As much as I would love to start this with "What the fuck?!" I won't. Because, that's not very productive. Though, that kind of needs to be asked. Because there is just so much to talk about with Veilguard.
First off, however, let's start with the most pressing issue for pretty much anyone who knows anything at all about Dragon Age. The lore. Preestablished canon that shows up in games, books, and comics. Because, I'm curious as to where, oh where, did it all go? It's easier to just break it down, so let's start there.
Tevinter
The Tevinter Imperium. The land of Magisters and the Black Divine (oh, sorry, the Imperial Divine). Oh, and the land of slavery. Open slavery, I might add. Ever since the beginning of Dragon Age, we have all known that there are slaves in Tevinter. That the practice is so wide-spread, so out in the open, that it is just known. It is also known that Tevinter slavers very much steal people from other parts of Thedas and thrust them into slavery in the Imperium. We know from Fenris that slaves are everywhere and that every single Magister owns many of them. That he was paraded around and used as both guard dog and clear threat towards his master's enemies. We know from Dorian Pavus that slavery is so "normal" there that he literally sees nothing wrong with it. That is how everyday it is. So, imagine everyone's surprise when we finally get to Tevinter and erhm... there are no slaves? In fact, there are elves just walking around all willy nilly in the streets? Begging in the streets? Indicating that they have no masters? While, morally, that's great. Lore-speaking, um... what? Unless the Magisterium mysteriously abolished slavery (which we know they didn't since supposedly The Viper and the Shadow Dragons are routinely helping slaves escape Minrathous). So... there absolutely would not just be elves on the street. Because everyone who has paid any attention at all knows that elves are slavers prime targets. In Dragon Age 2, slavers track Fenris all the way to the Free Marches trying to get him back (granted he was special but the point is still there). They aren't likely to just get rid of this practice.
But no, in the game we are led to believe that only Venatori have slaves. We see them. They're there. But not in Minrathous. We see them in Veilguard at the dalish sacrifice ritual in Arlathan (as removed from Minrathous as they could get) amongst the crowd of Venatori. They want us to believe that only the evil Venatori have slaves. When in reality, literally every single Magister has slaves. Even Dorian's family. Now, he might have changed his tune upon returning from the south, but that's a big maybe. Because when the Inquisitor has that conversation with him in Inquisition? He's still very much of that same mind set - that slavery is better than poverty. He doesn't understand it. But I digress. Point being, the writers what the player to think that only evil people have slaves (and they aren't wrong) but what they're missing is this whole grey area where this entire society [Tevinter] has been built up around slavery.
Also, if you play a Qunari in Veilguard, there absolutely would be a problem with Rook walking around Minrathous. Tevinter has been at war (real war) with the Qunari for over three hundred years. A Qunari in Minrathous? Uh, yeah, no. There would be words. There would be encounters with racist/bigots/assholes taking serious issue with a qunari just walking around their city. Doesn't matter if they've called a tentative cease fire. There would be a big problem. Also, if you play an elf - you get called a slave at the ritual site but not in Minrathous - where you would have also faced persecution. I mean, an elf Rook has the opportunity to mention that elves are persecuted when they're unpacking their things but that's like it. When in Thedas-reality, elves are persecuted like... a lot. A whole lot. Everywhere. Except Arlathan, where we know from previous game mentions, slavers still go to capture Elves. Moving on...
The Qun
Okay. This was something that made me literally blink rapidly when I first encountered it in the game. Shathann. Taash. There's just... so much wrong here. First, we learn that Shathann was a scholar within the Qun. Okay, we know they are a thing, no problem. But then - we learn that she took Taash? Um. Okay, um. No. For starters - only Tamassrans are allowed to raise qunari children. Especially babies. And I mean only. Not like they watch them during the dayyy and they get to go "home" at nightttt. No. Tamassrans are the only ones to have access to Qunari babies/children at all, ever. Not only that, but Tamassrans also decide who gets it on with who. Those under the Qun, regardless of actual race, don't just have kids whenever they want. The Tamassrans decide who does the deed. And upon birth, they immediately take the child to be raised and cared for by them. Literally no one has access to them until they're about twelve. Then they are assigned a role and delivered to those who can teach them that role. That is lore, that is basically law. So... um... Shathann would never have even had access to Taash let alone even known she even existed. So, that's problem 1. Problem 2: Taash says that Shathann had herself transferred to another Qunari outpost. Presumably with Taash??? That makes no sense because of Problem 1. Problem 3: Shathann escapes presumably into the night with Taash and... gets away? Also impossible because of Problem 1. And due to the fact that Shathann would have had the whole of the fucking Qun on her ass because she stole a child from them. That's a no-no under any circumstance from anyone. Ben-Hassrath would have been dispatched in a fucking heartbeat. And they don't ever just "give up". And it's Shathann, a scholar. Running away with a baby. It's not like she could defend herself. So, no. That whole story is bullshit.
Then, there's Taash's statement that "the Qun is not a prison, people can leave". Um, oh no, honey, they really cannot. People who leave the Qun are called tal-vashoth and are seen as fugitives by the Qun. They are actively hunted and if caught, are re-educated (brainwashed) by Ben-Hassrath. So, while technically one can leave the Qun - they aren't just let go. We know this from basically all the games and books and comics that have come before. It's a very serious point whenever we have encountered the Qun in the past. In fact, it's like the main point.
