Highlights
- Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has been in development for nearly a decade and will likely follow events from the previous game's ending, focusing heavily on the character Solas.
- Solas, a complex character with a mysterious past, has the potential to be a divisive main antagonist due to his demeanor and previous appearances in the franchise.
- Fans have high expectations for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, both in terms of how Solas' character is developed and whether the game will introduce any unexpected twists or threats.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has been in development for nearly a decade and will likely follow events that were set up at the end of the previous game. The ending of Dragon Age: Inquisition left the door open for a sequel but still felt satisfying on its own. However, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf seems to have a lot riding on one of the characters from that ending.
Like many BioWare games, the Dragon Age franchise is full of wonderful characters that fans cannot get enough of. With other characters, there doesn't appear to be any collective consensus on them besides some being favorable and others being detestable. But one character that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf seems to have invested a lot in, Solas, lands somewhere in a grey area.
Solas and His Role In the Endings of Dragon Age: Inquisition
Solas was introduced early on in Dragon Age: Inquisition. A mage elf, Solas regularly went into the Fade and commuted with spirits and demons. His expertise on the Fade made him a critical ally in the Inquistor's battle against Corypheus and his attempts to rip holes in the Fade and allow demons to come through to the material world. As it turned out, though, Solas wasn't all that he appeared to be. At the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Solas leaves the organization and has a conversation with Flemeth where it's revealed that he was in fact a Thedas god figure known as Dread Wolf Fen'Harel. He then appears to kill Flemeth and absorb her power.
Dragon Age: Inquisition's Trespasser DLC further expands upon this ending. It dives into the history of the Dread Wolf in Dragon Age and specifically how he had a major role in separating the Fade from the material realm. At the end of the DLC, Solas reveals that his plan is to remove this divide and bring the world back to how it was when he was younger. The implication is that such an action will cause untold chaos, death, and destruction. This ending sets up the character as the primary antagonist of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, which could work for or against the game.
Why Solas Might be a Controversial Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Antagonist
The Dragon Age franchise has many memorable antagonists but also has its share of lackluster ones. The Archdemon of the first game, for example, could easily be summed up as a dragon that happens to command the game's orc stand-ins. Likewise, Dragon Age 2's Meredith Stannard was a fun villain in the game's final act but didn't have much of a role in the game until then. Often times the most memorable villains in the games were secondary antagonists like Flemeth or the Arishok. Solas is very much a character who could fall into the role of a lackluster main antagonist for some players given his previous appearances.
While some have listed Solas as one of the best heroes turned villains, his presence within the game could be somewhat frustrating for some. His demeanor is that of an arrogant intellectual with a monotone persona which can make liking and sympathizing with him somewhat difficult for some though less so for others. This will likely spill over into Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. It makes BioWare's apparent reliance on the character for the new game all the more questionable considering how divisive he can be among fans.
Currently, there is no way to know for sure what BioWare has in store for Solas in the upcoming game. A 2020 teaser for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf confirmed that Solas would be returning and fans expect him to be the main antagonist of the game. It is also possible that the developer could pull a bait-and-switch with him, and throw an even bigger threat at the players when the game comes out. Either way, the upcoming game has a lot of expectations to consider from fans who either like or dislike him.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is in development.