History Fridge / DragonAgeII

** So, Qunari society doesn't allow its individuals to adapt to survive in new circumstances. Does that make them [[JustForPun Anti-]]SocialDarwinists?

** Merrill changes from a Dalish armor to a fancy dress fit for any human noblewoman, [[DoesNotLikeShoes minus the shoes]]. She's no longer an outcast among both the Dalish and the city elves; she's part of Hawke's family. Also, said dress probably serves as another warning sign for the Templars to leave that particular mage alone (in addition to her possibly moving in to Hawke's mansion). It may also serve as a warning to Kirkwall's high society, a way to say "''This elf is '''not''' a servant: treat her as such at your own peril.''"

-->'''Anders:''' [[JediTruth I just need to mix the ingredients together and... boom. Justice and I will be free. Then we can take our place with the free mages.]]\\

** There's also the fact that Justice was corrupted by Anders' influence and not by the Warden's, for several reasons: first, half of the Warden's origins (the Dalish and both Dwarves) are not Andrastian, meaning that they have different views about the matter. Second, even if the Warden ''is'' Andrastian, they spent over a year confronting everything (from darkspawn to demons), meaning that talking with a spirit isn't really a big deal because [[SeenItAll they've seen things far weirder]] and are conditioned to simply kill Justice if he proves dangerous (like all the spirits they met before). Third, the Warden can also have spent said year with Wynne (who is, by the Chantry's definition, an abomination), and also met the Great Oak (who is benign and harmless compared with the rest of the sylvans). Fourth, the Warden's experiences dealing with Zathrian and the Lady of the Forest teach them to not being blinded by first impressions. When the Warden met Justice, s/he already had a relatively wide perspective about the matter, and know that the world is far greyer than the black-and-white view of the Chantry. In contrast, Anders shares the same view about spirits with the Chantry.

* Regarding the quest "Prime Suspect"/"All That Remains": There are a few tip-offs to Gascard's involvement with the serial killer. When confronting him, he will claim that Quentin uses young, beautiful women of low social status. Normal stuff for a serial killer, right? Well no, because the woman he claims is going to be the next victim is none of these things; she is an older noblewoman and not particularly good-looking. Another known victim, Ninette, was also an older noblewoman, while the lost mage, Mharen, was an elderly scholar. And of course Leandra, his final victim, is an older noblewoman as well.]] Furthermore, the flowers the serial killer sends his victims are white lilies, [[{{Foreshadowing}} which are traditionally associated with funerals.

* There is a major moment regarding Anders's final personal quest. [[spoiler:When he asks you to collect the ingredients he needs for his potion, investigate further about them.]] If you pay attention to what he says when he describes the ingredients and where he can find them, and you have even passing knowledge of chemistry as well as geology, you may realize what exactly he had you collect when you see him [[spoiler:destroy the Kirkwall Chantry with a massive magical explosion.]] The ingredients are potassium nitrate and sulfur; both chemicals are basic components used to make [[spoiler:explosives, like black powder. ''Boom''.]] It helps that the Tevinter name for one of the ingredients is [[spoiler:"sela petrae", almost identical to the Latin ''sal petrae'' (or Saltpetre), the common word for potassium nitrate.]]

* Once you've beaten the game, Varric's statement at the beginning is tremendously ironic. Similarly, his narration is full of foreshadowing that becomes FridgeBrilliance on the second playthrough. At one point when talking about Hawke's companions, Cassandra mentions a blood mage (Merrill), a pirate (Isabela), and finally "that Warden, Anders," to which Varric responds in a very bitter voice, "Don't remind me. I introduced them." [[spoiler:This is because Anders was the ''only'' companion that Varric introduced to Hawke. Marethari asks Hawke to look after Merrill and Hawke meets Isabela in a tavern by chance. Varric basically tells us that Anders does something to betray Hawke and the rest of the group, but he says it in such a way that it's very easy to miss the first time around.]]

