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The world ofDragon Ageis one that has only grown in the years following the release of the first game in 2009. Since then, the series has gained multiple games, comics, web series, shows, you name it. The world of Thedas has only gotten richer with each entry, if a tad harder to find the origins of (if you’ll forgive the pun).
With the ancient history of the series becoming all the more prominent with each entry, and much of that history spread across a plethora of different mediums, it’s become hard to get a singular vision of what is and isn’t important. Well strap in, because we’re giving you a fast-tracked class in the history of Thedas.
Thedas is the known worldin which the series takes place, though not the entirety of it.
The Initial Settlement Of Thedas
The Elves And The Imperium
The history of Thedasbegins with the Elves. They had first settled in the lands of Thedas long before any other race of beings had existed and created here their capital,Arlathan. The elves had an innate affinity with magic as theSpirit and Mortal realms had not yet been separated. To the Elves, to use magic was as natural as breathing. over the course of their time, they eventually came in contact with Dwarves and their underground kingdoms. They briefly warred, though overall kept amicable relations.
Over time, humans settled in the lands of Thedas, descended from the Nermomenians. Humans lived relatively isolated lives for a time, making small communities until various spirits, supposedly the Old Gods that are destined to become Archdemons, contacted them about how to control magic and about the true nature of the world.This spurred a degree of ambition in humanity, who went on to form grander civilizations.
In the periods during the human settlement of Thedas, the Elves had an internal civil war among those who fashioned themselves as gods. Fen’harel sealed away these tyrannical gods,creating the Veilto keep them away from the mortal realm. The natural consequence of this wasthe removal of magic from the Elves, something they had known for thousands of years. At the same time, humanity had gone on to form the Tevinter Imperium, a kingdom that still stands in the Dragon Age.
The pantheon of Elven gods wasknown as the Evanuris.
Convinced of their own victory, the Tevinter Imperium went to war with Arlathan. The elves, weakened by the loss of magic, and humanity, boosted by their communication with the Old Gods in the Fade, fought a bitter war.Humanity prevailed, and the already-ancient Elven civilization was literally buried, left to be forgotten while the Imperium claimed their land as their own. A severe consequence of this was the enslavement of the Elves, the repercussions of which still stand.
Dwarves faced their own internal struggles and receded even deeper underground, though kept close ties with the Imperium where they could. Emboldened by their victory over the Elves, the Imperium stretches further afield,subjugating any and all native tribes they encounter, and incorporating them into their empire. This continues for millennia, with various civil wars, independence movements and further conquests occurring.
The first collapse of Tevinter occurs at the height of their hubris. Already empowered by their belief in the Old Gods, they seek to enter the Fade and find them directly in hopes of attaining even more power. Yet they find nothing but demons and come back themselves corrupted.This marks the origins of the Darkspawn and the beginnings of the First Blight. The Grey Wardens are created, Tevinter loses faith in their Old Gods, the Dwarven kingdoms are decimated but ultimately, the Archdemon is defeated.
In Chantry teaching, this was originally known as the Golden City, but became defiled after the Tevinter Magisters entered it, marking it asthe Black City.
The Sacrifice Of Andraste
In lieu of a religion, other beliefs take hold. A woman came to the fore, Andraste. Born to the Alamarri tribe, she eventually married Maferath to unite their clans, though was subsequently kidnapped by the Imperium during a raid on her land. With only Maferath remaining, he negotiated the release of Andraste. During this time,Andraste claimed to have found faith in a new god, The Maker, and that it became her mission to spread his word and message of freedom.
With the power of the Alamarri,Andraste and Maferath declared war against the Imperiumand freed the Elven slaves they held. Yet victory after victory, Maferath became disillusioned. He left they had taken too much, too quickly, and felt shunned by the professing of faith in The Maker, with no respect for his own victories. In a fit of rage, he secretlybetrayed Andraste to the Imperium, allowing the Archon Hessarian to take her and put her to death.
Yet when it came time for her funeral pyre, Hessarian took mercy. He pierced Andraste’s heart and made her a martyr.He converted to belief in The Maker through his guiltand revealed Maferath’s role in Andraste’s betrayal. The lands conquered by and granted to Maferath for handing over Andraste splinter at this news, while the Imperium undergoes a new period of peace as it converts to Andrastianism.
