Dragon Age fans have been waiting a decade for The Veilguard. The fourth game in BioWare’s fantasy RPG series will continue the story set up by the ending of Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014, and it’s bringing back several familiar faces from previous games, comics, and books. However, one returning character has gotten more screen time than most in the new cinematic trailer and gameplay reveal: Varric Tethras. But is he OK?
The dwarven archer has been a companion for the past two games, but is notably not going to be joining your party this time around. After seeing some of the game’s early hour, fans are terrified they may have discovered why: people think Varric is gonna die in The Veilguard.
The theory is mostly based off the last segment shown in the 20-minute gameplay reveal BioWare put out on June 11. In it, Varric is shown talking to Solas, the Inquisition party-member-turned-villain at the center of The Veilguard. Varric attempts to talk Solas down from his plan to save the elves by destroying everything else. The talk doesn’t seem to be going well, and Solas even destroys Varric’s iconic crossbow Bianca. The final shots of this whole scene seem to be edited pretty heavily, so it’s not entirely clear how Varric and Solas’ talk ends, but the dwarf is definitely in danger.
Even before Varric goes to talk to Solas, the man is raising death flags left and right. He tells Rook, the new protagonist in The Veilguard, to “take care of the team” for him. That’s the kind of shit you only say if you don’t think you’re coming back. Fans are, to put it lightly, stressed.
BioWare is no stranger to traumatic character deaths. Just look at Mass Effect 3 and you can list a dozen scenes in which the studio snuffed out a beloved party member in the most vicious way possible. Dragon Age, meanwhile, has had some pretty heinous party member fatalities. The Iron Bull betrayal scene in Trespasser is still a gut punch. But a lot of those were consequences of decisions and relationships. We need awful shit you can’t stop in The Veilguard that hurts so good it devastates us for years to come, and if BioWare wants to put the murder knife in the back of its longtime fans, there’s not a better character to do that with than Varric.
BioWare please leave Dorian Pavus alone. Don’t even look at him.
.