* Regarding the quest "Prime Suspect"/"All That Remains", and the major spoilers inside: [[spoiler:There are a few tip-offs to Gascard's involvement with the serial killer. When confronting him, he will claim that Quentin uses young, beautiful women of low social status. Normal stuff for a serial killer, right? Well no, because the woman he claims is going to be the next victim is none of these things; she is an older noblewoman and not particularly good-looking. Another known victim, Ninette, was also an older noblewoman, while the lost mage, Mharen, was an elderly scholar. And of course Leandra, his final victim, is an older noblewoman as well.]] Furthermore, the flowers the serial killer sends his victims are white lilies, [[{{Foreshadowing}} which are traditionally associated with funerals.]]

** The mystery of Leliana's return is finally solved in the epilogue of ''Trespasser''. [[spoiler:She was saved from dying by a spirit, thus becoming a lyrium ghost. An interesting addition to the plot of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', which already had a lot of focus on possession and abominations. Funnily enough, Oghren, of all people, was the one to realize that the Temple of the Sacred Ashes was ''full'' of lyrium.]]

* Right before Anders [[spoiler:blows up the Chantry]], he has a good long rant at Meredith and Orsino. He winds up going full Justice/Vengeance mode at them complete with the glowing lines and booming, echoing voice, signs that both Meredith and Orsino should recognize as making him an abomination and something they both should attack on sight. It's a sign of how far gone everyone involved is that this goes completely over their heads.

* A lot of fans were really annoyed with Anders's sudden characterization shift here after ''Awakening''. But after Justice's possession, he's of course ''not'' going to be the same. The point has been hammered home already that being an abomination means losing yourself to the demon possessing you, which Anders became the moment he accidentally corrupted Justice. In a way, it's actually a testament to how good both Anders and Justice were beforehand that it took them so long to [[spoiler:do what all abominations inevitably do, and start slaughtering innocent people.]]

* There are ''a lot'' of Blood Mages in Kirkwall, despite the common "not all mages are Blood Mages" argument. [[spoiler:But according to Leliana, mages from the Tevinter Imperium (a.k.a. Blood Mage Central) were sent to increase tension between the mages and Templars.]]
* In Act 3, visiting Anders will trigger a cutscene where he's offering his favorite pillow to Varric because of an offhanded remark that he's had his eyes on it. It doesn't seem that important, [[spoiler:but from a psychological viewpoint, the fact that Anders is suddenly giving away his treasured personal items is a strong warning signal that he is suicidal and is, in layman's terms, 'splitting his inheritance'. Anders is confident that he will be killed after he destroys the Chantry, and is preparing to make himself a martyr.]] Varric catches on and refuses it, telling Anders to keep it and dream about killing Templars while sleeping on it.
* Anders approving of Hawke [[spoiler:selling Fenris back to his master]] seems hypocritical, as he seeks to free the mages from the Chantry yet is willing to condemn someone else to slavery just because they don't share his viewpoint/he doesn't like them. But it goes deeper than that; he is willing to get rid of anyone who stands in the way of his goal, and since [[spoiler:Fenris]] is a "mages should be locked up" person, that technically includes him. Anders is secretly happy because now one less person can stand against him. He might also view it as (pardon the pun) "poetic Justice", [[spoiler:as Fenris (a supporter of mage slavery) gets sold into slavery himself and becomes effectively Tranquil]].
* Marethari sought to stop Merrill using blood magic, but in the end ''her'' pride was actually the bigger danger to her clan. [[spoiler:Not only for taking the demon on, but also: keeping the clan there for so long (in Act 2, Merrill states that they should have moved on "years ago"), not stopping the out-of-control rumors of Merrill (which led to Pol running from her straight into the lair of the varterral), and for not telling the clan that she was dying. All because she had to prove a point to Merrill about the dangers of blood magic. She says that Merrill always knew the consequences, but chose to pay the price for her. Merrill even took precautions by bringing Hawke with her and was willing to pay the price if it meant helping her people. By leaving the rest of the clan out to dry, Marethari created the very situation she was trying to avoid, and the clan was wiped out unless Hawke took the blame.]]