The blade used to kill Andraste would later be calledthe Blade of Mercy, and appeared in a copycat murder centuries laterby the Antivan Crows.
Over time, despite various wars, the belief in Andrastianism spread across the length of Thedas until it wasofficially crowned a formal religion in Orlaiswith the founding of The Chantry.
The Origins Of The Chantry And The Creation Of Ages
With the birth of the Orlesian Chantry, Tevinter grew displeased. Andraste had been born there, faith in the Maker had thrived there, and now a nation that had once been within their borders claimed religious dominion over her. Yet they still shared the belief, so Tevinter petitioned Orlais to allow them to head the Chantry.While concessions were made, Orlais ultimately refusedas Tevinter both allowed men to serve as priests, despite men betraying Andraste and also praised the usage of magic, which Andraste claimed should serve man, not control them.
As a result of these actions, the Imperium refused to recognise the Orlesian Divine and insteadformed the Imperial Chantry. Over time, a Great Schism occurs between these two opposing factions in the form ofExalted Marches. The pair remain split to this day, neither recognising the other and even use their own calendar system.
The Orlesian Chantry refers to the Divine of the Imperial Chantry asthe Black Divine, in reference to the Black City.
With the crowning of Divine Justinia in Orlais, a new calendar was created - Ages. This first Age was called the Divine Age, andeverything prior was known simply as the Ancient Age. Each Age lasts for 99 years, at which point the current Divine seeks a message from the Maker on what the defining aspect of the following Age should be. The Ages are they currently exist are as follows:
Officially, Thedas is now in its ninth Age with no signs of slowing the formation of new Ages. The divide between the Imperial and Orlesian Chantry is at its widest in the current Age, withtheir only united front being against the Qunari.
The Various Blights
Thedas has currently weathered five Blights. The First Blight occurred in a period before the current calendar, even before the formal practice of Andrastianism. Indeed, it was the preachings of Andraste that led many to believe in a god after the devastation of the First Blight.
A Blight occurs when the Darkspawn, digging in the Deep Roads,uncovers the soul of an Old God. Upon finding this, it is born as an Archdemon, and a new Blight begins. The First Blight lasted for over a century as the world came to terms with just what this curse was, though it was subsequently quashed with the formation of the Grey Wardens.
It is presumed that the Blights will end when every Old God is discovered. As such,a maximum of seven Blights are assumed to be possible.
TheGrey Wardensundertake a ritual wherein they drink tainted Darkspawn blood. If they live, thenit becomes possible to sense the Darkspawnand the Archdemon, and can also sacrifice your life to kill it. Otherwise, the Archdemon is night invincible. This is thus far how every Blight has ended.
Here is the full list of Blights and when they occurred.
The speed with which the Fifth Blight was handledled many to believe that it was not a Blight at all. Depending upon player choice, it is also possible for the soul of this particular Old God, Urthemiel, to live on in Morrigan’s child.
The Tearing Of The Breach
Following the Blight, Thedas continues on as it did beforehand. With the Fifth Blight lasting less than a year, with was no more than a blip for every other nation. Only Ferelden was targeted, and it already had poor relations with most other nations, sothe impact was largely ignored. Indeed, it took the very sky tearing open for Thedas to unite once again.
In Dragon Age Inquisition, a short few years after the ending of the Fifth Blight,the sky is torn open and becomes known as the Breach. The current Divine, Justinia V, is killed in a dramatic explosion that revealsCorypheus, one of the ancient magisters that first entered the Fadeand created the Darkspawn. This sparks international fear, and a new Inquisition is formed, the last having formed in the years preceding the Chantry to put down heretics following the First Blight.
Corypheus, awakened after millennia asleep, has a singular goal -to return the Tevinter Imperium to its original glory. While ultimately defeated, he plunges the world into an event not unlike that of a Blight, albeit it for only a brief period. Ultimately however he is defeated, the leader of the Inquisitionsealing the Breach with the combined power of Corypheus' orb and the Anchor on their hand. During this act, Corypheus is disintegrated and presumably pulled into the Fade once again.
The orb is eventually returned to Solas, who laterreveals himself to be Fen’harel, the very figure that created The Veilseparating the Mortal and Spirit Realms in the first place. He wishes to rectify his mistake and is now empowered enough through his orb to do so. Solas will tear down the Veil and unite the worlds of Mortal and Spirit once again.