Also, if Taash was raised basically under "the Qun 2.0" by Shathann... they and Shathann would very much take issue with a Qunari mage Rook. One of the big, big... VERY big things under the Qun is their stance on magic. They fear magic, big time. They literally think magic is a disease and that it is contagious. They bind their mages, literally sew their mouths shut (though that makes one wonder how they eat... anyway) and keep them under super tight control, period. No exceptions. They are called saarabas (dangerous thing). They don't even view mages as people, no matter their race. Even if they're born qunari and into the Qun, doesn't matter. So, even if Shathann and Taash both tried to hide under the veil of Rivaini "everything is cool" - they would still have an issue with a saarabas Rook. Simply because it is such a major point in the Qun.
Also, also - and this is just a peeve of mine and while I do adore the voice actor for Taash (Panam forever) but - I am partial to how Sten from Origins pronounced the language. He made it sound less... American English and more like an actual different language. The R's were more rolled and less ARRR. If that makes sense. He was Sten of the Be-d-essad. As opposed to how it would be said in Veilguard as Bear-e-ssad. I won't go into character specifics here on the characters in Veilguard, I'll save that for another post - but, I know that personally, I cringe whenever Taash starts speaking Qunlat.
Elven Gods
Okay, this is a small one and again probably a pet peeve of mine but... it's Ghilan'non. Not Ghila'nain. Not in spelling. In pronunciation. Reason? First come, first serve. It was pronounced "Non" in Jaws of Hakkon and in Inquisition by Solas. So, snooze you lose? Plus, Ghilan'nain sounds stupid.
Thedas in General
This is something the developers of the games seem to always forget. There are two moons in Thedas. Two. One, Two. Two moons. TWO MOONS. In the other games, we were rarely afforded a view of the night sky so it was a moot point though still irksome but in Veilguard, Elgar'nan moves "the moon" so what the actual fuck. If it's such a focus, then what the fuck. Did they just forget?
To put this into clarity - Dragon Age, Thedas, all of it is the brain child of David Gaider. He's the literal, singular creator. The entire world and all the races come from his books. Grey Wardens, all of it. Every single faction, all of it. Before a single game was even made. And David Gaider says... there are two fucking moons for Thedas! So... two moons.
The Antivan Crows
Okay, I like the Crows. The Crows are master assassins and they're awesome. But they are a decidedly not okay organization that steals children and trains them in seriously not okay ways to seduce their targets in order to get close to them. Granted yes, they have different "departments" so to speak, of assassins and will utilize different assassins depending on their targets but the fact remains, they steal children to train as assassins. Or they will take advantage of poor kids. We know this from Zevran in Origins. This is a thing. Also, if a Crow fails their contract, other Crows will come after them to kill them. Because they're basically the Mafia. If you didn't get that vibe from the 1st Talon, there's no helping you.
This is one of the only things they actually kept kind of true in the game, Lucanis' relationship with his grandmother. It hinted at how brutal their training really is. In the brain-Ossuary, Spite will say straight up that Lucanis is afraid of her. But it back pedals and makes the player think it was more about fear of disappointment when in reality, it's actual fear. Catarina was brutal. While she may have had her reasons, we can conjecture all day, doesn't matter. She still abused children to train them to become killers. But that's part of the thing with the Crows. They are assassins. Their lives are no simple and if Thedas was perfect, they wouldn't be needed. They embody the whole morally grey area thing about this world. But Veilguard tries to show them in a different light and that light kind of falls flat when you understand how their training is.
Grey Wardens
This was another thing they got so completely wrong and I have no idea how. It's no secret that the fan base feels very strongly about the Grey Wardens. So, you'd think that of all the things, they would have gotten this one nailed down. For starters, joinings are done willy nilly. I mean, I guess it might be possible to do them with the necklace that every warden receives with their joining but... unlikely. That's like a sippy sip. But on the whole, only recruiters can do joinings. Only they would have the arch-demon blood with them because that's their whole job. As much as I really do like Antoine and Evka... um... sorry Flynn... magical components or not - you woulda died, my dude. (I call everyone dude no matter their gender). And if they had access to Arch-Demon blood, then they would have known where to get it, and that means they would have known about the Cauldron (a very possible place) and that means they would have known what was there; rendering Davrin's quest about it a moot point.
Speaking of joinings... the blight. What the hell. That little indicator that pops up all the time when you're playing "Blighted". Um... it's like Inigo Montoya always said... you keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means. So, yeah. Historically (and at this point, we can use that word) - to be "blighted" is to either die or become a darkspawn. Or, if you're lucky, you can become a grey warden. That's it. End of list. There's no "you'll be fine". That's how the blight spreads. But in Veilguard, apparently you just walk it off?
Then there's the secrets. Grey Wardens are super secretive. Like, super-duper secretive. There is absolutely no way Davrin would let slip that a Grey Warden dies whenever they kill an Arch-Demon like that just wandering around a library with whoever in the party, especially with a non-warden Rook. At most, desperate times and all that, he might have pulled a non-warden Rook aside and told them what was about to go down. And that's pushing it. Grey Warden secrets are a big deal. That's like numero uno rule. But apparently, it's okay to just say them out loud to whoever now?
Now, like I said, I won't go into specific characters here because I don't want this to turn into a novel. But, these lore inconsistencies are atrocious and honestly, shouldn't have ever happened. There's no excuse. None. All one had to do was play the previous games, really - wouldn't have even had to read any of the extra stuff. Just play the games. And apparently, Bioware didn't. Which is sad. It shows a distinct lack of care for their own product. It's like they were so scared to offend anyone that they ended up offending everyone. No one likes a coward.
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