** By Act 2, [[spoiler:both of them have an external influence causing their mental state to deteriorate. Anders and Justice's estrangement becomes much more severe, while Meredith is succumbing to the Lyrium Idol. However, the inevitable war with the Qunari provides both of them with something outside of their growing obsession to stay focused on.]]

** In the endgame, [[spoiler:both of them choose to kill innocents to achieve their goals. Anders destroys the Kirkwall Chantry to spark the mage revolution and free his people. Meredith orders the annulment of the Kirkwall Circle under false pretenses to guarantee the deaths of the hidden maleficarum. As it turns out, both had been planning these results for quite a while.]]

* Meredith's behavior. Like every Templar, she's been addicted to a FantasticDrug: Lyrium. Its side effects include delusions, paranoia, dementia, obsessive behavior, and hallucinations. She didn't even need [[spoiler:the Lyrium idol]]!

* Cassandra knew to connect the Orlesian sanctions against Kirkwall to Chateau Haine because she had an inside source, albeit one who "didn't have [Varric's] access." If they didn't, then it needed to be either an undercover servant (unlikely, as Chateau Haine was merely a well-built fortress that served as keep and mansion for a spoiled Orlesian lord, as well as the fact that the servants could easily con the guard out of the key thus granting them full access) or one of the guests at the party (which means that Cassandra knows anything about the heist by sheer dumb luck). So, which of the guests would Cassandra know, as the Seeker for the Chantry? Most of the guests are a) Orlesian, which might justify her knowing them by name if not by face, and b) not connected to the Chantry higher-ups in any way. There are also a few cameos from ''Origins'' sprinkled through that section, including Teagan and Leliana. Leliana recognizes Tallis, to which Tallis hides "OhCrap" behind polite conversation. As evidenced by the endgame, [[spoiler:Leliana is an associate of Cassandra and is assisting in the investigation of the Champion's whereabouts. Then, ''Inquisition'' reveals that they are actually of equivalent rank in the Chantry and work closely together. Connect the dots, and suddenly it's a lot less contrived that Cassandra knows just enough about Chateau Haine to get Varric rolling.]]

** The other angle is that Merrill (most of the time) doesn't use blood magic to hurt anyone; she initially turned to it to fuel her magic enough to cleanse the shard of the Eluvian. Even though she's a BlackMagicianGirl, she's got a total of two spells that are even vaguely blood magic-related (only one of which involves hurting someone else). She sees it as a tool, not a weapon. She knows she's taking a risk by dealing with demons, and thus only goes to the demon twice - once before the game's events to learn blood magic in the first place, and once when she goes to get more information ([[spoiler:by which point it's already possessed Marethari]]).
* If you walk to the end of the Sundermount path in Act 1, you'll find a cave blocked by a magical force field. In Act 3, you find out that the cave contains the demon with whom Merrill was communicating and the Keeper beat you there. But if you visit it in Act 2, the force field is already gone and replaced by an awkwardly positioned ox cart. This is the period when the Keeper begins spreading nasty rumors about Merrill. [[spoiler:She broke the defenses on the demon's resting places even before Merrill went to ask her for the instrument she needed, and was probably under the demon's influence even back then!]]

* The reason Varric is so universally awesome is because he is essentially the {{Deuteragonist}} masquerading as a regular party member (downplaying his role is easy for him to do, being TheNarrator and all). But even in his own narration, Varric is almost as important to the plot as Hawke: it is his (and Bartrand's) expedition that brings the lyrium idol to the surface, he introduces Hawke to Anders, he keeps the whole Hawke Enterprise going [[TheSpymaster from the shadows]], and in the end is the only companion [[spoiler:who is guaranteed to remain at Hawke's side. He cannot die (unlike Hawke's surviving sibling), is not [[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers mutually exclusive with another companion]] (unlike Anders and Sebastian), and will never betray Hawke (unlike Isabela with the relic, and Anders and/or Aveline, Fenris, and Merrill in the final mission depending on friendship/rivalry and what side Hawke chooses).]] Another really subtle clue is that only Hawke (with Bethany/Carver) and Varric ever get a TallTale segment in the narration.

