He starts as a hobo. Seriously. When you first meet Dragon Age Inquisition Solas, he is just a wandering apostate with a weirdly smooth head and a penchant for talking about the Fade like it’s a vacation spot he visited once in college. He’s helpful. He saves your life. He sticks a glowing green anchor in your hand and tells you, quite calmly, that the world is ending.
Most players just saw a mage. A nerd. A guy who really, really liked spirits.
But then the credits rolled.
The reveal that Solas is actually Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf of elven legend, didn't just flip the script—it burned the script and threw the ashes into a hurricane. It is arguably the most successful long-con in RPG history. BioWare didn't just give us a companion; they gave us a god who was masquerading as a pauper because he felt guilty about accidentally destroying his own civilization. It’s heavy stuff. Honestly, looking back at the dialogue now, the clues were everywhere. He literally tells you his name means "pride." We just weren't listening.
The Tragedy of the Dread Wolf
To understand Dragon Age Inquisition Solas, you have to understand his specific brand of loneliness. He isn't a villain in the mustache-twirling sense. He’s a guy who woke up from a several-thousand-year nap to find that the world he loved had been replaced by a "tranquil" version of itself. Imagine waking up and everyone you knew is gone, and the people left are—in his eyes—basically walking corpses.
That’s his justification for wanting to tear down the Veil.
The Veil is the magical barrier he created eons ago to lock away the corrupt Evanuris (the elven "gods" who were actually just powerful, tyrannical mages). By creating the Veil, he saved the world from them, but he also stripped the elves of their immortality and their connection to magic. He broke his people to save them. Now, in Inquisition, he wants to undo it.
The catch? Tearing down the Veil will likely incinerate the current world.
It's a trolley problem on a global scale. Do you restore a glorious, magical past at the cost of every living soul today? Solas says yes. You, the Inquisitor, probably say no. This tension is what makes the Trespasser DLC so painful. If you romanced him—specifically as a female Elf—the betrayal feels personal. It’s not just a plot twist; it’s a heartbreak. He loves you, but he thinks you’re a mistake that needs to be erased so his "real" people can come back.
Why We All Missed the Red Flags
BioWare’s writing team, led by Patrick Weekes, did something brilliant with Solas's approval system. Most companions like it when you’re nice. Solas? He likes it when you ask questions.
If you play the game as a curious scholar, he loves you. He rewards curiosity because he’s an academic at heart. He spends his time in the rotunda at Skyhold painting a massive mural that updates based on your choices. It’s beautiful. It’s also a literal record of his perspective on your "primitive" world.
Think about his banter with Iron Bull or Sera. He’s constantly testing them. He asks Bull about the Qun not because he cares about the Qun, but because he’s fascinated by how people choose to enslave themselves to ideologies. He mocks Sera because she represents the "low" elves—the ones who have forgotten their heritage.
He’s arrogant. Infuriatingly so.
But he’s also right about a lot of things. He knows more about the Fade than anyone else in Thedas. When he corrects Morrigan at the Temple of Mythal, it isn't just "well, actually" energy; it's the frustration of a man watching a toddler explain nuclear physics incorrectly.
The Mechanics of the Betrayal
If you’re replaying the game in 2026, keep an eye on his gear. You can't remove his starting gear for a while. He’s "essential."
From a gameplay perspective, Dragon Age Inquisition Solas is your best control mage. He’s a Rift Mage. He pulls enemies into clusters, weakens them, and regenerates mana so fast he’s basically a walking artillery battery. You need him in your party on Nightmare difficulty. This makes his eventual departure at the end of the base game a mechanical gut-punch as much as a narrative one. He takes your best gear and disappears into the woods.
Classic Fen'Harel move.
Then comes the Trespasser epilogue. This is where the mask fully drops. We see him petrify a group of Qunari with a literal glance. We realize that the guy who was struggling to fight bandits in the Hinterlands was actually suppressing 99% of his power the entire time. He wasn't even trying.
The Fallout in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
The legacy of Solas defines the entire future of the franchise. For years, fans debated whether he could be "redeemed." Can you talk down a god who has already lived through the apocalypse once?
The community is split.
- The "Egg" Supporters: They want to save him. They see the tragedy of a man who lost everything and is acting out of grief.
- The "Egg" Haters: They want to crack him. They see a genocidal ancient mage who views modern people as insects.
The nuance here is that Solas wants you to prove him wrong. In his final conversation in Trespasser, if you have high friendship, he admits he wishes he didn't have to do this. He’s looking for a reason to stop, but his "pride" won't let him. He’s trapped by his own myth.
He created the Dread Wolf as a symbol of rebellion against tyrants, and now he has become the very tyrant he used to fight. It’s a perfect narrative circle.
Actionable Tips for Your Next Playthrough
If you're jumping back into Inquisition to prepare for the sequels, here is how to get the most out of the Solas experience.
Play as a Female Elf.
This is the only way to romance him. It adds layers to the story that literally don't exist in any other playthrough. The "Solavellan" romance is widely considered the "canon" tragic path because of how it recontextualizes his motivations. You aren't just a political rival; you’re the person who made him realize that modern people are "real."
Bring him to the Temple of Mythal.
The dialogue here is essential. Watch how he reacts to the Sentinels. Listen to how he talks about the elven gods. He’s not guessing; he’s remembering.
Actually read the codex entries he triggers.
Solas unlocks specific lore about the Fade and ancient Elvhenan. These entries contain the blueprints for his plan. If you read between the lines, he tells you exactly what he’s going to do twenty hours before he does it.
Punch him (if you must).
If you have low enough approval, you can actually punch him in the face at Skyhold. It’s satisfying if you hate his condescension, but be warned: it shuts off a lot of his deeper philosophical dialogues.
🔗 Read more: Why Arteria Leaf is the Most Misunderstood Item in Elden Ring
Don't ignore the mural.
The mural in the Skyhold rotunda changes after every major main quest. Solas is the one painting it. It’s his journal. If you look at the final panel after the main story, the imagery of the wolf and the orb tells the whole story of his failure with Corypheus.
Solas remains one of the few characters in gaming that people are still arguing about a decade later. He isn't a villain you defeat to save the day; he’s a consequence of the world's history coming back to haunt the present. Whether you want to save him or stop him, you can't deny that the bald apostate from the prologue changed Thedas forever.
He didn't just break the world. He made us care about why it was broken.
Next Steps for Players:
Check your old save files before starting The Veilguard. The choices you made regarding your relationship with Solas—whether you vowed to redeem him or kill him—are the primary emotional anchors for the beginning of the next chapter. If you haven't played the Trespasser DLC, do it immediately. Without it, the ending of the base game feels like a cliffhanger without a ledge. It is the true ending of the game and the bridge to everything that comes next.