Dragon Age Inquisition Playthrough - The End

Torquemada finds herself in the war room once again, along with Morrigan, Leliana, Cullen and Josephine. Morrigan tells us that with the help of the voices in her head, she should be able to take down Corypheus' pet dragon all by herself. That will leave us to deal with Corypheus himself and Torquemada says she'll be more than happy to fight him personally. There's just one problem: we still have to find these two big targets before we can actually attack them. Our advisers begin suggesting their usual tactics (send soldiers, send scouts, send diplomats) when the conversation is interrupted by a flash of green light that floods through the windows and causes Torquemada's mark to start pulsing with energy. Everyone in the room understands the significance immediately. Corypheus has opened the breach in the Valley of Sacred Ashes once again.

Damn it, Josephine! I told you I didn't want to invest in those giant green neon signs to attract merchants!

Cullen tells us that not all of our forces have returned to Skyhold from the Arbor Wilds yet, and Torquemada replies that this is probably the reason why Corypheus didn't wait to act. She and Morrigan agree, however, that we can't wait for reinforcements and we need to confront Corypheus before he tears open the Veil. With that, we tell Cassandra, Varric and Vivienne to come with us as we head back to Haven to deal with the breach one more time. Inquisition soldiers who stayed behind to guard Haven are already confronting Corypheus and being slaughtered by the time the party gets there. The overblown, would-be-God darkspawn notices Torquemada immediately as she arrives on the scene and tells her she shouldn't be too confident with her previous victories. Then he has his pet dragon land nearby to threaten us. We've already prepared for that, though.

Seriously, why should I be scared of your dragon this late in the game?
Torquemada is literally wearing the scales of its slain relatives right now.

Morrigan is a shapeshifter and has learned one of Flemeth's greatest secrets: how to take the form of a dragon. You could say that Corypheus was a bit annoyed when a dragon of our own showed up to perform a mid-air tackle on his favorite minion. It also leaves him with no choice but to start fighting us himself. Corypheus is similar in many ways to an arcane horror in the sense that he likes to keep his distance, casts powerful spells from afar, and possesses a surprisingly high amount of hit points given the fact that he's a mage. Also, like his dragon friend, he likes to retreat to the inaccessible balconies of the ruined Temple of Sacred Ashes so Torquemada and Cassandra can't get their powerful attacks in. Too bad for him that we powered up Bianca (Varric's crossbow, in case you forgot) with some arms made out of dragon bone. Varric's bolts hit hard enough to convince Corypheus that maybe it's a bad idea to be such a tempting target for our dwarf.

After taking off enough of Corypheus' health, we cut to Morrigan in her dragon form, still locked in battle with Corypheus' dragon. She hasn't had much time to practice being a dragon, unfortunately, so things aren't going so well for her. With her strength waning, she decides to do as much damage as possible to her opponent with her final attack. She soars high into the sky with the dragon chasing her, then suddenly reverses direction and locks talons with it on her way down. She maintains her grip as the two dragons slam into the ground and further ruin the already ruined temple. Morrigan shifts back into her human form, her energies spent, and promptly collapses. Torquemada and her party rush to the location where Corypheus' dragon crash landed and find it weakened, but still alive. Knowing that we can't kill Corypheus until the dragon is dead, our fight with him is put on hold as we finish what Morrigan started.

Last minute plot twist! We're not only the Inquisitor, we're also the Dovahkiin!

This dragon has more hit points than any other dragon we've faced... but about two thirds of them have been knocked off by Morrigan. So, despite the fact that it has corrupted red lyrium breath and the ability to cast armor spells on itself frequently, this dragon fight isn't going to be any more challenging than the previous ones. Torquemada has the enhanced version of a rogue skill called Shadow Strike, plus a ring that further enhances this ability's effectiveness, which leads to a dragon-slaying technique that basically boils down to furiously punching the beast in the tail until it dies. Inevitably, the dragon falls to this unorthodox assault and begins glowing with magical energy as it dies. At first, I thought Torquemada was going to absorb its soul, but then I remembered that this isn't Skyrim. The energy is transferred into Corypheus instead, rejuvenating the health he lost in our first exchange. Seeing his pet defeated, he decides to retreat to the location where his breach-tearing spell is working its magic in order to sunder the Veil before we take advantage of his mortality.

Corypheus has nothing new to offer in round two of our fight. He jumps around more than he did last time and uses more damaging laser light shows to keep us at bay, but he's facing four people who just shrugged off a dragon fight. His final tactic is to pour as much of his energy into the breach as possible in a desperate attempt to achieve his goal before he dies. He doesn't even bother to attack at this point, which only serves to open him up to Torquemada's deadly flanking bonuses. After a Hidden Blades attack, a Shadow Strike and the aptly-named Deathblow ability, Corypheus has taken too much damage to continue his ritual. He falls to his knees and begs his ancient gods for assistance, while Torquemada channels the energy from her mark into the ancient elven orb Corypheus has been using to focus his magic. She brings it under her control, robbing Corypheus of his ability to manipulate the fabric of reality. Then, she decides to be nice and grants Corypheus' wish... and banishes him to the Fade, where he can no longer do any damage. Last but certainly not least, Torquemada uses the power of the orb to close the breach, resulting in a predictable magical explosion.

"You wanted into the Fade? Allow me to give you a HAND with that!"