** It is also essentially a SelfFulfillingProphecy which fits right into a trend, with various other prejudices playing out the same way. The actual dangers of mages and prevalence are often direct results of many people fearing them, and those fears drive people in power to lock them up, dehumanize them and mistreat them, instead of properly teaching them. This makes them out to be the ticking bombs everyone says they are and then forces them into positions where they have no choice ''but'' to turn to immoral measures out of pure desperation. The Arishok came to Kirkwall with absolutely no interest in conversion or conquest until fanatics, pressure, and the knowledge that he can never return no matter what because of the relic drove him to launch a suicide attack on Kirkwall and turn him into what he was believed to be. There is a definite theme here with how outside forces whose prejudices and fears essentially forced them to prove their beliefs as to be correct, and then everybody forgets how they were originally (or just don't bother to know the true story).

* At the beginning of Act 2, if you have the ''Exiled Prince'' DLC, Hawke can speak to Sebastian in the Chantry to formally recruit him. You find him talking to the Grand Cleric about his distress regarding the deaths of Flint Company three years earlier. Elthina tells him that "death is never justice". Three years later, [[spoiler:she'll be murdered by someone who supposedly is seeking justice]].

** Confirmed in ''Inquisition''. In party banter, Iron Bull expresses disbelief that so many people attacked Hawke, to which Varric mostly admits he made it up.

* There's one for Sandal, although you don't realise it until ''Inquisition.'' Among his seemingly random bits of chatter, he says: "One day the magic will come back - all of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see." When you play ''Inquisition,'' and the skies have ''literally'' opened, you start to get a feel for what he meant. He was seemingly talking about [[spoiler:Corypheus]], the BigBad of ''Inquisition''. [[spoiler:However, he was actually talking about ''the Dread Wolf Fen'Harel''. In the ''Trespasser'' DLC, Solas (Fen'Harel) states his plan to essentially unmake the world as everyone knows it, in order to restore Elvhenan. The lost magic of the elves will come back, and all of "the people" will be as they were centuries earlier, before Fen'Harel created the Veil.]]

** Hawke must: Be female (Sebastian is the only heterosexual romance option), not flirt with anyone else ''even once'', have a full friendship/rivalry with him to even ''begin'' the relationship (''and'' has less time to do it, as Sebastian is not available as a companion until Act 2), complete all of his quests, and [[spoiler:kill Anders after he blows up the Chantry]]. Not only that, but the payoff is somewhat questionable. As a friend, he and Hawke will enter a "chaste marriage in the eyes of the Maker," with her taking vows as a Chantry sister. As a rival, there's an implied engagement once he retakes Starkhaven as he "will offer you nothing less than a prince." But in either case, there's not much else. Also, he and Hawke cannot be physically intimate, meaning the romance does not unlock the romance achievement.

* It's mentioned in Aveline's folder that she's the only one (besides any LoveInterest Hawke may have) to comfort Hawke after [[spoiler:Leandra's murder]]. This seems strange given that Varric is Hawke's best friend, but it makes sense for two reasons: It would be too predictable for Varric to comfort his best friend, and Aveline has known Hawke [[spoiler:and Leandra]] longer than any of the other companions (to the point where she's practically part of the family). When they arrived in Kirkwall, Leandra even insisted that Aveline come and remain with the family as long as needed. It's quite likely that Aveline herself is grieving extensively.

