BioWare Monday: Traitors In The Party

Spoiler Warning: This series of weekly posts will delve into various BioWare games, and will spoil the hell out of them. Proceed with caution.

You may find it odd that I chose to start this series with a post about the party members who have betrayed me. But for me, those betrayals evoked some of the strongest emotional responses I've had in the games.

Over the course of the various BioWare games, many characters will betray you. Bastilla in Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, Sun Li in Jade Empire, Udina in Mass Effect 3. Authority figures in these games are rarely to be trusted. But nowhere else in the BW canon is that more prevalent, or deep, or personal than in the Dragon Age series.

Biggest asshole in Ferelden?
The first major event of Dragon Age: Origins is a betrayal. Loghain's decision to abandon his king sets the action of the game - and the series - in motion. But it is in the next two games that the traitors become much more personal.

Dragon Age 2 is a game that is pretty much ABOUT betrayal. Of the three major authority figures in the game, two betray Hawke, and a third is betrayed by one of Hawke's companions. Orsino and Meredith are set up as the two major options to go with in the end game, but it doesn't really matter, because Meredith will try and kill you regardless, and Orsino helped out the asshole who killed your mother AND becomes a monster you have to put down. These are not good people. Even the mages you save in the first act end up betraying you. Kirkwall is not a place of nice people.

Based on rivalry and choices, various companions may betray you, but Isabella always will. Fortunately, that betrayal is both forgivable and reversible. Not so Anders.

Fuck you, Anders
Oh, Anders. AKA Fuck You Anders, AKA What The Hell Anders, AKA Anders You're An Asshole. When we first meet Anders in the Awakening DLC for Dragon Age Origins, he's a runaway mage. But he's a good dude. He's a pal. He has a pet kitty. Who didn't love Anders in Awakening? I sure did!

The Anders of DA:2, fused with the spirit of Justice (turned into the spirit of Vengeance by Anders being such an asshole), on the other hand, is THE WORST. Not only is he a murderous terrorist, he actually tries - and can succeed - to make you an accomplice in blowing up the Chantry, killing Grand Cleric Elthina - the only reasonable authority figure in the series - and who knows how many other innocents. Anders is a zealot who wreaks havoc. Fucking Anders. The game give Hawke three choices in regards to Anders: You can let him run away. You can let him rejoin the party. You can kill him. I wish there was an option to put him on trial for his actions, but that's not something you can do. So I kill him. Every. Single. Time. Because fuck Anders, that's why.

Anders' betrayal is both personal and terrible, but it still pales when compared with the major betrayal of Dragon Age: Inquisition, a betrayal that is fully revealed in a post credits scene, and is explored in the last DLC, Trespasser.

I'm talking, of course, about Solas. Hey, Solas? Fuck you.

Worse than Anders
Solas is your advisor and companion throughout the game. Wise and knowledgeable, he is someone you want to trust and appreciate you. He helps shape the inquisition and the inquisitor, and you think he's your friend. And, like Anders, he's also a romance option.

But, turns out? He's not Solas. He's Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf. He's personally responsible for Corypheus getting as powerful as he did. He kills Flemeth shortly after we find out she was never a monster after all, and, oh yeah, he's planning to basically destroy the world.

The greatness of BioWare games, the reason I keep coming back to them over and over, is that they make you FEEL. In future posts, I'll talk about the friendships and romances in these games. While these relationships are obviously not "real," the writing is so good, they feel real. And so do the betrayals.

Previous BW Monday: BioWare Monday: Intro and Ranking The Games