Summary
Dragon Age: Dreadwolfhas been in the works for nearly nine years and left fans with more than a few burning questions. The various endings for the previous game were satisfying in their own right but also set up a lot for the sequel. There is one question fromDragon Age: Origins - AwakeningthatDragon Age: Dreadwolfneeds to resolve.
Originally released in March 2010Awakeningwas an expansion to the base game. The story focused on a character called The Warden-Commander who may or may not be the character from the main story depending on the player’s actions. The protagonist takes charge of a region and battles the remanent Dark Spawn forces who were left over in Ferelden following the events of the base game.Dragon Age: Origins - Awakeningis one of the best expansionsever made according to many fans, but the franchise has left a few plot threads from it unresolved. The chief among them is the question of what became of The Architect and his Darkspawn followers.
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The Darkspawn Role in the Dragon Age Universe
TheDarkspawn race in theDragon Agefranchise is very much an orc stand-in group but ties heavily into the series' overall lore and mythology. At their core, they are a race of monsters that obey the orders of a being known as the Arch Demon who leads them out of their underground dwellings to invade the surface world. These events, known as The Blights, often require a massive alliance of nations to defeat and leave a trail of destruction in their wake.
According to the franchise’s lore, the first Darkspawn were Tevinter Mages who attempted to invade the palace of the franchise’s god figure, The Creator. As punishment, they were cast down and became the ancestors of the series' iconic antagonists. This story was at leastpartially confirmed byDragon Age: Inquisitionantagonist Corypheusand remains one of the game’s biggest hanging threads. It would be a mistake, however, if the upcoming fourth game left out the fate of The Architect.
Who is the Architect in Dragon Age Origins?
InDragon Age: Origins - Awakening,the main plot focused on a Darkspawn Civil War that was triggered by an unexpected source. One of the main characters in the DLC was a figure known as The Architect who, as it turned out, was giving the creatures the ability to speak and reason. Unfortunately, this drove some of the Darkspawn insane as they could no longer hear the “song” that drove them to dig up the Arch Demons, resulting in a civil war between the two factions.
As it turned out, the Architect was the one who caused the Blight in the base game’s story. In looking for answers he inadvertently awoke the Arch Demon which, in turn, caused the attack on Ferelden. Players are given theoption to kill the Architect inDragon Agethough they will lose his aid against the Broodmother in the game’s final boss fight.
Should the players spare the Architect, however, the ending of Awakening will reveal that he took his remaining Darkspawn and returned to the Deep Roads. It is implied that this is the cause of fewer Darkspawn raids throughout the Deep Roads, but the character is never heard from again. While it is likely that fans have not heard the last of theArchitect inDragon Ageit’s still a shame that it’s taken so long for the franchise to even re-acknowledge his existence. This is something the fourth game should fix.
In the end, the ultimate fate of the Architect and other talking Darkspawn remains one of the franchise’s more frustrating questions. Despite the massive implications of their existence, the series has yet to capitalize on them in a meaningful way. Theplot ofDragon Age: Dreadwolfwill likely have a lot going on, but hopefully it will be able to squeeze in some room for the otherwise civil Darkspawn.