* In the quest "Haunted" Anders is the only companion to openly object to keeping the piece of the Red Lyrium Idol. [[spoiler: Anders is still a Grey Warden and Red Lyrium is Blighted. It's probably different enough from a darkspawn that Anders doesn't realize it, but his Warden senses are alerting him to the danger.]]
* Janeka, a Grey Warden met during ''Legacy'', want to use Corypheus against the Blights, claiming that he will believe that a Blight is a threat to darkspawn and will work to end it. Sound familiar? It's the same logic the Architect used in ''Awakening'' to the Warden regarding his experiments with the Taint. It's also a Fridge Horror when you realize that Janeka is assuming that Corypheus will come to the same conclusion. [[note]]''Inquisition'' makes clear that's not the case. ''At all''.[[/note]] Bonus point if Anders is in the party, he quickly realizes where Janeka got the idea.
* A minor one, but rather clever. As noted on the character pages, Hawke's brother and sister clearly take after their mother's side of the family, with Bethany resembling Leandra and Carver resembling their uncle Gamlen in terms of facial bone structure. Meanwhile, it's stated that Hawke heavily takes after their father Malcolm. Then you realize - the twins ''had'' to take after the Amells from a design perspective. We never actually see Malcolm anywhere in the franchise; we hear his voice in ''Legacy'', but all that's shown of him is a pair of glowing eyes. Since Hawke's appearance is customized by the player, Malcolm has to remain hidden from view in order to be in keeping with the idea that Hawke looks like their father; so the twins, whose appearances are preset, have to look like the Amell bloodline. It's especially interesting because the resemblance is subtle, but strong enough to be noticeable.

* Bodahn doesn't mention his wife this time around. His wife was in Denerim in ''Origins''. [[spoiler:Denerim, of course, got attacked by darkspawn at the end of the Fifth Blight.]] This might also explain why he went so far away from Denerim after the end of the Blight. He couldn't stay in Ferelden due to grief.
* After the main story, Merrill can never return to her clan regardless. That's bad enough, but if you don't romance her, she ends up entirely on her own with no clan, forced to leave her close friend/respected rival. Somewhat subverted by ''Inquisition'', which mentions she stuck around Kirkwall and works to help the Alienage elves.

* The way the games are going, it's almost like it's becoming a theme each game to potentially wipe out an entire Dalish clan. [[note]]You kill Zathrian's clan in ''Origins'' if you side with the werewolves, Velanna's small clan in ''Awakening'' is wiped out before you ever meet her, Merrill's clan is killed in this game unless Hawke picks the correct dialogue option, and then in ''Inquisition'' a Dalish Inquisitor's clan can be decimated if the wrong choices are made at the war table.[[/note]] One wonders how far the genocide might go before the Dalish are either wiped out completely or rise up.
** And then along comes ''Trespasser''...
* It's strongly implied that [[spoiler:Corypheus]] can brainwash and control Wardens because of their taint. [[spoiler:A Corypheus possessed Janeka/Larius]] was going to report to the Warden-Commander. Which Warden-Commander they are talking about? The First Warden? The Hero of Ferelden? Now imagine [[spoiler:Corypheus]] gaining control of such prominent figure within the Order, then slowly brainwashing other Wardens to do his bidding. Now imagine what effects could be if he possessed, say, the King or Queen of Ferelden? The good news is that the First Warden is (according to the game's wiki) mostly a figurehead these days who spends most of their time caught up in political games in the Anderfels. The bad news is there doesn't seem to be a limit or requirement for [[spoiler:Corypheus's BodySurf ability]] beyond eye contact, so he could easily find someone more useful. [[spoiler:Luckily, the third game seems to make this point moot.]]
* Eleni Zinovia's prophecy in ''Witch Hunt'' makes very little sense at the time, until you realize she's probably referring to the events of the ''Legacy'' DLC quest in this game: [[spoiler:Corypheus, an ancient Tevinter-magister-turned-darkspawn, is accidentally released from his millennia-long-incarceration in a Grey Warden prison; he performs a BodySurf to a nearby Warden before Hawke delivers the killing blow, and then leaves inside his new host with no one the wiser.]]

