Dragon Age 4 Trailer, where we see someone holding what 1st appears to be a staff with a large stone, symbol, or crystal on the top, only to then pull back on a magical string and shoot an arrow. Dalish never claims to be a mage, and in fact says otherwise anytime someone says that she is. She also claims that her Keeper thought she should see the world. From what we know of the ancient elves that are alive today, they often are hidden and secluded so that would make sense that Dalish should “see the world”. (Possibly as an agent of The Dread Wolf, but that’s a whole other theory I have that’s even more iffy, but it would make sense as to why she left her clan if that’s the case though, beyond just exile.) Now with the Vallaslin of Dirthamen, Keeper of Secrets, we can assume she wouldn’t just explain right then how the magic works and etc., but I do believe she’s being honest when she claims not to be a mage. I’m aware her Wiki says she’s a mage, but I’ll also point you to the Spirit Warrior subclass from Dragon Age Awakening. It reads, “Although spirit warriors employ magical abilities, they are not mages; instead, they flirt with inhabitants of the Fade who agree to augment mortal abilities in exchange for a glimpse of the physical world. Naturally, the Chantry's templars rarely acknowledge that distinction.” Now, I’ll also direct to the the Spirit Warrior subclass from Dragon Age Origins. “Among the ancient elves, there were mages who trained their magical arts to augment their martial prowess. They channeled magical power through their weapons and bodies, becoming terrors on the battlefield. Most consider these skills lost forever, but they may still linger in forgotten corners of the world. Arcane warriors may learn to use their magic score to satisfy the strength requirement to equip higher-level weapons and armor.” Whenever Dalish is called a mage, she states that’s not the case and that her bow with the crystal on top is an old Elven trick that we wouldn’t understand. Could she have been telling the truth about that and the secret she’s keeping is that she’s actually 1 of the ancient elves? I do think that Dalish could simply be lying about being a mage and it be taken at face value, but I believe that Dalish is some type of Arcane Spirit Warrior. Possibly Dalish is from a clan of ancient elves, possibly even the same clan from Tevinter as the person in the DA4 trailer. I believe Dalish is actually a kinda Arcane Spirit Warrior from a clan of ancient elves and she’s telling the truth in Dragon Age Inquisition. There’s my theory, I’m gonna share it on your other videos cause I really do want you to see it, even if it just gets thrown out there. I think it’s something after the DA4 trailer. Like I said, I love your content and I really don’t wanna annoy you but I know you might not ever see this if I don’t really put my effort into making it easy for you to see. Thanks for all of your videos and I wish nothing but blessing and prosperity onto both your family and Jordan’s from The Exalted March.