The first of Torquemada's companions to find her after the battle is, surprisingly, Solas. He doesn't seem overly concerned with her well-being, though. He looks down at the orb that she just used and sees that it broke under the strain that it was subjected to. Torquemada sits up from the ground as he laments the artifact's destruction and reassures him that Corypheus will never be able to abuse it again. Solas replies that Corypheus may have been stopped, but so much has been lost. At that point, Torquemada's other companions approach and we see that while Morrigan is still greatly wounded from the battle, she'll survive. Cassandra, seeing that the Inquisition's primary mission has been accomplished, asks the obvious question: what now? Torquemada scans the battlefield, as if in disbelief that her enemies have truly been vanquished. As she does so, she notices that Solas has disappeared. Regardless, she turns back to Cassandra and says we're going back to Skyhold.

Pictured: not actually Torquemada's admirers, but a roving band of masonry enthusiasts.

Torquemada and her entourage are greeted with celebration by the residents of Skyhold, and the triumphant Inquisitor takes a moment to bask in their adulation alongside Cullen, Leliana and Josephine. We then move to the main hall, where a banquet has been prepared. Leliana tells us before we enter that her scouts have found no trace of Solas and Torquemada can't understand why he would leave over a broken orb. Still, the rest of our companions are waiting inside and the banquet serves as a final opportunity to chat with them before the end of the game. Cassandra says she plans to restore the Seekers of Truth and make them respectable again. Varric plans to go back to the Free Marches eventually, and maybe write a book about his time with the Inquisition. Vivienne and Dorian say they'll return to Orlais and Tevinter, respectively, probably sooner rather than later. Iron Bull, Cole and Sera are content to stay with the Inquisition because it's been fun. As for Thom Rainier (not Blackwall)... who cares what that miserable fraud has to say?

They all just stare at you as you exit. It's always awkward when you're the first person to leave a party.
...And yes, I'm speaking from personal experience, there.

We eventually retire to our quarters and the game ends with a scene that's a little too symbolic for my liking. Torquemada, looking out from her balcony over the Frostback Mountains, as the sun rises over a new day in Thedas. Kind of making a point with a two-handed maul, there. Anyway, this is followed by a series of portraits and a narration by Morrigan that tells you about the events in Thedas following your Inquisitor's victory. In my case, Empress Celene has a flimsy hold over Orlais as Briala has been very effective in plotting against her in exile. The Grey Wardens in Thedas have elected to be less reclusive champions of the people, but that has made their leaders in distant Weisshaupt angry, apparently... news from Grey Warden headquarters stops reaching Thedas, including news of Hawke, who was last seen heading to Weisshaupt. A new Divine is finally chosen: Leliana, who immediately makes drastic reforms including freeing the mages and opening the priesthood to members of all races. The mages use their newfound freedom to break ties with the Inquisition and form a new organization, which finds respect that the old Circles lacked. As for Morrigan, she leaves with Kieran and adds that while the Inquisitor is a revered symbol of hope and change to many, she remains a target to others.

Under Leliana's rule as Divine Victoria, nugs were declared sacred by the Chantry.
Hundreds of dwarven nug farmers were subsequently immolated by the faithful. Progress!

And that, for the most part, is the end of Dragon Age Inquisition... however, there's one final scene after the credits. We catch up with Solas, who is walking through a wooded area and talking to an unseen person, once again lamenting the destruction of the orb. The other person in the woods is revealed to be Flemeth. She tells him that he should not have given his orb to Corypheus, and addresses him as "Dread Wolf". In Dalish lore, the Dread Wolf is a god-like being who was supposedly responsible for the death of Mythal. The Dread Wolf, in the form of Solas, and Mythal, in the form of Flemeth, tell each other that they regret that things have happened this way. They embrace... and Solas kills Flemeth. Her body appears to turn to stone and Solas' eyes glow with energy, suggesting that he has taken at least one soul from Flemeth. Then, the scene ends.

As far as I'm concerned, whoever decided that scene was a good idea made a huge mistake.

No, Solas, the people don't need you. They need Flemeth.

I spent most of the game ignoring you and wondering when she would show up.

I made a tongue-in-cheek remark about how Flemeth set herself up as a recurring antagonist in Dragon Age Inquisition but the fact is, she really did as soon as she outplayed Morrigan and took the soul of the Old God from Kieran. Additionally, Morrigan had unwittingly accepted power that would cause her to be bound to the will of her mother, which is the exact opposite of what she wanted. Last but certainly not least, Flemeth has been voice acted brilliantly by Kate Mulgrew for the past three games. This character was one of the best things the Dragon Age series had going for it and they have apparently thrown that away by letting her get killed by a deadpan, aloof elf that we've only just met in Inquisition. The writers shot themselves in the foot here. Unless it turns out that Flemeth has possessed Solas the same way she possessed her daughters, this plot development was just plain stupid.

Not the best scene to end on, but there it is: the end of my playthrough for Dragon Age Inquisition! This completes the trilogy thus far, and although Inquisition includes a multiplayer mode, it's not something I'm going to go in-depth with. Not only does the multiplayer not add to the story, but it's also simply no fun to play. The lack of a healing class and a strict restriction on healing potions means that the scenarios are designed to be unwinnable at level one, and after your defeat the game will direct you to the microtransactions in the cash shop to power up your character. It's nothing short of insulting. Regardless, I enjoyed the single-player experience of Inquisition and I think the game is an improvement over some of the shortcomings Dragon Age 2 had. I may or may not do a more in-depth review in the future.

For now, I'm going to start considering other options for playthroughs. Feel free to leave a comment if there's anything you'd like to see!