* The ''entire game'' falls into the realm of Fridge Horror when you stop to think just ''how much'' torture and pain and insanity there is in Kirkwall, and how many of the quests deal with those same themes. The Bone Pit, Quentin, the schizophrenic murderer Kelder, and many others. It gets even worse when you realize this probably all stems from [[spoiler:the attempts of the ancient Tevinter Imperium to summon the Forbidden Ones by turning the entire city into one huge, horrific blood ritual]]. In other words, Kirkwall has ''always'' been this bad, for over ''a thousand years''. A few of the codex entries found in the ''Legacy'' DLC support this.
* Sebastian's DLC adds some Fridge Horror to the whole thing when you realize that he only ever met Hawke because of his family being murdered. That's bad enough, but once he becomes a permanent companion in Act 2, he has a home base just like the other companions (in his case, the Chantry). That's where he is when he's not with Hawke, meaning that if he and Hawke had never become friends, [[spoiler:the explosion would have killed him too. Joining Hawke's "merry band of misfits" inadvertently saves his life]]. He even points this out during the endgame.
* The Chantry robes were redesigned for this game. Check out the gold embroidery on the front, it's so - oh, wait, that looks an awful lot like [[spoiler:a stylized explosion. Damn it, Anders.]]
* During the final battle, Hawke's LI or sibling can be stabbed by Meredith. This takes on a new level when we find out in ''Inquisition'' that [[spoiler:red lyrium, the stuff of which Meredith's broadsword is made, is Blight-infected, meaning it's possible they could be infected with the Taint. Anders would probably be okay since he is already infected from the Joining, but what if the taint gets into Fenris's tattoos? The same applies to ''anyone'' that came into contact with the sword, but it's especially worrying in the latter's case, because of the prolonged contact and nature of the injury.)]]
* Corypheus is sealed away in the Vimmark Mountains, near Kirkwall. Kirkwall has been the site of a lot of blood magic, to the point that the Veil is very thin there. It's already understood that the city was designed the way it is [[spoiler:so the Imperium could summon the Forbidden Ones]], but what if Kirkwall is ''also'' the site of the Tevinter Magisters' attempt to enter the Golden City? No ''wonder'' the place is a hotspot for possession.
* ''Those Who Sleep'' reveals that [[spoiler:Isabela's mother was a Viddathari (a convert to the Qun) who sold her to her abusive husband for refusing to convert.]] This puts a sobering new light on [[spoiler:Isabela's furious and horrified reaction if Hawke decides to let the Arishok take her at the end of Act 2.]]

* Janeka, a Grey Warden met during ''Legacy'', want to use Corypheus against the Blights, claiming that he will believe that a Blight is a threat to darkspawn and will work to end it. Sound familiar? It's the same logic the Architect used in ''Awakening'' to the Warden regarding his experiments with the Taint. It's also a Fridge Horror when you realize that Janeka is assuming that Corypheus will come to the same conclusion (note: ''Inquisition'' makes clear that's not the case. ''At all''.) Bonus point if Anders is in the party, he quickly realizes where Janeka got the idea.

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* Varric being the narrator can explain a lot of the story design.

** Its ActionizedSequel nature could be attributed to Varric spicing things up to keep the listener entertained, turning a boring story of how Hawke killed a few gang members in a back alley into a battle against two dozen in the middle of the street. With Warriors tossing people aside, rogues disappearing in smoke clouds, and mages making fire rain from the sky!

* Why did the Warrior class lose access to bows and dual wielding? Warrior!Hawke was trained to be a foot soldier in the Ferelden army. Skills like archery would be left to scouts or rogues, while dual-wielding is hard to learn and wouldn't be taught to basic infantry. As a result, Hawke does not have access to them. Even after gaining the means to hire professional trainers, Hawke chooses to stick to what he/she knows since it works, rather than going through the trouble of trying to learn something new entirely.

** There's also the fact that Justice was corrupted by Anders' influence and not by the Warden's, for several reasons: first, half of the Warden's origins (the Dalish and both Dwarves) are not Andrastian, meaning that they have different views about the matter. Second, even if the Warden ''is'' Andrastian, they spent over a year confronting everything (from darkspawn to demons), meaning that talking with a spirit isn't really a big deal because [[SeenItAll they've seen things far weirder]] and are conditioned to simply kill Justice if he proves dangerous (like all the spirits they met before). Third, the Warden can also have spent said year with Wynne (who is, by the Chantry's definition, an abomination), and also met the Great Oak (who is benign and harmless compared with the rest of the sylvans). When the Warden met Justice, s/he already had a relatively wide perspective about the matter, and know that the world is far greyer than the black-and-white view of the Chantry. In contrast, Anders shares the same view about spirits with the Chantry.