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Dragon Age: Asunder review (SPOILERS!) and other DA ramble

I’m sorry to all my followers, this text is way too long and I kinda hope noone reads it because I’m really bored and full of shit xD And I have absolutely nothing better to do aside from studying (my gamer PC is occupated), so… you see my point.

Finished reading DA:Asunder today and, as a total surprise to me, I seriously enjoyed it. I didn’t expect much, some easy read, but out of all the three books, this was the first time that I was actually excited to see how it all comes together. That was my biggest issue with the first book, because even though I’m a big Loghain fan, I just couldn’t connect with the characters in The Stolen Throne in any way. While I was supposed to root for Maric, I was like… bleh. The second book managed to draw me in more, but many of the characters in The Calling annoyed the crap out of me and that’s no easy task because I always try to do my best to get over things like that while reading a book.

What I appreciated perhaps the most about Asunder was the steady pace that showed the steps every side has taken and why the war erupted in the end. I don’t like it when a plot feels forced (like ‘this is supposed to happen, we all know it will happen, so lets make up some riddiculous unbeliavable storyline, make characters say things that they would never normally say, so we can ignite some conflict that just has to happen’), but it didn’t feel like that in the book. That’s what I ultimately loved about DA2 - it had way more shades of grey than DAO. In DA2, each side had a point, each side had reasons to act the way it did (I was so sad to kill the Arishok because he was way too cool for Kirkwall) and while it created conflict things were almost never black and white, because both sides were relatable enough.

I was happy to see Wynne return (though, admittedly, I was happier to see Shale, because there were several times in DAO when I just screamed at my screen “Shut up, you old hag! I don’t want to listen to your lessons anymore! Noone does!” I liked Wynne. I really did. Her imposing wisdom on everyone just made me angry sometimes and I wanted to sick my mabari on her to shut her up) and even though I was quite suspicious of that whole “mother of the main character” thing, I got over it pretty fast, because the relationship between Wynne and Rhys just worked for me I guess. I do wonder what will be the ultimate story of Leliana, because I can’t help but feel there’s something big in store for her - if her showing up in every story is any indication at all.

I was not entirely convinced by the Cole plotline at first (I swear that after a couple of pages I was like “He’s a spirit, he just doesn’t know it yet!”), but when the time came for the Litany of Andralla, instead of saying “I knew it!”, I was just really sad for Cole and Rhys. It was not overly dramatic or tear-jerking, it was a beautiful tragic story of two friends and I really enjoyed it.

Also, the Tranquils, huh? Haha, that’s the only thing I’ll say about it, because honestly I was kinda bummed it was in the book. It’s a huge development that has the potential of changing so much! I just think it would’ve been a good story in the game and I hope that it will be adressed in the gaming future, because not every player reads the books.

I apologize to anyone this might offend, but I have to say it, because Fiona was in the book and from what I’ve seen on forums people go about Alistair being Fiona’s child and how it doesn’t add up… I’m not saying I’m right about everything, but this is what I found out:

First of all, if an elf has a baby with a human, the child will be human because the elves are ‘genetically adaptable’. There’s no need to cry about it, it’s just the way it is. Forget about the real world genetics, this is a fictional world, our rules don’t apply.

Second, if a Warden has a child, the child won’t necessarily be tainted (Yes, I know the Architect had said something to the contrary in the Calling, but I never really considered him a reliable source to begin with, what with all the waking up the Archdemon and stuff). David Gaider said this on the Bioware forum:

A Grey Warden can have a child… just not with another Grey Warden. So in the case of Alistair being married to a female PC the only possible result is no heir (unless Alistair has a child with someone other than his wife, I suppose). Grey Wardens have a limited chance of conception with a non-Grey Warden, but it does happen… and the child is not tainted in any fashion.

So ye.. we could argue that the game info differs in this case, but I’ll go with the no-taint-baby simply because unless we hear about a tainted creepy baby Warden skulking in the night, there’s no evidence of the taint in any of the children concieved by Wardens that we know of.

And third.. for all we know, Alistair could be Fiona’s child. Because the ingame codex doesn’t always say what really happened, it often says what other people told you has happened. So if Alistair’s lived his entire life thinking his mother was a maid or something, then that’s just what he knows! If noone ever told him about Fiona and they lied to him instead, how would your freakin’ DAO journal know? I’m not saying he is Fiona’s child, I’m saying he could be.

/ramble off

I know that most people probably know all these things, but I felt like my head was going to explode while reading random forums. I have to go write some fanfic now, because clearly I have issues.

  1. chicken-warcryer posted this